The end of the cold war and process of globalization did not improve Turkey’s security environment. New emerging threats for Ankara include regional and ethnic conflicts, political and economic instabilities and uncertainties in the neighboring countries, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and long-range missiles, religious fundamentalism, smuggling of drugs and all kinds of weapons and international terrorism. Moreover, the great disintegration exacerbated Turkey’s own Kurdish separatism, and the PKK’s armed insurgency gained momentum after Baghdad’s authority broke down in northern Iraq. Among the threats Ankara had to cope with, Kurdish separatism created by far the greater insecurities for Turkey. It remained the epicenter of Turkey’s security concerns for the rest of the decade following the Cold War.
Turkey's Defense Policy is directed at defense due to her natural characteristics and is aims at protecting national independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and vital interests of the country. National Defense Policy of Turkey sets in the framework of the principle, "Peace at Home, Peace in the World", set forth by Atatürk following targets:
To contribute to peace and security in the region and to spread this to large areas,
To become a country producing strategy and security that could influence all the
strategies aimed as her region and beyond,
To become an element of power and balance in her region and
To make use of every opportunity and take initiatives for cooperation, becoming
closer and developing positive relations.
