The Projection of the Political Turkish Model beyond the Balkans
Dra. Sara Nú?ez de Prado Clavell

Abstract
Since the fall of the USSR, Turkey began to emerge as the most important international and interregional player in the area. Its geostrategically significant location, its size and its relations with Turkmens, adding its desire to westernise without losing its Islamic roots, made of the country the best competitor to become leader of the region. This position apparently got reinforced in 2005 (the opening of negotiations with the EU), but since that moment until now, the pieces of that regional “chessboard” have changed their strategic value. Erdogan’s Turkey has lost velocity and interest into a goal named Europe, at the same time it has turned to the Arab world. Precisely, the democratic processes that seem to get initiated in the Mediterranean region and the Middle East have shown a new possibility in which Turkey could be established as a model to be followed by those countries.

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