Turkey's Sub-Saharan Africa public diplomacy (2002-2018)

Depending on the changes in global politics in recent years, new concepts are emerging in the International Relations literature and new fields of study are formed. Especially with the developments in the field of communication, public diplomacy draws attention as one of the prominent concepts in the 2000s. Public diplomacy, which consists of many sub-components such as listening, gastro, sports and culture, is carried out directly for the people of the target country by the public. With the increase of globalization, intercontinental interaction has increased more than ever before in history. The global south has become more accessible than ever in this process, and Africa, which is known for its colonialism in history, has become one of the places of interest for states such as China, India, Brazil and Türkiye, as well as traditional colonial powers. In this study, the concept of Public Diplomacy, which is a fairly new field of study for Türkiye, will be discussed within the framework of Sub-Saharan Africa policy. Apart from the five components (listening, advocacy, exchange diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, international broadcasting) determined by Nicholas Cull for public diplomacy, the study will also address humanitarian (aid) diplomacy and faith (based) diplomacy, which is considered appropriate for Türkiye's Sub-Saharan Africa policy. In the study covering the period between 2002-2018, the effective ones for Türkiye from the 7 components discussed will be determined and various suggestions will be made in the conclusion part. Unlike Sub-Saharan African studies in Türkiye, the study aims to contribute to the literature by considering the components related to institutions that implement public diplomacy.