September 16, 2020

11:00am – 12:00pm

Zoom Webinar

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Long simmering tensions between powers in the Eastern Mediterranean have recently escalated to crisis levels. Competition between Turkey, Cyprus and Greece over gas discoveries, long-standing maritime border disputes, and regional rivalries have led to heightened tensions in the region. With bilateral attempts at negotiation remaining stalled, efforts to reduce tensions within NATO and the European Union have yet to produce results. While the President of the EU Council called on EU member states to discuss a coordinated response to the regional tensions, French President Macron’s confrontational rhetoric against Turkey exacerbates the situation. Will diplomatic efforts lead to a permanent solution, or even reduce tensions? Will other NATO members join France in supporting one side or another or will they sit on the sidelines? How have things gotten so bad in the first place? The SETA Foundation at Washington DC is pleased to host an expert panel discussion to discuss the crisis in the Eastern Mediterranean.

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Speakers Çağrı Erhan, Rector of Altınbaş University and Member of Presidential Foreign Policy and Security Committee of Turkey Yücel Acer, Professor of International Law, Faculty of Law, Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University Moderator Kadir Ustun, Executive Director, The SETA Foundation at Washington DC   Bios Çağrı Erhan is the Rector of Altınbaş University and a member of Council of Security and Foreign Policies Committee of the Turkish Presidency. Prof. Erhan is a Professor of International Relations. He has worked in Ankara University Faculty of Political Science for 21 years and has been the director of Ankara University's Centre for European Studies for 10 years. He is a Jean Monnet Chair holder. In June 2015, he was appointed as the Rector of Istanbul Kemerburgaz University. Istanbul Kemerburgaz University has changed its name to Altınbaş University in July 2017. Prof. Erhan has authored many books and articles on various International Relations and Turkish Foreign Policy subjects. Yucel Acer is a Professor of International Law and the Head of the Department of Public Law at Yıldırım Beyazıt Üniversitesi. He served as the rector of Çanakkale Onsekiz Mart Üniversitesi for four years. He holds a PhD degree in International Law at the University of Bristol, the United Kingdom, and a post-graduate degree from the University of Sheffield, the United Kingdom. Prof. Acer has authored many articles on various on the international legal issues arising from the Mediterranean Sea. He is a graduate of Ankara University, Faculty of Law. Kadir Ustun is the Executive Director at the SETA Foundation at Washington, D.C. Previously, Dr. Ustun was the Research Director at SETA DC and Assistant Editor of Insight Turkey. Dr. Ustun holds a PhD in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and African Studies from Columbia University and a Master’s degree in History from Bilkent University. He has contributed to various SETA reports and his writings have appeared in various publications such as Insight Turkey, Al Jazeera English, Hurriyet Daily News, Daily Sabah, Mediterranean Quarterly, and Cairo Review of Global Affairs among others. He is also co-editor of edited volumes History, Politics and Foreign Policy in Turkey, Change and Adaptation in Turkish Foreign Policy, Politics and Foreign Policy in Turkey: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, and Trump’s Jerusalem Move: Making Sense of U.S. Policy on the Israeli Palestinian Conflict.