After World War II Turkey sought closer relations with Western powers.

It became a founding member

of the United Nations in 1945, a recipient of Marshall Plan aid and a member of North Atlantic Treaty
Organization in 1952. European Union–Turkey relations warmed during the Cold War period and the
post-Cold War period has seen a diversification of relations, with Turkey, at various moments, seeking to
strengthen its regional presence in the Balkans, the Middle East and the Caucasus, as well as taking
steps toward EU membership.

Under the AKP government (2003–), Turkey's economy has grown rapidly and the country's influence
has grown in the Middle East based on a strategic depth doctrine, also called Neo-Ottomanism.[8][9]
Debate on Turkey's foreign relations is controversial both within Turkey itself and outside the country. In
the West, there is a divide between those who are worried about Turkey's perceived movement away
from the West toward a less democratic, more Islamic or more pro-Russian and pro-Chinese[10]
orientation and those who do not see Turkey's changing political structure, growing regional power and
relations with Russia as a threat.[11]