What is foreign policy, and how does it affect foreign trade policy?

Foreign policy is not an ordinary field. It is not conducted just for show, to boast to others, or to appease the domestic voter base. It is not a random or casual endeavor. It requires knowledge, background, and experience. It requires intelligence, talent, and patience. 

The primary goal of foreign policy is to ensure national interest and national security. To achieve this, political, economic, and military power—in short, the state's power elements and capacity—come to the fore. Population—primarily a well-trained, qualified workforce—a strong sense of national consciousness and identity, an industrialized and developed economy, and a robust infrastructure in science and technology are of great importance.  

Foreign policy is conducted for the peace, prosperity, security, happiness, and stability of the nation. Therefore, it must be rational and realistic. An idealistic, adventurous, expansionist, ambitious, resentful, or aggressive foreign policy brings harm, not benefit. Being rational and realistic, knowing the limits of one's power, being balanced, cautious, and prudent, and pursuing a peaceful foreign policy does not mean being cowardly, timid, shy, or passive, as some claim. 

In foreign policy, just as in domestic policy, interests are paramount. In foreign policy, as much as prestige, consistency, reliability, and predictability, sanction power and deterrence are also essential. Otherwise, one presents the image of a state that talks a lot but has no enforcement power.  

Foreign trade policy, on the other hand, is closely related to foreign policy, geography, cyclical developments, and the performance of other states and rival countries, just as much as it is related to production, investment, employment, and exports from an economic perspective. When foreign trade is discussed, customs policies, the state of the domestic market, the consideration of domestic producers, consumer protection, costs, tax policies, and many other elements are naturally discussed. This is because all of these must exist within a framework of integrity, harmony, and balance.

Foreign trade policy is directly related to the country's needs. It is not done for the sake of appearances. It is not done to enrich someone or to keep someone happy. It is done for the benefit of the nation. Foreign trade is not conducted to further develop relations with a country we already have good relations with, or to fix relations with a country we have bad relations with. Increasing the volume of foreign trade at any cost is not a correct goal. If such a wrong goal is set, it is inevitable to suffer economic damage and face a high current account deficit and a high foreign trade deficit. 

When looking at the range and variety of products that Turkey imports, it is seen that both consumer goods and investment goods are imported heavily. 

It is also wrong to view imports as a lever in foreign policy. For example, buying fighter jets from the US when we have tensions with them, buying cars from Germany when we have problems with them, or increasing our grain and natural gas imports from Russia when our relations with them sour is not a successful economic policy or a successful foreign trade policy. 

Taking imports out of their own priorities, goals, and logic, and making imports to mend relations with countries we are at odds with, ultimately both increases economic problems and creates a strange situation like breaking an import record and boasting about it. 

Exports must also be considered with economic logic. The purpose of exports is to sell goods and services abroad and generate income, specifically in foreign currency. The foreign currency obtained in this way is also used when making imports. Of course, other goals are also considered when exporting. The aim is to gain new markets, to strive for both public companies and the private sector to be effective outside the domestic market and in foreign markets, and to increase and diversify the country's revenues. In this way, the increased income is used for new investments within the country and is reflected in production and employment. Furthermore, when the domestic market reaches saturation, having a share in the foreign market is directly related to the country being dynamic and competitive in economic, industrial, and technological terms.

In short, it is wrong to construct foreign policy to be used in domestic politics or to consolidate the voter base. It is wrong to use foreign policy issues as tools for political polemics in domestic politics. It is wrong to conduct foreign trade for the sake of foreign policy. 

Foreign trade can be a tool in foreign policy, but foreign trade is not conducted solely for the purpose of foreign policy. Foreign trade is utilized in foreign policy, but foreign policy is not an activity conducted solely to develop foreign trade.