Beyond national interests: The domestic power competition behind Turkish Development Cooperation in Ethiopia 2004-2016 and 2016-2021

Abstract

This dissertation examines the phenomenon of Turkish development cooperation in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), a phenomenon that has increasingly attracted academic interest in the past two decades, particularly due to Turkey's expanded activities in aid, education, and trade. Traditionally, Turkey’s involvement in SSA has been framed within a state-centric perspective, emphasizing Turkish foreign policy as a tool for economic and geopolitical diversification. However, this study contends that this approach overlooks the influence of domestic elite competition on Turkey’s international presence. Specifically, the research explores the role of the Gülen Movement (GM), a significant Turkish civil society network, which separately from the government led by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, expanded its influence through “Turkish development cooperation” in SSA countries. On a theoretical level, by employing the theoretical framework of Sociology of Power, this dissertation thus posits that Turkish development cooperation in SSA is informed by domestic power dynamics, where resources such as aid, education, and business serve as instruments for elite competition. Through a qualitative case study of Turkey’s engagement in Ethiopia, the study reveals how the GM and the AKP each utilized SSA engagement to expand their influence as separate actor groups. Data derived from an analysis of primary and secondary sources, along with a qualitative content analysis of 31 interviews with stakeholders in Ethiopia. They offer insights into the shifting influence of these actors from 2004 to 2021, across the pre- and post-2016 coup attempt phases. This work thus pleads for a new lens in International Relations (IR) that incorporates domestic power politics into analyses of foreign engagement, asserting that human actors, rather than states, are central to the dynamics of international relations. This perspective provides a more nuanced understanding of development cooperation and highlights the role of elite competition in shaping its activities.

Date of Award	4 Apr 2025
Original language	English
Supervisor	Laura Feliu Martinez (Director)