IKV, in cooperation with the Turkish-German University, organised a conference entitled “Reflecting on the past 8 years: Syrians in Turkey and EU-Turkey Cooperation”, which was held on 29 April 2019. Opening speeches were delivered by the IKV Vice Chairman Prof. Haluk Kabaalioğlu, the Turkish-German University Rector Prof. Halil Akkanat, and the Director General of Migration Management at the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Interior Abdullah Ayaz. Following the opening speeches, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director for EU Affairs Ambassador Faruk Kaymakçı in his keynote speech, evaluated Turkey-EU cooperation on migration.

In the first session of the conference, the panellists; Centre for Migration and Integration Studies Director Prof. Murat Erdoğan from the Turkish-German University Prof. Ahmet İçduygu from Koç University, Elif Selen Ay from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, International Centre for Migration Policy Development Regional Coordinator Tamer Kılıç, and OXFAM Turkey Director Meryem Aslan discussed the situation of Syrian refugees in Turkey and their future. Numeric data on Syrian refugees in Turkey, problems and need in education, health, employment, social integration; conditions for return to Syria were among the topics touched upon, as well as the aid and activities made available to the Syrian refugees by NGOs, the state, and international institutions.

The second session of the conference focused on the EU-Turkey Statement issued in 18 March 2016, with the participation of Prof. Kemal Kirişçi from Brookings, Prof. Sanem Baykal from Ankara University, Dr. Deniz Şenol Sert from Özyeğin University, and IKV Secretary General  Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas. The panellists discussed a variety of topics, such as the scope of the Turkey-EU Migrant Deal, EU accession negotiations, visa liberalisation, and the resettlement of the refugees in the EU. An analysis on how much has been achieved and how effective the cooperation has been was made. The conference received a lot of attention from the audience, and with the Q&A session at the end of the conference, the audience were able to interact with the panellists and ask their questions.