Interrogating Erdogan's neo-Ottoman geopolitical imagination

Abstract

This paper examines the possible emergence of the neo-Ottoman geopolitical order with the Republic of Turkey at its helm under the leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The blueprint for this ambitious order is taken from its Ottoman antiquity. Neo-Ottomanism attempts to secure continuity with its Ottoman past by foregrounding Islam as the core theo-cultural framework to achieve the political end of constituting Islamic nations to come under one particular order. To achieve this desired end, Erdogan intensifies his endeavor and employs his tact to forge alliances with Islamic nations and promises them solidarity and mutual prosperity keeping his leadership role intact. To pursue this ambition, he expressed his belligerence against the neighboring nations such as Armenia, Greece, Cyprus, Georgia, Bulgaria, etc., which were once the constituents of the Ottoman empire and preferred interventionist policy to diplomatic cooperation. The symptoms of neo-Ottoman pre-eminence are evident in the nautical territories in the Aegean Sea, the Black Sea, the Sea of Marmara and the Mediterranean Sea. The study employs methods of analysis and scrutiny of the existing literature in the field and the related areas to achieve the objective of what constitutes Erdogan’s neo-Ottoman geopolitical imagination and to conclude as to what are the geopolitical symptoms that validate the possible emergence of the neo-Ottoman political process, and limitations that underpin the process.