The collapse of Communism at the turn of the twenty-first century attracted much interest in
the affairs of the central Asian region, which was the Muslim area of the former Soviet Union.
Since then, not only the Muslim world but also the Western world has been involved in this
region. The re-emergence of Islam in the newly independent republics of Central Asia
sparked the emergence of an ideological battle ground. Much debate is taking place among
policy makers to discuss a return to civil society, but so far no one has come up with an
acceptable variant. Yet, in addition to educational and cultural programs, the Islamic groups
in the region are involved in political activities in the age of globalization.
Like the rest of the world, the Central Asian societies have been deeply affected by
globalization. The life of their peoples have been changed,

common literary language for all Turkic peoples. The issue is not indeed new. It may trace
back to the nineteenth century, but got a great acceleration during the establishment of
Turkish Republic in the first quarter of the twentieth century. Although the modernization
movement led by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk and his comrades had a different agenda excluding
and/or ignoring Turkic elements of Central Asia, this policy faced severe resistance from
traditionalists, that is, from both Turkist-nationalists and Islamists since the very
beginning of the modernist reform movement.
The dispute between modernists and traditionalists which may be classified as
Islamists and Turkists, arose from their different perceptions of national identity, but
continued in terms of their different ideological, methodological and linguistic approaches as
well. This paper aims to mainly focus on the nationalists’ political behaviors regarding
creation of a common Turkic language. Nevertheless, it is essential, in this juncture, to reflect
briefly the general tendencies of all groups regarding the language policy that should have
been implemented in Turkey.
For each of these groups the importance of any measure relating to language
policy has been the extent to which it might promote its own particular identity.
Kemalists sought a Western identity for the new Turkish Republic and thus any
Kemalist modernist language policy measures should be considered in light of their
identity-oriented preferences. They favored two Western concepts, secularization and
nationalization, as important norms of the new Turkish identity. They were also nationalist in

This article aims to analyse Turkey’s foreign policy towards Asia, which is part of Turkey’s emerging
universal foreign policy vision. The notion of geographic imagination is provided to theorize Turkey’s
emerging policy attitudes and behaviors. Turkey’s involvement in Asia will focus on the development
of economic relations, security cooperation, supporting Asian political schemes for a multilateral
world order and playing a facilitator role in Asia’s encounter with the West. This new foreign policy
orientation links the reform and change in the domestic landscape and Turkey’s new activism in Asia,
which has opened new horizons in its relations with Asian states and has encouraged policy-makers in
their search for a central role in a number of regions ranging from Africa to Asia.