Exactly, we are creating mutual dependencies within the EU, which means we are no longer as vulnerable to blackmail as we used to be. These dependencies are no longer as one-sided as they were 10-15 years ago. Again, I'm not saying you're wrong, but Turkey's strategy is to build up as much independence as possible in order to act as a third option for itself and others, right between the power blocs. In principle, you create a network of non-aligned countries looking for a third option. Some Think Tanks call it the Third Way.I'll argue we never focused exclusively on the west. Stuff we built or harvested in the past was only good for those countries, now the stuff we build and harvest are sold all over because countries to our east have grown as well, like we did. Iraq now is our single biggest trade partner because Saddam is gone and country opened up to unhampered Turkish business. Syria will be like that in 5 years because Assad is gone.
I don't disagree that this is good and there are strategic outlines on it, but to say that we are decoupled, or plan to decouple to get ready to weather the coming storm from the west is just wrong. European security and economic security still is and will be Turkish security for decades to come. Erdoğan said as much few months ago. If anything, us being this coupled to Europe is just another layer of economic and strategic defence from that direction. If Turkish banks fall, Spanish economy shrinks overnight by 10%. We are east, we are west.
Turkey is one of the most active architects of this model.
But that's just my opinion; you don't have to agree with it 100%.