Analytics – Akıncı as “Soft Power”: Civil and Humanitarian Mission

Without a Turkish unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Akıncı, it would be much more difficult to detect the wreckage of a helicopter, which the president, Foreign Minister and other officials of the Islamic Republic died.

The participation of the Turkish drone in search of a place of helicopter crash in Iran once again demonstrated the ability and determination of Turkey to fulfill its humanitarian obligations due to the demand for products of its defense industry.

This is stated in the analytical article by the teacher of the Institute of International Relations and Strategic Research (ULİSA) at the University. Yyldyryma Beyazita in Ankara (aybu) M. Nazmul Islam.

In the article, the author assessed the role of the Turkish UAV Akıncı (“Akyndi”) in the search operation after the coin of the helicopter of President Iran Ebrahim Raisisi and revealed the value of Akıncı as “Soft Power) in the world arena.

According to Islam, the Turkish industry of unmanned aerial vehicles turned into an important instrument of soft power in wide geography – from Ukraine to Azerbaijan, from Libya to the Maldives, from Somalia to Syria, from Ethiopia to Bangladesh, from Qatar to Burkina -Faso, from Kyrgyzstan to Pakistan.

This is the testimony of this is the help and use of Turkish UAVs provided to Ukraine in the search and rescue operation in Iran, he says.

The concept of “soft power” that appeared in the 1990s is an instrument of foreign policy influence, which involves the use of cultural attractiveness and political values ​​and the refusal of coercion and power methods, especially for the Western and the United States, the analyst explains [1].

, however, an important gap in this concept is the study of how the “non -decayed” countries conceptualize and implement the strategy of “soft power” [2], – said Islam.

According to him, Turkey eliminated this gap, effectively using its cultural, humanitarian, media and public diplomacy, as well as using the assets of the defense industry as instruments of “connecting the force” [3], he says.

The integration of Turkey of strict force into its “soft force” strategy can be considered as a model for using military assets to perform tasks in the humanitarian sphere, the author of the article is convinced.

A similar approach clearly demonstrates an example of the use of a defense instrument in several areas – in conflicts, in military operations, defense agreements, the sale of weapons, security, rescue operations and training programs [4], says an institute employee.

“In the vocabulary of Turkey, defense, military and advanced technological tools serve not only as a manifestation of strict strength, but also instruments of diplomatic, political, economic and humanitarian attractiveness.”, The author of the article,

notes.