Civil society, Neo-Ottomanism and İHH

This thesis aims to analyze the function of IHH in the Neo-Ottomanist foreign policy runing by the right wing government's' since the 1980s namely beginning with the ANAP period to the AK Party. Within this context, the questions of -What is Neo￾Ottomanism? By which Instruments is Neo-Ottomanism realized in Turkish foreign policy? What is the place of humanitarian activities carried out by IHH in the Neo￾Ottomanism policy? –are tried to be replied. Under the scope of this study, the periods of Turgut Özal, Necmettin Erbakan and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were examined. The Neo-Ottomanism, a foreign policy that is completely built on soft power elements, required the states to be eluded from hard power. For this reason, leaders considered to spread of Neo-Ottomanism by means of civil initiatives instead of an imperialist attitude in order to avoid reactions by which civil society organizations undertook very critical tasks. IHH Foundation a civil society organization that possesses Islamic sensitivities and takes humanitarian aid activities as a reference, runs its activities parallel with the foreign policy targets of governments prioritizing the Islamic-conservative principles. For this reason, IHH undertook very important roles in the Neo-Ottomanism foreign policy beginning in the leadership of Turgut Özal, going onwards. It carried out its activities as almost a half governmental agency. While governments tried to reach to the same purpose through political attempts, IHH used civil initiatives and tried to fill the gap left behind by the state. Key words: Neo-Ottomanism, Soft Power, Governance, Civil Society Organizations, Islamic Unio