IKV, in coordination with Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, is organizing a seminar entitled “Turkey and the European Union: Opportunities and Obstacles for Further Integration” on 9 June 2015 in Riga.

The seminar is also organized under IKV’s “EU Presidencies and Turkey” Project that was launched in 2010.  With this project, IKV aims to inform European officials and public about the current developments on Turkey-EU relations and contribute to Turkey’s EU accession negotiations in the capital of each of EU Member States which are taking over the Presidency of the EU Council.

The opening remarks will be delivered by Senior Vice-President at Stockholm School of Economics in Riga, Gunnar Ljungdahl, IKV Vice-President and Dean of Yeditepe University Faculty of Law Prof. Halûk Kabaalioğlu, and Ambassador of Turkey to Latvia, his Excellency Hayri Hayret Yalav.

The panel entitled “Turkey’s Transformation and the EU Perspective” will be chaired by Prof. Kabaalioğlu and these are the following presentations of the panel:

• “Fears of Further Enlargement From the Perspective of the EU: Comparing 2004 Enlargement and the Case of Turkey”, Prof. Dr. Daunis Auers, Latvia Universitay and Stockholm School of Economics, Riga

• “Turkey as a an Emerging Economy: Innovation and R&D Policies”, Prof. Dr. Canan Balkır, Head of Department of EU Studies, Jean Monnet Chair in European Economic Integration, Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir

• “Turkey-EU Customs Union: Effects on Mutual Economic Relations”, Dr. Sait Akman, TEPAV Center for Multilateral Trade Studies, Ankara

• “Turkey in a Tough Neighbourhood: Foreign Policy Cooperation between Turkey and the EU”, Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas, IKV Secretary-General and Lecturer at Yıldız Teknik University, Istanbul

• “Turkey and EU Cooperation in Migration and the Visa Liberalization Dialogue”, Melih Özsöz, IKV Deputy Secretary-General and Research Director, Istanbul

Click here for the programme of the seminar.