Yohanan Benhaim

Yohanan Benhaim is a PhD candidate in political science at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University specializing in foreign policy. In his PhD dissertation, he explores the evolution of Turkish foreign policy toward the Kurdish regions in Iraq and Syria (1990–2017). Between 2012 and 2016, Benhaim conducted field research in Ankara, Diyarbakır, and Erbil. His research focuses on the transformation of civil-military relations and on the role of private actors in the foreign policy making process. Benhaim is also the co-founder and co-director of Noria, a think tank based on a community of researchers specialized in international politics. He is an associate researcher at the Center for Turkish, Ottoman, Balkanic, and Centrasiatic Studies (CETOBAC, EHESS) and at the French Institute for Anatolian Studies (IFEA, Istanbul). He teaches at Sciences-Po Paris and Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University.

Project: “A trading state in uniform? The Economic Dimension of Turkey’s Foreign Policy in Syria and Iraq and its Impact on Turkey-EU Relations”

In the late 2000s, the development of good relations between Ankara and the Kurdish Regional Government of Iraq illustrated the rising importance of economic considerations within Turkish foreign policy. However, since the beginning of the Syrian civil war and the renewal of Turkey’s war with the PKK in 2015, this picture has dramatically changed as Turkey has been conducting several military operations in both Iraq and Syria. The economic dimension of Turkish foreign policy in this region is not only impacting the regional structure of the economy and trade, but it is also reconfiguring the activities of businessmen and political actors at the local level in Turkey.

Within this context, this research project aims at identifying the economic foundations of this transborder policy as well as the way in which this policy contributes to the emergence of a coherent economic space between Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. This research examines the state’s economic action in Turkey’s neighborhood, the restructuration of the regional economy, and the transformation of businessmen’s associations and individual practices.