Turkey's relations with the countries in the Middle East in the context of Arab Spring

After the Justice and Development Party accessed power in 2002, they began to apply multi- dimensional foreign policy. Turkey both made progress on the way to the membership to the EU by making the required reforms and had strong relations with the countries in the Middle East that were once under the rule of Ottoman Empire for centuries. After the September 11 Attacks, The Bush Administration of the USA perceived the Middle East and North Africa Regions as a suitable ground for international terrorism to develop and they stated that they wanted to solve this problem by democratizing the region. In this regard, the USA launched the Greater Middle East Initiative and presented Turkey as a democratic partner and model country. Especially these factors such as the rejection of the resolution on sending troops to Iraq in 2003, defending the Palestine case, being mediator between countries in conflicts, being a both democratic and conservative government and following a zero problem policy towards neighbors intensified the power and effect of the Turkish government. With the trade and energy agreement and its soft power, Turkey tried to make the borders meaningless. In 2011, when the Arab uprisings began in the Middle East, Turkey stood by the people who wanted their democratic rights, but in the beginning, stated that Turkey was against any foreign intervention. In Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen, the demonstrations brought the regimes down. Turkey immediately aimed to have political and economical relations with these new governments and became successful to a large extent. Afterwards, the uprisings evolved into sectarian wars in Yemen and Syria. In Egypt, the freely elected government was brought down by a coup in 2013. After these developments, Turkish Foreign Policy has experienced some problems. Deterioration in relations with Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt, Israel and Russia are the examples of this situation. In this study, Turkey's Middle East Policy, in the context of Arab Spring, has been analyzed. The reason of choosing this topic is that Turkey has been implementing more active policy towards the region compared to earlier terms and in general, this policy brought a great deal of benefits including the first years of Arab Spring. Barkin's "Realist Social Constructivism" has been used to examine this foreign policy. GMEI paved the way for Turkey's developing relations with the Middle East countries. This success continued at the beginning of the Arab uprisings; however, as a result of the changing interests of the regional and global powers, Turkey has been isolated and its foreign policy has reached a dead end.