Exploring Turkey’s Energy Relations with Sub-Saharan Africa
Yayınevi :
Berikan Yayınevi
Basım Yeri / Yılı :
ANKARA / 2022
After its electoral win in 2003, AK Party government have stamped its mark on Turkey’s domestic and international politics. In domestic politics, a strong parliamentary majority after a decade of unstable coalition governments, allowed AK Party to establish its presence, form its government and claim is identity in political arena. Most significantly, this victory was symbolising the move of periphery to the centre stage. Such a move was supported by significant democratisation efforts, improving relations with the EU and favourable global economic conditions to achieve significant results in a very short period of time. On the other hand, Turkey’s foreign policy had undergone significant changes, as well. Diverting from the traditional reactionary foreign policy, AK Party has introduced new concepts, such as “multi-dimensional foreign policy”, “pro-active diplomacy”, or “humanitarian diplomacy” to the Turkish foreign policymaking process in a short amount of time.
As a result of these changes, Turkey had begun to revitalise its historical and cultural connections to its broader geographical region. Furthermore, during the same time civil society organisations have also started to participate in humanitarian aid programmes in various regions of the world, and develop a positive public image in foreign countries. Their activities were in line with the “Multi-dimensional Diplomacy” and “humanitarian diplomacy” aspects of the foreign policy reformulated by the AK Party government. The government also recognised the potential of these policies, and soft power in establishing relations, and various government institutions or agencies started to organise or participate in humanitarian diplomacy, further improving Turkey’s soft power.
Combining its soft power and energy diplomacy Turkey has entered Sub-Saharan Africa to search for alternative energy resources. However, the results from this initiative were mixed and limited in materialising ability of the developing relations. Consequently, the capability of soft power to secure Turkey’s energy supply security became questionable. As a result, a study investigating this capability is long overdue. This study attempts to fill this important gap by reviewing and critically assessing the development of Turkey’s energy relations with the Sub-Saharan countries.
The content and the results of this study will be of interest to particular interest to political decision makers, diplomats, market regulators, academic researchers, and energy market participants alike.