Turkish Government Agency Organizes “Diaspora Advocacy Academy” in Washington DC

In late July, a Turk­ish gov­ern­ment agency announced a mul­ti-day lob­by­ing work­shop in Wash­ing­ton for young peo­ple of Turk­ish ori­gin liv­ing in the US and Cana­da. Accord­ing to the Pres­i­den­cy for Turks Abroad and Relat­ed Com­mu­ni­ties website:

July 27, 2002 Pres­i­den­cy for Turks Abroad and Relat­ed Com­mu­ni­ties (YTB) orga­nizes the “Dias­po­ra Advo­ca­cy Acad­e­my” pro­gram to train young peo­ple who will con­scious­ly defend the rights of the Turk­ish com­mu­ni­ty in the USA and Cana­da. The pro­gram also aims to cre­ate a strong bond between Turk­ish youth liv­ing in the USA and Cana­da. Suc­cess­ful Turk­ish youth who will par­tic­i­pate in the pro­gram will receive sem­i­nars from experts and aca­d­e­mics in many fields, espe­cial­ly advo­ca­cy and lob­by­ing. The Acad­e­my, which will be held inter­ac­tive­ly, aims to increase the aware­ness of youth liv­ing in the USA and Cana­da on advo­ca­cy and lob­by­ing, and to enable the Turk­ish soci­ety to defend their rights more con­scious­ly. Vis­it to the White House as part of the Pro­gram Besides the sem­i­nars, young par­tic­i­pants; White House, US Con­gress, World Bank, IMF, US State Depart­ment etc. He will also vis­it impor­tant US insti­tu­tions. Suc­cess­ful young peo­ple between the ages of 20–30 will be accept­ed to the acad­e­my. “Dias­po­ra Advo­ca­cy Acad­e­my” will be held in Wash­ing­ton between 24–29 Sep­tem­ber 2022.

Read the rest here

The Pres­i­den­cy for Turks Abroad and Relat­ed Com­mu­ni­ties (Turk­ish: Yurt­dışı Türkler ve Akra­ba Toplu­luk­lar Başkan­lığı; YTB)  is a part of the Turk­ish Min­istry of Cul­ture and Tourism. The YTB describes its mis­sion as coor­di­nat­ing activ­i­ties for and strength­en­ing eco­nom­ic, social, and cul­tur­al rela­tions with Turks liv­ing abroad and relat­ed com­mu­ni­ties and man­ag­ing the Türkiye Schol­ar­ship Pro­gram. YTB Pres­i­dent Abdul­lah Eren has called its alum­ni orga­ni­za­tions a “seri­ous instru­ment” in the fight against Fethul­lah Gülen, who Turkey blames for the 2016 coup.