TURKEY IN THE 21^ST CENTURY

The Centre for European Studies, in cooperation with the Institute for Eurodemocracy, launched a series of roundtable discussions entitled ‘Turkey in the 21st Century: Challenges and Prospects’ in order to analyse and discuss crucial issues affecting Turkey’s international relations and the Turkish political scenario.

The series was structured around three high-level panels composed of members of the Parliament of Cyprus, ambassadors, representatives of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot parties, journalists and academics.

The first conference, held in Nicosia, focused on European–Turkish relations and the political, economic and strategic challenges ahead. The panel was composed of renowned academics and journalists, including Atila Eralp, professor at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Yiannis Gregoriades, lecturer in the Department of Turkish Studies at the University of Athens, and Philippos Savvides, a political and international relations analyst.

The second conference analysed the process of democratisation in Turkey and the importance of Turkey’s relationship with Europe in this respect. The discussion opened with presentations by a panel of renowned academics and experts that included Sia Anagnostopoulou, Panteion University in Athens, Cengiz Aktar, professor at Bahce ehir University in Istanbul, and Niyazi Kızılyürek, from the Department of Turkish Studies at the University of Cyprus.

The third and final event of this series of conferences had as its theme ‘Kemalism, Islam and Democracy in Turkey’ and focused on the relationship between political secularism and religion in contemporary Turkish politics. The panel discussing this topic was composed of Thanassis Veremis, professor at the University of Athens, Alkis Kourkoulas, a journalist from Vima Umit Firat, and the Kurdish intellectual, Niyazi Kızılyürek, an assistant professor in the Department of Turkish Studies, University of Cyprus.

All the events met with great success. The various panel discussions gave the audience the opportunity to understand the present political situation in Turkey, Turkey’s expectations and how these expectations will affect the resolution of the Cyprus Problem and other foreign policy issues facing Turkey.