The institutional evolution of Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its role in foreign policy decision-making process

The Ottoman State had adopted 'unilateral diplomacy' for a long time and avoided reciprocity. However, in the historical process, there had been breaks that required a new diplomatic understanding/attitude. Therefore, the Ottoman Empire had adopted 'mutual diplomacy' in the last decade of the eighteenth century and sent permanent ambassadors to the European capitals. In this sense, this thesis attempts to understand the reasons of changing diplomatic methods and understanding of the Ottoman State and modern republican era. Moreover, the thesis claims that adapting new concept of diplomacy and its practices were mostly result of two level of analysis: internal and external factors. The thesis argues that these changes of diplomatic understanding that occurred at two level of analysis paved the way for institutionalization of foreign policy and diplomacy, which culminated in the establishment of Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1836. At this point, the thesis reveals that the 'changes' and 'continuities' in the institutional structure of the ministry also took place at two levels of analysis. This newly institutionalized diplomatic and foreign policy understanding increasingly became more effective in foreign policy decision-making process and has left the organizational memory and the tradition of institutional structure to the modern Turkey. Herein, the thesis affirms that in the early Republican era, particularly in single-party period, although the primary objectives of foreign policy remained almost the same with that of the last century of Ottoman Empire, the role of the ministry in foreign policy decision-making process weakened. Furthermore, the thesis tries to show forth that the ultimate decision unit and the role of the ministry in foreign policy have varied with changing time and issue not only in the period of Ottomans but also in the Republican Era as well. KEY WORDS: Foreign Policy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Decision-Making Process, Ottomans, Republic of Turkey BİRKAN, Onur MA, Department of Political International Relations Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Birol Akgün June 2019