Seçil Paçaçı Elitok is an economist. From 2009 to 2011 she worked for the Hamburg Institute of International Economics (HWWI) as a Marie Curie Fellow before joining the Istanbul Policy Center (IPC) as a Mercator-IPC Fellow in 2012. During this time she taught a module on the “Politics of Migration” at Sabanci University and worked as a consultant to the World Bank on a number of international mobility research projects. Before her appointment as visiting adjunct professor at CERES (Center for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies) at Michigan State University, she worked as post-doctoral research fellow at MiReKoç (Migration Research Center at Koç University) on the LEFAMSOL (Learning for African Migrants Solidarity) project.
She is currently teaching at Oakland University and working as a research fellow at the Center for the Study of Citizenship. Her main research interests are international migration with a specific focus on migration to and from Turkey, as well as high-skilled migration, return migration, and remittances. Seçil Paçaçı Elitok’s research project for her Mercator-IPC Fellowship is titled “Role of Migration in EU/German-Turkish Relations.” The project took into consideration Turkey’s various problems in its alignment with EU acquis concerning migration and the possible migration flows from Turkey to the EU (particularly to Germany). Seçil Paçaçı Elitok holds a PhD degree from the Economics Department of the University of Utah.
A Step Backward for Turkey?: The Readmission Agreement and the Hope of Visa-Free Europe
2012/13 Mercator-IPC Fellow Seçil Paçacı Elitok’s policy brief “A Step Backward for Turkey?: The Readmission Agreement and the Hope of Visa-Free Europe” was published in December 2015.
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Remittance Flows Between Germany and Turkey: A Reverse Trend?
2012/13 Mercator-IPC Fellow Seçil Paçacı Elitok's policy brief “Remittance Flows Between Germany and Turkey: A Reverse Trend?” was published in August 2013.
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Turkey's Negotiations on Migration: One-on-One or One-on-Twenty Seven?
2012/2013 Mercator-IPC Fellow Seçil Paçaçı Elitok's policy brief "Turkey’s Negotiations on Migration: One-on-One or One-on-Twenty Seven?" was published on March 28, 2013.
The Future of European Migration: Fears and Hopes
IPC-Sabancı University-Stiftung Mercator Initiative and HWWI convened the round table meeting on “The Future of European Migration: Fears and Hopes” with Prof. Dr. Thomas Straubhaar on June 25, 2013. The meeting was initiated by Mercator-IPC Fellow Seçil Paçacı Elitok.
Turkey's Migration Policy from 2002 to 2012: An Assessment of the AKP's Reforms
IPC-Sabancı University-Stiftung Mercator Initiative convened a workshop titled "Turkey’s Migration Policy from 2002 to 2012: An Assessment of the AKP’s Reforms" on February 16, 2013 at IPC. Senior Scholar Ayşe Kadıoğlu gave the opening remarks in the workshop organized in the framework of 2012/13Mercator-IPC Fellow Seçil Paçacı Elitok’s project.
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.
