The İstanbul Universities Meeting on 'Our EU Process and Opportunities for Youth', prepared in cooperation with İstanbul University and Yıldız Technical University, was held on October 20, 2022 at İstanbul University (İU) Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin Congress and Culture Center. The conference was chaired by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director for EU Affairs Ambassador Faruk Kaymakcı.

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İstanbul Universities Meeting was held on October 20, 2022 at İU Prof. Dr. Fuat Sezgin Congress and Culture Center. Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director for EU Affairs Ambassador Faruk Kaymakcı chaired the conference titled "Our EU Process and Opportunities for Youth", which was prepared in cooperation with İstanbul University and Yıldız Technical University. Students from many universities in İstanbul attended the conference.

Prof. Dr. Alkan: “It is a challenging process for both Turkey and EU countries”

İU Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Haluk Alkan started his opening speech by talking about the radical transformation brought about by the 1990s in the world: “The 90s brought a lot of debates and unfortunately we still cannot say that this transformation has stabilized. Studies in those years focused on the future of transnational regional integrations and how they would play a role in the world system. It was a difficult process for both Turkey and EU member states.” Stating that these difficulties still continue, Prof. Dr. Alkan said that the EU was the fastest responder to the new system in the process.

Prof. Dr. Alkan: “EU is Not Substitutable”

Prof. Dr. Alkan continued his words by saying, “The EU has given very important tests both with its ability to develop political institutions and its ability to develop strategies related to foreign policy”. Prof. Dr. Alkan said that there are deep political, economic and geopolitical relations between Turkey and EU countries and underlined that the EU is not substitutable. Prof. Dr. Alkan stated that the EU has implemented regulations in many areas from civil society to local governments, from youth policies to close neighbor programs, “Today's topic is youth policies. These policies gained importance with Turkey-EU relations, which gained momentum in the 1990s and early 2000s.

Kaymakcı: “An Indicator That The EU Membership Process Is Unifying”

After Prof. Dr. Alkan's speech, Ambassador Faruk Kaymakcı, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director for EU Affairs, was introduced to the participants. Then Kaymakcı took the stage to make his presentation. Kaymakcı started his speech with the words, “The fact that students came not only from the two universities that organized the conference, but also from other universities in İstanbul is actually an indication of how unifying and important the EU membership process is." “We are the most experienced, most awaited or put on hold candidate country in the EU. This relationship has opportunities for us. How much do you know about these opportunities, I will ask you about them today” Kaymakcı stated that they will discuss Turkey's EU membership process.

Participants Answered Questions Simultaneously

In the organization where an interactive meeting took place, the participants logged into a website with their mobile phones and then answered the questions simultaneously from the screen of their phones. Kaymakcı first asked the participants two questions:

B. If you had the option to do your undergraduate, graduate and doctorate studies in a country other than Turkey, which country/country group would you choose?
-EU countries/European countries
-USA/Canada
-Middle East countries
-Japan/South Korea
-Asian countries
-South/Latin American countries

Turkey's EU Membership Process in 10 Questions

Following the above questions, the 10 questions asked to the participants about Turkey's EU membership process were as follows:

1. Do you believe that Turkey's EU membership will be beneficial for Turkey and do you support Turkey's EU membership process?
-Yes
-No

2. Select the three areas where EU membership would most benefit Turkey in your opinion.
-Trade / investment / financial support
-Democracy, human rights
-Visa liberalization / free movement
-Stronger Turkish foreign policy
-Safer Turkey
-Better living standards

3. Do you believe that Turkey's EU membership will do more harm than good to Turkey and are you against Turkey's EU membership process?
-Yes
-No

4. If you are against Turkey's EU membership, what are the three most important reasons for your opposition?
With EU membership, we will lose our sovereignty.
-With EU membership, we lose our religion and traditions.
-With EU membership, we become a market for the EU.
-We do not share the same values and goals with the EU.
-EU membership divides our country.
-It is not possible for us to fulfill the EU membership conditions.
-With EU membership, our foreign and security policy weakens.
-The EU is a failed union, it will soon disintegrate.
-The EU does not accept us as a member anyway.

5. Do you believe that Turkey has the administrative and institutional capacity and trained manpower to become a member of the EU?
-Yes
-No

6. Do you believe that the basic studies required for EU membership have been done sufficiently in Turkey?
-Yes
-No

7. Do you believe that the EU will accept Turkey as a member under the current conditions?
-Yes
-No

8. Do you believe that the EU will accept a Turkey, which has fulfilled the conditions of membership and turned its perception into a positive one, for EU membership?
-Yes
-No

9. Which three issues do you think the EU is most concerned about/doubt/indecisiveness about in terms of making Turkey a member?
-Turkey's land and population size
-Turkey's relatively low level of economic development, relatively high rate of agriculture in national income and employment, and regional income differences
-The majority of Turkey's population is Muslim.
-Prejudices and fears about Turks from history
- Compliance with the Copenhagen political criteria
-Turkey's geographical location / proximity to the Middle East
-Cyprus issue

10. Do you believe that Turkey's EU membership will be beneficial for Turkey and do you support Turkey's EU membership process?
-Yes
-No

From 78 percent to 85 percent

After the presentation was over, Kaymakcı drew attention to the 1st and 10th questions and stated that both questions are the same and said: “The text of the question is exactly the same, but there is a difference: We have been discussing Turkey-EU relations with you for about 45 minutes. While 78 percent of you said 'Yes' in the first question, now 85% of you say 'Yes'. With our discussions, I was able to break your prejudices a little bit, it means that you have a little more hope for EU membership.”

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Ambassador Faruk Kaymakcı Hosted at İU Rectorate

Kaymakcı, who came to İstanbul University, was hosted at İU Rector's Office before the conference. The meeting held at the office was attended by İU Vice Rector Prof. Dr. Haluk Alkan on behalf of İU Rector Prof. Dr. Mahmut Ak, İU Faculty of Political Sciences Dean Prof. Dr. Ayşegül Komsuoğlu Çıtıpıtıoğlu, İU Faculty of Political Sciences Lecturer Associate Professor Özgün Erler Bayır and students of Faculty of Political Sciences.

Prof. Dr. Alkan: “We are sending an average of 500 Erasmus students per year”

When Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director for EU Affairs Ambassador Faruk Kaymakcı asked about the number of students at İU, Prof. Dr. Alkan said that there were 67 thousand formal students and added: “Before Cerrahpaşa was divided, it was around 100 thousand. We have 565 thousand students at the Faculty of Open and Distance Education (AUZEF). 17 thousand of the students are studying at the postgraduate level. Of our 560 graduate programs, 220 are doctoral programs. At the same time, we have close to 8,000 international students. Apart from these, we send an average of 500 Erasmus students per year to universities abroad. We are a university that fills our quota.”

Prof. Dr. Komsuoğlu: “There are more than 40 EU courses”

Prof. Dr. Komsuoğlu, on the other hand, stated that many departments in the Faculty of Political Sciences have switched to English teaching, some of them 30 percent. Prof. Dr. Komsuoğlu, who stated that English teaching can be increased to 50-60 percent if desired, said, “With these regulations, language teaching has reached a much higher level. The language problem of the students has also been solved.’’ About Kaymakcı‘s statement, “Language education is very important in terms of equality of opportunity. We send students, but the foreign language of most of them is not that good’’, Prof. Dr. Komsuoğlu said, “Many deputy ministers, bureaucrats, governors graduated from İU Faculty of Political Sciences. Recent results in foreign affairs have started to get better. The problem there was the language. All of the students who will graduate now have received language training as they have studied preparatory school. Apart from the exams of the Ministry of Interior, we expect our new graduates to make a difference in the exams of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, together with language training. If you search for the European Union from the main catalogue, more than 40 EU courses will come out’’.

Kaymakcı to Prof. Dr. Komsuoğlu, who stated that there are many professors at the Faculty of Political Sciences at İU who did their doctorate in France, said: “As the EU Presidency, we are open to any kind of cooperation. My hat at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also responsible for bilateral relations with France. French Ambassador Hervé Magro is also a very positive ambassador. We would like our Francophone professors here to teach in France as well.”

After the meeting, a mutual gift was presented between Prof. Dr. Alkan and Kaymakcı. Prof. Dr. Alkan accepted the gifts on behalf of İU Rector Prof. Dr. Mahmut Ak. Afterwards, a photo shoot was held in front of the historical gate of İU.

Who is Faruk Kaymakcı?

He graduated from Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences, Department of Economics in 1988. With a government scholarship from the Ministry of National Education, between 1989-1992, he did EU Studies at the University of Strasbourg in France and an Master of EU Economics at the London School of Economics in the UK. Kaymakcı also completed his Master in EU Policies at the College of Europe (Brugge), where he studied between 1999-2000, with a scholarship from the European Commission. Kaymakcı, who started working at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1994, worked in the Balkans (1994-95), Multilateral Economic Institutions (1995-96), Policy Planning (2002-03) and EU (2008) General Directorates. He also served as the Special Counselor and Head of Communications at the Ministry for EU Affairs between 2009-11.

NATO Distinguished Service Medal in Afghanistan

Kaymakcı, who worked abroad at the Tripoli Embassy (1997-99), NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan (2004-05), and the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the European Union three times (1999-02, 2005-08, 2017-18) He served as Turkey's Consul General to Basra between 2013 and the Republic of Turkey Ambassador to Baghdad between October 2013 and January 2017. Kaymakcı, who was appointed as the Permanent Representative of Turkey to the EU in February 2017, assumed the duties of Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and EU Presidency in August 2018. Awarded with the NATO Distinguished Service Medal in Afghanistan in 2004, Kaymakcı was one of the three college graduates recommended for the European College Alumni of the Year Award in 2007

News: Esen Dolma

Photos: Başar Uzun

İU Corporate Communications Coordinatorship