Ankara Study Visit Successfully Finalized

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Between 18-20 November 2018, a study visit to Ankara was realized within the framework of INSITER Jean Monnet Module. The INSITER delegation consisting of INSITER coordinator Ebru Turhan, INSITER senior staff member Atila Eralp, INSITER research assistant Çiğdem Çelik and 22 BA and MA students held talks with Faruk Kaymakçı, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs & Director for EU Affairs, German Ambassador Martin Erdmann and Julian Vassallo, Political Counsellor at the Delegation of the EU to Turkey. The delegation also participated in a roundtable organized at TOBB ETU  on Turkey’s place in the debates on the future of Europe. The talks mainly focused on the current status quo in EU-Turkey dialogue, Turkey’s EU accession process, German-Turkish political, economic and social relations, the Brexit process and the 2019 European Parliament elections.

The full program of the excursion could be read here.

 

 

New INSITER Roundtable on Turkey’s Place in the Debates on the Future of Europe

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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.

 

 

A Periodisation of German-Turkish Dialogue

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INSITER Coordinator Ebru Turhan participated in the joint conference of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) and German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) titled “300 Years Old German-Turkish Friendship: Status and Perspectives” and organized between 18 and 20 October 2018 in Antalya. During conference Turhan presented a paper titled “Periodisation of German-Turkish Relations and Official German Position on Turkey’s EU Accession Process: an Analysis in view of the Convergence / Divergence of the Norms and Interests”. 

Research Stay at the Institute for European Politics

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INSITER Coordinator Ebru Turhan will realize a research stay at the Institute for European Politics (IEP) in Berlin during June-September 2018 with the kind support of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Throughout her stay Turhan will serve as a visiting researcher at the IEP where she will intensively focus on the normative consistency of the EU’s enlargement policy towards Turkey and Turkey’s issue-specific external differentiated integrated with the EU, which are research areas closely linked to the INSITER project. In this vein, the research stay at the IEP will positively contribute to the overall progression of the project and the research conducted within the framework of the INSITER while also enabling the dissemination of the existing project outputs within the German academic circles.

Paper Presentation at the 25th IPSA World Congress of Political Science

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INSITER Coordinator Ebru Turhan participated in the 25th IPSA World Congress of Political Science, which was held between 21 and 25 July 2018 in Brisbane, Australia with the theme “Borders and Margins”. At the conference Turhan presented her paper titled “From Accession to Partnership? Normative Questions about the EU’s Enlargement Policy towards Turkey” at the panel “Differentiated Integration in the European Union – Consequences for Relations with Neighbours”.

Best Student Research Papers of 2017-2018

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INSITER is proud to publish the best student research papers written during 2017-2018 for the four lectures/seminars  that are components of the INSITER project. The following papers have been chosen as the best ones to be published given their overall academic quality and the grades the students received for them:

AVU 114, Halil İbrahim Kısacık, “The Role of Internal and External Factors in EU-Turkey Relations: Remapping Turning Points”, read here.

AVU 101, Florian Gontek, “Was the European Parliament election 2014 second-order and how significant is the Spitzenkandidaten Procedure?”, read here.

AVU 107, Sevde Nur Gürakın, “How Does Refugee Crisis Promote Turkey’s Position in the Triangle “Turkey, Germany and the European Union”?”, read here.

AVU 106, Ece Mutlu (book presentation), “Deterrence, the spiral model and intentions of the adversary”, read here.

 

Guest Lecture on EU-Turkey Relations

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On 19 June 2018 INSITER Coordinator Ebru Turhan hold a guest lecture titled “EU-Turkey Relations: State of Play, Future Prospects and Germany’s Role” at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU) with the participation of more than 100 students. The interactive lecture that took more than two hours was convened and moderated by Prof. Dr. Johannes Varwick.

June 2018 INSITER Study Trip Concluded

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On June 14, 2017, the annual study and research trip of INSITER with the group of MA students of “European and International Affairs” of the Turkish-German University Istanbul was concluded. This year the students visited, Brussels (May 31- June 8) and Berlin (June 9-14). The journey served the purpose to experience real life politics first-hand and to take teaching inside the Turkey-EU relations by enabling the students to step into the everyday work of European, Turkish and International Organizations. By getting into direct contact with decisions makers of leading political, economic and administrative institutions students were able to study the complex interaction between the EU, national and subnational level of decision-making in the ‘multi-level’ political system of the European Union and to get a hands-on perspective on how Turkey-EU relations are shaped in practice.

The program was partly carried out in cooperation with other international partner institutions such as the University of Cologne, Science Po and the Centre International de Formation Européenne (CIFE). Alongside the joint visits to institutions the internationally composed group of students could engage in a simulation exercise that dealt with the post 2020 EU budget negotiations and democratic norm violations in Europe. The visit was also supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Visit to German Bundestag, German Chancellery and Further Institutions in Berlin

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In the second week of the INSITER study trip the group of MEIA students of the Turkish German University visited a number of political institutions in Berlin, Germany. The meetings were held inter alia with Edgar Lenski, European Law Department of the German Chancellery, Axel Schäfer, Vice-President of SPD group at the German Bundestag and member of the  Bundestag, Wolfgang Merz, German Ministry of Finance and Kim-Mailin Weinrich, German Foreign Office.

In addition to the visits to official  institutions the stay in the German capital also served the purpose to exchange views with researchers and practitioners from Berlin-based think tanks and interest representations, notably the Institute for European Politics (IEP), Polis 180 and the German Banking Industry Committee. Finally, in order to grasp the history of Germany and Berlin, the group also went on a city tour which is guided by Prof. Dr. Hartmut Marhold (CIFE/TDU) and  focused on the political architecture of the city. Students and organisers are extremely grateful for the precious time and the valuable input from the different hosts and institutions.

European Council Simulation Game Completed

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On June 7 and 8, 2018, as an integral part of the study trip week in Brussels, the INSITER students participated in an international simulation exercise with students from Cologne, Paris and Prague. The overarching idea of the exercise was to discuss the post 2020 EU budget negotiations and adherence to democratic norms in the form of a two day-European Council summit.

Students had started to prepare for the simulation exercise in April already in online interdisciplinary and international teams in order to defend their position at the negotiations. The best teams received an award for their performance. The simulation game was  realized in close cooperation with partner universities, the University of Cologne and Sciences Po.

The European Council conclusions prepared by the students can be found here.