Independence of Kosovo and Turkish Foreign Policy (1990-2008)

Abstract

This article seeks to analyze Turkey’s policies toward the Kosovo issue since the early 1990’s. While Turkey had pursued a rather cautious policy concerning the independence of Kosovo during the Albanian-Serbian conflict, it extended diplomatic recognition only one day after Kosovo declared independence. Turkish recognition took place at a time when countries like Russia and Serbia were objecting to it and a heavy debate was going on regarding whether the Kosovo independence was in line with the international law. The main research question of this study is why Turkey decided to extend its diplomatic recognition on 18 February 2008. The main argument of the paper is that change in Turkish foreign policy toward Kosovo is instrumental and tactical and does not represent a radical transformation. The decision-makers in Turkey continue to follow the line of the Western countries in the first decade of the 21. century as it had been the case during the Cold War and in the 1990’s. The article makes it clear that Ankara prepared the necessary background for the recognition of Kosovo in the recent years step by step.

Keywords

Turkey, Kosovo, Serbia, Foreign Policy, Continuity.

Citation

Demirtaş Coşkun, Birgül, “Independence of Kosovo and Turkish Foreign Policy (1990-2008)”, International Relations, Volume 7, Issue 27 (Fall 2010), pp. 51-86.

Affiliations

• Birgül Demirtaş Coşkun, Assoc. Prof. Dr., Başkent University, Department of Political Science and International Relations