It is argued that in certain states there is a stable and enduring power separate from the officials in decision-making positions. This leads to the concept of raison d'etat, which is the logic of the state's ability to act in order to maintain its power, internally in reference to its citizens and externally in reference to other states or external powers.
The internal and external practices of raison d'etat are consistent and indivisible. There is a practical relationship between the way a state seeks to organize its society and the way it seeks to protect itself and achieve its goals in the interstate context. Each state develops with its own institutions and practices, with its own particular raison d'etat, its own forms of governance and certain stable notions of interests.
Profound changes in the structure of societies can lead to changes in the raison d'etat. However, it is argued that only changes in government or changes in the administrative staff do not interrupt the stable continuity of the raison d'etat.
Turkey's raison d'etat / raison d'etre started to be formed within the framework of the understanding of protecting the territorial integrity and existence of the state within the process of the collapse of the Ottoman Empire in cooperation with internal and external enemies, and after the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, it was based on the understanding of preventing the disintegration of Anatolia, which was seen as the last piece of land where Turks took refuge, by internal and external enemies.
In this respect, it can be argued that there is a continuity between the raison d'etat / raison d'etat of Turkey and the raison d'etat / raison d'etat of the Ottoman state. For example, in the fight against the Bulgarian uprising with armed gangs, weapons were distributed to the Turkish people and volunteer popular forces were used to suppress the uprisings.
In the Second Balkan War, even though the government promised that the army would not cross the Evros River, members of the army were enabled to take over Western Thrace, and a “Western Thrace Turkish State” was established with its organs, and this state was terminated after the agreement with Bulgaria.
In the Republican period, Hatay was first turned into an independent state and then the Hatay Assembly decided to join Turkey. In Cyprus, the Turkish Resistance Organization (TMT) was established in 1958 with the organization of Turkish officers and a struggle was waged in that context, and eventually a Turkish State was created.
I am of the opinion that Turkey's internal and external problems should be addressed in the context of this raison d'etat / raison d'être concept; that is, within the framework of the understanding of the protection of the territorial integrity and existence of the state. It must be foreseen that the practice of decision-makers that would jeopardize these two vital interests of the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey would embody Turkey's raison d'etat / raison d'etre. Historical experience strongly points to this and Turkey needs a political cadre in line with its raison d'etat / raison d'etre.