Turkey's Interaction with Conflicts in Its New Foreign Policy.

In the framework of a new foreign, security and development policy doctrine ("strategic depth"), the NATO-member and EU-accession candidate Turkey under the governing moderate-Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP) has aimed to stabilize its neighborhood as a "civilian power" and "honest broker" by means of soft power. At the same time, the government of Prime Minister Erdogan undermines western-liberal norms and its political commitments with Western partners by deepening economic and security ties with anti-western, authoritarian countries. These contradictory policies lead to dilemmas and conflicting goals in Ankara's new foreign policy. The national interests of Turkey, in particular the interests of the AKP government, the party's instrumental instead of normative understanding of democracy and Ankara's commitments to western partners undermine Turkey's regional power ambitions rather than contributing to them. In addition, they foil Turkey's and the AKP's role as models for Arab democracies and modern Islamist parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]