Turkey, which spans both West and East, is undergoing a political and social transition that will have a major geo-political impact not only in the region but across the world. Will Turkey move left, right or stay the course it has chosen?
Join Gateway House on a Google Hangout with Dr. Mesut Özcan SAM Chairman, Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Cemil Dinmezpınar, Legislative Assistant Expert, Grand National Assembly of Turkey.
Dr. Mesut Özcan
SAM Chairman, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Advisor to Minister of Foreign Affairs
Dr. Özcan is currently the deputy chairman of the Centre for Strategic Research of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SAM) and also an advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
He has authored books including Sorunlu Miras Irak (Iraq, A Problematic Heritage), Harmonizing Foreign Policy: Turkey, the EU and the Middle East, Medeniyetler ve Dünya Düzen(ler)I (Modernity and World Order(s)) and Mesut Özcan ve Muzaffer Şenel as well as articles and book chapters on Turkish Foreign Policy, Middle Eastern Politics and Iraq. He serves on the editorial boards of Insight Turkey, Divan and Perceptions.
Having his B.A. and his and his M.A.in Political Science and International Relations from Marmara University, he later studied at St. Antony’s College, Oxford University on the Jean Monnet Master Scholarship. He has been a research assistant at Beykent University and taught at Kuwait University’s Department of Political Science as well as Istanbul Ticaret University’s Department of International Relations.
Cemil Dinmezpınar
Legislative Assistant Expert, Grand National Assembly of Turkey
Cemil Dinmezpınar is a Legislative Assistant Expert in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey where he also serves on the Committee on Equality of Opportunities for Women and Men. He has served on the European Union Harmonization Committee in the past.
Having studied International Relations at Koç University, he is currently pursuing an LLM degree in Public Law on a full merit scholarship. An avid debater, he has participated in various tournaments all over the world and has also been a research assistant and a student mentor at Koç University.
Prof. M.D. Nalapat
Director, Department Of Geopolitics, Manipal University
Madhav Das Nalapat holds the UNESCO Peace Chair and is Director of the Geopolitics and International Relations Department at Manipal University, an international private university headquartered in Southern India. The former Coordinating Editor of the Times of India, Prof. Nalapat writes extensively on security, policy and international affairs, and is a columnist for the Sunday Guardian and the Pakistan Observer.
Nalapat has no formal role in the Indian government, although he influences policy at the highest levels. Before joining the Times of India in 1989, Mr Nalapat was Editor of the Mathrubhumi. Previous to becoming the editor in 1984, Nalapat had been Editorial Director of the Mathrubhumi Group of publications, and previous to that (from 1978), Executive Director of the newspaper company.