Panelists:

Alkis Courcoulas, “Greek-Turkish Enmities: the Impact of Emerging Modern National Identities” 

Mr. Courcoulas is the Bureau Chief of the "Athens News Agency", in Turkey, and has been contributing articles on Turkey and Greek-Turkish Affairs in dailies Kathimerini, To Vima and Fileleftheros. He was educated in Athens College, studied law in the University of Athens and Political Science in Paris I Sorbonne. Currently he is a member of the Athens Union of Journalists (ESIEA) in Greece and of the Foreign Press Association in Turkey. In May 1997 he published a book on the Imia crisis challenging the established wisdom in Greece on the development of the crisis.

Emre Kongar, “Psycho-Social Aspects of Peaceful Local Coexistence Among Different Groups in the Face of Globalization.”

Prof. Kongar is a Professor of Sociology at Yildiz University, Istanbul. He is also a writer and a columnist for the Turkish daily Cumhuriyet. In addition to his professorship his various political appointments have included Undersecretary for the Ministry of Culture (1992-95). Prof. Kongar has published more than 50 academic papers, more than 100 articles and 23 books, on cultural, economical and social changes in Turkey. He has received numerous awards for his works. His memoirs While I Was the Undersecretary, published in 1996, have become a bestseller.

Richard Clogg, “Cycles in Relations Between Greece and Turkey.”              

Prof. Clogg, presently a Senior Research Fellow at St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, is a renowned scholar of Modern Greek History. His current research includes the history of the Special Operations Executive in Greece, a history of Romania and a large-scale history of the Greek people in modern times, which will include the Greek diaspora. His major publications include: A Concise History of Greece (1992), Parties and Elections in Greece: the Search for Legitimacy (1987), The Movement for Greek Independence 1770-1812: a Collection of Documents (1976). 

Norman Itzkowitz, “The Psychology of Ethnic Conflict in the Turkish-Greek Context.”

Prof. Itzkowitz, currently a Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University, is a prominent scholar in the field of Ottoman and Turkish Studies. Most recently, following his psychoanalytic training in New York at the National Psychological Association for Psychoanalysis, he has been working on bringing the insights of psychoanalysis into the field of Turkish studies. His most important publications include, Neighbors in Conflict: A Psycho-Political Study of Greek-Turkish Relations (1994), The Immortal Ataturk: a Psychobiography (1984, co-author Vamik Volkan), Ottoman Empire and Islamic Tradition (1972, 1980).

Political Panel

Saturday, November 6^th, 11:15am

Competing Allies, the International Context of Greek-Turkish Relations

This panel analyzed the political relationship between Greece and Turkey and the impact of their relationship on future regional and pan-European security and economic arrangements. The panelists addressed political, military and economic cooperation and confrontation between the two competing allies on issues ranging from national security and economic policies to bilateral relations and participation in NATO and the European Union. Building on discussion of the current state of Turkish-Greek relations, the panel offered constructive dialogue on future means of cooperation and conflict resolution. In particular, the participants examined joint action responses to larger security threats such as regional instability and natural disasters. Panelists ultimately explored Greek-Turkish relations in the context of their parallel aspirations towards integration into European political and monetary institutions.