Turkey-Syria Relations

Between Enmity and Amity

Edited by Raymond Hinnebusch and Özlem Tür (Ashgate, 2013)

In 1997 Turkey and Syria were on the brink of war, engaged in a very real power struggle. Turkey was aligned with Syria’s main enemy, Israel, and there were seemingly intractable differences on the issues of borders, the sharing of river waters and trans-border communities. In less than a decade, relations were transformed from enmity to amity. Border issues and water sharing quarrels were moving towards amicable settlement and the two states’ policies toward the Kurdish issue converging. Turkey undertook to mediate the Syrian-Israeli conflict and close political and economic relations were developing rapidly between the two states. Yet, with the Syrian Uprising, relations returned to enmity

What explains these remarkable changes? Given that Turkey and Syria are two pivotal states in the region, what are the implications of this changing relationship for the international politics of the Middle East, the balance of power and regional stability?

In this internationally collaborative work, co-edited by Raymond Hinnebusch and Özlem Tür, British, Syrian and Turkish scholars address these questions and examine the various domestic and international drivers in this key regional relationship. They discuss what theories best help us understand these seismic realignments and explore the impact of economic interdependence, identity changes and power balances on the evolving relationship between these two key regional powers.

Contents: 

Preface; Introduction: the study of Turkey-Syria relations, Raymond Hinnebusch; Ripeness theory and coercive diplomacy as a road to conflict resolution: the case of the Turkey-Syria showdown in 1998, Berna Süer; Syrian-Turkish relations: geopolitical explanations for the move from conflict to co-operation, Marwan Kalaban; Turkey’s Cold War alliance: nation -building and the utility of the 1957 Syrian crisis, Reem Abou-El-Fadl; Paradise lost: a neoclassical realist analysis of Turkish foreign policy and the case of Turkish-Syrian relations, Ahmet K. Han; ‘Milking the male goat’ and Syrian-Turkish relations, Sami Moubayed; ‘Victory of friendship’? Assad, Erdogan and football diplomacy in Aleppo, Philip Robins; As seen from Damascus: the transformation in Syrian-Turkish relations, Samir al-Taqi and Raymond Hinnebusch; The importance of the unimportant: understanding Syrian policies towards Hatay 1939-2012, Emma Lundgren Jörum; Ethnicity, religion and foreign policy: Turkish-Syrian relations since the 1980s, Yasemin Akbaba and Özgür Özdamar; Back to conflict? The securitization of water in Syrian-Turkish relations, Marwa Daoudy; Turkey-Syria water relations: institutional development and political confrontations in the Euphrates and Tigris region, Aysegül Kibaroglu; The political economy of Turkish-Syrian relations in the 2000s – the rise and fall of trade, investment and integration, Özlem Tür; Explaining the transformation of Turkish-Syrian relations: a regionalist approach, Meliha Benli Altunisik; The Syrian uprising and the Iran-Turkey-Syria quasi alliance: a view from Turkey, Özden Zeynep Oktav; Conclusion, Raymond Hinnebusch and Özlem Tür; Bibliography; Index.

About the Editor: 

Raymond Hinnebusch is Professor of International Relations and Middle East Politics at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, co-founder of the Institute for the study of the Middle East, Central Asian and the Caucasus and Director of the Centre for Syrian Studies.

Dr. Özlem Tür is an Associate Professor of International Relations at Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. Her main expertise includes the political economy of the Middle East, Arab-Israeli Conflict and Turkey’s relations with the Middle East (especially Syria, Israel and Lebanon).

Reviews: 

‘As Turkey turns toward the Middle East, relations with Syria mark the front line where simmering conflicts with Kurdish nationalists and Iran intersect with blossoming economic opportunities across the Levant and Gulf. This impressive collection explores crucial aspects of the relationship, from divergent state-building strategies to often-overlooked sporting events, and explains pivotal events using sophisticated theories of world politics.’ Fred H. Lawson, Mills College, USA

‘This book looks into one of the most understudied bilateral relationships within the Middle East sub-system of the post 9/11 world, i.e. Turkey-Syria; providing comprehensive assessments from an extremely informative multinational group of authors, using a variety of theoretical approaches, disciplinary perspectives, and levels of analysis. It contributes to the understanding of foreign policy analysis literature by insisting that the best way to study it might be to incorporate the multiple dimensions of rival IR theories and to look at the interrelations between them rather than arguing for the exclusivity of one.’  Mustafa Aydın, Kadir Has University, Turkey

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The Cosmopolitan Ideal: Challenges and Opportunities

Date: 10-12 July 2013

Venue: Roehampton University, UK

Keynote speakers (confirmed): Gerard Delanty (University of Sussex), Kate Nash (Goldsmith’s College, University of London)

Call for papers:

The conference aims to critically interrogate the idea of cosmopolitanism. Whereas previously cosmopolitanism was associated with (abstract) ideas of world citizenship and universal brotherhood, more recent constructions emphasize the multiplicity of identities, belongings, and memberships that are possible across a plurality of communities. In addition to a rejection of a narrow nationalistic outlook cosmopolitanism can claim a new political content: the idea of world citizenship has been given substance through notions of environmental responsibility, the universality of human and personhood rights, and the drive for worldwide human development. For these and many other reasons cosmopolitanism provides an important perspective on processes of globalization and the interconnectedness of the world.

The conference organizers invite proposals for papers which address themes of relevance to the conference, including:

• The politics of cosmopolitanism
• Cosmopolitanism, global civil society and human rights
• Cosmopolitanism and identity
• The cosmopolitan city
• Cosmopolitan business practices and cross-cultural management
• Critical cosmopolitanism
• Cosmopolitan theory in global studies
• Cosmopolitanism and the media

 Proposals for papers should take the form of a 300 word abstract and may be submitted on any aspect of the conference theme. The organisers will allocate papers to an appropriate panel. The deadline for submission of abstracts is April 30 2013. Please send to conference organizer Darren O’Byrne at D.OByrne [at] roehampton.ac.uk

Conference registration:

Costs: Full registration £175 (includes accommodation, lunch and other refreshments, and conference fee).  Discounted student registration £150. Conference dinner £40 extra for all delegates. Registration includes automatic GSA membership.  A conference webpage will go live shortly giving details of how to register. For updates and news please visit the GSA webpage

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Organizers: CESRAN International, Coventry University, Karadeniz Technical University and EkoAvrasya

Date: 25^th – 26^th September 2013

Venue: Karadeniz Technical University, Trabzon – TURKEY

For further details, click here.

Call for Papers

In Ancient Greece, the earth was divided into three separate pieces of land; Europe, Asia, and Africa. The boundaries were water ways. For instance, the Mediterranean Sea was the boundary between Africa and Europe; the Nile was the boundary between Africa and Asia[1]. While the boundaries which separate Africa from Europe and Asia were clear, there was no certain boundary between Europe and Asia. That is why; thenceforth many inclusion and exclusion ways have been produced to describe the placement of Europe, Asia and Africa in the modern world. From this point of view, we embrace the idea that wider Eurasia comprised of Europe, Asia and Africa.

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Stiftung Mercator and Istanbul Policy Center at Sabancı University invite academics and professionals with an interest in Turkey to apply for a fellowship program that aims to strengthen academic, political and social ties between Turkey and Germany, as well as between Turkey and Europe. The program is based on the premise that in an increasingly globalized world, acquisition of knowledge and the exchange of people and ideas are preconditions for meeting the challenges of the 21st century.

Mercator – IPC Fellows work at Istanbul Policy Center (IPC), an independent policy research institute with global outreach located in the center of Istanbul. IPC’s mission is to foster academic research and its application to policy making. The Center is firmly committed to providing decision-makers, opinion leaders, academics and the general public with innovative and objective analyses of key domestic and foreign policy issues. 

IPC offers the Mercator – IPC Fellows access to a broad network of academics, civil society activists and decision makers as well as a unique platform for sound academic research to shape hands-on policy work. Likewise, fellows profit from Sabancı University’s exceptional intellectual capital and vast reserves of scientific knowledge.

Mercator – IPC Fellowships are available to outstanding academics and professionals who are at the beginning of their career and work in one of three thematic areas:

| EU/German-Turkish relations
| Climate change
| Education

In the 2013/14 round, at least six Mercator – IPC Fellowships are available for outstanding young academics and professionals who have significant prior work experience. The fellows will be expected to work on academic or practical projects at IPC. A Master’s degree (or equivalent) is required for this position, but a PhD degree is strongly preferred. Applicants without a PhD degree will only be accepted if their work experience and expertise meet the program requirements to the jury’s satisfaction. Projects which focus on the German-Turkish nexus are likewise preferred. Applicants cannot apply for fellowships to fund their PhD dissertations.

The 2013/14 fellowships begin September 1, 2013 and the deadline for applications is April 1, 2013.

Please send your applications or further questions by email to the Program Coordinator, Mr. Daniel Grütjen (see below for contact details). Feel free to share this information with your friends, colleagues and students. For full details, see the Mercator – IPC Fellowship program guidelines at:http://ipc.sabanciuniv.edu/en/about_fellowship/.

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The Institute of Public Administration of Leiden University invites applications for the position of

PhD researcher (38 hours per week)
Vacancy number: 13-049

for conducting research and fieldwork in the framework of the MAXCAP FP 7 Research Project.  MAXCAP (MAXIMIZING THE INTEGRATION CAPACITY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION: LESSONS AND PROSPECTS FOR ENLARGEMENT AND BEYOND) brings together a group of excellent researchers from nine European institutions. The research project will investigate the political and economic effects of the EU’s 2004-2007 enlargement, the strategies the EU developed to cope with the political, social and economic challenges accompanying it, and the lessons for current and future enlargements and the neighbourhood policy.

The Institute of Public Administration has an established international profile and has received consistently high ratings in peer reviews of both its teaching and research programmes. The Institute is a member of the national research school — the Netherlands Institute of Government –, and is also represented in various activities such as in-company courses and contract research.

Tasks

• Conducting research in a team of scholars based at Leiden University’s Institute of Public Administration in cooperation with other scholars from the nine institutions involved in the consortium.
• Field work in several countries as specified in the MAXCAP project
• Processing the results of the field work specified in WP 3 of the project using Q methodology and other methods relevant to the task
• Ensuring, together with the supervisor and project team, that project deliverables are completed on time and in accordance with the project requirements
• Organization and participation in dissemination events: seminars, conferences, briefings.

Requirements

• Completed or soon to be completed MA or comparable degree in public administration, political science, sociology, economics or another related and relevant social science; The MA must be completed prior to the beginning of the contract.
• Good interpersonal skills, ability to keep to deadlines and to operate in a multicultural environment are essential.
• The candidate must be open to learning and using a variety of research methods and approaches specified in the project description and prepared to do fieldwork in several countries.
• Applicants are requested to write a motivation letter of maximum 800 words explaining why they are interested in this project and how they see their role.

We offer

The Institute of Public Administration is located within the Faculty of Campus The Hague, Leiden’s second location in The Netherlands and a 12-minute train ride from the city of Leiden. Established in 1575, Leiden University is the oldest university in The Netherlands and one of Europe’s foremost research universities, which is now proud to develop its second campus in The Hague.

The MAXCAP consortium unites 9 institutions from 7 countries, including the Free University of Berlin, London School of Economics, the European University Institute and other leading universities in Europe. The researcher will have the chance to participate in a variety of interesting project activities, some especially organized for young researchers.

This PhD position is for a duration of three years and can be extended by one year based on performance and evaluation after the first year, with an emphasis on teaching as well as research in the forth year. The salary level ranges from € 2.062, – per month for the first year, increasing to € 2.517,- per month in the third year.

Information

For inquiries, please contact Dr. Antoaneta Dimitrova atDimitrova@fsw.leidenuniv.nl. For further information about the project, please see: the website of the Institute of Public Administration at:http://www.socialsciences.leiden.edu/publicadministration/ or the coordinator’s page at the Free University of Berlin:
http://www.polsoz.fuberlin.de/en/polwiss/forschung/international/europa/forschung/laufende_dm_Forschungsprojekte /MAXCAP/index.html

Applications

Candidates must submit the following application material by 1 March 2013 tovacaturescdh@bb.leidenuniv.nl, noting the vacancy reference number and their surname in the subject header:

• A motivation letter explaining why the applicant is interested in doing research in MAXCAP.
• Curriculum Vitae
• A list of grades
• A writing example and/or possible publications
• A separate list of the contact details of two referees (including indication of the connection with the applicant).

Complete applications will be reviewed in early March 2013, and short-listed candidates will be invited for interview in the second part of March.

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Call for reviewers of the book below is now closed.

We have received a good number of applications. Our advisory board will make the final decision.

The result will be announced shortly.

Stay tuned.

Çigdem Nas and Yonca Özer (eds.) (2012) Turkey and the European Union: Processes of Europeanisation, Ashgate

Contents: 

Introduction, Çigdem Nas and Yonca Özer

Europeanisation meets Turkey: a case of sui generis?, Tanja A. Börzel

Europeanisation of identity: the case of the rebuffed candidate, Çigdem Nas

The EU’s impact on democratisation in Turkey: Europeanisation through political conditionality, Yonca Özer

Turkish constitutional transformation and the EU: Europeanisation towards constitutionalism?, Bertil Emrah Oder

Europeanisation of civil society in Turkey during the accession process to the European Union, Selcen Öner

From EU conditionality to domestic choice for change: exploring Europeanisation of minority rights in Turkey, Gözde Yilmaz

Contribution to the Europeanisation process: demands for democracy of second wave feminism in Turkey, Sevgi Uçan Çubukçu

Social policy in the EU and Turkey: the limits of Europeanisation, Dmitris Tsarouhas

Europeanisation of Turkish environmental policy with special reference to sustainability discourse, Rana Izci

Europeanisation of Turkish foreign policy after more than 10 years of EU candidacy, Özlem Terzi

Turkey’s Cyprus policy: a case of contextual Europeanisation, Alper Kaliber

Europeanisation and migration and asylum policies in Turkey, Catherine Macmillan

Conclusion, Çigdem Nas and Yonca Özer

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To promote and award academic and scientific excellence among young researchers pursuing doctoral degrees in the UK, Association of British Turkish Academics (ABTA) announces the ABTA Doctoral Researcher Awards.

The awards will be given in three categories:
- Engineering & Physical Sciences
- Management & Social Sciences
- Biological & Medical Sciences

Applications will be accepted from PhD candidates or recent graduates of UK universities.
* There are no nationality restrictions

The Judging Process

The applications will be assessed by prominent British and Turkish academics working at the UK universities.

Firstly, a sub-committee will shortlist up to eight applications for each category. A scientific committee in each category will then select three finalists from the shortlisted candidates. Finalists will be invited to give a short presentation of their research before a panel of judges on the day of the award ceremony. Based on the submitted research portfolios and the presentations, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and honourable mention places will be announced.

We encourage all recent PhD holders and PhD candidates to apply for this prestigious award.

Please submit a research portfolio and an application form to dra2013@abtanet.org.uk. Deadline for applications is 5 pm, Friday, 29 March, 2013.

Your research portfolio must include the following:
- An up-to-date CV
- A research statement
- A representative paper (this can be both published (journal/conference paper) or unpublished work (thesis chapter, extended abstract, etc.) )

The award ceremony will take place at University College London on Saturday, 18 May, 2013.

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Stiftung Mercator and Istanbul Policy Center at Sabancı University invite academics and professionals with an interest in Turkey to apply for a fellowship program that aims to strengthen academic, political and social ties between Turkey and Germany, as well as between Turkey and Europe. The program is based on the premise that in an increasingly globalized world, acquisition of knowledge and the exchange of people and ideas are preconditions for meeting the challenges of the 21st century.

Mercator – IPC Fellows work at Istanbul Policy Center (IPC), an independent policy research institute with global outreach located in the center of Istanbul. IPC’s mission is to foster academic research and its application to policy making. The Center is firmly committed to providing decision-makers, opinion leaders, academics and the general public with innovative and objective analyses of key domestic and foreign policy issues.

IPC offers the Mercator – IPC Fellows access to a broad network of academics, civil society activists and decision makers as well as a unique platform for sound academic research to shape hands-on policy work. Likewise, fellows profit from Sabancı University’s exceptional intellectual capital and vast reserves of scientific knowledge.

Mercator – IPC Fellowships are available to outstanding academics and professionals who are at the beginning of their career and work in one of three thematic areas:

| EU/German-Turkish relations
| Climate change
| Education

In the 2013/14 round, at least six Mercator – IPC Fellowships are available for outstanding young academics and professionals who have significant prior work experience. The fellows will be expected to work on academic or practical projects at IPC. A Master’s degree (or equivalent) is required for this position, but a PhD degree is strongly preferred. Applicants without a PhD degree will only be accepted if their work experience and expertise meet the program requirements to the jury’s satisfaction. Projects which focus on the German-Turkish nexus are likewise preferred. Applicants cannot apply for fellowships to fund their PhD dissertations.

The 2013/14 fellowships begin September 1, 2013 and the deadline for applications is April 1, 2013.

Please send your applications or further questions by email to the Program Coordinator, Mr. Daniel Grütjen (see below for contact details). Feel free to share this information with your friends, colleagues and students. For full details, see the Mercator – IPC Fellowship program guidelines at: http://ipc.sabanciuniv.edu/en/about_fellowship/.

With kind regards,

Prof. Dr. Fuat Keyman, Istanbul Policy Center, Director

For further questions please contact:

Daniel Grütjen, Mercator – IPC Fellowship Program Coordinator

Email: danielgrutjen@sabanciuniv.edu

Telephone: +90 (0)212 292 49 39 ext. 1403

or

Yasemin Berrak Tuna, Mercator – IPC Fellowship Program Assistant

Email: yasemintuna@sabanciuniv.edu

Telephone: +90 (0)212 292 49 39 ext. 1418

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LSE Contemporary Turkish Studies Public Conference

21 January 2013, 18:00-20:00, COW1.11, First Floor, Cowdray House, LSE

Speaker: Professor Ayhan Kaya

“Alevi Question in Turkey and the Justice and Development Party: Limits of Tolerance”

Referring to the findings of an on-going FP7 project entitled “Accept Pluralism: Tolerance, Pluralism, and Social Cohesion: Responding to the Challenges of the 21st Century in Europe,” Professor Kaya will scrutinize the stand points of different Alevi groups in Turkey vis-a-vis the contemporary Alevi initiative of the ruling party, Justice and Development Party (AKP), with a focus on the re-modification of the curricula of the compulsory courses on religious culture and morality given at the primary and secondary school levels. In doing so, he claims that the Alevis have generated two main stands in their perspectives towards the initiative with regard to the notion of tolerance. Those groups favouring the government initiative perceived the initiative as a kind of liberal tolerance, while the opponent groups perceived it as tolerance without recognition and respect. He argues that the fault line between the positions of the two groups mainly derives from their interpretation of Alevism. The former defines Alevism primarily within the boundaries of Islam, thus AKP’s attempt to Islamize Alevism does not create a problem for them. The latter, on the other hand, perceives Alevism as an heterodox and syncretic culture borrowing from different traditions such as shamanism, Islam, pantheism, Christianity etc.

This event will take place on Monday, 21 January 2013 from 6pm to 8pm at Room COW1.11, First Floor, Cowdray House, LSE.  

Professor Ayhan Kaya is Director of the European Institute at İstanbul Bilgi University. He received his PhD in Ethnic Relations from University of Warwick. His areas of expertise are political theory, ethnicity and global order, contemporary political ideologies, politics of cultural diversity, international migration, and politics of transnationalism. Professor Kaya has published extensively in his research areas. His forthcoming book is “Europeanization and Tolerance in Turkey: The Myth of Toleration” (London: Palgrave, March 2013).

This event is free and open to all with no ticket required.

Click here for the Flyer of this event 

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