On Sunday, June 15, 2014, Pacifica Institute Portland branch held its monthly breakfast and as part of their lecture series Pacifica Institute Portland branch was honored to host Dr. Peter K. Bechtold. Dr. Bechtold is director of Middle East studies at Portland State University. The topic Dr. Bechtold chose to speak about was entitled “TURKEY – Newly Empowered a model for the Middle East?”
After a short introduction about his topic, he talked about the great history of Turkey and the geographical situation. As part of the geographical information he pointed out that, “Turkey has mountainous regions with different geological formations”. He mentioned the geological importance of Turkey for the NATO as a reliable partner in the Middle East region and as a “door” to the Asian countries.
The Turkish economy and comparison of economical facts were also part of his speech. Pointing out that, “Import volume is still way too much compared to its export volume (Exports – $ 168 billion, Imports $ 243 billion in 2013).
Furthermore, he indicated the variety and amount of political parties in Turkey, “total 61 in 2009”. Lot of these current democratic Parties are a result of the Turkish Republic, which was founded in 1923 by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the first President after the country became a Republic. He also compared parliament elections in 2007 and 2011.
Lastly, he talked about regional issues, such as the Kurdish problem in the Southeast, borders with SYRIA, CYPRUS. Dr. Bechtold said that“ Turkey is the only country who recognizes Cyprus as an independent country” He also mention the control of the Aegean Sea. Dr. Peter K. Bechtold then ended the lecture with questions and answers from the audience.
