Relations between Turkey and China from 2003 to 2022: A strategic evaluation within the framework of economic security in the light of documents published in the official gazette of the Republic of Turkey

The relations between the two countries, which are accepted to have started with Turkey's official recognition of China in 1971, have intensified and decreased in various periods until today. Undoubtedly, the changes in the global conjuncture and the priorities of both countries played an important role in this situation. In this study, Turkey's relations with China in the last 20 years, which a single-party government has governed since the November 2002 elections, are examined through the documents published in the Official Gazette of the Turkish Republic by applying content analysis. As a result of the examination, it was determined that there were 159 documents related to the subject in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Turkey in the mentioned period. The mentioned documents were analyzed by software. As a result of this analysis, concrete outputs have been reached regarding Turkey's perspective on the People's Republic of China between 2003 and 2022. Furthermore, in light of the findings and the information obtained from the literature, a SWOT analysis was applied to make inferences about the strategic future of the relations between the two countries. Thanks to these two-way analyses, both the current situation has been put forward objectively, and the strengths and weaknesses of the relations between the two countries and the opportunities and threats for the future have been discussed. Finally, it can be said that the relations between the two countries have gained momentum recently. However, considering the countries' political, economic, and cultural capacities, it is noteworthy that there are steps to be taken mutually at the strategic level.