Turkey’s Comeback to Central Asia
Abstract
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Turkey emerged
as an influential player in the Muslim and ethnically Turkic republics
of Central Asia. Despite an unrealistic initial policy approach
aimed at creating a wide-spanning Turkic union, Turkey reoriented
its foreign policy toward the region and since the mid-1990s
has relied on a sophisticated combination of bilateral engagement,
multilateral institutions, economic linkages, and soft power vis-àvis
Central Asia. The recent thaw in Turkish-Uzbekistan relations
offers new opportunities for cooperation, while Central Asia as a
whole is likely to gain importance in Turkish foreign policy against
the backdrop of Turkey’s deteriorating relations with traditional
Western allies.