Tackling Uncertainty: Turkish-EU Foreign Policy Cooperation in the Middle East and North Africa

With the withdrawal of NATO forces from Afghanistan and a return to open conflict in Europe, foreign policy cooperation between the EU and Turkey in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has assumed even greater relevance and urgency. While tensions have subsided somewhat since 2020, the Turkey-EU relationship remains contentious and even conflictual as disagreements over key foreign policy files have mixed with domestic politics in both Turkey and certain European states to add further strain to the bilateral relationship.

This concluding webinar of the IAI-IPC project, supported by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Compagnia di San Paolo Foundation, will examine constraints and opportunities for Turkey-EU cooperation, focussing on the key case studies of Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Programme

Welcome remarks
Senem Aydin Düzgit, Professor, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Sabanci University & Research and Academic Affairs Coordinator, Istanbul Policy Center

Daniela Huber, Head, Mediterranean, Middle East and Africa Programme, Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI)

Panel discussion
Kemal Kirişci, Nonresident Senior Fellow, Center on the United States and Europe's Turkey Project, Brookings

Ezgi Uzun Teker, Instructor, Political Science Department, Sabanci University

Mitat Çelikpala, Professor, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Department of International Relations, Kadir Has University

Meliha Benli Altunışık, Professor, Department of International Relations, Middle East Technical University

Ömer Aslan, Faculty Member and Associate Professor, Department of International Relations, Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University

Chair
Andrea Dessì, Head, Italian Foreign Policy Programme, Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI)

Q&A