Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi

Abstract

Although sharing his predecessor Karimov's security concerns, Mirziyoyev eliminated the focus of Uzbekistan's foreign policy on security issues. It can be argued that the main reason for this change is that despite the rapid increase in the country's population, the economic development has difficulty in responding to this pace. Because improving citizen-state relations and preventing radical religious/political groups, which are the biggest security threat, from gaining support will only be possible with economic development.
Despite having significant potential due to the influence of security-oriented foreign policies, tourism in Uzbekistan has remained in the background. The fact that tourism has the opportunity to develop rapidly with the necessary investment and foreign policy support has contributed to the Mirziyoyev administration's development of the foreign policy-tourism relationship. The main reason for efforts to improve the country's image, visa exemptions, resolving problems with neighboring countries and increasing diplomatic relations with other countries is the desire to develop the country's tourism. Therefore, this study aims to reveal that Uzbekistan's foreign policy is used as a tool for the development of the country's tourism through the change in foreign policy.