The 21st century marks a period when "Türkiye's power" has been acknowledged anew by both allies and adversaries, prompting a reassessment of its enhanced capabilities across various strategic domains. This era, coined the "Century of Türkiye," witnesses Türkiye's influence extending to six continents, not only in political, military, and diplomatic realms but also through humanitarian efforts driven by the nation's soft power assets.
Through initiatives led by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA), the Presidency of Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB), the Yunus Emre Institute (YEE), the Turkish Maarif Foundation (TMF), the Turkish Red Crescent (Kızılay) and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK), Türkiye spearheads extensive projects promoting local development, solidarity, education, poverty alleviation, healthcare and scientific research across the globe. These endeavors resonate deeply, bringing warmth and hope to countless lives worldwide.
As we advance with these extensive projects across six continents, Türkiye has emerged as a global hub for transportation and logistics through our monumental endeavors. Simultaneously, cities like Istanbul and Antalya, renowned for their prominence in world tourism, have evolved into premier destinations for international discourse on global issues. They have transformed into intellectual hubs, attracting opinion leaders to devise lasting solutions for global and regional challenges. Turkish Airlines, Türkiye's esteemed global brand facilitating the mobility of our soft power assets, has positioned Istanbul as a pivotal global hub with its direct flights to over 350 destinations.
Achieving these objectives would have been inconceivable without Istanbul Airport, acclaimed by all who behold it, with an annual passenger capacity set to reach 200 million in the near future. As Istanbul continues surpassing passenger capacity records, including the recent addition of a new runway at Sabiha Gökçen Airport, other cities once vying for dominance in Eurasian airline transportation now lag far behind. Istanbul's unparalleled advantage in global direct flights has also prompted esteemed multilateral organizations like the United Nations, the World Bank, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to establish their most ambitious offices worldwide in the city. This development further strengthens collaboration between Türkiye's esteemed institutions, serving as pillars of Türkiye's soft power, and multilateral international organizations. Establishing the OECD Istanbul Regional Center in 2021, which commenced operations in June 2022, exemplifies this deepening cooperation.
The OECD Istanbul center, launched under the visionary leadership of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and with robust support from the Ministry of Commerce, has evolved into a nexus for the five regional programs conducted by the OECD worldwide. These programs, spanning Eurasia, Southeast Asia, Southeast Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, focus on enhancing cooperation across various fields such as competitiveness, corporate governance, education and skills, small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) empowerment, local development, digital transformation and climate change mitigation.
The center has facilitated greater collaboration between Türkiye's esteemed institutions, representing Türkiye's soft power, and the OECD through meticulous research and in-depth studies. Since autumn 2022, within a mere one and half years, the OECD Istanbul center has hosted over 20 global and regional meetings, attracting over 2,000 participants, including ministers, deputy ministers, top executives from the public and private sectors, international organization representatives, scholars and nongovernmental organization (NGO) delegates. Istanbul is poised to reinforce its position as a global hub, welcoming the growing presence of international organizations and institutions in the years ahead.
