Global Advanced Research Journal of Management and Business Studies (ISSN: 2315-5086) February 2016 Vol. 5(2), pp 043-050

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Original Research Articles

The Impact of Ahmet DavutoÄŸlu’s New Diplomacy on Africa: The Case of Mali and Somalia-Somaliland

Kieran E. Uchehara

Hasan Kalyoncu University, Faculty of Economics, Social and Administrative Sciences,Department of Political Science and International Relations, Havalimanı Yolu 27410 Şahinbey, Gaziantep, Turkey.Email:

kieran.uchehara@hku.edu.tr  Tel: +90 (342) 21180 80/37, Fax: 90 (342) 211 80 81

Accepted 13 May 2015

Abstract 

Since appointed as Turkish foreign minister on 1 May 2009, Davutoglu’s diplomacy has had an impact on the Turkish-African relations. Compared with the previous governments in Turkey, his diplomacy has assigned values to the sub-Saharan Africa, and his mediatory role in the conflict and settlement processes in Mali and Somalia-Somaliland have aroused excitement throughyout the continent. One can argue that this is because Turkey has not only historical connections with these nations, but aslso shares religious values that enable trouble-free diplomatic interventions. This paper explores the impact of DavutoÄŸlu’s diplomacy in Mali and Somalia-Somaliland, demonstrating that DavutoÄŸlu has attempted to address the conflicts in the sub-Saharan Africa. This paper establishes that he has offered a number of mechanisms in those conflicts in order to realize his foreign policy objectives set forth in his new vision towards Africa. This paper concludes that DavutoÄŸlu’s diplomacy in Mali and Somalia-Somaliland, aims to fill the gap which emerged after nearly centuries of negligence of Turkish-African relations. 

Keywords: DavutoÄŸlu, diplomacy, Africa, Mali, Somalia-Somaliland, conflict