Fuat Keyman
Honorary DirectorFuat 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. He is a member of the Turkish Science Academy. In 2013, he was awarded the Strategic Vision Award for Scientists by TASAM (Turkish Asian Center for Strategic Studies). He has worked as a member on the Council of Wise People as part of the Peace Process to the Kurdish issue. He also serves on advisory and editorial boards for a number of respected international and national organizations as well as for academic journals. Additionally, he is a member of the scientific advisory boards for Austrian Institute for International Affairs (OIIP) and The Global Centre for Pluralism. He has been the research director for various projects, such as Peter Berger and Samuel Huntington’s Many Globalizations; Strengthening Checks and Balances in Turkey, SIDA, Sweden; Enacting European Citizenship, European Council Framework 7 Project; Mapping Civil Society in Turkey, CIVICUS; and received a prestigious grant on urbanization from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey. Since 2002, as well as his academic work, Keyman has been sharing his ideas and analysis of Turkey in a global context through various newspaper columns and TV programs.
He is the author and editor of more nearly thirty books, including Future Politics - Globalization, State, Democracy, and Identity (with Evren Balta, 2022); Sekiz Kentin Hikayesi (with Berrin Koyuncu-Lorasdağı, 2020); Kurdish Problem: Local Dynamics and Conflict Resolution (with Ayşe Köse, 2019); Istanbul: Living with Difference in a Global City (with Nora Fisher-Onar and Susan C. Pearce, 2018), Turkey, The Arab Spring and Beyond (with Bülent Aras, 2016), Global Turkey in Europe 3: Democracy, Trade, and the Kurdish Question in Turkey-EU Relations (2015), Democracy, Identity and Foreign Policy in Turkey (with Şebnem Gümüşçü, 2014); Global Turkey in Europe 2: Energy, Migration, Civil Society and Citizenship Issues in Turkey-EU Relations (2014); Global Turkey in Europe: Political, Economic, and Foreign Policy Dimensions of Turkey’s Evolving Relationship with the EU (2013); Remaking Turkey (in Turkish, 2013); Symbiotic Antagonisms: Competing Nationalisms in Turkey (with Ayşe Kadıoğlu, 2011); Cities: The Transformation of Anatolia, the Future of Turkey (2010); Competing Nationalism in Turkey (2010), Turkey in a Globalizing World (2010); Remaking Turkey, Globalization, Alternative Modernities and Democracy (2008); Turkish Politics in a Changing World (with Ziya Öniş, 2007), Citizenship in a Global World: European Questions and Turkish Experiences (2005); Changing World, Transforming Turkey (2005); Globalization, State, Identity/Difference: Toward a Critical Social Theory of International Relations (1997). Keyman has also authored numerous articles published in prestigious, peer-reviewed international journals such as Journal of Democracy, Third World Quarterly, European Journal of Social Theory, Theory Culture & Society, and Review of International Political Economy, Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies.
Prior to joining Sabancı University, Keyman taught in the Department of International Relations at Koç University between 2002 and 2010, and in the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at Bilkent University between 1994 and 2002. He was also Visiting Professor at Carleton University in the summer of 1997. Keyman holds several post-doctoral fellowships from Wellesley College and Harvard University He received his PhD in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations and Comparative Politics from Carleton University. He completed his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey.
The Arab Spring: Implications for Europe
The lecture titled “Arab Spring in Perspective: Implications for Europe,” organized by the Initiative, took place at Sabancı University on March 19, 2014, with the participation of Mercator-İPM Senior Researcher Ruprecht Polenz. This lecture was organized as part of Director Fuat Keyman's course “Current Issues in Turkish Politics.”
Understanding the Arab Spring: Implications for Europe and Turkey
Istanbul Policy Center-Sabanci University-Stiftung Mercator Initiative held a meeting titled "Understanding the Arab Spring – Implications for Europe and Turkey." The event, moderated by Director Fuat Keyman, featured presentations by Ruprecht Polenz, former member of the German Parliament and Mercator-IPM Senior Researcher, and Mesut Özcan, President of the Center for Strategic Studies.
Urban Citizenship in Turkey
The Istanbul Policy Center-Sabanci University-Stiftung Mercator Initiative held a meeting titled Citizenship in Turkey with Nilüfer Göle and Fuat Keyman on March 4, 2014. Ayşe Kadıoğlu moderated the meeting.In Turkey, the concept of citizenship is largely evaluated in terms of individuals' duties to the nation-state. Moreover, citizenship is mostly defined through ethnic or cultural categories. However, both the concept of equal citizenship, which began to be discussed during the new constitution efforts and the resolution process last year, and the relationship between citizens and cities, which began to be debated with the Gezi protests, have created a suitable ground for rethinking the concept of citizenship. In this context, at our meeting, we focused on the concept of “urban citizenship” and tried to find answers to the question “What kind of citizenship?”
Welcoming of the 2013/14 Mercator-IPC Fellows
Welcoming of the 2013/14 Mercator-IPC Fellows took place on October 7, 2013 at Cezayir Restaurant. Welcoming remarks were given by IPC Director Fuat Keyman and Stiftung Mercator President Bernhard Lorentz. In the panel organized under the framework of welcoming event; IPC Executive Board Member and Brookings Institute Vice President Kemal Derviş, École des hautes études en sciences sociales Professor and Mercator-IPC Senior Fellow Nilüfer Göle, 2013/14 Mercator-IPC Fellow Kerem Öktem, Mercator-IPC Senior Fellow and Former Member of the German Parliament Ruprecht Polenz and IPC Director Fuat Keyman had a discussion titled “Turkey in Europe: Living Together and Democratization.”
20 Years After Mölln and Solingen – Hate Crimes and their Impact on German-Turkish Relations Today
IPC-Sabancı University-Stiftung Mercator Initiative convened a panel discussion titled “ 20 Years After Mölln and Solingen – Hate Crimes and their Impact on German-Turkish Relations Today” with Mercator-IPC Senior Fellow Cem Özdemir and IPC Director Fuat Keyman on February 7, 2013 at IPC.
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.
