A Comparative Analysis of Turkey and China's Soft Power in Kazakhstan

Abstract

Kazakhstan has adopted a 'multi-vector' foreign policy cooperating with a wide range of partners in foreign policy. Turkey, and China are among Kazakhstan's most important trading partners. Turkey, due to its cultural proximity, and China through its economic projects. I hypothesize that Turkey's initiatives are welcomed more positively at Kazakh public than China's initiatives. Contrarily, China's influence is more widely approved at the state level. In this study, I answer questions such as what China and Turkey's "soft power" instruments in Kazakhstan are and how these instruments are perceived at the public and state levels. First, I analyze official discourse by examining news and statements published by the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Kazinform between 2015 and 2025. Then, I analyze secondary survey data from the Central Asia Barometer (CAB) to trace public opinion toward Turkey and China in Kazakhstan. The findings indicate that Turkey produces a more positive and legitimate impact at the societal level, while China is more effective at the elite level. This demonstrates that the success of soft power depends not only on attractiveness, but also on the internal dynamics of the host country.