Organized for the third time this year by the Heydar Aliyev Eurasian Studies Application and Research Center of our University, in cooperation with the International Politics and Security Studies Association (INTPOLSEC) and İnönü University, "International Security Congress: Security in the Age of Uncertainty" event was held hybrid on October 20-21 in the Event Hall of the Media and Event Center of our University and on the digital meeting platform Zoom.
During the 2-day congress, which addressed current issues such as Eurasian and European Security, Post-Disaster Security, International System Discussions and New Global Disorder and Security, important representatives from the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and TIKA were hosted as well as academicians.
On Friday, October 20, our Rector Prof. Atilla Arkan, who made the welcoming speeches at the opening ceremony, stated that the vision of the congress is closely related to the current situation we are in, and pointed out that we live in a period when time flows very fast and when we look at the ongoing conflicts, the real earthquake is caused by these conflicts. Prof. Arkan concluded his speech by mentioning that it is our intellectual duty as a University to host such organizations.
Speaking at the ceremony, Prof. Yaşar Sarı, Director of the Haydar Aliyev Eurasian Studies Application and Research Center of our University, drew attention to the purpose behind the International Security Congress by mentioning that the age of uncertainty we are in brings insecurity and the increase in the need for security due to changing balances.
Prof. Fikret Birdişli and Dr. Bezen Coşkun, representatives of the INTPOLSEC Association, took the floor after Prof. Sarı and thanked the University for hosting the congress. In their speeches, Prof. Fikret Birdişli and Dr. Bezen Coşkun stated that the purpose of the establishment of INTPOLSEC is to contribute locally to international security studies, and that after the collapse of the bipolar system in the world, a system clustered around centers instead of multiple poles would be healthier.
Following the opening ceremony, Prof. Faruk Sönmezoğlu, MP Ramin Mammadov and Albina Yun made speeches on the subject in the session "100th Anniversary of the Republic of Turkey".
On the first day of the Congress, "New Approaches and Conceptualizations in Security", "Geopolitics, Terrorism and Security", "NATO, EU and Transatlantic Security", "Turkish Foreign Policy and Turkey's Security Policies", "Energy Security, Ecological Crises and Climate Change", "Istanbul Institute for Advanced Studies Roundtable: Competition and Cooperation in the South Caucasus: Prospects and Challenges", "Russia in the New Global Security Order", "Special Armed Groups, Foreign Fighters and Regional Security" and "Regional Security: Central Asia and the Caucasus".
On October 21, the sessions held via Zoom included "Turkish Foreign Policy and Turkey's Security", "Environmental Security and Ecological Crises", "New Global Order & Global Security", "Regionalism and Regional Security in the New Global Order", "Global Security Architecture I-II", "WONEMPS Roundtable: Ontological Security and the Eastern Mediterranean: Prospects and Challenges", "Energy Security and Climate Change". Sakarya University Middle East Institute and Necmettin Erbakan University also organized separate panels.
"International Security Congress: Security in an Age of Uncertainty" congress was attended by 53 academics from universities in Istanbul and Anatolia, as well as universities and research institutions abroad.
