Soft power in Turkish foreign policy: Yunus Emre Institute

Turkish foreign policy started to transform from realism to constructivism as of the year 1999. New organizations and institutions were established in order to support this new perspective of the Turkish foreign policy in the 21st century. In this direction, Turkey started to use soft power as an element of its foreign policy, while elements of soft power were being diversified in the 21st century as well. In this context, the Republic of Turkey initiated establishment of new institutions in various regions of the country in order to have increased soft power. Among such new institutions are Yunus Emre Institute, Prime Ministry Office of Public Diplomacy and the Directorate General for Turks and other Communities Living Abroad. In addition, Turkey revised its institutions in order to adapt them to new paradigms of the Turkish foreign policy. Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency, Turkish Radio and Television Corporation and Turkish Airlines were revised under this framework and they have become significant institutions for Turkey in increasing its soft power and enlarging the country's influence. Furthermore, Turkey started to support non-governmental organizations in various regions as an element of soft power. In this regard, Yunus Emre Institute is one of the newly-established institutions which aims to promote the Turkish culture, language, and arts, while developing consolidated friendship relations with other countries. Although this institution was founded in 2007 and it is a relatively young establishment, its sphere of influence has been observed to be extensively wide.From this perspective, the aim of this dissertation is to elaborate on the mission and vision of Yunus Emre Institute with a focus on its activities. The following questions are specified to seek answers: Is Yunus Emre Institute a result of the Turkish foreign policy's transformation? What sort of activities are carried out by Yunus Emre Institute? Is Yunus Emre Institute an element of the Turkish foreign policy? Key Words: Constructivism, Turkish foreign policy, Yunus Emre Institute