\n\n“For Turkey, the outcome was also the latest successful example of its assertive and game-changing use of military hard power, which has so far redrawn geopolitical realities from Libya and Syria to the southern Caucasus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The moves take advantage of a vacuum left by now-absent U.S. and European actors, analysts say, in order to realize Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan\u2019s ambitions of regional preeminence \u2013 and to enhance his popularity at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The result is that Mr. Erdo\u011fan is the latest exemplar of the effectiveness of gunboat diplomacy, even as traditional military players withdraw from the field. If there is one important caveat, though, it is that Turkey\u2019s ambitions have also brought it increasingly into competition with another power, Russia.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
” Few think Azeri troops could have broken the years-long stalemate with Armenia without Turkey\u2019s ironclad support and weaponry. Ankara\u2019s arms sales to Azerbaijan increased six-fold this year, rising to $77 million in September alone \u2013 making Azerbaijan the biggest client for Turkish weapons \u2013 Reuters reports. Turkey also reportedly deployed Turkish-trained mercenary fighters from Syria.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“\u201cThere are inherent limits to how far this can go, and the limit is really the Turkish economy, because it is very interdependent with the Western economy,\u201d says Sinan \u00dclgen, a former Turkish diplomat and head of the Istanbul-based Center for Economics and Foreign Policy Studies (EDAM).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Turkey\u2019s assertiveness abroad has been aided by two concurrent changes in the global order, he says: A United States that is \u201cmuch more disinterested in this part of the world,\u201d coupled with the \u201ccontinuing ineffectiveness of the EU as a foreign policy actor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis combination has opened up space for mid-power countries like Turkey to exert themselves more assertively in the regional theater,\u201d says Mr. \u00dclgen. \u201cThe domestic dimension is that the [ruling] AK Party has espoused a narrative of a strong Turkey abroad, and hard power tactics tend to nurture this narrative.\u201d”<\/p>\n\n\n\n