Joint Symposium: “Japan and Turkey: Where Did We Come From? Where Are We Going?”

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On the occasion of the 90th Anniversary of the Diplomatic Relations Between Japan and Turkey, ORSAM in cooperation with Japanese Embassy and SAM organized a joint symposium entitled “Japan and Turkey: Where Did We Come From? Where Are We Going?” The Symposium took place on 22-23 September 2014 in Ankara. At the Symposium, which was attended by participants from press, diplomatic circles, public enterprises and think tanks, Turkish and Japanese speakers gave enlightening speeches and information about Turkey-Japan relations, diplomatic relations and cultural interaction between the two countries. 
 
The Symposium started with the diplomatic seminar on 22 September 2014. The diplomatic seminar began with the opening speeches of Yutaka Yokoi, Ambassador of Japan Embassy and Numan Kurtulmuş, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey. After the opening speeches, symposium continued with keynote speeches. President of the International University of Japan H.E Ambassador Prof. Shinichi Kitaoka mentioned Japan’s foreign and security policy in the 21st century in his keynote speech. Second keynote speech was given by Director of Diplomacy Academy Assoc. Prof Mesut Özcan. He discussed Turkey’s position in a changing international system.
 
The diplomatic seminar continued with panel discussion part. The first speaker of the panel was (Ret) Prof. Noboru Yamaguchi from National Defense Academy of Japan. He focused on the US-Japan Alliance in his speech. Prof. Dr. Selçuk Çolakoğlu from Yıldırım Beyazıt University examined Turkey’s policy towards Northeast Asian countries and highlighted the basic characteristics of relations between Turkey and Northeast Asian countries. After Çolakoğlu, Prof. Dr. Masanori Naito from Doshisha University explained Turkey’s role for the regional stability in the Middle East. Assist. Prof. Bahadır Pehlivantürk from TOBB University gave speech about Turkey-Japan Partnership in the era of global governance. The final panelist Research Fellow Dr. Kohei Imai from Japan Society to Promote Science mentioned the possibilities of diplomatic cooperation between Turkey and Japan and common interest of both countries’ in the humanitarian diplomacy. At the end of the diplomatic seminar, there was also an open question and answer session. In the afternoon, a closed workshop was held where the experts from both sides discussed the issues of global governance, their security environment and bilateral relations.
 
The Symposium ended with the cultural seminar on 23 September 2014. Yutaka Yokoi, Ambassador of Japan Embassy and Undersecretary of Ministry of Culture and Tourism Prof. Dr. Ahmet Haluk Dursun made opening speeches of cultural seminar. The keynote speech was delivered by President of Japanese Institute of Anatolian Archaeology Dr. Sachihiro Omura. Dr. Omura focused on archaeological excavation in Turkey and Japan. Composer Yoshiyuki Kozu focused folk songs in three countries; Japan, Turkey and Mongolia. He mentioned that these three countries have same form of folk songs. Prof. Dr. Katsumi Tanabe explained eastward progression of the Greek gods- from Turkey to Japan. After Prof. Dr. Tanabe’s presentation, Dr. Erdal Küçükyalçın from Boğaziçi University mentioned Otani Kozui who made the first direct foreign capital investment to Turkish Republic. Prof. Dr. Nurettin Demir from Hacettepe University discussed the diversity of Turkish language. Finally, Prof. Tooru Hayasi made a presentation about differences and similarities in Turkish and Japanese language. After panelists’ presentation, the cultural seminar closed with question-answer session and an open discussion on the future of the relations.