The Changing Role of Turkey´s Military in Foreign Policy Making

Abstract

Changing domestic power configurations following the EU Helsinki Summit in 1999 and increasing US influence in Iraq after 2002 created distinct political circumstances in which the military in Turkey had to relinquish its grip on foreign policy- making process. The harmonization process with the EU deprived the military of its most influential bureaucratic instruments to exert influence over the formulation of foreign policy decisions, and removed one of the main obstacles that prevented governments from exercising full authority in making foreign policy decisions. Furthermore, the invasion of Iraq caused a chain of reactions that eventually limited the military’s influential position in Turkish foreign affairs. This article tries to shed light on the combined impact of the EU reforms and the invasion of Iraq in restricting military influence on foreign policy- making in Turkey.