EU Lecture Series “Turkey and Japan: the history of friendship” by Mr. Umut Lütfi Öztürk, Consul-General of the Republic of Turkey in Nagoya (11 January)

It was a great honor for KUPES to invite Mr. Umut Lütfi Öztürk, Consul-General of the Republic of Turkey in Nagoya, for the 13th session of the EU Lecture Series on 11 January 2022. The special lecture was open to all the students, faculty members and administrators in Kobe University. There were ten participants including five KUPES students who attended the special session of the EU-Japan Comparative Seminar IIB.

Mr. Öztürk began with the basic data of Turkey and the main features such as beautiful mountains and seacoasts, historical ruins and cultural heritages. He also explained key aspects of Turkish foreign policy in the changing world. The country has sought for a balance of power and has played a pivotal role in regional and global affairs not only security issues but also climate change and digitalization. To focus on Turkish relations to Japan, he talked about the episodes of friendship: the shipwreck of the Ertuğrul off Kii peninsula in 1890 and the rescue of Japanese expatriates by Turkish airplanes during the Iran-Iraq war in 1985. He explained the development of the bilateral relations and emphasized the importance of further cooperation to meet the global challenges.