Abstract:

Health diplomacy is a natural result of globalisation and can be defined as a tool of public diplomacy and an area of use for soft power. Because of its human dimension it has a special status among other fields of public diplomacy, and is also evaluated in the concept of human diplomacy. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the remarks of the stakeholders actively taking part in health diplomacy about Turkey’s health diplomacy, hospital projects and other health studies conducted in Sudan and Somalia since 2014. This study has been conducted in line with the principles of the “case study”, one of the qualitative study methods. According to the aim of the study purposive, maximum variation sampling method was used and in-depth interviews were conducted with 18 persons. Face to face and online face to face interview method, and semi-structured interview form was used to collect data. Data gathered from the study was analyzed with the methods of “content analysis” and data analysis was carried out with the MAXQDA Analytics Pro computer software. According to the content analysis, 3 themes 12 categories and 188 codes were determined. A discussion on the findings of the analysis was carried out with reference to current literature, and conclusions and recommendations were drawn out in line with the aims of the study. The participants' understanding of diplomacy and health diplomacy was found to be parallel with literature. Many national and international organizations have been defined by stakeholders actively taking part in health diplomacy. As national organisations, public, non-governmental, and private organizations have been defined, and it has been observed that Turkey is carrying out health diplomacy actions with many stakeholders from governmental and non-governmental organizations. The participants mentioned that the hospitals in Sudan and Somalia are well equipped, archetypal and satisfy the needs of the local community. Health diplomacy is a new field for Turkey. Although there are limited number of academic studies in this field, health diplomacy will gain more importance in following years.

Keywords: