Formation and Development of “Soft Power” Institutions in Turkey at the Turn of the XX-XXI Centuries (By the Example of Turkic-Speaking Countries)

The paper provides a historical analysis of the process of institualization of Turkey’s “soft power” policy in Turkic-speaking post-Soviet countries. Scientific originality of the study involves the problem formulation itself. Researchers’ attention is focused on the following issues: formation of political conception, political mechanisms, factors influencing Turkey’s “soft power” policy, its periodization. The findings indicate that the appearance of new post-Soviet states contributed largely to the process of institualization of Turkey’s “soft power” policy. The authors emphasize the fact that the year 2002, when Justice and Development Party came to power, symbolizes a new conceptual approach to “soft power” institualization. The research findings are as follows: relying on the analysis of factual material and on existing theoretical studies, the authors identify the basic activity trends of Turkey’s “soft power” institutions in Turkic-speaking countries, analyze their efficiency.