Turkish Diplomacy in the Balkans and the Mediterranean. Opportunities and Limits for Middle-power Activism in the 1930s

Abstract

In the interwar years, Turkey attempted to pursue activist diplomacy in the Balkans and in the Mediterranean. Of the two regions, Turkish diplomacy was more successful in promoting regional initiatives to preserve the status quo in the Balkans than in the Mediterranean. The regional co-operation efforts in the Balkans culminated in the Balkan Pact. A similar pact was also proposed for the Mediterranean by France. Ankara enthusiastically pursued and promoted this French idea, which never materialized. While the presence of like-minded states of comparable size and strength in the Balkans facilitated Turkish activism, the great-power rivalry in the Mediterranean severely limited the extent of Turkish involvement, particularly in the late 1930s. Turkish diplomacy in these two different operational environments in the interwar years offers a case study of the limits and possibilities for middle-power activism.

Ab Ve Türki̇ye’nin Bati Balkan Poli̇ti̇kalarinin Bi̇r Değerlendi̇rmesi̇: Eleşti̇rel Bi̇r Bakiş Ve Gelecekteki̇ İşbi̇rli̇ği̇ne Dai̇r Beklenti̇ler

“…The roots of the Turkish interest in the region can be traced back to the first years of newly established Turkish republic, which was shaped by regional alliances in order to consolidate its new state formation as a middle power 52 . More pro-active Turkish interest concerning the region, on the other hand, became more of an issue after the end of the Cold War, a time at which the Turkish post-Cold War strategy was born.…”

Heritage interests: Americanism, Europeanism and Neo-Ottomanism

“…1.5 million) to flee SEE (many to Turkey, see Ö ktem, 2011). What is more, in addition to western European and Turkish engagement with areas of SEE, the Soviets too were folded into this geo-political mosaic of dynamic networks (Barlas, 2005;Barlas and Gu¨venc¸, 2009;Barlas and Vlasˇic´, 2016).…”