Measuring Turkey’s contemporary influence in Bosnia And Herzegovina: myth and reality

Abstract

ABSTRACT Turkey and Bosnia and Herzegovina share deep historical, political, and cultural ties. Bilateral relations between the two have undergone several transformations in parallel with domestic and international political developments and in light of shifts in Turkey’s role in the international arena. After decades of negligent and isolationist policies, Ankara finally offered Bosnia a place in Turkish foreign policy following the end of the Cold War, as it came to occupy a position of significant importance for Turkey under the rule of political Islamist Justice and Development Party (AKP). However, Turkey’s influence has been debated in positive and negative ways at the same time often creating a contradiction between reality and discourse. This article aims to evaluate Turkey’s influence in Bosnia through interviews with experts on political, economic, cultural, media and religious ties between the two in order to portray the potentials and limits of Turkish foreign policy towards Bosnia.