ORSAM’s Visit to Tehran

3 dakika okuma süresi

ORSAM organized a number of events and hold meetings in Tehran, the capital city of Iran on January 9-10, 2016. The delegation of ORSAM that visited Tehran included President of ORSAM, Assoc.Prof.Dr. Şaban Kardaş, ORSAM Advisors Prof.Dr. Harun Öztürkler and Assist.Prof. Bayram Sinkaya, Prof.Dr. Birol Akgün (Chairman of SDE), Prof.Dr. Mensur Akgün (İstanbul Kültür University & GPOT), Assoc.Prof.Dr. Emre Erşen (Marmara University) ve Assist.Prof. Talha Köse (İstanbul Şehir University & SETA İstanbul).

ORSAM delegation firstly visited the Faculty of World Studies, Tehran University, and met with the dean of the faculty, Prof. Mohammad Marandi. ORSAM and Institute of Middle East Strategic Studies (IMESS) organized a joint conference titled ‘Turkish and Iranian Perspectives towards the Regional Issues’ in collaboration with Iran Political Science Association (IPSA). Dr. Kayhan Barzegar, Director of IMESS, moderated the conference, and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Şaban Kardaş, Dr. Ghadir Nasri, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Emre Erşen and visiting fellow Abdolrasoul Divsalar addressed the audience composed of Iranian researchers, journalists, and students. The conference ended with Q&A session.

On the second day of the visit to Tehran, ORSAM held a workshop on the ‘Opportunities and Common Security Threats for Turkey-Iran Relations’ at the Center for Strategic Research (CSR), affiliated to the Expediency Council. M. Hossein Malaek, deputy chair of the CSR and Şaban Kardaş moderated the workshop, which was held with the participation of CSR experts Dr. Mahmood Shouri, Dr. Hassan Ahmadian, Dr. Ali Akbar Asadi, Vali Golmohammadi and assistants, and experts from some other institutions. The workshop addressed the effects of regional developments, particularly developments in Syria, on Turkey-Iran relations, regional policies, and diverging and converging points in future perspectives of the two countries.

Additionally, ORSAM delegation held a roundtable meeting with the faculty members of the Department of International Relations, Allameh Tabatabai University. Dr. Majid Reza Momeni, Dr. Hasan Beheshti Pour, Dr. Mandana Tishehyar, Dr. Hadi Ajili, Dr. Rafatpour and Dr. Mirfakhraei joined the roundtable co-chaired by Dr. Mohammad Tabataba’i, chairperson of the department and Dr. Kardaş. Turkish and Iranian policies towards the Middle East and recent developments in the region were discussed in this meeting.

ORSAM delegation also visited Imam Sadegh University and held a roundtable meeting on the regional developments. Prof. Hassan Khani, professor of the Department of International Relations, Imam Sadegh University, chaired the panel including some academics and graduate students. Deep-rooted changes and their impacts on the relations between the two countries were discussed in the meeting and the importance of interactions at the level of academics and think-tanks were highlighted.

The delegation finally visited Yunus Emre Institution in Tehran. A conference on the ‘Soft Power and Cultural Diplomacy in Turkish Foreign Policy’ was organized at this institution. Bayram Sinkaya talked on the cultural dimensions in Turkey-Iran relations, and Talha Köse talked on the public diplomacy in Turkish foreign policy at the conference that was moderated by Şaban Kardaş.