“MODEL PARTNERSHIP” BETWEEN TURKEY AND THE UNITED STATES REVISITED DURING THE SYRIAN CONFLICT, (2009-2016)

Turkey and the United States enjoyed a security-centered relationship upon the former’s becoming a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1952. This was challenged with an envision of model partnership in 2009 to transform the relationship into a multidimensional cooperation with the mutual interests respected. Largely drawing on the materials from the White House Archives, a wide array of Presidential collections, this article aims at the careful re-reading of the construction stage of “model partnership” to demonstrate how the concept was spontaneously spelled out without being a pre-formulated and mutually endorsed policy concept and the examination of the Turkish-American relations based on the concept during the Syrian conflict up until the coup attempt of July 15, 2016 in Turkey. The article, being the first study to highlight how the concept first aired, concludes that looking into the construction stage of the notion will bear well-grounded analyses on Turkish-American relations within the concept and that the complexity of the Syrian conflict, particularly the divergent positions of the parties towards the opposition groups, called this process into question as both Turkey and the United States did not find easy agreement on aspects of their national interests and security concerns and fast moved away from the “model partnership,” a vague redefinition of bilateral relations and a concept officially referred by Turkey alone.

Türk-Amerikan İlişkilerinde "Model Ortaklık" Kavramının Suriye Çatısması Sırasında Yeniden Değerlendirilmesi, (2009-2016)

Türkiye ve Amerika Birleşik Devletleri, Türkiye’nin 1952 yılında Kuzey Atlantik Antlaşma Örgütü (NATO) üyesi olmasıyla birlikte güvenlik merkezli bir ilişki kurup geliştirdiler. Bu durum 2009 yılında, ortak çıkarlara saygı duyulduğu çok boyutlu bir ilişkiye evrilmesini amaçlayan, model ortaklık tasavvuru ile değişime uğradı. Çok çeşitli Başkanlık koleksiyonlarından oluşan Beyaz Saray Arşivlerine dayanarak kaleme alınan bu makale, “model ortaklık” kavramının oluşum sürecinin, sözkonusu kavramın önceden formüle edilen ve karşılıklı olarak kullanılan bir siyasi kavram olmaksızın, spontane olarak ortaya çıktığını göstermek suretiyle, yeniden dikkatli bir şekilde okunmasını ve bu kavrama dayanan Türk-Amerikan ilişkilerinin, Suriye çatışmasında Türkiye’deki 15 Temmuz 2016 tarihli başarısız darbe girişimine kadar olan kesiminin incelenmesini amaçlamaktadır. Söz konusu kavramın ilk kez nasıl ortaya çıktığını gözler önüne seren ilk çalışma olma özelliğini taşıyan bu makele, sonuçta “model ortaklık” kavramının oluşum aşamasına bakmak suretiyle hem Türk-Amerikan ilişkilerinin bu kavrama dayalı olarak yapılan analizlerin daha sağlam temeller üzerinde inşa edilmesini sağlayacaktır hem de Suriye krizinin karmaşık yapısının, özellikle tarafların Suriye’deki muhalif gruplara yönelik farklı şekillerde konum almalarının, “model ortaklık” sürecinin sorgulanmasına yol açtığını göstermektedir. Zira bu makale ortaya koymaktadır ki Türkiye ve Amerika Birleşik Devletleri, Suriye çatışması sırasında, ulusal çıkar ve güvenlik sorunları konusunda ortaklaşamamış ve zaten ikili ilişkilerin muğlak bir ifadesi ve sadece Türkiye tarafından atıfta bulunulan bir kavram olmaktan öteye gidemeyen “model ortaklık” kavramından hızla uzaklaşmışlardır.

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