23.11.2020-29.11.2020 • No: 282

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AN OVERVIEW OF ’S POLICY TOWARDS THE BALKANS

The Balkans, which were first used by the Ot- (1995) reached a consensus in Bosnia and Her- countries in the region. The foreign trade vol- tomans as a geographical and political concept, zegovina and the NATO intervention during ume, which was 3.6 billion dollars in 2002, ex- are defined as the steep land consisting of for- the resolution of the Kosovo crisis (1999). ceeded 19 billion dollars in 2019. Similarly, ests and mountains. Despite different views on The second term is the post-2002 period in Turkey’s direct investments in the region have the borders of the Balkans, according to the which the AK Party was in power in form of a increased in areas such as transportation, en- generally accepted approach, the peninsula, single-party government, under the presidency ergy, telecommunications and infrastructure. which consists of an area of 1 million km2, co- of the current President Recep Tayyip Er- With the exception of EU investments, Turkey vers Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ko- dogan, after the political and economic crises is the second most invested country in Albania sovo, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bul- that marked the 1990s. This period, in which and Northern Macedonia. garia, Romania, and Turkey’s Thrace the “entrepreneurial and humanitarian” foreign Turkey’s Balkans policy also have a special region. policy approach was brought to the fore, as a place in public diplomacy activities, where in- The Balkans, the cradle and border region of new turning point in relations with the Bal- stitutions such as the Turkish Cooperation and four great empires and civilizations such as kans. Coordination Agency (TIKA), the Presidency Ancient Greece, Rome, Byzantine and the Ot- Compared to the pre-2000 period, we can say for Turks Abroad and Related Communities toman Empire, is still an important crossroads that the Balkans policy, which includes all ac- (YTB), the Yunus Emre Institute and the Maa- of all continents today. This historical past has tors and parties throughout the region during rif Foundation come to the fore. TİKA, which enabled the emergence of a multi-layered this period, is shaped within the framework of opened its first office in the region in Tirana in structure in terms of social, cultural and archi- basic principles such as uninterrupted high- 1996, has opened coordination offices in all tectural aspects in the Balkans today. The ex- level political dialogue, ensuring regional Balkan countries, except Greece and Bulgaria. istence of the Ottomans in the Balkans, which peace and stability, economic integration and In 2019, Turkey provided support to many pro- corresponded to the second half of the 14th preservation of the multi-ethnic, multi-reli- jects including the development of technical century, continued to expand until the end of gious and multi-cultural structure in the region. infrastructure, increasing institutional capacity the 17th century. The , which In addition to these principles, it should be and humanitarian aid and transferred funds to was the dominant power in the region until the mentioned that there are some indispensable Balkan countries in the amount of 100 million beginning of the 20th century, with imple- factors that Turkey should take into account in liras (12.8 million dollar). The Presidency for mented settlement and conciliatory policies, its regional policy. The first of these is the com- Turks Abroad and Related Communities, es- gave special importance to the establishment mon history of six centuries. The second is the tablished in 2010, also operates in areas such and development of peace in the region. human factor in relation to the first. As a result as education, culture and public diplomacy in The Balkans, which has a priority in Turkish of the fact that the region remained under Ot- the geographies where friendly and brother- foreign policy in political and geographical toman rule for a long time, there are descendant hood countries and communities live. YTB, terms, has been a historically and culturally im- and relative communities in all Balkan coun- with its human oriented programs such as Tur- portant region for Turkey. Although this article tries, and similarly, there are a large number of key Scholarship, academic and scientific re- focuses on the post- period, post-Ot- Turkish citizens of Balkan origin in Turkey as search programs, and cultural mobility pro- toman Turkey’s Balkan policy has mainly been a result of migrations from the region at differ- grams makes a valuable contribution to Tur- studied in three periods. The first of these is the ent times. Another factor is the geographical key’s Balkan policy. interwar period covering 1923-1947 which importance of the region to Turkey. All these could be defined as proactive in some aspects, Within the scope of cultural diplomacy, the factors have the capacity to influence Turkey’s Yunus Emre Institute (YEE) is one of the insti- although when the possibilities and capabilities relations with the Balkan countries. of solving the problems remaining from the tutions that fills an important gap in Turkey’s Turkey, which has long and deep historical and Balkans policy. The Yunus Emre Institute, Treaty of Lausanne were limited. The second cultural ties with the region, has felt the Bosnia of these is the Cold War period in which Tur- which was founded in 2007, opened offices in and Herzegovina civil war and the Kosovo cri- Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montene- key, as a loyal NATO member, failed to dis- sis closely in terms of human factor. For this play an independent policy toward the Balkans gro, Kosovo, Northern Macedonia, Serbia and and the Turkish and Muslim minorities in the reason, Turkey has taken its place in interna- Romania in a short period of time. YEE con- region. The third period can be defined as the tional peacekeeping missions such as the Ko- tributes to the promotion of Turkey’s foreign post-Cold War period. Considering the politi- sovo Force (KFOR), the European Union policy in the fields of culture and arts as well cal and economic environment, and new para- Force (EUFOR) and the European Union Rule as the . The Maarif Founda- digms by means of new instruments in foreign of Law Mission (EULEX) in the process of tion of Turkey founded in 2016 and with insti- policy, the post-Cold War period can also be achieving regional peace and stability. In addi- tutions ranging from preschool to university in handled in two separate periods as before 2000 tion, in order to develop regional cooperation, 42 countries, has been Turkey’s gateway to the and after 2000. Turkey promotes the integration process of the Balkans in international education in Albania, Following a century-long gap, the first period countries in the region to Euro-Atlantic struc- Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia of the early 1990s, Turkey again returned to the tures, while actively contributing to the South- and Romania. Balkans, politically, economically and strategi- East Europe Cooperation Process (SEECP), as As a result, the Balkans, with long historical cally unprepared. This period, when the 8th a founding member. Moreover, in addition to and cultural ties, has always been a priority re- , Turgut Ozal, was the fore- bilateral relations for lasting peace and stability gion for Turkish foreign policy in terms of ge- runner under the conditions of the civil war in with the initiative of Turkey, the Turkey-Bos- ographical, political, economic and human fac- Bosnia, was the beginning of a period in which, nia and Herzegovina-Serbia Tripartite Advi- tors. In the early 1990s, Turkey, which was despite all its shortcomings, Turkey felt its sory Council was formed in 2009. rapidly involved in regional politics under the presence in the Balkans politically, militarily If we look at the commercial and economic re- conditions of regional turmoil, civil war and and economically. In the following years, there lations with the Balkan countries, the basis of crises, has played an active role in the process has been a palpable increase in Turkey’s hu- commercial and economic cooperation, espe- of achieving regional peace and stability. Alt- manitarian and development assistance, high- cially the free trade agreements and visa ex- hough the region lost position in Turkish for- level visits and political discourse for the re- emption practices with the Balkan countries, eign policy towards the end of the 1990s due to gion, especially regarding developments in have been strengthened since the second half the internal political environment, Turkey’s bi- Bosnia and Herzegovina. In parallel, economic of the 2000s. In addition to these regulations, lateral, multilateral and regional cooperation and trade relations with the countries of the re- the process of bilateral cooperation councils in- process with Balkan countries increased with gion increased. However, Turkey’s Balkan itiated with Bulgaria, Romania and North Mac- the articulation of new organizations in the policy lost interest after the Dayton Treaty edonia in the 1990s was completed with other post-2000 period.

Written by Suat Beylur, Eurasian Research Institute, Kazakhstan

Politics, Foreign Affairs, and Security Economy, Finance, and Energy Society and Culture  Minister of Foreign Affairs of , Due to negative economic consequences Jeyhun Bayramov, met in a video confer-   Turkey's TRT Avaz TV channel prepared ence with his Iranian counterpart, Moham- of the pandemic, the government of Ka- a documentary on 1,300-year-old Bilge mad Javad Zarif. Parties discussed bilat- zakhstan will borrow €1.5 billion ($1.78 Tonyukuk inscriptions in present-day eral economic cooperation, the Araz River billion) to maintain a sustainable econ- Mongolia. The inscriptions give valuable and joint projects on the North-South In- omy. According to the country’s Minister information on historical events that oc- ternational Transport Corridor. The minis- of Finance, Yerulan Zhamaubayev, two curred during the Gokturk era in Central ter Bayramov thanked the Iranian side for loans will be attracted from international Asia, such as the war strategies of the their support of the territorial integrity and financial institutions. The Asian Develop- Turks and Tonyukuk's struggles for the sovereignty of Azerbaijan, while Javad th Zarif noted that Iran was always ready to ment Bank will provide the loan worth Turkic state. The 1.300 anniversary of the assist in making progress in resolving the €908 million ($1.07 billion), while the construction of the Tonyukuk Monument conflict (News.az, 25.11.2020). Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will was included in UNESCO’s recommenda-  The Presidents of and Turkey, Vla- allocate more than €660 million ($784 tions list for 2020-2021 upon Turkey's dimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, million) (Kazakh TV, 24.11.2020). proposal (Aa.com.tr, 25.11.2020). had a phone conversation. The parties dis-  According to the head of the Russian Ac- cussed establishment of a ceasefire control  As part of a joint action to combat the center in Nagorno-Karabakh and issues re- counts Chamber, Alexei Kudrin, Russia’s COVID-19 pandemic, Kazakhstan sent a lated to the implementation of agreements economy may decrease by 4.5% in 2020, cargo with 16 tons of humanitarian aid to committed in the joint statement of the even though official sources expect a 3.9% Kyrgyzstan. The assistance was initiated Russian and Azerbaijani presidents and decline. Kudrin noted that European econ- by the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym- the Armenian Prime Minister. Turkey ex- omies, in turn, would shrink by 8-9%, Jomart Tokayev. The humanitarian assis- pects that the joint center will start opera- while the UK’s economy might drop by tance to brotherly Kyrgyz people included tions within the shortest possible time 11%. He mentioned that living standards, frame to ensure stability in the region on a 400 medical ventilators and 2 million permanent basis (TASS, 25.11.2020). which had already fallen by 10% in the last medical masks produced in Kazakhstan.  Foreign Ministers of the Central Asian five years, had continued their decline in Kazakhstan has also provided humanitar- states and South Korea took part in the Co- the second and third quarters by 8% and ian assistance to Tajikistan, operation Forum “ - Republic 4.5%, respectively (TASS, 28.11.2020). and Uzbekistan since the beginning of the of Korea”. During the forum, Foreign  Business Councils of Belarus and Kazakh- epidemic (Astanatimes.com, 27.11.2020). Ministers discussed issues of cooperation stan held an online session with participa-  Turkish city of Trabzon held the inaugura- in the fields of health care, distance learn- tion of the countries’ Ambassadors Ex- ing, standardization and environment. On tion of the Photography Exhibition of the the sidelines of the forum, the first meeting traordinary and Plenipotentiary, Pavel International Organization of Turkic Cul- of the Business Council with the participa- Utyupin and Askar Beisenbayev. Accord- ture (TURKSOY) featuring “Cultural tion of the chambers of commerce and in- ing to Utyupin, during nine months of Capitals of the Turkic World.”. The open- dustry of Central Asia and the Korea Inter- 2020, total trade between the countries ing of the exhibition was attended by the national Trade Association (KITA) was amounted to $666 million, accounting for TURKSOY Secretary General, Dusen held online (Kazinform, 25.11.2020). 98% of trade in the same period last year.  Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkmenistan, Kasseinov, the Governor of Trabzon, Is- Beisenbayev in turn, noted that the pan- mail Ustaoglu, and the Mayor of Trabzon, Vepa Khadzhiyev, had an online meeting demic affected trade, which in 2019 with the special representative of the Pres- Murat Zorluoglu. The exhibition featuring ident of the Russian Federation for Af- equaled $1 billion (BelTA, 24.11.2020). photos of Cultural Capitals of the Turkic ghanistan, Zamir Kabulov, to discuss the  The acting Prime Minister of Kyrgyzstan, World was first launched in 2012 (Turk- process of peace negotiations to establish Artem Novikov, visited a parliament soy.org, 24.11.2020). peace and stability in neighboring Afghan- meeting and noted that the government  Ambassador of Azerbaijan to Georgia, istan. During the meeting, the sides ex- discussed introduction of state regulations changed views on rendering assistance to Faig Guliyev, met with the Minister of Ed- Afghanistan and expressed the commit- on prices of goods in ministries and de- ucation, Science, Culture and Sports of ment of their governments to assist the so- partments in order to restrict their growth. Georgia, Mikheil Chkhenkeli. The sides cio-economic development of the country. He also mentioned that the government discussed the expansion of humanitarian The interlocutors also expressed interest in has already imposed export bans continuing cooperation aimed at maintain- cooperation between the two Caucasian on 14 types of goods. According to states, emphasizing the importance of ing security and stability in the region Novikov, the government will not intro- (Centralasia.news, 28.11.2020). strengthening cooperation in the fields of duce the regulation if businesses and large culture and sports. Minister Chkhenkeli  Turkey granted 12 units of multifunctional importers can keep prices on their own armored backhoe loaders and 35 BMC Ne- praised the joint projects implemented by ocity type buses to the Georgian Defense (24.kg, 25.11.2020). Georgia and Azerbaijan (Azer- Forces in order to develop the military-en-  Uzbekistan has started the implementation baycan24.com, 27.11.2020). gineering and logistics directions. The of- of the project "Development of Rural In- ficial ceremony for the transfer of mate- frastructure" for 2020-2024, through  According to the UN Food and Agricul- rial-technical means was attended by the which more than 300 villages in different ture Organization (FAO) report, Central Minister of Defense of Georgia, Irakli regions will receive financing to improve Asia is among the regions with very high Garibashvili, and the Ambassador of Tur- the quality of basic social infrastructure. water shortages in the world. Nearly one key to Georgia, H.E. Fatma Ceren Yazgan. of every five people in Central Asia live in The procurement of the armored tractors International development and financial institutions assist the country to implement agricultural areas with very high water and vehicles was carried out in the frame- scarcity. Turkmenistan tops the list in Cen- work of bilateral cooperation between the project. In particular, the 3 Georgia and the Republic of Turkey provided $100 million, while the loan tral Asia with 5.333 m per person in terms (27.11.2020). from the Asian Infrastructure Investment of annual water withdrawals, followed by  Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan, Bank equaled $82 million. The Kazakhstan – 2.345 m3, Uzbekistan – Yerzhan Ashikbayev, took part in the government, in turn, allocated $1.6 million 2.295 m3, Kyrgyzstan – 1.989 m3 and Ta- high-level virtual meeting on the results of (UzDaily, 25.11.2020). jikistan – 1.895 m3 (Asiaplustj.info, the United Nations Development Pro- 27.04.2020). gram’s (UNDP) violent extremism pre-  During nine months of 2020, Ukraine ex- vention project in Central Asia. The Dep- ported products worth $327 million to  A solemn ceremony of passing the baton uty Foreign Minister reiterated Kazakh- South Korea, while its imports equaled of the cultural capital of the CIS from stan’s commitment to support the UN $342 million. However, the Embassy of Shymkent to the city of Dushanbe was Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in Ukraine in the Republic of Korea forecasts held online. The event was attended by the Central Asia, stressing the importance of a 20% increase in Ukrainian exports, Mayor of Shymkent, Murat Aytenov, and promotion of the Code of Conduct to achieve a world free of terrorism. The which will equalize negative trade bal- the Consul General of Tajikistan, Bahodur Deputy Minister Ashikbayev also called ance. Ukraine is one of the main suppliers Nazir. The new status of the city entails a for strengthening cooperation with UN of grain to the Korean market, with its series of events to be held in 2021 within agencies and other international partners shares in total exports increasing from the framework of the program “Dushanbe in this sphere (Astanatimes.com, 53.6% to 85.9% over the past three years – the cultural capital of the Common- 27.11.2020). (Ukrinform, 25.11.2020). wealth” (Centralasia.news, 25.11.2020).

Prepared by Saule Akhmetkaliyeva and Kanat Makhanov