STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP, CRISIS AND RESTORATION: LOOKING AT THE ORBIT OF TURKISH-AMERICAN RELATIONS FROM A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The concept of strategic partnership that is often referred to within the literature of International Relations and Foreign Policy throughout the 1990s and onwards has been brought into question due to the tense agenda of Turkish-American relations during the recent period. In contrast with those who emphasize that the concept has lost its meaning and there is a need for a new framework to describe the relations, this study argues that the concept of strategic partnership has still been an important analytical tool in drawing the boundaries of Turkish-American relations. In line with this argument, this study consists of four parts. In the first part, the strategic partnership concept and its contents, both within the literature and practice, will be discussed; in the second part, the common interests and subjects on which Turkish-American strategic partnership is shaped or brought into question will be analyzed. In the third part, the periodic parameters of Turkish-American relations will be discussed within the framework of the problematic issues and potential cooperation opportunities from 2004 to present day. In the fourth part, arguments on the end of strategic partnership will be analyzed and in spite of the erosion that the concept went through, it will be explained why it is still an important analytical tool in reading the bilateral relations and a potential restoration period.