E urasianism as a geopolitical concept and ideology in Turkey began to develop after the collapse of the bipolar world, in parallel with the new geopolitical and regional realities. The Turkish version of Eurasianism underwent many changes throughout its conception. However, professional literature clearly shows that due to its different meanings on the ideology, Turkish political elite have not found a common approach to the concept of “Eurasianism”.

According to I. Torbakov, “Turkish Eurasianism” (Avrasyacilik) has been presented in professional literature as a left-wing Kemalist ideology and anti-Western, pro-Russian geopolitical discourse that emerged after the Cold War, in the 1990s. Although Turkish supporters of this geopolitical vision identified themselves as “Eurasians”, it’s hard to find serious content on their ideas and geopolitical thoughts. The only thing that seems to link their theories to classical (or neo-) Eurasianism is a kind of “counter-hegemonic vision” that is advanced as an alternative to Western- (US-) led globalization[1]. Actually, they are in favor of a strong union of states in Eurasia represented by Russia, China, Iran and Turkey, which will put an end to the US domination.

Conservative (Islamic) and Pan-Turkic political forces have their own approaches to Eurasianism: Ideological and cultural penetration by Turkey into the territory of the former Soviet Union, where educational institutions and media facilities will be established, and cultural cooperation will be carried out based on Turkish-Islamic cooperation. The strategic goal is to create a regional counterbalance to Russia and strengthen cooperation with Turkish states [2].

Some part of the far-right Turkish ideologues include the territory of Eurasia within Turkey, but also the Caucasus, Central Asia, Povolzhie and Northern Afghanistan, noting that Turkic people live in those territories. The other part includes the Balkans, Iran, Ukraine, Hungary and Pakistan. Various specialists note that Turkey’s Eurasian policy has shades of neo-Turkism and that the Turkish map of Eurasia (including the territory stretching from Turkey to China) almost coincides with the geopolitical map of Turan [3].

“Eurasianism” is based on the pan-Turkish union. A new Pan-Turanian model, the basis of which is the creation of a single united state or a union. The proponents of this version of “Eurasianism” are the Pan-Turkists, the Turkish nationalist Eurasians [4].

Ali Külebi, the former head of Turkey’s National Security Strategies Research Center, puts forward its concept of Turkish Eurasianism, the provisions of which have similarities with Pan-Turkism and Pan-Turanism. He believes that Turkey should first gradually strengthen its influence over the Turkic states of Central Asia and then strengthen relations with the Turkic peoples east of the Ural through economic, cultural and political ties. And when Russia weakens, Turkey should establish stable relations with the Turkic countries, where the supreme goal is the establishment of a common (Turkish) economic union. As a result, according to him, when the region or its central part appears under the full control of the Turkic states, Turkey’s role in the region will be at least as important because the policy of controlling Eurasia is also pursued by extra-regional powers [5].

It should be noted that there is also an anti-Western version of Eurasianism in Turkey, which experts call Kemalist or multicultural Eurasianism [6]. 

Researchers state that over the last 20 years, Eurasian and Kemalist ideologies have re emerged in Turkey. As a result, a number of Kemalist and Socialist intellectual and political actors, as well as sections of the military started to articulate Eurasianism as a new geopolitical discourse for Turkey [7].

These approaches are presented in the works of the president of the Worker’s Party Dogu Perinçek and his son Mehmet Perinçek and Turkish writer Attila Ilhan, where “the Eurasian choice” is formulated as a nationalist and anti-American, anti-Western project. According to researchers, Turkey should sign a political, economic and cultural alliance with “Eurasian countries'', such as Russia, Iran, Turkic states of Central Asia, as well as Pakistan, India and China.

As we see the pluralism around “Turkish Eurasianism” in the expert community doesn’t really reveal the essence of this ideology, unfortunately it works to confuse the viewpoints. However, the idea prevails in the views of the supporters of Kemalist Eurasianism, that first of all it must form a union with Russia against the West (meaning the US and the EU). Meanwhile, the approaches of the representatives of the extreme right-wing are mostly anti-Russian and were repeatedly criticized by pro-Russian Turkish “Eurasians”.

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[1] Neo-Ottomanism versus Neo-Eurasianism?

[2] Айдин Ибрагимов, Евразийская идея в Турции: особенности и тенденции, ЮЖНО-РОССИЙСКИЙ ФОРУМ. 2015. № 2 (11), с.23-25

[3] Давид Тавадзе, В ожидании турецкого шторма

[4] Özgür Tüfekçi, Turkish Eurasianism: Roots and Discourses, Eurasian Politics  and Society: Issues and Challenges, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2017,pp. 23-24

[5] Ali Külebi, The Forgotten Option: Turkish Eurasianism, Turkish Daily News, 23, 24, Aug. 2006.

[6] A. Simavoryan, Ideological Trends in the Context of Foreign Policy of Turkey, Europe & Orient, N° 11, 2010, p. 60-61

[7] Emel Akçali, Mehmet Perinçek, Kemalist Eurasianism: An Emerging Geopolitical Discourse in Turkey