"Digital Diplomacy" Discussed at the Diplomat School

 

Distinguished speakers once again took part in the 4th week of the Diplomat School. Participants in the program, Retired Ambassador Numan Hazar, founder of yenidiplomasi.com Gökhan Yücel, Retired Ambassador and former Member of Parliament Dr. Onur Öymenand Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Türkiye Naci Korushared their comments and views. The program addressed the topics "Türkiye-Africa Relations", "Digital Diplomacy", "Recent Developments in Turkish Foreign Policy", "The Israeli-Palestinian Issue" and "Career Opportunities at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs".

Highlights from the speakers are as follows:

Numan Hazar

"The Ottoman Empire was also an African state. But Türkiye-Africa relations were almost nonexistent until recently. When I went to Nigeria in 1995, my first post in Africa, Turkish-African relations were very inadequate. Türkiye is not known as a colonial state in Africa, because the Ottoman Empire was not an imperialist state. For this reason, African countries have sympathy for Türkiye. The Ottoman Empire was an African country because it had many territories in Africa such as Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Abyssinia. Some regions of the Republics of Nigeria, Chad and Uganda were also within Ottoman borders. Muslim peoples in Africa have sympathy for Türkiye because of religion, and Christian peoples because of Mustafa Kemal's reforms. Africans have great sympathy for the Turkish War of Independence for two reasons: first, it was the first struggle won against the great powers of the time; second, this war showed that victory against imperialism was possible. Türkiye has always attached importance to developing its relations with Africa, but when the Republic was founded, there were no independent countries in Africa. From the 1960s onward, all African countries gained their independence. The Republic of Türkiye opened its first embassy in Ethiopia. Africans take the socioeconomic model developed by Türkiye as an example. Türkiye takes part in peace operations in Africa. The peace operation in Somalia is commanded by a Turk. He noted that all of these are advantages for Türkiye's Africa action plan. Türkiye should develop its relations with Africa in every field. Because when Türkiye establishes relations in areas such as the economy, trade, education and defense, it will be able to establish political relations with Africa. Türkiye does not know Africa, Africa does not know Türkiye, and we do not have enough embassies. These need to be increased."

Gökhan Yücel

"'Digital Diplomacy' is a new concept with a history of about 10 years. Digital diplomacy has brought to the fore topics such as soft power, digital depth alongside strategic depth, research, training, consultancy and advocacy, digital diaspora, data visualization, digital cultural diplomacy and digital nation branding . In the USA, Digital Diplomacy is defined as a new and democratic type of diplomacy that requires cyberactivism and technology-based Internet freedom, is not content with traditional methods and takes into account the wishes of the public; in the United Kingdom, it is defined as solving classic diplomatic problems via the Internet. There are concepts such as Diplo-media and Diplo-pedia. In the USA, these concepts are defined as taking the monopoly on diplomacy away from diplomats. What is Digital Diplomacy not? The unsystematic, personal-initiative use of social media by the head of state, ambassadors or embassy staff, however well-intentioned, is not Digital Diplomacy. And although it includes concepts such as cyber security, online chat and futurism, it does not consist only of these. Based on information gathered from the blogs of those working in this field, Digital Diplomacy has no set formula; young diplomats need to become familiar with these. Keeping Digital Diplomacy channels broad and spending more money does not mean doing better work. If we need to produce conspiracies, Digital Diplomacy can be used as an argument.

 

Onur Öymen

We can summarize Türkiye's foreign policy in two words: "partly cloudy". When evaluating foreign policy, our reference point should be the foreign policy of the Republican era. What we need to pay attention to is where we stand relative to the policy of that period. That is, are we closer today, or have we drifted away? This is the point we need to pay attention to. The first principle to be taken from Atatürk's foreign policy is "Peace at home, peace in the world". This means that, first of all, we will pursue a peaceful policy. The second is the principle of "full independence", which requires the ability to act without depending on anyone in both foreign and domestic policy. We are the only country in our region that has not truly taken part in a war. Since the Second World War, attempts have been made to drag us into wars. At this point, the policy implemented by Türkiye was very successful; we never allowed ourselves to be drawn into war. Turning to recent events, priority should be given to the EU process. After long efforts, 2004 became a turning point for Türkiye and we began the full membership process. However, the conditions imposed on us in this process were very heavy. The process started off haltingly. In total, we had 13 chapters opened, but looking at the last 3 years, we see that we have not been able to open any chapters. In any case, the government's stance on this issue has changed; we have effectively suspended the EU negotiations. The vetoes of the Greek Cypriot Administration and France are blocking our way. Looking at it, the countries that started together with us have gained membership. Naturally, the question comes to mind: Why couldn't we? When asked, the excuse put forward is the Cyprus issue, but even if we resolve it, no one guarantees that we will join the EU. The EU favors giving Türkiye a special status rather than full membership, but Türkiye does not look favorably on this offer. Until 10 years ago, we were pursuing a policy against terrorism toward Syria and solving problems without firing a single bullet, but now the number of martyrs we have lost seems endless. The biggest reason for this is our inability to pursue an effective and uncompromising policy. Coming to the question I asked at the beginning: Türkiye is not very close to the diplomacy of the Republican era and is following a very dangerous line. "The Israeli-Palestinian Issue": In the beginning, the Zionist group aimed to persuade the great powers to establish a Jewish state. It tried to gain the right to establish a state there by changing the Arab-Jewish population balance. Britain and France signed a secret agreement between themselves on dividing the regions according to their populations. At that time, Britain made an open promise to establish the State of Israel. The lands we call Palestine today were placed under British administration. Later, in 1948, the British applied to the UN to relinquish their mandate. There is something that must be clearly seen about that period: great injustices were done to Palestine during the establishment of the State of Israel. Palestine has lost a little more land in every conflict with Israel. The general view of the UN on this issue is that there should be two states, a Palestinian state and an Israeli state, but there is also a group that does not accept this. They favor resolving the turmoil through conflict. Hamas, for example. It adopts jihad as a method, opposes secularism, wants to establish a state based on Islam in Palestine and does not recognize Israel. Violence has been a weapon in that region for years, and it is still effective. However, Palestine is not solely responsible for this situation. Israel imposes a very harsh embargo on Palestine by air, land and sea. Palestine does not even have its own airport. Looking at the casualties both sides have suffered so far, Palestine's are ten times those of Israel. Türkiye reacts to and condemns these events, as it should. The diplomacy we follow on this issue is appropriate. On the other hand, Israel's threats against Iran also affect Türkiye, because Türkiye will be affected by any war. Moreover, Israel is not the only country disturbed by the Iranian threat. The Gulf countries are also setting up missile defense systems to protect themselves. The missile shield to be established in Türkiye is also being set up for this purpose. Israel puts forward three things in its struggle with Iran: first, Hamas in Gaza; second, closing the Strait of Hormuz; and third, supporting terrorism. Finally, the stance Türkiye should take on this issue is: "You will not be confrontational. You will not drag Türkiye into conflicts. Following the course drawn by Atatürk, you will not go to war unless your country's independence is threatened.

Naci Koru

"Interest in foreign policy has increased over time. It was not like this when I entered foreign policy. The three major earthquakes in foreign policy were as follows. First, in 1991 the balances changed, the Cold War ended and, with the emergence of new states, the main lines began to change (a geopolitical earthquake). Second, with the September 11, 2001 attack, it was seen that America, regarded as invincible, could be struck on its own soil (a security earthquake). Third, the crisis Europe is in and the cracking of the Middle East, the uprisings against autocratic regimes. In the 1990s, we began to pursue a security-oriented foreign policy, and in the 2000s this was followed by a three-dimensional restoration: the rise of democracy, structural reforms in the economy, and an active, principled, visionary and multidimensional foreign policy. It is very important to build a solid foundation and let stability flourish on it. To strengthen strategic relations, work was carried out such as a model partnership with the USA, targeting EU membership and moving from being a 'flank country' to a 'central country' in NATO. Being effective in international organizations and platforms, Security Council membership, an effective position in the G20, mediation and the fight against terrorism are important. When I was in primary school, we were taught that Türkiye is surrounded by sea on three sides and by enemies on four; now it is widely known that we have adopted the zero problems policy. Zero problems should also be thought of as economic ties and cultural interaction. Visa exemption contributes to the development of relations. Aid as a humanitarian principle. As in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya, we now provide aid to Syria. We want democracy and pluralism to deepen in those countries. At first, even we could not predict what the benefits of the strategic partnership with the African Union would be. But its importance is increasing over time, and the number of trade-focused ambassadors sent there is steadily growing. Turkish Airlines is being generous. They launch flights and we open embassies. Or when we open an embassy, they start flights.

I emphasize the need for diplomats to constantly renew themselves. The idea that one can get into the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through connections is absolutely not true. If you say you know Chinese or German, we will snap you up. Being an ambassador requires adaptation. You carry your home on your back. You should choose your spouse accordingly. Their profession is as important as yours. That is why marriages within the profession are increasing. In this profession, where being resilient to life is essential, you cannot be happy if you do not like being with foreigners. One should think twice before choosing this profession. If I were given the choice again, I would choose this profession again.