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
Ibrahim Kalin Founding Director -
Keynote Address
9:15 am
Ahmet Davutoglu Chief Advisor to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Republic of Turkey -
Panel One: U.S-Turkish Relations: What Will the New President Bring to the Table?
10:45 am
Moderator
Mark R. Parris Former Brookings ExpertPanelist
Ian Lesser German Marshall FundDr. Suat Kiniklioglu Member of Turkish Parliament, Justice and Development Party (AKP) -
Panel Two: Turkey’s Challenges and Opportunities and Its Region: Iraq, Iran, the Caucasus and the EU Process
1:00 pm
Moderator
Moderator: Talha Kose George Mason UniversityPanelist
Steven Cook Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies - 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
Moderator
Ibrahim Kalin Founding DirectorPanelist
Mustafa Akyol Senior Visiting Fellow, Freedom Project - Wellesley CollegeBulent Ali Riza Center for Strategic and International Studies
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