The prize for best Master’s thesis went to Omar Sheira, who studied at Tilburg University. He examined the necessary preconditions for building an environment which can foster human rights implementation and enforcement in Egypt.

On the occasion of World Human Rights Day on December 10th, the Max van der Stoel Human Rights Awards 2014 have been awarded to two PhD theses and one Master’s thesis at Tilburg University. The jury assessed eleven nominations, from the universities of Tilburg, Utrecht, Leiden, Maastricht, Groningen, and Amsterdam, both VU and UvA.

GPoT Center organized the 17th Round of the Heybeliada Talks in Nicosia’s Buffer Zone on 29th November 2014 with the aim of supporting the search for a comprehensive and peaceful settlement in Cyprus. 

The event, which was sponsored by the Open Society Foundation in Turkey, took place with the participation of approximately 20 civil society activists, political and opinion leaders, experts, journalists, academics, and analysts from Turkey, Greece and both sides in Cyprus.

On behalf of GPoT Center, it was our great pleasure to host a distinguished group of academicians and diplomats as well as students for the launch of the book “Sociology of Diplomacy” edited by Dr. Milan Jazbec, Ambassador of Slovenia to Turkey and Associate Professor of diplomacy, and published by Istanbul Kültür University. The event took place in the premises of Istanbul Kültür University on 26 November 2014. 

Global Political Trends (GPoT) Center and the Israeli Institute for Regional Foreign Policies (Mitvim) organized the 4th GPoT Center – Mitvim Policy Dialogue on November 20, 2014 in cooperation with Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Turkey. Journalists, academicians, and opinion-makers from Israel and Turkey met on the premises of Istanbul Kültür University to discuss the impact of the current regional challenges on Turkish-Israeli relations.

Global Political Trends Center’s (GPoT) Director Prof. Mensur Akgün and Deputy Director Sylvia Tiryaki, together with Assoc. Prof. Mesut Özcan, Chairman of the Strategic Research Center (SAM) of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, and Mr. Ufuk Ulutaş, Director of the Foreign Policy Studies of the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA) held a series of meetings in Canada between 13-19 November 2014.