With the support of the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation, EDAM is launching a set of discussion papers focusing on Turkey's policies in the Black Sea region. The first paper prepared by Diba Nigar Göksel explores the effectiveness of Turkey's regional approach. Göksel states that in the course of the past few years, between Summer 2008 and Summer 2011, Turkey’s relations with all three South Caucasus countries were highly episodic. According to Göksel, Turkey has thus far not achieved tangible results from its high profile attempts to influence the course of events –such as in setting up a regional platform where countries of the regions will collaborate or leveraging the prospect of an open border with Armenia to bring about the resolution of the Karabakh conflict. Turkey has also remained a relative bystander in the domestic transition processes and power relations within the countries themselves. If Turkish foreign policy towards the Caucasus is judged today on the basis of many of its proclaimed goals – such as to iron out problems with neighbors, become an energy hub, or solve regional conflicts- it falls short of accomplishment. Göksel maintains that in common assessments of the reasons Turkey’s professed solutions did not stick, Turkish analysts, politicians, and diplomats rarely take into account that Ankara’s miscalculation of the variables of its neighbors led to Ankara drawing up proposals that were unviable. 

To read the full text, please follow the link:

http://www.edam.org.tr/eng/document/Black_Sea_Paper_Series1.pdf

Please give us feedback at info@edam.org.tr

If you have been forwarded this message by a colleague and would like to subscribe to our bulletin, please subscribe from  http://www.edam.org.tr/Subscription.aspx

To unsubscribe from our mailing list please reply to this e-mail and type UNSUBSCRIBE as subject.