Possible impacts of Belt-Road Initiative on Turkey: An analysis in the context of opportunities and threats

The geopolitical rise of Asia in the 21st century brings about the phenomenon of a power shift from Atlantic to Pasific. China has become a crucial global power in Asia with its large population and developing economy. Turkey, on the other hand, acts as an important bridge between the Atlantic and Pacific systems. Increasing its position as a regional power Turkey has become one of the global actors in the international arena. Recently, the relationship between these two developing and influencial states has been shaped by the Belt-Road Initiative announced in 2013. It is considered that there are various opportunities and threats for Turkey in this initiative having different dimensions on the global scale. In this context, it is important to analyze the results of the initiative for Turkey in detail. Therefore, the aim of this study is to analyze the general structure of the relations between Turkey and China, the ancient Silk Road, and Belt-Road Initiative in detail and to discuss the Belt-Road Initiative from the perspective of risks and opportunities for Turkey. In this way, possible effects of the initiative in terms of risks and opportunities for Turkey are put forward. The information obtained from a large literature review is analyzed as a whole and examined under four main sections. As a result of the research, it is concluded that the Belt-Road Initiative has some important opportunities and risks for Turkey.