Culture

Turkey’s Unique Way of Promoting Cultural Diplomacy

Combining humanitarian actions and cultural diplomacy

May 14th, 2019
Kaitlyn Greta, News from Berlin
20190515_Turkeys Unique Way.jpg

10 years ago, the Yunus Emre Institute was created in order to share Turkey’s culture with the world. Today, the Institute consists of 58 cultural centers scattered throughout the globe that promote Turkish culture and language.

The Institute stands on five main pillars: cultural diplomacy, teaching Turkish, peace discourse, and science diplomacy. The Institute desires to create opportunities that answer the needs of the other side. For the Institute, cultural exchange is primarily about making connections, rather than touting one’s own culture. The Institute simultaneously aims to help others—thus it has a humanitarian aspect—while also promoting Turkish culture.

This is a public foundation, and not run by state officials. However, the budget of the institution comes from the state and it cannot act against Turkey’s foreign policy. The Institution promotes the need to continue relations between people and countries regardless of their respective government policies.

References:

News from Berlin