Turkey's Interests And Constructive Eurasianism

Western countries and Russia are locked into an ideological conflict and dangerous brinkmanship over the future of Ukraine, NATO-member and EU-candidate Turkey has drawn attention due to its efforts to maintain a delicate balance in its relations with its Western allies, Russia, and Ukraine. Such a stance has highlighted Turkey's foreign policy and its place in its region and, in fact, the world. Antiquated Cold War-era mindsets view Turkey as a mere frontline asset of the Western world and that Turkey's deviation from such a role is inherently threatening for the West. Turkey's best interest lays in adopting Constructive Eurasianism that on the one hand values Turkey's institutionalized connections with the West, and on the other hand looks into the potential offered by increased ties with Turkey's east. Constructive Eurasianism values and respects Turkey's NATO membership and supports its EU candidacy, even though the latter promises the Turkish people an improbable future. However, it also recognizes that some of the florid language employed by Western countries with emphasis on democracy, pluralism, the rule of law, and the "value-based relationship" rhetoric masks centuries-old imperialistic ambitions and an arrogant attempt to intervene in the domestic politics of other countries. Considering all these issues, Constructive Eurasianism, unlike other forms of Eurasianism advocated, "will benefit Turkey because it rejects creating new rivalries and antagonisms, and instead seeks to create new avenues for cooperation so that Turkey can position itself properly in a changing world." As such, Constructive Eurasianism will allow Turkey to continue to be an integrated part of the West and at the same time to function as a true nexus between the West and the East.