Roundtable Meeting Highlights Twenty Years of Kyrgyz Independence
On December 13, the Bilkent University Center for Russian Studies and the Department of International Relations hosted a roundtable meeting focused on the 20th anniversary of the independence of the Kyrgyz Republic and the country's relations with Turkey. Dr. Hasan Ali Karasar of the Department of International Relations moderated the roundtable. In the opening speech, the Kyrgyz Republic's ambassador to Ankara, His Excellency Ermek İbraimov, analyzed 20 years of Kyrgyz-Turkish relations.
The roundtable also included presentations by Prof. Dr. Hayati Aktaş (Black Sea Technical University), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Konuralp Ercilasun (Gazi University), Hasan Kanbolat (ORSAM-Middle East Strategic Research Center), Dr. Anar Kayırbekkızı (Hacettepe University), Zairbek Malashev (Kyrgyz student representative at the Turkish Ministry of Education), PhD Candidate Zamir Manasov (METU), Selda Özdenoğlu (TIKA-Turkish Cooperation and Development Agency), Assoc. Prof. Dr. Fırat Purtaş (TÜRKSOY-International Organization of Turkic Culture), Asst. Prof. Dr. Tümen Somuncuoğlu (Gazi University), Dr. Zhildiz Uzakova (Undersecretary of the Kyrgyz Embassy) and Dr. Tuğba Evrim Maden (ORSAM). Those in attendance included a number of graduate students from Bilkent University.