Food Diplomacy in Times of Global Crisis: Türkiye’s Mediation Role Through the Black Sea Grain Initiative in Ukraine-Russia War

Abstract

The primary purpose of this chapter is to examine how Türkiye’s mediation role through the Black Sea Grain Initiative has become a public diplomacy tool in ensuring the sustainability of global food security. The Black Sea Grain Initiative, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, ensured the export of approximately 32.9 million tons of food from Ukraine between 2022 and 2023, with the mediation of Türkiye and the United Nations (UN). In addition to its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership and relationships with Russia, Türkiye’s control of the straits leading to the Black Sea required its active participation to reach such an agreement. What made solving the food crisis important compared to other problems? The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) underlines the need to meet four criteria (availability, access, utilisation, and stability) to address food security, one of humanity’s necessities. However, in recent years, the global food chain has been seriously affected due to economic problems, climate change, COVID-19, and the Russo-Ukrainian War, causing extreme insecurity, particularly in countries that depend on food imports. The war exacerbated the upward trend in global food prices, which had already begun following the pandemic. The fact that Ukraine, one of the world’s highest grain exporters, was unable to use the sea route, and Russia’s freeze of food shipments, posed a huge risk to countries that rely on imports and require humanitarian assistance. In this sense, the Black Sea Grain Initiative aimed at preventing the rise in hunger and food prices. The Russo-Ukrainian War has a negative impact on international politics in many ways. The food crisis that developed due to the war resonated in international politics at least as much as the war, and the international community, including Russia and Ukraine, was able to find common ground for its solution. This study will concentrate on the role of mediation in international law, as well as Türkiye’s portrayal in international press and at the United Nations.