Abstract
Public diplomacy, which is defined as an effort to influence the attitude and perception of the public in order to shape and implement the foreign policy in the desired direction, can also be evaluated as an effort to shape the public opinion of different countries in a positive and desired way. One of Turkey's most important goals in the international arena has been determined as membership to the European Union, and many governments have carried out activities in various dimensions in line with this policy for many years. The activities carried out by Turkey in the EU membership process are closely monitored by the EU and regularly reported since 1998. While evaluating the breakthroughs Turkey has made in terms of foreign policy in these reports, it is also possible to determine how the international community and the public perceive these efforts. Based on this foresight, in this chapter, Turkey's progress reports in the EU membership process will be evaluated in the context of public diplomacy, and a descriptive and analytical framework will be created in this context.
TopIntroduction
Public perception, which affects foreign policy in international relations, is becoming more important for political actors day by day, and studies are being carried out on it in order to influence public opinion and the agenda. Understanding the importance of perception management, governments develop their policies by taking into account domestic and foreign public opinion. In this context, the policies developed are about creating a positive image on the target audience and influencing the target audience in the desired direction. Influencing the target audience without any pressure to support the foreign policy brings the concept of public diplomacy to us. Although the classical diplomacy understanding is dominant in international relations, public diplomacy is gaining importance and becoming one of the effective factors in the position of countries in the international arena. Bringing new approaches in foreign policy, public diplomacy plays an active role in the field of international relations and it mostly does this with soft power. Contrary to the classical understanding of diplomacy such as international diplomatic relations, diplomatic declarations and negotiations between delegations, it is the aim of public diplomacy to influence the target audience with activities such as culture and art. Along with the transition to the digital world, public diplomacy activities increase its diversity and effectiveness in the political arena depending on the developments in the field of communication. Contrary to the classical understanding of diplomacy in international relations, in public diplomacy, countries try to influence and persuade not only the governments of other countries but also the citizens of the country, and determine their priorities in this direction. Considering the interests of national interests, it is not enough to persuade governments and officials of international organizations alone. States or governments have to directly inform the foreign public, thereby positively influencing their perceptions. With the development of technology, the classical understanding of diplomacy is not sufficient in the international arena, and political actors cannot get the results they want. For this reason, influencing foreign societies by winning their hearts has brought a new dimension to international relations and demonstrated the importance of public diplomacy. Governments are starting to no longer communicate with foreign societies without public diplomacy. In summary, public diplomacy has become the most active and strategic method used by developed states to create a positive image on foreign countries. In this chapter, progress reports that play an important role in EU and Turkey relations will be evaluated in the context of public diplomacy.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Progress Reports: The European Commission has been publishing annual reports evaluating the progress achieved by the candidate countries with respect to the Copenhagen criteria since 1998. These reports were called “Progress Report” until 2016, and have been called “Country Report” afterwards.
Public Perception: A belief or opinion, often held by many people and based on how things seem.
Turkey: Officially the Republic of Türkiye is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is also a candidate country for EU.
Public Diplomacy: In international relations, public diplomacy, or people's diplomacy, broadly speaking, is any of the various government-sponsored efforts aimed at communicating directly with foreign publics to establish a dialogue designed to inform and influence with the aim that this foreign public supports or tolerates a government's strategic objectives.
European Union: The European Union (EU) is a political and economic union of 27 member states that are located primarily in Europe.
Communication Process: The communication process is made up of four key components. Those components include encoding, medium of transmission, decoding, and feedback.
Diplomacy: The art and practice of conducting negotiations between nations.
International Relations: International relations, international studies or international affairs is the scientific study of interactions between sovereign states.