CHAPTER FIVE Ahmet Davutoğlu: Role as an Islamic Scholar Shaping Turkey’s Foreign Policy İştar Gözaydın Abstract: There is little doubt that Ahmet Davutoğlu, Turkey’s current Minister of Foreign Affairs of pro-Islamic AKP (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi), is the major driving force of Turkey’s ‘proactive and multi-dimensional’ foreign policy, even though the foundations for his regional foreign policy go back to 1980’s; however it was Ahmet Davutoğlu who embedded this Ottoman reference into a reconsideration of the role of the West and of Turkey from a decidedly intellectual-Islamist position. Prof. Dr. Ahmet Davutoğlu is also an academic of political science and international relations that has published several books and articles; and who is shaping the transformation of Turkish foreign policy in accordance with his ‘strategic depth’ doctrine. Professor Davut oğlu was granted a title of ambassador by the joint decision of President then Ahmet Necdet Sezer and Prime Minister at that time Abdullah Gül in 2003. As an ambassador, Davutoğlu was one of the leading actors on behalf of the Turkish government during the shuttle diplomacy for the settlement of 2008 Israel –Gaza conflict. In this chapter, I will scrutinize through his works how Davutoğlu as a scholar perceives the fields of Islam and international relations. Thus, I hope to read, at least partially, the role of religion in Turkey’s current foreign policies as well, without getting into Davutoğlu’s politics as a strategist and an implementer but as an academician and a theorist. Key Words: Ahmet Davutoğlu; Turkey; Islam; religion in international relations; strategic depth, soft power. ‘Kuzum, sen bir büyük adam olasın, dünyalar ayağına gele, herkes sana akıl danışa.’ (My lamb, may you be a great man, may the whole world lie at your feet, may everyone seek your wisdom) 1 Last quarter of the twentieth century witnessed the return of religion to the mainstream of political life in an array of settings around the world. Last decade has been a period that religion got brought into international relations. Publication of several books on the topic within this period 2 signifies the phenomenon. Almost in all of 1 Daily prayer of paternal granny Hacıkızıebe for her only grandson Ahmet. She took care of him mostly after Davutoğlu’s mother died when he was four (cited in Zengin 2010: 27 and 32). 2 For some examples in a chronological listing see, Richard Falk (2001) Religion and Humane Global Governance, New York: palgrave; Douglas Johnston (ed.) (2003) Faith-Based Diplomacy: Trumping Realpolitik, Oxford-New York: Oxford University Press; Fabio Petito and Pavlos Hatzopoulos (ed.) (2003) Religion in International Relations: The Return from Exile, New York: palgrave macmillan; Jonathan Fox and Shmuel Sandler (2004) Bringing Religion into International Affairs, New York: palgrave macmillan; Scott M. Thomas (2005) The Global Resurgence of Religion and the Transformation of International Relations , New York: palgrave macmillan; Eric O. Hanson (2006) Religion and Politics in the International System Today, New York: Cambridge University Press; Jeffrey Haynes (2007) An Introduction to International Relations and Religion, Essex: Pearson Longman; Thomas Banchoff (ed.) (2008) Religious Pluralism, Globalization, and World Politics , Oxford-New York: Oxford University Press, 3-121; Scott M. Thomas (2010) ‘A Globalized God: Religion’s Growing Influence in International Politics’, Foreign Affairs, 89 (6) pp.93-101; Jeffrey Haynes (2011) Religion, Politics and International Law: Selected Essays, Oxon-New York: Routledge; Jack Snyder (ed.) (2011) Religion and International Relations Theory, New York-Chichester-West Sussex: Columbia University Press. Some recent books on religion and politics have also sections on religion and international relations; see, Jeffrey Haynes (ed.), Routledge Handbook of Religion and Politics, Routledge, London and New York 2009, pp.271-339