Turkish retired Rear Admiral (Tümamiral) and a pioneer of the Turkish maritime defence concept Cihat
Yaycı explains the concept of “Turquoise Homeland” as follows:
“This has emerged as a concept describing the places where Turks have settled and lived
until today. We say that the existence and historical existence of the Turkish nation should
be investigated here, the historical existence of the Turks should be maintained, and the
relations with the geography there should be improved. . In other words, we are a state
that is the remainder of a great empire stretching across three continents. And we are
today’s generation of such a nation.. we need to be a universal state. This should be our
ideal.”1

It would not be a wrong assessment to understand the regions within the scope of the
Turquoise Homeland in the context of the regions under the Ottoman influence in general.
In recent years, Turkey has been following an active foreign policy in the regions within the
Ottoman sphere of influence. Although some consider this strategy of Turkey as an
expansionism within the framework of “Neo-Ottomanism”, Turkey acts within a peaceful
vision in these regions. The positive reception of Turkey’s presence from the Middle East
to Africa, from the Balkans to the Caucasus is proof of this. When we look at the current
world politics; The USA is trying to regain its diminishing hegemony by entering into a
struggle with China and in this context, it has an active presence in many countries, also
China seeks to establish economic hegemony in many countries through “debt diplomacy”,
another example is Russia, within the framework of the “Eurasianism” idea, in the field of
Soviets while trying to gain an effective position, why shouldn’t Turkey be interested in the
countries in its sphere of influence?

Turkey’s return to the its geography of the heart and gain influence in this region depends
on its ‘’smart power’’. Smart power; It is a combination of hard power and soft power. In the
discipline of International Relations, hard power includes mainly military and also
economic power; on the other hand, soft power can be defined as cultural/ideological
power. The purpose of soft power applications; appealing to the hearts and gaining the
consent of the target countries and societies. With the development of information
technologies in the 21st century, the importance of soft power is increasing. Turkey exists
with soft power elements in many regions, with TV series, humanitarian aid
organizations(like İHH or Kızılay) and its various institutions(such as TIKA, Diyanet
Foundation, Yunus Emre Institute). “Soft power persuades, hard power deters or enforces,
and diplomacy prevents unnecessary military conflicts. Public diplomacy wins the war of
ideas and hearts as a tool of soft power. Smart power is the combination of the most
harmonious and balanced mix of these.”2

Finally, world politics are being reshaped. Turkey has to be prepared for all kinds of threats
and a multidimensional war environment in the changing world politics after the
Coronavirus crisis. Possible wars in the coming years; It is expected to take place in areas
such as biotechnology and genetics, climate, water and food, cyber world and space. The
21st century war environment requires being prepared on many different fronts. While
Turkey follows an active foreign policy within the framework of the Turquoise Homeland
concept; it should also have a security strategy that can combat new generation threats
internally and externally.

Kemal KISA 

REFERENCES

1. https://turkdegs.org/icerik/turkuaz-vatan-ecdadimiz-nerelerde-yasamissa-nereleri-yurt-edin
misse-o-bolgeler-bu-vatanin-parcasidir
2. Sait Yılmaz, (2012). Akıllı Güç, İstanbul, Kum Saati Yayınları, s.51-52.

Note: The ideas contained in this article belong to the author and may not reflect the editorial policy of TESPAM.