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?
On October 28, the Brookings Center on the United States and Europe and the SETA Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research hosted a conference to examine Turkey’s domestic and foreign policy challenges and prospects. The conference featured 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 moderated a series of discussions featuring a distinguished group of Turkish and American experts, officials and scholars.
Agenda
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October 28
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Welcome and Opening Remarks
9:00 am
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Keynote Address
9:15 am
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Panel One: U.S-Turkish Relations: What Will the New President Bring to the Table?
10:45 am
Moderator
Mark R. Parris Former Brookings Expert -
Panel Two: Turkey’s Challenges and Opportunities and Its Region: Iraq, Iran, the Caucasus and the EU Process
1:00 pm
Panelist
Steven Cook Eni Enrico Mattei Senior Fellow for Middle East and Africa Studies and Director of the International Affairs Fellowship for Tenured International Relations Scholars - Council on Foreign RelationsKemal Kirişci Nonresident Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center on the United States and Europe, The Turkey Project @kemalkirisci -
Panel Three: The Domestic Scene: The Continuing Battle for Turkey’s Soul
3:00 pm
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