This book offers a fresh and rigorous interpretation of Turkey’s international orientation and evolving role in global politics, arguing that Ankara is positioning itself as a “Third Pole” within a rapidly transforming international system. Moving beyond the traditional West–East dichotomy, it demonstrates how contemporary Turkey—shaped by profound ideological, political-economic, and strategic shifts under the AKP—pursues an autonomous and assertive foreign policy that often challenges the liberal, West-centric order.

Grounded in a Neoclassical Realist framework, the authors explore why Turkey is frequently conceptualized as an “exceptional state” and what this exceptionality reveals about its foreign policy behaviour. It shows how geography, identity, and shifting global alignments have produced a foreign policy that can be at once cooperative, competitive, and revisionist. The analysis traces the interplay of ideological currents—from Kemalism to Islamism and Eurasianism—culminating in a synthesis of Islamic Eurasianism that increasingly shapes Turkey’s strategic outlook.

Central to the argument is the suggestion that conventional categories such as middle power, swing state, or pivotal state fail to capture Turkey’s ambitions and foreign policy behaviour. The original concept of the “Third Pole” is introduced to address this gap, offering a nuanced, country-specific lens to explain Turkey’s aspirations, policy choices, and structural constraints. The concept is tested through four critical case studies—the Syrian conflict, the war in Ukraine, the Greek-Turkish dispute, and the 2023 Gaza War—illustrating how Turkey both influences and adapts to the dynamics of a transitioning international order. The result is a timely account of how Turkey navigates an unstable global landscape while seeking strategic autonomy, regional influence, and a reimagined civilizational and global role.

Zenonas Tziarras is a Lecturer in the Department of Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cyprus. He holds a PhD in Politics and International Studies from the University of Warwick (UK), specializing in Turkish foreign policy under the Justice and Development Party (AKP). He earned a BA in Mediterranean Studies from the University of the Aegean (Greece) and an MA in International Relations and Strategic Studies from the University of Birmingham (UK). Zenonas has collaborated extensively with universities and research institutes in Cyprus and abroad and previously served as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Cyprus, focusing on Turkish foreign policy. Among other publications he authored Turkish Foreign Policy: The Lausanne Syndrome in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East (Springer, 2022), and co-edited The “New Turkey” in the Broader Middle East: Reflections on International Relations Theory (Palgrave Macmillan, 2025).

Nikos Moudouros is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Turkish and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cyprus. He holds a BA in Turkish Studies from the University of Cyprus, an MA in Turkish Studies from SOAS (University of London), and a PhD in Turkish Studies from the University of Cyprus. He completed his postdoctoral research in the same department, examining the transformation of relations between Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot community. Dr. Moudouros is the author of State of Exception in the Mediterranean: Turkey and the Turkish Cypriot Community (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021), alongside numerous other publications on Turkish politics and regional dynamics.