Tuesday March 16 2010 / Citizenship
Turkey: Quo Vadis?
The Turkish foreign policy formulated by new Foreign Minister of Turkey Ahmet Davutoğlu, who because of his academic background is sometimes called ‘the Turkish Kissinger', aims at attaining ‘zero problems' with its neighbors in order to gain ‘strategic depth'. Some aspects of this policy, such as the support for Iran's ‘peaceful ambitions for nuclear energy' seem counter to ‘Western', i.e. American and European interests. The diminished importance of the strategic partnership with Israel and the ensuing diplomatic incidents are seen as another downside of this policy by some.
In a series of lectures titled A Good Neighbor the Turkey Institute has in the past months focused on Turkey's relations with the Middle East, the Caucasus and Central Asia, Cyprus and its ambition to become an energy hub. How is Turkey to combine this intense agenda with its goal of fulfilling the EU-membership criteria? How credible is the official line that increased ties with the countries in the region will boost Turkey's strategic importance to the west?
Dr Gülnur Aybet will speak about Turkey, the US, Europe and the future of transatlantic relations. Dr Aybet is lecturer on International Relations at Kent University and a prominent analist of Turkish foreign policy. Her latest book, NATO in Search of a Vision (Georgetown University Press 2010), will be published in February 2010.
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