An Evaluation of Türkiye's Education Diplomacy in the Context of Country Branding

Abstract

Handling branding studies together with public diplomacy brings along expansions for different fields. As one of them, education is important for states and they want to create influence by increasing their attractiveness through it. There have been well-known and branded institutions, cities, societies and states that stand out in education in every age. Today, activities such as international education and student exchange are handled within the framework of education diplomacy. Realizing the brand value of education, states develop strategies for education diplomacy and want to open short-medium-long-term, multidimensional communication channels for the world public opinion. Besides, education diplomacy activities have increased in Türkiye in recent years. In this study, education is discussed in the context of public diplomacy and country branding; the country brands of the prominent countries in this field are analyzed in terms of education diplomacy and the role of Türkiye's education diplomacy activities in country branding is discussed. Besides, the study contributes to the literature with a brand new definition of education diplomacy, by making suggestions for the scope of education diplomacy and developing an analysis for the country brand. It is concluded that Türkiye's education diplomacy activities are developing both quantitatively and qualitatively; Türkiye has the potential and opportunities to benefit from education diplomacy in country branding; the recognition of Türkiye as an education center through education diplomacy activities will contribute to the country's brand.

Public Diplomacy and Communication Strategy in the Centennial of the Republic of Türkiye

“…Bunlar arasında "yurtdışında düzenlenen kültürel etkinlikler ve ikili anlaşmalar" (sinema, yemek ve dans festivalleri, konserler, konferans ve seminerler), Birleşmiş Milletler Eğitim, Bilim ve Kültür Örgütü (UNESCO) gibi "uluslararası kuruluşlarla kültürel ilişkiler", "yurtdışındaki Türk kültür varlıkları"nın korunması, "burslar", "yurtdışındaki Türk kültür merkezleri, Türkçe ve Türkiye çalışmaları" bulunmaktadır (T.C. Dışişleri Bakanlığı, t.y.b;Yağmurlu, 2019;Akar ve Gürkaynak, 2022). Dışişleri Bakanlığı'na bağlı misyonlar dışında Türkiye'nin kamu diplomasisi faaliyetleri Yunus Emre Vakfı (YEV), değişim programları, Yurtdışı Türkler ve Akraba Topluluklar Başkanlığı (YTB), İletişim Başkanlığı 8 , Kültür ve Turizm Bakanlığı, Türk İşbirliği ve Koordinasyon Ajansı Başkanlığı (TİKA), AA, Türkiye Radyo Televizyon Kurumu (TRT) ve son olarak farklı kıtalarda yoğun ilgi gören Türk dizileri ile yürütülmektedir.…”