Foreign Ministry to tout EU accession to Turkish, European publics

As part of its efforts to use public diplomacy as an effective foreign policy tool, the Foreign Ministry is planning a major informational campaign to engage and boost the Turkish people's support for the country's European Union accession bid. Rather than diplomatic language, a rhetorical style accessible to ordinary people will be employed under the campaign. In related news, Foreign Ministry Deputy Undersecretary for EU Affairs Selim Yenel will be responsible for dealing with the ministry's public diplomacy efforts directed towards both the domestic and foreign publics. Yenel succeeds Deputy Foreign Ministry Undersecretary Namik Tan, recently appointed Turkey's new ambassador to Washington, to become the top Turkish diplomat in charge of public diplomacy, which seeks not only the support of foreign publics for specific foreign policy goals, but also the support of domestic public opinion. In his capacity as public diplomacy chief, Yenel will assume responsibility to tell both the nation and foreign publics about Turkey's proactive foreign policy of recent years. In relation to Turkey's EU accession bid, he will organize public diplomacy projects to tell the European public about the advantages Turkey's accession will bring to Union, while telling the Turkish nation about the positive effects of Turkish EU accession for everyday life.