Business Diplomat: No Big Brother

Asked what a network of young business diplomats between Turkic states and neighbouring regions would bring to regional trade, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Evkuran gives the most pointed answer of his contribution. In this part of its interview series, Business Diplomat presents it.

First observation: the fragility of grand relations
“There are very important steps to be taken in relations with the Turkic world. Although dazzling high-level institutional relations at the macro scale inspire morale, they are quite fragile.”
Impressive meetings and agreements at the top lift spirits, but they depend on a few people and a few moments. Their fragility is the problem.

Second observation: build from below
“Close cooperation should be established at the micro level in education, trade, art, culture and similar fields.” And the relations “should not be ‘person-centred’ but should proceed on a ground behind which strong institutional traditions lie.” The aim is durability: ties between many people and institutions that survive the departure of any one leader.

Third observation: a warning in capitals
Evkuran marks the next passage as a very important note. Discourse that presents Türkiye as a “big-brother state”, an “abi”, “should be abandoned.” Problems created by old rivalries within the Turkic world should be avoided. And “an environment of trust in which everyone wins should be created.”

Fourth observation: the opportunity
He closes: “The cultural, economic and natural wealth it possesses is the greatest opportunity we have. When the right steps are taken, a ‘Turkic Renaissance’ is inevitable.” The conditional matters: the Renaissance follows from right steps. It is not presented as automatic.

The logic of the assessment
Top-level relations are fragile. Durable cooperation is built at the micro level on institutions. Hierarchical language must be avoided, and trust must benefit all. Under those conditions, the region’s wealth can lead to a renaissance.

The role of Business Diplomat
The platform’s mission is to give young people experience, bring a diplomatic order to the business world, and benefit states by revitalising the economy. A network of young business diplomats is the micro-level cooperation Evkuran describes. Business Diplomat can build it on equality and institutions, not on personalities.

Conclusion
Lasting cooperation across the Turkic world needs institutional foundations, equal partnership and trust in which everyone wins. Business Diplomat aims to contribute to such a network.