Turkey as a state-building actor in Somalia: A comparison of Turkey and other actors

The study intended to investigate and understand Turkey's overall role in Somalia's state-building process. Furthermore, the study sought to demonstrate the state-building approach employed by the Turkish policy-makers and analyze how it differs from other actors involved in Somalia. In addition, the study aimed to study Turkey's overall foreign policy towards Africa and Somalia. Specifically, this dissertation aimed to investigate and discuss differences and similarities among state-building approaches used by the Turkish government and other regional and international actors involved in the Somalia state-building process. Therefore, the study utilized primary and secondary data, and consultations and semi-structured interviews were conducted with policymakers and academicians. The study found that Turkey's recent engagement in Somalia in 2011 marked a new era of Turkish-African relations. Given the fact that this relationship has been growing in strength since 1998. The study demonstrates that Turkey's foreign policy toward Somalia is inextricably linked to its overall engagement with the continent. The findings show that both Turkey and other actors have contributed to humanitarian and state-building projects in Somalia. However, the crucial distinction is the approach and engagement method. The study argues that the comprehensive approach that integrated humanitarian, development assistance, and security aid at a critical time significantly impacted the fate of Somalia's state-building process. This dissertation posits that Turkey's approach to state formation in Somalia differs from other traditional actors. It reveals that Turkey's comprehensive approach has widely covered education, health, economic infrastructure, and development projects that have improved the well-being of the society. In addition to rebuilding the army, political support through diplomatic channels and peacebuilding through mediation were other key factors that contributed to Somalia's state-building efforts. This dissertation serves as a snapshot of state-building programs sponsored by the international community using the context of Somalia. Its findings may help better understand why specific state-building projects fail and why others thrive. The results may also be valuable to future state-building initiatives to avoid repeating the same mistakes made in Somalia, and therefore urges that future state-building projects use a comprehensive approach.