Between pragmatism and ideology: role-conflict management in Turkey’s foreign policy towards Israel under the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP), 2002-2022

Çelik, Arif

Abstract

The opposed tendencies in Turkey’s foreign policy—shifting between pragmatism and ideology—have become an issue of debate in both political and academic circles ever since the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (Justice and Development Party, or AKP) came to power in Turkey in November 2002. In particular, Turkey’s relations with Israel have seen frequent ebbs and flows during the consecutive governmental terms of the AKP. This thesis examines the 2002-2022 period. It aims at identifying whether and how the shifts in Turkey’s general foreign policy orientation contributed to the fluctuations in Turkey’s relations with Israel during these two decades. To this end, the thesis employs role theory, adapting role conflict management strategies from social psychology to the field of Foreign Policy Analysis while also operationalising the concept of ‘role orientation’ in the analysis of foreign policy decision-making. In examining the case study, the thesis argues that the AKP elite faced role conflicts between their ‘pragmatic’ and ‘ideological’ national role conceptions, and proceeds to analyse the management strategies adopted by the AKP in response to role conflicts. The thesis concludes that the AKP elite’s ‘pragmatic’ role orientation supported cooperative behaviour in relation to Israel, while the ‘ideological’ role orientation was manifested in either restricted cooperation or deterioration of relations with Israel. In addition, this research also demonstrates that periodic crises in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute came to constitute critical thresholds in the AKP elite’s decision-making processes and affected their formulation of foreign policy towards Israel regardless of their general foreign policy orientation during the relevant period. Finally, the findings of this study entail that ‘role expectations’ of Turkey’s ‘significant others’, such as the United States, have periodically been influential in the making of Turkish foreign policy towards Israel.

Citation

Çelik, A. (2023). Between pragmatism and ideology: role-conflict management in Turkey’s foreign policy towards Israel under the Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (AKP), 2002-2022. (Thesis). Keele University

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Sep 27, 2023
• Additional Information: Embargo on edited version access until 1 March 2028 - The thesis is due for publication, or the author is actively seeking to publish this material.; ; Embargo on full version access until 1 March 2028. After embargo digital copy available upon request from the Archives https://forms.office.com/e/sRWE7eQWgU - third party copyright content preventing thesis being published online.
• Award Date: 2023-06