Turkey is seen as an important donor country. Turkish decision makers estimate this position on the history of Turkey, which they describe as different, passionate, kind and generous. Throughout this perspective, Turkish foreign policy follows a self-advocated value-based approaches, a foreign policy include that is motivated by ethics and humanitarianism.
Different public diplomacy instruments are used in distributing the foreign policy approaches.
In this regard, Official Development Aid (ODA), humanitarian assistance and mediation among countries are public diplomacy instruments that enforce the donor country position.
Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency (AFAD), Directorate of Religious Affairs (D??YANET), and some belief-based civil society organizations are the actors that mediate between the aid giver and recipient. Such structures have given humanitarian assistance and development assistance to Somalia, Palestine, Myanmar, Afghanistan, Philippines and different states in Africa and East Asia. In addition to that, more than 2 million Syrian guests live in Turkey and has spent more than $4.5 billion in sheltering centers and camps. In 2014 $700 million has been spent for 160,000 Kurdish refugees from Kobani, Syria. As an emerging donor Turkey demonstrates itself in different points such as its increased diplomatic integrity from 163 missions to 221 in a decade. In addition to that its position within international organizations for shaping global governance together with other emerging donors, its international cultural position through movies and TV series and important distinctions in its economic affairs with non-developed zones.
Turkey is the third leading global humanitarian donor country. In this context, Turkey is more perceived in non-developed regions and has been employing this position as leverage to commence new stories for global organizations. However, within the short-term Turkey’s international perception could be effected by its internal rhetoric effecting its international position; from a comprehensive perspective? Thus, it can importantly gain from its drafted fame and widen to its soft power. With an additional rhetoric and implementations will doubtfully strengthen Turkey’s global position and enforce its position.
Economic concerns have namely export markets, investment opportunities, tourism, energy supplies and so forth, importance in Turkish foreign policy making processes over the last few years. Due to the democratization, identity and non-governmental presences international relations is not an internal affairs but also an instrument for skill-force and wealth production.
Probably the leading element of this is the sensibility of Turkish economic settings to give impetus for foreign policy aims, from the EU affairs to the affairs with the Eastern countries. In this regard, not only the policy makers show concern to foreign relations, but also the other actors.
Kiri’?i asks about ‘How to explain the relationship between economics and foreign policy’? No doubt those, the affairs are complication and have different variables. The aim of them is highly a moderate. It goals to purpose a wide notional frame to assist explain the complications in the international relations of Turkey with the help of the economic aims. From the thoughts about a commercial state, Kiri’?i attaches significance to economic interdependence through succeeding ‘order’ across the MENA. However, Davutoglu goes on to indicate that this order in the said region ‘cannot be achieved in an atmosphere of isolated economies.’ In this vein, interdependence can be seen to serve two aims: firstly, interdependence is seen as a functionalist instrument toward the resolution of conflict and it helps to effort for peace building. In addition to this, interdependence gives settings for Turkish foreign trade actors. As well as that an integration of whole body of the economy of Turkey with the international stakeholders is hard to make Turkey a commercial state.
Developing Turkey’s transition to a commercial country is the sheer booming in the number of people living in the immediate environment of Turkey. After the first years of 1990s, it can be seen a gradual increasing in the figures of individuals coming Turkey growing from 10 million to 23 million. Of course the effect of the disintegration of the Soviet Union cannot be disregard in this process. Leading comings to Turkey still continues form western European countries. But, an much number of individuals are coming Turkey from its vicinity. An only 14 people from the SSCR came to Turkey in 1964, when compared to a large sum of almost 230,000 peoples, much from the West European countries. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the coming of Soviet citizens had gone up to just over 220,000, out of a total of 2, 3 million entries. By 2007, the number had approached to nearly 4,8 million from the ex-Soviet countries, equivalent to almost 25 percent of the general figures ‘ a growth from above than 10 percent in 1990. A resemble process can be followed within the Balkans and Middle East. The figure of peoples in the post-Cold War time has gradually grown, in particular from Iran and Bulgaria, but also from a number of other Eastern European states. More than 4 million entries were reported from these two regions in 2007. A significant rate of these actions of people includes tourism, especially from Western Europe states and Russia. Their contribution to the Turkish economy need not be underlined.