Turkish Foreign Policy Summary

Turkish foreign policy
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PART I (Compulsory Question)
1. What are the principles, institutions, and lessons that the Turkish Republic inherited from the Ottoman Empire? Give five different cases as to how Turkey put these into practice (Hint: First, introduce them all, then choose five among them and give examples.)
The Turkish Republic inherited various principles and lessons from the Ottoman Empire. Among the inherited principles are;
* Supporting legitimate governments
* Supporting international law
* Avoiding possible loss at the conference table
* Ensuring the support of another power
* Employing strategic retreat
* Avoiding foreign servitudes
* Guaranteeing the Empire’s Integrity by Membership in the European State System
* Creation of a Permanent Diplomatic Establishment
However, there are other principles such as borrowing financial aid and emphasizing Islam that were harmful to the Ottoman Empire. Based on these harmful principles, the Turkish Republic learned the following lessons; not to borrow money abroad and not to uphold Pan-Islamic policy but accept Muslim support in the War of Independence. The Turkish Republic also learned not to attempt to try to hold on to non-Turkish territory and not to engage in wars.
1.Guaranteeing the Empire’s integrity by membership in the European State System
In 1856, the Ottoman sought to maintain its integrity by being recognized by the European State System. This achievement was attained after the declaration of the Treaty of Paris, which was signed by all the European powers. Similarly, Turkey used its diplomacy to become a member of the League of Nations after its independence. Being a member of the League of Nations reduced the threats the country was facing, especially from Germany and Italy.
2. Employing strategic retreat
While compromising with other nations, the Ottoman Empire employed strategic retreat, which enabled it to back down as little as possible and preserve as much as possible. This principle was employed during independence talks when Turkey presented a National Pact that emphasized on complete independence; territorial, political, judicial, and economic. Although the country backed down, it did it strategically because the final boundaries were substantially those of the National Pact, except for the undefined Mosul frontier.
3. Avoiding foreign servitudes
The Ottoman Empire avoided foreign servitudes through the Sublime Porte, which forced foreigners operating within the empire to adhere to its tax regulations and acknowledge its jurisdiction. Likewise, during the independence talks, Turkish leaders eliminated the majority of foreign servitudes and ensured that foreign residents, businesses, economic concessions, and schools were subject to Turkish laws.
4. Not to recreate the heterogeneous Ottoman state or to try to hold on to non-Turkish territory
The Ottoman Empire was heterogenic and its diplomacy efforts focused on exploiting disputes among European countries to maintain a heterogeneous empire. The desire to maintain a heterogeneous jurisdiction was one of the reasons why the Ottoman Empire collapsed. Based on this lesson, Turkish negotiations during the independence war were based on creating an independent and sovereign Turkey for the Turks. Specifically, this lesson was used by Mustafa Kemal when he exploited the differences between Britain, France, Italy, and Russia to seek complete sovereignty onl...