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Turkey's Soft Power and Public Diplomacy in Bosnia-Herzegovina

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Turkey's Soft Power and Public Diplomacy in Bosnia-Herzegovina Turkey’s Soft Power and Public Diplomacy in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Sandžak (2002 -2017) Jahja Muhasilović Istanbul, 2020 Turkey’s Soft Power and Public Diplomacy in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Sandžak (2002 -2017) Union of Turkish World Municipalities (TDBB) Publications, No: 30 ISBN 978-605-2334-08-9 Book Design and Technical Preparation Murat Arslan Printing Imak Ofset Tel: +90 212 656 49 97 Istanbul, 2020 Union of Turkish World Municipalities (TDBB) reserves all rights of the book‘Turkey’s Soft Power and Public Diplomacy in Bosnia- Herzegovina and Sandžak (2002 -2017). It can be just quoted by providing reference. None of the parts in this book can be reprinted and reproduced without permission. Merkez Efendi Mah. Merkez Efendi Konağı No: 29 Zeytinburnu 34015 İstanbul Tel +90 212 547 12 00 www.tdbb.org.tr Jahja Muhasilovic Jahja Muhasilovic was born in 1987 in Sarajevo, Bos- nia and Herzegovina. Alumni of Bogazici University he is fluent in local Balkans languages and Turkish. His primary expertise is on Turkish foreign policy in the Balkans. A graduate of history at the Universty of Sarajevo he special- ized in modern politics and soft power during his Ph.D. studies. Muhasilovic also authored many books, scientific articles, and opinion columns on Turkey’s influence in the Balkans for different regional and international publishers and media outlets. His ex- perience in working for media both regional and Turkish has provided him a good un- derstanding of Balkan politics and Turkey’s role in it. The book Turkey’s Soft Power and Public Diplomacy in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Sandžak (2002-2017) is just one of those works that evaluate a highly polarized subject of Turkey’s foreign policy in the Balkans. PUBLICATIONS • Book – ”Bosna Hersek Tarih Ders Kitaplarında Osmanlılar ve Türkler”, ed. Ahmet Şimşek in Dünyada Türk İmajı, Istanbul, Pegem Akademi-İstanbul Üniversitesi Yayınları, (2018) • Book – ”Balkan ve Karadeniz Ülkelerinde Güncel Tarih Ders Kitaplarında Osman- lı-Türk İmajı”, Vol. 1. İstanbul, Balkar, 2020 • Article – “Turkish Local Communities and City Diplomacy with Bosnia-Herzego- vina”, Journal of Balkans and Black Sea Studies, Vol. 4. (Istanbul, YTÜ, 2020) – Waiting to be published in the Vol. 4 in June 2020. Peer-reviewed, published work in reverse chronological order • Article - “Turkey’s Faith Based Diplomacy in the Western Balkans”, Rising Powers Quarterly, Vol. 3, Issue 3 (2018): 63-85 • Article – “Image of the Ottomans in Bosnian Textbooks Published After 2007”, Epiph- any/Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies, Volume 7, Number 2, 2014. P-ISSN 2303-6850 • Book Review: Dimitar Bechev, Rival Power: Russia’s Influence in Southeast Europe. New Haven, CT & London: Yale University Press, 2017, Review published in Jour- nal of Balkan and Black Sea Studies, Year 3, Issue 5, December 2020, pp. 195-206. • Book Review: Turska: Regionalna Sila? Eds. Misa Cirkovic and Aleksandar Rakovic, Belgrade: Institut za Evropske Studie, 2013, 293 p. Review published in: Journal of Balkan and Black Sea Studies, Year 2, Issue 2, June 2019, pp. 179-187. Abstract Turkey’s Soft Power and Public Diplomacy in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Sandžak (2002-2017) As an emerging regional power, Turkey’s soft power and public diplomacy are attract- ing the attention of researchers in recent years. One of the principal elements of Turkish soft power and public diplomacy are religious diplomacy run by Diyanet, today one of the most influential religious institutions in the Islamic World, stu- dent exchange diplomacy run by Turkiye Burslari, and very vibrant city diploma- cy run by the different municipalities and municipality unions, among which the most prominent is the Union of Turkish World Municipalities-TDBB. For centuries Balkan peninsula was an area of interest for the Ottoman Em- pire and later for Turkey. The region serves Turkey as the only gateway to Europe. After a break during the Cold War, Turkey’s active engagement in the Balkans has been restored. Today it is possible to say that Turkey is back in the region. It is the soft power that has been the main tool of Ankara’s influence and public diplo- macy lies at the core of that soft power. Public diplomacy institutions are serving as the visible face of Turkey’s policies, ambitions, goals, and vision in the region. For that reason, analysis of Turkish public diplomacy provides a clear insight into what Turkey’s aims and potentials in the Balkans are. Özet Türkiye’nin Bosna Hersek ve Sancak Bölgesinde Yumuşak Gücü ve Kamu Diploma- sisi (2002-2017) Gelişen bir bölgesel güç olarak, Türkiye’nin yumuşak gücü ve kamu diplomasisi son dönemlerde araştırmacıların ilgisini çekmektedir. Türkiye’nin yumuşak gücünün ve kamu diplomasisinin temel unsurlarından biri bugün İslam Dünyasında en etkili dini kurumlardan biri olan Diyanet tarafından yürütülen ‘dini diploma- sidir’. Türkiye Bursları tarafından yürütülen ‘öğrenci değişim diplomasisi’, farklı belediyeler ve Türk Dünyası Belediyeler Birliği-TDBB gibi belediye birlikleri tarafından yürütülen dinamik ‘yerel diplomasi’ de Türk kamu diplomasisinin önemli unsurlarını oluşturmaktadır. Balkan yarımadası yüzyıllar boyunca Osmanlı İmparatorluğu ve sonrasında Türkiye için bir ilgi alanı olmuştur. Bölge, Türkiye’nin Avrupa’ya tek giriş kapısı duru- mundadır. Soğuk Savaş sırasında yaşanan uzunca bir aradan sonra Türkiye’nin bölgeye yeniden döndüğünü söylemek mümkündür. Ankara’nın bölgedeki etkis- inin ana aracı olan yumuşak güçtür ve kamu diplomasisi bu yumuşak gücün tam merkezinde yer almaktadır. Kamu diplomasisi kurumları, Türkiye’nin bölgedeki politikalarının, isteklerinin, hedeflerinin ve vizyonunun görünür yüzü durumun- dadır. Bu nedenle, Türk kamu diplomasisinin incelenmesi, Türkiye’nin Balkan- lar’daki amaç ve potansiyellerine açıklık kazandıracaktır. To my beloved family Table of Contents List of Tables ............................................................................................................. 12 List of Figures ........................................................................................................... 13 List of Graphics ......................................................................................................... 14 Glossary of Non-English Terms ................................................................................. 15 Abbreviations and Acronyms ..................................................................................... 16 Acknowledgments ..................................................................................................... 19 1. Introduction ........................................................................................ 21 2. Soft Power and Public Diplomacy .............................................. 25 2.1. Soft Power ........................................................................................................ 25 2.2. Public Diplomacy ............................................................................................. 34 2.3. Cultural Diplomacy .......................................................................................... 45 2.4. Student Exchange Diplomacy ........................................................................... 47 2.5. City Diplomacy (Local Diplomacy) .................................................................. 48 3. TURKISH SOFT Power AND THE Development of Turkey’S Public Diplomacy ........................................................ 49 3.1. TIKA in the 1990s ........................................................................................... 51 3.2. Diyanet in the 1990s ........................................................................................ 53 3.3. Student Exchange Diplomacy: Scholarship Programs ....................................... 53 3.4. Turkish Soft Power in the Western Balkans During the 1990s .......................... 55 3.5. Turkish Soft Power in the Western Balkans During the 2000s ........................... 59 3.6. The Emergence of TIKA in the Balkans (the 2000s) .......................................... 70 3.7. Cultural Diplomacy Through Language-Teaching ............................................. 76 3.8. Turkish Cultural Diplomacy: Yunus Emre Institute in the Balkans ................... 82 3.9. Other Examples of Cultural Diplomacy in the Balkans ..................................... 93 4. TURKISH FAITH-BASED Diplomacy AND THE PRESIDENCY OF RELIGIOUS Affairs (Diyanet İşleri BaşkanliğI) ............................................................... 101 4.1. Turkish Faith-based Diplomacy ......................................................................... 103 5. TURKISH Initiative FOR THE Unification of Islamic Communities in Serbia ................................................ 125 5.1. Sandžak Region ................................................................................................ 126 5.2. Historical Development of the Islamic Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina ............................................................................... 129 5.3. Historical Developments Leading to the Schism Between the Islamic Communities in Serbia ................................................................... 139 5.4. Rise of the SDA Sandžak and the Situation in the Region in the Early 1990s ... 141 5.5. Rise of Sulejman Ugljanin in Sandžak ............................................................... 143 5.6. Rise of Mufti Muamer Zukorlić ........................................................................ 147 5.7. Jusufspahić Family
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