Deputy Minister Çam: “Young people are players in a challenging period, but they are facing great opportunities.”

Erciyes University (ERÜ) Faculty of Tourism held the opening lecture for the 2024-2025 Academic Year with a conference by Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Dr. Serdar Çam on ‘Public Diplomacy in the World and Turkey.’ Speaking at the program, Deputy Minister Serdar Çam stated, ‘Young people are players in a challenging period, but they also face great opportunities.’

The opening program, held at the ERÜ Faculty of Tourism Conference Hall, was attended by Deputy Minister of Culture and Tourism Dr. Serdar Çam, AK Party Kayseri MP Murat Cahid Cıngı, ERÜ Rector Prof. Dr. Fatih Altun, Kayseri Provincial Director of Culture and Tourism Şükrü Dursun, Dean of the Faculty of Tourism Prof. Dr. Kenan Güllü, protocol members, academics, and students. Highlighting the importance of paying attention to terminologies, Deputy Minister Dr. Serdar Çam said, ‘Of course, when we talk about Public Diplomacy in the World and Turkey, it is essential to start with terminology. In such meetings, we take the terminology developed by some and try to express our own values, goals, and subtleties. Sometimes, this is not so easy, or we realize that what is meant does not truly represent the reality. Therefore, we should not be too attached to terminology; as a country with a significant civilization and history, perhaps we need to develop our own terminology. Terms like soft power, public diplomacy, development diplomacy, humanitarian aid diplomacy, and development aid diplomacy are all expressions that have been produced in some way. After wars, especially after World War II, the West, particularly the white man in Europe, conducted scientific studies to transfer its values to Asia and Africa, to reach certain power points, and access resources. Although it may seem like mutual contributions, it was essentially a one-sided flow. This opened up a diplomatic space. In fact, all these topics we discuss are tied to our history of charity civilization, vakıf (foundation) management system, and foundation civilization; we naturally lived and are still living these values. Therefore, we need to pay attention to these terminologies.’

Çam stated that young people are in a challenging period but also face great opportunities, saying, ‘In this day and age, World War I has passed, World War II has passed, and we are in a place where there are discussions about whether we are entering or have entered World War III. You are players in a challenging period, but you also face great opportunities. You coincide with a period when the Republic of Turkey can seize new opportunities and has a new area of hustle. Therefore, I would like to share some of my thoughts to help you make the most of this period. Thus, the key point is to develop and strengthen yourself, enrich yourself while finding a common point. That common point is the goodness we generally use. Being a good person, prioritizing goodness, and spreading it in the world. If we can produce a common ground by prioritizing this, perhaps you will seize the opportunity to create a more peaceful and comfortable geographic period than what previous generations and we were unable to accomplish.’

AK Party Kayseri MP Murat Cahid Cıngı also stated, ‘Diplomacy, international relations, and trade all follow each other. Therefore, you are in a beautiful field; you have chosen a good profession. Knowing its value, I hope you do not graduate without perfecting your foreign language here. Then, keep your horizons wide and serve our country, our state, and our people.’ I thank our minister again for his presence.’

ERÜ Rector Prof. Dr. Fatih Altun said, ‘I genuinely believe that this process, conducted as an opening lecture, will provide significant contributions. I thank our esteemed minister for taking the time to attend us in this busy tempo, and I extend my respects to our MP and the Kayseri protocol for their participation.’

ERÜ Faculty of Tourism Dean Prof. Dr. Kenan Güllü stated, ‘We are concerned with the educational aspect of tourism development, but simultaneously, all other institutions of the state and NGOs have a role to play in this regard. Therefore, the policies and perspectives of governments or the state are also crucial here. Our minister came to address this lesson without breaking us. We have organized this opening lesson to discuss the importance of Public Diplomacy and tourism in Turkey and the world. Thank you very much for gracing us with your presence.’