- PERCEPTIONS: Journal of International Affairs
- Vol: 22 Issue: 3
- Public Diplomacy through Diaspora Engagement: The Case of Turkey
Public Diplomacy through Diaspora Engagement: The Case of Turkey
Authors : Şebnem Köşer Akçapar, Damla Bayraktar Aksel
Pages : 135-160
View : 11 | Download : 7
Publication Date : 2017-01-01
Article Type : Other
Abstract :After more than 50 years of migration history, the recognition of Turkish migrant immigrants as "diaspora” took place only recently, illustrating the changes in the Turkish state’s strategies towards embracing these populations. In the early 2000s, the government needed the Turkish diaspora to refurbish the image of Turkey and boost the stale EU membership agenda, and realized that the diaspora could be used as a tool for public diplomacy to exert "soft power”. In this article, we argue that the new Turkish diaspora policy was shaped by the recognition of an emerging transnational Turkish diaspora and the re-orientation of Turkish foreign policy after 2002 when the AKP Justice and Development Party came to power. We also argue thatKeywords : Public Diplomacy, State-Led Transnationalism, Migrant Organizations, Diaspora, Turkey.