Turkish politics and foreign policy: a centennial reflection

29 October 2023 marks the centenary of the proclamation of the Republic in Turkey. In this year’s John Martin Lecture, Professor Şule Kut will take a tour d’horizon of Turkish politics and foreign policy over time and across the major issues with a particular view for continuity and change. How does the present-day Republic compare with the young Republic founded on the ruins of a grand Empire 100 years ago? Where does Turkey stand today after all the political, sociological and constitutional transformations it has gone through? Has there been more change than continuity in Turkey’s foreign policy over the years? And lastly, but not the least, what are the prospects of Turkey crowning the Republic with a genuine democracy in the 21st century?

Speaker:

Şule Kut is a graduate of Robert College (1975), Boğaziçi University Faculty of Administrative Sciences, Business Administration (1979) and Political Science (1981). She completed her master's degree (1985) and doctorate (1987) in Political Science at Binghamton University in New York. Kut was a faculty member at the Department of International Relations at Marmara University between 1987 and 1999 and taught at Koç University between 1996-2000. Between 1999 and 2010, she worked at the Department of International Relations at İstanbul Bilgi University where she has also served as the Head of Department, Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences and Vice Rector. She later served as Rector of İstanbul Okan University for two terms (2010-2014; 2014-2018). Her main research and teaching interests and academic publications focus on Turkish Foreign Policy as well as the Balkans. Kut served as the President of the Turkish Political Science Association (2009-2017), and was a member of the Board of Directors of the International Political Science Association (IPSA; 2009-2014). She is a member of the Advisory Board of LSE’s Contemporary Turkish Studies Chair at the European Institute; and serves on the Board of Directors of the Turkish Social, Economic and Political Research Foundation (TÜSES). She is also a founding member of the History Foundation in Turkey and a member of Global Relations Forum based in Istanbul.

Chair:

Yaprak Gürsoy (@ygursoy) is Professor of European Politics and Chair of Contemporary Turkish Studies at LSE.

More about this event

Contemporary Turkish Studies focuses on the politics and economy of Turkey and its relations with the rest of Europe. The programme aims to promote a deeper understanding of contemporary Turkey through interdisciplinary and critical research, teaching and related public activities.

The British Association for Turkish Area Studies (BATAS) aims to bring together and provide a forum for people interested in and keen to know more about Turkish life, society, history, language and culture. It is the only organisation in the United Kingdom dedicated to such an aim which it seeks to achieve by means of lectures, symposia, the sponsorship of publications and the distribution free to members of a substantial biannual journal, the Turkish Area Studies Review.

Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSETurkey

*Header image: iStock, photo ID:1082823574, credit: Harvepino.

Host or Publisher Contemporary Turkish Studies