Daedalos Institute of Geopolitics has successfully organized the international conference “Turkey and the European Union: Problems and Prospects”, on the 11th June 2009 at Holiday Inn, Nicosia

Following the commencement of accession negotiations with the EU, Turkey is again facing a Western challenge and a promising opportunity. Its drive for westernization is now taking the form of Europeanization, that is, the reform of structures, institutions and policies to meet the requirements of the logic, political dynamics and administrative mechanisms of the European Union.

While accession negotiations are going on, both Turkey and the EU will find out what they expect from each other and whether they can share a common future that will reconcile their different pasts. A main question will be whether the internal sociopolitical dynamics and external orientations of Turkey can be compatible with the changing dynamics of European integration. Turkish accession can be catalytic, as the EU will be welcoming its first Islamic member state and the deepening and widening of the EU will acquire a new meaning.

While the debate over EU-Turkish relations is heating up, this international conference aims at making a scholarly contribution in the debate over Turkey’s European aspirations and the EU’s future enlargement. It includes papers addressing issues that fit into the broader theme of EU-Turkish relations and also looks at the society, culture, economy and politics of Turkey. Papers with contemporary focus, new perspectives and innovative approaches are presented.

The conference is organized in cooperation with the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at the University of Cyprus.

For further information please contact Anna Papasavva, papasavva@daedalosinstitute.org,  +357 22875087, +357 99511436

Program in PDF

PROGRAM

JUNE 11TH 8.30-17.45, Holiday Inn, Nicosia

8:30-9.00 Registration – Welcome Coffee

9.00-9.30 Opening Ceremony

- Joseph Joseph, Professor of International Relations and Director of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at the University of Cyprus, President of the Board of Directors of Daedalos Institute of Geopolitics

- George Iacovou, Presidential Commissioner, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus

9.30-11.00 Session A The Politics of Accession Negotiations

Chair: Ingemar Lindahl, Ambassador of Sweden in Cyprus

• “Turkey in the EU's Neighbourhood”
Geoffrey Edwards
Jean Monnet Professor, University of Cambridge, Centre of International Studies

• “Constitutional Reviews in Turkey and the Debate on the Civil Constitution”
Jean Marcou
Senior Researcher, Institut Français d’Etudes Anatoliennes (IFEA), Istanbul

• “Turkey : Appeasement, Diversion or Europeanisation”
Michalis Attalides
Rector, University of Nicosia

• "The EU and the Democratization Process in Turkey: Challenges and Opportunities"
Elena Baracani
EFSPS Post Doc Researcher, Istituto Italiano di Scienze Umane, Florence

Discussion

11.00-11.15 Coffee Break

11.15-12.45 Session B Regional Challenges

Chair: Joseph Joseph, Professor of International Relations and Director of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at the University of Cyprus, President of the Board of Directors of Daedalos Institute of Geopolitics

• "Germany's ambiguous attitude towards Turkey - EU relationship"
Udo Steinbach
Professor, University of Hamburg, Director of the German Institute of Middle East Study

• “US Foreign Policy Towards Turkey and the EU”
Dan Lindley
Professor of Political Science, University of Notre Dame, USA

• “The Influence of Turkey’s Accession to the European Union on the EU-Russian Energy Relations”
Tatiana Romanova
Professor, Department of European Studies, St. Petersburg State University

• “Why Turkey’s accession in the EU is neither for the benefit of the EU nor of Turkey: an Arab perspective.”
Mezri Haddad
Philosopher, Muslim theologian, Paris, Member of the Board of Directors of Daedalos Institute of Geopolitics

Discussion

12.45-14.15 Lunch Break

14.15-15.45 Session C Internal Sociopolitical Challenges

Chair: Anna Papasavva, Project Director of Daedalos Institute of Geopolitics

• “Turkey's EU membership and Its transition to liberal democracy”
Aswini Mohapatra
Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

• “Turkish domestic political considerations and their influence on Turkey’s EU accession course”
Tozun Bahcheli
Professor of Political Science, King's University College, University of Western Ontario

• “The Turkish Republic : a sui generis democracy”
Christodoulos Yiallourides
Professor of International Politics, Panteion University, Athens, Member of the Board of Directors of Daedalos Institute of Geopolitics

• “Issues of Democracy in Turkish Media”
Ariana Ferentinou
Lecturer in Media and Journalism, Bilgi University, Istanbul

Discussion

15.45-16.00 Coffee Break

16.00-17.30 Session D Economics and Politics

Chair: Erato Kozakou-Marcoullis, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cyprus

• “EU-Turkish Relations and the Impact of Foreign Direct Investments to MENA Countries”
Franco Praussello
Professor, Department of Economic and Financial Sciences, University of Genoa, Italy

• “Credible Commitments: An Elusive Quality in Turkey's Accession Process”
Mehmet Ugur
Jean Monnet Professor in European Political Economy, University of Greenwich Business School

• "Do All roads really lead to Rome? The Turkish and the Israeli pathways compared"
Alfred Tovias
Jean Monnet Professor of International Relations, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Visiting Professor IBEI, Barcelona

• "Kemalism and Political Islam in Turkey: two visions in modern Turkey"
Alexandre Delvalle
Journalist, Researcher in Geopolitics, Author, Paris

Discussion

17.30 Concluding Remarks: Joseph Joseph, Professor of International Relations and Director of the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence at the University of Cyprus, President of the Board of Directors of Daedalos Institute of Geopolitics