The politics of educational exchange: Turkish education in Eurasia

Abstract

This article assesses the role of educational exchange as a foreign policy tool. It investigates public and private educational ties that were established between Turkey and Turkic populations of Eurasia, including the Turkic republics of the former Soviet Union after 1991-a period which is considered to be the beginning of a new era in Turkish foreign policy making. After spending the Cold War as a buffer state, Turkey felt the need to redefine its role in the international arena in the aftermath of the Cold War. The emergence of the Turkic republics played an important role in this redefinition process. © 2004 University of Glasgow

Turkey and Turkic Nations: A Post-Cold War Analysis of Relations

“…For instance, almost 6000 students arrived from Turkmenistan to Turkey for educational purposes between 1997 and 2002. 69 Taken as a whole, Turkish -Turkmen relations have the prospective of developing more in the future.…”

“…Moreover, International Atatürk-Alatoo University was opened in 1996 63 and the Turk-Kyrgyz Manas University was established in 1998, both with the supports of the Turkish government. 64 There is economic cooperation among these nations too. To give concrete figures in a nutshell, more than 600 Turkish business enterprises operate in Kyrgyzstan.…”

“…29 To sum up, the post-Cold War developments in the Caucasia and Central Asia have been consequential on shaping Turkish foreign policy into a more active standing point.…”

Kyrgyzstan-Turkey Relations: Cooperation in Political and Educational Spheres

“…Educating Kyrgyzstan's youth had two very important goals. First, educating today's students contributes to the creation of the elites of tomorrow who later would be in charge of the transformation in their country (quoted in Yanik, 2004). Secondly, the goal was to create a stratum of people who would be well versed in Turkish culture and language, who then would act as a bridge between their countries and Turkey.…”

“…According to Yanik (2004) "Turkish foreign policy is more active in regions such as the Middle East where there is ample scope to play a regional leadership role." Therefore Turkish foreign policy is less active in regions such as Central Asia where the scope for regional leadership is more limited and would be contested by powerful rivals such as Russia.…”