Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
INSIGHT TURKEY, cilt.12, sa.4, ss.131-145, 2010 (Scopus)
ODA has increasingly become an integral part of Turkey’s recent proactive foreign policy. In line with the current government’s objective of creating a more peaceful and
stable environment in the surrounding regions, Turkey has interjected itself as an
important stakeholder in the building of regional stability. As an extension of its
policy of utilizing a wide range of soft power instruments, such as assuming a mediator
role in regional conflicts, Turkey also increased its level of contribution to
ODA geared towards helping countries affected by conflicts and natural disasters.
At the same time, Turkey’s ambition to act as a major regional power provides an
added impetus to growing its ODA contributions.
This article will shed light on Turkey’s aid policy as well as its evolution from
an aid recipient country to a new player in the international donor community,
by placing it in the context of Turkey’s proactive foreign policy. This article aims
to compare Turkey with other emerging international donors, such as South Korea
and Poland. This will facilitate our understanding of Turkey’s emerging role
within the international donor community. Moreover, the article will trace the
changes in the institutional organization of the ODA in Turkey, with particular
reference to the role of the Turkish International Cooperation and Development
Agency (TIKA) and its ODA reporting policies.
As the direction of foreign aid is determined not only by political and strategic
considerations, but also by the economic needs and policy performance of the
recipient countries,1 this article will argue that Turkey’s foreign aid policy appears
to be motivated by two main factors. First, the current Turkish government is
aiming to assume international responsibilities commensurate with its position as
a regional power. Second, the growing Turkish economy is in need of new markets
in the developing world for its products. In other words, the political and strategic
considerations as well as trade concerns with recipient countries are the main
reasons for Turkey’s proactive foreign aid policy.