Özet:

Even though Turkey has a strong historical relationship with the Republic of South Africa dating back to the 19th century, its historical and political relations with the Republic of South Africa remained very limited since the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923. When the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) came to power in October 2002, the traditional dynamics of Turkish foreign policy changed significantly. The ruling party explored new political, economic and social instruments so as to increase its relations with South Africa. The AK Party has combined elements of constructivist and realist approaches in its foreign policy activism, focusing on restoring the damaged historical relations with African countries and strengthening economic and trade relations with them. This article argues that there is a mixture of motivations behind increasing the bilateral relations between the two states. Also, this research will focus on how geopolitical, geoeconomic and historical factors play an important role in the development of relations between the two countries

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