May 23, 2013
Thursday the 23 we had the privilege to meet and have breakfast in Parliament with Aykan Erdemir, from the Republican's People's Party (CHP) MP. Erdemir is a Harvard graduate who wrote his PhD thesis on the Alevis in Turkey. Before his position at CHP, he used to teach at Middle East Technical University in the department of Sociology. He explained to us the importance of sectarian politics in Turkey regarding the Alevis, Sunni, Turkish and Kurdish populations.
Our next stop was the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) headquarters where we met with MP Zual Topcu, Member of Committee on EU Harmonization who had just come back from New York. Mrs. Topcu gave us an overview on the party's stand on the ongoing Kurdish peace process.
For lunch, we went back to Parliament, where we had a friendly lunch with Dr. Mehmet Tekelioglu, Chair of Committee on EU Harmonization, MP from İzmir from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Thursday the 23 we had the privilege to meet and have breakfast in Parliament with Aykan Erdemir, from the Republican's People's Party (CHP) MP. Erdemir is a Harvard graduate who wrote his PhD thesis on the Alevis in Turkey. Before his position at CHP, he used to teach at Middle East Technical University in the department of Sociology. He explained to us the importance of sectarian politics in Turkey regarding the Alevis, Sunni, Turkish and Kurdish populations.
Our next stop was the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) headquarters where we met with MP Zual Topcu, Member of Committee on EU Harmonization who had just come back from New York. Mrs. Topcu gave us an overview on the party's stand on the ongoing Kurdish peace process.
For lunch, we went back to Parliament, where we had a friendly lunch with Dr. Mehmet Tekelioglu, Chair of Committee on EU Harmonization, MP from İzmir from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
Around 2:30 PM we were welcomed in Mr. Lütfi Elvan's office, Chair of Committee on Plan and Budget, MP from Karaman, who gave us an overview of Turkish economy regarding foreign debt, budget planning and unemployment.
After our talk with Mr. Elvan, we moved on to the office of Mr. Rıza Turmen, Member of Committee on Constitution, MP from Istanbul, (CHP) who explained the new constitutional changes from the perspectives of the different parties in government.
We then proceeded to CHP headquarters where we met with Ambassador Osman Koruturk. Ambassador Koruturk, one of the two major CHP members of parliament on foreign policy matters, was formerly special Ambassador to Iraq, Ambassador to France, and a number of other countries. He gave us an extensive overview of Turkish foreign policy regarding the issues related to Israel, Iraq, Iran, and Syria.
Lastly, we met with Idris Baluken, from the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and an important voice for Kurds in Parliament. Mr. Baluken explained to us the ongoing Kurdish peace process and the party's standpoint on the possible new constitutional amendments.
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