Turkish schools behind Turkey’s soft power in Middle East


Date posted: May 6, 2012

2 May 2012 / MİNHAC ÇELİK, İSTANBUL

Marco Padovan, Italian businessman and a member of the Turkish-Italian Trade and Cooperation Association, said during a round table meeting held in İstanbul on Wednesday that Turkish schools play a crucial role in the increase of Turkey’s soft power in the Middle East and North Africa.

Speaking during the round table meeting titled “Turkey’s Soft Power in the Middle East: Possibilities and Limits,” which was hosted by the Journalists and Writers Foundation (GYV), Padovan pointed to the importance of the private Turkish schools that have been established around the world.

During the meeting, which was attended by many prominent Turkish and Italian academics and journalists, Padovan said Turkey’s increasing soft power in the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa is a positive outcome of private Turkish schools.

Padovan went on to say that Turkey’s soft power has played a crucial role in the growing economic strength of Turkey in recent years, adding that private Turkish schools serving the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa and their Turkish-speaking graduates have also played a crucial role in the growing influence of the Turkish economy in foreign markets. Explaining that the number of private Turkish schools had outpaced the number of Italian school around the world, Padovan said that while there are 170 Italian schools in various countries worldwide, the number of Turkish schools globally is well over 1,000.

Nurşin Günay Ateşoğlu, a professor at Yıldız Technical University who also spoke at the meeting, offered an opinion on the reason behind Turkey’s recently growing economic and diplomatic power in the region. Ateşoğlu said it is not only because of Turkey’s growing strength, but also because of other countries’ shortcomings in the region.

Carola Cerami, an academic from the University of Pavia, said the European Union has lost its power in the Middle East in recent years but can regain this power by leveraging Turkey’s influence in the region. She also added that blocking Turkey’s membership in the EU is not mutually useful for Turkey or the EU.

Adriana Cerretelli, a journalist from Italy, pointed to the reasons why some EU member countries are trying to block Turkey’s EU accession. He said neither the shortcomings of Turkey’s democracy nor its huge population worry these countries; the real concern is Turkey’s growing power.

Source: Today’s Zaman http://www.todayszaman.com/news-279231-turkish-schools-behind-turkeys-soft-power-in-middle-east.html


Related News

Self-exiled Islamic scholar Gülen rejects Khomeini analogy for potential return to Turkey

I am not Iranian, how can I be like Khomeini? Nor have I ever had the pretensions that Khomeini had. I’m the child of my own country. If one day I return to Turkey, I will be the same as I’ve always been,” the U.S.-based Gülen said in a video-recorded message on March 5.

‘Ekol Hoca’ center of attention on Periscope with his ’online prep school’

A Turkish teacher known as “Ekol Hoca” who has been providing online lessons to students, especially those preparing for nationwide exams amid government’s efforts to shut down prep schools, via live video streaming application Periscope has attracted attention after the CEO of Periscope expressed his gratitude to the teacher.

The Failed Military Coup In Turkey & The Mass Purges: A Civil Society Perspective

Both Turkish society and the world celebrated the fact that an anti-democratic intervention in the government was prevented. Turkish government has every right to pursue plotters within the law. The actions of President Erdogan’s government in the immediate aftermath of the coup, however, constitute a mass purge rather than a proper investigation.

On the mysterious deportations of Turkish teachers

Built over a decade ago, Lahore PakTurk International School has a state-of-the-art building with an indoor Futsal court and an auditorium that can accommodate 500 students. In 2006, General Pervez Musharraf conferred a civilian award on the PakTurk International Schools and Colleges, recognising their services to Pakistan.

Çağlayan: TUSKON Trade Bridge soon to be global brand

Economy Minister Zafer Çağlayan said Tuesday that the Turkish Confederation of Businessmen and Industrialists’ (TUSKON) Turkey-World Trade Bridge summit, which opened its doors to visitors from around the world on Wednesday, is on its way to becoming a global brand as it gets better every year. Çağlayan said the event has been attracting larger crowds […]

Bank Asya answers smear campaign

Publicly traded Bank Asya roundly denied the ‘baseless rumors’ about its financial status via the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP). “There have been baseless smear and defamation campaign widely circulating in some press organizations and social media sites” read the statement. “Our bank will apply to the authorities to protect our legal rights in the face […]

Latest News

Fethullah Gulen – man of education, peace and dialogue – passes away

Fethullah Gülen’s Condolence Message for South African Human Rights Defender Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Hizmet Movement Declares Core Values with Unified Voice

Ankara systematically tortures supporters of Gülen movement, Kurds, Turkey Tribunal rapporteurs say

Erdogan possessed by Pharaoh, Herod, Hitler spirits?

Devious Use of International Organizations to Persecute Dissidents Abroad: The Erdogan Case

A “Controlled Coup”: Erdogan’s Contribution to the Autocrats’ Playbook

Why is Turkey’s Erdogan persecuting the Gulen movement?

Purge-victim man sent back to prison over Gulen links despite stage 4 cancer diagnosis

In Case You Missed It

Turkey’s post-coup purges shake higher education

Is it a parallel triangle or square?

‘Mission impossible’ for Turkey’s ambassadors

Erdoğan gov’t supports Iranian contest while obstructing Turkish Olympiad

Rebecca Harms: Working in Gülen-linked educational institutions not a crime

Pro-gov’t columnist: Turkish state must assassinate Fethullah Gülen

Another Victim of Erdogan’s Wrath

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News