This paper presents an analysis of higher education internationalization in Turkey. In the literature there is a tendency to analyze internationalization as an issue pertaining to economically developed and Anglophone countries with Anglo-Saxon higher education systems. As a result, the literature gives a macro level but contextually limited picture of internationalization. Reasons like political developments and decline in attractiveness of the USA as a destination for study abroad (Lee & Rice, 2007; McCormack, 2005), regional and inter-country cooperation (Denman, 2001; Huisman & Wende, 2004; Pokarier, 2006), and the increasing demand for higher education as a result of fast economic growth in different parts of the world (e.g., China and India) (Li & Bray, 2007) suggest that there is a need to broaden the context of analyses to cover non-traditional destinations of foreign students. Higher education is traditionally conceptualized as a tool serving national purposes. As a result, different countries developed functionally and structurally differentiated higher education systems according to their economic, political, and social circumstances (Teichler, 2004). Structural and functional differentiation in higher education systems leads to attributing different meanings to internationalization in different countries (James & Mok, 2003; Mızıkacı, 2005; Umakoshi, 1997). Turkey’s historical, geopolitical, economic, and cultural characteristics make it a unique case for analyzing its internationalization. Turkey is trying to be part of the European Higher Education Area. As a result, it has shown full commitment to Bologna process. Besides, Turkey has been fully participating in the ERASMUS program since 2005. However, higher education internationalization of Turkey is not limited to taking part in European actions and programs. Turkey has been cooperating with post-Soviet states in higher education as well. In terms of student mobility, although its universities have increasingly been attracting foreign students, Turkey is still characterized as a “sending” country rather than “receiving” country. In terms of faculty mobility, the universities in Turkey have been a destination for faculty from post-Soviet republics. In terms of joint programs there are increasing attempts to build cooperation with foreign institutions.

This study explores internationalization of Turkey. Data from different sources (i.e., Higher Education Council of Turkey, OECD, UNESCO, and Ministry of Education of Turkey) on incoming and outgoing student mobility, incoming and outgoing faculty mobility, international joint programs, and inter-governmental agreements were retrieved in order to document internationalization of higher education in Turkey.

Economic, geopolitical, social, and cultural characteristics of the country suggest that Turkey is heading toward a unique internationalization in higher education. First, Turkey’s internationalization is characterized by bilateral regionalism. The bilateral regionalism is resulted from Turkey’s foreign policy which is the shaped by international geopolitical trends (Mizikaci. 2005). On the one hand, the country is trying to take part in European actions and programs. On the other hand, the country is trying to build ties with post-Soviet states. Second, although the country has accomplished a considerable progress, internationalization of higher education is still in its infancy in Turkey. This is mainly resulted from the fact that Turkey has not a wide pre-defined policy of internationalization. Rather, internationalization of higher education is bounded to a limited scholarship providing policy. Besides, individual higher education institutions have limited ability to craft and implement their own internationalization strategies. Third, although there are around 100 universities, internationalization practices are highly skewed to flagship universities because majority of the institutions lack necessary resources to be involved in international activities. Fourth, unlike the case of traditional destinations of foreign students in which economic rationale of internationalization is prominent, in Turkey political and cultural rationales of internationalization are more prominent.