Liminal identity of Turkey in humanitarian government

Abstract

ABSTRACT During the past two decades, Turkey’s strategies in aid and assistance have been premised onits liminal identity as both Western and Eastern, to present itself as a ‘different actor’ compared to Western traditional donors. Turkey is neither in the West nor in the non-West, but continues to be an active global actor in the traditional structure of the international humanitarian order. Thisliminal identity can be considered as a positive, albeit ambivalent, status reinforcing Turkey’s activism. Turkey invokes Islamic and Ottoman aspects of its identity in recipient countries through bilateral relations, while it reinforces its Western liberal dimensions through implementing traditional practices of multilateral humanitarian government. This article argues that Turkey, being suspicious and critical of traditional actors at discourse level, remains integrated into conventional and Western structure of humanitarian government. This article analyses the different constitutive elements of Turkey’s liminal identity and how Turkey operationalizes its humanitarianism.