Located in a considerably significant region of the world, the difficulty in identifying, analyzing and assessment of the vital problems Turkey encounter is certain. The independent research centers above all have the mission of supporting Turkish decision makers by creating solutions protecting Turkey’s interests and contributing to the recognition of the problems encountered primarily by Turkish decision makers and Turkish public opinion.

 

Over the last two decades in the inevitable grounds of its strategic location, Turkey has felt the necessity to protect its central and national feature, by being more active and acting dynamically with the reflection of a thoroughly arising new political atmosphere in the global sense. As it coincides the Balkans with Mediterranean and Middle East, The Black Sea with Caucasus, the Caspian Sea with Middle East, besides the power conflicts of the post-Cold War period, this region came into focus as a scope of exercise for the quest of global and/or regional power.

 

The clash for the control of energy and water resources and for new markets reveals the reflection of the post-Cold War period on the international politics. This reflection facilitates Turkey to determine a new role and identity. This role and identity require Turkey to be a country with multiple alternatives instead of contending with a single alternative, it requires being influential instead of sensitive, being a central country instead of a wing country; being extending, generative, creative, dynamic instead of discouraging, restrictive, and compliant; being not only a potential power but also an active regional power, determining long term strategic predictions instead of short term strategic predictions, a country with a national defense industry instead of being an arms market, being a country planning its future instead of just living the day.

 

Turkey has a potential to create new opportunities with its geopolitical location, centuries old state tradition, accretion provided by young population; rich natural resources, qualified work force raised in the light of scientific principles. Turkey’s time has come to become a leader state in the Balkans, Caucasus, Eurasia, South Asia and the Middle East with the historical and cultural bonds it has. The way to achieve this is to establish national consciousness based on the public and knowledge. The lack of national consciousness not only leads to the lack of national strategy and policies but also to losing security prospects. In maintaining security prospects planning and economic development are of vital importance. The future prospect of a Turkey designed on the basis of “national independence” and “national sovereignty” requires the creation of national consciousness, strategy and policies. This aspect is the main condition for Turkey to meet with the other international and/or supranational actors in the same grounds. The globalization of the 21^st century shall be faster, crueler and shall accompany the struggles of nation-states for the protection of their formation or to their dissolution pains. In this era, the protection of Turkey’s central/national (unitary) formation and coming up the level of contemporary civilizations as a secular and democratic state, shall be possible by generating future-oriented, practical and rational policies

 

The short, medium and long term policies designed for the future shall be produced with the joint or separate works carried out by the specialized governmental institutions and non-governmental institutions like centers of strategic studies. By supporting people’s national consciousness, the protection of inherent attributions will be maintained in the era of globalization. For this end, in 2004, the Centre of International Relations and Strategic Analysis was founded. As a think tank founded in the status of a non-governmental organization (NGO), TURKSAM creates its own income. Therefore, TURKSAM is in no circumstances related organically or inorganically with any corporation, association, community and/or government.

 

 

In order to support the preservation of the existence and welfare of the Turkish Republic; keeping a close watch on exterritorial political-economic-military-religious and socio-cultural developments is of vital importance. In line with these developments, our vision is to present security and foreign policy alternatives to assist the decision-makers and to enlighten the general public.

 

 

In order to achieve above mentioned goals TURKSAM has determined two different fields of work to realize the same aim, these fields are as follows:

 

 

a.       Energy, energy security, energy lines, energy strategies

b.      Terrorism, security policies, interior security, piracy, cyber-terrorism

c.       Ethnic and religious conflicts

d.      Alliances, relations in the alliances

 

1.      The alliances on defense and the control of armament such as NATO, CFE, OSCE

 

2        EU- WEU- ESDP- ESDI

 

3        The other alliances (CSTO, SCO, etc.)

 

4. The other organizations (UN, ICJ, IMF, World Bank, OIC, BSEC, ECO, Arab League, NAFTA, Mediterranean Dialogue etc.)

 

e.       Armament, defense industry and disarmament 

f.   General geopolitics, strategy and security policy (including space geopolitics)

g. Environment and climate change

h. Culture and culture strategies

i. various subjects (other issues on 1915 Armenian migration, Patriarchate-Halki Seminary)

 

a.       Studies on Slavic Region

1. Russia, Turkey-Russia relations

2. Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus

3. Black Sea region

b. The United States, US- Turkey relations

c. EU, EU-Turkey relations

d. Caucasus

1. Azerbaijan

2. Georgia

3. Armenia (Armenian Problem)

4. North Caucasus

e. Relations with Turkistan

1. Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan

2. Turkic World in Europe (Bulgaria, Germany, France, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, etc.)

f. Balkans and Cyprus

1. Greece

2. Cyprus

3. Balkans (other)

g. Middle East

1. Iran

2. Iraq

3. Israel, Arab-Israeli Conflict

4. Syria-Lebanon-Jordan-Egypt

5. Saudi Arabia and Gulf Countries

6. North African countries

h. South Asia

1. Afghanistan

2. Pakistan

3. India

4. Bangladesh- Sri Lanka

i. Far East

1. China

2. Taiwan

3. Japan

4. North/South Korea

j. Latin America

k. Other (Australia, The Pacific Ocean)

 

 

In its founding principle, TURKSAM started out with the motivation to contribute to the formation of today and future-oriented policies. To achieve this end, availing the printed, visual and auditory data, TURKSAM, has an ambition and enthusiasm to settle Turkish Foreign Policy on solid basis and lead it toward a stable way in international arena.

 

TURKSAM aims to generate policies on Turkish national security and share these strategies for Turkey’s future. As a basic principal, adopting an approach free of ideological attitudes and prejudices, TURKSAM aims to present scientific theory based realist strategic initiatives, different decision alternatives based on solid information and effective solutions to decision makers and public in several ways. With the diverse research fields and institutes TURKSAM has a goal to discuss Turkey’s strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and the risks it face, present new ideas, new perspectives and different strategy options to the decision makers. Therefore, TURKSAM has a perception open to every new analytical idea and point of view.

 

TURKSAM invites statesmen, bureaucrats, academicians, strategists, journalists, businessmen and representatives of NGO’S to the geopolitical debates, contact meetings, brainstorming, seminars, panels it arranges regionally and globally on issues concerning Turkey , to support them to share their knowledge and views with Turkish public and decision makers. In addition, TURKSAM makes conferences and publish periodical journals, bulletins, reports, books etc. to achieve one of its fundamental principles which is Turkey’s acquisition of an uncompromising and a more active role in future in international arena by taking strong and determined steps.

 

Within these activities, raising the young researchers by the experts is also defined as a goal of TURKSAM with the” internship programs”.

 

TURKSAM prefers analysis based working principle in its studies instead of solely describing events.

 

Instead of using the information filtered from English sources in its studies, TURKSAM utilizes original and regional information with a global perspective

 

 

TURKSAM is a non-profit non-governmental organization. TURKSAM performs with the finance obtained from the resources mentioned below:

 

-            Membership fees

-           Donations

-           Projects written for public and private organizations

-           Consulting Services

 

TURKSAM receives no direct funding from any private/public organization. All the work is performed on project basis.

 

Besides the certificate and internship programs TURKSAM also arranges special programs to train the personnel working in media and private sector and public organizations. In this context, individual needs are also assessed.

 

Within TURKSAM’s goals and missions, conducting special researches and works also play a part. TURKSAM also offers consulting services to related (private/public) corporations and organizations.

 

TURKSAM is ready for cooperation with supporters of our activities and with donors within the framework of our primary principals. In this context, another way for supporting TURKSAM is giving advertisements in TURKSAM’s publications

 

 

TURKSAM prioritize a personnel cadre including the experts speaking the languages of TURKSAM’s primary working field and who has also lived/worked in the related regions.

 

Besides the full time experts TURKSAM also employs contractual employees and volunteers.

 

TURKSAM are in touch and in cooperation with the leading think tanks of the world.