We Organized the 20th Postgraduate Conference of Turkish Political Science Association

The XXth Graduate Conference, organized by the Turkish Political Science Association and the Izmir University of Economics, Department of Political Science and International Relations, was held on Saturday, 25 May 2024, with valuable and productive presentations.

The conference, which hosted nearly one hundred successful graduate researchers from various universities in Turkey and Europe, distinguished panel chairs, and a valuable audience, started with the opening speeches of Prof. Dr. Burcu GÜNERİ ÇANGARLI, Dean of IUE Faculty of Business. In her remarks, the Dean emphasized the importance of science-oriented collaborations and science-focused dialogue among young researchers. The Dean also stated that it is valuable and meaningful that our cooperation with the Turkish Political Science Association, which is one of the most reputable think tanks in the field of political science and dates back to the 1950s, is crowned with the hosting of a traditional academic meeting with masters and doctoral students. The Dean also underlined that as the first and strongest foundation university of Izmir and the Aegean Region, our growing reputation at the national and international levels is our developing partnerships with civil society and the business sector, and this conference is also valuable in this sense.

In his opening remarks, Prof. Dr. Sabri Sayarı, President of the Turkish Political Science Association, shared that the twentieth event symbolized the satisfaction they felt from the fact that young academics and researchers were together. While expressing his thanks to our university for hosting the conference, he emphasized how valuable the scientific achievements of the conference are for the careers of young researchers and the quality of their work.

Prof. Dr. Müge Aknur from Dokuz Eylül University gave the main speech of the conference with her presentation titled ‘Rising right-wing parties in Europe and the decline of democracy.’ 

The Prof. Dr. Nermin ABADAN-UNAT Best Paper Award, named after Prof. Dr. Nermin ABADAN-UNAT, who is known for her valuable work in making political science a discipline in Turkey, was awarded to Seda Çalışır from Istanbul University for her research titled ‘Traces of Emotional Polarisation in Turkey: Political Participation’ from Istanbul University.

Ninety-seven young researchers from forty-three different universities in Turkey and Europe shared their research outputs and ideas during the twenty-one independent panels, where they presented their research and discussed findings in the question-and-answer sections of the panels.

The Turkish Political Science Association was founded in 1952 under the name of the Turkish Association of Political Sciences to disseminate the contemporary political science approach. Until the end of the 1960s, the members of the association published in various fields and subjects such as comparative politics, history of political thought, political sociology, and international politics, and translated the leading works of international literature into Turkish; it stands out as an authority in its field. The association has been organizing TPSA Graduate Conferences every year since 2003 to encourage young researchers and bring together the younger generation and experienced academics. We are happy to have organized and successfully completed the XXth TPSA Graduate Conference, where we hosted young researchers and academics who are authorities in their fields. Making a conference a tradition and organizing it for the twentieth time is a very valuable achievement. As the organizing committee of the conference, we are proud to be a part of this achievement.
To the distinguished panelists, panel chairs, and participants who made presentations at this beautiful event;

To the Turkish Political Science Association, the president of the association, Prof. Dr. Sabri Sayarı, and the board of directors, who organized the 20th-anniversary conference with us;

To our Faculty Dean, Prof. Dr. Burcu GÜNERİ ÇANGARLI, who made the opening speeches;

To our main speaker, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Müge Aknur;

We would like to thank our valuable students and research assistants of our department who supported us during the event.