Reform and Capacity Building in the Turkish Foreign Ministry: Bridging the Gap between Ideas and Institutions

Abstract

Turkey has expanded the horizons of its foreign policy in geographical terms, as well as in terms of Ankara's involvement in global issues and in international organizations. Turkey's new foreign policy and line of geopolitical thought marks a considerable degree of discontinuity with the previous era. Turkey's ambition is to take on a central role in world politics under the guidance of the foreign policy vision of former Foreign Minister and current Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. This paper analyses the extent to which Turkey's Foreign Ministry has been able to transform itself in accordance with the new geopolitical thinking under Davutoğlu. It focuses on the capacity building and reform of the Foreign Ministry to understand how policymakers bridge the gap between ideas and institutions to ensure that the geopolitical perspective is an enduring and long-term project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

^[1] B. Aras, ‘Davutoğlu era in Turkish foreign policy revisited’, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 16(4), 2014, pp. 404–418.

^[2] See J. A. Agnew, Geopolitics: Revisioning World Politics, Routledge, London, 1998; S. Dalby and G. Ó. Tuathail, ‘The critical geopolitics constellation: problematizing fusions of geographical knowledge and power’, Political Geography, 15(6–7), 1996, pp. 451–456; G. Ó. Tuathail, Critical Geopolitics, University of Minnesota, Minnesota, 1996; G. Ó. Tuathail, Rethinking Geopolitics, Routledge, London, 1998; G. Ó. Tuathail, ‘Geopolitical structures and geopolitical cultures: towards conceptual clarity in the critical study of geopolitics’, in Lasha Tchantouridze (ed.), Geopolitics: Global Problems and Regional Concerns, Centre for Defence and Security Studies, Winnipeg, 2003.

^[3] A. Davutoğlu, Stratejik Derinlik: Türkiye'nin Uluslararası Konumu [Strategic Depth: Turkey's International Position], Küre, İstanbul, 1999.

^[4] A. Balcı and T. Karda¸, ‘The changing dynamics of Turkey's relations with Israel: an analysis of securitization’, Insight Turkey, 14(2), 2012, pp. 99–120.

^[5] Aras, op. cit.

^[6] M. Ye¸ilta¸, ‘The transformation of the geopolitical vision in Turkish foreign policy’, Turkish Studies, 14(4), 2013, pp. 661–687.

^[7] A. Davutoğlu, Teoriden Pratiğe. Türk Dı¸ Politikası Üzerine Konu¸malar [From Theory to Practice. Speeches on Turkish Foreign Policy], Küre, İstanbul, 2013.

^[8] See P. Bilgin, ‘“Only strong states can survive in Turkey's geography”: the uses of “geopolitical truths” in Turkey’, Political Geography, 46(7), 2007, pp. 740–756.

^[9] A. Davutoğlu, ‘Turkey's humanitarian diplomacy: objectives, challenges and prospects’, Nationalities Papers: The Journal of Nationalism and Ethnicity, 41(6), 2013, p. 866.

^[10] Ibid., p. 870.

^[11] Ibid., p. 867.

^[12] A. Davutoğlu, ‘Turkish foreign policy and the EU in 2010’, Turkish Policy Quarterly, 8(3), 2009, p. 15.

^[13] Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's speech at the 5th Annual Ambassadors' Conference in Ankara, 2 January 2013, < http://www.mfa.gov.tr/disisleri-bakani-sayin-ahmet-davutoglu_nun-v_-buyukelciler-konferansinda-yaptigi-konusma_-2-ocak-2013_-ankara.tr.mfa> (accessed 21 May 2015).

^[14] E. Er¸en, ‘The evolution of “Eurasia” as a geopolitical concept in post-Cold War Turkey’, Geopolitics, 18(1), 2013, pp. 24–44.

^[15] ‘Davutoğlu: Hattı Diplomasi Yoktur Sathı Diploması Vardır, Satıh ise Tüm Dünyadır’ [There is no constant line for diplomacy, but a platform of diplomacy. That platform is the whole world], Radikal, 5 January 2010, < http://www.radikal.com.tr/politika/davutoglu_hatti_diplomasi_yoktur_sathi_diplomasi_vardir_satih_ise_tum_dunyadir-972801> (accessed 21 May 2015).

^[16] Interview by the author with İbrahim Kalın, Deputy Undersecretary of Prime Ministry and Chief Advisor to Prime Minister, Ankara, 13 February 2014.

^[17] A. Davutoğlu, ‘Turkey's foreign policy vision’, Insight Turkey, 10(1), 2008, pp. 77–96.

^[18] B. Aral, ‘Turkey in the UN Security Council: its election and performance’, Insight Turkey, 11(4), 2009, pp. 151–168.

^[19] B. Aras, ‘Turkey's mediation and Friends of Mediation initiative’, SAM Papers, 1(4), 2012.

^[20] P. Akpınar, ‘Turkey's peacebuilding in Somalia: the limits of humanitarian diplomacy’, Turkish Studies, 14(4), 2013, pp. 735–757.

^[21] M. Blyth, ‘Structures do not come with an instruction sheet: interests, ideas and progress in political science’, Perspectives on Politics, 1(4), 2003, p. 699.

^[22] T. M. Moe, ‘The politics of bureaucratic structure’, in J. E. Chubb and P. E. Peterson (eds), Can the Government Govern?, The Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, 1989, pp. 267–329.

^[23] Ibid.

^[24] Blyth, op. cit., p. 699.

^[25] Dı¸i¸leri Bakanlığının Kurulu¸ ve Görevleri Hakkında Kanun [Law on Establishment and Duties of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey]. For full text, see < http://www.mfa.gov.tr/data/BAKANLIK/mevzuat-2013.pdf> (accessed 21 May 2015).

^[26] Interview by the author with Ambassador Naci Koru, Deputy Foreign Minister, Ankara, 22 August 2013.

^[27] See Article 10, Paragraphs 1 and 2 of Law 6004.

^[28] These figures were obtained from the Public Diplomacy Office in Prime Ministry, 7 May 2015, < http://kdk.gov.tr/sayilarla/13-yilda-65-yeni-temsilcilik-turkiyenin-yurtdisindaki-temsilcilik-sayisi-228e-cikti/41> (accessed 21 May 2015).

^[29] Davutoğlu's speech at the 5th Annual Ambassadors' Conference, op. cit.

^[30] See Article 19, Paragraph 1 of Law 6004. In 2013 and 2014, 28 diplomats pursued MA studies abroad, 12 diplomats studied at special MA programmes in Turkish universities with combined language programmes in countries of interest, < http://kdk.gov.tr/sayilarla/13-yilda-65-yeni-temsilcilik-turkiyenin-yurtdisindaki-temsilcilik-sayisi-228e-cikti/41> (accessed 21 May 2015).

^[31] See Articles 16 and 17 of Law 6004.

^[32] There are 17 diplomats working at various international organizations such as NATO, UN, BSEC (Black Sea Economic Cooperation), UNESCO, etc.

^[33] For example, in 2012, the Ministry of Justice started to send experienced personnel as attachés to posts that required support and advice in legal affairs.

^[34] See Article 12, Paragraph 2 (d) of Law 6004.

^[35] Interview by the author with a senior diplomat, Ankara, 7 April 2014.

^[36] Interview by the author with Ambassador Naci Koru, Deputy Foreign Minister, Ankara, 22 August 2013.

^[37] ‘5. Büyükelçiler Konferansı’ [5th Annual Ambassadors' Conference], SonDakika.com, 2 January 2013, < http://www.sondakika.com/haber/haber-5-buyukelciler-konferansi-4216939/> (accessed 21 May 2015).

^[38] For the new arrangement of these departments, respectively, see Article 12, Paragraph 2 (d) of Law 6004; Article 6, Paragraph 2 (l) of Law 6004; Article 6, Paragraph 2 (n) of Law 6004; Article 6, Paragraph 2 (a) of Law 6004; Article 6, Paragraph 2 (k) of Law 6004.

^[39] Interview by the author with a senior diplomat, Ankara, 6 May 2013.

^[40] Ambassador Atılay Ersan's visit to the countries in the Pacific islands such as Nauru, Fiji, Vanuatu and Kiribati in 2012 exemplify Turkey's recent approach of promoting its candidacy to the UNSC for the period 2015–16.

^[41] Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu's speech at 4th Annual Ambassadors' Conference in Ankara, 23 December 2011, < http://www.mfa.gov.tr/disisleri-bakani-sn_-ahmet-davutoglu_nun-iv_-buyukelciler-konferansi-acis-konusmasi_-23-aralik-2011.tr.mfa> (accessed 19 June 2014).

^[42] Interview by the author with a senior diplomat, Ankara, 6 May 2013.

^[43] Interview by the author with Ambassador Naci Koru, Deputy Foreign Minister, Ankara, 22 August 2013.

^[44] These figures were obtained from Public Diplomacy Office in Prime Ministry, 7 May 2015, < http://kdk.gov.tr/sayilarla/13-yilda-65-yeni-temsilcilik-turkiyenin-yurtdisindaki-temsilcilik-sayisi-228e-cikti/41> (accessed 21 May 2015).

^[45] For example, the 5th Annual Ambassadors' Conference was held with the theme of ‘humanitarian diplomacy’ in Ankara and Izmir on 2–7 January 2013. The final declaration of the conference reiterates that Turkish foreign policy will continue to be carried out with a multidimensional, visionary and self-confident approach to active foreign policy. The conference took place with a broad base of participation at the highest level including the President, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Minister, several members of the cabinet, as well as the foreign ministers of Singapore, Brazil and Sweden as foreign guest speakers of the conference.

^[46] Davutoğlu, ‘Turkey's humanitarian diplomacy’, op. cit., pp. 865–870.

^[47] See Office of Public Diplomacy at < http://www.kdk.gov.tr/sayilarla/10-yilda-58-yeni-temsilcilik/41> (accessed 21 May 2015).

^[48] Interview by the author with a senior diplomat, Ankara, 7 April 2014.

^[49] Interview by the author with Ertuğrul Apakan, former Undersecretary of Foreign Ministry and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Istanbul, 24 October 2013.

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Bülent Aras

Bülent Aras is Senior Scholar and Coordinator of the Conflict Resolution and Mediation stream at Istanbul Policy Center, Professor of International Relations in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Sabancı University and Global Fellow at Wilson Center. He is the Academic Coordinator of POMEAS (Project on the Middle East and Arab Spring). His current research interests include geopolitics of the Arab Spring, non-state actors in peacebuilding, and bridging the gap between theory and practice in foreign policy. Recent work has been published in Third World Quarterly, Middle East Policy, International Peacekeeping, Political Science Quarterly, International Journal, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies and Journal of Third World Studies.