States as “Humanitarians”: The Turkish Brand of Humanitarian Diplomacy

Year 2022, , 153 - 178, 29.03.2022

Volkan Şeyşane , Görkem Tanrıverdi

https://doi.org/10.14782/marmarasbd.993408

Cited By: 3

Abstract

Humanitarian diplomacy refers to a distinctive form of diplomatic activity undertaken by various actors to protect human life and dignity in situations where they are under threat. Initially, the concept was more associated with humanitarian non-governmental organizations and some UN agencies. However, today, an increasing number of states adopt humanitarian diplomacy as a foreign policy instrument and portray themselves as global humanitarian actors. Over the last decade, Turkey has also emerged as one of the major actors in the field of humanitarian assistance, and humanitarianism has become a central theme in the discourse of Turkish foreign policymakers. Most notably, the Turkish government has officially placed the concept of humanitarian diplomacy in its foreign policy agenda. Therefore, this article seeks to analyze the recent emergence of Turkey as a global humanitarian actor and explore the main characteristics of the ‘Turkish brand of humanitarian diplomacy.’ For this purpose, it offers a three-pillar approach to assess the individual state practice of humanitarian diplomacy and discusses how Turkey’s general humanitarian policy resonates with the three pillars of state-led humanitarian diplomacy. It also examines its humanitarian responses to Somalia and the Rohingya crisis in Myanmar as case studies. State-led humanitarian diplomacy has further deepened the politicization of humanitarianism and the standardization of the humanitarian system in the post-Cold War period. In this context, the article concludes that Turkey’s adoption of humanitarian diplomacy has contributed to these two global trends, both by associating humanitarian diplomacy with broader political issues and political goals and by helping the institutional capacity-building of the international humanitarian aid system.

Keywords

Humanitarian diplomacy, Turkish foreign policy, Somalia, the Rohingya crisis, Humanitarian aid

‘Yardımsever’ olarak Devletler: Türk Tipi İnsani Diplomasi

Abstract

İnsani diplomasi, tehdit altında oldukları durumlarda insan yaşamı ve onurunu korumak üzere çeşitli aktörler tarafından yürütülen özgün bir diplomatik faaliyet türünü ifade etmektedir. Başlangıçta, bu kavram daha ziyade insani hükümet-dışı örgütler ve bazı BM kuruluşları ile ilişkiliydi. Oysa bugün artan sayıda devlet insani diplomasiyi bir dış politika aracı olarak benimsemekte ve kendilerini küresel yardımsever aktörler olarak tanımlamaktadır. Son on yılda, Türkiye de insani yardım alanındaki ana aktörlerden biri olarak yükselmiş ve insaniyetçilik Türk dış politikası yapıcılarının söyleminde merkezi bir tema haline gelmiştir. En önemlisi, Türk hükümeti insani diplomasi kavramını resmi olarak dış politika gündeminin parçası haline getirmiştir. Bu nedenle, bu makale Türkiye’nin yakın dönemde küresel bir yardımsever aktör haline gelmesini analiz etmeyi ve ‘Türk tipi insani diplomasinin’ temel özelliklerini keşfetmeyi amaçlamaktadır. Bu amaçla, tekil devletlerin insani diplomasi uygulamasını değerlendirmek üzere üç sütunlu bir yaklaşım önermekte ve Türkiye’nin genel insaniyetçi politikasının devlet odaklı insani diplomasinin üç sütunu ile ne şekilde benzeştiğini tartışmaktadır. Makale ayrıca vaka incelemesi olarak Türkiye’nin Somali’ye ve Myanmar’daki Rohingya krizine yönelik insani müdahalelerini incelemektedir. Devlet odaklı insani diplomasi, Soğuk Savaş sonrası dönemde insaniyetçiliğin siyasallaşmasını ve insani yardım sisteminin standardizasyonunu daha da derinleştirmiştir. Bu çerçevede makale, Türkiye’nin insani diplomasiyi benimsemesinin, hem insani diplomasiyi daha genel siyasal meseleler ve politik hedefler ile ilişkilendirerek hem de uluslararası insani yardım sisteminin kurumsal kapasite gelişimine yardımcı olarak bu iki küresel trende katkı sunduğu sonucuna varmıştır.

Keywords

İnsani diplomasi, Türk dış politikası, Somali, Rohingya krizi, İnsani yardım

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