Abstract:

This study focuses on the period of Abdülhamid II, one of the most controversial periods of Turkish history. However, the entire period is not the subject of the study. The study is limited to the first years of Abdülhamid II's rule in terms of duration and the Britain policy in terms of field. Although many sources have tried to explain the period in question with the policy of Islamic unity, the thesis of this study is that the explanatory concept for the foreign policy of the period in question is neoclassical realism, not Panislamism. The fact that it is not a system theory but a foreign policy theory makes neoclassical realism a very appropriate theory for understanding the foreign policy of the period. By evaluating the four main points of contact between Britain, one of the great powers of the period, and the Ottoman Empire, which had lost its past glory and was now a regional power -Balkans, Cyprus, Armenian issue, Egypt-, it was concluded that the foreign policy implemented was the result of the transformation of systemic effects with intermediate variables, especially the image of the leader.

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