Public diplomacy activities in the field of aducation in Africa

The concept of public diplomacy was introduced in 1965 by Edmund Gullion, decan of law and diplomacy at Tufts University. Public diplomacy is one of the tools to create soft power and the infrastructure for the necessary goals by directly influencing the people of the target country. One of the most important fields of activity in public diplomacy is educational activites. These educational activites include school construction, student exchanges, granting scholarships, on-site training and improvement activities. Based on these studies, the US Secretary Of State Colin Powell said that "I can't see a better fortune for our country than to win the friendship of future world leaders who are educated here". The importance of the issue was explained as follows by a high-level official of African origin; Relations between Turkey and Africa gained momentum after the year 2000. Educational activites are among the studies carried out in the African continent. Educational supports under the name of public diplomacy are planned by Turkey to have medium and long-term results. In this study, information is given about the public diplomacy activites that Turkey carries out jointly whith the public institutions and organizations in the African Continent, and it is tried to analyze how Turkey can better increase its soft power in the African Continent in the long run. Keywords: Education, Power, Public Diplomacy, Soft Power