Can Turkey Play a Key Role in Sustaining the Grain Deal? A Study on International Media and Public Diplomacy

Abstract

Russian-Ukrainian War caused many problems and Ukraine's inability to export grain due to the war created food crisis. In order to prevent this crisis, a negotiation process was needed to bring the parties together, and the Grain Agreement was signed with the diplomatic initiatives of the UN and Turkey. This study analyzes how Turkey's public diplomacy strategy was viewed by the media during the signing and extension of the agreement and what role it played in the realization of the agreement. The study comparatively analyzes the news produced by the media of different countries and TRT World on the agreement through critical discourse analysis method and aims to make determinations about Turkey's public diplomacy. The data obtained in the study reveals that Turkey has been attributed a key role in the agreement processes in the media of different countries, while it remains unclear whether it will maintain this role in the future. Also, while different country media emphasized Turkey in the agreement, TRT World's approach that prioritizes the government, and the leader is noteworthy. While the international media is cautious about the future of the agreement, TRT World does not go beyond praising the diplomatic success of the government.