"Turkey's Strategic Engagement in Horn of Africa: An Examination of Motivations and Implications for Ethiopia’’

The Horn of Africa holds an important strategic position in terms of political, military, and economic standards. From a geographic standpoint, it connects Africa and Asia, as the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean meet at the Horn of Africa. Additionally, it neighbors the Arabian Peninsula, which is rich in energy resources, and overlooks the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait, one of the few dominant straits in world trade. For these reasons, colonial powers such as Britain, France, and Italy, as well as other global powers such as the United States, Russia, China, Turkey, India, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and others, are planning to maintain a presence in this strategic region. Regarding Turkey, Turkey has an important historical presence in the African continent. In fact, the connections between the Ottoman Empire and the Horn of Africa date back to 1584, when Ottoman Admiral Ali Bey reached the Somali coast and the port of Malindi (Kenya). In recent years, the relationship between Turkey and Africa, which began to strengthen in the 1990s, has been elevated to a higher level in line with Turkey's strategic vision, which believes that Turkey should not neglect the African continent. In the past two decades, Turkey has undergone a significant shift in its foreign policy, transitioning from a cautious and reserved approach towards the region to a more active and interventionist stance. The change in Turkey's foreign policy behavior has been greatly influenced by the complex interplay between local and global factors, known as the local-global nexus. For the Republic of Turkey, which has prioritized turning towards the West and developing relations with Western countries since its inception, it was not deemed essential to establish relationships with newly independent African countries following the end of the Second World War. During this period, it was challenging for a country striving to be accepted as a member of the "advanced" Western civilization to align its path with these countries that were still "crawling" in the process of progress. However, it is a fact that Turkey has neglected African countries for many years within the framework of its foreign policy's most important principles, the "Westernization" policy. Today, the current state of relations with African countries appears to be highly promising in terms of ending past neglect and one-dimensional policy approaches.In this thesis, the relations between Turkey and the Horn of Africa will be examined under various headings including trade, politics, soft power, diplomacy, education, health, etc. However, particular emphasis will be placed on Turkey's relationship with Ethiopia. Since 2008, Turkey has been making more significant efforts to create a new regional environment that can ensure peace and stability, which are considered essential for further growth.

Per un lungo periodo, la politica estera della Turchia ha dato priorità alle relazioni coi paesi occidentali disinteressandosi dei legami con le nazioni africane. Di conseguenza, per tutto il periodo che va dagli anni ’70 fino ai agli inizi degli anni 2000 si sono avute interazioni minime tra Turchia e il continente africano. Tuttavia, un nuovo approccio alla politica estera è emerso sotto la leadership del partito Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi (Partito della Giustizia e dello Sviluppo – AKP) portando ad una sensibilmente intensificazione delle relazioni con i paesi africani. A sottolineare questo cambio di passo, la Turchia ha designato il 2005 come l'Anno dell'Africa per evidenziare il suo rinnovato impegno nel continente. Negli ultimi dieci anni, la Turchia ha rivolto il proprio interesse nei confronti del Corno d'Africa e in modo particolare verso l’Etiopia. Oltre a ragioni di carattere storico, l’Etiopia rappresenta uno dei mercati più importanti e promettenti di questa regione e l'Etiopia è diventata un’area essenziale per la diplomazia e gli investimenti turchi. La tesi esamina le relazioni bilaterali tra i due paesi dal punto di vista storico, economico, politico e sociale. In particolare, la tesi si sofferma sulla dimensione economia del rapporto che ha poi fatto da volano per il consolidamento di azioni a livello politico, sociale e culturale. La tesi prende in esame gli sforzi turchi per migliorare le relazioni bilaterali con l'Etiopia, con particolare enfasi sugli investimenti economici, le iniziative diplomatiche e gli scambi culturali.