COMPLEMENTARY OR CONTRADICTORY? TÜRKIYE’S EMERGING MIDDLE POWER INTERACTIONS WITH THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE EUROPEAN UNION

Abstract

This paper investigates whether Türkiye’s policies towards the United Nations (UN) and the European Union (EU) are complementary or contradictory, situating the analysis within the broader discourse of emerging middle power diplomacy and the regionalisation of globalisation. Emerging or third-wave middle powers are pivotal in acting between regional and global governance structures, utilising multilateral frameworks to address complex international challenges as well as regional issues. Türkiye’s foreign policy has often been interpreted through the lens of its hybrid identity, positioning at the intersection of multiple regions conceptualised as a “cusp state” or “liminal” state. Türkiye’s growing engagement with the UN and long-standing normative and behavioural efforts of being a member of the EU exemplify its emerging middle power status, where regional efforts intersect with global ambitions. While the UN provides a universal platform for addressing global issues and gaining status in global governance, the EU offers more focused, normative, and region-specific opportunities. This paper evaluates the question of whether Türkiye’s dual institutional engagement with the EU and the UN represents alignment or tension, thereby enriching the ongoing discussion on the regionalisation of globalisation. In order to do that, the paper utilises a comparative analysis of policy documents, official statements, and diplomatic efforts in certain niche areas of Türkiye’s multilateral strategies in the UN and the EU throughout the 2000s. In doing so, it speaks to a growing body of work that calls into question linear or harmonious assumptions about the interplay between regionalism and multilateralism in emerging middle power strategies and their implications for middle power theory.