President Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu are sufficiently informed about think tanks, both conceptually and in terms of their importance. Indeed, they have frequently paid visits to various think tanks abroad, where they have delivered speeches and lent support to various joint projects. Therefore, it can be concluded that, overall, Turkish decision -makers do not have a negative stance toward think tanks.President Gül has adopted a positive approach to Turkish think tanks. His first contact with Turkish think tanks occurred during the lunch he hosted for the Center for Eurasian Strategic Studies (ASAM), the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV) and the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) at the Çankaya presidential palace on June 28, 2008. Gül also had lunch with Rahmi Koç, the honorary chairman of the Koç Holding, at the Çankaya presidential palace on May 5, 2009. At the lunch, they discussed the Global Affairs Forum (GİF), a newly established İstanbul-based think tank chaired by Koç. President Gül was also the first guest of GİF on Nov. 18, 2009. In addition, Gül received members of the International Strategic Research Organization (USAK) at the presidential palace in 2009. Moreover, USAK and the İstanbul-based Turkish-Asian Center for Strategic Studies (TASAM) took part in the president’s foreign trips once in 2009. On Nov. 4, 2009, President Gül opened the new USAK building, thereby becoming the first president ever to visit a think tank in Turkey. Gül also gave a lecture titled “Turkish Foreign Policy in the New Period” during the opening ceremony.
Prime Minister Erdoğan gave a lecture titled “Turkey’s Increasing Importance in Changing Balances” concerning Turkey’s external security policy at USAK on Feb. 3. Thus, he became the first Turkish prime minister to visit a think tank in Turkey. Yet, SETA’s office in Washington, D.C., held a conference titled “Turkey in World Politics” on Dec. 7, 2009, in honor of Prime Minister Erdoğan. SETA is the first and only Turkish tank to have a foreign branch.
Having an academic background and an inquisitive personality, Foreign Minister Davutoğlu lends support to Turkish think tanks. Davutoğlu ensured that Turkish think tanks attended the Turkey-Syria High-Level Strategic Cooperation Council meeting held in Aleppo and Gaziantep on Oct. 13, 2009. SETA, USAK, TASAM and the Middle East Strategic Research Center (ORSAM) attended this meeting. On Dec. 8, 2009, Davutoğlu attended a panel titled “Changing Direction? Discussing Turkish Foreign Policy” organized by SETA in Washington, D.C.
Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ and Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Çiçek are two other people who attach great importance to think tanks. Çiçek frequently pays visits to Turkish think tanks to exchange ideas with them. Following the terrorist attack against the Aktütün military outpost, Gen. Başbuğ met with strategists from think tanks to discuss their counterterrorism recommendations on Oct. 7, 2008.
Although Turkish decision-makers employ extremely positive attitudes toward think tanks, the government and the state should give more thought to the problem of further institutionalization of think tanks in Turkey.
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