Testing the Axis-Shift Claim: An Empirical Analysis of Turkey's Voting Alignment on Important Resolutions in the United Nations General Assembly during the Years 2000-10

Abstract

This article aims to make a contribution to the axis-shift debate by quantitatively analyzing whether Turkey's United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) votes displayed any shifting patterns from the West to the East during the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government era. Examining data on the UNGA's most important resolutions from 2000 to 2010, the article finds no evidence supporting the axis-shift claim. However, there is some empirical evidence indicating that Turkey, at least in the UNGA, became a more independent actor on regional issues but at the same time adopted a more pro-European Union attitude on global issues during the AKP era.