Workshop: Faraway,So Close? Reaching beyond the Pro/Contra Controversy.

“Faraway, So Close? Reaching beyond the Pro/Contra Controversy on Turkey ’s EU Accession”

 Istanbul June 2-4, 2011, Minerva Han, Karaköy

 Co-organized by Sabancı University and Free University Berlin

Supported by the Jean Monnet Chair at Sabancı University and

Istanbul Policy Center at Sabancı University

ABOUT THE WORKSHOP

Five years ago, the EU opened accession negotiations with Turkey projecting 2014 as the earliest possible date for membership. Yet, it is not solely the date that continues to stir debates, but the very candidacy of Turkey itself. Aiming to turn the by now conventional EU- Turkey controversy into a conversation, this interdisciplinary conference is designed to revisit critical themes in Turkey’s accession debate, including the role of immigration, minority rights and norm diffusion, by contextualizing Turkey’s EU bid through historical inquiries into the making of the European Union. The conference series seeks to shift the current focus on ‘European’ perceptions of Turkey’s candidacy by equally considering scholarly debates from Turkey through a two-tier meeting structure organized in cooperation between KFG, Free University (Berlin) and Sabanci University (Istanbul).

A summary and the podcasts from the first event, which took place in Berlin February 2-5, 2011, can be accessed at

http://www.polsoz.fu-berlin.de/en/v/transformeurope/news/events/report_teuc_2011.html

Organizers:

Bilgin Ayata, Postdoctoral Fellow KFG, FU Berlin

Banu Karaca, Visiting Scholar, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Sabanci University

Click here  for the program