The Role of International Educational Exchange in Turkish Foreign Policy as a Reconstructed Soft Power Tool

Yıl 2021, , 41 - 58, 10.12.2020

Fatma Asli Kelkitli

https://doi.org/10.20991/allazimuth.707710

Cited By: 2

Öz

International educational exchange has been used frequently as a foreign policy instrument by leading actors of the international arena since the post-Second World War years. This article on the other hand, aims to throw light on the policies and actions of a middle power; namely, Turkey, which has been designing various international scholarship programs for foreign policy ends since the early 1990s. Following a brief evaluation of the international educational exchange programs launched by the USA, Russia, the UK, the EU and China for foreign policy purposes, the study examines the Great Student Exchange Project introduced by Turkey in 1992 to carve out an influential place for itself in the South Caucasus and Central Asia. It will then delve into the Türkiye Scholarships Program, Mevlana Exchange Program and the scholarship programs of the Türkiye Diyanet Foundation, which have been introduced during the Justice and Development Party period to build up and/or boost friendly ties between Turkey and various targeted countries. The study finalizes by investigating the impact of these scholarship programs on the realization of Turkey’s foreign policy goals by exploring to what extent the sending countries align their foreign policy preferences with those of Turkey through analysis of their voting behaviours in the United Nations General Assembly.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Soft power, Turkish Foreign Policy, international educational exchange, higher education, international scholarship programs in Turkey

Kaynakça

• Akçalı, Pinar, and Cennet Engin-Demir. “Turkey’s Educational Policies in Central Asia and Caucasia: Perceptions of Policy Makers and Experts.” International Journal of Educational Development 32 (2012): 11–21.
• Aras, Bülent, and Zulkarnain Mohammed. “The Turkish Government Scholarship Program as a Soft Power Tool.” Turkish Studies (2018): 1–21.
• Budak, Muhammet Musa. “Student Exchange Programs as Public Diplomacy Means and Turkish Examples.” Thesis, Presidency for Turks Abroad and Related Communities, 2012.
• Chepurina, Maria. “Higher Education Cooperation in the Toolkit of Russia’s Public Diplomacy.” Rivista di Studi Politici Internazionali 81, no. 1 (2014): 59–72.
• Chevening. “Chevening Alumni.” Accessed January 5, 2019. https://www.chevening.org/alumni.
• ———. “Chevening Scholars.” Accessed January 5, 2019. https://www.chevening.org/scholars.
• China Scholarship Council. “About Us”. Accessed January 6, 2019. https://www.cscscholarship.org/about-us.
• Coombs, Philip H. The Fourth Dimension of Foreign Policy: Educational and Cultural Affairs. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1964.
• Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency. “Scholarship Statistics”. Accessed January 5, 2019. https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/library/scholarship-statistics_en.
• Ferdinand, Peter. “Rising Powers at the UN: An Analysis of the Voting Behaviour of BRICS in the General Assembly.” Third World Quarterly 35, no. 3 (2014): 376–91.
• General Assembly of the United Nations. “Voting Records.” Accessed February 7, 2019. http://www.un.org/en/ga/documents/voting.asp.
• Hix, Simon, Abdul Noury, and Gerard Roland. “Power to the Parties: Cohesion and Competition in the European Parliament.” British Journal of Political Science 35 (2005): 209–34.
• Kavak, Yüksel, and Gülsün Atanur Baskan. “Educational Policies and Applications of Turkey Towards Turkic Republics and Communities.” Hacettepe Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi 20 (2011): 92–103.
• Kramer, Paul A. “Is the World Our Campus? International Students and U.S. Global Power in the Long Twentieth Century.” Diplomatic History 33, no. 5 (November 2009): 775–806.
• Latief, Rashid, and Lin Lefen. “Analysis of Chinese Government Scholarship for International Students Using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP)”. Sustainability 10, no. 2112 (2018): 1–13.
• Mevzuat Bilgi Sistemi [Legislation Information System]. “Türkiye Bursları Yönetmeliği” [Regulation on Türkiye Scholarships]. Accessed January 19, 2019. http://www.mevzuat.gov.tr/Metin.AspxMevzuatKod=7.5.19799&MevzuatIliski=0&sourceXmlSearch=T%C3%BCrkiye%20Burslar%C4%B1%20Y%C3%B6netmeli%C4%9Fi.
• Nye, Joseph S. “Soft Power.” Foreign Policy, no. 80 (Autumn 1990): 153–71.
• ———. Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics. New York: Public Affairs, 2004.
• Oğuzlu, Tarık. “Soft Power in Turkish Foreign Policy.” Australian Journal of International Affairs 61, no. 1 (March 2007): 81–97.
• Study in Russia. “Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia”. Accessed January 3, 2019. https://studyinrussia.ru/en/study-in-russia/universities/rudn/students/.
• ———. “Russian Government Scholarships”. Accessed January 5, 2019. https://studyinrussia.ru/en/study-in-russia/scholarships/.
• TDV. “2017 Faaliyet Reporu” [2017 Annual Report]. Accessed January 24, 2019. https://tdvmedia.blob.core.windows.net/tdv/files/Media/Files/raporlar/TDV_2017_FaaliyetRaporu.pdf.
• ———. “Eğitim-Öğretim Faaliyetleri” [Education-Training Activities]. Accessed January 24, 2019. https://www.tdv.org/tr-TR/site/icerik/egitim-ogretim-faaliyetleri-1077.
• Türkiye Mezunları [Türkiye Alumni]. “Hakkımızda” [About Us]. Accessed January 20, 2019. https://www.turkiyemezunlari.gov.tr/hakkinda/.
• ———. “Mezun Hikayeleri” [Alumni Stories]. Accessed January 17, 2019. https://www.turkiyemezunlari.gov.tr/haberler/mezun-hikayeleri/1/.
• Türkiye Scholarships. “Alumni”. Accessed February 06, 2019. https://www.turkiyemezunlari.gov.tr/.
• ———. “Türkiye Scholarships”. Accessed January 26, 2019. https://www.turkiyeburslari.gov.tr/en/page/about-us/turkiye-scholarships.
• ———. “What the Scholarship Covers”. Accessed January 19, 2019. https://www.turkiyeburslari.gov.tr/en/page/prospective-students/what-the-scholarship-covers.
• U.S. Department of State. “Notable Fulbrighters”. Accessed January 1, 2019. https://eca.state.gov/fulbright/fulbright-alumni/notable-fulbrighters.
• Voeten, Erik, Anton Strezhnev, and Michael Bailey. “United Nations General Assembly Voting Data”. Accessed August 28, 2019. https://dataverse.harvard.edu/file.xhtml?persistentId=doi:10.7910/DVN/LEJUQZ/KKG7SW&version=21.0.
• Yang, Rui. “China’s Soft Power Projection in Higher Education.” International Higher Education 46 (2007): 24–25.
• Yanık, Lerna K. “The Politics of Educational Exchange: Turkish Education in Eurasia.” Europe-Asia Studies 56, no. 2 (March 2004): 293–307.
• Yılmaz, Gözde. “Emulating Erasmus? Turkey’s Mevlana Exchange Program in Higher Education.” Asia Europe Journal (February 2018): 1–15.
• YÖK. “Mevlana Değişim Programı” [Mevlana Exchange Program]. Accessed January 22, 2019. http://www.yok.gov.tr/web/uluslararasi-iliskiler/mevlana-degisim-programi.
• ———. “Mevlana Değişim Programı Kitapçığı” [Mevlana Exchange Program Booklet]. Accessed January 22, 2019. http://www.yok.gov.tr/documents/757816/1380059/Mevlana-Kitapcik-Yeni_08.06.2015_%C4%B0statistiksiz.pdf/13a2eeb0-efbd-4815-b755-56f3f8990d9e.
• ———. “Yükseköğretimde Uluslararasılaşma Strateji Belgesi 2018-2022” [2018-2022 Strategy Document for Internationalization of Higher Education]. Accessed January 23, 2019. http://www.yok.gov.tr/web/guest/yuksekogretimde-uluslararasilasma-strateji-belgesi-2018-2022.
• YTB. “Türkiye Bursları” [Türkiye Scholarships]. Accessed January 20, 2019. https://www.ytb.gov.tr/uluslararasi-ogrenciler/turkiye-burslari.
• ———. “Türkiye Mezunları Tanzanya’da Buluştu” [Türkiye Graduates Met in Tanzania]. Accessed January 19, 2019. https://www.ytb.gov.tr/haberler/turkiye-mezunlari-tanzanyada-bulustu.