The wave of uprisings that spread through North Africa, and the Middle East have brought our region to an interesting junction in terms of the proxy wars.

Arab Spring has placed Turkey’s proactive Middle East policy at the top of international attention once again.

‘What are the implications for the Palestinian problem?’ and discuss the New Middle East a year after the first flotilla and in the wake of the Arab Spring.

INSIGHT TURKEY DEBATES   Chair:     İhsan Dağı, Insight Turkey    Speakers:    Kemal Kirişci, Boğaziçi University     Alper Dede, Zirve University      Date: June 2, 2011 Thursday  Saat: 14.00-16.00  Venue: SETA, Ankara

CONFERENCE Organized by Yildiz Technical University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Strategic Research Centre (SAM) Politics, Economics and Social Research Foundation (SETA) Global Political Trends Center (GPOT) Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO) USA Consulate General of Istanbul Date: 15-16 October 2010 Venue: Yildiz Technical University Presidential Hall

Turkey's soft power is on the rise in the Middle East and there is a widespread positive perception of Turkey's involvement in the region.   SETA PANEL DISCUSSION Organized by SETA &Al Sharq Centre for Regional and Strategic Studies   Chair:       Bulent Aras, SETA & Istanbul Technical University Panelists:       Mustafa Al Labbad, Al Sharq Centre for Regional and Strategic Studies     Akif Kireççi, Bilkent University Date: April 08, 2010 Thursday Time: 10.30 – 12.30 Venue: SETA Foundation, Ankara

SETA PANEL DISCUSSION Chair:       Bulent Aras, Bulent ARAS, SETA, Coordinator, Foreign Policy Studies Panelists:        Robert Malley, International Crisis Group, Middle East and North Africa Program Director     Joost Hiltermann, International Crisis Group, Deputy Program Director, Middle East and North Africa     Peter Harling, International Crisis Group, Project Director (Iraq, Lebanon and Syria) Date: March 12, 2010 Friday Time: 13.00 – 14.15 Venue: SETA Foundation, Ankara

SETA PUBLIC LECTURE By  Alon Ben-Meir,  Professor of International Relations and Middle Eastern Studies at the Center for Global Affairs, New York University Date: January 14, 2010 Thursday  Time: 11.00 – 12.30 Venue: SETA Foundation, Ankara

The current meeting between the Israeli and Palestinian presidents in Ankara comes only a few weeks before the multilateral summit in Annapolis, Maryland, in the US.  

Writing forty years ago in the "Journal of Contemporary History" Andrew Mango, the prominent British historian of modern Turkey, noted Turkey's potential new role in the Middle East as a "middle-power." He observed that "Turkey is socially and technologically the most advanced country of the Muslim Middle East.

The excitement Turkey generates in the Arab world and beyond (the Balkans, Europe and parts of Africa can easily be added to the list) seems to be sustained by the confluence of substantial changes in three areas: Turkey, the region and the world.

The two-day summit in Annapolis ended on 29 November, 2007. Israel and the Palestine Authority agreed to start a new peace initiative

SETA CONFERENCE By  Kim Beng Phar  Visiting Scholar, Waseda University, Organization of Asian Studies / SETA Research Fellow Date: November 15, 2007 Thursday Time: 15.00 - 16.30 Venue: SETA Foundation, Ankara   The Impact and Implication of East Asia as a Global Political Actor: The Risk/Perils of Indifference In, and by Turkey

To fulfill Turkey's mission as a "civilizational connector" between Europe and Asia, Turkey must be a full member of the East Asian Summit. The path towards this goal, among others, requires Turkey to be a Dialogue Partner of ASEAN. Once ASEAN sponsors Turkey's membership in East Asian Summit,

SETA CONFERENCE By  Kim Beng Phar  Visiting Fellow, Waseda University, Organization of Asian Studies Date: August 27, 2007 Monday Time: 17.00 - 19.00 Venue: SETA Foundation, Ankara

Iraq is like a miniature of the Middle East with its population structure and social characteristics. Each domestic actor in Iraq has relations with ethnic and religious groups in the neighboring countries.