Becoming Global Actor: the Turkish agenda for the Global South

Interpretations about Turkey’s strategic orientations in the post-Cold War had simplified the divide between the Western, and non-western orientations. The problematic relations with the European Union, the increasing discussions about the role of Turkey in the Syrian crisis, and the increasing rapprochement with the Russian Federation are lively examples of the tangled options of Ankara’s foreign policy. Despite that, there is an proliferating literature about the growing role of Turkey in the Global South, especially related to the expansion of diplomatic networks, foreign aid, humanitarian assistance and quasi-interregional cooperation. This paper will address the southern dimension of the Turkish foreign policy by identifying the main international and domestic variables that have pushed for further activism in the Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America. The main argument is that the political and economic emergence of the non-western world, next to the narrative promoted by the ruling JDP elite – especially connected to the quest for a global engagement and partially related to the identity nexus – helped to expand this strategic perspective formulated in the late 1990s.