On the occasion of 9 May Europe Day, IKV and Turkey-European Union Association (TURABDER) hosted a panel entitled “Future of Europe and Turkey in a Turbulent World”. The opening speeches of the panel, in which various topics including the upcoming EP elections, rise of populism, future of Europe, EU-Turkey relations, refugee crisis, and economic relations were discussed, were delivered by IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinooğlu and TURABDER President Prof. Gül Günver Turan. In her speech, TURABDER President Prof. Gül Günver Turan emphasised the importance of the upcoming EP elections set for 23-26 May and Istanbul municipal elections on 23 June in these critical times when universal values are challenged both in Europe and in Turkey.

In his opening speech, IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu stated that in a world where trade wars are escalating and there is an arms race, norms of global order are weakening. Concerning Turkey-EU relations, IKV Chairman Zeytinoğlu indicated that the process is in a deadlock because of political obstacles which have rendered the negotiation process de facto dysfunctional. IKV Chairman went on to say that Turkey should keep making reforms in line with the acquis and the EU for its part should treat Turkey in an equitable manner regarding, for example, the Cyprus issue.

Following the opening speeches, the panel session moderated by TURABDER Vice President Assoc. Prof. Zeynep Alemdar from Okan University began. Panellists included IKV Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas, Prof. Sanem Baykal from Ankara University, Assoc. Prof. Deniz Şenol Sert from the Özyeğin University, and Journalist Sezin Öney. In her intervention, Prof. Sanem Baykal stated that the European integration process, whose foundations were laid with the Schuman Declaration after World War II, has proved itself to be a successful peace and prosperity experiment. She expressed her belief that despite the universal values, norms and institutions which constitute the basis of European integration were being deeply challenged in Europe; the EU would come out of the current process stronger.

Starting her remarks by quoting Charles Dickens “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”, IKV Secretary General stated that this sentence captured the essence of today’s world with many positive developments in technology and in the health sector and many challenges such as terrorism and war going on at the same time. Pointing out that change has been happening too fast for human beings to be able to grasp, IKV Secretary General Nas indicated that social inequalities, lack of equal opportunities and economic problems were among the most serious challenges faced by Europe. IKV Secretary General maintained that Turkey could not move away from democracy or the EU and there was no realistic alternative for Turkey other than the EU membership.

For her part, Assoc. Prof. Deniz Şenol Sert referred to five challenges concerning the EU-Turkey border: geographical location, discrepancies in information sharing between states and migrants, the thin line between being a regular or an irregular migrant, problems in asylum procedures of countries, and problems in the readmission agreement.

As the last speaker of the panel, Journalist Sezin Öney talked about the upcoming EP elections, what populism is or can be, and what we can expect from the upcoming elections.

At the end of the panel, the speakers were able to interact with the audience during the Q&A session, which received many questions as well as comments from the audience.