Davutoglu seeks to build bridges between foreign, domestic policy

As part of Turkey 's zero problems with its neighbors policy and public diplomacy, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu over the weekend announced a new project involving both the Foreign and Interior Ministries. Davutoglu said diplomats assigned to the border provinces of neighboring countries such as Mosul , Aleppo and Plovdiv would work at the governor's office of the neighboring border province before taking office to improve their understanding of bilateral relations at the local level. "For example, if a diplomat is going to be assigned to Aleppo , he will first work in Hatay for two weeks," he told reporters in Mardin following a conference of Turkish diplomats. "Some district governors who will be assigned to border provinces will work at border consulates before they take office. This way we hope to break down some of the walls between domestic policy and foreign policy. This is a piece of public diplomacy. We will work to enable these worlds to intermix as much as possible." Noting that the meeting in Mardin was the first meeting outside of Ankara for ministerial senior administration and many diplomats, Davutoglu said more such gatherings would follow. "Due to our jobs, many Turkish ambassadors and diplomats serving abroad, including myself, rarely get the chance to visit Anatolia ," he said. "From now on, we are going to pay more attention to our people and listen to their foreign policy views." Davutoglu said he had met with Interior Minister Besir Atalay to discuss ways to foster integration between their ministries, including a temporary bureaucrat exchange program.