JEOPOLİTİK STRATEJİ

List of TIKA Coordination Offices Afghanistan (3), Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cameroon, Chad, Colombia, Comoros, Croatia, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Guinea, Hungary, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Macedonia , Mexico , Moldova , Mongolia , Montenegro, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Niger, Pakistan (2) ,Palestine Philippines, Romania, Senegal, Serbia, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan ,Sudan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine (2), Uzbekistan, Yemen

The most remarkable geocultural initiative of Turkey in the postCold War period was the establishment of Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) in 1992 as “an implementing intermediary of Turkish foreign policy, particularly in the countries with whom we have shared values, as well as in many other areas and countries.”

One of the founding fathers of geopolitics Halford J. Mackinder’s focus was Eurasia, which he called the heartland.

Following Mackinder, other classical theories of geopolitics put a special emphasis on this region. Alfred Thayer Mahan’s Seapower Theory, Nicholas Spykman’s Rimland Theory and Karl Haushofer’s Lebensraum Theory are among these theories.

One of the most famous analyses in this context is made by Zbigniew Brzezinski, who defines Eurasia as the world’s axial supercontinent.

In the 19th century Central Asia also became the scene of geopolitical rivalry known as the Great Game between the Russian and British Empires.

South Caucasus on the other hand is divided into three republics that became independent after the collapse of the Soviet Union; Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia.

In 1999 the Baku-Tiblisi-Ceyhan Pipeline Treaty that was signed under US supervision, had strengthened the impression that Turkey was geopolitically acting with the West against Russia.

Black Sea as a geopolitical region usually refers to the countries that surround this sea, which are Turkey, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia, and Russia. But the region is also defined in a broader aspect which includes Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Greece, Moldova, and Serbia  and is called the Wider Black Sea.

The countries that make up the region — Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia — and their peoples have been under the rule of different states.

Geopolitics is about the opportunities brought by geography and the limitations imposed by it at the same time. Therefore, it is actually about how geography affects policies and political behaviours. Within the context of geopolitics, geography does not merely refer to a state’s place on earth but includes dynamics such as its neighbors, its hinterland, the region or regions it is a part of, the natural characteristics and sources, demography and the interplay between these dynamics in a historical perspective.

Geoculture on the other hand is about the relation between cultural elements and foreign policy goals. These goals vary from global hegemony to be a more influential actor in international politics, become a regional leader or develop good bilateral relations. The cultural elements in question also vary. Although it generally refers to historical, linguistic, religious, and ethnic bonds, ideological bonds are also considered as a geocultural element.

Turkey has territories on two continents; Europe and Asia, which makes it possible to approach Turkey from the Eurasian perspective. It stands on the intersection of three continents; Europe, Asia and Africa. It neighbors three regions; Middle East, Balkans, Caucasus. Apart from these regions even though it is not a neighbor Turkey has ties to Central Asia region. It is also surrounded by two major seas and the regions in their hinterland; Mediterranean and the Black Sea. The connection between these two seas is through the two straits which are also on the territories of Turkey; Bosphorus and Dardanelles. The fact that Europe and Asia is connected through bridges that are built over the Bosphorus only contributed to the analogy.

Turkey has historically been a crossroad. That is, its peoples and goods have been crossing from one region to the other through not only the land but also the seaways Turkey today borders. The mobility of peoples came along with wars, invasions and conquests only to be followed by tensions, conflict and more wars. The region therefore has always been important in military terms as well. Even though the mass mobility of the people was considered to have lessened in modern times, the events of the recent years have proven this consideration wrong in the most dramatical ways. Besides, the centuries old movement of peoples has created a multi-cultural structure which brings richness to the region but at the same time bears seeds of conflict. The movement of the goods on the other hand has never stopped. On the contrary, it has increased. Today the transfer of oil and gas from their producers to consumers — both of whom are neighboring regions of Turkey — is one of the top issues on the global agenda along with energy security. It is therefore considered that Turkey’s geopolitical position brings it certain advantages along with some vulnerabilities.

Furthermore, the defense of the region of the Straits poses many problems. In addition to being exposed to attacks by sea and air, Turkey does not posses strategic depth in its European territories.

The late twentieth century leaders of Turkey have followed in the Ataturk tradition and defined Turkey as a modern, secular, Western nation state. They allied Turkey with the West in NATO and in the Gulf War; they applied for membership in the European Community. At the same time, however, elements in Turkish society have supported an Islamic revival and have argued that Turkey is basically a Middle Eastern Muslim society. In addition, while the elite of Turkey has defined Turkey as a Western society, the elite of the West refuses to accept Turkey as such. Turkey will not become a member of the European Community, and the real reason, as President Ozal said, “is that we are Muslim and they are Christian and they don’t say that.” Having rejected Mecca, and then being rejected by Brussels, where does Turkey look?

A sustainable geostrategy must distinguish between the short-run perspective (the next five or so years), the middle term (up to twenty years), and the long run (beyond twenty years). Moreover, these phases must be viewed not as watertight compartments but as part of a continuum. The first phase must gradually and consistently lead into the second—indeed, be deliberately pointed toward it—and the second must then lead subsequently into the third

For Turkey, being located at the intersection of different continents and regions also means being at the intersection of different societies, languages, religions and cultures. What is more is that Turkey shares either common languages, or common religions or a common ethnicity or common values with all of these regions. Turkey shares the Islam religion with the majority of the Middle East, in the Balkans also Islam is a shared identity with Bosnia-Herzegovina and Albania, in Central Asia both Islam and Turkic identity is shared, likewise in the Caucasus Turkey shares an ethnic and religious identity. With Europe on the other hand Turkey shares a set of norms, values and culture that it has been adopting since the late Ottoman period through Westernization/ Europeanization policies. This side of Turkish geoculture presents it as a role model to the other countries that shares other elements of identity with Turkey.

List of TIKA Coordination Offices;

Afghanistan (3), Albania, Algeria, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cameroon, Chad, Colombia, Comoros, Croatia, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Guinea, Hungary, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Macedonia , Mexico , Moldova , Mongolia , Montenegro, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Niger, Pakistan (2) ,Palestine Philippines, Romania, Senegal, Serbia, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan ,Sudan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine (2), Uzbekistan, Yemen

Turkey’s priority, even before the Republic, has been Europe and the West; to define itself as European/Western, to be a part of Europe and the West and adopting both domestic and foreign policies that serve this aim. Even though for a certain period they coincide, the West and Europe in Turkish geopolitics do not always mean the same thing. Till the post-World War II era, the terms west and Europe or westernization and Europeanization were used interchangeably. But after the Second World War “West” came to mean more than Europe and in fact surpassed Europe. It came to mean the Western Bloc but mostly its leader United States. Still Turkey filed its application for the membership of then European Economic Community. Even though European Union had started as an economic union at first, for Turkey it was always more than that. It was about ideals, principles and culture as well as progress and prosperity. It was a route that was decided and drawn and confirmed by the founding founders and their predecessors. Therefore even though Turkey would still be a part of the West through the NATO alliance, it still wanted to be a part of Europe as an idea.

The Heartland Theory was developed by British geographer Sir Halford J. Mackinder in his paper “The Geographical Pivot of History” (1904) and his best known work Democratic Ideals and Reality: A Study in the Politics of Reconstruction (1919). The heartland theory emerged from Mackinder’s detailed study of the global relationship between land and sea power. Mackinder postulated the dominating influence of certain geographic “realities” on the course of world politics.

His realities included (1) “world island” (Europe, Asia and Africa) surrounding the Eurasian “heartland” or “pivot area,” which is inaccessible from the sea; (2) its coastlands, called the “inner” or “marginal crescent,” made up of maritime powers; and (3) insular power bases composed of North and South America and Australia, called the “insular” or “outer crescent”.

Based on his assumptions of the growing ascendancy of land power over sea power, Mackinder warned that “who rules East Europe commands the Heartland; who rules the Heartland commands the World Island; who rules the World Island command the World.