The Stillborn Neo-Ottomanist Foreign Policy Aspiration of the Özal Era

C . S OYSAL THE STILLBORN NEO-OTTOMANIST FOREIGN POLICY ASPIRATION OF THE ÖZAL ERA COŞKUN SOYSAL METU METU 2020 JANUARY 2020 THE STILLBORN NEO-OTTOMANIST FOREIGN POLICY ASPIRATION OF THE ÖZAL ERA A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY COŞKUN SOYSAL IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS JANUARY 2020 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Yaşar Kondakçı Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Oktay Tanrısever Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Mustafa Türkeş Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Yüksel Akkaya (Hacı Bayram Veli Uni., HİT) Prof. Dr. Mustafa Türkeş (METU, IR) Prof. Dr. Hasibe Şebnem Oğuz (Başkent Uni., SİBU) Assoc. Prof. Dr. E. Attila Aytekin (METU, ADM) Assist. Prof. Dr. Şerif Onur Bahçecik (METU, IR) PLAGIARISM I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Coşkun Soysal Signature : iii ABSTRACT THE STILLBORN NEO-OTTOMANIST FOREIGN POLICY ASPIRATION OF THE ÖZAL ERA Soysal, Coşkun Ph.D., Department of International Relations Supervisor : Prof. Dr. Mustafa Türkeş January 2020, 421 pages Turkish foreign policy makers have at times become tempted by aspirations of regional leadership. The political leadership of Turgut Özal, first as prime minister from 1983 to 1989 and later as president from 1989 until his death in 1993, is crucial in this sense, as the “neo-Ottomanist” foreign policy aspiration became a much- contested issue during the period of his rule. This thesis, therefore, seeks to examine how and in what circumstances this aspiration flourished under Özal. This thesis argues that the domestic neoliberal restructuring that took place throughout the 1980s is a key factor that formed the basis on which neo-Ottomanism could be proposed in a way that could be considered a subimperialist hegemonic project in the early 1990s. The transformation in the international order that took place in the late 1980s and early 1990s is another key factor thought to have opened up space for aspirant regional powers. However, the neo-Ottomanist foreign policy aspiration of the Özal leadership failed due to the constraints placed upon regional aspirants such as Turkey by the very hierarchical nature of the international order as well as material incapacity on the part of Turkey. This thesis analyses how this aspiration came about, its rise to prominence iv and ultimate decline under the political leadership of Özal by looking into his foreign policy practices towards the Balkans, Middle East, Central Asia and the Caucasus from a neo-Gramscian approach. Keywords: Turkish Foreign Policy, Neo-Ottomanism, Turgut Özal, Subimperialism, Regional Leadership v ÖZ ÖZAL DÖNEMİNİN ÖLÜ DOĞAN YENİ OSMANLICI DIŞ POLİTİKA HEVESİ Soysal, Coşkun Doktora, Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi : Prof. Dr. Mustafa Türkeş Ocak 2020, 421 sayfa Türk dış politika yapıcıları, zaman zaman bölgesel liderliğe dair alt- emperyalist heveslere kapılmışlardır. Turgut Özal’ın 1983’ten 1989’a kadar önce Başbakan, 1989’dan 1993’teki ölümüne kadar Cumhurbaşkanı olarak görev yaptığı dönemde gündeme gelen “Yeni Osmanlıcılık”, oldukça önemli fakat tartışmalı bir dış politika meselesidir. Bu yüzden bu tez, Özal döneminde bu hevesin nasıl ve hangi şartlar altında ortaya çıkıp geliştiğini incelemeyi hedeflemektedir. Bu tez, 1980’ler boyunca ülke içinde gerçekleşen neoliberal yeniden yapılanmanın, 1990’ların başında alt-emperyalist bir hegemonya projesi olarak değerlendirilebilecek bir biçimde önerilen Yeni Osmanlıcılığın temelini oluşturan önemli bir etmen olduğunu ileri sürmektedir. Uluslararası düzende 1980’lerin sonu ve 1990’ların başında gerçekleşen dönüşüm, bölgesel güç heveslilerine alan açtığı düşünülen bir diğer önemli etmendir. Bununla birlikte, o dönemde bölgesel liderliğe ilişkin Yeni Osmanlıcı heves, uluslararası düzenin hiyerarşik yapısının Türkiye gibi bölgesel liderlik heveslisi ülkelerin üzerine getirdiği kısıtlar ve Türkiye’nin maddi kapasitesinin yetersizliği gibi nedenlerle, başarısızlığa uğramıştır. Bu tezde, Özal’ın siyasi liderliği döneminde söz vi konusu hevesin nasıl oluştuğu, hangi şartlar altında öne çıkıp nihayetinde inişe geçtiği; Balkanlar, Orta Doğu, Orta Asya ve Kafkasya’ya yönelik dış politika uygulamalarının incelenmesiyle Yeni Gramscici bir yaklaşımla analiz edilmektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Türk Dış Politikası, Yeni Osmanlıcılık, Turgut Özal, Alt- Emperyalizm, Bölgesel Liderlik vii DEDICATION To My Wife Aynur & My Son Hüseyin Yalçın viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis is the product of a very turbulent period in both Turkey’s political history and my own life. It is also the final product of my doctoral experience, which took almost a decade as a result of certain developments, mostly negative in character, which I will not delve into here but are well-known by those who are interested in and familiar to Turkey. As this thesis is a product of a long process, the list of people to which I am grateful and indebted has become longer and longer. I am afraid no list would prove adequate enough to include all people to whom I would like to express my gratitude and indebtedness, but better that I attempt it than do nothing, so I will begin. I would, first of all, like to thank Professor Doctor Mustafa Türkeş—my thesis supervisor, who also became my teacher in all aspects of life during much of my doctoral experience at the Department of International Relations of Middle East Technical University (METU). His guidance, endless support and sustained efforts in leading me to prepare and complete this thesis go beyond any words. Specific to this thesis, I would also like to thank the members of the Thesis Monitoring Committee— Associate Professor Doctor E. Attila Aytekin and Assistant Professor Doctor Şerif Onur Bahçecik. Professor Doctor Yüksel Akkaya and Professor Doctor Hasibe Şebnem Oğuz joined them in the final examining committee. I would like to thank all members of the examining committee for their valuable comments, suggestions and criticism. As for my academic experience more generally, I feel grateful and indebted to all professors from whom I have taken lessons and guidance in one way or another, both at the undergraduate level at the Dokuz Eylül University in Izmir and at the graduate level at METU in Ankara. Among them, special mention must go to my former supervisors Professor Doctor Ayşegül Kibaroğlu and Professor Doctor Ebru Boyar. I would also like to express my gratitude to the Department of International Relations (IR) of METU as a whole. I enjoyed almost every moment throughout my ix graduate experience both as a student and a research assistant there, and for that reason I would also like to thank all members of that department ranging from its former and current chairs to its whole academic and administrative personnel. I must especially express my gratitude to Tolgahan Akdan, Çağdaş Özeniş, Burak Erdinç, Günseli Durmaz, Büşra Barın, Tekin Baykız and Abdullah Öztürk—my dear fellow colleagues, who all served as research assistants in the Department of IR at METU at one point of their careers while I was also there. Having passed all courses and the comprehensive examination of the doctoral programme, I moved to Gaziantep while I was still writing this thesis in order to begin working at the University of Gaziantep, to which my academic post originally belongs. I am very grateful to the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences of the University of Gaziantep, and especially to the Department of Global Politics and International Relations and to the Department of Economics, for making that transition phase as smooth as possible and providing a joyful and comfortable working environment. I must specifically mention my dear friends Ebru Vural, Müslüm Kavut and Uğur Ülger, who work as research assistants in the Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences at the University of Gaziantep. Ebru was with me throughout my whole undergraduate and graduate studies, whereas Müslüm was with us throughout our graduate studies. Along with Uğur, they all shared my joys and sorrows. I feel a great gratitude to them. I would also like to thank other fellow research assistants Muhyettin Erdemli, Bengü Kayapalı, Doctor Işıl Önay and Asime Yıldız for their friendship and for their helpfulness whenever I needed. I must also specifically mention assistant professor doctors Sinan Tankut Gülhan and Nimet Pınar Özgüner Gülhan from the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, to whom I feel deeply grateful for their valuable help and friendship in my very first experiences in both the city of Gaziantep and the University of Gaziantep. The friendliness and helpfulness of Ali Serdar Kılınç and his wife Belma Kılınç was also very much precious to both me and Aynur, my wife, in our relatively lonely environment at the very beginning of our new life in Gaziantep. x Hüseyin Hayatsever, one of my most precious friends from Dokuz Eylül University and an incorruptible journalist, was among my greatest supporters throughout my all graduate studies and other difficult experiences. He and his wife Ezgi Kaya Hayatsever provided whatever they could and helped as much as they could while we were together in Ankara and after we left Ankara for Gaziantep. They opened up their house to me every time I came to Ankara from Gaziantep and did their best to make me feel comfortable. It is in no way possible to find adequate words that could describe their friendship, help and support. I feel a great gratitude and indebtedness to both of them.

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