| Publication |
2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
Turkish area studies in the US developed in parallel with the diplomatic rapprochement between Turkey and the US after the Second World War. This article scrutinizes the relation between Turkish studies and American public diplomacy in Turkey with special emphasis on the latter. Unlike cultural programmes in Europe, which focused on satisfying intellectuals' taste for high culture, in Turkey the concentration of the cultural activities was on bureaucrats, educators and technical personnel. The article argues that this was because of a modernization approach and the priority given to the needs of US aid programmes. Following the revolutions in Asia, the programme was further oriented to strengthen the collaboration between Americans and the technocratic elites of Turkey.
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