Abstract
Even though Turkey has a
strong historical relationship with the Republic of South Africa dating back to
the 19th century, its historical and political relations with the Republic of
South Africa remained very limited since the establishment of the Republic of
Turkey in 1923. When the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) came to power
in October 2002, the traditional dynamics of Turkish foreign policy changed
significantly. The ruling party explored new political, economic and social
instruments so as to increase its relations with South Africa. The AK Party has
combined elements of constructivist and realist approaches in its foreign
policy activism, focusing on restoring the damaged historical relations with
African countries and strengthening economic and trade relations with them.
This article argues that there is a mixture of motivations behind increasing
the bilateral relations between the two states. Also, this research will focus
on how geopolitical, geoeconomic and historical factors play an important role
in the development of relations between the two countries.
Keywords:
Ottoman State, Turkey, South Africa, Turkish foreign policy, history, politics,
economics, geopolitics.
How
to cite the article:
Sıradağ, A. (2017). Turkey-South Africa
Relations: Changing Dynamics in Turkish Foreign Policy. Eurasian Studies Journal (Avrasya Etudleri), Vol. 51, No. 1,
pp. 7-28.
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