Minister of National Education Ziya Selçuk has made remarks on the Academic and Scientific Cooperation Project of Turkey (TABİP), conducted by Yunus Emre Institute under the auspices of the Presidency of the Turkish Republic.

Minister Selçuk indicated that the TABİP will contribute to the young and dynamic population of Turkey by helping Turkey build its scientific and academic interaction climate and closely monitor the scientific, academic and technological advances around the globe and enhance its technological and scientific competitiveness in the rapidly developing world.

Noting that the world, everyone, is rapidly changing, Selçuk draw attention to the fact that students, academic and business people can have safe access to information in the face of the rapid technological and scientific progress thanks to the TABİP.

Minister Selçuk, who is also a member of the TABİP's Scientific Committee, explained that the project was important also for the Ministry of National Education as it facilitates the way students can access to the information they need via the wide network of the TABİP.

Selçuk pointed out that the TABİP will make not only scientific and economic, but also social contributions to our country. "We, as the Ministry of National Education, expect students to adopt universal thinking in the face of events. Lack of universal perspective will lead to the narrowing down of science and scientific productivity. Therefore, the Ministry of National Education aims to ensure that our students do not restrict themselves to narrow confines, but be in touch with the world and have access to global information and develop self-confidence. In this sense, the TABİP will not only provide our young people, academics and business people with economic and scientific opportunities, but also help our young people communicate with the world with self-confidence," he said.

Şeref Ateş: Both Turkey and the world will win with the TABİP

Yunus Emre Institute President Prof. Dr. Şeref Ateş gave information on the TABİP's aims and the work conducted, noting that the Institute, established in 2009, has been conducting public diplomacy and cultural diplomacy activities at 139 points of contact in more than 60 countries and 56 cultural centers in 45 countries as of 2018.

In addition to these activities, the Institute, operating attached to Yunus Emre Foundation, launched the TABİP project under the auspices of the Presidency of the Turkish Republic to promote Turkey's scientific and technological visibility through science diplomacy, and the project will soon be operational.

Ateş pointed out that science is neutral zone for all world's citizens. "The TABİP will not be beneficial only to Turkey. We believe that all people around the globe will benefit from it as we will be sharing Turkey's scientific potential with the rest of the world. We aim to make the TABİP as an important tool for attracting the knowledge-based production to Turkey. In this regard, we seek to create the infrastructure in which business people and investors both in Turkey and around the world can have access to the Portal containing global information and, at the same time, the information in the Portal can be shared with the rest of the world through our cultural centers and science consultants, and production can be attained," he said.

TABİP appeals to diverse groups of people

Ateş underlined that the TABİP will not be a portal that is restricted to students or academics as it can also be used to share business partnerships regarding all science- and knowledge-based projects.

He explained that the cooperation with many institutions has been made for the implementation of the project and new cooperation agreements have been made with various organizations and institutions via science consultants assigned by the Institute and wide network has been created for the portal.

Turkey needs this project

Ateş indicated that Turkey needs this project for three main reasons. "First, Turkey's investments in academic and scientific developments, innovation and production should be known by the rest of the world. Second, the academic and scientific developments in Turkey should be shared with the world. Third, the knowledge produced around the world should meet the one generated in Turkey in scientific studies and product development processes. In this context, we aim to ensure that the TABİP can serve to these three pillars. In Turkey, significant investment is being made in universities, research and development and science, but we have so far had limited capabilities to introduce this to the international knowledge and information. With the TABİP, this synergy will be ensured and through the prompt transfer of the information needed, Turkey will contribute to the world's production," he said.