Türkiye, which has the world’s third-largest diplomatic network, is closely watched both at home and abroad for the active foreign policy it pursues and the positive relations it has established with nearly every country in a manner that differs markedly from that of other states. Observers are seeking to understand and make sense of this approach. In this article, we will examine the underlying codes that shape Turkish foreign policy, which is being closely followed by the international community.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has stated in numerous speeches that the current global system is in the midst of a profound crisis, describing this situation as “geopolitical turbulence.” Since 2013, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has likewise maintained that the current global system—built after the Second World War upon the hegemony of five states under the United Nations Security Council—has generated a global crisis, and that a solution is possible, as expressed through the slogans “The World Is Bigger Than Five” and “A More Just World Is Possible.”

Hakan Fidan identifies three fundamental causes of the system’s gridlock: institutional inadequacy stemming from the sluggishness of international institutions in producing solutions to the multidimensional crises they face; the emergence of new centers of power as the world evolves from a unipolar to a multipolar structure; and the digital transformation driven by emerging domains such as artificial intelligence and cyberspace, which is disrupting traditional security paradigms. Minister Fidan underscores the global system’s need for a paradigm shift, stating, “The world is trying to solve today’s crises with the tools of the past; this is not possible.”

At a time when global powers are retreating from their traditional security commitments, Ankara is building its new foreign policy vision to fill the vacuum in the international system upon the concepts of “taking an active role,” “responsible diplomacy,” and “regional responsibility.” Leveraging its geographical advantage, Türkiye assumes the role of a “balancing power” across a vast geography stretching from the Black Sea to the Middle East and from the Caucasus to Africa. Turkish foreign policy proposes a new system in which regional crises are resolved by the countries of the region themselves through mechanisms of regional cooperation, without the need for hegemons.

Foreign Policy Priorities

Before examining the codes that guide Türkiye’s foreign policy, it would be more illuminating to discuss its foreign policy priorities.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has outlined the areas of cooperation and the priorities of Turkish foreign policy in various interviews and speeches. The foremost priority of Turkish foreign policy is the de-escalation of conflicts, the cessation of wars, and the elimination of instability in our immediate region, including the Middle East, the Caucasus, the Balkans, the Black Sea, the Mediterranean, and the Aegean. Beyond the immediate region, Africa as a whole, South America, the Asia-Pacific countries, and the ASEAN member states constitute other regions where Türkiye has developed significant partnerships in recent years.

Turkish foreign policy maintains that, at a time when the foreign policy orientation of the United States is changing, closer cooperation and greater coordination among middle powers such as Türkiye, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom will contribute to global stability.

Principles Guiding Turkish Foreign Policy

Both President Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Fidan state on every platform the necessity of establishing an inclusive, effective, fair, and secure international system based on solidarity rather than polarization for the resolution of regional and global problems.

Minister Fidan represents an approach that prefers to interpret international issues through concepts rooted in the historical and cultural depth of the Turkish nation and to develop original strategies, rather than interpreting them through the colonialist-orientalist perspective and concepts produced by the West. The fundamental objective of the strategy that President Erdoğan calls the “Century of Türkiye” is to transform Türkiye into a center of gravity and a global balancing actor in the new multipolar world order through a strategic understanding that establishes its own game, writes its own rules, and develops its own concepts. The foreign policy serving this objective embraces not a narrow approach that places national interests above all else, but a much more inclusive vision based on the principles of global justice, equal representation, and multilateralism.

Although some refer to Türkiye’s new foreign policy as the “Hakan Fidan Doctrine,” Fidan’s emphases in his speeches that decisions are made with “state wisdom” and within “institutional coordination” indicate that foreign policy is not conducted through individual preferences, but points to the continuity of state wisdom. His statement in his speeches that “Türkiye’s foreign policy is not shaped by daily developments” means that decisions regarding foreign policy are not reactive, but are made through a continuous state wisdom based on analysis and information. President Erdoğan has also emphasized in various speeches that they do not make decisions based on daily political calculations, but that decisions are made through the millennia-old deep-rooted accumulation, memory, and institutional experience of the ancient state. Indeed, in the January 6, 2007 Declaration on the 80th Anniversary of the National Intelligence Organization (MIT), which has the character of the Turkish State’s strategic concept document, it was accurately analyzed that the global order had to change, and Türkiye’s objectives for the new period and its institutional preparations were indicated.

Of course, Hakan Fidan’s management style, reflected in his intelligence-diplomacy background and personality and described as “quiet power”—far from populist rhetoric, not detached from geopolitical reality, technical, calm, measured, yet resolute—has a major share in the shaping of foreign policy and in its finding an effective response among its counterparts.

The fundamental concepts that define the parameters and objectives of Turkish foreign policy, which Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan frequently articulates in his interviews, various speeches, and articles, may be listed as follows:

Win-win: This is the principle of cooperation based........

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