To Deepen Relations With Uzbekistan, Turkey Leans on Cultural Appeal – The Diplomat

Though Turkey was the primary nation to acknowledge Uzbekistan’s independence on December 16, 1991, the 2 international locations have  been by means of cold and hot intervals since. Relations reached their lowest level within the late Nineties and early 2000s when Tashkent canceled its visa-free regime with Turkey, recalled Uzbeks learning at Nursi colleges there, and closed Gulen-affiliated Turkish colleges throughout Uzbekistan. 

Reconciliation and rapprochement between Uzbekistan and Turkey took off with the 2016 authorities change in Uzbekistan. At the moment Turkey is Uzbekistan’s fourth largest financial and commerce associate after Russia, China, and Kazakhstan – the quantity of bilateral commerce between the 2 international locations elevated from $1.2 billion in 2016 to $3.6 billion in 2021. Uzbekistan lastly joined the Group of Turkic States in 2019. In 2021, days of Uzbek tradition had been held in Ankara and Istanbul, and shortly after, Turkish tradition days had been celebrated in Uzbekistan. Amid this speedy growth of ties, Ankara is attempting to exert its tender energy through promotion of the Turkish language and schooling amongst Uzbeks. 

Turkey’s overseas coverage in regard to the Central Asian area depends on cultural commonalities akin to language, faith, shared historical past, and traditions. Each Uzbek and Turkish are members of the Turkic language household. The Turkish language is thus extremely popular in Uzbekistan, and its reputation has solely grown with the printed of Turkish TV sequence on native TV channels. 

One of many first Uzbek universities to show the Turkish language to Uzbeks was Tashkent State College of Oriental Research. As early as 1990, the college opened the Division of Altai Research and renamed it to the Turkic Languages Division a 12 months later. The College of Oriental Research grew to become the primary larger schooling establishment in Central Asia that taught Turkish language research. In 2020, the division was renamed once more to the Turkish Philology Division and reportedly stays the one college that focuses on Turkish language research –Turkshunoslik – not solely in Uzbekistan, however in Central Asia as nicely. The division presently has practically 500 college students.  

One other public college, the Uzbekistan State World Languages College, established a Turkish language heart in 2014. 

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Alisher Navo’i Tashkent State College of Uzbek Language and Literature cooperates with many Turkish academic establishments, together with with Yunus Emre Institute – a public basis established by the Turkish authorities to advertise “Turkey, Turkish language, its historical past and tradition and artwork.” With the assist of the Yunus Emre Institute, Turkish language is taught freed from cost at Alisher Navo’i college the place aside from college students and language fanatics, Uzbek navy officers who need to endure coaching with the Turkish Armed Forces additionally research. In 2022 alone, practically 200 individuals took the Turkish Language examination on the college (up from 115 in 2021). 

The Yunus Emre Institute has put extra effort into selling Turkey’s picture in Uzbekistan than simply offering free Turkish language programs. In 2021, for instance, Navoi Publishing Home signed a TEDA settlement with the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Turkey. The Translation and Publication Grant Program of Turkey (TEDA), established in 2005 and run by the Turkish Ministry of Tourism, promotes the “publication of Turkish literature in addition to works about Turkish artwork and tradition.” One of many first publications in Uzbekistan beneath TEDA was the Uzbek translation of the ebook titled “Yunus Emre Divani” (Divan of Yunus Emre). 

Cooperation between Turkish and Uzbek schooling establishments is clearly supported by Ankara and Tashkent.

Curiosity in Turkish schooling is slowly rising amongst Uzbeks, particularly within the subject of medication, economics, and tourism research. Based mostly on a bilateral settlement signed on November 21, 2019, a joint Turkish College of Drugs was established on the Bukhara State Medical Institute along with the Turkish College of Medical Sciences. This system presently has practically 500 college students learning drugs. A 12 months later, the Uzbek authorities adopted a decision to launch a department of the Turkish College of Economics and Expertise (TOBB ETU) in Tashkent. Though research are held in English and research supplies are offered by Ankara, the TOBB ETU itself is established beneath the Chamber of Commerce and Business of Uzbekistan. Reportedly, college students have an opportunity to journey to Turkey and endure an internship program with main Turkish corporations. Uzbek youth are particularly to find out about and have interaction with Turkish enterprises each in Turkey and Uzbekistan. As of 2022, 1,882 enterprises with Turkish capital function in Uzbekistan – over 80 p.c of them had been established between 2018-2021. 

Turkish larger schooling establishments additionally get pleasure from a comparatively massive variety of college students from Uzbekistan. Within the 2020-2021 educational 12 months, 2,421 Uzbek residents had been learning at Turkish universities – some profit from Turkiye Burslari or different scholarships. Though it’s a sharp enhance from 840 Uzbek college students in 2018, that is nonetheless a small quantity compared to Russia, which hosts over 48,000 Uzbekistani college students. On the identical time, Turkey has extra college students from different Central Asian international locations. For instance, there have been over 12,000 Turkmen college students in 2018 in Turkey.

Regardless of all these efforts, Turkey can’t surpass the affect of Russia or China in Uzbekistan any time quickly, even when it comes to language and schooling promotion. There are already 750,000 ethnic Russians dwelling in Uzbekistan, and as much as a 3rd of the inhabitants can talk in Russian as a result of seven many years of Soviet colonization of the area, whereas solely 130,000 Turkish audio system reside within the nation. Russian is taught at native public colleges as a part of the necessary curriculum and over eight dozen colleges train solely in Russian. Fourteen Russian universities or branches of Russian universities function in Uzbekistan and 9 extra are to be launched quickly. Equally, two Confucius Institutes in Uzbekistan actively train the Chinese language language to locals and 6,500 Uzbek youth research in China. 

Turkish TV reveals play a much bigger function in fostering the picture of Turkey amongst native Uzbeks than Ankara’s language and schooling promotion efforts. Nevertheless, Turkish TV sequence are additionally criticized as the life-style offered in some reveals is considered by some as counter to Uzbek household values. In 2018, for instance, an area Uzbek TV channel needed to cease broadcasting the Turkish sequence “Kara Sevda” (Blind Love) resulting from heavy criticism from locals, together with from Prime Minister Abdulla Aripov himself. 

Whereas political and financial cooperation between Ankara and Tashkent is rising quickly, cultural growth applications are largely restricted to a small variety of symbolic publications, a few research applications, and a promised collaboration in cinematography within the coming years. If Turkey desires to turn out to be a much bigger participant in Uzbekistan, extra voluminous efforts are wanted. Shared commonalities have been confirmed to be not sufficient.