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.
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.
Reporting on International Security and Terrorism Seminar
The Thomson Reuters Foundation Annual Global Security Seminar was held in Istanbul this year and organised in coordination with IPC. The seminar on “Reporting on International Security and Terrorism” was held from November 12-14 with the support of Stiftung Mercator, Gerda Henkel Stiftung and the Stanley Foundation.
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.
IPC – Sabancı University – Stiftung Mercator Initiative Inaugural Event
On February 1, 2012, after months of hard work and planning, the partnership between Istanbul Policy Center (IPC) and Stiftung Mercator officially kicked off with an intellectually stimulating discussion on “Policy Challenges for Turkey and the EU: A 2012 Perspective.” The event, at the Sakıp Sabancı Museum in Istanbul, highlighted the IPC-Sabancı University-Stiftung Mercator Initiative, the heart of the partnership, which focuses on three core thematic areas of cooperation: climate change, EU/German-Turkish relations, and education. The event opened with the warm welcoming remarks from Güler Sabancı, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Sabancı University, who emphasized the importance of the Initiative for the future of Turkish-German relations. Nihat Berker, President of Sabancı University, spoke next, and stressed the significance of the German-Turkish youth exchange programs co-organized by Stiftung Mecator and Sabancı University. Fuat Keyman, Director of IPC, combined both sentiments in stating that “this partnership will be built on the subjects of living together, social policies, and climate change. We want to contribute to the NGOs especially on the subject of climate change, and provide scholarships for the young scholars who are immersed in the three core areas of the Initiative. We will hold comparative studies on climate change, renewable energy, and contemporary trends of the urban transformation in key German and Turkish cities.”
The International Conference on the Role of Think Tanks in Policy Formation
Senior Expert Korel Göymen organized the International Conference on the Role of Think Tanks in Policy Formation in Istanbul on November 18-19, 2011. Director Fuat Keyman participated in a panel on the status of think tanks in Turkey, while Senior Experts Ersin Kalaycıoğlu and Ahmet Evin moderated sessions throughout the event. During the conference, various topics were discussed, ranging from good governance in Turkey to the role of think tanks as agents of change in pluralistic societies. Various panels and conferences were held with the participation of representatives of civil society from Turkey and Europe.
