DEMOCRACY AND SECURITY in Southeastern Europe, No 1

Cu rre nt Affa i rs
The The o ry and Pra cti ce
of Ahmet Da vu to glu
56
By: Edina Bećirević
Tu rkey is dra wi ng its stre ngth
from „stra te gic de pths“
– a uni que ge ostra te gic
po si ti on, the co ntrol over
Bo spo rus and Da rda ne lle,
and the rich impe ri al, hi sto ric
and cu ltu ral he ri ta ge in the
fo rmer Otto man Empi re
co untri es.
The author is an Assi sta nt
Pro fe ssor at the Fa cu lty of Cri mi nal
Ju sti ce, Cri mi no lo gy and Se cu ri ty
Stu di es at the Uni ve rsi ty of Sa ra je vo
The pu blic co nfi rma ti on of Tu rke y’s inte re sts in the Ba -
lka ns, ma ni fe sted, amo ng othe rs, in the fre qu ent vi si -
ts by Tu rki sh offi ci als to the re gi on, wo uld co me as a
su rpri se only to tho se unfa mi li ar wi th the de li ca te po -
st-Co ld War re ali gnme nt in the mu lti la te ral wo rld. The
Ba lka ns in not the only re gi on whe re Tu rke y’s influ -
ence is incre asi ng: Si nce the co lla pse of the So vi et Uni -
on, Tu rke y’s influ ence has also be en gro wi ng in fo rmer
So vi et re pu bli cs wi th a Mu slim ma jo ri ty, pri ma ri ly due
to the ir co mmon hi sto ry and cu ltu re, but also the ir co -
mmon re li gi ous ide nti ty. Tu rkey has sta bi li zed its re la -
ti ons wi th Iran, ope ned its bo rde rs wi th Syria and has
ge ne ra lly inte nsi fi ed its di plo ma tic pre se nce in the Mi -
ddle Ea st.
Ho we ver, it wo uld be ve ry uncri ti cal to cla im that in
esta bli shi ng its stra te gic pa rtne rshi ps Tu rkey is ori -
ented only to wa rds Mu slim co untri es. It se ems that
We ste rn ce nte rs of po wer are mo re co nce rned abo -
ut the pra gma tic fri endship of Ru ssia and Tu rkey, and
equ ally so abo ut the pe rso nal fri endship be twe en
the Tu rki sh Pri me Mi ni ster Ta yyip Erdo gan and Vla -
di mir Pu tin. 1 The so urce of this di sco mfo rt is, of co -
urse, not any su spi ci on re ga rdi ng Tu rke y’s lo ya lty to
the No rth Atla ntic Alli ance – which Tu rkey jo ined,
in the fi rst pla ce, to de fle ct the So vi et thre at — but
be ca use in the pa st de ca des, Tu rkey has, in a ve ry
ste ady pa ce, evo lved from an „obe yi ng“ and „ma rgi -
nal“ sta te into a ve ry re spe cta ble po wer, which has
de ci ded to co nfi rm this po si ti on thro ugh pu blic di -
plo ma cy as we ll.
The cha nges in Tu rki sh fo re ign po li cy are an addi ti ona -
lly inte re sti ng gro und for ana lysis be ca use of the the -
ore ti cal do ctri ne of Ahmet Da vu to glu, the Tu rki sh
Mi ni ster of Fo re ign Affa irs. Da vu to glu has pu bli shed
two bo oks in Engli sh: Alte rna ti ve Pa ra di gms (1993) and
Ci vi li za ti onal Tra nsfo rma ti on and the Mu slim Wo rld
(1994). 2 In Alte rna ti ve Pa ra di gms, Da vu to glu offe rs an
exce pti onal ana lysis of Isla mic and We ste rn po li ti cal
tho ughts, ta ki ng into acco unt me tho do lo gi cal and phi -
lo so phi cal co ntra sts. His thi rd bo ok Stra te gic De pth
(2001), is espe ci ally impo rta nt in the co nte xt of the
ra tio be twe en the ory and pra cti ce in inte rna ti onal re -