STUDIES

Turkey… from the Accession Dream to the European Union, to the Policy of the “Neo-Ottomanism”

written by: Jinar Saleh, Sherin Firat, Abulelah Mostafa
Translated by: Translation Department 

Also Available in (Arabic)

The Axes of the Study:

The Summary of the Study

Introduction

Firstly; Justice and Development Party and its Role in the “Neo-Ottomanism”

Secondly; the Strategy of the “Neo-Ottomanism”

Thirdly; the Means of the “Neo-Ottomanism” in Expanding and Spreading

Fourthly; the Tools of the “Neo-Ottomanism” in Expanding and Spreading”

Fifthly; the Targeted Areas in the Policy of the “New-Ottomanism”

The Outcomes of the Study.

 

The Outline of the Study

This study evokes the features, aspects, and objectives of the “Neo-Ottomanism”, which has been said and written a lot about it, and it has almost been studied thoroughly, taking into account that this tendency, policy, or ideology has only been declared verbally by its engineer; Ahmad Davodoglu. It has never been within the documentary context and the political content as strategic platforms for the (AKP) party’s tendency, but it has now become at the core of the ruling party’s orientations under the leadership of Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The concept of the “Ottomanism” has been attempted to be briefed before plunging into some secrets of Justice and Development Party’s emergence, which had emerged in a specific period of time and for specific aims i.e. according to the need and the interests of the hegemonic powers, noting the assigned role to this party based on those interests. Its transitional period had been set as well, in terms of its relationship with the World Order and its transition to the “Neo-Ottomanism” as a policy holds an insurgency upon those powers that have made it (Justice and Development Party).

The concept and policy of the” Neo-Ottomanism” based on many dimensions: cultural and historical, economic, military and strategically and geopolitical dimension. These dimensions have been defined to understand the strategy of the “Neo-Ottomanism” theoretically, and the ability to be activated was practically being studied, and the core of this project and its objectives have become clear. It shows the adaptation of those in charge of this project, moving into two directions: one of them is a pluralist Islamic and the other is Turanian Islamic.

The policy of “neo-Ottomanism” relied on several means of spread and expansion, and the Islamic religion stands at the head of the list, whereby religion is politicized and systematically and institutionally adapted to serve the purposes and goals of the “Neo-Ottomanism” in a process of exploitation that is unparalleled. Whereas, the civil, religious, and relief organizations of the Turkish administration play a hidden role, and they constitute the veil that various activities and events of the religious movements are being done behind it, in which the AKP Party relies on to pass its project. In this context, the Turkish Drama can be seen as one of those means, in addition to Turkey’s exploitation of the need for projects and investments to develop their economic capabilities for economically under-developed countries.

The AKP uses many tools to implement this project, and Extremist Islamic Organizations are considered one of the most crucial tools, and Ankara’s ties to most of these extremist movements have been documented, starting with al-Qaeda, in both of its branches in Asia and Africa, to the Islamic State and its affiliates. As well as the Muslim Brotherhood, which stands at the top of the pyramid. The Gray Wolves organization is also one of the most important tools, as it is highly organized and has branches, camps, and sympathizers, and it enjoys a distinct relationship with the AKP Party because it has a Turanian tendency, and calls for an integration of the Turkish Identity with the Islamic Religion.

In the final axis, the areas targeted by Erdogan and his party were identified, and they were distributed according to Geopolitical divisions, and it turns out that these areas are characterized with some kind of exclusiveness for the (AKP) party, it is either regions and Islamic countries, and Turkey, or areas where the Turks and Muslims live.

The study concluded with identifying the forces and parties affected by this project and identifying the deterring forces to him, and the recommendations focused on supporting these deterrent forces, being the only powers that took on its responsibility to expose this policy, and then confront it

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