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President of ANKASAM, Prof. Mehmet Seyfettin EROL featured in Information agency “Dunyo” of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Uzbekistan

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Perspective of Turkey: Uzbekistan and Pakistan Summit will create new opportunities for the development of long-term cooperation for the regional peace and prosperity between the two states.

The will of Uzbekistan to improve diplomatic and economic relations with other states is critical in the development of relations with foreign partners. In this regard, according to the news reported by Dunyo News Agency, the virtual summit held by Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on April 14, 2021 is remarkable. Turkish experts also followed the summit closely.

It is seen that Ankara Center for Crisis and Policy Studies (ANKASAM) President Prof. Mehmet Seyfettin Erol made important remarks. Erol interpreted the summit as the continuation of Uzbekistan’s active foreign policy and associated it with the traditional positive relations with Pakistan. However, according to Erol, this is not the only issue. Erol also described this summit as a new and vital step to accelerate the expansion of the interaction between Central Asian and South Asian regions. Thus, Erol pointed out that the agenda of the event includes bilateral practical partnership and regional interaction issues and said that the importance of this summit goes far beyond bilateral relations. According to him, the main issue is the Trans-Afghan Railway Project. That is why the President of ANKASAM emphasizes the promotion of the Trans-Afghan Railway Project, increasing the mutual trade volume, expanding the cooperation between the leading enterprises and companies of the two countries, restarting aviation and highlighting inter-regional contacts as well as cultural and humanitarian aid activities.

Assessing the subject, Erol said, “Uzbekistan and Pakistan are states that have a special role in their regions; they are proactive actors of international relations. Based on the foreign policy and economic potential of the two states, it can be suggested that Uzbekistan and Pakistan have important opportunities to further strengthen the positive trends in their regions. That is why I believe both states are strategic partners to centralize their positions in the international arena.” Based on this, Erol expressed his belief that the recent summit would create new opportunities for the development of multilateral cooperation that prioritizes regional peace and prosperity.

Finally, Erol announced that ANKASAM is planning to hold an international scientific conference on counter-terrorism efforts focused on Central Asia and South Asia in the second half of May and invited think-tank representatives from Uzbekistan to take an active role in this event.

Prof. Dr. Mehmet Seyfettin EROL
Prof. Dr. Mehmet Seyfettin EROL
Born in 1969, Dörtyol-Hatay, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Seyfettin Erol graduated from Boğaziçi University (BU), Department of Political Science and International Relations in 1993. After completing his master's degree at BU in 1995, Erol was accepted to the PhD program at BU in the same year. After completing his PhD at Ankara University in 2005, Erol became an associate professor in the field of “International Relations” in 2009 and a professor in 2014. Erol worked at the Eurasian Center for Strategic Studies (ASAM) between 2000 and 2006 and and served as the General Coordinator of ASAM for a period. In 2009, he served as also Founding Chairman and Board Member of the Institute for Strategic Thinking (SDE). He is also the Founding President of the Center for International Strategy and Security Studies (USGAM) and the President of the International Relations Institute of the New Türkiye Strategic Research Center (YTSAM). Prof. Erol has also served as the Director of Gazi University Strategic Research Center (GAZISAM). In 2007, Prof. Erol received the “Turkish World Service Award” from the Writers and Artists Foundation of the Turkic World (TÜRKSAV), and has received numerous awards for his academic work and his activities in the media. Some of them can be listed as follows: 2013 “Print Media of the Year Award” by the Association of Contemporary Democrats, 2015 “APM 10th Year Service Award”, “2015 Press-Intellectual of the Year Award” by the Writers' Union of Türkiye (YTB), “2016 Volunteer Ambassadors Media Honor Award” by the Anatolian Village Guards and Martyrs' Families, “2016 Türkiye Honor Award” by the Yoruk Turkmen Federations. Prof. Erol has 15 book studies. The names of some of them are as follows: “The United States of Turks from Dream to Reality”, “Türkiye-EU Relations: Foreign Policy and Internal Structure Problems”, “The New Great Game in Eurasia”, “The Search for Strategy in Turkish Foreign Policy”, “The Search for Security in Turkish Foreign Policy”, “The Republic of Türkiye-Russian Federation Relations”, “The Cold Organization of Hot Peace: The New NATO”, “Theoretical Approaches in Foreign Policy Analysis: The Case of Turkish Foreign Policy”, “Crises and Crisis Management: Actors and Case Studies”, “Kazakhstan” and “Current Issues in International Relations”. Since 2002, Prof. Erol, who has carried out radio programs such as “Eurasia Agenda”, “Strategic Perspective”, “Global Perspective”, “Analysis”, “File”, “News Desk”, “The Other Side of the Agenda” on TRT Türkiye's voice and TRT Radio 1 (Ankara Radio), made the programs “Arayış” on TRT INT television between 2004-2007, “Beyond the Border” on Kanal A television between 2007-2010 and “Foreign Policy Agenda” on BBN TÜRK television in 2020-2021. Prof. Erol, whose foreign policy column “Arayış” was published in Milli Gazete between 2012-2018, is consulted for his expertise in numerous national and international media outlets such as television, radio, newspapers, news websites and magazines. Prof. Erol, who also taught at Gazi University Department of International Relations and Ankara University Latin American Studies Center (LAMER) between 2006-2018, has been continuing his academic career as a faculty member at Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University Department of International Relations since 2018. Since 2006, Prof. Erol has also taught in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Ufuk University. The main areas of interest and expertise of Prof. Erol and the titles of his courses at the undergraduate, master's and doctoral levels in this area are as follows: “Geopolitics”, “Security”, “Intelligence”, “Crisis Management”, “Current Issues in International Relations”, “Turkish Foreign Policy”, “Russian Foreign Policy”, “US Foreign Policy” and “Central Asia and South Asia”. Prof. Erol, whose articles-evaluations have been published in many journals and newspapers, has been editor of academic journals such as “Eurasia File”, “Strategic Analysis”, “Strategic Thinking”, “Gazi Regional Studies”, “The Journal of SSPS”, “Black Sea Studies”. He is currently in the editorial boards of “Regional Studies,” “International Crisis and Political Research,” “Gazi Academic View”, “Ege University Turkish World Surveys”, “Ankara International Social Sciences”, “Democracy Platform”. Prof. Erol, who has been working as the Founding President of the Ankara Center for Crisis and Political Studies (ANKASAM) since 2016, is married and has three children.