German Cultural and Educational Policies in Turkey During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Potential

Executive Summary

2020/21 Mercator-IPC Researcher Elena Dück's policy note titled "German Cultural and Educational Policies in Turkey During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Challenges and Potential" was published in October 2021. German External Cultural and Educational Policy (GECEP) aims at making “the ties between countries tangible.” Hence, many of its programs are based on personal encounters and in-person contact. The COVID-19 pandemic brought a sudden halt to the traditional formats of cultural and educational exchange. While the negative consequences of social distancing were obvious, digital solutions were quickly implemented and brought many benefits to the educational sphere. This policy brief sheds light on some unintended positive consequences within the broader framework of German foreign policy goals, such as climate protection and global justice. Focusing on the Goethe Institute and the Turkish German University (TAU), it summarizes lessons learned from the pandemic that will benefit GECEP even after the pandemic.

Introduction 

External Cultural and Educational Policy is a cornerstone of German foreign policy. Its goal is to act as a “foreign policy of societies, which makes the ties between countries tangible.”1 Hence, many of the projects realized under this umbrella focus on in-person encounters and exchange between artists, students, and civil society actors. While German External Cultural and Educational Policy (GECEP) is relatively independent from other forms of German foreign policy, it should nevertheless reflect Berlin’s foundational principles. Thus, GECEP needs to be analyzed within the framework of Europeanization as well as the commitment to sustainable development. Due to its goal of fostering encounters between societies, GECEP programs were hit especially hard during the COVID-19 pandemic as personal encounters became nearly impossible. However, some positive unintended consequences that might contribute to greater accessibility to the programs as well as a more sustainable implementation of GECEP were also observable. This policy brief aims at discussing these positive unintended consequences in light of the overarching goals of German foreign policy. As there is a broad range of GECEP projects in Turkey, this policy brief focuses on the activities of the Goethe Institute and the Turkish-German University (TAU). In order to do so, first, the role of GECEP in German foreign policy is described. Second, GECEP in Turkey is briefly explained, with a focus on the work of the Goethe Institute and the Turkish-German University (TAU). Third, the programs conducted during the pandemic are discussed, and the positive unintended consequences of the pandemic are identified.