Event Summary
Turkey has weathered exceptionally turbulent times in recent years and continues to face serious domestic and foreign policy challenges. Following the so-called “e-coup” warning of a possible military intervention, civil-military tensions climaxed during the summer of 2007. A year later, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) government was nearly shut down by the Constitutional Court. The AKP’s landslide electoral victory in July 2007 was followed by another crisis over the presidency. In addition, PKK extremist attacks have been sharply on the rise. How should the next U.S. administration manage Turkish-U.S. relations? Where is Turkish domestic politics going? What is Turkey’s foreign policy outlook?
Event Information
When
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
On October 28, the Brookings Center on the United States and Europe and the SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research will host a conference to examine Turkey’s domestic and foreign policy challenges and prospects. The conference will feature a keynote address by Professor Ahmet Davutoglu, chief foreign policy advisor to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey. After the keynote address, Ibrahim Kalin, founding director of SETA; Nonresident Fellow Omer Taspinar, director of the Turkey Project at Brookings; Visiting Fellow Mark Parris, former U.S. ambassador to Turkey; and Talha Kose of George Mason University will moderate a series of discussions featuring a distinguished group of Turkish and American experts, officials and scholars.
After each panel, participants will take audience questions. A buffet lunch will be served from 12:30 to 1:00 p.m.
Participants
9:00 am — Welcome and Opening Remarks
Omer Taspinar
Nonresident Fellow, Foreign Policy
Ibrahim Kalin
SETA
9:15 am — Keynote Address
Ahmet Davutoglu
Chief Advisor to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Republic of Turkey
10:45 am — Panel One: U.S-Turkish Relations: What Will the New President Bring to the Table?
Moderator: Mark R. Parris
Visiting Fellow, Foreign Policy
Cengiz Candar
Radikal (Turkey)
Ian Lesser
German Marshall Fund
Suat Kiniklioglu
Member of Turkish Parliament
1:00 pm — Panel Two: Turkey’s Challenges and Opportunities and Its Region: Iraq, Iran, the Caucasus and the EU Process
Moderator: Talha Kose
George Mason University
Steven Cook
Council on Foreign Relations
Kemal Kirisci
Bogazici University and Carleton University
Taha Ozhan
SETA
3:00 pm — Panel Three: The Domestic Scene: The Continuing Battle for Turkey’s Soul
Moderator: Ibrahim Kalin
SETA
Mustafa Akyol
Turkish Daily News
Bulent Ali Riza
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Omer Taspinar
Nonresident Fellow, Foreign Policy