Cuspness in Türkiye’s Regional Policies

This research proposes novel ideas for studying regions in International Relations and the case of Türkiye by advancing an underdeveloped concept, cusp states. Türkiye is in a complicated location between Europe, the Middle East, Central Asia, and sub-regions like the Mediterranean, Black Sea, and Caucasus. Its multiregional location affects its foreign policy and regional policy directions. Türkiye occasionally gives signs to be a member of the EU, but in fact, it has been wait-listed for candidacy since the 1960s. Occasionally, Türkiye gives signs of engagement in the Middle East, but the Arab League does not extend observer status to non-Arab states. It also attempted to integrate with Greater Central Asia and took an active part in the Turkic Council’s establishment, but despite the country’s big dreams, the Council could not achieve the expected success. All these efforts by Türkiye with different regional units and its inability to fully integrate with any of them make Türkiye a "cusp (~limbo) state" because it is restlessly on the edge of plenty of regions. Being a cusp state impacts Türkiye’s foreign relations, especially with neighbouring units. This thesis examines how cuspness has shaped Türkiye’s engagement with the regional worlds. It will look at the regional policy directions of the country through key texts from Türkiye's foreign policy (leadership speeches and regional treaties) by implementing content and discourse analysis. Overall, this research will help develop both knowledge about Türkiye as a regional actor and the field of Regional/Area Studies.