About the Speech:

Turkey's EU accession process has received a number of positive signals since the start of this year. Both France and Germany have indicated that they want to revive Turkey's stalled membership bid and impart a 'new spirit' into Turkey-EU relations. The Irish Presidency is now working on opening a new chapter in Turkey's accession process, the first in two and a half years. This seminar assessed Turkey's past, present and future relations with the EU, as well as the increasingly important role this country of 75 million people is playing in the Middle East and North Africa region. It also discussed the long-term prospects of Turkey's economic development, and examined if Turkey is really on course to achieve its stated ambition to become one of the top ten economies in the world by 2023.

About the Speakers:

Prof. Haluk Kabaalioglu is Dean of the School of Law and Jean Monnet Professor of EU Law in Istanbul's Yeditepe University. He is also the Chairman of the Economic Development Foundation (IKV), an organisation that represents Turkish business abroad and seeks to contribute to Turkey's EU integration process. Prof. Kabaalioglu received his Masters of Law from Columbia University. He has had a distinguished academic career and has also served at the Permanent Representation of Turkey to the EU as an expert counsellor. 

Prof. Feroz Ahmad is Chair of the Department of International Relations and Political Science at Yeditepe University. He is the author of many influential books on Turkey, including The Making of Modern Turkey (1993) and Turkey: The Quest for Identity (2003). He was the Editor of The Cambridge History of Turkey, Volume IV and previously taught at the University of Masachusetts and Tufts University.

Durmus Yilmaz is a Turkish economist and was the Governor of the Central Bank of Turkey between 2006 and 2011. He is currently an adviser to the President of Turkey, Abdullah Gül. Mr. Yilmaz has a B.A. degree from Cass Business School and an M.A. from University College London. 

Dr. John O'Brennan is the Director of the Centre for the Study of Wider Europe and the European Studies Programme at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. He is a lecturer in European Politics and Society and has written extensively on the process and politics of EU Enlargement, Turkey's accession process, the EU's use of conditionality and Ireland's membership of the EU.