Athanasios Th. Kosmopoulos
(PhD Candidate in Hybrid Threats and Operations)
Copyright: @ 2026 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 24 May 2026
Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies
Turkey’s trajectory over the last two decades can be seen as a gradual slide from the ambition of becoming a regional power into a declining role that generates concern and uncertainty.
This development was not instantaneous; rather, it unfolds across three distinct chronological phases, reminiscent of the acts of a tragedy.
The term “tragedy in three acts” aptly captures this transition: from contested reliability to active destabilization, and finally to the perception of Turkey as a strategic threat. This trajectory from 2005 to the present can be interpreted as a process of gradual distancing from the Western security architecture and transformation into a source of uncertainty.... Read more