Event co-organized by the Keyman Modern Turkish Studies Program and the Buffett Center for International and Comparative Studies
Speaker: Dr. Kerem Öktem, University of Graz, Austria
Description:
Turkey's new president Tayyip Erdoğan and his appointed prime minister Ahmet Davutoğlu have been using the term "New Turkey" compulsively. The adjective "new" stands for a break with the country's Kemalist-secularist tradition, but also for a drift off from its century-old western orientation. Its users hope to shift attention away from Turkey's growing international isolation and its faltering institutions, ending up with lapses that have repeatedly been described as farcical: Erdoğan's Ceaușescu-like presidential palace, his sure-footed Putinismo and his fantasy guard supposedly made up of the representatives of 16 Turkish states are textbook examples of authoritarian encroachment. Yet, fantasy cannot hide the fact that Turkey's democ-racy is in free fall and tragedy looming on many fronts, while the country's EU vocation has turned into a farce in itself. Kerem Öktem will seek to unravel farce and tragedy and disentangle fantasy and reality in this very Turkish conundrum, while searching for niche developments that may yet play a role in the country's future democratic restoration.
Kerem Öktem is Professor for Southeast Europe and the study of Modern Turkey at the University of Graz, Autria. He is also an associate at the Centre of International Studies at the University of Oxford, where he was research fellow at the European Studies Centre and faculty member of the Oriental Institute. His book "Angry Nation. Turkey Since 1989" (Zed Books, 2011) is a critical contribution to the study of contemporary Tur-key's society and politics.
Bio:
Dr. Kerem Öktem is Professor for Southeast Europe and the study of Modern Turkey at the University of Graz, Austria. He is also an associate at the Centre of International Studies at the University of Oxford, where he was research fellow at the European Studies Centre and faculty member of the Oriental Institute. His book "Angry Nation. Turkey Since 1989" (Zed Books, 2011) is a critical contribution to the study of contemporary Tur-key's society and politics.
Lunch Served
Cost: Free