The New Middle East: One Year After the First Flotilla
‘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.
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The Europeanization of the Western Balkans
Any regional conflict in the Balkans, would not only allow the countries to drift into turmoil, but would also threaten the security of Europe.
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SETA PANEL DISCUSSION Chair: Taha Özhan, SETA Panelists: Ali Çarkoğlu, Sabancı Univ. Cengiz Çandar, Radikal Yavuz Baydar, Sabah Date: June 15, 2011 Wednesday Time: 14.00-16.00 Venue: SETA, Ankara
Turkey, after a long time, is undertaking elections to build a new future instead of overcoming a crisis situation.
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
Once Turkey considers and comes to terms with the challenge of formulating a new political language, it can rise to the level it aspires to as a new actor in a new region and in a new global order.
Erdogan to Mubarak: "Listen to the Egyptians"
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan addressed in Ankara that Hosni Mubarak should listen to the demands of the Egyptian people.
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Regional approach in Turkish foreign policy and the case of Afghanistan
The activism of late observed in Turkish foreign policy demonstrates a clear preference for a regional approach to international relations. It has been almost a mantra for Turkey’s new foreign policy elite to promote regional actors’ ownership of economic and security affairs in their own neighborhood. Various such initiatives that Turkey has been spearheading recently in its adjacent regions, including the Middle East, Caucasus, Balkans and beyond, underscore Turkey’s emergence as a regional power willing and able to assume leadership roles in those regions. Turkey has been pursuing customs and visa liberalization with many of its neighbors, while initiating strategic cooperation councils with others. Similar to Turkey’s initiation of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation in the 1990s, Turkey has also launched a Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform. Complementing these efforts are various other bilateral or trilateral processes under its patronage, such as the ones between Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, or between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
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Turkey is among emerging economies that have experienced sharp declines (in the form of structural changes) in the level of inflation rate since the mid-1990s. Motivated by the availability of better data on financial system characteristics and distributional measures, this brief explores the distributional and welfare impacts of the recent reduction in inflation on the Turkish economy. In particular, the extent of financial dollarization and the inequality in the distribution of demand and term deposits are documented. This brief points out that apart from the classical adverse effects of inflation such as price distortions and wealth eroding; redistributive effects of inflation might be created by the particular way that the fiscal policy responds to the monetary policy.
SETA PUBLIC LECTURE Chair: İhsan Dağı, METU Speaker: Roger Cohen Date: October 21, 2010 Thursday Time: 16.00 Venue: SETA Foundation, Ankara
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.
Bosnia-Herzegovina remains as divided as ever. In the past year Turkish foreign policy in Bosnia-Herzegovina has become more assertive and outcome-oriented. The successes of the new Turkish assertiveness have helped to initiate a much-needed reconciliation process between Serbia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Turkey derives its assertiveness not only from Foreign Minister Davutoğlu’s vision of sustainable peace but also from its shared history and cultural practices throughout the region. Turkey’s efforts could strengthen the efforts of the international community to integrate BiH into European and trans-Atlantic bodies.
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
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.
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.
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.
