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

Malaysia deports 3 Turks despite warnings of torture risk

Three Turkish nationals who were recently detained over controversial charges in Malaysia have been deported to Turkey. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the UN Human Rights Office for South-East Asia earlier called on Malaysian officials to refrain from extradition as the detainees are affiliated with the Gülen movement.

As Gulen movement contracts in Africa, worry over who will fill the vacuum

Abdallah Kheri, who in Kenya heads the Islamic Research and Education Trust, worries that shuttering Gulen schools and other institutions could leave a vacuum that the so-called Islamic State will seek to fill. “Closing down the institutions would definitely grant gains to the fundamentalists,” he said. In Kenya, the Rev. Wilybard Lagho, Mombasa Roman Catholic diocese vicar general, said he would lament the demise of Gulen schools.

The legacy of a professor closing down schools

The attempt to close down these schools is an indicator of hatred/resentment among some against the Hizmet movement, which laid the foundation for these institutions.

Parallel vs. Persian structure within the Turkish state

Despite all these accusations, the Erdoğan government has not produced any evidence to substantiate his allegations of a parallel structure within the judiciary, police or any other state institution, nor of officials receiving orders from anywhere other than their own legal superiors, nor has he or his government brought any of these charges to court.

The real issue is the National Security Council [in Turkey]

A recent report by the Taraf daily indicating that the National Security Council (MGK) had formed a plan to destroy the Gülen movement has sparked discussions. This is only natural, considering that the current political administration is known for its adherence to religious values. This report is huge news because the government failed to oppose the military in the MGK meeting.

Recruiting based on ‘color lists’ breach of Constitution

As well as sympathizers of the Hizmet movement, inspired by Turkish Islamic scholar Fethullah Gülen, and of the CHP, Kurds and those who took part in the Gezi Park demonstrations are also placed on the “red list,” which means that the candidate should not be employed, according to the report.

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

Turkish Islamic scholar Gülen loses 72-year-old brother

Gülen’s relatives dismayed over smear campaign against Islamic scholar

Turkish Kimse Yok Mu volunteers staying months to help survivors

Turkey’s Brain Drain and the Disappearing Academic Freedom

Turkish group among first to send aid to ‘Yolanda’ victims

FM Davutoğlu says Turkish schools abroad play important representative role

Turkish charity Kimse Yok Mu drills 1,396 wells in Africa

Copyright 2025 Hizmet News