EVOLUTION OF TURKISH GEOPOLITICAL STRATEGY: HISTORICAL AND ECONOMIC INSIGHTS

This paper reveals the basic stages of the transformation that Turkish geopolitical strategy and foreign policy have undergone in the 20th century by analyzing Türkiye’s position in the international system. The article mainly analyzes the framework of foreign policy built around a realist perspective that was followed during the founding period of the Republic of Türkiye, evaluates the challenges that Türkiye faced when it abandoned the basic philosophy of the founding period, and explains how the Republic’s geopolitical vision can guide the challenges that Türkiye faces in the environment of global fragilities. It argues that the need to redefine the elements of the geopolitical balance between Türkiye and the global powers, as was done one hundred years ago, is the key to Türkiye’s ability to overcome the possible political and economic difficulties in the contemporary era.