International relations and civilization problem in Turkish thought

In this thesis, which is based on the history of thought, the civilizational debates in the discipline of Turkish Thought and International Relations are examined in the context of Westernization. The issue of civilization in terms of Turkish Thought; turns into a crisis with the practical need to find solutions to the problems arising from the Western social dynamics that shape the world. For this reason, civilization is first seen as the solution to the practical problems of a return to mighty times. The phenomenon of Westernization, which started with military requirements, is the main indicator of this. However, Turkish Westernization expands on various intellectual and actual grounds, with a social activity that exceeds military needs in the process. It is the common view that the beginning of Turkish Westernization is the Tanzimat Period in Turkish Thought of the modern period. Since every social issue is transformed in the process, this study focuses on the phenomenon of civilization through the successor-predecessor relationship. Concretely, Turkish Westernization has a pre-Republican background. The main research question of this thesis is to seek an answer to Turkish Thought's understanding of international relations in the context of civilization. This study examines Turkey's Westernization ideas in the historical process and the Civilization Standard of the English School and Samuel Huntington's Clash of Civilizations approaches. While Turkish thought has historical-social elements in the civilization issue, it often does not take international relations into account in the social change within its own body. At this point, the historical-sociological structure of Turkish civilization is more evident. How international relations affect the social structure is not examined by thinkers. In other words; The historical-sociological factor is at the forefront of the understanding of Turkish international relations. The possible reason for this is that Turkish civilization is statist and identifies the state with civilization.