The role of Turkish Maarif Foundation as a soft power element in Turkish foreign policy: The case of Pakistan

In international relations, power is defined as the capacity of a state to manage the behavior of other states in line with its wishes. Power is expressed in two ways: hard and soft power. While hard power is achieved through military and economic pressure; the soft power is achieved through attractive elements such as culture, values, education and diplomacy. The fact that soft power is more economical and effective than hard power leads countries to use soft power in foreign policy. One of the most effective industrial areas as public diplomacy of soft power in Turkish foreign policy is educational diplomacy. Educational diplomacy is a public diplomacy tool that aims to communicate with countries with different cultures through educational activities. One of the institutions that makes significant contributions to the field of education diplomacy in Turkey is the Turkish Maarif Foundation. It is aimed to promote the values of Turkish culture and the education system in other countries through the educational diplomacy activities of the Turkish Maarif Foundation. Through the activities carried out by the Foundation, it contributes to the development of Turkey's relations with other countries and to the increase of our country's reputation in the international arena. The subject of this thesis is the contributions of the Maarif Foundation's activities in Pakistan to the relations between the two countries. This thesis aims to reveal the contributions of the Turkish Maarif Foundation to Turkey's public diplomacy as a soft power element, specifically in the case of Pakistan. In the study, the education, culture, art, science, sports and travel activities carried out by the Maarif Foundation in Pakistan will be analyzed and the contributions of these activities to Turkey-Pakistan relations will be etaminde in the context of soft power.