The soft power strategy and instruments in foreign policy of Turkey (2002 – 2017)

One of the most studied subjects of the international relations discipline is the power concept and all aspects of it. Power concept is considered in two basic approaches as hard power and soft power. Public diplomacy, one of the most important aspects of soft power is turning public and intelligentsia of another country to its advantage and trying to impress them through policies of this nation. From this point of view, it can be seen that public diplomacy and soft power complement each other. Soft power concept taking place in Turkish foreign policy, recently, in discourse and practice, is accepted as an important factor for Turkey to implement its long-term plans. Also, public diplomacy methods are applied in these policies. It is intended by this method to improve prestige of our country at international platform. In this study, the public diplomacy instruments of Turkey as the Coordinating Office of Public Diplomacy, the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, the Directorate General of Press and Information, the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency, the Presidency for Turks Living Abroad and Related Communities, Yunus Emre Institute and other institutions with similar purposes are described. The level of contribution of these institutions on the image of Turkey and how efficiently soft power is used through these institutions of Turkey are mentioned. Key Words: Soft Power, Turkey, Public Diplomacy