Faith-based diplomacy of Turkey: Diyanet in Africa

The relationship between religion and foreign policy is a complex and controversial topic that has received attention from various academic theories. However, there are relatively few studies on the role of reli-gion in international relations. The purpose of this research is to exam-ine the implementation of faith-based diplomacy in Turkish foreign pol-icy, specifically focusing on the role of the Presidency of Religious Affairs (Diyanet) in Turkey's Africa policy. The research will analyze how reli-gion has been used by the Turkish state in its relations with Africa, how non-official channels are involved in faith-based diplomacy, and the dy-namics that influence the cooperation between NGOs and state institu-tions in Turkish foreign policy. To do this, the research will analyze lit-erature on concepts such as soft power, public diplomacy, cultural di-plomacy, and faith-based diplomacy, as well as the historical back-ground of the relationship between Turkey and Africa. The research will also evaluate the official annual and regional reports on the activi-ties of Diyanet. The research aims to show that the activities of Diyanet can be seen as an example of faith-based diplomacy, and that Turkish faith-based diplomacy has played a critical role in highlighting Turkey's anti-colonial history in Africa, which has helped to increase its attrac-tion to the foreign public. The main argument of this thesis is that Turkish faith-based diplomacy differs from traditional faith-based di-plomacy in some ways. While traditional faith-based diplomacy typical-ly involves the state not actively participating in the field, in the Turkish case there has been cooperation between non-official channels and state institutions.