International public diplomacy as a method of political communication: Turkey-EU relations example

It is seen that the rapidly developing communication and intercommunication technologies in the globalizing world directly affect the foreign policy of the states. In line with this effect, it is observed that the states tend towards to different international political communication strategies while they produce foreign policy. Hence, traditional diplomatic concept alone, which is now effective in regulating inter-country relations, cannot be a solution to the problems that states are facing in relation to each other. The developing process in this context, it obliges Turkey to produce effective international political communication strategies in its general foreign policy objectives and particularly in the EU participation process. Accordingly, this study focuses on Turkey's foreign policy strategies and traditional diplomacy methods and techniques in the EU participation process with the necessity of the applications of public diplomacy. Therefore, public diplomacy activities that implemented in Turkey's EU participation process have been researched in this study. In the scope of the research, the activities of institutions and organizations that perform activities in the field of public diplomacy in Turkey were examined and we contacted with these institutions and organizations and acquired some data about public diplomacy applications. At the same time, the ideas about public diplomacy activities have been presented by conducting interviews with experts in their own field who have made academic studies on public diplomacy. In this context, within the frame of the purposes of research, public diplomacy fact and its applications in Turkey were scrutinized and some inferences were made about Turkey public diplomacy competence. With the analysis of the research data obtained in this direction, some suggestions were proposed about the systematic and sustainable practices on public diplomacy that Turkey can implement in the EU membership negotiations process and in the objectives of foreign policy.