{"id":11428,"date":"2023-01-10T11:58:54","date_gmt":"2023-01-10T11:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/2023\/01\/za\/"},"modified":"2024-11-20T21:53:26","modified_gmt":"2024-11-20T18:53:26","slug":"promoting-feminist-foreign-policy-as-an-approach-in-turkey-zeynep-alemdar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/2023\/01\/promoting-feminist-foreign-policy-as-an-approach-in-turkey-zeynep-alemdar\/","title":{"rendered":"Promoting Feminist Foreign Policy as an Approach in Turkey – Zeynep Alemdar"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Gender in international relations and foreign policy\nis a relatively new but fast-developing research area in Turkey. The number of\narticles, books, and master and doctoral theses focusing on any aspect of the\ninteraction between gender and international relations was minimal until about\n2015. Nowadays, we can see many graduate students and academics focusing on how\ngender plays a role in international relations, conflict, and diplomacy. The\nlack of attention to the latter is even more surprising since the Ministry of\nForeign Affairs of Turkey is among the country’s most -if not the first-\ngender-balanced Ministry. There are senior women diplomats at top positions,\nmost of them directly dealing with security issues.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reasons gender and foreign policy go understudied\nand not much talked about are clear. The atmosphere and nature of any security\ninstitution are not very gender friendly. The jobs diplomats do and what they\nthink about their identities are not disclosed until retirement. Security and\nforeign policy areas are overburdened with male-driven norms, discourses, and\npolicy practices.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet, gender is an intrinsic part of security issues.\nLike any other gender, women are affected by foreign policy decisions. Russia\u2019s\ninvasion of Ukraine and the looming food crisis affect women maybe even more so\nthan men, since women are primary actor for putting food on the table. When\nthere is no food, they will be the ones who must deal with feeding the children\nand the elderly, and the disabled. Women are players in international\nrelations. Young women of Iran have shown the world that their desire to live\non an equal footing with men and their demand for freedom is pushed back as\nviolently as it would have happened to their male compatriots. The police\nkilled many during the riots. The world is watching how their protests would\naffect the regime in Iran. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet we do not see women as decision-makers,\nstrategists, or mediators during the Russian- Ukrainian crisis nor at any level\nof governance in Iran. While women are affected by international relations,\nthey cannot affect international politics as men do. Feminist foreign policy\ncomes to light at this point, requiring and demanding that women equally\nrepresented at all levels of foreign policy making, and that foreign policy\nincludes, protect, and preserve women\u2019s rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the core of the feminist foreign policy is\nwomen\u2019s representation and meaningful participation in decision-making and\nlooking out for women\u2019s rights in international politics, countries which have\nadopted it have fashioned different policies. France and Mexico, for instance,\nprioritized getting more women ambassadors in their foreign ministries. At the\nsame time, Sweden and Canada interjected specific women\u2019s rights supporting\nrequirements for countries and projects that require their international aid.\nIt depends on a country\u2019s foreign policy bureaucracy and priorities regarding\nhow that specific country would implement feminist foreign policy. In the\nTurkish case, as stated above, the MFA does not suffer from a gender imbalance.\nWomen constituted 37 percent of the personnel and 27 percent of the ambassadors\nworking abroad as of November 2021, according to our research with Bar\u00e7\u0131n\nYinan\u00e7. There is ample room for a Turkish feminist foreign policy, given the\npriorities of the Ministry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The MFA has paid particular attention to mediation\nactivities since around 2005. In 2010, Turkey launched the Mediation for Peace\nInitiative with Finland, then contributed to the formation of the Friends of\nthe Mediation Groups within the UN and the Organization for Security and\nCooperation in Europe (OSCE). A Contact Group of Friends of Mediation is also\nestablished within the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) to contribute\nto the capacity-building efforts for mediation at the OIC. Since 2012, Turkey\nhas been hosting \u201cIstanbul Conferences of Mediation.\u201d There are many\nexperienced women diplomats in the Turkish MFA, but not many of them are\ninvolved in the mediation efforts. Yet, research proves that when women are\ninvolved in mediation and peacebuilding, the likelihood of reaching an\nagreement, implementing the deal, and a long peace period increases.\nStatistical analysis of 182 peace agreements signed between 1989 and 2011 shows\nthat when women participate in peace processes as negotiators, mediators,\nsignatories, and witnesses, the likelihood of an agreement lasting at least 15\nyears increases by 35 percent. \nTherefore, getting more women diplomats on the negotiation tables might\nimprove Turkish foreign policy\u2019s mediation efforts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the other top priorities of Turkish foreign\npolicy is its humanitarian refugee policies. While Turkey boasts with its\nhumanitarian treatment of refugees and asylum seekers in international forums,\nthe different categories of international protection and refugee status for\nforeigners in Turkey are not gender-sensitive. There are references to women in\nthe laws regulating the status of refugees and asylum seekers. Yet, the focus\non \u2018women\u2019 is based on the term \u2018vulnerability\u2019 in both Law No. 6458 on\nForeigners and International Protection (LFIP) and the Temporary Protection\nLaw. Women are not considered equal members of society but as vulnerable beings\nwith special needs who are likely to become victims. While this approach seems\nprotective of women, it situates women on a lower level than other able members\nof society, opening them up to more exploitation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given that at least half of the refugees and asylum\nseekers who still reside in Turkey are women and girls, and their chances of\nleaving the country are slim, an integration policy that empowers women would\nbe a positive step. A relief and recovery policy for women and girls who are\nsystematically subject to gender-based violence, not one that only focuses on\nprotecting the victims but punishes the perpetrators of violence, could easily\nbe a policy agenda for Turkish policymakers. This type of policy agenda would\nalso increase Turkey\u2019s normative power. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another subject of focus in Turkish foreign policy is\nNATO membership and military might. While feminists have reservations about\nwomen\u2019s inclusion in the armed forces and various views on women\u2019s\nparticipation in armed conflict, Turkey\u2019s army, the second largest in NATO, has\na tiny percentage of women\u2019s participation. Moreover, as a member of the UN,\nNATO, and OSCE, Turkey participates in peacekeeping missions, which are proven\nto be more effective locally when women personnel are involved. During Turkey\u2019s\nmission in Afghanistan, for instance, female gender advisors from the Turkish\nArmed Forces contributed to local projects, working with NATO staff to identify\nthe needs of local women and girls. Yet this was the only example of Turkish\npersonnel working as the Gender Focal Point, as we know. Given the locals\u2019 positive\nreaction to the Turkish participation in the NATO mission in Afghanistan at the\ntime, incorporating the gender perspective within the Turkish Armed Forces and\ncomposing Gender Focal Points for international engagements could be a\nfavorable policy position for Turkish decision-makers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

International aid is the last area of policy into\nwhich the Turkish foreign policy decision-makers can interject the gender\nissue. Turkey is a rising donor and humanitarian actor globally, and the\nforeign policy establishment takes pride in its Humanitarian Aid and Assistance\n(HAA). Turkey presents itself as the \u2018world\u2019s conscience\u2019 and \u2018a unique\nhumanitarian actor on the global level\u2019, and claims to develop a Turkish\nhumanitarian aid model in portraying the women that it helps (victims rather\nthan able actors). The fact that it has no gender equality and human rights\nperspective is problematic. Yet, incorporating a human rights perspective and a\ngender-sensitive outlook for the big budgets spent on humanitarian development\nassistance would be a vital step for Turkey which strives for regional power,\nnot only militarily but also normatively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A feminist foreign policy that takes gender equality\ninto its core in priority areas of Turkish foreign policy is a possible and beneficial\nstep for Turkey. The current political climate and the extreme politicization\nof the gender issue, especially since the discussions about withdrawal from the\nIstanbul Convention started in 2019, make a feminist foreign policy approach,\nfor now, a dream. Yet, human rights defenders and politicians are known to be\nvisionaries with dreams, and a feminist foreign policy, now a global topic we\ntalk about, was not on the agenda of the world up until 2014. It has been\nconceptualized and put into action through the efforts of a determined group of\ncivil society actors and politicians in the past 25 years. Therefore, a\nfeminist foreign policy for Turkey\u2019s future is also possible, especially since\nso much has already been done to increase the awareness through civil society\ninitiatives such as Women in Foreign Policy Initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Prof. Dr. Zeynep Alemdar<\/strong> is the Dean of the Faculty of Business and Management Sciences and the head of the Center for Gender Studies at Istanbul Okan University. Her academic work covers civil society in Turkey, the European Union, human rights, democratization, gender and Women’s Peace Security. Having served on the editorial boards of International Studies Perspectives and Turkish Policy Quarterly, Alemdar was a visiting professor at the Mark O. Hatfield School of Government at Portland State University and the Center for Turkish Studies. She has been selected as a fellow of the Euro-Atlantic Security Initiative as one of the 4 leaders under the age of 40 in the Leaders Program. She is currently a senior member and board member of the European Leadership Network. In 2014, she established the Women in Foreign Policy Initiative in order to encourage young women on security and foreign policy issues. She received her BA from Galatasaray University in Economics, her MA from the Patterson School of Diplomacy at the University of Kentucky, and her PhD from the University of Kentucky Political Science.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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To cite this work: <\/strong> Zeynep Alemdar, ” Promoting feminist foreign policy as an approach in Turkey\u201d, Panorama, Online, 10 January 2023, https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/blog\/2023\/01\/10\/za\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This article has been prepared with the support provided to the International Relations Council<\/a> and the Global Academy<\/a> by the Heinrich B\u00f6ll Stiftung Association Turkey Representative within the scope of the project titled ‘Foreign Policy for the 21st Century; Peaceful, Equitable, and Dynamic Turkey’.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Copyright@UIKPanorama. All on-line and print rights reserved. Opinions expressed in works published by the Panorama belongs to the authors alone unless otherwise stated, and do not imply endorsement by the IRCT, Global Academy, or the Editors\/Editorial Board of Panorama.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gender in international relations and foreign policy is a relatively new but fast-developing research area in Turkey. The number of articles, books, and master and doctoral theses focusing on any aspect of the interaction between gender and international relations was minimal until about 2015. Nowadays, we can see many graduate students and academics focusing on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":191,"featured_media":9849,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[510,486,508],"tags":[656,563,565,713,650],"class_list":["post-11428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-100-years-of-the-republic","category-opinion","category-turkey","tag-english","tag-foreign-policy-and-diplomacy","tag-gender","tag-heinrich-boll-foundation","tag-turkiye"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/191"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.globalpanorama.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}