مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - NEW BOURGEOIS, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND AFRICA: TUSKON AFRICA TRADE BRIDGES

Abstract :

In today’s international system, while examining foreign policies of states, it is seen that businessmen and economic environments play a vital role in foreign policy making process. The expansion of economic diplomacy perception as one of the fundamental elements of foreign policy paradigm leads to be taking steps by political authorities in accordance with priorities and interests of businessmen and companies. By looking at the case of Turkey, it is observed that there is a traditionally hierarchical relationship between the state and businessmen, however, some changes have been noticed in these relations since the late of 1990s. The foreign policy dominated by economy-based perception and an effort to put some specific policies and initiatives towards different territories into practice give important roles to business world in the relations. In this regard, this study aims to examine the role of businessmen organizations in the process of development of Turkey - Africa relations in the case of Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON). In this regard, this study aims to examine the role of businessmen organizations in the process of development of Turkey-Africa relations in the light of the case of Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists (TUSKON). In this study, firstly TUSKON’s organizational purpose and structure is examined and within this scope, TUSKON’s relations with African market is discussed. Secondly, the study investigates the importance of Africa in the international politics and Turkish foreign policy. Finally, in this paper, the activities and the enterprises of TUSKON towards Africa are analyzed through developing new state-businessmen relations in Turkey.