The impact of the Hizmet movement on Turkey's bilateral trade

Abstract

In this paper, we investigate the indirect economic effects of the Hizmet movement. Participants of the Hizmet movement have spread all around the world, opening various types of educational institutions (more than a thousand) ranging from kindergartens to universities since the early 1990s. The main motivation of volunteers in the Hizmet movement comes from the ideas of a Turkish scholar, Fethullah Gulen: to help humankind to be better off. This non-profit movement has created mutual economic benefits for Turkey and the host countries where schools have been established. Turkish schools help many nations to recognize Turkish culture, and create bonds between Turkey and these countries. Eventually, these ties might result in better understanding and more sympathy towards each other. Additionally, these Turkish schools work as informal trade officials, making it much easier for Turkish merchants – both followers of the Hizmet movement and independent merchants – to have trade connections with other countries. In this paper, we show that there is a substantial increase in the volume of exports from Turkey to the countries where Turkish schools have been opened. In particular, we observe this increase in the countries where Turkey did not have a close economic relationship previously. Moreover, we show that Turkish schools have boosted not only Turkish exports to these host countries but also imports from them.