Diplomacy has always been the privilege of state elites in Turkey. It is during the process of Europeanization and democratization that civil society has finally begun to acquire an important role in Turkish diplomacy. It is now the case that both elected politicians are more knowledgeable than before about foreign policy and diplomatic issues and think tanks have mushroomed as institutional platforms offering expert-help to decision makers. Turkish rulers have also inherited an imperial mentality from the Ottoman era in that Turkey has long been seen as the continuation of the Empire. The imperial mentality also manifests itself in the way how Turkish rulers interact with their counterparts in other countries. Turkish rulers tend to speak with foreigners as if today’s Turkey is the Ottoman Empire of the sixteenth century. Longing for respect, equality and status very much shapes Turkey’s relations with much powerful countries. Imperial mentality also suggests that Turkey holds itself responsible for the well-being of people living in the post-Ottoman geography. The practice of defining Turkey as a responsible diplomatic actor that should contribute to the solution of regional and global humanitarian, developmental and security problems has strengthened during the reign of Justice and Development Party governments since 2002. The imperial mentality seems to have made itself appear in the foreign policy discourse of the AKP era politicians. For example, former Prime Minster Ahmet Davutoglu quite often said that the scope of Turkish diplomacy is global and Turkey should act as an order-creator country in its environment. The circles that see Turkey through imperial eyes find it difficult to understand that the Republic of Turkey constitutes a break with the Ottoman past.