FACTORS IN THE FORMATION OF THE OTTOMAN SEA/MARITIME POWER IN THE MEDITERRANEAN IN THE 15th AND 16th CENTURIES


Creative Commons License

Öke M. K. B.

Istanbul Ticaret Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, cilt.22, sa.48, ss.1145-1163, 2023 (Hakemli Dergi)

Özet

Abstract The needs that changed and diversified with the political, technological and scientific developments in the 21st century have brought about new risks and threats. New dimensions of security have started to be discussed against newly emerging risks and threats in international relations. Among the new security issues, the sea comes to the fore both as an area of expansion of states and as an area that gains importance in terms of military, energy, economic and ecological (environmental) security aspects. At this point, maritime policies, which have become a geostrategic need for states in regions that have become areas of power struggle due to their geopolitical positions, tend to change and develop too. Today, the Mediterranean is one of the regions where these power struggles take place just like in history. The necessities and basic factors that paved the way for the 15th and 16th century Turkish (Ottoman) domination in the Mediterranean basin, which is the cradle of Turkish seafaring, were evaluated within the framework of sea power theories and the decision-making model put forward within the scope of the study in terms of shedding light on the present day. Objective: In this study, an evaluation from a historical perspective was made based on the analysis model of the maritimization policy, which was formed within the framework of philosophical, cultural and theoretical foundations in the Mediterranean. With this evaluation, the building blocks in the formation of the Turkish maritime policy were tried to be shown. Methodology: In this study, a qualitative research method was used and a literature review was conducted on the subject. In the light of the historical and theoretical information that was obtained, an analysis of the period, which is the subject of the study, was tried to be made. Findings: The necessities and opportunities arising from the external conjuncture in the formation of the Turkish (Ottoman) maritime policy in the 15th and 16th centuries were determined with this study, and accordingly, the abilities of the decision-makers to benefit from these opportunities were shown. In addition, the events that formed the basis of the Turkish (Ottoman) maritime domination and sea power in the period in question were handled from a different perspective; and in this context, the emergence of the Turkish pirates, who constituted the source of the Turkish sea power of the period, and the Christianization policies that Spain applied to the Muslim and Jewish peoples in the Iberian Peninsula were associated.  Originality: Within the scope of the study, a new decision-making model has been developed for the formulation of maritimization policies. In addition, the effect of the deportation policy implemented by Spain in the relevant period on the formation of the Turkish sea power was revealed for the first time. Keywords: Mediterranean, Sea Power, Maritimization Policy, International Security