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Politics, International Relations & Philosophy

SPIRE students study tour in Istanbul

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Posted on 18 April 2011

Students in Turkey Nine students from the School of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy (SPIRE), accompanied by their lecturer, Naveed Sheikh, and a co-organiser, Taptuk Emre, have returned from a one-week intensive study tour in Istanbul (April, 2011).

The trip was hosted by Fatih University and the Dialogue Society, with part-funding from the Keele Key Fund. The programme included a range of lectures by leading Turkish academics, covering Turkish foreign policy, the constitutional and political system of Turkey, the evolution of political Islam in Turkey, multiculturalism in Britain and Turkey, a history of feminism in Turkey, and ethnic minorities in Turkey.

The group also held meetings with editors at the country's best-selling newspaper, an international humanitarian organisation, a leading high school, head-quarters of a religious organisation, and with leaders of the youth branch of the governing party (where the SPIRE lecturer gave the speakers a humorous grilling, which they later admitted they would never forget). The group was struck by the hospitality and generosity of all the organisations visited, often resulting in lavish meals and memorabilia. Finally, they visited key historical sites from the Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman periods.

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