Cultural tools can trump traditional weapons of world order: Turkish leader

By Enes Kaplan

ANKARA (AA) - The instruments of culture, including music, movies, literature, and fashion, are "the most powerful of the weapons" possessed by those managing the global order, Turkey's president said on Tuesday.

Speaking at the 2020 Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Awards Ceremony at Presidential Complex, Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that these instruments, known as "soft power," can turn into means that are much more effective than military, technological, and financial power when the need arises.

"Added to them nowadays are the technology-supported, internet-based instruments, so much so that who controls the content of internet has now become more important than who is in possession of nuclear bombs,” said Erdogan.

“However, no matter how big a crowd they incorporate or how rich a content they produce, they are still far away from creating the influence traditional culture and arts create in the human soul.”

"The apparently indefinite opportunities offered by technology and internet can never, and will never, replace the monuments and works that are shaped in the human heart and soul," he added.

Erdogan underlined that to raise civilization again, the first area needing attention and concentration of time, energy and talent is culture and art.

At the ceremony, the 2021 Presidential Culture and Arts Grand Awards went to later philosopher Teoman Durali in the field of science and culture, pianist Idil Biret in the field of music, ceramic artist Alev Ebuzziya in the field of visual arts, actor Cuneyt Arkin in the field of cinema, author Gurbuz Azak in the field of literature, Etem Caliskan in the field of calligraphy, and bookseller Ibrahim Manav in the field of bibliopolism, while the Loyalty Award went to novelist Kemal Tahir.