Türkiye's Northern Iraq policy from the neoclassical realist perspective (2002-2017)

This Ph.D. dissertation based on Neoclassical Realism's third variation (type III), analyzes the question of "Why did the AK Party, which has been in power as the party of government since 2002, form close political and economic relations with the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) between 2008 and 2017?" The dissertation argues that Türkiye's policy toward the KRG was shaped by domestic political factors rather than the international system and regional balance of power politics. Neoclassical Realism defines domestic political factors as intervening variables (leader perception, strategic culture, state-society relations and domestic political institutions) and argues that in foreign policy making these factors can be more decisive than the international system. Türkiye's policy toward the KRG between 2008 and 2017 was redefined mainly as a result of a change in the leader's perception, which shaped and redefined the strategic culture, state-society relations and domestic political institutions. During this process, the AK Party Government also implemented the "Democratic Opening Process" in Türkiye between 2009-2015. Yet, the process came to an end in 2015, when the PKK terrorist organization reinitiated an armed struggle against the Turkish state. The 2017 KRG's referendum to establish an independent Kurdish state resulted in Türkiye to reembrace a strategic culture defined by military power.