On 11 May 2022, BSoG Professor Tongfi Kim and BSoG undergraduate Study-Abroad student Mehmet Algin Utku co-published an opinion piece on the website of Brussels Times, entitled 'It’s time to bind Turkey to NATO'. Below is an abstract.
Prof. Tongfi Kim is the Programme Director of the BA in International Affairs at the Brussels School of Governance. Mehmet Algin Utku is a visiting student from Rutgers University - New Brunswick.
At the Brussels School of Governance, we offer our students a unique educational experience, based on what we call the STEP approach to teaching and learning: our programmes are Student-centred, have a solid Theoretical knowledge base, their educational Excellence is guaranteed, and they are strongly Practice-oriented. This joint op-ed between a professor and a student is an example of our practice-oriented teaching methods.
Abstract:
Turkey under Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has had an uneasy dance with both NATO allies and Russia for years. The ongoing war in Ukraine has accentuated Turkey’s ambiguous position in international relations, as Ankara criticizes Russia’s invasion and continues to sell armed drones to Ukraine while also taking distance from Western sanctions against Moscow. This ambiguity is sometimes useful, as can be seen in Turkey’s hosting of peace talks for Russia and Ukraine. NATO allies, however, should now strive to bind Turkey closely to the alliance, through positive economic incentives.
