Türkiye’s diplomatic efforts in conflicts all over the world raised its profile lately. The International Ministry, based on a longstanding custom of Ottoman diplomacy, continues to play an lively function in disaster administration and battle decision whereas emphasizing efficient multilateralism within the face of regional and world challenges as Türkiye marks the one hundredth anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye.
The Ottoman Empire, for hundreds of years, dominated over an enormous geography utilizing a robust diplomatic custom as an efficient instrument. The International Ministry was based on the long-established custom of Ottoman diplomacy. Till the nineteenth century, the Ottoman Empire’s overseas affairs have been managed by the Reis al-Kuttab, a senior put up within the administration. The Reis al-Kuttab additionally undertook different duties, comparable to finishing up state correspondence and holding the primary information of the state. The start of the institutionalization of the International Ministry was in 1523, the yr Haydar Çelebi was talked about as the primary Reis al-Kuttab in official information.
Particularly after the transition to the Elegant Porte, also called Babiali, equal to 10 Downing Avenue or the White Home, the significance of the Reis al-Kuttab establishment step by step rose and have become the primary construction accountable for diplomacy.
In December 1793, through the reign of Ottoman Sultan Selim III, the empire’s first everlasting Embassy was opened in London and Yusuf Agah Efendi was appointed the primary Ottoman ambassador. Thus, the Ottoman Empire began to observe diplomacy based mostly on the ideas of everlasting illustration and reciprocity.
Later, embassies have been opened in Vienna, Berlin and Paris, whereas the ehbenderlik, which carried out consular actions, was established. Whereas the primary consulate was opened in Vienna in 1802, between 1802 and 1821, consulates have been established in 16 places within the Mediterranean and, particularly, in Italian ports. The quantity climbed to 228 through the reign of Ottoman Sultan Abdul Hamid II, together with consulates in Latin America, Africa and the Far East.
An vital turning level that gave Turkish diplomacy a extra institutionalized character was the institution of the Ministry of International Affairs in 1836 through the reign of Sultan Mahmud II. On March 11, 1836, following that vital step, Mehmet Akif Pasha, the final Reis al-Kuttab, grew to become the primary “International Affairs Minister.” The Babiali Chamber of Translation, which was established in 1821 to make sure relations of the Ottoman Empire with different states by way of dependable officers, and which ready the bottom for coaching of reformist bureaucrats who would affect the longer term, was hooked up to the Reis al-Kuttab. Names comparable to Mustafa Reşit Pasha, Mehmed Emin Ali Pasha and Keçecizade Fuat Pasha got here to the forefront as those who directed the transformation within the Ottoman State, such because the Tanzimat and Islahat Edicts, whereas assuming the duties of overseas minister and grand vizier.
With the Nationwide Wrestle launched by Türkiye’s founding chief Mustafa Kemal Atatürk by touchdown within the Black Sea province of Samsun on Might 19, 1919, a brand-new web page was opened in Turkish diplomacy and the foundations of the republic’s overseas coverage ideas have been laid beneath Atatürk’s management. Because the institution of the Republic of Türkiye, Atatürk’s views and ideas have guided the conduct of Turkish overseas coverage, and his maxim: “Peace at residence, peace on this planet” has been the basic aim of Turkish overseas coverage.
Instantly after the opening of the Grand Nationwide Meeting of Türkiye (TBMM) on April 23, 1920, the Ministry of International Affairs was formally established on Might 2, 1920, with the primary Nationwide authorities, and Bekir Sami Bey was appointed its head.
The ministry, which was established with extraordinarily restricted means, performed an vital function within the course of resulting in the Treaty of Lausanne whereas working selflessly regardless of difficulties, with rising depth of overseas contacts through the Nationwide Wrestle.
The Treaty of Lausanne, signed by Türkiye on one facet and Britain, France, Italy, Greece and their allies on the opposite, acknowledged the trendy Turkish state and changed the 1920 Treaty of Sevres, an unfair pact imposed on the Ottoman Empire after World Conflict I. Whereas the diplomatic actions of the International Ministry supported the army wrestle of the brand new authorities, the Ankara Treaty signed with France after the Moscow-Kars Treaty ensured the closure of one other entrance. Whereas the army battle ended with the Mudanya Truce, the Lausanne Peace Treaty, one of many founding paperwork of the Republic of Türkiye, was signed after eight months of negotiations by the delegation headed by Ismet Pasha, then the deputy overseas minister.
After the institution of the republic, the Ministry of International Affairs began to develop its inner and exterior organizations. The Ankara authorities, which opened its first overseas mission in Baku, Azerbaijan in 1920, appointed Mahmud Şevket Bey as its consultant. Along with Baku, the Ankara authorities expanded its diplomatic community by opening consultant workplaces in Moscow, Kabul, Rome, Tbilisi and Berlin in 1920, Sofia and Paris in 1921, and The Hague in 1922. Azerbaijan opened an Embassy in Ankara on Oct. 18, 1921, and Ataturk attended the ceremony to hoist the Azerbaijani flag on the Embassy. With the opening of the consultant workplaces of the Soviets, Georgia and Afghanistan, a diplomatic corps was established in Ankara.
An vital turning level within the growth of the International Ministry was the dedication of the working ideas and procedures, and the organizational construction of the group with the regulation adopted in 1927. Türkiye, which intensified its efforts to turn into an impartial, sturdy and trendy nation on the degree of recent civilizations, took an lively half in worldwide organizations established within the aftermath of the 2 World Wars with the necessity to keep world peace.
The Ottoman ambassadors serving in European nations have been the pioneers of modernization within the state in addition to conducting bilateral relations. Over the last 100 years, the Ministry of International Affairs has undergone varied institutional modifications and its present construction was established in 2018 with Presidential Decree No. 1. After World Conflict II, everlasting missions to worldwide organizations such because the United Nations, NATO, the Council of Europe and later the Group for Safety and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which have been the cornerstones of the political and safety structure in Europe, grew to become the brand new components of the International Workplace’s overseas group.
The method of full membership to the EU was one other vital matter by way of diplomacy, which additionally affected the group of the International Ministry. However within the Seventies, there have been deliberate and arranged Armenian terrorism concentrating on officers and their relations within the ministry’s overseas service. The assassinations carried out by the Armenian terrorist group ASALA, in addition to Turkish diplomats and officers focused by the Nov. 17 terrorist group working in Greece, claimed the lives of 34 officers from the Turkish International Service, together with 5 ambassadors.
Rising illustration
With the top of the Chilly Conflict, vital developments happened within the ministry and its overseas group grew considerably. The variety of lively overseas missions for Türkiye, which was 163 in 2002, has reached 260, together with 146 embassies, 13 everlasting representations, 98 consulates common, one consular company, one consular bureau and one commerce workplace. Since 2002, the variety of Türkiye’s overseas missions elevated from 81 to 99 in Europe, 50 to 75 in Asia, 14 to 32 within the Americas and 14 to 50 in Africa. Whereas the Consulate Basic of Türkiye in Chengdu, China, was opened on Jan. 1, and the Consulates Basic in Najaf, Iraq and Oran, Algeria opened on Feb. 1, it’s envisaged that new consultant workplaces will likely be opened within the coming interval. As of October 2023, the ministry continues its companies in each nook of the world with greater than 7,000 personnel, together with 2,050 diplomatic profession officers. At the moment, 39 out of 157 ambassadors (24.8%), 15 out of 30 directors-general (50%), and 40% of all the Ministry of International Affairs workers are girls.
Türkiye, with 260 missions and the world’s fifth-largest diplomatic community, continues to contribute to prosperity and stability in its area and past and to actively use humanitarian diplomacy instruments for the peaceable answer to issues. Because the starting of Russia’s “particular army operation” in Ukraine, Türkiye has been enjoying the function of mediator and facilitator in negotiations between the 2 nations. The Black Sea Initiative, which took impact because of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s intensive diplomatic initiatives on the degree of leaders, made a big contribution to meals safety.
In the meantime, the Ministry of International Affairs endeavors to take care of and additional develop worldwide political, financial and cultural relations inside the bilateral framework and multilateral platforms. Immediately, Türkiye is a diplomatic energy that strongly defends its respectable rights and pursuits in each area, whose opinions are consulted within the worldwide area, whose options are considered, and finds options to issues as a mediator and facilitator.
These days, the ministry is engaged in efforts to resolve the Palestine-Israel battle, reiterating Türkiye’s unchanged place for a two-state answer to the difficulty. Incumbent Minister Hakan Fidan is busy as a mediator for the battle as he traveled to Lebanon, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the place a summit on the difficulty was held and talks together with his counterparts from all over the world. Below the management of Fidan, the ministry was among the many few to supply a concrete answer to the difficulty, with a guarantorship mannequin for each side of the battle.