Close
20241008

Events

Shifting Dynamics in the Middle East: Türkiye's Repositioning in the Region

Hosted by Contemporary Turkish Studies and the British Institute at Ankara (BIAA)

In-person public event (Thai Theatre, Cheng Kin Ku Building CKK, LSE)

Speakers

Dimitar Bechev

Dimitar Bechev

Sir John Jenkins

Sir John Jenkins

Ziya Meral

Ziya Meral

Selin Nasi

Selin Nasi

Chair

Yaprak Gürsoy

Yaprak Gürsoy

The conflict in Gaza has disrupted the delicate power dynamics in the Middle East.

Despite intense diplomatic efforts to achieve a ceasefire, a political solution has yet to be reached, and the risk of a broader regional conflict persists. Against this precarious background, what are the challenges Türkiye faces in the region and how can it effectively navigate through them? Bringing together experts and practitioners, this panel examines Türkiye’s past and future role in the Middle East through current dynamics.

Speakers will address the following questions:

• How have regional dynamics and alliances changed in the Middle East since the start of the conflict in Gaza? 
• What have been the main features of Turkish foreign policy in the Middle East in the past decades and how are these policies changing? 
• How is Türkiye’s military engagement and defence strategy shaping its role in regional conflicts? 

Meet our speakers and chair

Dimitar Bechev (@DimitarBechev) is a lecturer in Russian and East European Studies at Oxford University, a senior fellow at Carnegie Europe and the Director of the Dahrendorf Programme on Europe in a Changing World at St Antony's College, Oxford. He was previously a senior fellow at the Centre for Slavic, Eurasian, and East European Studies at UNC Chapel Hill (2016-2020) and at the European Council on Foreign Relations. He has held visiting fellowships at Harvard, LSE, and Hitotsubashi University. His research focuses on Central and Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Turkey, and Russian foreign policy. His books include Turkey under Erdogan (2022), Rival Power (2017), and more. 

Sir John Jenkins (@JohnJen96660941) is a former British diplomat with a 35-year career, serving as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Syria, and Burma, and as Consul-General in Jerusalem. He led the UK's 2014 Muslim Brotherhood Review and was Director for the Middle East and North Africa at the FCO. Jenkins has worked in Kuwait, the UAE, and Malaysia, and served as Ambassador to Libya during the 2011 revolution. From 2015 to 2018, he was IISS Director (Middle East) in Bahrain. He is now a Senior Fellow at Policy Exchange and a Consultant at Cambridge University’s Centre for Geopolitics.

Ziya Meral (@Ziya_Meral) is a Lecturer in International Studies and Diplomacy at SOAS, focusing on global trends in defense, security, climate risk, Turkish foreign policy, and the Middle East. He is a Senior Associate Fellow at RUSI, a Visiting Fellow at the Royal Navy's Strategic Studies Centre, and co-founder of the Climate Change and (In)Security Project. A media commentator, he has been featured on BBC, Al Jazeera, and MSNBC. He authored How Violence Shapes Religion (2018) and two Turkish-language books. 

Selin Nasi (@selinnasi) a Visiting Fellow at the European Institute of the London School of Economics, specializing in Turkey-Israel relations and the Middle East. She is also the London representative of the Ankara Policy Center- a Turkey-based think tank. Previously, she worked as a regular foreign policy columnist and published in various print and online media outlets in Turkey including Politikyol, Anka Review, Yetkin Report, Hurriyet Daily News, and Şalom newspaper.

Yaprak Gürsoy (@ygursoy) is Professor of European Politics and Chair in Contemporary Turkish Studies at LSE. She has worked on Turkish politics, democratization and regime consolidation. She is the author of Between Military Rule and Democracy: Regime Consolidation in Greece, Turkey, and Beyond.    

 More about this event

Contemporary Turkish Studies focuses on the politics and economy of Türkiye and its relations with the rest of Europe. The programme aims to promote a deeper understanding of contemporary Türkiye through interdisciplinary and critical research, teaching and related public activities.

The British Institute at Ankara (BIAA) was founded in 1947 and incorporated in the 1956 cultural agreement between the Republic of Türkiye and the United Kingdom. It is internationally renowned for conducting world-class research in Türkiye and the Black Sea region in the humanities and social sciences.

Hashtag for this event: #LSETürkiye

Podcast & Video

You can download the podcast of this event, watch the video online or read the summary transcript of the event. For access to podcasts and videos from other CTS events, visit the past event pages.

Accessibility
If you are planning to attend this event and would like details on how to get here and what time to arrive, as well as on accessibility and special requirements, please refer to LSE Events FAQ.  LSE aims to ensure that people have equal access to these public events, but please contact the events organiser as far as possible in advance if you have any access requirements so that arrangements, where possible, can be made. If the event is ticketed, please ensure you get in touch in advance of the ticket release date. Access Guides to all our venues can be viewed online.

Live captions
Automated live captions will be available at this webinar. Once you join the Zoom webinar, you will be able to show or hide the subtitles by clicking on the “Live Transcript - CC” button, from where you can also change the font size and choose to view the full transcript. Please note that this feature uses Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technology, or machine generated transcription, and is not 100% accurate.

Photography

Photographs taken on behalf of LSE are often used on our social media accounts, website and publications. At events, photographs could include broad shots of the audience and lecture theatre, of speakers during the talk, and of audience members as they participate in the Q&A.

If you are photographed participating in an event Q&A but would not like your photograph to be stored for future use, please contact events@lse.ac.uk.

Podcasts
We aim to make all LSE School of Public Policy events available as a podcast subject to receiving permission from the speaker/s to do this, and subject to no technical problems with the recording of the event. Podcasts are normally available 1-2 working days after the event. Podcasts and videos of past events can be found online.

Social media
Follow LSE School of Public Policy on Twitter for notification on the availability of an event podcast, the posting of transcripts and videos, the announcement of new events and other important event updates. Event updates and other information about what’s happening at LSE School of Public Policy can be found on the Facebook page and for live photos from events and around campus, follow us on Instagram. 

LSE in Pictures is a selection of images taken by the school photographer.

WIFI access
LSE has now introduced wireless for guests and visitors in association with 'The Cloud', also in use at many other locations across the UK. If you are on campus visiting for the day or attending a conference or event, you can connect your device to wireless. See more information and create an account at Join the Cloud.
Visitors from other participating institutions are encouraged to use eduroam. If you are having trouble connecting to eduroam, please contact your home institution for assistance.
The Cloud is only intended for guest and visitor access to wifi. Existing LSE staff and students are encouraged to use eduroam instead.

LSE holds a wide range of events, covering many of the most controversial issues of the day, and speakers at our events may express views that cause offence. The views expressed by speakers at LSE events do not reflect the position or views of The London School of Economics and Political Science.

From time to time there are changes to event details so we strongly recommend that if you plan to attend this event you check back on this listing on the day of the event.

Whilst we are hosting this listing, LSE Events does not take responsibility for the running and administration of this event. While we take responsible measures to ensure that accurate information is given here this event is ultimately the responsibility of the organisation presenting the event.

Share

  Sign up for news about events