DefinePK

Abstract

The paper discusses how Turkey is redefining into a state of strategic autonomy as opposed to relying on NATO between the years 2020 and 2025. It examines how the process of industrialization on defense, diversification of energy, and foreign policy activism have re-established the role of Ankara in NATO. Through a qualitative and historical method, the study holds that Turkey has embedded a system of embedded autonomy and has balanced alliance commitments and national sovereignty. The increase in domestic defense industry, including ASELSAN, TAI, and Baykar, alongside S-400 crisis, CAATSA sanctions, and the shift of local military industries shows this change. The results suggest that the Turkish autonomy is not the withdrawal of NATO but re-structuring of the alliance politics, which embodies the new strategies of cooperation, independence and middle power politics
Keywords: Embedded Autonomy, Strategic Hedging, Turkish Foreign Policy, NATO Dependence, Security Realignment