TURKISH PUBLIC DIPLOMACY IN A DECADE: AN APPRAISAL AND PROSPECTS

Abstract

The birth of nation-states after the Westphalian Treaty of 1648 signaled the dominance of states in international relations. The end of WW1 and especially WW2 precipitated a paradigm shift in global affairs with the world driven by superpower rivalry between the U.S and USSR in what became known as the Cold War. The birth of the modern-day Republic of Turkey in 1923 as a remnant of the defunct Ottoman Empire has emerged as one of the most successful states whose geostrategic position is a huge advantage in her public diplomacy, making maximum use of her soft power rather than hard power. This paper dwells on those institutions that are pivotal in catapulting Turkish public diplomacy specifically from 2010 to mid-2021. Also, this work sought to look at recent wins within 10 years of Turkish Public Diplomacy and it pays attention to the backlashes and prospects of Turkish Public Diplomacy. This paper found out that a significant institution heralding Turkey’s Public Diplomacy is the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the prestigious Turkish Government scholarship scheme stands out to be one of the big wins for Turkey. A huge deficit to Turkish Public Diplomacy hangs on insecurity across its borders. Lastly, an envisaged prospect can be spotted with the rising competitive nature of TRT World on the global media landscape. This paper concludes that Ankara’s public diplomacy would be more robust prior to the Centenary of its Independence in 2023 based on its institutions, recent gains and foreign policy goals. This article has penned down those institutions that are manning Turkish Public diplomacy such as YEI, TIKA, YTB etc., it made an appraisal on Turkish public diplomacy within a decade bringing to light past, contemporary gains and shortcomings as well. The paper then evolved around the prospects that await Turkish public diplomacy ahead of the 2023 Centenary Independence Celebration citing the role of TRT World as an important player in this expectation. It is pivotal to consider that for public diplomacy to be considered successful, soft power should be accompanied by economic prowess that will metamorphose into vibrant persuasive power. Within a decade, Turkish public diplomacy seems to have witnessed low and high tides however it keeps maturing as the years unfold. There is no doubt that the JDP leadership, institutions and actors in Ankara’s public diplomacy initiative from 2010 should be applauded for haven nurtured and implemented its public diplomacy after ascending power not focusing solely on the Middle East but has mapped out other regions globally, harvesting excellent results and off course thanks to the “Strategic Depth” Doctrine of Foreign Minister Davutoglu that Turkey has now mastered the public diplomacy terrain and has a great interest page in dominating global public diplomacy arena with little or no resistance from other states, particularly in an unpredictable MENA Region.