Marcin Szydzisz

After the Justice and Development Party (Turkish Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) came to power in Turkey in 2002, Turkish external activity was remodeled. Since then, the deepening of Turkish‑Palestinian relations could also be observed. This change is related to the new doctrine of foreign policy as well as to the conditions of Ankara’s regional policy, which competes with other players for the role of a regional power. The intensity of actions towards Palestine is also influenced by tensions between Turkey and Israel, which are characterized by varying intensity. Despite the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 2016, the Republic has not abandoned its pro‑Palestinian stance. The purpose of this text is to analyze Turkish‑Palestinian relations in terms of the main principles determining Ankara’s external activity. Due to subjective disproportionality, it should be noted that Turkey, from the position of a regional player, is taking steps towards Palestine, which has lots of limitations when it comes to political steps. The areas of activity betwen Turkey and Palestine concerns issues such as humanitarian aid, cultural heritage, identity and historical ties, and trade. In its relations with Palestine, Ankara uses institutional soft power tools, which may also serve Turkish strategic aims. In the first part of the article, the main principles and mechanisms of Ankara’s foreign policy was presented together with the strategy that determines the directions of external activity. These principles are the basis for discussing the nature of political relations between the two sides as well as for analyzing economic relations, humanitarian aid and cooperation in the field of culture.

The Arab Spring was an important phenomenon in the history of the Middle East. The events that took place at the time, changed the situation in the region. This article is an attempt to analyse the impact of the Arab revolutions on Israel’s security. The subject of analysis is an assessment of the events that took place in the countries of the region: Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, the countries of the Arabian Peninsula. The author will also write about the actions of Hezbollah and the Palestinians. All of this is intended to answer the questions of whether, to what extent and why Israel’s security has changed as a result of the phenomena initiated by the Arab Spring.