INSITER Coordinator Ebru Turhan attended the 49th UACES Annual Conference which took place at the University of Lisbon on 1-4 September 2019. Turhan presented a paper titled “The Evolution of EU Studies in Turkey: A Gender Perspective” co-authored by Rahime Süleymanoglu Kürüm at the panel “European Union-Turkey Relations in Times of Crisis – Actors, Perceptions and Discourses”.
INSITER Coordinator Ebru Turhan and former INSITER Co-Coordinator and Advisory Board Member Wulf Reiners participated in the panel titled “Varying, Overlapping, and Competing Perceptions of a Unique Partnership: Unravelling the Stories on EU-Turkey Relations” at the 2019 EUSA Biennial Conference in Denver, USA. While Wulf Reiners acted as the discussant of the panel, Ebru Turhan presented a paper titled “Elite Framing of the EU-Turkey Refugee “Deal”: A Comparative Analysis of German and Turkish Policy-Makers’ Expectations from and Understandings of the “Deal” co-authored with Ayca Arkilic from the Victoria University of Wellington, and also served as the Chair of the session. Other presenters of the panel included Meltem Müftüler-Bac (Sabanci University) and Ebru Ece Özbey (University of Cologne).
INSITER realized in cooperation with the Center for Turkey and EU Studies (CETEUS), Turkish-German University Political Science and International Relations Department, Center for Migration and Integration at the Turkish-German University (TAGU) and German Academic Exchange Service DAAD an international symposium titled “New political challenges for Germany, Turkey and the EU – 2019” with the participation of around 120 international guests including academicians, representatives of non-governmental organizations and the media and students from different universities on 3 May 2019 at the Beykoz campus of the Turkish-German University.
The opening speeches of the symposium were given by the Coordinator of the German Consortium of the Turkish-German University, Prof. Dr. İzzet FURGAÇ, faculty member of the University of Cologne and Vice-President of the German Consortium responsible for the foundation of the Turkish-German University, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang WESSELS, and the head of the Political Science and International Relations Department Prof. Dr. M. Murat ERDOĞAN. Following the opening speeches, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Turkey Martin ERDMANN gave a keynote speech titled “A World in Disarray: What Can Be Done to Fix It? A German View”.
Following the speech of Ambassador Martin ERDMANN, the symposium has continued with the opening panel titled “Present and Future of EU-Turkey Relations”. At the panel chaired by Prof. Dr. Atila ERALP (Istanbul Policy Center), the present and future of EU-Turkey relations have been discussed by Dr. Günter SEUFERT (SWP), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Beken SAATÇİOĞLU (MEF University), Alina THIEME (University of Cologne), and INSITER Coordinator Asst. Prof. Dr. Ebru TURHAN (Turkish-German University) based on the results of the research projects conducted by the panelists. 
Following Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Director for EU Affairs Faruk KAYMAKCI’s speech during which an interactive survey on EU-Turkey affairs was conducted and the recent developments in EU-Turkey relations were evaluated, the second session has started with the moderation of Prof. Dr. Michael KAEDING (University of Duisburg-Essen). In this session titled “Migration and Diaspora Policy in EU-Turkey Relations: Latest Trends and Impact”, Prof. Dr. M. Murat ERDOĞAN (Turkish-German University), Prof. Dr. Ahmet İÇDUYGU (Koç University) and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ayselin GÖZDE YILDIZ (Yaşar University) made presentations. In the panel various topics including the effects of the refugee crisis on EU member states, the challenges that Turkey faces and the policies that were implemented due to the Syrian refugees in Turkey, and lastly, the role and shortcomings of the readmission agreement in solving the refugee crisis were discussed.
In the final panel of the symposium titled “Current Trends in World Politics and Reflections on EU-Turkey Relations”, latest developments and trends in world politics have been discussed from manifold angles. At this session, chaired by Prof. Dr. Mathias JOPP (IEP Berlin), Prof. Dr. Birgül DEMİRTAŞ (TOBB ETU), Asst. Prof. Dr. Deniz KURU (Turkish-German University), and Prof. Dr. Bernhard STAHL (Passau University) made presentations.
The symposium was finalized by the closing remarks of the INSITER Coordinator Asst. Prof. Dr. Ebru TURHAN, Asst. Prof. Dr. Deniz KURU and Prof. Dr. Wolfgang WESSELS and followed by an networking dinner. The program can be read here.
On behalf of the University of Cologne, the Turkish-German University, the Jean Monnet Module INSITER- Inside the Turkey-EU Relations, Migration and Integration Research Center (TAGU) and German Academic Exchange Service DAAD, we are pleased to invite you to participate in the 6th Joint Conference “New political challenges for Germany Turkey and EU” on May 3, 2019. The conference takes place in the premises of the Turkish-German University in Istanbul (Beykoz) and will bring together scholars from both Turkey and EU countries who are engaged in EU and IR studies and Germany –Turkey relations.
The conference program foresees keynote speeches by Ambassador Faruk Kaymakcı, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs & Director for EU Affairs, and Martin Erdmann, Ambassador of Germany to Turkey and three thematic panels on:
Please contact emre.midilli@tau.edu.tr for registration.
INSITER Coordinator Ebru Turhan participated in the Annual Conference of the Jean Monnet Network Viaduct on 20-21 March 2019 at the Istanbul Policy Center in Istanbul. During the conference Turhan chaired a working group on “Teaching EU-Turkey Relations”, where next pressing questions, topics and methods in teaching and research on EU-Turkey relations were discussed.
INSITER Coordinator Ebru Turhan gave a talk on the limits of and potentials for external differentiated integration between Turkey and the EU as regards gender policies at a panel titled “Avrupa Birliği Bağlamında Toplumsal Cinsiyet Tartışmaları”. The panel took place on 20 December 2018 at the Istanbul Commerce University and was organized by the WDEGP Jean Monnet Module.
INSITER Coordinator Ebru Turhan participated in the CETEUS Annual Conference titled “Full steam ahead? Reflections on the Future of the European Union and Developments in EU-Turkey Relations” which took place during 13-14 December 2018 in Berlin and acted as a panelist in the panel “Which way forward? Scenarios for EU-Turkey Relations”. Throughout her speech Turhan emphasized the deadlock in the institutional structure of the relationship between Turkey and the EU and noted that out of the 3 existing models of external differentiated integration between the EU and third countries (ENP, EEA and Strategic Partnership) and the future Brexit model, the prospective model with the UK is likely to suit the future relationship between Turkey and the EU the most. Turhan argued that the EU and key member states are likely to wait until the formation and approval of the final Brexit formula and propose its key components with slight changes to Turkey.
On 4 December 2018 INSITER Coordinator Ebru Turhan acted as a panelist together with Dr Simon Waldman (King’s College London) at a breakfast talk in Berlin titled “Between Brussels and London: The UK’s Turkey Policy after Brexit” organized by Heinrich Boell Foundation. Throughout her speech Turhan addressed the existing partnership models between the EU and third countries outside the accession framework and analyzed the similarities and differences between Turkey and these third countries in terms of their working relationship with the EU. Turhan further talked about the limits and potentials of the applicability of a possible Brexit model to the EU-Turkey dialogue.
INSITER Jean Monnet Module organized in cooperation with TOBB ETÜ and the TRIANGLE Project of the University of Cologne / Middle East Technical University a roundtable titled “Turkey’s Place in the Debates on the Future of Europe” on 19 November 2018 at the premises of TOBB ETÜ in Ankara. The event brought together around 60 Turkish and international students of political science and international relations, academics, representatives of EU institutions and the media, and tackled the perspectives and limitations for Turkey’s inclusion in the debates on the future of EUrope.
The event was kicked off with an opening speech by Prof. Dr. Haldun Yalçınkaya, Head of the Department of Political Science and International Relations @TOBB ETÜ and chaired by Prof. Dr. Atila Eralp, Mercator-IPC Senior Fellow at the Istanbul Policy Center. Throughout the event Assoc. Prof. Dr. Başak Alpan (METU), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Başak Yavcan (TOBB ETU), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Hakan Övünç Ongur (TOBB ETU) and INSITER Coordinator Asst. Prof. Dr. Ebru Turhan discussed the main question from different angles including the De-Europeanization trends in Turkey, migration policies, Turkey’s compatibility with the “common” European identity and Turkey’s possible external differentiated integration with the EU.
INSITER Jean Monnet Module will organize in cooperation with TOBB ETÜ and the TRIANGLE Project of the University of Cologne / Middle East Technical University a roundtable titled “Turkey’s Place in the Debates on the Future of Europe” on 19 November 2018 at the premises of TOBB ETÜ in Ankara. The event aims to bring together Turkish and international academics, students of political science and international relations, key representatives of civil society operating in Ankara and discuss perspectives and limitations for Turkey’s inclusion in the debates on the future of EUrope. For participation please RSVP to the contact information provided in the document below.
