Written evidence from the British Council (TUR0034)

Contents

1. Summary
2. The British Council
3. Turkey as a UK partner
4. The Syria context
5. Promoting minority rights
6. Promoting science and innovation
7. Partnering for change in education
8. Encouraging creative dialogue
9. Next Generation Turkey

1. SUMMARY

1.1 Following political upheaval in Turkey and the UK’s need to develop trading links with emerging economies in the wake of the referendum vote, it is crucial now more than ever for the UK to engage with Turkey, pursuing bilateral programmes across English, education and the arts that promote a friendly knowledge and understanding of the UK, while also supporting the values of diversity, inclusion, minority rights and open dialogue.

1.2 The British Council plays a crucial role in UK-Turkey relations by i) building friendly knowledge and understanding through long-term relationships with policy makers and sector leads, ii) developing partnerships within the education and creative sectors, and iii) creating mutually beneficial opportunities for Turkish and UK institutions, leaders, students and young people in order to work together and build lasting relationships. In addition to this, the British Council creates space for online dialogue through its digital programming and outreach, which in 2015 reached 20 per cent of the entire Turkish population.

1.3 There is demonstrable evidence that our work in Turkey builds trust and relationships in the UK. Turks who had been involved in cultural activities with the UK - studying in the UK, involved in joint projects or attending a cultural event organised by a UK institution – are 22 per cent more likely to trust the UK as a nation[1]. Increased levels of trust are in turn associated with an increased interest in doing business with the UK, visiting the UK and studying in the UK.[2] Building this trust is a critical enabler for the British Council to position the UK as preferred partner for key reform programmes aligned with UK values and priorities, including those related to minority rights, open dialogue and close collaboration in education and science.

1.4 The effectiveness of the British Council lies in its ability to identify and engage with the international agendas of both Turkey and the UK in areas such as education, science, English provision, the arts and creative industries, not to mention the growing refugee crisis. Through this engagement we make a lasting difference to the UK’s security, prosperity and influence. Our emphasis on mutuality ensures that we are trusted to deliver and support projects on sensitive and contentious topics such as gender equality, or to deliver critical but constructive research on the state of English language programmes in Turkey’s Higher Education sector.  

1.5 We should invest long-term in people-to-people engagement with Turkey through cultural and educational activity, to influence and support both the Turkish and refugee populations. Seventy-six years of continuous engagement with young people in these fields puts the British Council in a unique position to extend and expand our programmes with partners, as well as facilitate and broker new relationships with civil society and Turkish institutions.

2. THE BRITISH COUNCIL

2.1 The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries.

2.2 We make a lasting difference to the security of the UK by fostering engagement and debate across cultures in strategically important countries. We contribute to the UK’s prosperity by building trust to create favourable conditions for trade, investment and tourism. Our work also supports the UK’s international influence by increasing connections and networks with decision makers globally, including the number of people who know and trust the UK.

2.3 Using the cultural resources of the UK we make a positive contribution to the people, institutions and governments of the countries we work with. This changes lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust. In turn these relationships enrich UK culture and society.

2.4 We work with over 100 countries worldwide. These include all of the places of high priority for the UK, from China, India, Brazil and Russia, to North America and the European Union and Commonwealth countries, to the Middle East and North Africa. We are at the forefront of the UK’s international networks and soft power.

2.5 Each year we reach over 20 million people face-to-face and more than 500 million people online, via broadcasts and publications.

2.6 We believe that people-to-people contacts – whatever the government-to government relations – make a powerful and lasting contribution to a more peaceful, tolerant and prosperous world.

3. TURKEY AS A UK PARTNER

3.1 Common interests, rather than common values, are likely to steer the future of the Turkey’s relationship with the EU and the UK. Collaborative work in Turkey hinges on respect, recognition and relationships. The reputation of the UK’s cultural, educational, investment and legal institutions, alongside our creativity, openness and way of doing business, make a stronger bilateral relationship attractive for Turkey.

3.2 Recent media coverage from the West, following terror attacks and an attempted military coup in July 2016, remains fearful of the direction President Erdoğan will take, even suggesting that Turkey could abandon trade and diplomatic links with Europe/the US, and renounce its secular status once and for all. However this path is far from set and belies the complexity of Turkey, its culture, history and political agenda.

3.3 Turkey is an attractive partner for the UK with a track record of financial resilience and an impressive economic performance which, although slowing down, is still forecast to deliver three per cent growth per annum from private and public consumption.[3] However, to realise its underlying growth potential Turkey needs to accelerate structural reforms and improve trust in its institutions. Unemployment currently averages ten per cent; a major medium-term challenge is to boost the participation of youth and women in the labour force. With 600,000 graduates entering the job market each year, unemployment among the higher educated has soared beyond 12 per cent, while reform of technical and vocational education has achieved limited success.[4] Productive job creation is hindered by a mismatch between labour market needs and the skills acquired in formal education, without which Turkey cannot achieve its economic ambitions.

3.4 The British Council has been operating continuously in Turkey since 1940, recently celebrating its 75 year anniversary. It delivers programmes and services across Turkey in collaboration with local partners, institutions and service providers. Business targets for this year include audience engagement with 100,000 influencers face-to-face, including exhibitions and festivals, and a further five million young people through our digital and social media services. Our track record in Turkey means we are ideally placed to help strengthen and expand UK involvement in Turkey across English provision, education and the arts, building a friendly knowledge and understanding through long-term relationships with policy makers and sector leads, developing partnerships within the education and creative sectors, and creating mutually beneficial opportunities for Turkish and UK institutions, leaders, students and young people.

4. THE SYRIA CONTEXT
 

4.1 Since 2011, Turkey has occupied an increasingly prominent role in the global geopolitical and security agenda. The Syrian conflict has caused the largest humanitarian crisis since World War II, and Turkey itself is host to almost three million Syrian refugees, placing considerable strain on public services and labour markets.[5] Community cohesion and stability are also a major concern for host governments, particularly the rise in gender-based violence and exploitation, and increased inter-cultural tension. Reports suggest that young people are often feared as a source of instability (the ‘youth threat’), rather than a source of potential and future prosperity (the ‘youth dividend’).[6] Girls and young women face particular challenges in both refugee and host communities, with unemployment rates double those of their male counterparts and high rates of gender-based violence. Building resilience for young people has therefore been a core part of the British Council’s response to the refugee crisis, and one we are committed to continuing in Turkey through partnership work with NGOs and the Ministry of National Education.

4.2 The Directorate General of Migration Management estimates that 625,000 school-aged Syrian children (4-17) are currently living in Turkey. There are also 280,000 Syrian school students in state schools or Temporary Education Centres (TECs). The Ministry target is to increase this to 450,000 during 2016.[7]

4.3 9,500 Syrians are completing recognised Higher Education courses in Turkey, representing only nine per cent of 100,000 eligible students.[8] In the majority of cases, enrolment is hindered by language requirements, but limited access to information, missing documentation and low completion rates for upper secondary school are also contributing factors. Several support schemes are available to the Syrian population in Turkey, with 2,330 scholarships provided by four key providers (YTB, UNHCR, HOPES and Spark) in 2016.[9]

4.4 The British Council is working in partnership with DAAD, EP-Nuffic and Campus France to deliver HOPES (Higher and Further Educational Perspectives for Syrians), a project funded by the EU’s Regional Trust Fund in Response to the Syrian Crisis (the MADAD fund). The scheme provides educational opportunities and support to Syrian refugees in host countries in Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq: activities include academic counselling for up to 42,000 young Syrians, 4,000 language courses, 300 full academic scholarships and 3,500 higher education short courses, helping overcome the barriers to higher education and employment experienced by these communities.

4.5 The British Council also works with international and Turkish NGOs (including Unicef, Save the Children, UNHCR, Spark and ASAM) as part of the South East Turkey Education Working Group, addressing access to education and learning resources for young Syrians. We researched the role of language in resilience, creating a report which was launched in the UK. Using the information learned from this research, we designed and delivered a successful pilot teacher training programme for Syrian teachers in partnership with ASAM, complemented by a conference in March 2016 where policy makers and NGOs explored education provision for Syrians in Turkey. 

5               PROMOTING MINORITY RIGHTS

5.1 Gender equality continues to be a contentious issue in Turkey, which ranked 131st out of 145 countries in the 2015 World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index (a drop of six places from its already low position the previous year).[10] Although Turkish women have had the vote since 1934, ahead of many global counterparts, they remain far from equal in contemporary society. Even the term gender equality is divisive in Turkey, with the government preferring the term ‘gender fairness’ to reflect its views that women and men are not ‘truly equal’. While equality between men and women has been enshrined in the Turkish constitution, the participation rate for women in the active labour force is 24 per cent, one of the lowest figures across all OECD countries. In parts of Eastern Turkey, only 15 per cent of girls go to school past the age of 11 and nationwide only 27 per cent of women have graduated from secondary school.

5.2 Gender equality throughout the world is linked to economic prosperity and a positive international outlook; the UK has a vested interest in Turkey remaining a prosperous, stable country in an increasingly turbulent part of the world. Gender equality and female empowerment is a global priority as set out in Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which has also been identified as a priority by FCO and DfID.  

5.3 With this in mind, ‘Promoting Gender Equality in Education’ (ETCEP) was designed and implemented by a British Council-led consortium in 2014, co-funded by the EU and the Turkish Government, with pilots in 40 schools across ten Eastern provinces. The 24 month project had a budget of EUR 3.2 million and aimed to eradicate sexism from textbooks and curricula, training teachers and Ministry of National Education officials to adopt more gender sensitive approaches. The consortium delivered over 250 UK-led activities in Eastern Turkey, shaping change at policy, practitioner and public levels. We worked face to face with 10,000 education leaders and teachers, and reached a further 23 million people through a public awareness programme on national TV and social media. 

5.4 As a continuingly controversial topic, some opposition was experienced to the project during its lifecycle, but continued engagement and open communication from all parties ensured that the project was a success, with a series of policy recommendations presented to and accepted by the Turkish government. The delivery of a project on such a divisive and sensitive topic in Turkey demonstrates the high levels of trust the Turkish government places in the British Council, enabling us to implement reform projects with our partners for the mutual benefit of Turkey and the UK.

6        PROMOTING SCIENCE AND INNOVATION

6.1 The area of science and innovation presents an opportunity to develop partnerships within the education sectors, to create mutually beneficial opportunities for Turkish and UK institutions, leaders, students and young people, and to create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and Turkey. Research and Development forms a key part of Turkey’s international agenda, and with 175 universities across the country there is huge potential for closer collaboration between the UK and Turkey. Through the Newton-Kâtip Çelebi Fund the British Council has generated research partnerships between 71 universities in Turkey and the UK in the last 18 months. 

6.2 The UK-Turkey Year of Science and Innovation (YOSI), convened by the UK Science and Innovation Network, included over 50 events held at leading universities and research organisations in both countries, reaching more than 1000 researchers, policy makers and businesses. The British Council-led series of “Science for All” talks in Turkey attracted over 20,000 people live and online, and more than one million through television audiences. The programme was covered extensively in the Turkish media and the Turkish Science Minister, FCO representatives and Chief Scientific Advisors attended key events.

6.3 As a result, over one hundred universities in UK and Turkey are involved in bilateral partnerships thanks to programmes and activities under the Newton-Kâtip Çelebi Fund (a British Council-led initiative), representing a diverse range of regions and institutions in both countries. The significant increase in funding for the Newton- Kâtip Çelebi Fund for 2016-17 to £1.5 million will bolster these partnerships and create space for new research projects.

6.4 The British Council is building on the success of the ‘Science for All’ talks through an ambitious ‘next generation’ science programme in 2016: we have encouraged more women and girls into STEM subjects through digital competitions, reaching 4.8 million people in the last six months alone, and promoting the UK for overseas study.

6.5 Looking to the future, The Scientific and Technological Research Centre of Turkey (TUBITAK) has set an ambitious target to increase Research & Development spend to three per cent GDP by 2023 with a specific focus on human capacity development (increasing researchers from 100,000 to 300,000 by 2023). The Head of the Directorate for International Cooperation has stated that Internationalisation will be a top priority and that the UK was seen as the first choice (68 per cent of all research collaborations had one or more UK researchers). Their new strategy will focus on ‘grand challenges’ and EU programmes e.g. smart cities and zero carbon industries. The British Council has offered its assistance as the UK leads in smart cities concepts.

7        PARTNERING FOR CHANGE IN EDUCATION
 

7.1 Our longstanding presence in Turkey has centred on building and sustaining strong links with Turkish institutions and government departments. Demonstrating the mutually beneficial nature of our work for both UK and Turkish stakeholders has helped garner trust and respect, positioning the UK as Turkey’s preferred partner for education reform. Using the cultural resources of the UK we make a positive contribution to the people, institutions and government of Turkey, engendering trust.

7.2 This long-term relationship with the Ministry of National Education continues to have a positive impact on the Turkish and UK education sectors. In 2013 we carried out one of the largest studies of its kind into the teaching of English in state schools, in partnership with the Ministry of National Education and the Economic Policy Research Foundation (TEPAV). The research revealed the low return on investment for English language provision in schools, despite the recognition that English is a core 21st century skill in Turkey. We made policy recommendations to the Ministry and created a UK Turkey Strategic Taskforce to create opportunities for the UK ELT sector to support Turkish development in this area.

7.3 Turkey has over 175 universities, most of which provide dedicated English language programmes. However, Turkish universities do not perform well in pan-European rankings (in the 2016 Times Higher Education Global Rankings - Koҫ University was their highest entry at number 275) and this has been linked in part with the state of English language proficiency. University places are fiercely competitive, with two million students competing for 400,000 places every year.

7.4 In 2015 the British Council, at the request of the Council of Higher Education and the Economic Policy Research Foundation, funded and conducted a baseline study into tertiary-level English language provision in Turkey’s Higher Education sector. The report, The State of English in Higher Education in Turkey, set out a series of recommendations, which were welcomed by policy makers, academics, industry leaders and the Council of Higher Education. This engagement clearly positions the UK as preferred partners for Turkey in education, which presents a major market opportunity for the UK to extend its influence and expertise and thereby expand its engagement.

6.5 The increased internationalisation of the Turkish education sector, and the position the UK now enjoys as a preferred partner, highlight the leading role that shared interests, rather than shared values, will play in this relationship.

8        ENCOURAGING CREATIVE DIALOGUE
 

8.1 The world is becoming increasingly digitised, and Turkey is no exception. Mobile use is prevalent, particularly for those under 35, and Turks are avid consumers of social media, with well over 30 million accounts registered for Facebook alone.[11] In a deeply polarised society that sees continuous division between liberal, secular Turkey and her more conservative counterpart, digital platforms become an invaluable tool to bridge the void and encourage dialogue.

8.2 Digital engagement has proved increasingly important in a fractious security context; audiences might be more hesitant to attend events but are still eager to connect online. This was evident through the success of our Mix the City digital arts campaign, an award-winning interactive musical experience created in collaboration with UK creative agencies Flying Object and Roll Studio, and curated by Israeli digital artist Kutiman. The campaign ran from March – May 2016, during which Turkey suffered a spate of terror attacks including in Istanbul and Ankara, and yet our online platform attracted over 160,000 people.

8.3 In 2015 the British Council celebrated 75 years in Turkey with a range of activities including video, digital and social media campaigns. Overall our engagement reached 16 million people, 20 per cent of Turkey’s total population, which is particularly impressive if you consider that only half have online access. Digital reach enabled us to connect with new and existing audiences, illustrating the benefit of cultural relations throughout the ages to a fresh generation of Turkish citizens.

8.4 Online access has also enabled us to engage keen English language learners via Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs). British Council courses are available on FutureLearn, a platform owned by the Open University and our ‘Understanding IELTS’ MOOC recently broke the world record with over 440,000 learners taking part. In the previous six months alone, over 12,500 Turks have taken a MOOC with us.

8.5 2016 has seen the launch of our Shakespeare Lives campaign, a global initiative marking the 400th anniversary of his death. Turkish audiences have responded extremely positively to the range of events organised since April, with 5.9 million Twitter and Facebook impressions, an online readership of 1.5 million and 4,000 online competition and quiz participants in the first six months of the campaign. Arts and culture clearly remain a powerful and positive UK export embraced by Turkish audiences.

9        NEXT GENERATION TURKEY
 

9.1 Turkey is a young country in both senses of the word – less than 100 years old, its population of 80 million people has a median age of just 30.[12] Those 36 million people under 30 face an unstable future, deteriorating economic prospects, escalating terrorism and widespread marginalisation, factors compounded by the economic and social impact of the refugee crisis. Influencing Turkey’s young people to make positive life choices is of paramount importance to Turkey, the Middle East and the UK. The country is, however, deeply polarised between conservative, traditional or more overtly religious individuals on the one side and those who identify as more liberal, secular and progressive on the other. These two ‘halves’ of Turkey traditionally distrust each other and do not interact. Finding ways to reach ‘the other half’ of Turkey - those who are generally less responsive to our programmes, dispute our core values and have a deeper distrust of ‘the West’ - has been extremely challenging but remains a key priority for the British Council going forward. These young people hold the key to Turkey’s future and it is in our interests to engage with them, understand their aspirations and goals and improve their perceptions of the UK.

9.2 Our upcoming Next Generation research will specifically target this demographic, engaging with young people to explore their attitudes to the UK and how the UK can become a more trusted partner. We will engage young people and decision makers in dialogue, enabling them to play an active role in building connected, engaged, inclusive and prosperous societies. Our research will be invaluable in supporting the UK security and prosperity agendas, as well as helping to improve friendly knowledge and understanding between the UK and the ‘next generation’ of Turkish people.

October 2016