Public diplomacy policies of Türkiye from the Ottoman Empire to the republic: A model proposal within the framework of opportunities and limitations

This study aims to analyze the opportunities and limitations inherited by Turkish public diplomacy from the soft power strategies and subtle policies employed by the Ottoman Empire—of which Turkey is the historical and cultural successor—toward target states and societies. Within the scope of the study, an analytical framework is proposed that integrates the legacy of the past with a visionary perspective for the future, in order to assess Turkey's public diplomacy capacity and effectiveness. In this context, public diplomacy practices are examined on the basis of foreign policy approaches and state-society relations during both the Ottoman and Republican periods. Rather than conducting a limited historical analysis focused on a specific event or period, this study aims to develop a general perspective on the history of Turkish public diplomacy by examining how the Ottoman Empire employed elements of soft power in its relations with various societies and states from multiple dimensions. Within this framework, the study avoids drawing sharp periodical distinctions between the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey, instead evaluating the two eras not through temporal contrast but along the axes of continuity and transformation. Within the scope of the study, it is proposed that Turkish public diplomacy be reinterpreted through an approach informed by historical and cultural heritage, and a 'heritage-based model' is presented as an original framework for public diplomacy. Designed within the scope of qualitative research methods, the study adopts a retrospective and descriptive character within the general survey model. During the data collection process, both secondary sources and primary documents obtained from the Ottoman archives were utilized.