Experts discuss Turkish-Japanese affairs in Ankara

Turkey and Japan have had strong bilateral relations for over 90 years. The Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies (ORSAM) along with Strategic Research of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (SAM) and Japanese Embassy in Ankara organized an event on Tuesday to address dialogue between two countries on global affairs. The event titled "Japan-Turkey Dialogue on Global Affairs" aimed to discuss the latest developments in the Middle East, Central Asia and especially issues related to the refugee crisis as well as the impacts of foreign fighters as seen by Japanese and Turkish perspectives. As the guest of honor, Dr. Gürsel Dönmez, the president of External Affairs under Prime Ministry, praised the long, friendly relations between the two countries and stressed the necessity of further enhanced cooperation. The Japanese ambassador in Ankara, Yutaka Yokoi, also praised the relations in his opening remarks: "We have long history of helping each other despite the long distance between our countries."

In his opening speech, Dönmez described relations between Turkey and Japan as a strategic partnership and underlined that they go beyond more than just trade relations, as they include strong cultural ties as well. Yokoi described the symposium as a "great opportunity to understand each other's positions." Additionally, Shingo Yamagami, the acting director-general of the Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA), delivered a presentation on "Japan's Contribution to Peace, Security and Stability in Asia" and drew attention to similarities between Turkey and Japan regarding their geographical positioning. Yamagami summarized Chinese bullying in regional disputes and the Japanese response. The director of the Diplomacy Academy of the Foreign Ministry, Mesut Özcan, also gave a speech on Turkish foreign policy in a changing regional order in which he addressed the security challenges that Turkey faces in the region. Özcan further stressed that regional developments not only cause security challenges for Turkey, but also economic challenges.

The symposium continued with a panel "Turkey-Japan Relations from a Bilateral Perspective," which included Tetsuji Tanaka from the Central Asia Research Institute for Japan, Oktay Tanrısever from Middle East Technical University, Kohei Imai from Meiji University and Ali Akkemik from Kadir Has University as speakers. The second part of the symposium addressed Middle East affairs from Turkish and Japanese perspectives. Koichiro Tanaka from the Institute of Energy Economics, Yutaka Takaoka from the Middle East Institute of Japan, Haldun Yalçınkaya TOBB University of Economics and Technology and Bayram Sinkaya from ORSAM were the panelists. Yalçınkaya discussed the challenges posed by foreign terrorist fighters and Sinkaya explained the Turkish perspective of the Iranian nuclear deal. The symposium was attended by a large crowd that included government officials as well as a number of academics. It concluded with a question and answer session.