Globalization in the context of multiculturalism and ethnicity in the Western Balkans and intercultural communication
Authors: Akova Sibel , Kantar Gökmen 
Published: July 2020

The Balkans have historically been referred to by many as a transition region. There has always been a policy of dissolving (assimilating) one another between the peoples who settled/placed in the Balkan lands and the existing ones. For this reason, it is possible to express that an unstable structure prevails in the historical process. However, Balkan geography, despite its unstable structure, has managed to survive even in a multicultural structure until today. The Balkan lands are located in an attractive region where the Asian, European and African continents intersect with the Eastern Mediterranean. Therefore, the changes taking place on the Balkan geography can also affect the stability structures of the nearby geographies. In this context, the Balkans, which have an important geostrategic structure, are a region that has been a fighting area between many cultures throughout history. Instead of being referred to as a geographical domain name with its characteristics, the Balkans have taken its place in the history scene as a political issue. The Balkan Peninsula has a complex ethnic mosaic, including religion, language, culture and ethnic differences. It is a special geography that has witnessed identity formations where the worlds of individuals of different beliefs intersect and at the same time identity separations. The Balkan geography was an important place because it was the spark that ignited the fuse, which was the reason for the emergence of both World Wars. With this aspect, the Balkans, which are projected to host important developments in the future, are considered to be the cradle of innovations due to the effect of globalization phenomenon. This is why Turkey must take into account regional and global power actors while establishing foreign policy strategies for the Balkans. Throughout history, language, religion, culture, ethnic pluralism and multiculturalism such as conflict and instability in the Balkans due to differences together with the end of the Cold War, disputes carried over to generation for centuries, the religion brought by the difference in clashes, big country remained under the influence of many factors such as ideologies. Tito Yugoslavia was subjected to the exploitation of the global powers, which came into competition to become “world dominant” in the international environment through the influence of the world political cyclical restructuring, which is referred to as globalization. Related abuses and ideologies have also pushed Balkan peoples into conflicts and civil wars. The aim of this study is to examine Turkish and Balkan cultures and explain the concepts of ethnic, intercultural communication and multiculturalism in the context of globalization. The main claim of the study is that the idea of creating national identities is based on the fact that the nationalist movements that emerged after the French Revolution of 1,789 increased with each passing day, shaping political relations, nurturing political ideologies and their derivative developments led to ethnic conflicts. The argument that there may be a relationship between nationalism and ethnic conflicts is the main starting point of the study. The study aims to analyze the Western Balkans from the Ottoman Empire to the present day within the framework of the concepts and theories of ethnic identity, intercultural communication and multiculturalism.