Welcoming Event for the 2012/13 Mercator – IPC Fellows
On September 25, 2012 the welcoming event for the first Mercator-IPC Fellows took place in Istanbul. The event opened with the warm welcoming remarks of Nihat Berker, President of Sabanci University, Bernhard Lorentz, President of Stifung Mercator, and Fuat Keyman, IPC Director. Mercator-IPC Senior Fellow Cem Özdemir, Co-Chairman of the German green party “Alliance 90/The Greens”, gave a keynote speech entitled “Europe at the Crossroads: Why Turkey Matters”. Subsequently, the 2012/13 Mercator – IPC Fellows were introduced through short video clips.
The ensuing panel discussion, entitled “A Silver Lining: German – Turkish Cooperation in Turbulent Times,” offered an intellectually stimulating debate between Kemal Dervis, Member of the IPC Executive Board and Vice President of the Brookings Institution, Ömer Madra, Mercator – IPC Senior Fellow and Co-Founder of Acik Radyo, Secil Pacaci Elitok, Mercator – IPC Fellow, and Ambassador Klaus Scharioth (ret.), Dean of the Mercator Fellowship on International Affairs and Member of the IPC’s International Advisory Council. The discussion was chaired by Ayse Kadioglu, Senior Scholar at IPC and Professor at Sabanci University.
Fuat Keyman
Fuat Keyman is the Director of the Istanbul Policy Center; Vice President for Institutional Affairs and Social Impact, and Professor of International Relations at Sabancı University. Keyman is a leading political scientist in Turkey and an expert on globalization, democratization, international relations, Turkey – EU relations, Turkish foreign policy, and civil society development.
Cem Özdemir
Cem Özdemir is the Co-Chairman of the German Green Party (Alliance ’90/The Greens). As party leader, he focuses on ecological and economic issues, including the development of a “Green New Deal,” as well as educational reforms and migration and integration issues.
Ömer Madra
Ömer Madra is one of the co-founders and editor-in-chief of the radio channel “Açık Radyo.” Furthermore, he worked as a lecturer at Istanbul Bilgi University’s International Relations and Political Science Department.
Ayşe Kadıoğlu
Ayşe Kadıoğlu is Senior Scholar at Istanbul Policy Center. She is Deputy Member of the Board of Directors of the Hrant Dink Foundation in Istanbul and a member of the Advisory Board of the Bucerius PhD Scholarships Program in Migration Studies of Zeit Stiftung in Hamburg.
ayse.kadioglu@sabanciuniv.edu