International Strategic Research Organization
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The International Strategic Research Organization or I.S.R.O. (Turkish: Uluslararası Stratejik Arastirmalar Kurumu or USAK.) is a major (N.A.) Turkish non-governmental think tank dealing with global security, international law, international economy and other areas of international relations as well as Turkish foreign policy.
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[edit] Structure
Its honorary chairman is former Turkish State Minister Tayyibe Gulek. USAK's Head of the Science and Expert Committee is Prof. Dr. Yusuf Ziya Ozcan. Its director is Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sedat Laçiner, an ex-journalist from the major national newspaper Milliyet. Last year Laciner has been selected as a member of the Davos Economic Forum Young Global Leaders 2006. Deputy Directors are Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ihsan Bal and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Ozcan.
[edit] Activities
The ISRO believes that the study of international relations is dominated by a Western point of view and that they intend to provide an alternative perspective.
The activities of the I.S.R.O. (USAK) include research, publications, seminars and conferences, as well as policy recommendations. They also conducts surveys on foreign policy and security issues.
[edit] Publications
English-language publications of the ISRO include the Journal of Turkish Weekly (JTW) and the Ankara Post, both available online. It further publishes Turkish, English and German language books, periodicals and onlines.
ISRO is the publisher of two academic journals: Review of International Law and Politics (RILP) and Journal of Central Asian and Caucasian Studies (JCACA).
[edit] Controversies
The institution, its branches, and its publications are known to have a highly nationalistic stance, particularly in issues regarding the Armenian Question, which is claimed by Mr. Laçiner (who has a broad mandate over their functions [1]) as a field of expertise. The institution's approach is often criticized for being on the border of disinformation and counter-propaganda. A recent example of this approach was when the ISRO claimed that Armenian-American band System of a Down issued a video clip that degraded some historical Turkish notables and announced the incident as "Provocation of the Armenian band". [2] However, the clip for the song Holy Mountains was edited by a SOAD fan and shared through Internet. [3] Similarly, another clip for the song, primarily criticising the Bush administration exists. ISRO further argued, relying on a report by Turkish daily Akşam, that SOAD had the words "Turks and dogs not allowed" written on the tickets for a concert. When SOAD denied the claims, ISRO and Akşam failed to give the date and location of the concert.
[edit] Research areas
- International Relations: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sedat Laciner
- International Law: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ercument Tezcan
- Social Studies: Prof. Dr. Yusuf Ziya Ozcan, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Halil Ibrahim Bahar, Sebla Uludag and Murat Sogangoz
- Water and Sea Law: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Yucel Acer and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Kaya
- Terrorism and International Security: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ihsan Bal, Emre Ozkan
- European Union Studies: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Ozcan and Fatma Yilmaz
- Arab World Sudies: Bahadir Dincer and Noyan Ozkaya
- Caucasus Studies: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kamer Kasim, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Bulent Uludag
- Central Asian Studies: Dr. Turgut Demirtepe
- Israeli Studies: Yesim Sahiner
- Iranian Studies: Dr. Arzu Celalifer
- U.S. Foreign Policy: Barin Kayaoglu
- UK: Damla Aras
- Armenian Studies: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sedat Laciner, Jan Soykok and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kamer Kasim
- Third World and Cyprus Studies: Dr. Mehmet Hasguler
- Immigration Studies: Nermin Aydemir, Dr. Melahat Cakircer
- Labour Studies: Assist. Prof. Dr. Mahir Gumus
- IT Director: Baris Sanli and Tibet Sonmezocakci
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "Laçiner has a broad mandate" at usak.org
- ^ "Provocation of the Armenian band" at usakgundem.com
- ^ "Holy Mountains edited" at youtube.com
