The role of AFAD in Turkey's humanitarian diplomacy

The concept of power which has a history as old as humanity is very important in understanding international relations. This concept has been scraped away from its traditional meaning in time and today it is sharpened into a whole new concept of Soft Power, in which almost all states try to implement their strategies to understand this changing context. Power potential is based on the adoption of a state's requests to another state by using the arguments of historical, cultural, social, education and tradition without any threatening force and today it has become one of the most determinative factors in the success of Public Diplomacy. This research examines the concept of Humanitarian Diplomacy, a part of Public Diplomacy, which has become an important component of foreign policy as a consequence of political, economic, technological and social development with Turkey's changing foreign policy understanding. At this point, AFAD case is handled in the context of soft power and how and how much AFAD uses this power is examined in the context of benefit-cost analysis and the role of AFAD is analyzed by looking through some of its works both at national and international levels. AFAD's, of which main purpose is planning, risk reduction and responsing to the natural disasters and which is institutionally bound to the Ministry of Interior; role and responsibility in the area of foreign aids which is a tool of foreign policy is handled from the viewpoint of its risks. Starting from this perspective, the policies of Turkey in the field of Humanitarian Diplomacy are examined in terms of the results and the success rates and shortcomings of these policies, the location where they bring Turkey in international relations scene is explained with data. While the humanitarian diplomacy perception of Turkey, which might be accepted as unique of its kind, is analysed with datas and comparisons; foreign aids, the main tool of this kind of diplomacy, is examined thoroughly from transparency issue to the integration, cooperation and management issues. The parameters are set while problematic areas are tried to be defined with an analytic perspective. From the point of hot datas and comparisons of the countries (one is Turkey and the others are the USA and Germany which are accepted to be one of the best coutries applying soft power policies), the efficiency of Turkey's humanitarian diplomacy applications are interrogated and strong and weak sides are tried to be set forth. After analysing the current strategy of Turkey, it is questioned if the inputs that Turkey gives, worth the results it receives. This research examines, mainly, the works of AFAD which has become an important part of humanitarian diplomacy with specific examples and explains the benefits of these works in the international field with benefit-cost analysis. Within this context, suggestions are made, which is believed to contribute positively to Turkey's humanitarian diplomacy activities and their efficiency in the international arena. Keywords: Soft Power, Public Diplomacy, Humanitarian Diplomacy, AFAD, Turkey.