Turkey has a critical geopolitical location between Europe, the Middle East and the Caucasus; burgeoning economy and strong private sector; rapidly strengthening democracy and vibrant civil society; and memberships to a wide range of organisations from NATO, OECD to the Islamic Conference and candidacy to the EU. Turkey is now a pivotal player not only in regional but global affairs. It is an important peace broker in regional conflicts, a leading country for peacekeeping operations and has been a generous donor for disaster response around the world. However, Turkey is also a country trying to merge its Islamic heritage into broader structures and models of western liberal democratic governance. In its bid to deal with the past legacy of its Ottoman heritage and nation-state building policies of the Republic, Turkey still needs to address a number of fundamental socio-cultural and development challenges. Furthermore, Turkey is also a country affected by a protracted armed conflict based on Kurdish separatism and hence coping with internal security challenges.

With these characteristics in mind, the Centre for Peace and Reconciliation Studies (CPRS) at Coventry University is now home to an innovative research group that will seek to explore a wide range of conflict and peace related issues with a specific reference to Turkey. The CPRS Turkey aims to:

• Create an enabling environment for research on peace and conflict related issues in the context of Turkey and on the role of Turkey at regional and international levels;
• Seek funding opportunities for scholars to undertake comparative research and encourage staff/student exchange between Coventry and Turkish universities;
• Provide scholarships to students from Turkey to undertake the CPRS flagship MA in Peace and Reconciliation Studies and Postgraduate Certificate in Conflict Resolution Skills;
• Run a book series with a reputable publisher;
• Organise a seminar series in Coventry that would host leading scholars researching on Turkey;
• Organise an annual conference for PhD students working on peace and conflict issues in Turkey;
• Publish a 'Peace in Turkey' issue as part of the online Journal of Conflict Transformation and Security annually;
• Publish a biannual electronic newsletter to disseminate the activities of the research group.

To become part of this research group and receive further information about its activities,you can contact Professor Alp Özerdem ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ).

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