FROM SYRIA TO UKRAINE: TÜRKİYE’S SEARCH FOR AUTONOMOUS FOREIGN POLICY DURING THE AK PARTY ERA

Türkiye’s foreign policy has experienced a significant transformation during the AK Party era, and evolved from a soft power-oriented and Western-aligned approach into a more assertive and autonomy-seeking posture. While close cooperation with Western actors, particularly the U.S. and the EU, played a decisive role in shaping Turkish foreign policy in the early 2000s, the subsequent period has witnessed strategic shifts such as diversification of regional and global partnerships and increasing autonomy through selective challenges to existing alliance norms.This article argues that the recent evolution of Turkish foreign policy reflects a context-dependent search for autonomy under the influence of both structural changes in the international system, bilateral relationships with major global powers, particularly the U.S. and Russia, and domestic political dynamics. Türkiye’s pursuit of autonomy represents an effort to expand its room to maneuver rather than signaling a complete rupture from Western alliances. The study qualitatively analyzes the evolving dynamics of Turkish foreign policy, examines the underlying reasons for this turn toward autonomy and highlights the constraints that limit the sustainability of autonomous foreign policy behavior. The empirical analysis draws on key cases such as Syria, Libya, the Second Karabakh War, and the ongoing Russia–Ukraine War, and illustrate how autonomy has been exercised selectively across different policy arenas. The article offers a balanced assessment of autonomy in Turkish foreign policy as a strategic orientation shaped by both opportunities and constraints.