Konferans Diplomasisi Perspektifinde Antalya Diplomasi Forumu'nun Uluslararası İlişkilerdeki Rolü

Abstract

International relations emerged as a discipline during the years of 1st World War. After 1918, the discipline was started to be taught at universities. With the efforts of diplomacy, it was possible to see the spread of the discipline in the world arena. At the core of diplomacy, which is an international legal communication process aiming to establish relations with others regarding the existing problems, lays the aim to obtain maximum gain in line with the interests of the country. Efforts of diplomacy are frequently used in the discipline of international relations today. It is possible to list the diplomacy efforts as summit diplomacy, bilateral diplomacy, multiple diplomacy, cultural diplomacy, parliamentary diplomacy, public diplomacy, and conference diplomacy. 
 In this context, this article discusses the public diplomacy dimension of conference diplomacy as a soft power element. What makes this type of diplomacy important is that it was frequently used between the two world wars. Although the frequency of using this type of diplomacy decreased after the world wars, it is still observed that conference diplomacy has been used more effectively especially in problematic geographies. In conference diplomacy, a type of diplomacy frequently applied by strong states during the world wars, strong states generally made gains in line with their interests. On the other hand, it should be noted that conference diplomacy also has a public diplomacy dimension. As a matter of fact, since public diplomacy has two dimensions (from the state to the public, from the public to the public), conference diplomacy is directly put on the radar of the public opinion by the states. If we need to evaluate this situation as a communication process, the exams given by the strong states here can also occupy the international agenda.
 The Treaty of Westphalia, an agreement in which nation-states emerged as an inspiration to the Congress of Vienna, is stated to be one of the first of this type of diplomacy. As a matter of fact, the history of 1648, which led to the emergence of nation-states, has an important place here in the name of the diplomacy of the great states.
 The discipline of international relations has always been alive since its inception. Because the emergence of nation-states has always brought the existence of conflict or, more accurately, problematic areas to the agenda since the interests of interstate relations are always considered due to the nature of the business. For this reason, conference diplomacy has been one of the most important types of diplomacy referenced in the international relations literature. The Berlin Conference, Madrid Conference, Paris Peace Conference, Munich Security Conference, Davos Summit and Doha Forum are considered as the most important building blocks. Each of them has attracted international attention in its field and brought prestige to the host country. Türkiye saw the interest here and wanted to take its place in the international arena with an example of conference diplomacy under the name of Antalya Diplomacy Forum. Although it came to life in as little as 2 years, its international recognition has grown as much as other conferences. 
 As Türkiye created the conference, it had to address various regional challenges including the security threats caused by the Syrian war, sociological problems of hosting of Syrian refugees, new developments caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine which started in February 2022.
 It would be wrong to attribute the Forum's international recognition to these two reasons alone, but it cannot be denied that they contributed. From this point of view, a discussion was made about the place and importance of conference diplomacy in diplomacy within the framework of public diplomacy. Then, the examples of conference diplomacy in the world within the framework of the discipline of international relations were examined. An explanation was made about the position of the Antalya Diplomacy Forum, which the Republic of Türkiye brought to the discipline of international relations as an example of conference diplomacy, and in the conclusion part, an evaluation was made about the role of this Forum.