MIDDLE EAST YOUTH PARLIAMENT VISITS ORSAM

2 minute reading time

The Middle East Youth Parliament, which gets the youth from nineteen Middle Eastern countries under the banner of democracy and unity, visited ORSAM in 14 July 2011 as a delegation consisting of eight students. The delegation consisted of Orhan Esad AKGÜN (Hacettepe University Department of International Relations), Ülküm Gözde GÜNDOĞDU (Gazi University Department of International Relations), Begüm TOSUN (Bilkent University Department of International Relations), Ahmet Arda SOLMAZ (Manas University Department of International Relations), Burcu Ceren GÖYNÜM (Hacettepe University Department of International Relations), Tarık KODAL (Ankara University Faculty of Communication), Burak BAYINDIR (Marmara Üniversitesi Faculty of Dentistry), and Hakan TOĞA (Selçuk Üniversitesi Department of International Relations).

Orhan Esad AKGÜN presented information about the Middle East Youth Parliament and remarked that they visit think-tanks in Ankara within their program. He stated that they aim to acquire greater knowledge and strategic insight about the Middle East through hearing conferences from experts. He also remarked that they wished to hear the opinions of ORSAM experts on the popular movements in the Middle East.

ORSAM experts Oytun Orhan, Bilgay Duman and Nebahat Tanrıverdi O participated in the meeting. Firstly, the topic was the reasons behind the transformation and popular movements in the Middle East. Then, the uprising in Syria was handled. Syria’s political-social-economic structure, the future of the uprising, and possible scenarios were discussed. Then, Iraq, the Persian Gulf and Turkey’s Middle East policy were on the agenda. After the presentation of ORSAM experts, the meeting moved on to questions&answers period. This period covered discussions on mostly Turkey’s policy towards the Middle East.

Stated below are main excerpts from the Q&A period:

Syria’s military presence in Lebanon ended after the Hariri assassination. Before that which groups had discontents about Syria’s military presence in Lebanon?

Oytun Orhan: Israel and the US, along with most regional states had discontents about this situation. Moreover, most groups in Lebanon demanded Syria to withdraw. The assassination of Hariri came to be a turning point, because the death of Hariri, who was loved by almost all groups, played an important role in bringing together all anti-Syrian groups. This consensus created a strong pressure on Syria, which led to its eventual withdrawal.