Event Summary:
Turkey: A Bridge Between Continents and Cultures
with Dr. Umut Uzer, Harvard University
Toronto Branch Event, March 20, 2008
Summary by
Laura Sunderland
Dr. Umut Uzer, a postdoctoral fellow at the Centre for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University, met with the CIC Toronto Branch on March 20, 2008 at the CIC National Office. Dr. Uzur described Turkey as a multicultural empire with a long history of international engagement.
Dr. Uzer outlined the history of the Ottoman Empire. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey actively sought to be part of the modern, western world, and this trend continues today in Turkey’s ambition to join the European Union.
Dr. Uzer discussed Turkey’s major efforts to establish peaceful relationships in the region and to shape multilateral organizations in the 1990s. Dr. Uzer argued that Turkey is misperceived as an aggressive state, but that Turks see themselves as peaceful and have peaceful foreign political relationships with most states. Dr. Uzer urged the group to galvanize possibilities for Canadian-Turkish relations.
A very engaging question and answer period ensued, including discussions of the Armenian genocide, illegal immigration, EU membership requirements, Kurdish independence and Turkish policy in the Middle East.
View the event flyer: Flyer.
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