The Place of Islam in Turkey's Foreign Policy

Dear NU Community,

The Department of Kazakh Language and Turkic Studies (KLTS) and the Department of Political Science and International Relations (PSIR) invite you to a guest lecture: The Place of Islam in Turkey's Foreign Policy

Speaker: Bayram Balci

The lecture will explore the evolving role of Islam in Turkey’s foreign policy through three historical phases. It will examine the Kemalist period, where Islam remained present despite official secularism; the Cold War and post-Soviet era, when Islam was used as a flexible political tool; and the AKP period, marked by a more deliberate use of Islam in global strategy. Drawing on examples from post-Soviet space, Europe, and Africa, the talk will highlight both the opportunities and contradictions of this approach.

Dr. Bayram Balci is a researcher at CERI Sciences Po (Paris), specializing in Islam in Turkey, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the Middle East. He has held leadership and visiting positions in Uzbekistan, Istanbul, and Washington, DC, and is the author of several recent publications on regional politics and Islamic dynamics.