Türkiye celebrates the infinite potential of young people with royal visit from His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh

Patron of The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, Prince Edward, The Duke of Edinburgh, will visit Türkiye on a three-day visit to grow awareness of the Award and the impact non-formal education and learning can have on young people and their communities.

In Istanbul, The Duke – who will be hosted by The International Award for Young People, Turkiye, its founders the Akin family, and International Award Foundation World Fellow Mehmet Gültekin – will make visits to schools, where he will meet students participating in The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award. His Royal Highness will join an Award Ceremony held at the British Consulate and will present 38 young people with their Gold Award, the highest level of achievement in the international programme.

The British Consulate General will host a Garden Party attended by young people and Award supporters. The Duke of Edinburgh will visit and tour the Basilica Cistern before departing for Ankara.

In Ankara, The Duke of Edinburgh will visit an award-winning project at Hacettepe University where he will open a building constructed of eco- concrete made from re-cycled construction waste. His Royal Highness will lay a wreath at the Ataturk Memorial before attending a Reception to mark the 40^th Anniversary of the Chevening Scholarship programme.

Notes to editors

The International Award for Young People-Türkiye:

The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award is a non-formal education and learning framework which operates in more than 120 countries and territories. Celebrating its 20^th anniversary this month, The International Award for Young People-Türkiye, as it is known in Türkiye, is rapidly expanding its scope thanks to support of Akfen Holding and Turkish Human Resources, Education, and Health Foundation (TİKAV), with growing interest in exploring the benefits of non-formal education and the role it can play in developing skills such as resilience, confidence, communication and problem solving – skills which many deem essential for young people, as the world changes at a rate and in ways never seen before.
The Award was first launched in 1956 in the United Kingdom under the name The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, with the support of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.
The programme began in Turkey in 2003 as the “International Award Program-Turkey,” a personal development programme for young people aged 14-24. To date, it has reached more than 20,000 young people in Turkey.
In 2013, it started to be implemented under the representation of TİKAV, following the License Agreement signed with the International Award Foundation in England, under the name “The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award-Turkey” (DoEIA-TR). TİKAV is the only institution authorized to promote, implement, monitor, and certify The International Award for Young People-Türkiye.
Around 1.1million 14-24 year olds are currently completing their own unique programme, via hundreds of thousands of youth-focused partners and operators.
For more information on The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation, please visit:Intaward.org
Mehmet Gültekin is the founder of Tarabya British Schools. Mr. Gültekin graduated from Marmara University, Economics Department and completed his Masters at Wolverhampton University, UK.
Prof Mustafa Sahmaran – University of Hacettepe.
At the Hacettepe University The Duke will open a building constructed of eco- concrete made from re-cycled construction waste. His Royal Highness will tour the project facilities and meet the project lead Prof Mustafa Sahmaran and researchers from the earthquake zone where the innovative building solution is being used in reconstruction. The project is a result of joint collaboration between Turkey and UK Higher Education institutes and was supported by the Newton-Katip Celebi Fund.
The Newton-Katip Celebi Fund was jointly established by the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), and the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) with the British Council as delivery partner. The Newton-Katip Celebi Fund supported joint UK-Türkiye research projects which benefit social and technological developments in Turkey. 155 research projects have been supported since 2014.

Chevening Scholarship Programme

At the British Embassy Residence, The Duke of Edinburgh will attend a reception to mark the 40^th anniversary of the Chevening Scholarship programme with the participation of Chevening Alumni.
Chevening Scholarships are the UK government’s flagship global scholarships programme. Established in 1983, these scholarships support study at UK universities – mostly one-year Masters’ degrees – for students with demonstrable potential to become future leaders, decision-makers and opinion formers.
The Chevening Programme in Turkey started in 1988 and our Chevening alumni network is now is the largest in Europe with over 2000 members. The majority of our network hold leadership positions in government, media, private sector and civil society organisations.

For Information please contact:

Aycan Alp Erozalp

British Embassy, Ankara

505 165 8820

[email protected]

Nur Coşkun İstanbulluoğlu

TBS Kurumsal İletişim

0532 593 0636

[email protected]

Nilüfer YILMAZ

Uluslararası Gençlik Ödülü Programı

Ulusal Koordinatörü