Turkey’s East Asian Policy: From Security Concerns to Trade Partnerships

Abstract

Turkey’s Asian policy entered a new period after the Second World War as Ankara began to establish relations with East Asian countries,1based upon its own foreign policy vision and economic capacity. Either security concerns or economic interests, or sometimes both, have been the main determinants in Ankara’s policy for East Asia from 1945 to the present. This article examines Turkish-East Asian relations in four main periods, highlighting the basic characteristics of relations