The role of cultural activities in early Turkey-USSR relations (1923-1935)

In this study, the cultural activities that took place between Turkey and the USSR in the early Republican period were examined. Before examining these cultural activities, a theoretical and conceptual discussion was made in the first part to understand the role of cultural activities in international relations. In this conceptual discussion, the concepts of "soft power", "public diplomacy", "cultural diplomacy" and "propaganda" were analyzed comparatively and the different and similar aspects of these concepts were shown on the tables. After this conceptual discussion, in the second part of the study, national and international factors that determined the character of Turkey-USSR relations in the mentioned period were analyzed. At the same time, in this section, the institutionalization stages of the official relations between Turkey and the USSR were mentioned and the high-level official visits between the two countries during this period were scanned in the press organs of the period and shown in detail. After these official visits, which are very important for the relations between the two countries in the cultural field, in the third part of the thesis, the activities of the two countries in various cultural fields are examined together with their political dimensions. In this section, where various exhibitions, especially sports, cinema and theater, are examined as cultural activities, primary sources are used intensively. In addition to the newspapers and magazines of the period, a general framework was revealed about the cultural activities in question by making use of the documents related to the subject in the Prime Ministry Republic Archive. Throughout this study, the relationship between the cultural field and the political field and the way the cultural field is used as a tool of foreign policy have been constantly emphasized between the lines.