TIKA's Heritage Restoration Projects: Examples of Foreign Aid or Proof of Neo-Ottomanism?

• Author: Todorovic, Milos
• Position: ARTICLE

Introduction

Joseph Nye introduced the concept of soft power in the 1990s as a means to distinguish between two types of power in the modern world: hard power, which relies on the economic and military might of a country, and soft power, which relies on the way others perceive the country. Admittedly, hard power is what people usually associate with 'power,' but nevertheless, both soft and hard power accomplish the same goal -getting other countries to do what you want; hard power does this through intimidations and rewards, while soft power does it by shaping the preferences of others so that they start aligning with yours. (1) And while some authors bring the very notion of soft power into question, (2) policymakers have been paying a lot of attention to this way of thinking about power.

One of the pioneers in the systematic cultivation of soft power is Turkey. It started doing this way back in 1992 with the creation of the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency, or simply TiKA. TiKA's goal was to increase Turkey's influence on the Balkans, Caucasia, and Central Asia by strengthening economic, cultural, and educational ties with countries in these regions. The Agency accomplishes this goal by providing loans and grants for the development of those countries in addition to realizing cooperation projects in numerous fields including education and trade, as well as socio-cultural areas. (3) while TIKA funds various cultural projects, one of the more costly ones is the restoration of cultural heritage.

It started doing this in 2008 when the government added heritage restoration to its responsibilities in order to 'protect the common historical, cultural, and social heritage and values.' (4) While such projects weren't initially in the scope of TiKA's work, they soon became one of its main priorities since, as the Minister of Culture and Tourism Mehmet Ersoy puts it, "the restoration and reconstruction of historical monuments in all territories we were historically present in provides a continuity of our spiritual ties." (5)

However, Turkey has been getting a lot of criticism lately, precisely because of this desire to establish 'a continuity of spiritual ties' with countries to which it has historical ties. Critics point to these actions and state that Turkey has an imperialistic agenda to assert dominance over territories of the former Ottoman Empire and thus label it as 'Neo-Ottomanism.' Because of that, this article looks at Turkey's soft power approach to the Balkans, examining whether or not it is a proof of a Neo-Ottoman agenda. Using Serbia as a case study, it argues that the restoration projects should be interpreted as foreign aid and a way of 'continuing spiritual ties,' and not as proof of the infamous imperialistic Neo-Ottoman foreign policy as it is impossible for Turkey to maintain such a policy.

Turkey and Heritage Restoration in the Balkans

The Balkan region is especially important for Turkey's public and cultural diplomacy. The very first Yunus Emre Institute was opened in Sarajevo on October 17, 2009. Commenting on this fact, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoglu stated in his speech, at the opening ceremony, that this was not a coincidence but rather, a purposeful decision. (6) Such a decision does not come as a surprise since Turkey has a long history of involvement in this region. It was involved in mediations between countries and it continues to be involved in humanitarian work, especially the building of schools. It has great military cooperation with the region (Davutoglu even stated that Bosnia and Herzegovina's security matters to him as much as that of his own country), but Turkey also has extensive economic ties with the Balkans-aside from trade, Turkey invested in telecommunications, transport, banking, construction, mining, and the retail sectors. (7)

However, Turkey's soft power approach to the Balkans stems from the fact that this region was a part of the Ottoman Empire for centuries. This means that Balkan countries share a somewhat common culture with Turkey; some more than others, but nonetheless, all of them do. This means that cultural diplomacy is especially important in this region -in the countries which share the common culture to a great extent these actions help strengthen the already great historical ties, and in the countries where hostilities exist they help in overcoming this 'cultural gap' and forming strong ties.

In order to cultivate its soft power in the Balkans through culture and heritage, Turkey funds several projects and initiatives. For instance, the Yunus Emre Institute carries out six large-scale projects and two of them are entirely based on the preservation of Turkish cultural heritage in the Balkans -the 'Revival of the Traditional Turkish Hand Crafts in the Balkans' and the 'Rebuilding the Cultural Heritage in the Balkans' projects. (8) Yet, Yunus Emre Institute's work pales in comparison to TiKA's projects due to the significant budget the Agency has at its disposal.

TiKA provides tens of millions of Euros annually for restoration projects-it restores mosques, tombs, historical sites, market places, fortresses, etc. Just in the four years from 2016 to 2019, the Agency carried out 73 such projects: 16 projects in 2019, (9) 18 projects in 2018, (10) 20 projects in 2017, (11) and 19 projects in 2016. (12) However, even by 2015, TIKA already funded the restoration of 69 different sites (28 in the Balkans and 41 in Africa). (13) Of course, everything changed in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic which ravaged the whole world; organizations that provide aid, such as TIKA, shifted their focus to the healthcare sector and so it remains to be seen how many restoration projects the Agency will carry out in the upcoming years. Yet, there is no doubt that TIKA is one of the most important organizations which provide aid for heritage restoration in the world, and by far the most important one in the Balkans. or instance, one of its more fruitful years was 2014 and in it alone, the Agency funded:

* In Bosnia and Herzegovina: renovation of the State Archives, renovation of the Birth House of Alija Izetbegovic, and the founding of a museum within the complex of 2ivinice Cebari Mosque.

* In Albania: renovation of Rrogozhine Mosque, renovation of Vlore Neshad Pasha Mosque, restoration of Gjirokaster Inner Old City, and several mosques from the Ottoman Era.

* In Montenegro: renovation of the Mekke-i Mukerreme Mosque as well as the construction of the Selimiye Mosque and the Islamic Culture Centre.

* In Kosovo: renovation of Kosovo Mehmet Akif Ersoy Mosque, restoration of Lokac Mosque Fountain, and the equipping of the Ottoman Sinan Pasha Mosque.

* In Macedonia: landscaping of Ali Riza Efendi Memorial House, restoration of Radanje Mahmut Aga Mosque as well as restoration and landscaping of Mustafa Kebir Celebi Mosque. (14)

Evidently, TIKA funds major restoration projects in the Balkans but it's clear that it is quite selective -the majority of these projects deal either with the Ottoman heritage and/or Islam, which was itself brought to the region by the Ottomans. This is a strategic move on Turkey's side; by doing so, Turkey is financing the restoration of cultural heritage in other countries thus cultivating its soft power, but it is also restoring its own heritage since the majority of these monuments are Ottoman. Turkey is preserving its own culture while spending millions helping other countries, a 'win-win scenario.' Yet, by doing so the country opens itself to criticism which has been especially problematic...