35 th anniversary of the Foreign Policy Institute was commemorated at a Conference on "Eastern Mediterranean" held at the Bilkent Hotel on Wednesday, November 4 th, 2009.

            At the beginning of the Conference Mr. Seyfi Taşhan, President of the Institute, Prof. Ali Doğramacı, Rector of the Bilkent University, and Ambassador Halit Çevik, Deputy Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, addressed the audiance, composed mostly of the members of the Diplomatic Corps in Ankara and academics from different Universities. They emphesized the increasing role of Turkey in its neighborhood and the importance of the work carried by the Institute in its considerably long existence.

            On the occasion of the anniversary, the Institute had  published a special issue of its quarterly "Dış Politika – Foreign Policy" where some articles in its past issues had been compiled analyzing important foreign policy issues of Turkey over different periods (the Cold War years, final years of the Cold War, post Cold War and the present stage) . This new edition of the quarterly was introduced by Prof. Ersin Onulduran, Chair of International Relations Department of the Ankara University and a Board member of the Institute.

            Meanwhile, another recent publication of the Institute was on "Eastern Mediterranean" from which the Conference had assumed its title and  it was introduced by its editor Assoc. Prof. Mustafa Kibaroğlu, of the Bilkent University and also a Board member of the Institute. Furthermore, a panel consisting of other Board members of the Institute discussed different issues related with this particular region. Prof. Meliha Altunışık, Chair of the International Relations Department at METU, addressed the Palestine-Israel dispute and Ambassador Reşat Arım addressed the Cyprus dispute. Security in the Eastern Mediterranean was discussed by Prof. Ali Karaomaoğlu of the Bilkent University and Turkey's outlook at the region by Ambassador Oktay Aksoy. The Panel was presided by Assoc. Prof. Ersel Aydınlı, Chairman of the International Relations Departmet of the Bilkent University and Board member of the Institute.

            The Conference was concluded with a live debate on the presentations.