Turkey – Europe Future Forum, Brussels, Essen, Berlin

The main objective of the Future Forum is to strengthen ties between young leaders from Turkey and Europe with a view to leveraging European discourse and creating a network based on mutual trust. Besides offering its participants continuing professional and intercultural education, the programme is designed to foster both personal and professional exchange and to strengthen mutual understanding and respect.The first Future Forum was organized between 30 May – 07 June 2015 in Istanbul and Ankara under the theme of “Neighborhood in Transition”

Project Partners

The Turkey Europe Future Forum is a project of the Mercator Program Center for International Affairs (MPC) in cooperation  with TUSIAD and “Turkey: Culture of Change Initiative”. It is funded by Stiftung Mercator and adviced by the ECFR.

The programme’s deans are Ümit Boyner, former president of TÜSIAD and one of Turkey’s most successful businesswomen, and Ruprecht Polenz, a longstanding member of the German Parliament and former chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. European Union High Representative Federica Mogherini is the parton of the Future Forum.

Future Forum 2016: “Migration and refugee policies within the framework of EU-Turkey relations”

The refugee situation challenges both, Turkey and Europe. While Turkey deals with the settling of more and more refugees in the country, the discussions in Europe tackle questions of fair quotas, border controls and security measures. Simultaneously, Turkey and Europe go through staggering domestic changes. How can more cooperation be achieved within this perspective? How can Turkey and Europe elaborate on strengthening their common migration and refugee policies? And which consequences will these current events have for Turkey’s accession to the EU? These questions will be tackled during the Forum 2016.