Make health, not war. Investigating the worldwide relevance and sustainability of Türkiye's Health Diplomacy

Abstract: Globalisation and the improvement of direct lines of communication worldwide have resulted in the rapid spread of diseases and epidemics; not least, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way governments and states approach health security. Consequently, international cooperation in health and medicine, also known as Health Diplomacy, has steadily increased since the 1970s and even more in the new millennium. In this context, Türkiye has emerged as a crucial actor involved in several Health Diplomacy activities across all the regions where Ankara’s interests are stronger, including the Western Balkans, Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. These activities include the construction and modernisation of hospitals and other health-related facilities abroad; the establishment of scientific collaborations with other countries and institutions, from think tanks to universities; the export or donation of medical equipment, medicines, and know-how; and direct medical care and humanitarian activities conducted in the field by Turkish NGOs. While Türkiye’s Health Diplomacy efforts have already achieved paramount goals in several contexts marked by violence and war, such as the Palestinian territories, Sudan, and Somalia, the long-term sustainability and self-sufficiency of these projects is yet to be understood, especially considering Ankara’s stark preference of bilateral channels of communication with the countries where its Health Diplomacy is implemented, which are prone to oscillate in line with the country's domestic political and economic fluctuations.