Yunus Emre Institute President Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş has attended the live-broadcast Prime News with Ali Çağatay program as a guest at Bloomberg HT TV Channel.

During the program, Institute President Ateş talked about the founding philosophy and activities of the Institute, noting that having established in 2009, the Ankara-based Institute is trying to establish ties with other nations in the same manner as the British Council and the Goethe Institute do.

He indicated that the first overseas branch of the Institute has been opened in Sarajevo in late 2009 with the mission of increasing the number of people who are friendly to Turkey, and the Institute has turned into an international organization operating in five continents over the years.

Noting that there is a constantly changing structure in international relations, Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş explained that unlike the classical diplomacy system that works from one state to another in a one-way manner, the organizations that can interact with the civil society has recently come to prominence. He asserted that the Institute is such an organization, established under a law passed by the Parliament, and it is significant that it uses the name the great Turkish poet Yunus Emre.

"Our primary goal is to win the hearts of people"

President Ateş drew attention to the multiculturalism in Anatolia and pointed out that their activities abroad seek to win the hearts of people.

Maintaining that teaching Turkish is merely one of the main domains of the Institute, Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş indicated that science diplomacy activities have recently been added to the cultural diplomacy efforts as well as cultural and artistic activities. Describing science diplomacy as an international relations instrument that opens all doors without prejudice, Ateş noted that Turkey's scientific acquisition is transferred via several activities and they undertook more than 1,000 activities in 2018. He stated that the network created through such activities geared toward various target groups paves the way for commercial, academic and political relations.

"One Belt, One Road"

Answering questions regarding the latest event the Institute held in Istanbul as part of the Academic and Scientific Cooperation Project of Turkey (TABİB), Institute President Ateş indicated that they have been conducting activities for the last one year and a half to rectify the negative perceptions the Chinese have against Turkey as discovered by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan during his visit to China.

He related that many Chinese delegations including artists, celebrities, and politicians have been invited to Turkey and they noticed significant change in the perceptions of the guests about Turkey as revealed by their social media posts.

Prof. Ateş further noted that positive relations have been fostered through a video contest, "I Have Good Reasons to Visit Turkey," organized in China under the TABİB, conducted under the auspices of the Presidency of the Turkish Republic, and attended by more than 200,000 people, adding that many Chinese businessmen are eager to visit Turkey in this connection. Stressing that many Chinese businessmen have expressed willingness to investing in Turkey after they were made to come together with their Turkish counterparts, Ateş said that cultural diplomacy forms the basis of the relations in other areas.