Turkey's strained ties with the European Union (EU) have been dragging down accession talks and are scheduled to be discussed in Berlin, where the period after the foiled July 15 coup attempt will be in the spotlight.
The event by the Sabah Columnists Club is the latest in a series of panels across the world organized by the Turkish newspaper that provides a platform against a campaign of disinformation in the West in the wake of the coup attempt blamed on the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ). The columnists, accompanied by foreign lawmakers and experts, held panels at the British Parliament in November, in Washington in December and most recently in Brussels in December.
Monday's event will bring together Turkish columnists, politicians in Berlin, as well as representatives of nongovernmental organizations, the business world and journalists. Mehmet Akarca, head of the state-run Directorate General of Press and Information (BYEGM) will make a keynote speech at the panel. Serdar Karagöz, editor-in-chief of Daily Sabah, the English-language sister newspaper of Sabah, will be the moderator of the panel.
Apart from Turkey-EU relations after July 15, speakers will discuss Germany's role in the post-coup attempt period at the event in the Berlin Federal Press Center.
Sabah columnist and Associate Professor Fahrettin Altun will speak about "the new parameters of Turkish foreign policy," while columnist Mahmut Övür will discuss Turkey's anti-terror policy and Şelale Kadak, an economy columnist, will speak about the economic relations between Turkey and Germany. Ozan Ceyhun, a former member of the European Parliament and a Daily Sabah columnist, will speak about "the latest state of Turkish-German relations."
The Sabah Columnists Club promotes itself as a platform for the private sector to take responsibility in civic society dialogue, and it is supported by the BYEGM and Turkish Airlines.
