The two faces of Turkey in times of coronavirus

Turkish policy changed completely on 3 November 2002. The Justice and Development Party (AKP) won enough seats to form a government. Since then, the concept of 'soft power' has gained a prominent place in the foreign policy of the Turkish government, currently headed by Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In 1990, Harvard University professor Joseph Nye introduced this term, which consists of the capacity of countries or any political actor to achieve their objectives, through techniques such as persuasion or attraction. Since then, dozens of analysts have been dedicated to investigating the influence of this type of power on Turkish foreign policy. 

In 2009, The Guardian published a report in which it explained that the three factors responsible for the increase of ‘soft power’ in Turkey were the modernization of the country, the capacity of the Eurasian nation to carry out an active foreign policy and thirdly, and in relation to the previous point, the way in which Ankara exercises its diplomacy abroad. According to this analysis, the country's economic development made it an attractive place for countries in the region. Until 2013, Turkey was a lighthouse of democracy and stability in a region that was making headlines because of its instability. Yet at the same time as Erdogan was expanding his influence to exercise the so-called 'soft power', the country has been witnessing an erosion of its democracy. 

The Institute of Studies on Conflicts and Humanitarian Action (IECAH) defines humanitarian diplomacy as “the set of activities carried out by humanitarian organizations in order to obtain from state and non-state actors - such as governments, the military, armed groups, or other types of community authorities - the necessary space to be able to function with integrity”. However, in pandemic phases, this concept acquires different dimensions. In recent weeks, the Turkish government, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has been exercising its influence in the region by providing aid to curb the impact of COVID-19. 

Turkish 'soft power' doesn't understand about pandemics, nor about borders in many cases. In December 2019, a pathogen appeared in Wuhan (China) that changed the international order as we knew it until then. The coronavirus has tested the health system of most countries in the world, even the most developed ones. This pandemic has also put the international humanitarian aid system on the spot. During this period, some of the main donor countries are suffering the impact of this pandemic and have become receptors, as is the case with Spain and Italy.  

In this context, Turkey has expanded its 'soft power' networks, trying to respond to requests for assistance from various countries. The Eurasian nation is also suffering the consequences of a pandemic that has killed at least 2,017 people in the country. Turkey confirmed on Sunday that the total number of people infected by coronavirus increased to 86,306, according to the Turkish news agency Anadolu. Turkey's desire for regional leadership has caused the country's authorities to put aside the needs of their own nation, in order to provide assistance to countries such as the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy. 

The country's foreign minister, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu reported this weekend during an interview with the private radio station NTV that Turkey was supporting 44 countries out of 116 that have requested medical supplies since the pandemic hit the world, according to the renowned Turkish newspaper Hürriyet. “Turkey is also fighting this outbreak,” Çavuşoğlu stressed during this interview. Humanitarian diplomacy has become one of the pillars of Turkish foreign policy in recent years, and an example of this is the aid that dozens of countries are receiving during this pandemic. 

Meanwhile, the leaders of the main opposition parties - who are normally not opposed to this kind of strategy - have criticized in recent weeks the government's dedication to helping other nations, while the country itself is suffering from a shortage of medical equipment, they explain in the daily Hürriyet. Furthermore, they have also judged the lack of transparency of the government in announcing which shipments were donations and which products were for sale. 

Turkey is trying to rebuild its reputation in Europe. In mid-March, Ankara delivered equipment to Italy and Spain, two of the countries most affected by the COVID-19 in the old continent. According to several local media in the region, Turkey found in this pandemic the opportunity to thank both countries for their actions to protect Turkish airspace against a possible attack from the Syrian regime. “Spain still has a patriot contingent in Turkey, while the Italians withdrew their system at the end of 2019,” the daily Hürriyet explains. 

On the other hand, Turkey's cooperation with the United Kingdom, just three months after the country officially left the European Union, has served to strengthen relations between London and Ankara, two non-EU countries with common interests in some regions of the Middle East. In recent months, Turkey has been a major actor in the conflict in Libya and Syria. The coronavirus crisis has forced the warring parties to change their priorities so that the impact of this pandemic will be less in their countries. Meanwhile, the Eurasian nation has found in this scenario the perfect opportunity to rebuild its image through the use of humanitarian diplomacy and 'soft power'. 

In this scenario, the Turkish Parliament has passed a law that would allow the release of thousands of prisoners to stop the spread of the coronavirus in the country's prisons. However, this amnesty doesn't consider the dozens of journalists, lawyers or academics imprisoned for alleged terrorist crimes, related to the failed coup d'état of July 2016. In recent weeks, Turkey has made efforts to supply hydro-alcoholic gel or masks to countries such as the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy, at the same time as exposing to this virus hundreds of prisoners whose only crime has been to voice their opinion. 

In a report published on the Middle East Online website, Jana Jabbour, an expert in Turkish diplomacy from the University of Sciences Po in Paris, said that “President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has always wanted to position Turkey as a humanitarian power, to quickly rescue those 'in need', whether they are oppressed Muslim minorities or countries affected by natural disasters”. However, Ankara is now also supporting developed countries. “It's about showing that Turkey is a strong power that has the means to offer help to European states, now themselves 'sick', both literally and figuratively,” Jabbour explains.

As tensions between Ankara and Brussels become more evident, Erdogan has offered help to some of the countries most affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The latest dispute between the two powers took place at the end of February, after the Turkish leader decided to break the migration agreement signed in 2016 and open his country's borders, allowing thousands of refugees’ access to European soil. Erdogan has insisted that the European Union hasn't done enough to support Turkey, a nation that hosts some 3.6 million Syrian refugees.  

Restrictions on freedom of expression, repression of the opposition and censorship of the media have been a constant feature of the authoritarian Turkish Government in recent years. Even so, this Executive has paid more attention to the problems of the region - as in the case of Syria or Libya - and to increasing its prestige in the Middle East, than to solving its own uncertainties. Turkey is doing its best to regain its lost prominence in Europe. However, diplomacy and good actions will be worthless, as long as repression remains a constant in a country that doesn't really hide its ulterior motives.