Turkish Foreign Policy in the Light of Current Developments Panel

Thursday, April 11, 2019
13:00-15:00
OZU-X

In celebration of our University’s 10th anniversary, the Department of International Relations at Özyeğin University organizes a panel to discuss current developments in Turkish foreign policy. The panel discussion will take place on April 11, 2019, from 13:00 to 15:00. Moderated by Ms. Selin Nasi, the panel discussion will feature our esteemed ambassador Mr. Ümit Pamir, Emeritus Professor İlter Turan from Bilgi University, and Sedat Ergin, columnist at Hurriyet, as invited panelists. Our esteemed ambassador Mr. Ümit Pamir will talk about the change of direction in the international system, and current developments, while Prof. İlter Turan will share his opinions about Turkey’s position in the world amidst the current great ongoing change, and the transformation of the Turkish foreign policy. Lastly, Sedat Ergin will analyze the role of Turkey in the Syrian crisis and how the crisis has affected Turkey’s international relations.

MODERATOR:
SELİN NASİ

Selin Nasi began her journalism career on foreign policy in Şalom Newspaper in 2013, where she wrote political analyses and columns on foreign policy till 2018. Concurrently, she also worked as a columnist in Hurriyet Daily News from 2015 to 2018. Nasi obtained her Master’s Degree in 2006 from Istanbul Bilgi University with her dissertation “Turkish-American Relations under the Shadow of March 1 Resolution”. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Boğaziçi University and writing her doctoral thesis “The Combat of Identity Against Realpolitik in Turkey’s Post-Cold War Israeli Policy”. Nasi also touches on the topics of American foreign policy, Turkish-American Relations, and the Middle East. She is a voluntary member of the Women in Foreign Policy Initiative founded in 2014 to support women’s representation in politics. She has been a regular guest at Femfikir, a discussion program aired on Medyascope TV since 2008 with a women-only cadre of commentators.

SPEAKERS:

İLTER TURAN

Dr. Ilter Turan is the former President of the International Political Science Association (IPSA), former Rector of Istanbul Bilgi University, and Emeritus Professor of Political Science in the Department of International Relations at Istanbul Bilgi University, with previous positions at Istanbul and Koç Universities. He is the author of books and articles in English and Turkish on Comparative Politics, Turkish Politics and Turkish Foreign Policy. He has held visiting appointments at various American and British universities. He served as the President of the Turkish Political Science Association, and Vice President and Program Chair of the International Political Science Association. He is a columnist for the economics daily Dünya. Her serves on the boards of several corporations and foundations.

ÜMİT PAMİR

Ümit Pamir was born in İstanbul in 1942. He graduated from St. Joseph High School and holds a bachelor’s degree from the Faculty of Political Sciences at Ankara University. Following his studies, Pamir joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1965. He served as the consul of Komotini, and he was the Chief of Cabinet during the presidency of Fahri Korutürk. Pamir was appointed as the Permanent Representative of the International Civil Aviation Organization in 1990. He was appointed as Turkey's Ambassador to Algeria in 1991. From 1995 to 1997, he was Turkey’s Ambassador to Greece. He served as senior diplomatic advisor for prime ministers Bülent Ecevit and Mesut Yılmaz.  In 2000, Pamir was appointed as Permanent Representative of the Turkish delegation to the United Nations.  He worked with Abdullah Gül, the then minister of foreign affairs, during the Cyprus talks in Bürgenstock. From 2004 to 2006, he served as Permanent Representative of NATO. Pamir was appointed as Counselor of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2007, where he got retired the same year. Pamir is married to Dilek Pamir with two children.

SEDAT ERGİN

Sedar Ergin started his journalism career in 1975 at the Turkish News Agency’s (THA) Foreign News Service. From 1976 to 1978, he served as a diplomacy, Prime Ministry, and Parliamentary correspondent in the THA’s Ankara office. Following this position, he worked as a diplomacy correspondent at Cumhuriyet Newspaper’s Ankara office between 1979 and 1987. Ergin then joined Hürriyet in 1987 as Washington correspondent. After working in this position for over six years, he was appointed as the Ankara representative of Hürriyet Newspaper on March 1, 1993. Besides serving in this position for 12 years, Sedat Ergin continued to work as a columnist and regularly participated as a commentator on Ankara Kulisi (Backstage of Ankara), a political discussion program which aired on CNN Türk. He then started to work as Editor in Chief of Milliyet Newspaper on 17 March 2005, and rejoined Hürriyet in October 2009 as a columnist. After working as a columnist for five years, he was appointed as Editor in Chief of Hürriyet Newspaper on August 25, 2014. Ergin left his Editor in Chief position on March 1, 2017 to serve as a columnist in the same newspaper.