Türkiye’s Quest for Strategic Autonomy: Systemic Adjustment or Civilisational Reorientation?

Abstract

Abstract Türkiye’s search for strategic autonomy cannot be understood simply as a pragmatic response to multipolarity, declining Western primacy or the rise of new power centres. The ruling elite, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has used the discourse of autonomy to distance Türkiye from the normative, political and civilisational pull of the West. Strategic autonomy functions not only as a foreign-policy approach and an instrument of regime legitimisation, but also as a constitutive redefinition of national identity, weakening the appeal of Western norms, mobilising an anti-Western coalition and normalising authoritarian rule at home. Türkiye’s growing engagement with Russia and China, its interest in the BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, and its tolerance of asymmetric ties with non-Western powers suggest that the central aim is thorough civilisational reorientation rather than mere structural adjustment.