IKV has organized a panel in cooperation with Istanbul Policy Center (IPC) and The Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV) entitled “EU and Turkey in the Wake of Elections: Challenges and Opportunities” in Ankara on 4 July 2019.

Opening speeches were delivered by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs&Director for EU Affairs, Ambassador Faruk Kaymakçı, IKV Chairman Ayhan Zeytinoğlu, IPC Director Prof. Fuat Keyman, TEPAV Managing Director Prof. Güven Sak. Ankara-based diplomacy, academia, public sector and civil society circles were among the the event’s participants.

In the first session, moderated by IPC Mercator Senior Fellow Atila Eralp; IKV Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas, Director of TEPAV Center for EU Studies Nilgün Arısan Eralp, Director of TEPAV G20 Studies Center  Assoc. Prof. M. Sait Akman and Prof. Sanem Baykal from Ankara University tackled both Turkish local elections and the EP elections which reshaped the whole internal institutional structure of the EU  with a view to Turkey-EU relations. The speakers brought both the local and international dynamics into the agenda.

Throughout the second panel ssession, regional and security-related issues were raised from a broader perspective in parallel with the election results. The session was moderated by IKV Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas. IPC Senior Fellow Atila Eralp, Asst. Prof. Dr. K. Onur Unutulmaz from Social Science University of Ankara, IPC Director Prof. Fuat Keyman and IPC Senior Scholar&Research and Academic Affairs Coordinator Senem Aydın-Düzgit discussed current affairs in the Eastern Mediterranean, evaluated transatlantic relations and current issues such as Syrian crisis in terms of Turkey and Turkey-EU relations.