Hürriyet, Turkey
Jan 31 2009
Bridging the gap between academia, media & power
ISTANBUL – There is a relationship between the decision-making
process, academia, civil society and the media, says Sylvia Tiryaki,
but the question is about how this chain can be more functional. The
GPOT Center has been established to deal with this question, she says.
As a new think tank in Turkey, The Global Political Trend Center, or
GPOT, aims to bridge the gap between decision makers and academia,
according to its deputy director, Dr. Sylvia Tiryaki.
"Due to lack of time, policymakers sometimes follow international
politics in view of micro-trends," Tiryaki told the Hürriyet
Daily News & Economic Review in an interview last week. "Moreover, the
decision-making process is so battered by regional and bilateral
problems, such a micro-outlook generally results in the loss of global
tendencies from sight."
There is a relationship between the decision-making process, academia,
civil society and the media, she added, but the question is about how
this chain can be more functional.
The GPOT Center has been formed to answer this crucial question. The
center, established as a research unit under the auspices of Istanbul
Kültür University last year, seeks to produce innovative
and distinctive policy recommendations by analyzing contemporary
trends in regional and global politics. Another objective is to
provide a platform to examine the reflections of certain global
formations in international politics.
The recent shift in Turkish foreign policy, as exemplified during
Israel’s assault on Gaza, is also on GPOT’s agenda. While the center
studies Turkey’s position and its role within current global trends,
it also tries to conclude how Turkey should respond to those trends in
a rational way.
The GPOT has been involved in several projects, including the Forum
for the Future, projects that monitor recent developments on the
Cyprus issue, the discussion of Turkish-Armenian relations,
second-track diplomacy between Israel and Syria and Turkish-Arab
dialogue.
"We have two ongoing projects on Turkish-Armenian ties," Tiryaki
said. "First, we focus on the bias in the media, prejudices and
misunderstandings in both countries. We are trying to find out the
media’s negative or positive impacts on uneasy bilateral relations. On
Armenian claims of genocide, we also initiated a workshop with leading
lawmakers on the legal limits of such claims."
While Turkey’s near abroad has been gripped by bloodshed, the GPOT
Center has worked together with academics, researchers and experts
from the Middle East, analyzing not just Turkey’s relations with the
Arab world but also the internal contradictions of the region. For its
part, the center seeks to hold annual meetings under the name
"Turkish-Arab Forum," in cooperation with the Ibn-Khaldun Center for
Development Studies in Cairo, Egypt and the Center for Arab Unity
Studies and Arab Democracy Foundation in Beirut, Lebanon.
‘Misperceptions on both sides’
"As a Western-oriented country, Turkey attracts attention from Arab
nations. But there are misperceptions on both sides," Tiryaki said.
"With the support of our partner organizations in the Middle East, we
try to discover where misunderstandings still prevail. We also have a
political project called ‘Democratization of Middle East,’ prepared by
researchers in the region." Despite a temporary slowdown in Turkey’s
journey into the European Union, the GPOT Center strives to win over
the Europeans "who are very curious about Turkey’s political
strategy."
"Foreigners want to know what is causing the recent shift in Turkish
foreign policy, which is now more proactive and has an mediating
role," she said. The GPOT Center is also preparing to publish four
books dealing with Cyprus and the history of Turkish-Israeli
relations. It has already published briefs on Gaza and northern Iraq.