Turkey’s soft power and public diplomacy in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Sandžak (2002-2017)

Abstract

As an emerging regional power, Turkey’s soft power and public diplo-macy are attracting the attention of academia in recent years. One of the principal elements of Turkish soft power and public diplomacy are reli-gious diplomacy run by Diyanet, today one of the strongest religious institutions in the Sunni World, student exchange diplomacy run by Turkiye Burslari, and a very vibrant city diplomacy run by the different municipalities and municipality unions, among which the most promi-nent is the Union of Turkish World Municipalities. For centuries Balkan peninsula was an area of interest for the Otto-man Empire and later for Turkey. The region serves Turkey as the only gateway to Europe. After a break during the Cold War, Turkey’s active engagement in the region has been restored. Today it is possible to say that Turkey is back in the region. It is the soft power that has been the main tool of Ankara’s influence in the region and public diplomacy lies at the core of that soft power. Public diplomacy institutions are serving as the visible face of Turkey’s policies, ambitions, goals, and vision in the region. For that reason, analysis of the Turkish public diplomacy provides a clear insight into what Turkey’s aims and potentials in the Balkans are.