Ankara, Turkey

Within Middle East Technical University (METU), the Center for European Studies (CES) is founded in 1997 at the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences (FEAS) in order to promote the development of an inter-disciplinary environment conducive for studying and researching the processes of European integration in a comparative manner.

METU is one of Turkey’s premier public universities with a stellar reputation for its highly trained graduates in scientific, technical and professional fields. Since its inauguration, the Center has actively engaged in teaching and research on policy and politics in Europe in general and the process of social and political transformation in Turkey on the way to EU membership in particular. The Centre has been awarded the status of Jean Monnet Center of Excellence in 2007. The Centre acts as a focal point between policy-makers, scholars and practitioners at the national and European levels on European studies.

Main Tasks

CES-METU will be mainly responsible for WP4 of EU4SEAS, Energy and Transport, while contributing extensively to the other remaining six WPs, with research and links in the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions.

Researchers:

Dr Meliha Altunisik Department of International Relations

Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunisik is the Chairperson of the Department of International Relations at METU. She holds a PhD from Boston University and her research interests are Politics of the Middle East, Turkey and the Middle East, the international political economy of oil, politics of Caspian oil.

Dr. Atila Eralp CES-METU, Director

Prof. Dr. Atila Eralp is the Director of the Center for European Studies and faculty member of Department of International Relations. He holds a PhD from School of Internatinonal Relations, University of Southern California. His research interests are theories of European integration, theories of international relations, Turkey-EU relations, European security.

Çiğdem Üstün CES-METU, Research Fellow

Dr. Çiğdem Üstün is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at CES. She holds a PhD in European Studies from the University of Limerick (Ireland). Her main areas of research are Security Studies, EU Common Foreign and Security Policy, Neighbourhood Policy with special emphasis on the Black Sea and Mediterranean regions.

Burcu Gültekin-Punnsman CES-METU, Associate Research Fellow

Dr. Burcu Gültekin-Punnsman holds a PhD in Economics from the Institute of Political Studies in Paris (Sciences-Po Paris). Dr. Gültekin-Punnsman’s research focuses on European Neighbourhood Policy and regional security and cross-border cooperation between Turkey, the South Caucasus and Russia. She has a particular expertise in conflict resolution and Turkish – Armenian relations.

Sait Akşit CES-METU, Reasearch Fellow

Dr. Sait Akşit is a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at CES. He holds a PhD in International Relations from the Middle East Technical University. His main expertise lies in the EU enlargement process and the effect of EU on transition in Central and Eastern Europe