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From Mogadishu to Buenos Aires: The Global South in the Turkish Foreign Policy in the Late JDP Period (2011–2017)

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Middle Powers in Global Governance

Abstract

As regards the southern dimension of the Turkish foreign policy, this chapter aims to analyze the Turkish agenda for the Global South. First, it presents a historical and conceptual scheme about the role of the Global South in the foreign policy, explaining the late humanitarian and developmental involvement. Next, it presents the main tenets of this new dimension of the foreign policy through the analysis of two case studies: sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. The aim of the work is to introduce the Turkish policy toward the Global South, focusing on how the southern dimension can contribute to Turkey’s ambition of becoming a global actor in the context of the shifting global governance.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The term was quoted by former President Abdullah Gül during a visit to Africa. By a ‘clean slate’, Gül was presumably alluding to the crucial fact that Turkey has never been a colonizing power in the region.

  2. 2.

    Turkish leaders emphasize these historical ties: “You are home, Turkey is your motherland, sixteenth century Ahmed Gurey fought occupying forces with Ottoman support”. Opening remarks by Foreign Minister of Turkey Ahmet Davutoğlu, Somali civil society gathering, Istanbul, May 27, 2012.

  3. 3.

    Turkish humanitarian NGOs are faith-based organizations. They are formal organizations whose identity and mission are self-consciously derived from the teachings of one or more religious or spiritual traditions (Berger 2003, p. 16).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Genova, Genoa, Italy

    Federico Donelli

  2. Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Ariel Gonzalez Levaggi

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  1. Federico Donelli
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  2. Ariel Gonzalez Levaggi
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Political Sciences, Marmara University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Emel Parlar Dal

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Donelli, F., Gonzalez Levaggi, A. (2018). From Mogadishu to Buenos Aires: The Global South in the Turkish Foreign Policy in the Late JDP Period (2011–2017). In: Parlar Dal, E. (eds) Middle Powers in Global Governance. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-72365-5_3

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