The International Relations Club of our university held the first conference event called “Black Sea Geopolitics and Security Issues”. The conference was held on Tuesday, December 6, 2022, at the Hasan Polatkan Conference Hall of the Ziraat Bank Library of Istanbul Medeniyet University between 11.00-13.00. Four different speakers took part in the event, which aimed to provide the audience with information about the geopolitical position of the Black Sea and the security problems in the region, and to gain new perspectives. Sena Nur TALU, one of the members of the club, was the moderator of the conference, in which the students participated with great interest. The President of the International Relations Club Umut KURTÇU, made an introductory speech about both the event and the newly established club. Head of the International Relations Department and consultant of the club Prof.Dr. Özden Zeynep OKTAV was also in the audience.
Retired Ambassador and Istanbul Kultur University faculty member Dr. Oğuz ÇELİKKOL and Kadir Has University faculty member Prof.Dr. Mitat ÇELİKPALA gave their speech online. ÇELİKKOL touched upon the latest developments in international politics and discussed the importance of the Aegean Sea and the Black Sea and the current problems in these areas. ÇELİKPALA, on the other hand, evaluated the Russia-Ukraine warfare and shared his conclusions in terms of its possible effects on the Turkish government and society.
Istanbul Aydın University faculty member Asst.Prof.Dr. Filiz KATMAN delivered her speech titled “Russia – Ukraine War and Energy Security” in the conference hall. She explained how energy resources such as natural gas, which gained importance with the war, changed the supply-demand balance in international trade and energy governance. Istanbul Medeniyet University International Relations Department member Asst.Prof.Dr. Elnur İSMAYIL, on the other hand, talked about the foreign policies of the Caucasian states, the policies followed by the Caucasian countries through the ongoing conflicts between Russia and Ukraine, how this war changed and will change the Caucasus geography, and the Caucasian regional security problems that have changed due to the war. Each speaker touched on the Black Sea Geopolitics and Security Issues from important points and gave the audience different perspectives.
At the end of the event, the speakers answered the questions of the audience. After Prof.Dr. Özden Zeynep OKTAV presented a plaque to the speakers, the audience was given refreshments.