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Turkey shifts the focus of its foreign policy: from Syria to the eastern Mediterranean and Libya
Die Türkei verlagert den Schwerpunkt ihrer Außenpolitik: von Syrien ins östliche Mittelmeer und Libyen
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Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik -SWP- Deutsches Institut für Internationale Politik und Sicherheit
Abstract On 27 November 2019, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared that Turkey had concluded a treaty on military assistance and cooperation with the government of Fayez al-Sarraj in Libya. The agreement permits the deployment of Turkish troops into the civil-war-torn country. The announcement was... view more
On 27 November 2019, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared that Turkey had concluded a treaty on military assistance and cooperation with the government of Fayez al-Sarraj in Libya. The agreement permits the deployment of Turkish troops into the civil-war-torn country. The announcement was met with almost unanimous criticism in Western Europe. The indignation grew even greater when it became known that Turkey was controlling and financing the smuggling of Islamic Syrian fighters into Libya. Reports of a dominant influence of the Muslim Brotherhood on the Libyan government seemed to complete the picture of a strongly Islamist-motivated Turkish policy. However, Turkey's engagement in Libya is not driven by ideology, but rather by strategic considerations and economic interests. Ankara is thus reacting to its isolation in the eastern Mediterranean, where the dispute over the distribution of gas resources is intensifying. At the same time, Turkey is drawing lessons from the war in Syria. Ankara has lost this war, but through its engagement in Syria, it has been able to establish a conflictual - but viable - working relationship with Russia. The bottom line is that Turkey’s commitment to Libya is a shift in the focus of its foreign policy from the Middle East to the Mediterranean, a shift that will present entirely new challenges to Europe, the European Union (EU), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). (author's abstract)... view less
Keywords
Turkey; foreign policy; international relations; Syria; Libya; Mediterranean region; political strategy; natural resources; natural gas; conflict of interest; failed state; Arab countries; Middle East
Classification
International Relations, International Politics, Foreign Affairs, Development Policy
Free Keywords
Wirtschaftliche Interessen; regionaler internationaler Konflikt; Fragile Staaten/Gescheiterte Staaten
Document language
English
Publication Year
2020
City
Berlin
Page/Pages
4 p.
Series
SWP Comment, 6/2020
DOI
https://doi.org/10.18449/2020C06
ISSN
1861-1761
Status
Published Version; reviewed
Licence
Deposit Licence - No Redistribution, No Modifications