IDEOLOGICAL AND GEOPOLITICAL COMPETITION BETWEEN TURKEY AND THE UAE: POINTS OF COOPERTION AND CONFRONTATION
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29038/2524-2679-2020-01-181-191Keywords:
Turkey, UAE, Middle East, Justice and Development PartyAbstract
The evolution of Turkey-UAE relations is studied against the background of a set of problems that characterize the Middle East region. Emphasized on changes in Turkey's foreign policy since 2002 (coming to power of the Justice and Development Party): revival of the ideology of Pan-Turkism (Neo Pan-Turkism), dissemination of neo-Ottomanism ideas, voicing of claims for regional leadership in the Middle East, etc. It is noted that in the course of these processes, Turkey's Middle East policy is increasingly confronted with the interests of both leading international and political actors. Ain region. The UAE has been identified among those countries with which there is increasing dynamics of differences and tensions. The purpose of the study is therefore to examine the points of conflict of interest of Turkey and the UAE, to identify the fundamental differences between the interests of the two countries in the Middle East region, as well as the consequences of conflicts of interests.
It is argued that the current relations between Turkey and the UAE are characterized by a changing combination of rather aggressive ideological and geopolitical competition, on the one hand, and situational strategic cooperation, on the other. It is emphasized that the UAE is in the group of opposing states of the current foreign policy of RT Erdoğan. There has been a decrease since the beginning of the Arab Spring on the cooperation between Turkey and the UAE, with the simultaneous increase of inter-state confrontation. This is despite the absence in the UAE, in contrast to many Middle Eastern states, the Ottoman past and tragically coloured historical memory of the Turks. Differences between states are related to the Muslim Brotherhood movement, the 2013 military coup in Egypt, the blockade of Qatar, the creation of a buffer zone in northeastern Syria, competing interests in the Horn of Africa, relations with the parties to the civil war in Libya, etc. Analysing the specifics of Turkey's relations with the UAE suggest that Turkey's departure from the course is building a "Zero Problems with our Neighbors" policy and, consequently, enhancing Turkey's geopolitical isolation.
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