Turkey's new humanitarianism and aid effectiveness

Official URL: http://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b1819815 (Table of Contents)

Traditional donor dominance in humanitarian intervention has come under greater criticism and scrutiny in the last two decades. The humanitarian aid deployed to conflict-affected countries over the last half century by the Great Powers such as the majority of G7 nations, as well as the post war intergovernmental organizations such as the United Nations, or international nongovernmental organizations like OXFAM and CARE, are deemed politicized, interestdriven, and negligent of beneficiary’s needs. In the middle 2000s, several rising powers challenged the conventional traditional donor approach to humanitarian aid and attempted to introduce alternative methods of humanitarian intervention, which would prioritize the needs of the beneficiary and which would be free of the donor’s political, economic, and security interests. In addition to Brazil, India, China, and South Africa, Turkey has been one of these rising global actors with an alternative approach to humanitarian intervention. This dissertation studies Turkey’s new and alternative take on humanitarianism. It explores whether Turkey’s certain principles and practices make its aid more effective, when compared to that of traditional donors and other emerging actors. The dissertation especially focuses on the relationship between Turkey’s opting for ethical, bilateral, unconditional, and beneficiary-driven humanitarian intervention and the effectiveness of its aid. Based on two case studies, the dissertation finds that while unconditionality, prioritizing beneficiary’s interest, bilateral engagement, and moral obligation enhance Turkey’s access to conflict-affected communities and durability of its operations, the sustainability of Turkey’s humanitarian engagement is still exposed to the same challenges experienced by traditional donor; and therefore, these challenges should be further studied.