Abstract:

The Mediterranean, in addition to its geostrategic importance throughout history, is witnessing a power struggle in which regional and global actors involved over the hydrocarbon resources discovered in the region in recent years. The Mediterranean is an important region for European security. On the other hand, Turkey, which maintains its relations with the European Union (EU) at the stage of full membership negotiations, is also a Mediterranean country in historical and geographical terms. The main objective of this study is to put forward the position of the Mediterranean as a region in Turkish foreign policy and to understand how Turkish foreign policy has conceptualized the Mediterranean and whether or not Turkish foreign policy has built the Mediterranean as a different region. In this study, as one of the factors affecting the approach of Turkish foreign policy towards the Mediterranean as a whole, Turkey’s reaction to the EU’s cooperation initiatives towards the Mediterranean is discussed. The article argues that the discomfort and suspicion of presenting the EU’s Euro-Mediterranean Partnership initiative as an alternative to Turkey’s EU membership is one of the important factors preventing Turkey from developing a systematic and holistic policy towards the Mediterranean. Rather than developing an integrated and institutional Mediterranean policy, Turkey has pursued a foreign policy with a view to contributing to the security and welfare of the region through bilateral relations and multilateral platforms. Due to the recent developments in the region, it is observed that Turkey’s focal point is the Eastern Mediterranean rather than the whole of Mediterranean basin.

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