Over a two-week period, 16 journalists from Turkey and Armenia traveled over 3,500 kilometers in Turkey, Georgia, and Armenia, meeting with over 40 civil society representatives, politicians, media leaders and “everyday” citizens as well as visiting dozens of historical and cultural sites in order to gain first-hand insight into their neighboring country and to report in-depth about Turkey-Armenia relations from the field.

GPoT Center presents with pleasure the Turkish version of Lt. Gen. Şadi Ergüvenç's paper, which he wrote in support of the "Smart Defense: Can a Lean NATO Meet the Challenges of the 21st Century?" conference.

GPoT Center hosted a group of 15 students from the Foreign Politics Association of Sodertorn University in Stockholm, Sweden on May 18th, 2012 during their short study visit to Istanbul.

GPoT Center Director Dr. Mensur Akgün welcomed the group, explained the scope of work of the Center and also took part in the question and answer session. Later on, GPoT Center staff Sofia Hafdell, Lenka Peťková, and Can Yirik addressed topics such as EU-Turkey relations, the Cyprus issue, the role of Turkey in NATO, and the latest developments in the Middle East.

GPoT Center, in cooperation with Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), hosted a roundtable meeting entitled “Relations between Germany, Israel and the Arab World" with the participation of Mr. Christian Lange, Member of Parliament (SPD), Germany, and Deputy Chairman of the Discussion Group on Israel of the Parliamentary Group in the Bundestag.

GPoT Center’s Deputy Director Dr. Sylvia Tiryaki participated in the conference entitled "The geopolitical re-configuration of the Middle East", organized by the FRIDE and the Fredrich Ebert Stiftung on May 17th in Madrid. Dr. Tiryaki was a speaker in the conference’s second session, on the role of Turkey as a regional player.

The event focused on the changing Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region as an opportunity to evolve towards new political, economic, social, and geopolitical systems after the “Arab Spring” uprisings.