Cultural Diplomacy as an Important Foreign Aid Tools: The Case Study of Yunus Emre Institute

While military power and economic sanctions played an important role in interstate relations during the Cold War, the concept of soft power, which consists of cultural, historical and universal values that countries have in the post-Cold War conjuncture, has begun to replace hard powers. In the last quarter of the 20th century, the armament and ideological warfare of the bipolar system began to lose its importance. These two concepts have been replaced by elements such as identity and culture. In this direction, countries have started to use their cultures, languages and values to have an impact on other countries without using hard power. This situation has caused powerful states in the world to reconsider their foreign policies. Turkey has been one of the countries that attaches importance to the concept of soft power and uses it effectively in foreign policy since the beginning of the 2000s. Especially with the 2000s, Turkey has made important changes in its foreign policy to keep up with this new order and has adopted an approach that includes foreign aid and cultural diplomacy in foreign policy. The effective use of cultural diplomacy in foreign policy has broken the prejudices of the receiving countries. In this context, cultural diplomacy has an extremely important role in making foreign aid more effective.

While military power and economic sanctions played an important role in interstate relations during the Cold War, the concept of soft power, which consists of cultural, historical and universal values that countries have in the post-Cold War conjuncture, has begun to replace hard powers. In the last quarter of the 20th century, the armament and ideological warfare of the bipolar system began to lose its importance. These two concepts have been replaced by elements such as identity and culture. In this direction, countries have started to use their cultures, languages and values to have an impact on other countries without using hard power. This situation has caused powerful states in the world to reconsider their foreign policies. Turkey has been one of the countries that attaches importance to the concept of soft power and uses it effectively in foreign policy since the beginning of the 2000s. Especially with the 2000s, Turkey has made important changes in its foreign policy to keep up with this new order and has adopted an approach that includes foreign aid and cultural diplomacy in foreign policy. The effective use of cultural diplomacy in foreign policy has broken the prejudices of the receiving countries. In this context, cultural diplomacy has an extremely important role in making foreign aid more effective.