Public Diplomacy Practices in Turkish Foreign Policy (2002-2013)*

Özet

Humanity has displayed many examples of power struggles to be able to dominate the earth and become an influential actor on earth since the day it was founded. For that reason, there were wars between states; many tactics and techniques were used to win these wars. This process, which started with diplomacy and propaganda, continues with public diplomacy, a concept we often hear today. Public diplomacy aims to establish communication with the public of different countries and to gain the sympathy of them, to keep them under the influence of its charm, to change their perceptions and to govern them in the direction they want. The public diplomacy that emerged in the second half of the twentieth century and started to be used often, especially in the post-Cold War period, became more important in international relations after the questioning of the fact that the state is the cornerstone of international politics. At present, multilateral relations and interdependence among nations have become necessary in the international system. When the Justice and Development Party (Ak Party) came to power, as the traditional foreign policy concept could not meet the requirements of this new system, an active and multi-lingual foreign policy with new strategies in Turkish foreign policy was started to be implemented. This study discusses the public diplomacy activities in line with the principles guiding the post-2002 foreign policy, the concept of public diplomacy and the application and historical development of Turkish foreign policy. The role of public diplomacy institutions and their roles on Turkish public diplomacy before and after Ak Party’s coming to power is examined. Besides, it aims to reveal the obstacles hindering to achieve a more active and ethical public diplomacy and the kind of organization that is needed to be carried into effect.