IR4118 Guest Lecture Series Concludes with Former Ambassadors Onur G├Âkce and Faruk Lo─čo─čluThe guest lecture series of IR4118 course, ÔÇśTurkey and the United States: Common Concerns and New ICT InstrumentsÔÇÖ, has concluded with former ambassadors Onur G├Âkce and Faruk Lo─čo─člu giving the last guest lectures for the semester on April 2nd and 9th. Ambassador G├Âkce and Lo─čo─člu joined IR4118 students to share their diplomatic experience and reflect on Turkish foreign policy and recent regional developments.G├Âkce, TurkeyÔÇÖs first ambassador to Israel between 1991 and 1995 was appointed during the ÔÇśgoldenÔÇÖ years of Israeli-Turkish relations which resulted in technological, military, and economic cooperation. In his talk, G├Âkce described the nature of the relationship between Turkey and Israel as ÔÇťbalanced and even-handedÔÇŁ with a potential to become ÔÇťsour and confrontationalÔÇŁ at certain periods of times depending on the nature of developments in the Middle East. G├Âkce also reflected on the latest Israeli apology over the Mavi Marmara raid in 2010 while highlighting the words of Prime Minister Netanyahu who apologized for any ÔÇťerrors that could have led to the loss of lifeÔÇŁ rather than admitting responsibility for the killings. However, G├Âkce said that the possibility of normalized relations with Israel still exist, referring to the fact that strong relations with Israel continued even during the Mavi Marmara crisis years.
In the last session of IR4118 guest lecture series, the course hosted Faruk Lo─čo─člu, former Turkish ambassador to the United States, and the Vice-Chairman of the Republican PeopleÔÇÖs Party (CHP), and a member of the Turkish Parliament. Lo─čo─člu reflected on Turkish-American relations and shared with the students the times of his office service as ambassador to the U.S. Lo─čo─člu recalled arriving in Washington D.C. shortly after the 9/11 attacks, which he described as the moment in which ÔÇťAmerica lost its innocenseÔÇŁ. Lo─čo─člu talked about the history of relations between Turkey and the U.S. and the shared values of ÔÇťdemocracy, rule of law, and human rightsÔÇŁ. He indicated that the Turkish-American relations strongly developed beyond NATO membership into bilateral agreements and diplomacy, although problems did surface at times, like during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Lo─čo─člu stressed the need for Turkish-American relations to be more continious, saying that economic and investment cooperation between the two countries remains limited. Lo─čo─člu also reflected on the recent visits of American president Barak Obama to the region, and the subsequent visits of U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, linking them to regional developments on the Syrian and Iranian front.
By Alp Eren Ba┼čer (IR/IV), ─░lkin Ismayilov (IR/IV), ├ça─čla K─▒l─▒├ž (IR/III), Selay Sipero─člu (IR/IV), Bora Akbay (IR/IV), Yi─čit Mahmuto─člu (IR/III), and P─▒nar K├Âksal (IR/IV).