Turkey’s Naval Activism

‘Çubukçuoğlu meticulously traces the international and domestic determinants of Turkey’s ‘arduous journey to claim its place in the league of maritime nations’.  We had best understand it’.

--Deborah Winslow Nutter, Former Senior Associate Dean, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, US

‘In this highly original and engaging book, Çubukçuoğlu examines the growth of Turkey’s maritime ambitions in the Mediterranean, Black, and Aegean seas over the past two decades. Building upon neoclassical realism, he contends shifts in the regional balance-of-power and threat environment, as mediated through Turkish domestic institutions and ideological factors, led to the Blue Homeland concept. The book is superb extension of neoclassical realism to the study of grand strategic adjustment by an important regional power.’

--Jeffrey W. Taliaferro, Tufts University, US

This book explores the significance of Turkey’s Blue Homeland (Mavi Vatan) naval concept, which defines its maritime rights and interests in the surrounding seas – Aegean Sea, Black Sea, and the Mediterranean. The concept has a powerful socialized definition and a popular appeal across the political spectrum in Turkey with important implications for security in the wider Middle East. The book investigates the impact of geopolitics and domestic-political factors on the concept and uncovers motivations behind its trajectory since 2004 with a particular focus on the last several years, the period when Turkey’s naval assertiveness reached its peak following the failed coup attempt in 2016. Based on in-depth interviews with diplomats, naval officers, academics, and researchers in the field, the book takes the reader through a journey on how the Turkish government has reinforced an activist policy since 2016 due to pressures of regional insecurity, domestic coalition logrolling, and nationalist sentiment.

Serhat SühaÇubukçuoğlu is a geopolitical strategist working at the intersection of policymaking, research, and media. He is currently a Senior Fellow in Strategic Studies at TRENDS Research and Advisory in Abu Dhabi, UAE, as well as an advisory board member at Koç University’s Maritime Forum in Istanbul, Turkey.