Turkey and the EU Energy Policy

Androulla Kaminara

On the 23^rd of April, the Deputy Minister of Energy of Turkey, H. Murat Mercan gave a presentation on “Turkey and the European Union Energy Policy” to an audience that not only included energy specialists but also political scientists that are interested in developments in the Eastern Mediterranean. The seminar was promoted both by SEESOX and by the European Studies Centre of St Antony’s College, University of Oxford. 

Assoc. Prof. H. Murat Mercan is an industrial engineer by training and has been a founding member of the ruling  Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Turkey as well as Chairman of the Committee for Foreign Affairs of the Turkish Parliament from 2007-2011.

Mr Mercan started his presentation by emphasising the very close connection between foreign policy and energy policy and that having a foreign policy background has been very useful in his current job. He presented why in his view “Europe’s energy equation is unsolvable without Turkey”. He emphasised that although Turkey is “poor in natural energy” its geographic position makes it the main southern route for most energy sources from the east to Europe.

Turkey and Syria

Kerem Oktem

As former Foreign Minister of Turkey and founding member of the ruling Justice and Development Party, Yasar Yakis is probably one of the most insightful commentators on Turkey’s foreign policy. Before his entry into politics in 2002, Mr Yakis went through a distinguished diplomatic career, which brought him to the most important capitals of the Arab world. Serving as counsellor in the Turkish Embassy in Damascus in the late 1970s, he represented Turkey as Ambassador in Riyadh and Cairo in the 1990s. Considering this CV, one would expect that few people would be more qualified to speak about the current relations between Turkey and Syria. And indeed, this was also the audience’s impression, which filled up the European Studies Centre for a special lunchtime lecture on April the 25th.

On the EU way

Othon Anastasakis

The Director of SEESOX, Dr Othon Othon Anastasakis, talks to Nike Giurlani of SIR Europe about the enlargement of the EU in the light of current developments in Europe.

Click on the link to read the interview.

Cyprus emergency: An analysis

David Madden talks to Rosie Leydon of BFBS News

Greece in crisis

Kerem Öktem

This week’s seminar came in two instalments: It began with a roundtable meeting with Dimitris Sotiropoulos, Associate Professor at the Department of Political Science and Public Administration of the University of Athens, on the crisis in Greece. A couple of hours later, it was complemented by the seminar with the same speaker and Dimitrios Gkintidis, this time on the social dimensions of the crisis in Southeast Europe. Both events were intellectually truly stimulating, despite the rather sombre topic.

Prof. Sotiropoulos painted what can only be called a disheartening image of the social and political impacts of the crisis in Greece, which has witnessed negative GDP growth since 2008 and a rise in relative poverty to above 25 per cent. Unemployment has risen from around 8 per cent in 2008 to a staggering 26 per cent today, with more than 55 per cent of young people out of work. For those with jobs, real wages have contracted considerably. A university professor, for instance, earns around 40 per cent less than in 2010. There is little doubt that the lack of perspective and hope for self-realization especially among young people comes with a number of social consequences, most of them less than desirable. They range from emigration particularly of the more educated strata to widespread political apathy, radicalisation and xenophobia.