January 29, 2018•Update: January 29, 2018
By Nazli Yuzbasioglu
ANKARA
Turkey has been sharing its foreign policy experience with young diplomats from around the world, Foreign Ministry’s Diplomacy Academy Deputy General Director Burcu Cevik said Monday.
The academy provided training to 405 personnel, over 1,500 public officials from various 30 institutions and 397 foreign diplomats in 2017.
It was founded in 1968 and became Turkish Foreign Ministry’s Diplomacy Academy seven years ago.
During the training, foreign diplomats attend seminars and discussions about Turkish foreign policy as well as regional and global developments. The academy also arranges trips to cultural and historical locations to present Turkey.
"At least 405 ministry personnel received their training at our headquarters and abroad in the last year," Cevik said.
Training on wide range of topics, including foreign policy, protocols and negotiation techniques was given to more than 1,500 public officials from 30 institutions in 2017.
"We have also trained 397 foreign diplomats from 62 countries in 2017," Cevik told Anadolu Agency.
"We organize our programs completely in accordance with the needs of the participating country. In our programs, we give negotiations, diplomacy, crisis management lessons to diplomats. Public diplomacy and cultural diplomacy are also important parts of our programs.
"It is possible that when we host foreign diplomats for one week in Turkey later they become friendly towards Turkey throughout their careers," she added.
Cevik added the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) is one of the main supporters of such programs.
Lena Jalal Omar from Iraq, a diplomat who participated in the program, said: "We have learnt a lot about Turkey's history, the Presidency and the Prime Ministry’s protocol implementations at both practical and academic levels. We had a very useful education here."
