Turgut Özal's impact on the transformation of Turkish foreign policy

According to the neoclassical realism, the international system (independent variable) and the internal dynamics (intervening variables) such as leader images, strategic culture, state-society relations and domestic institutions play an important role in the grand strategy choices of states. Atatürk based his grand strategy on the principles of "Westernization", "status quo" and "Peace at home, peace in the World" in order to keep the newly established state alive in the anarchic international system and to overcome the systemic constraints. Atatürk's grand strategy was adopted by Turkish leaders who come to power after his death and turned into Turkey's traditional strategic culture. However, between the years of 1983-1993, Turgut Özal displayed a foreign policy approach that challenged the traditional strategic culture with policies such as neo-liberal economy, neo-Ottomanism, bridge, model and active foreign policy, which we can describe as Özalist grand strategy. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the grand strategies of Turgut Özal between 1983 and 1993 and their effects on the transformation of Turkish foreign policy by using the variables suggested by the neoclassical realist theory.