ORSAM-NESA-Yıldız Technical University Joint Meeting Entitled “The Middle East in Flux: Iraq, Syria and Turkish-American Relations”

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Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies (ORSAM) cooperation with the US research center Near East South Asia (NESA) and Yıldız Technical University held a workshop entitled “The Middle East in Flux: Iraq, Syria and Turkish-American Relations” in Istanbul on December 10-11, 2014. Turkish, American, Iraqi and Syrian academics, researchers, officials and journalists attended the workshop.
 
The meeting began with speeches of ORSAM President Assoc. Prof. Şaban Kardaş, Dr. Roger Kangas from NESA and Prof. Dr. Nurşin Ateşoğlu from Yıldız Technical University. Current issues in the Middle East and the future of Turkish-American relations in the context of these issues were discussed at the workshop. The first session of the workshop presentations was made by Iraqi guests Talib Aziz Al-Hamdani (Nahrain Center), Othman Ali (Selahaddin University), Muhammed Ali (Suleymaniyeh University), Latif Mohammed (Goran Movement) and Hicran Kazancı (Iraqi Turkmen Front Turkey Representative). At this session topics like the situation of ISIL in Iraq, the future of the Iraqi government, Baghdad – Erbil relationship, the status of Kirkuk and other disputed territories, Iraq-Turkey relations, and the US and Iranian role in Iraq were discussed. The workshop continued with the second session entitled Syria. In this session, Sinan Hatahet (Omran Center for Strategic Studies), Bassam Al-Kuwatli (RMTeam) from Syria and Murhaf Jouejati from NESA and Oytun Orhan from ORSAM made presentations and sub-topics such as; the situation of ISIL in Syria, the balance of power in the Syrian civil war, the regional actors’ perspective on the Syrian crisis, the role of the US in the Syrian crisis, and what kind of a solution could be applied in Syria were discussed. In the third session, Gawdat Bahgat from NESA and Assis. Prof. Dr. Bayram Sinkaya from Yıldırım Beyazıt University and ORSAM Advisor gave presentations about Iran and Israel in the Middle East. The latest situation in the Iranian nuclear file, Iran and regional transformation, recent developments in the Israeli domestic politics, Israel, and issues of  regional transformation were discussed in this session. During the last session of the first day, Turkish-American relations were discussed in the context of previous sessions. Prof. Dr. Tayyar Arı from Uludağ University and Assist. Prof. Dr. Emre Ersen from the Marmara University gave presentations in this session. Sub-topics like the fight against ISIL, the future of the Turkey-US alliance, overlapping and diverging interests in Iraq and Syria, and cooperation opportunities in the eastern Mediterranean were discussed. At the second day of the workshop conclusions and recommendations were voiced and the closing session took place. The workshop has ended with the closing speeches of Assoc. Prof. Şaban Kardaş, Dr. Roger Kangas and Prof. Dr. Nurşin Ateşoğlu.