Roundtable Discussion: Turkish Democracy: Challenges and Opportunities
The SETA Foundation at Washington, DC Presidents
Roundable Discussion with
H. E. Bülent Arınç
Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey
Thursday, November 21, 2013
The SETA Foundation at Washington DC hosted a private roundtable discussion with H. E. Bülent Arınç, Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey.
As Turkey gears up for local elections in March 2014, several developments over the past year have stirred debates on Turkish democracy. The AK Party government initiated a “settlement process” to tackle the decades old Kurdish question. The Gezi Park protests and controversies over a variety of social issues created debates over personal freedoms, citizenship rights and government’s role vis-à-vis the society.
Biography
Bülent Arınç is one of the founding members of the ruling AK Party. He served as the speaker of the Grand National Assembly from 2002 to 2007. He was appointed Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey in 2009 and is currently the speaker of the government. Arınç has been involved in shaping the government’s successive democratic reform packages and the Kurdish settlement process.
