Yeni Kurumsalcılık Çerçevesinde Türkiye Romanya İlişkilerinin Amiral Gemisi: TİKA ve Yunus Emre Enstitüsü

TIKA and the Yunus Emre Institute have emerged as a dynamo in cultural relations betweenTürkiye and Romania. This article aims to analyze Turkiye's Romania policy within the frameworkof the activities of TIKA and the Yunus Emre Institute. The main questions of this study are; “In what ways do TIKA and the Yunus Emre Institute enhance Türkiye-Romania relations?” and“What is the recognition and image of TIKA and the Yunus Emre Institute among the Romanianpeople?" The article's hypothesis revolves around these two questions: "TIKA and the Yunus EmreInstitute are instrumental in the development of political and economic relations by developinghuman relations between the two peoples.”To provide data for this study, a field research was carried out in Romania from August 14th toAugust 28th, 2023. Within this framework, over a thousand documents, brochures, booklets, andbooks were evaluated, and important observations were made in Romania. Dozens of documentswere obtained from the archives to deepen the subject. The article has been fleshed out by carefullycompiling many disorganized primary and secondary sources. In this process, a large part of theTurkish and English sources in the literature was reviewed. Romanian sources were againconsulted to eliminate the study's deficiencies in source diversity and to enhance the originality ofthe research. However, the author of this article utilised professional translation services due to hislack of proficiency in Romanian.The roadmap of the article is designed as follows: First, the article begins with the methodologyemployed in the study. The stages of this investigation are clearly presented to the reader. Then, adetailed assessment is made of all the media coverage about Turkiye and Romania relations in theexisting literature. Afterward, an assessment was conducted regarding the new institutional theory,which is essential for answering the research questions. In the next stage, political relations wereanalyzed on the basis of high-level visits and agreements. A brief assessment was made on thepresence of Turkish institutions in Romania. In this context, the current situation of the TurkishCooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) and other Non-Governmental Organizations(NGOs) were analyzed. Then, the activities of the Bucharest and Constanta branches of the YunusEmre Institute were scrutinized in detail as much as possible. The conclusion section makes ageneral evaluation and predictions for the future.Keywords: Romania, TIKA, Yunus Emre Institute, New Institutional Approach, Field Research