SETA CONFERENCE Chair:     Taha Özhan, SETA Konuşmacılar:     İhsan Dağı, METU     Ertan Aydın, Pollmark     Date: September 22, 2010 Wednesday Time: 14.00 – 15.30 Venue: SETA Foundation, ANKARA

On Sunday September 12th, 2010, Turkey voted "yes" in a referendum to a package of amendments by a wide margin (58 percent yes; 42 percent no) with a high level of participation (77.5 percent) despite the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party's (BDP) boycott. The amendments were designed to restrict the power of the military and the judicial bureaucracy in Turkey that originated from the 1982 junta-made Turkish constitution. The immediate political consequence of the referendum will be a serious relaxation of domestic political tensions, which have been undergirded for over 50 years by the one constant in Turkish politics: the ever present threat of military coup.

Turkish politics is currently undergoing a heated political debate on the constitutional reform package (supported by Prime Minister Erdogan's ruling party), which is on its way to a referendum this Sunday. The package includes amendments to 26 articles of the current constitution along. In addition, it would eliminate the controversial Article 15, a ‘temporary' article that has been in the constitution since the 1980's, preventing the prosecution of officials involved in the military coup of 1980. All in all, Sunday's referendum is one of the ruling AK Party's clearest challenges thus far to Turkey's Kemalist establishment. Since the establishment of the Turkish Republic, four new constitutions have been adopted (1921, 1924, 1961, 1982) - the latest two were drafted after military interventions - and numerous amendments have been made. Since the most recent constitution was adopted in 1982, there have been 15 amendment packages, which have affected almost half of the constitution. As such, the debate on the present constitution is not exactly a new one for Turkey, as the public is quite accustomed to constitutional changes and the public debate they generate. To understand, then, why the current package has touched off such a firestorm in Turkish society and led to an intensified political atmosphere, it is important to consider both the ramifications that the current reform efforts has for the political system in Turkey and the historical context.

Since the establishment of the Turkish Republic, four constitutions have been adopted (1921, 1924, 1961, and 1982), which were significantly amended by the successive parliaments in light of new developments, yet remained short of meeting universal democratic standards. The last two constitutions were drafted in the aftermath of military interventions, and none of them have been produced out of negotiation, bargaining or a compromise process. Within the framework of the EU reforms, Turkey’s most recent constitution of 1982 has been amended several times – so much so that almost one third of the constitution has been reconstructed. There have been demands for the drawing up of a new constitution from both right and left wing parties, but the idea has never been realized.

SETA PUBLIC LECTURE By  Ulaş Doğa Eralp,  Visiting Assistant Professor of Conflict Resolution, Sabancı University Date: July 8, 2010 Thursday  Time: 16.00 – 18.00 Venue: SETA Foundation, Ankara

The unexpected switch of the CHP’s leadership from Deniz Baykal to Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu led to a series of debates about the party’s political future and its new place in the party system of Turkey. Most of the debates have focused on what exactly changed and what remained the same as a result of this switch. Kılıçdaroğlu’s speeches revealed signs for new directions in CHP’s discourse indeed, as they included novel issues such as intra-party democracy and empowering the party’s women and youth branches. The purpose of this policy brief is to propose ideas to the CHP as a socialdemocratic party, so it can be a serious political alternative to the conservative AK Party. The CHP’s major target should be democratization to be achieved at two different levels: (a) institutional and (b) ideological. Institutional democratization requires establishing intra-party democracy, decentralization of power, as well as bringing ideological heterogeneity and political debates back to the party. Ideological democratization is about bringing ‘the left’ back to Turkish politics by embracing a progressive and social democratic discourse. This entails moving leftwards, a de-emphasis of nationalism and the adoption of a more egalitarian, less elitist, more libertarian, and more multiculturalist world vision.

On May 31, 2010, Israeli commandos stormed a passenger ship, the Mavi Marmara, the largest boat of a flotilla of six boats which were carrying 10000 tons of humanitarian aid to besieged Gaza, in international high waters. The operation left 9 activists dead and over 30 activists wounded. The flotilla attack started a new trend for Turkish-Israeli relations. For the first time in history, Turkish citizens were directly exposed to Israeli aggression. In this sense, the attack constitutes a break in Turkish-Israeli relations. It is now not only Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians that will shape the nature of Turkish-Israeli relations, more than anything else, but it is Israel’s steps towards salvaging bilateral relations by reassuring the Turkish nation and state.

Turkish-Arab relations are getting closer on the level of state policies and consolidated by cooperation agreements, strategic alliances, high level exchange of visits and expansion of trade volume. Although a promising future is ahead of Turkish-Arab relations, civil and human dimensions on the level of public perception on each side seem to be lagging behind political developments. Today, public support is increasingly sought in foreign policies as it provides legitimacy and confidence in pursuing a certain direction. Mobilization of public support in Turkey and the Arab world will boost Turkish-Arab relations on the basis of mutual trust. In order to achieve this goal, both sides should work together to eliminate biased views, stereotypes and negative images held towards each other.

14 Haziran 2010 Ceylan InterContinental Hotel - İstanbul Konuşmacılar: Abellah Boussole,Basheer Nafi,Burhan Köroğlu,Bülent Aras ,Cengiz Çandar,Fahmy Howeidi,Hatem Ete,Jawad Al Hamad,Mustafa Al-Labbad,Mustafa El-Murabit ,Nelly Hana,Pakinam Sharqawee,Rafik Abdessalem Bouchlaka,Taha Özhan,Talip Küçükcan,Tarek Abdelgelil,Wesim Kalajieh

SETA PUBLIC LECTURE     Ahmet Kuru     Assistant Professor of Political Science, San Diego State University     Date: June 3, 2010 Thursday Time: 16.00 – 18.00 Venue: SETA, Ankara

"All options are on the table” is the best phrase to describe how Turkey feels about Israel’s attack on humanitarian aid flotilla carrying more than 600 activists from 32 countries. What happened on Sunday night is a real game changer. Israel will, most likely, no longer be seen as a friendly state nor an ally, but will be treated as a rogue state by Turkey.

SETA PUBLIC LECTURE     Professor Robert W. Hefner     Director, Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs, Boston University   Date: May 11, 2010 Tuesday Time: 16.00 - 18.00 Venue: SETA, Ankara

Turkey’s new seat in the UNSC marks a historic achievement for Turkish foreign policy since 1961. Turkish diplomatic corps around the world and political leaders have lobbied towards this end since 2003.

Turkey has a growing economy demanding about 7% more energy each year. It's electric power generation capacity (approx. 41,000 MW) must be doubled in the next 10 years to meet the demand. Natural gas has a significant share in electricity production, which should be reduced. Domestic and renewable energies should be employed in meeting the demand. Turkey took major steps toward liberalization of its energy market. Private enterprises are expected to invest in the energy market in a timely manner. Turkey has an “energy corridor” position between the gas and oil producing countries and the importing countries. Turkey’s efforts to actualize the use of renewable and domestic sources should be supported.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s visit to Ankara last Tuesday is important for the current state of Turkish-Iraqi relations. The visit focused on trade and security, and these are two crucial areas for both countries