The concept of soft power in international relations and entrepreneurship activites of TIKA

As a result of the changes in the international conjuncture after the Cold War, Turkey has started to follow a multifaceted and active policy in the concept of foreign aid as well as in its foreign policy. In the study, first of all, brief information about the concepts of power and soft power is given. While discussing the definition, scope and development of the concept of foreign aid in the historical process, answers are sought to questions such as for what purposes foreign aid is provided and how it is received by the recipient countries. Then, the relationship between soft power and foreign aid is evaluated and explained. Foreign aid, which is a soft power tool, is discussed in a chronological integrity in the light of various examples from the Ottoman Empire to the present. In the final analysis, in order to reveal the impact and importance of foreign aid, developments in Turkish Foreign Policy and institutions and organizations that are Turkey's soft power sources are also mentioned. Parallel to the trend in the world, Turkey is trying to increase its influence in its region by using its soft power. Soft power, which has become frequently emphasized in the discipline of International Relations, has also been the starting point of this study. The study examines under which conditions and for which regions Turkey can use its existing soft power elements and potential in foreign policy with its historical and cultural background. In the study, in the light of the changes in the post-Cold War environment and regional developments, the activities of the Turkish Cooperation and Development Administration in the Balkans, which has become a soft power element of Turkey at the international level, are highlighted. The economic, commercial, technical, social, cultural and educational programs and projects carried out by TIKA in the Balkans, which constitute an important pillar of Turkey's policies to ensure and maintain peace and stability in the Balkans, and their effects are discussed. Keywords: Soft Power, Turkish Foreign Aid, TIKA