Reputation: Turkey’s biggest challenge after the election

military and advanced weapon systems THE make a country strong internationally. But soft power, which is the country’s economic situation, international reputation, and predictability in foreign policy, is more important than these.

The AK Party government has taken various steps to strengthen the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) for the last 20 years. Turkey has also succeeded in developing important weapon systems, such as unmanned aerial vehicles. However, soft power has always been neglected while doing this.

The deep economic crisis that Turkey is in is well known. The abundant zig-zag network of relations pursued by the AK Party government both in relations with the West and in the Middle East has also ended the predictability of foreign policy.

As for international reputation, alarm bells are ringing higher and higher.

TURKEY’S PROFILE IN THE INTERNATIONAL AREA

There are several ways to observe Turkey’s reputation in the international arena. For example, one of the signs of this is whether the country can get an international seat or post for which it is a candidate. Turkey managed to get a record number of votes in the 2008 United Nations General Assembly for the 2009-2010 temporary membership of the UN Security Council (UNSC) for which it was a candidate from the Western Europe region and assumed this duty for two years.

Then, the AK Party government once again became a candidate for the same post. In the voting held in 2014, it was the country with the fewest votes and failed to be elected. Two votes on the same platform six years apart, are an example of where Turkey has come from in terms of international reputation.

Another indicator of reputation is the extent to which the country’s national causes are considered by other countries, especially allies. The point the AK Party government has reached in recent years in this field can’t be considered successful.

An example of this is closely related to April 24. For decades, Armenians around the world have chosen April 24 as the symbolic date to give international legitimacy to their claims regarding the 1915 events. As Turkey’s image in the international arena has turned negative recently, the acceptance rate of the Armenian claims has increased accordingly. Former U.S. Presidents have not used the word genocide for the 1915 events for years, despite the great pressure of the Armenian lobby. However, U.S. President Biden used this word in his message in 2021.

Another example came from the UK. The statement that “the UK wants to cooperate with Turkey to build a submarine”, which was made by President Erdogan within the framework of his election campaign, was denied by the British Navy Spokesperson. “No one knows about these talks in the UK,” the spokesperson told Defense News.

THE IMAGE OF TURKEY IN THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS

Another way to measure the reputation of a country can be to examine the content and language of the news about that country in the international press.

For example, a news report was published in the American press last week, revealing the point reached by the AK Party government’s citizenship for investment policy. The article on the Vice News site revealed that internationally wanted drug smugglers also benefited from this citizenship right provided by Turkey, and therefore they escaped from being imprisoned by giving exemplary names.

In her article on the T-24 website, journalist Barcin Yinanc gave information about the usage of Turkey as a passage route by African young people who want to seek asylum in the West, by taking advantage 1 million foreign students target set by President Erdogan.

The news regarding the ongoing Halkbank case in the U.S., the Turkish State’s conviction by international arbitration to pay compensation to Iraq, and the declarations of sanctions imposed on Turkish citizens or companies by other countries are also factors that damage Turkey’s reputation.

All this shows that one of the most important issues for the new government, which will come to power after the May 14 elections, will be this reputation problem.