Turkey, which straddles both the West and the East, is a major player in a region that is of geopolitical and geoeconomic interest to India. The ongoing political and social transition in Turkey will have a regional as well as global impact. What will be Turkey’s political future? How will this affect India? What are the lessons the governments of both countries can mutually learn about tackling corruption and issues of gender inequality?
On March 14, Gateway House hosted a Google Hangout with Turkish scholars Dr. Mesut Özcan, Advisor to Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of SAM (Centre for Strategic Research of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), and Cemil Dinmezpinar, Legislative Assistant Expert, Grand National Assembly of Turkey in conversation with Prof. Madhav Nalapat, Director of Geopolitics, Manipal University on Turkey: The fulcrum of international and social transition.
Dr. Mesut Özcan is currently the deputy chairman of the Centre for Strategic Research of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SAM), and also an advisor to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Government of Turkey. He has authored several books on foreign policy, which include Sorunlu Miras Irak (Iraq, A Problematic Heritage); Harmonizing Foreign Policy: Turkey, the EU and the Middle East, and Medeniyetler ve Dünya Düzen(ler) (Modernity and World Order).
Cemil Dinmezpınar is a Legislative Assistant Expert in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey, where he also serves on the Committee on Equality of Opportunities for Women and Men. He was on the European Union Harmonisation Committee in the past.
Prof. M.D. Nalapat holds the UNESCO Peace Chair and is Director of the Geopolitics and International Relations Department at Manipal University, an international private university headquartered in south India. He was the former Coordinating Editor of the Times of India and Editor of Matrubhumi. He writes extensively on security, policy, and international affairs, and is a columnist for the Sunday Guardian and the Pakistan Observer.
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