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Erdogan is the 'Sultan' of Vague Diplomacy

Adhering to the Western tradition of maintaining Muslim traditions, maintaining diplomatic relations by recognizing Israel, supporting Hamas on the one hand, and increasing its acceptance in the Muslim world by defeating Saudi Arabia by retaining NATO membership; all of this has created a haze in Turkey's foreign policy, but it is clear that President Erdogan is sharply using the country's soft power to become a polygon on the world stage.

Erdogan

Although some of Erdogan's attitudes made him popular in the Muslim world, Westerners consider his behavior to be that of a sultan in the Ottoman Empire. Illustration: Global Village Space


Turkey, a Eurasian country led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is one of the most active acts of change in the global political landscape since the Cold War. 

Shortly thereafter, although the global system became capitalist, or monopolar-centric, after the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia's rise in the nuclear weapons ceremony in the early 21st century and China's rise as an economic power are now pushing the global system into multipolar centricity. 

And in this multipolar centricity, Turkey has not forgotten to write its own name. Syria, Libya, Iraq involvement in eastern European politics and conflicts, including the South Caucasus and the Mediterranean, and nato's efforts to become members and become members of the European Union mainly indicate Turkey's ambition to consolidate its position among major powers on the global political stage.

From the 13th century to World War I, Turkey was governed by a lot of modified Islamic rules under the Ottomans. 

However, the defeat of the Allied parties in World War I led to the fall of the Ottoman Empire, and when the allies were arrogant to share the Turkish mainland, Mostafa Kemal Ataturk fought against foreign occupants and uprooted them from the Turkish mainland. 

Run by Kamal Ataturk, the father of Turkish independence, this war is known as turkey's war of independence. 

After Kamal Ataturk became president in 1923, he made several changes to the Turkish constitution. He promoted European clothing, culture to Turkey. 

As a result, most of Turkey's land belongs to Asia, but the Turkish people are more comfortable identifying themselves as Europeans.

Although Turkey has followed secular democratic principles since President Ataturk, The Erdogan-led Turkey is often seen to be engaged in a war of words with the West. 

President Erdogan pointed to five veto-powered states of the Security Council, saying the world was "bigger than five powers." Erdogan's main goal is to take Turkey to the center of the international political arena by clashing with five major powers. 

But the Western world naturally does not see such aspirations in Turkey well. French President Emmanuel Macron also slammed Turkey's behavior as "a fictional hope of going back to the past."

Albeit Turkey is constitutionally a secular state, President Erdogan feels that the Turkish people have the right to publicly practice and propagate their religion. 

He has also publicly announced this. Although Erdogan's attitude has increased his popularity in predominantly Muslim countries, it is much like the "Sultan" of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey also supports Hamas (known to the West as a terrorist group) by the besieged Gaza Valley-led group. 

Recently, in the Israel-Palestine conflict, President Erdogan took a telephone call with European and American world leaders to calm the situation, which has garnered a lot of praise from the Muslim world. 

Although most devout Muslims wanted a bigger step from Turkey, they were not disappointed at all. One thing to note is that people have seen Turkey replace Saudi Arabia's role in the Israel-Palestine conflict in the world media.

It is well known that Saudi Arabia's status is very high in the Muslim world. But turkey is a secular state but is often competing to retain its place in the Muslim world and to rival Saudi Arabia with dignity. 

However, it is also true that Turkey was the first to recognize Israel as a Muslim country in 1949. In this case, President Erdogan is currently setting Turkey's foreign policy as a reformist (Revisionist) leader.

In addition, the involvement of the Turkish military in the Syrian and Libyan wars has made Turkey more active in Middle Eastern politics. 

President Erdogan Barai speaks for Azerbaijan in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over the Nagorno-Karabakh, and there are reports that he has been training the country's military to provide a variety of military assistance. 

And Azerbaijan is using such support from Turkey well against Armenia. In another sense, Turkey has already been able to establish its position as a major regional power, and President Erdogan's current effort is to create a strong place of its leadership in world politics.

After Erdogan took power as prime minister in 2003, the country made great economic progress. But for the past decade, the value of the Turkish lira has fallen sharply against the dollar. In the meantime, he took over as president in the same year after serving as prime minister in a row till 2014. 

In 2017, he introduced a presidential government system by amending the parliamentary system and increased his power to the President. 

However, such a constitutional change was not supported by a group of military officers in the country and they carried out a failed coup in 2016. 

An attempt was also made to kill President Erdogan in that coup. But in no time, when the situation returned to normal, President Erdogan succeeded in amending the Constitution while ensuring punishment by bringing rebel officers under the law.

Turkey is still open-handed in sending aid to third-world countries, even though unemployment is rising and economically in crisis. Turkey has also gained international acclaim as the world's largest refugee shelter country. 

Turkey's role in dealing with the migrant crisis that has arisen as a result of the Syrian civil war is truly unparalleled. The country has sheltered 3.6 million Syrian immigrants and nearly 350,000 migrants from other countries have been sheltered in Turkey. 

From the very beginning, President Erdogan has been able to set a unique example for the West in humanitarian aid and human rights.

Ever since Erdogan's Justice and Development Party first came to power in 2002, human rights development attempts to build a developed and vibrant civil society, including press freedom, boosted Turkey's acceptance of the West, at home and abroad, especially in the West. 

As a result, the country was able to build a strong military force in front of the eyes of the West. Erdogan presents Turkey to the world in such a way that Turkey is proof that democracy and Islam can coexist even in this era of Western Islamophobia.

Turkey is understood to be trying to capitalize on its soft power and come into world leadership. Turkey's unique culture and tourism industry is also playing a special role in this regard.

Erdogan, on the other hand, tried to resolve it peacefully, despite policy and differences of opinion on various issues with Regionally Turkey's main rival Russia. 

Turkey understands very well that it would be logical for Turkey to remain in mutual coexistence without being involved in conflict with nuclear power Russia.

Turkey's rise as a middle-order force like Japan, Australia, or Brazil has already been boosted by the progressive increase in involvement in the changing political situation, which is wholeheartedly supported by major Third World Muslim countries. 

But how strong Turkey can make its position on the global political stage without nuclear weapons is a big question. 

However, Pakistan, the only Muslim nuclear weapon, has hardly any activity at the global leadership level because of its internal politics and fragile economic conditions; But again, the internal situation in Turkey is quite stable. 

Although the direct use of nuclear weapons is not seen in the 21st century, nuclear weapons have a lot of importance in establishing effective, effective, authority, and authority. 

But the Western world and its allies will never want any more Muslim countries to have nuclear weapons.

If Turkey risks nuclearization, Erdogan could lose the extent of involvement in European politics, as well as the risk of economic blockade. Because Europe is one of the commercial destinations of Turkey. 

So time will surely tell how capable President Erdogan will be in fulfilling his dream of making a position on the world stage with only soft power.

Jannatul Tazri Trisha
Alumni, Department of International Relations, Jahangirnagar University.
Email: trisha.jannat1112@gmail.com

Date: 2021-07-10

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