Leadership Change: Ozal Leadership and Restructuring in Turkish Foreign Policy
Muhittin Ataman*
The leadership group plays the most important role in foreign
policy making in Third World countries. Self-perception, state identity and
interests of the leadership group determine the foreign policy orientation and
the direction of the state behavior that made based on gathered information
and available resources and alternatives. Each leadership group redefines its
"national interests," its "enemies and friends" and its
general objectives and expectations. National leaders, some of which are eager
to take risks and implement certain policies that bring change, are the main
players. While active leaders follow proactive foreign policy, passive leaders
pursue reactive foreign policy. The orientation of the leadership group determines
the alliance pattern of the state, its foreign economic relations and its ethnic
policy.
I posit that leadership group is more than a certain leader in power; it may
be collective as well as individual. The regime or the leadership group is a
broader concept than the current government. Only with the leadership change,
which brings new outlooks and new orientations into foreign policy of the state,
"regime change" occurs. Since leadership group and state identity
are closely connected to one another, I discuss the state identity in the context
of the leadership group.
With the leadership change in a state, foreign policy orientations change since
goals and priorities of the new leadership may require a new understanding in
foreign policy making. The official state identity is the basis of state interests
and its behaviors. I consider the state identity as socially constructed. State
identity is identity or ideology of the leadership since the state identity
is created, chosen or constructed by the leadership rather than by different
societal groups. State identity cannot be examined without the leadership group
since it reflects the main orientation, specific understandings and expectations
of the elite of the leadership. When regime changes, state identity is expected
to change; however, every leadership change does not introduce a new state identity.
After a revolution or regime change in a state, new leaders declare their identity,
whether it is a continuation of the old one or a new identity.
This study concentrates on Third World countries most of which are authoritarian
and alien to their societies since regimes and state identities are imposed
on people from above. Most of them lack political legitimacy based on the Western
standards of democracy. They face stronger threats from their people than from
other states. When regime created by the leadership group is "foreign"
and "intolerant" to the majority of people, transnational threats
with their domestic dimensions always exist and challenge the regime. In this
article, I analyze Turkey as a case study for leadership change and its effect
on foreign policy of the state. I first discuss the leadership change in the
country; then, I examine their respective foreign policy orientations to demonstrate
foreign policy change in the country.
Leadership Change in Turkey
Leaders of Turkey, following the footsteps of Kemal Atatürk, have been
trying to keep Turkey as a Western-oriented and secular country since the Kemalist
leadership group defines itself as Western; not Islamic, Asian, or the Middle
Eastern. (1) This has been the main orientation accepted and implemented by
the traditional leadership. Based on its strict nationalist, secularist and
bureaucratic-authoritarian understanding, the traditional leadership of Turkey
was challenged first and the only time by Turgut Özal, prime minister (1983-89)
and president (1989-93) of Turkey. Charismatic leadership of Özal was the
most important internal factor that affected foreign policy changes in Turkey
during the 1980s. (2) Backed by strong external and domestic connections, his
initiatives in foreign policy discouraged the military and the foreign ministry,
main actors of traditional foreign policy making of the Kemalist leadership,
from opposing his policy changes. Before discussing the restructuring in Turkey's
foreign policy, I analyze the leadership change of the 1980s.
1. Kemalist Leadership
The primary change of the 1980s and early 1990s was the subordination of the
Kemalist leadership by the Özal leadership. Majority of reforms made by
the Kemalist leadership were directed to eradicate Islamic elements in Turkish
politics and society. The heritage of the Islamic and Ottoman periods was denied.
The Kemalist leadership initiated a total appropriation of Western civilization.
Berkes argues that the primary goal of the Kemalist leadership was the "absolute
determination to achieve an unconditional transformation to Western civilization
and to destroy all forces of reaction." (3) Atatürk declared the direction
to be followed in civil and family law should be that of Western civilization.
The Civil Code was taken from the Swiss Civil Code. Among others, the Kemalist
regime forced the people to wear hats and to write in the Latin alphabet. (4)
Even though some adaptations have been made in foreign policy issues, I argue
that no foreign policy reorientation and restructuring happened throughout the
Kemalist period. Despite differences in personalities of the presidents before
Özal, all of them were "warrior diplomats" following the path
of Kemalism. (5) The Kemalist leadership is based on six main untouchable principles
of Kemalism, namely "republicanism," "nationalism," "populism,"
"secularism," "reformism" and "statism." Even
proposing changes in these principles are not allowed by the constitution.
Although there are different formulations about the elements of the Kemalist
leadership, all formulations agree that at least three of these factors (military,
intelligentsia and bureaucracy) are the backbone of the Kemalist regime. (6)
I consider main elements of the Kemalist leadership group as the military, the
presidency, the foreign ministry, traditional bureaucracy, senior leaders of
mainstream political parties, and traditional capital of Ýstanbul, represented
by Association of Turkish Industrialists and Businessmen. All these various
groups are not necessarily truly "Kemalist," but their interests kept
them together. At least, they are groups that benefit from the implementation
of Kemalist principles.
I divide the Kemalist leadership into two subgroups. The first group, "leftist
Kemalists," follow the line of Ýsmet Ýnönü, the
second president of Turkey and long time leader of Atatürk's Republican
People's Party (RPP), and Recep Peker, long time secretary general of the RPP
and prime minister in late 1940s. They advocated an authoritarian, statist and
ultra-nationalist administration. The second subgroup, "rightist Kemalists,"
follows the line of Fethi Okyar, one of the closest aide and friends of Atatürk,
and Celal Bayar, president of Turkey from 1950 to 1960. This subgroup support
a relatively liberal economic and social structure but still advocated a jacobenist
administration and shared most of the Kemalist principles with leftists subgroup.
When Atatürk told Ýnönü, the leader of RPP, and Okyar,
the leader of Republican Free Party, "I am now a father. Both of you are
my sons. As far as I am concerned there is no difference between the two of
you. What I want from you in the Grand National Assembly is an open debate upon
national issues," (7) he was "confirming" my categorization.
2. Özal Leadership
In the 1980s, the Özal leadership replaced the Kemalist one and introduced
a new political identity, alliance pattern, economic foreign policy, and ethnic
policy. The Özal leadership changed a number of major principles of the
Kemalist leadership and weakened its power. For instance, the Özal leadership
reassigned some foreign trade and relations with international institutions
from the Kemalist Foreign Ministry to other ministries or directly to the Prime
Ministry. (8) It was aimed to weaken the power of the Foreign Ministry. The
Özal leadership abolished statism and populism, two of the "six arrows"
of Kemalism, and changed the content and meaning of secularism, nationalism,
reformism and republicanism. In order to grasp the real impact of the Özal
leadership group and the state identity defined by them regarding foreign policy
restructuring, it is necessary to analyze major elements of the leadership.
I demonstrate the impact of the Özal leadership group and the state identity
defined by them with several factors. First, his personality and his previous
experiences help to understand his ideology, which determined his domestic and
foreign policy initiatives. Özal destroyed many taboos and established
a new system under his control. Özal's ideology was a synthesis of technological
Westernization and cultural Turkism and Islamism. Many Turkish scholars call
his ideology the "Turkish-Islamic Synthesis." (9) According to this
ideology, only by following Islam and Turkish nationalism could Turkey hope
to achieve a powerful position in the international arena. One part of his ideology
was the Ottoman and Islamic culture. The second half was economic and political
liberalism. He claimed that modernization could only be achieved through liberalization.
He used economic liberalism to achieve political pluralism and visa versa.
Özal was born as a "black Turk" and continued his political career
as a "black Turk." He comes from a conservative and religious Anatolian
family that was despised by the Kemalist elite. Özal was known as a member
of the largest Islamic religious order, Nakþibendi, in Turkey. His first
attempt to enter politics was as a candidate of the Islamic-oriented National
Salvation Party in the 1977 general elections.
The second important indication of Özal leadership was the structure of
Özal's Motherland Party (MP) and overall policies of his administration.
The MP was a "nationalist and conservative party," "devoted to
national and moral values," and had "a liberal outlook based on free
market and free enterprise." (10) Özal described the MP as a party
that is reformist, modern, progressive, and loyal to tradition, culture and
mores. The MP was a new party and achieved conciliation and moderation in Turkish
political discourse. In different places and at different times, Özal explained
that the main principles of the Özal leadership are the freedom of thought,
freedom of religion and conscience and freedom of enterprise. (11) He introduced
these principles as those of the MP. He describes three more basic characteristics
of the ideology of the MP: nationalism, conservatism and social justice. To
him, MP's nationalism was competitiveness with other nations; their conservatism
was respectful to history, beliefs, traditions and customs; and their social
justice was helping the poor and the community. (12)
The third indicator of the deviation of the Özal leadership from the Kemalist
one was the reactions of the Kemalist groups toward the Özal administration
and his policies. Özal often said that he was the target of that "oligarchy,"
which included Kemalist media, Kemalist political parties, the military and
Kemalist businessmen, when he initiated any reform program. "White Turks"
could not reconcile themselves to the Özal leadership, especially the presidency.
White Turks did not find Özal with his mustache, considered by them as
a symbol of backwardness and traditionalism, worthy of the presidency. Kemalists
declared Özal as an "Islamist" and a "separatist" since
Özal was liberal on these issues and tried to solve them.
Leaders of other political parties that belonged to either rightist or leftist
groups of the Kemalist leadership also criticized novel policies of the Özal
leadership. Any step taken for further democratization was considered as a further
harmful step for the Turkish state. Erdal Ýnönü, the leader
of Social-Democrat Populist Party, claimed that Özal was anti-secularist
during his prime ministry and he could not represent the "national will
and unity." (13) When the Özal leadership repealed the Language Bill,
introduced by the military regime in 1983, Süleyman Demirel, long time
leader of rightist Kemalism, claimed that "this is the greatest harm you
can inflict on Turkey." Bülent Ecevit, long time leader of leftist
Kemalism, expressed his feeling by saying, "my heart is crying tears of
blood." (14)
The fourth indicator of the leadership change was the societal support base
of the Özal leadership, which was much different from that of the Kemalist
leadership. The power of non-Kemalist groups increased because Özal utilized
them as an alternative basis of support. The Özal leadership's main supporters
were the Anatolian capitalists and conservative political and social groups.
The Özal leadership emerged from the "black Turks;" therefore,
it was very tolerant to the common people. It did not expect any hostility from
domestic setting, except from the white Turks.
One of the most quoted sayings of Özal is "service to people is service
to God." With this, Özal synthesized his popular and religious tendencies
shared by the majority of the population. He struggled against the "classic
powers" and "men who feed themselves with the baby food of the old
regime" and supported the emergence of a new conservative elite class having
a close relationship with the common people. (15) When Özal died, more
than one million people attended his funeral ceremony in Ankara and Ýstanbul
chanting Islamic slogans. The attendants did not let the state band play during
the ceremony with the belief that playing music was not Islamic.
Foreign Policy Orientation During the Kemalist Period
Continuity and change in Turkish foreign policy was largely a product of Kemalist
leaders until 1980s. After the establishment of the Turkish Republic, the Kemalist
leadership was determined to tie the future of Turkey to the Western world.
For the Kemalist leadership, the only possible way to maintain independence
of the state was the alliance with West. (16) The Kemalist leadership group
viewed foreign and domestic policies as inseparable aspects of the same issue
using foreign policy for domestic purposes. While some scholars argue that internal
and transnational considerations pushed the Kemalist leadership toward the West,
others contend the global power structure and the pressure of the Soviet Union
were the main determinants of the Turkish entrance into the western alliance.
(17) Foreign policy orientation was mainly the result of Westernism and persistent
threats facing the Kemalist regime.
1. Westernism
The Kemalist leadership had been supporting a Western-oriented foreign policy
during both one-party and multi-party periods. As Vali suggests "being
European [was] neither a geographical nor a linguistic question; it relates
rather to a way of life, mores, philosophy of life, in other words, to ideology."
(18) Atatürk explained that throughout history Turks always went towards
the West and would continue in that direction. (19) For Kemalists, European
countries were natural friends and Europe was natural arena to play international
game and to form alliances. Turkey's decision to enter into the European Union
was thus a natural political act.
Ideological foundation of the regime that determined the direction of Turkish
foreign policy as well as domestic policy was the "six arrows" of
Kemalism. Acting according to the principle of secularism, Kemalists eliminated
Islamic and theocratic foundations of the old regime to achieve Westernization.
Mentioning the Islamic world and "outside Turks" had been considered
"rupture from the West and reactionism" and "racism, chauvinism
and Turanism" respectively. (20) For the same reason, Turkey refused to
ratify the Agreement of the Charter of the Organization of Islamic Conference
in the 1970s since it "contains references to Islamic principles, the unity
of the Islamic community, and solidarity of Muslim." (21)
2. Transnational Threats
Even though Kemalist Turkey sought a Western identification, conditions in which
the state was born did not allow the Kemalist leadership to follow a Western-oriented
foreign and domestic policy. The Kemalist leadership chose to follow an authoritarian
policy to eliminate their adversaries in domestic politics. They were concerned
about both domestic and regional challenges. They were "intolerant toward
the periphery," (22) those with religious and ethnic identities. The main
transnational threats were Kurdish nationalism, political Islam, and the socialist
movement.
The Kemalist leadership consolidated Turkish ethnicity as the core identity
of the state. Carley argues that " the very concept of the new Turkey depended
directly on uniformity of nationhood, and the notion that the republic might
contain people who belong to some other nation was extremely threatening. This
aspect of Atatürkist thought has changed little through the generations."
(23) The Kurds, who initiated more than twenty rebellions during the first two
decades of the republic, played the most important role as an ethnic threat
against secular Turkism policy of the Kemalist regime.
The second transnational threat to the Kemalist regime was the Islamic ideology
embedded in the social life of those in the periphery. As Toprak argues, "religion
in Turkey, especially during the formative years of the Turkish Republic, has
been the most important centrifugal force with a potential to challenge the
state." (24) The threat of political Islam was used to justify the entry
into the European Union. Kemalist regime warned Western countries that if the
West does not support them, the Western countries would lose a geostrategic
and powerful ally in the Middle East.
The Kemalist leadership considered any communist activities as treason and those
who supported these activities as the Soviet agents. They crushed any socialist
legal and illegal organizations in the country and took actions against communist
governments in the region. The constitution prohibited any legal organization
defending communist principles since socialist groups were critical of Kemalist
principles. They opposed authoritarian and oppressive policies in domestic politics
and dependence on the West in foreign policy orientation.
3. Regional Threats
Under the Kemalist leadership, although Turkey had some agreements with the
neighboring states, it was geographically isolated. Kemalist Turkey joined several
defensive regional pacts mainly to preserve its independence and to eliminate
transnational threats. Kemalist leaders turned their back to regional countries
preferring alignment the West. Many analyses of Turkish foreign policy concentrate
on threats from the Soviet Union, the fascist Italy and Greece. (25) Aggressive
policies of fascist Italy contributed to Turkey's alignment with France and
Great Britain in 1939. Likewise, one of the most important reasons for Turkey's
entry into NATO alliance was the threat of the Soviet Union to its territory
after the World War II.
As elucidated by omni-balancing theory, with the emergence of more challenging
threats, regime leaders tend to ally to the state with the less threatening
one in order to balance against the more threatening one. Turkey did this during
the first two decades of the Republic by quickly allying with Western colonial
powers against Kurdish nationalism and political Islam. The Kemalist leadership
continued to follow the same strategy after the military intervention in 1980.
With the Iranian Islamic Revolution in 1979 and the invasion of Afghanistan
by the Soviet Union, Kemalist leaders established closer relations with Sunni
states in the domestic and regional context. In order to counter anti-regime
ideologies such as communism and radical Islamic movements and states, the military
government quickly became actively involved in traditional Islamic international
organizations and began closer cooperation with conservative Muslim countries.
Domestically the government introduced some changes such as the constitutional
law making "education and instruction in religion and ethics compulsory
part of the curriculum in all primary and secondary schools." (26) The
Kemalist leadership recognized the "Turkish-Islamic synthesis" as
a "legal ideology" in Turkish politics to prevent an Iranian-style
revolution in Turkey and to isolate the Islamic groups. (27) Leaders of the
military government participated in Islamic international cooperation activities
and allowed some liberalization toward Muslim masses in domestic politics.
Foreign Policy Restructuring During the Özal Period
The Özal leadership shifted the foreign policy orientation of the country.
Özalist approach to foreign policy characterized by his determination "to
depart from established policies, to take calculated risks, and to search for
new alternatives and options." (28) Özalist Turkey followed a diversified,
active, daring, and outward-oriented foreign policy and was "eager to contribute
actively to all actions aimed at improving multilateral cooperation." (29)
In this section, I analyze restructuring of Turkey's alliance pattern under
the Özal leadership.
The alliance pattern was restructured from being dependent on the Western bloc
into an interdependent and interconnected network of alliances. Özalist
Turkey improved its relations with the newly independent Turkish republics,
the Islamic world, neighboring, Eastern European, Eastern Asian countries and
the United States. Turkey began to emphasize its common affinities with the
Islamic world and became more active in Islamic and other regional organizations.
The context of Turkish relations with the West changed during leaving its strong
unidimensional Western oriented and Western dominated foreign policy for a diversified
and multidimensional alliance pattern. For instance, the Özal administration
signed more international agreements than any other administration in Turkish
history. (30) The isolationist policy of the Kemalist leadership was considered
as an obstacle in the path of economic development. Özal characterized
diversification policy during his leadership as "spreading out the weight
of Turkish trade" and political power. (31) Turkey initiated "alternative
patterns" such as the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, the East Asian market
and the Economic Cooperation Organization to balance its Western partnership.
One of the best indications of the independence of Turkey's alliance policy
from the Western influence was the meeting of the Iraqi Kurdish leaders with
Turkish officials. The US ambassador in Turkey learned the meeting after it
was revealed in the Turkish press. (32) Meanwhile, Özal was very close
to the Islamic world, including Islamic Iran. Yeþilada points out political
connections with Muslim Middle Eastern countries have "no parallel [development]
in the Turkish Republic's history. In this sense, rapprochement with Islamic
states truly opened a new chapter in Turkish foreign policy." (33) The
Özal leadership followed a policy of co-existence in both the Western and
Islamic world. Özal argued that there was no contradiction between the
things he did and the religion of Islam since pro-Western strategy was a means
rather than an objective. (34)
The Özal leadership did not accept all policies of the Western alliance,
including those of NATO. During the Gulf crisis for example, Özal even
criticized the NATO's stance against Islamic fundamentalism. Özal recognized
differences between Turkey and the West saying, "We are an Islamic country.
We have differences from the West… We are the bridge between the West and
the East. We need to take the science, technology, thinking, understanding,
and compromise of the West. But we have also our own values that the West do
not have." (35) In conclusion, the commitment of the Özalist Turkey
to Westernization was much weaker than that of the Kemalist leadership. By trying
to solve the Kurdish problem and to diversify its economic relations, Özalist
Turkey tried to decrease its dependence on the West since Turkey's reliance
upon the US military aid for its war against the Kurdish separatists and economic
relations with the EU have been the most important factors deepening Turkish
dependence on the West.
Özal explained his policy during the Gulf crisis as a continuation of his
understanding of being a bridge between the East and the West. Özal testified
that Turkey's involvement on the side of the international coalition during
the Gulf War was not only a result of Turkey's alliance with the Western countries,
but also a result of the consent and similar behavior of other regional Muslim
countries such as Iran and Syria. (36) Below I analyze Turkish relations with
different categories of states and single states that occupy a significant place
in Turkish security concerns to show diversification in Turkish alliance pattern.
1. The Central Asian Republics and the Turkish World
Özal abandoned traditional isolationist Kemalist policy toward the Turks
of Central Asia. Turkey became the first state that recognized the Central Asian
republics. Turkey, with its market economy, relatively democratic system, and
ethnic and cultural links was viewed as a model to be emulated. "Traditionally
minded Turkish foreign ministry and a great portion of the Turkish establishment,
which had adhered fairly closely to traditional, isolationist Atatürkist
policies," (37) abstained from following an active foreign policy toward
the new Turkish states. It was the Özal leadership who encouraged new relations
with those states. Özal visited Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan in March 1991
and the President of Kazakhstan paid the first foreign visit to Turkey in the
same year. It was followed by visits of presidents of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan.
While Özalist Turkey encouraged the Muslim Turkish republics to enter Islamic
international institutions such as the Organization of the Islamic Conference
and the Economic Cooperation Organization, it initiated bilateral cooperation
in many issue areas exclusively with these states. Leaders of these states signed
the Ankara Agreement to improve mutual and multilateral relationships and to
act together in international organizations on 30-31 October 1992. Leaders agreed
to support transportation and information projects, improve commercial and economic
cooperation, establish joint projects in industrial, agricultural, energy and
service sectors, and search for natural resources, especially natural gas and
oil. Turkey even suggested establishing a "Turkish common market."
In the first several years, over 300 agreements of all kinds have been concluded
between Turkey and the newly emerged Turkish states covering such diverse subjects
as civil aviation and prevention of double taxation. (38) Turkey founded the
Turkish Cooperation Development Agency in the Foreign Ministry in 1992 to organize
Turkish relations with these countries and to foster cooperative opportunities.
Thousands of students and public servants from these republics were sent to
Turkey for training and academic studies. Özalist Turkey "has pledged
about $1.5 billion in aid, mostly in export credits and promised scholarships
for some 10,000 students in Turkish universities." (39)
Turkey improved its relations with the Turkish World significantly. Three "Turkish
summits" are an indication of close relations. Hundreds of Turkish companies
entered these countries and many joint ventures have been created in different
sectors. Thousands of students were given scholarships by the Turkish government.
The Turkish press has expanded into the new republics. The volume of trade between
the two sides was estimated between $2.5 and $4 billion. Turkic states provided
potential opportunities for Turkey to reduce dependence on the Middle East oil
by producing huge amounts of oil and natural gas. (40) As a result, the Özal
leadership considered Turkey as the "power center" for the Turkish
world to be one of the "major league countries." (41)
2. The Middle East and the Islamic World
Before coming to power in 1983, the Özal leadership declared that Turkey
had to take its "proper place" and had to have good relations with
Islamic countries, Arab countries, and neighboring countries, since they are
natural markets or even allies for Turkey. Only by having good relations with
the Islamic world as well as with the West could Turkey achieve the role of
being a bridge between the West and the East. While examining the impact of
domestic change on Turkish foreign policy, Fuller emphasizes the influence of
the Özal leadership on Turkey's economic and strategic view of the Middle
East beginning in the early 1980s. Fuller argues that two factors influenced
Özal's policy: "First, the emergence of an export-oriented economic
policy lent even greater weight to ties with the Arab states. Second, Özal's
personal interest in facilitating the restoration of a more Islamic emphasis
in Turkish life led to an interest in improved relations with other Muslim states,
including the Arabs." (42) The only Muslim state with a long state tradition,
Özal transformed Turkey to the center of the Islamic world.
Turkey pursued an active and independent policy and gained self-confidence in
Middle Eastern issues. Turkish foreign policy toward the region collided with
the Western policy in the 1980s and early 1990s. (43) First, Turkish foreign
policy deviated from American policy during this period in the Arab-Israeli
conflict, following a "low-key policy" toward Israel in order to gain
Arab and Islamic support for Turkey. (44) After the military takeover in 1980,
Turkey downgraded embassy in Tel Aviv to secondary status, charge d'affairs.
Özalist Turkey became one of the first countries that recognized Palestine.
However, Özalist Turkey did not take a hostile position toward Israel.
It offered to mediate and host peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis.
The "peace water pipeline project," supplying Turkish waters to regional
countries in the Middle East to both Arabs and the Israelis, was one of several
Turkish proposals for involvement in the peace talks. The project was planned
in 1986 and proposed to regional countries in 1988. According to this project,
Turkey would supply extra waters of two Turkish rivers, Seyhan and Ceyhan, with
two pipelines. The western pipeline would go through Syria and Jordan to Saudi
Arabia. The eastern pipeline would go through Syria, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia
to Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman. Arab countries rejected the project since
it would give water to Israel too. (45) Turkey tried to contribute to the peace
process by proposing an interdependent regional economic bloc and securing free
exchange of goods, labor, and services in the region.
Second, Özalist Turkey followed an "active neutrality" policy
during the Iraq-Iran War. In contrast to most countries in the world, including
the Western and eastern blocs, Turkey did not pursue an overt or covert anti-Iranian
foreign policy during the war. Third, Turkey did not participate in Western
efforts to isolate Iran and Libya during the 1980s. Rather, Turkish economic
relations dramatically increased with these countries, with Turkish companies
becoming very active in Libya.
Turkey attached greater significance to the Islamic world and Muslim minorities
in the region. The Iranian Islamic Revolution in February 1979 and the Afghan
invasion by the Soviet Union in the same year pushed Turkey to enter closer
relations with the conservative Muslim countries. Economic, political and cultural
cooperation with the Islamic world increased in the 1980s. Turkey emphasized
the unity of the Islamic world and Islamic values when proposing solutions for
the Iran-Iraq conflict and the Bosnia-Herzegovina secession, or taking sides
in many international disputes.
Turkey improved its relations with the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC).
First, it extensively increased its share in the Islamic Development Bank, contributing
10 million Islamic Dinar (ID) in 1981. The first Özal government increased
Turkey's share to 160 million ID in 1985, becoming the fifth largest shareholder
of the bank, and therefore gaining the right to be represented at the Executive
Committee. (46) Second, during the 4th Islamic Summit held in Morocco in 1984,
the Turkish President was elected as permanent chairman of the Organization
of Islamic Conference Economic and Commercial Cooperation Permanent Committee.
President Özal not only attended the meetings but also called for additional
meetings to discuss issues such as the Bosnian problem. Turkey benefited from
the OIC when dealing with the Cyprus question and Muslim minority problems in
the Balkans. Turkey played the main role in the acceptance of the Central Asian
Muslim republics to the organization. Özal freed the OIC from Arab domination
and inter-Arab conflicts by opening its doors to the vestiges of the Ottoman
Empire in the Balkans and the Turkic republics. Özal attached great importance
to the non-Arab states of Iran, Indonesia and Malaysia in order to balance against
Arab domination in the organization.
Turkey pioneered the reestablishment in 1988 of the Economic Cooperation Organization
among Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. Although Turkey had some concerns with Islamic
Iran, the fear of exporting political Islam to regional countries including
Turkey and the competition over the Central Asian republics and the Azeri nationalism,
the Özal leadership enjoyed a close relationship with Iran. (47) In addition
to the other two original members, Iran and Pakistan, Özalist Turkey encouraged
the Central Asian Muslim states and Afghanistan to join the organization; making
it a truly regional organization. Özalist Turkey brought together powerful
economies to create a powerful regional economy with the ECO. (48)
3. The Former Socialist Bloc and the Balkans
Turkey had improved its relations with the Soviet Union/Russia and with other
socialist countries before the collapse of the socialist bloc. Turkey opened
the border station at Sarp in September 1988, which had been closed since 1937.
It signed a number of agreements with the Soviet Union during the period of
1986-1990, including the Agreement on Exchange Commodities, the Convertible
Currency Protocol, and the Long-term Program: Economic, Trade, Scientific and
technological Cooperation. Turkish trade with the Soviet Union increased from
$411 million in 1985 to $1.5 billion in 1990.
During Özal's presidency further cooperative acts were also taken. Turkey
solved the 17year-old problem of the Flight Information Region over the Black
Sea in 1989. They signed the Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation in 1991. Turkey
opened its consulate in Baku, and the Soviet Union opened a consulate in Trabzon.
In spite of some problems on some issues, similar improvements in political
and economic fields continued with Russia. Özalist Turkey pursued a policy
of mutual interdependence in order to solve bilateral political conflicts (in
Caucasus and Central Asia). Turkey signed trade and investment agreements in
natural gas, construction and trade sectors. Having economic interdependence
made Turkish economic activities in Central Asia easier. (49)
Turkey enjoyed closer relations with countries having a higher percentage of
Muslims. When Özal paid an official visit to Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania
and Croatia in February 1993, it was interpreted by many as an historical step
taken by Turkey toward expressing friendship with Muslims while containing aspirations
of Yugoslavia and Greece. (50) After his visit, Özal stated that "the
most effective power in the region is Islam" for Turkey and he advised
religious organizations in Turkey to spread the religion in these states. (51)
This "Ottoman-Islamic" cooperation was a balancing policy against
the "Orthodox Christian-Slavic" bloc in the Balkans.
After the dismemberment of the Soviet Union, Turkey invited leaders of states
bordering the Black Sea to Ýstanbul on 19-21 December 1990. The objective
was to transform the region into a peaceful, prosperous and stable region by
creating the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Zone. The organization was
established in Ýstanbul on 25 June 1992 after the summit meeting. The
BSEC was a significant step in bringing many conflicting states together and
improving political, economic and social cooperation at the state as well as
societal levels. The BSEC facilitated integration of Turkey with the Balkan
countries and the ex-Soviet states. While some observers argue that it became
the second door opened to Europe, some others argued that it was an alternative
to the EU. (52)
4. Greece and Cyprus
There were a number of territorial and social conflicts between Turkey and Greece.
Among them are territorial issues of Cyprus, Aegean continental shelf, limit
of territorial waters, control of the airspace, militarization of the Aegean
islands, and responsibility for the Aegean Sea. Social issues include the plight
of the Turkish minority in Western Trace and the issue of the main Orthodox
Church of Ýstanbul. Of these issues, the Cyprus question has been the
most intractable. Solving that issue has been a pre-condition for resolving
other issues.
In accordance with principles of good neighborhood and membership in the same
alliance the Özal government initiated dialogue with Greece. (53) After
very tense relations that brought two countries at the brink of a war, Özal's
meeting with his counterpart Papandreou in Davos, Switzerland, on 30-31 January
1988 heralded a brief, but friendly era and significant détente in Turkish-Greek
relations. Often referred to as "the spirit of Davos" in the media,
two countries agreed to cooperate on less controversial matters first, then
try to solve problems step by step.
According to a press communiqué published by the Foreign Ministry, two
prime ministers agreed to establish two committees: one to explore areas of
cooperation such as economic cooperation, joint venture trade, tourism, communications,
cultural exchanges and one to define problem areas, explore possibilities of
closing the gap and move towards lasting solutions. Özal visited Greece
in the same year becoming the first Turkish prime minister in decades. (54)
Government change in Greece (1989) and government change in Turkey (1991) hindered
the two countries from improving their relationships. Thus, domestic politics
in both countries brought new leaderships to power and ended the conciliatory
spirit of Davos. Steinbach refers to the Davos meeting as "the most dramatic
attempt at creating a political environment in accordance with the priorities
set by the new regime in Ankara." (55) Özal tried to diffuse tensions
with Greece rather than taking a firm position preferred by the Kemalist leadership.
The Özal leadership abolished the requirement of having visas for Greeks
to enter Turkey without the consent of the Foreign Ministry, but the main "establishment
forces," media, the Foreign Ministry, and the military opposed the Davos
process. (56)
Turkey under the Özal leadership considered the Cyprus question as a burden
on Turkish foreign policy and preferred a compromise from both sides. It followed
a pragmatic and economic-oriented policy toward the Cyprus question. For decades
Greece and Kemalist Turkey followed reactionary policies, refusing alternative
means of solution. When the Özal leadership evaluated the Cyprus question
on economic rather than merely on political and ideological terms, it recognized
the question as an obstacle to an active Turkish foreign policy toward the West.
Özal began giving direction to the negotiation process. Çandar calls
this policy a continuation of Özal's Ottomanist policy: administering policy
of dependent lands from the center. (57) Özal proposed Turkey and Greece
to participate in the negotiations directly and begin quadripartite meetings.
However, the Turkish Foreign Ministry did not agree to this proposal. (58) Özal
did not insist on his proposal since he was not persistent to solve the Cyprus
problem at any price. He just tried to uproot the image of Turkey as "hardliner"
and unwilling to solve the problem. Özal attempted make the Greek side
responsible for the deadlock in the negotiations.
5. The West
The Özal leadership attempted to engineer a "qualitative change
in Turkey's role in the Western alliance" (59) and improve Turkey's relations
with the US and the European Union simultaneously in order to prevent Turkish
dependence on either side (the EU or the US). Turkey attempted to diversify
its alliance pattern within the Western alliance in order to enhance Turkey's
bargaining position. Below I analyze Turkish relations with Western countries
under two sections: the European Union and the Turkish-US relations.
The European Union (EU): With major structural transformations in political,
economic, and social fields initiated in the 1980s, Turkey improved its relations
with the EU. The economic stabilization program indirectly fulfilled its obligations
toward the EU and Turkey applied to the Council of Ministers for full membership
on 14 April 1987. The Council of Ministers referred it to the European Commission.
The Commission sent its opinion to the Council on 18 September 1989 stating
that it was unlikely to be able to discuss Turkish membership before 1993.
Kemalist elite groups such as the Foreign Ministry and members of the Ýstanbul
Chamber of Commerce considered the application as a major step toward Westernization
and civilizing mission paved by the Kemalist principles. However, unlike the
Kemalist leadership, the full EU membership was not the final objective for
the Özal leadership. It aimed to benefit from the EU mainly in economic
terms. Özal believed that membership of the EU would bring competition
between Turkish goods and services and those of the EU. This competition would
increase the quality of Turkish goods.
There was a political dimension of Turkey's application for full membership.
It was a counterbalancing move against possible US dependency and a result of
multilateral foreign policy, i.e., the Özal leadership expected from the
customs union with the EU to provide a dynamism that the Turkish state alone
could not create. Özal viewed the EU as a means to improve Turkey's industrialization
and economic development rather than a political objective. According to the
Foreign Ministry, Turkey is an inseparable part of Europe in every aspect. The
Özal leadership, who consider the basis of the relationship between the
EU and Turkey as the understanding of balancing mutual interests, attempted
to change this understanding. Özalists considered the application for full
membership as interconnected with the domestic structure of the country in which
they were competing with the Kemalist group. By utilizing foreign policy dynamics,
they tried to maintain the favorable balance-of-power in domestic politics.
For Özal, Turkey needed to decrease its dependence on the European countries,
since the European view of Turkey was biased due to its religion and its historical
background.
Furthermore, membership in the European alliance pattern was not the only alternative
for the Özal leadership. Özal acknowledged that if Turkey solves its
domestic cleavages such as political Islam and the Kurdish problem, it does
not matter whether to enter the EU or not. Furthermore, "still by keeping
the priority of the European context, we have to attach great importance to
the United States, Black Sea Economic Cooperation and East Asia." (60)
That is, the Özal leadership diversified its alliance pattern both within
the Western context and within the overall context.
The United States: Turkey has traditionally been viewed as one of the
most dependable allies of the US. During the Kemalist leadership, the Defense
and Economic Cooperation Agreement (DECA) signed in 1980 was the basis of Turkish
defense cooperation. After making some revisions, the Özal leadership renewed
DECA in 1987. However, bilateral relations started to diversify, economic cooperation
gained momentum, the basis of bilateral relations was broadened during the Özal
period. The two governments agreed to improve defense cooperation and to modernize
the Turkish armed forces. As a result of these developments, the US launched
an extensive program to modernize the Turkish armed forces with the participation
of Turkish and American companies in the joint production of various weaponry
systems. General Dynamics and Turkish Plane Industry Joint Company began production
of F-16 fighter plane in Eskiþehir. Turkish Military Electronics Industries
Inc. obtained licenses from Litton, a US company, for production of tactical
communication equipment and digital message devices. The Machinery and Chemical
Industries Establishment began producing air-to-ground FFAR rockets under a
US license. (61)
The main goal of the Özal leadership toward the US was to improve Turkey's
relations over "zero option," which means challenging the US without
any alternative policies. (62) The primary threat exercised by the Kemalist
leadership against the US was the closing the US bases in Turkey. Under Özal,
Turkey diversified its relations with the US. Unlike the previous governments,
which lacked strong cultural, historical, and economic ties with the US, the
Özal leadership initiated a significant economic relationship with the
US, even discussing the idea of free trade. (63) According to Özal, Turkey
needed to have a close relationship with the United States, not only in security
and strategic areas, but also in economic terms as an important market for Turkish
exports. Trade issues were one of the main problems between Turkey and the US
during the Özal period. Turkey sought more trade liberalization and not
just military aid. The Özal leadership established an interdependent relationship
with the US by giving priority to economic rather than military and political
cooperation.
Eralp et. al. confirm that diversification of Turkey's relations with the US
and Turkey's involvement in the Middle Eastern politics caused strained relations
with Europe. (64) For instance, Özal argues that Europe always supported
Greece and the Cypriot Greeks in the Cyprus question. What he did was to involve
the US to balance Europe with the US. In today's unipolar world, such American
role is more beneficial for Turkey." (65) Turkey and the US were more interdependent
than Europe and Turkey. With the removal of the Soviet Union, Turkey's strategic
importance for Europe declined dramatically. However, after the domestic restructuring
in the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the US focused on the regional
balance-of-power in the Middle East and Islamic "fundamentalism" directed
toward the US targets, many of which were also a source of concern for Turkey.
In addition, Özalist Turkey was aware that the US was capable of threatening
any country in the world. Özal had to bandwagon with the US in order to
avoid Kemalist threats. Özal benefited from the US support on many problems
with third parties preventing anti-Turkish policy initiatives. For instance,
with the help of the US, Turkey was able to persuade the UN to support the Security
Council Resolution 649 regarding Cyprus. Likewise, the US put pressure on the
EU in favor of Turkey vis-à-vis many problems between Turkey and the
EU. The backing of the US created opportunities for the Özal leadership
to deal with the European pressure.
Conclusion
In the 1980s and early 1990s, Turkey restructured its foreign policy from being
"the tail end of Europe" into "the center of its own newly emerging
world." (66) Özal attempted to transform Turkey from being simply
a base for the Western alliance into a regional power that considers the NATO
alliance as part of its interdependent alliance network. Relations developed
during the 1980s with the East, South, and North became vital for Turkey's interests.
The Özal leadership transformed the orientation of Turkish foreign policy
and attempted to spread Turkey's sphere of influence to the East.
As suggested by Vali, Turkey is "too important to play no role in international
politics, but she is not strong enough to keep other powers in balance. She
must therefore seek protection from that group of powers which does not constitute
a threat to her security and independence." (67) Both leaderships followed
a balancing policy against certain threats they face. The Kemalist leadership
pursued a Western-oriented alliance pattern and formed some regional pacts in
order to balance against the threat of political Islam, Kurdish nationalism
and regional threats. Main reasons for Kemalist Turkey to enter into the Western
alliance are valid for the Özal leadership as well, i. e., balancing and
bandwagoning strategies against threats. The Özal leadership allied with
Islamic and conservative groups and the US against the Kemalist leadership and
Europe respectively.
Different state identities defined by different leaderships led them to follow
different alliance patterns. While the Kemalist leadership led Turkey to follow
a Western-oriented alliance pattern, the Özal leadership led Turkey to
follow a policy that served as a bridge between the West and the East. As indicated
by Calis, "if the internal structures identified with Kemalist identity
and world outlook are not changed, Turkey's Western-oriented foreign policy
would hardly be affected by events occurring outside the country." (68)
The Özal leadership developed an interdependent network of alliance to
maintain the security of the state. Özal's main policy was to make Turkey
to be able to compete with the West. Meanwhile, Özal was well aware that
without the Western support it is quite difficult to maintain its regime in
one of the most strategic and unstable regions in the world.
As part of diversification policy Özalist Turkey had to maintain close
relationship with the West, main foreign supporters of Kemalists, in order to
balance against the Kemalist powers. In the end, Özal won the support of
the West and deterred the military from taking any action against his leadership.
Many critics, mostly from the Kemalist leadership group, claim that the Özal
leadership was totally dependent on the US support in its foreign policy orientation.
Even if the claim is true, the Özal leadership group was also strongly
Islamic-oriented, regional-oriented and Eastern-oriented, an indication of the
Özalist strategy of diversification.
Turkey experienced a dramatic change from its traditional Kemalist isolationism
into Özalist proactive and diversified alliance pattern and regional foreign
policy. Therefore, Kemalist leaders considered Özal's active foreign policy
as "adventurism." (69) Under Özal, Turkish foreign policy increasingly
concentrated on regions such as Central Asia, Caucasus, the Balkans and the
Middle East. Özalist Turkey attempted to be the political and economic
center or the "regional hegemon" of these regions. It shifted its
strategic priorities and began to focus on regional issues rather than playing
largely with global powers.
Today, Turkey still confronts a dilemma between the West and the East. Turkey
faces difficulties in balancing its relationship between regional and global
politics due to the controversial nature of the Kurdish question and political
Islam, and the nature of the Turkish governing leadership. On the one hand,
Turkey sought a new role in Central Asia with the dream of the extending its
influence from the Adriatic Sea to the wall of China. On the other hand, the
ethno-nationalist movements, the Kurdish problem in particular, emerged as a
mortal threat to multi-ethnic Turkey. "A Kemalist 'do nothing' approach
to the Middle East is no longer either possible or advisable for the Turkish
state." (70)
After the end of the Özal leadership in 1993 and the Kemalist leadership
reassumption of power, Turkey abandoned its "balanced foreign policy"
in the Middle East, retreated from the Islamic world, and initiated strategic,
political and economic cooperation with Israel and followed its former Western-oriented
policy in regional matters. For instance, it was after the Özal leadership
that the first foreign minister (H. Çetin in November 1993), prime minister
(T. Çiller in November 1994), and president (S. Demirel in March 1996)
visited Israel. (71) The post-Özal Kemalist leadership returned to its
"isolation policy" toward the Turkish world as well as toward other
parts of the world.
As a result, this article demonstrates that the leadership group and the state
identity defined by them is the main determinant of foreign policy orientation
and restructuring. Leadership groups first try to maintain their interests and
then secure national interests. In many cases, interests of the leadership group
are proposed as national interests. It is not different in Turkish case. First
the Kemalist leadership then the Özal leadership followed policies that
designed to keep them in power.
*Muhittin Ataman is assistant professor in Department of International Relations at Abant Ýzzet Baysal University
NOTES:
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11. Cumhurbaþkaný Turgut Özal'ýn Ýþ Dünyasý
Vakfý Toplantýsý'ndaki Konuþmalarý Türkiye'de
Gerçekleþen Büyük Deðiþim ve Ýkinci
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58. Yetkin, Ateþ Hattýnda Aktif Politika.
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60. Özal'ýn "21. Asýr Türkiye'nin ve Türklerin
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61. Yeþilada, Turkish Foreign Policy toward the Middle East.
62. Güldemir, Texas Malatya.
63. Yusuf Özal, interview.
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65. Quoted in Cengiz Çandar, Sabah, Turkish Daily, 13 November 1997.
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67. Vali, Bridge Across the Bosphorus, p. 374.
68. Calis, Turkish State's Identity, p. 136.
69. Hale, Turkish Politics and the Military.
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