Assoc. Prof. Dr. Volkan İpek

The World Cup 2026 finally began, amidst lots of debates. Concerns on where the Iranian team will play its games, why the American boarder officers stop players from different states that join the cup and sometimes refuse to approve their entries, and what precautions were taken to stop the fans from different states who came to watch the games in Mexico to illegally cross the border to the USA are on the top three of the list. A fourth one was eventually added, when the Haiti national football team has been forced to change the design of its World Cup jersey after it was deemed too political by FIFA. The jersey which originally included a depiction of the final battle of the Haitian War of Independence in 1803 on its front was rejected during FIFA’s approval process because it was found too political for football.

The jersey design fluctuated over Haiti is a very interesting story not only because it reminds people of its political slave revolt but also rings bells for the Turkish jersey design.  Turkey has not been using the official logo of its football federation for such a long time. Instead, the Turkish flag within basically circle and rectangle geometrics had been used. Just like many international tournaments before, Turkey is the only participant state to World Cup 2026 which has its national flag on its jersey. Even though FIFA has approved the Turkish design, it did not so when it came to Haiti.

Foreign policy of the two states which have unique aspect of jersey designs is not very complex, however. Economic and political relations between Turkey and Haiti have remained quite limited due to mainly geographical distance and both states’ foreign policy priorities. However, Turkey started paying attention to Haiti within the framework of the official opening to Latin America and Caribbean region. Setting up a diplomatic representation, augmenting technical and economic cooperation programs, and intensifying civil society organizations in Haiti are among the foreign policy initiatives of Turkey.

Besides the opening program, Turkish-Haitian relations developed on the basis of aid for natural disasters. The most prominent crystal of such relationship could be traced back on January 12th 2010 dated earthquake in Haiti, when Turkey provided 1 million USD in in-kind and 1 million USD in cash aid.  Later on, Turkish Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency of Turkey provided Haiti with 124,000 USD in cash and equipment aid during the October 2016 Hurricane Matthew. Last not least, humanitarian aid materials consisting of 222 food packages, 270 hygiene packages, and 80 family-type tents prepared by the Disaster and Emergency Management Presidency of Turkey were delivered to Port-au-Prince upon the August 24th 2021 earthquake, via a military aircraft departing from Ankara. Additionally, 1000 packages containing food and hygiene materials worth 61,000 USD were also sent to Haiti on August 30th 2021, by Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency’s Mexico Office.

Besides all, bilateral relations were also shaped by the Turkish contribution to UN Haiti Stabilization Mission (MINUSTAH). Since its establishment in 2004, Turkey has been joining it with personnel support to make Haiti achieve political stability, modernizing and democratizing the National Police Force, disarming and integrating armed groups into society, ensuring security and public order, and holding free elections. Turkey provided personnel support to the UN Haiti Justice Support Mission (MINUJUSTH), which replaced MINUSTAH on October 15th 2017, and whose mandate ended on October 15th 2019.

In terms of bilateral official visits, one sees the visit of the Haiti President Jovenel Moïse, accompanied by the Haitian Minister of Defense and a delegation of Haitian businesspeople, participated in the Antalya Diplomacy Forum between June 18th-21st 2021. Even though there is no Turkish embassy right now in the capital city of Haiti Port au Prince, there is a Turkish Honorary Consulate there. A technical cooperation agreement was signed between Turkey and Haiti in 2022, as a last update.

Both Turkey and Haiti established their sovereign states on the basis of a revolution. Even though FIFA respects the Turkish one by accepting its football jersey design, it disrespects the Haiti’s one by lamenting its very political status as excuse. No matter what, after the Cup is over, Turkey must intensify its relations with Haiti, which has been administered by gangs for a very long time.