Understanding Latin America

This book presents studies that will guide those who seek to understand the political, cultural and social structure of Latin America, a region that, although geographically distant, is close to the hearts of many people in Türkiye and has had a strong influence on Türkiye for years through its music, literature and political culture.

 

Since Latin American studies in Türkiye have a short history, the number of relevant sources is limited, and there is a significant gap in the expert human resources that would develop and study Türkiye's relations with the region. This book may contribute to closing the gap encountered in Latin American studies in Türkiye.

 

Foremost among those to whom gratitude is owed for this book, which emerged as a product of the Latin American Studies Project unit established within the American Studies Center and chaired by Aykut Eken, is Aykut Eken. It would be a great omission not to thank the members of the advisory board of the Latin American Studies Project unit who contributed to the book, as well as Tuğçe Aslan and Selma Bardakcı, Deputy Directors of BAU ULMER (International Leadership Application and Research Center), who worked tirelessly to collect and compile the articles.

 

The articles in this book focus on three main themes. First, the Türkiye-Latin America theme covers a general overview of relations between Türkiye and Latin America, Türkiye's Latin America opening that developed with its multidimensional foreign policy in the 2000s, and a general assessment of Latin American countries from the perspective of Turkish diplomacy. These assessments include articles by Burak Küntay, Ahmet Banguoğlu, Taner Karakaş, Hüseyin Diriöz and Engin Yürür. This theme also includes a study on relations between Türkiye and Argentina.

 

The second theme includes an assessment of the expectations of the business world in Latin America and its attitudes and values. Aykut Eken's study examines this topic comprehensively.

 

The third theme covers analytical articles based on research into the political and economic structures of selected Latin American countries. These analyses include articles titled "Cuba Special Briefing Note", "Peru, the Center of Latin America and the Inca Civilization", "The Role of the Military Regime and Bioenergy in the Development of Brazil", "A Regional and Continental Pan-American Organization: The Organization of American States" and "Indigenous Movements in Bolivian Politics". The two articles on Brazil and Bolivia in this third theme were produced from the project work of students taking the graduate course "Latin American Policy Seminars". In addition, the article titled "No Matter How Distant..." written by the Ambassador of Ecuador is another important contribution to this theme. No matter how distant it may be, we value and want to understand Latin America.

 

Prof. Dr. Nilüfer NARLI