However, with regard to foreign policy and diplomacy, there are certain commonalities between the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish Republic.

First of all, the Turkish Republic was established on the same geography despite shrinkage of Ottoman territories after the 18th century. The Straits and geographical location, as a bridge between Europe and Asia, of the Turkish Republic can be considered as important elements of its foreign policy. On the one hand, these elements enable Turkey, as a medium-sized power as opposed to the Ottoman Empire claiming global superiority, to carry out negotiations in order to maximize its interests to the extent possible, but, on the other hand, as a state encircled by regions like the Balkans and the Middle East full of problems forces it to conduct a cautious foreign policy and diplomacy.

Secondly, the mindset of the Republican rulers and diplomats have been shaped by the Ottoman balance of power strategy especially after the 19^th century. Both its founders Atatürk and İnönü and their successors tried hard to increase the number of friends and decrease the number of enemies. Especially during WWII and the Cold War, Turkey tried to establish alliances with Western powers like the Great Britain and France against German and Italian revisionism and expansionism during WWII and the United States against the Soviet claims and threat during the Cold War. The global conjuncture and Turkey’s own interests like protection of territorial integrity and sovereignty, economic development and military modernization necessitated to do so. This also shows the Western-oriented foreign policy and diplomacy since the beginning of modernization and Westernization efforts in the Ottoman Empire by Selim III.

Thirdly, rulers of the Turkish Republic similar to the Ottoman sultans and the statesmen especially during the decline and collapse periods have refrained from wars and they have attached great importance to the solution of problems through diplomacy. In this vein, Turkey became a member of League of Nations (LoN) in 1932 upon its invitation and joined the United Nations (UN) after WWII and NATO in 1952. Protection of regional and global status quo as well as Turkey’s sovereignty and territorial integrity have been the priorities of Turkish statesmen. In addition, when Turkish foreign policy in the Republican era is considered, the dominance of leaders in the formulation of foreign policy can be clearly seen. Starting from Atatürk, dominant figures like İsmet İnönü, Adnan Menderes, Süleyman Demirel, Bülent Ecevit, Turgut Özal and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have become influential figures in Turkish foreign policy.