The case of soft power of Turkey within the scope of international humanitarian aid and support in public diplomacy: The case of Sudan country

Diplomacy is a multidimensional concept and is divided into various sub-branches within itself. Diplomacy, which expresses the process of persuasion and which states officially continue for a certain purpose, has been transformed, changed and developed in parallel with the changes experienced. In this context, public diplomacy has emerged as the effort and process of a relatively effective state to influence others in an informal way that will serve its own interests. In essence, public diplomacy refers to the participation of non-state actors in supporting official diplomacy. Public diplomacy is a general approach and an abstract concept, and it gains practice with soft power applications in its implementation. Soft power applications are interpreted in two ways according to changing conditions. The first is the realization of strategies, programs and projects that will serve the purposes of public diplomacy. The second is the realization of soft power applications without any purpose and without any conflict of interest. In Western-style soft power applications, there is a certain purpose (ethnic, religious, ideological, etc.) and as a result of the activities carried out, including humanitarian aid, it is possible to create dependency, debt, obtain tutelage, etc. in the target country. purposes such as It is stated in international documents that humanitarian aid should not be based on a relationship of interest and should not be discriminated against in terms of target, purpose and practice. In this study, public diplomacy and soft power applications are examined. Taking the international humanitarian aid dimension from soft power applications to the center; Statements were made about Turkey's activities in this area, and then Turkey's humanitarian aid to Sudan within the scope of soft power practices was investigated. As a result of the study, it has been understood that Turkey's humanitarian aid activities carried out in the process of soft power applications, contrary to the Western approach, are engaged in humanitarian aid activities in a balanced and fair manner as possible, without any discrimination, without any formal interest in the target country. However, it has been determined that the human aid activities carried out by Turkey for Sudan have significantly helped the development of this country, and a wide variety of aid has been provided in different fields. Keywords: Public Diplomacy, Soft Power, Humanitarian Aid, Turkey, Sudan.