Ministries join forces for science attaches abroad

Turkey will appoint science attachés to its embassies abroad, and assign volunteer science and technology representatives, Science, Industry and Technology Minister Nihat Ergun told reporters yesterday. "We'll open the first science attaché's offices at the consulates in San Francisco and Boston in the U.S., Japan, and Berlin, Germany and then later in Los Angeles, London, Beijing, Seoul, Moscow, and India," Ergun said. Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Ergun signed a "diplomacy protocol" yesterday to ensure efficient cooperation between the two ministries. Ergun said Turkey needs to integrate its work in science and technological fields with other countries. "The attachés will facilitate activities such as reporting scientific and technological developments, developing areas of cooperation between Turkey and other countries, and meetings at which Turkish and foreign academicians and businessmen can network." The science and technology representatives would work voluntarily to represent promote Turkey and develop networking relationships, he added. "We will be able to closely monitor any kind of development in science in any part of the world through scientific diplomacy," Davutoglu said. The new attachés will be an integral part of diplomacy, he said. Turkey should use the information it obtains for commercial purposes, and raise total research and development expenditure to 3 percent of the gross national product, Ergun said, noting that science and technology are crucial to achieving the country's target of having $500 billion in exports and becoming one of the 10 largest economies in the world by 2023, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the republic. "We want to establish relationships with countries around the world based on a win-win approach and mutual benefits. We want to have a say in the world via trade, diplomacy, and cultural and scientific achievements, the elements of 'soft power,' not via military force and imperialism," Ergun said. Turkey will also launch a Science and Technology Council in order to bring the public and private sectors together in Turkey and abroad in the fields of science, technology, and innovation, Ergun said.