Economic Foundations of Turkish Foreign Policy

During the twentieth century, especially with the introduction of globalization era, preoccupation with economic growth and development has played a great role in shaping the foreign policy of countries, so that foreign policy has become a key arena for implementing the modernization and development project. Among less developed countries, two main strategies have been applied for realizing economic development: import substitution and export expansion. Each strategy has its own impact on foreign policy as required by its foundations and purposes. Studying about the link between development considerations and foreign policy in Turkey is very enlightening. Whenever Turkey has resorted to export expansion strategy, especially during the 1980s and the decade after coming to power of Justice and Development Party, it has shifted towards confidence-building and improvement its external relations (particularly towards the West). This approves the idea of correlation between economic development and peaceful foreign policy.