The Turkish government scholarship program as a soft power tool

ABSTRACT

Turkish policy makers assume a soft power dimension in foreign policy. A number of soft power tools and instruments have been adopted, including state-sponsored educational scholarship programs targeted at international students. This study examines the role of the Turkish government scholarship program (Türkiye Bursları) in generating and disseminating Turkey’s soft power. Through the use of a mixed methods research approach, the study identifies both the importance of the program and the challenges confronting it. By the means of providing higher education scholarships, Turkish government made some progress in publicizing and diffusing its culture and making itself more attractive to international players. There is also the need for reforms to enhance the competitiveness of Türkiye Bursları in relation to other scholarship programs across the globe.

KEYWORDS:

• Soft power
• higher education
• Turkish foreign policy
• Turkey scholarship
• international education exchange
• public diplomacy

Acknowledgement

Authors would like to thank anonymous referees for their useful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Bülent Aras is senior scholar and coordinator of the conflict resolution and mediation stream at Istanbul Policy Center, professor of International Relations in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Sabancı University, and visiting professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His current research interests include disaster management, non-state actors in peacebuilding, and bridging the gap between theory and practice in foreign policy. Recent work has been published in Alternatives, Third World Quarterly, Middle East Policy, International Peacekeeping, Political Science Quarterly, International Journal, Journal of Balkans and Near Eastern Studies, and Journal of Third World Studies.

Zulkarnain Mohammed is project assistant at conflict resolution and mediation stream at Istanbul Policy Center. He received his M.A. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution at Sabanci University in 2017. He specializes in conflict resolution, international negotiation and public diplomacy.

Notes

1. Nye, Soft Power, 83.

2. Kirişçi, Turkey and the West, 151–181, and Oğuzlu, “Soft Power.”

3. Haşimi, “Turkey’s Humanitarian Diplomacy”, and Özkan and Akgün, “Turkey’s Opening to Africa”.

4. Kalin, “Soft Power and Public Diplomacy”, and Özkan and Orakcı, “Turkey as a “Political” Actor”.

5. Amirbek and Ydyrys, “Education and Soft Power”, and Özkan, “Strategic Practices”.

6. Nye, Bound to Lead.

7. Nye, Soft Power.

8. Nye, “Soft Power and Higher Education,” 11.

9. Ibid, 12.

10. Nye, Soft Power, 5.

11. Nye, The Future of Power.

12. Zaharna, “The Soft Power Differential,” 221.

13. Nye, “Public Diplomacy,” 95.

14. Tuch, “Communicating with the World,” 3.

15. Cull, “Public Diplomacy,” 36.

16. “Propaganda Czar-To-Be Say She's 'Eager to Listen” PRWATCH, July 22, 2005. http://www.prwatch.org/spin/2005/07/3862/propaganda-czar-be-say-shes-eager-listen.

17. Nye, “Public Diplomacy,” 101.

18. Cull, “Public Diplomacy”.

19. Zewail, “The Soft Power of Science”.

20. Cowan and Arsenault, “Moving from Monologue”.

21. Byrne and Hall, “Realising Australia’s,” 419.

22. Lima, “The Role of International Educational Exchanges”.

23. Metzgar, “Institutions of Higher Education”.

24. Cooper, “Hard Power, Soft Power,” 168.

25. Weiss, Learning from Strangers.

26. MEG. http://www.mixedeconomygroup.co.uk.

27. For example, see Aras and Fidan, “Turkey and Eurasia”; Bayer and Keyman, “Turkey: An Emerging Hub”; Akpinar, “Turkey’s Peacebuilding”; and Çevik, “Turkish Soap Opera.”

28. “Türkiye Afrikayı Sallıyor,” Sabah, February 21, 2013. https://www.sabah.com.tr/dunya/2013/02/21/turkiye-afrikayi-salliyor.

29. “Turkey has Become the Center of International Attraction for Education,” Daily Sabah, June 21, 2015. https://www.dailysabah.com/diplomacy/2015/06/21/turkey-has-become-the-center-of-international-attraction-for-education.

30. Ibid.

31. Turkiye Burslari. https://www.turkiyeburslari.gov.tr/en/english-home/

32. “Scholarships for Turkey Popular with Indian Students,” Daily Sabah, May 1, 2017. https://www.dailysabah.com/education/2017/05/01/scholarships-for-turkey-popular-with-indian-students

33. “Cumhurbaşkanı Erdoğan UDEF 11. Uluslararası Öğrenci Buluşmalarının Final Programı'nda konuştu,” Takvim, May 12, 2018. https://www.takvim.com.tr/guncel/2018/05/12/cumhurbaskani-erdogan-udef-11-uluslararasi-ogrenci-bulusmalarinin-final-programinda-konustu.

34. See Appendix III for results on the correlation analysis.