Türkiye'nin Ortadoğu'daki yeni aktivizmini anlamak: yükselen yumuşak güç olarak Türkiye

This thesis will examine the transformation in the Turkish foreign policy towards the Middle East and evaluate the relevance of “soft power” term for describing Turkey’s new activism in the region. Since the establishment of the Turkish Republic, Turkey has aligned itself with the Western world so that this alignment has been the main determinant of its relations with the non-Western world. The Middle East was not an exception in this process. After decades of remaining aloof from the Middle Eastern affairs, Turkey has followed a new foreign policy towards the region, as part of its new foreign policy vision, since the AK Party coming to power in 2002 and has shown a growing willingness to participate in Middle Eastern affairs. Various arguments are developed by different actors, including the one elaborated in this thesis, to explain the new activism of Turkey in the region.M.S. - Master of Scienc