Selected Factors Shaping Turkish Foreign Policy

The analysis of determinants shaping the foreign policy of modern states requires taking into account a whole range of internal and external factors, both of an objective and subjective nature. The use of the typology of foreign policy determinants should be supplemented with the characteristics of factors specific to a given country, most often included in the social or cultural sphere. The lack of this type of supplement not only impairs the analysis but also makes it impossible to obtain a full picture of the phenomena and processes studied. One of the countries in which the analysis of foreign policy conditions requires consideration of a whole range of additional factors is the Republic of Turkey. The Kemalist ideology, Turkish Islam and Kurdish separatism described in this article, have a significant impact on the shape of contemporary Turkish foreign policy, thus should be thoroughly studied by all attempting to understand Turkish foreign policy.