As part of the activities designed to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the establishment of the diplomatic relations between Turkey and Vietnam, the Center for Strategic Research (SAM) of the Turkish Foreign Ministry, the Institute for Africa and Middle East Studies (IAMES) of the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS)  and the Turkish Embassy in Hanoi jointly organized a seminar under the theme of “Vietnam and Turkey in the New Development Context” at the VASS Headquarters in Hanoi on April 5, 2013 .

The Seminar started with the opening remarks of Prof.Dr. Vo Khanh Vinh, Vice President of VASS, and Ambassador Ahmet Akif Oktay, and continued with statements by the following panelists: Prof.Dr.Bülent Aras (Academic Advisor to Turkish Foreign Minister Prof.Dr.Ahmet Davutoğlu, Chairman of SAM and President of the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s Diplomacy Academy), Prof.Dr.Bui Nhat Quang (General Director of IAMES), Prof.Dr Duong Phu Hiep (Former General Secretary of the Central Council for Theory of the Vietnamese Communist Party), Assoc.Prof.Dr. Selçuk Çolakoğlu (Advisor at SAM and faculty member at the Yıldırım Beyazıt University in Ankara), Dr.Çağdaş Üngör-Sunar (Lecturer at the Marmara University in Istanbul), Prof.Dr. Nguyen Duy Dung (General Director of the Institute for Southeast Asian Studies of VASS) and Prof.Dr. Do Duc Dinh (Senior Researcher at IAMES).

The topics discussed during the full-day event included the general framework and principles of the respective foreign policies of Turkey and Vietnam, Turkey’s Asian policy, ASEAN-Turkey relations, prospects for increasing bilateral cooperation and concluding a Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and Turkey.

Attending the event were representatives of a number of official, academic and private Vietnamese institutions as well as the diplomatic community. Participants were presented with a copy of the book titled “Turkey and Vietnam’s Cooperation Possibilities Until the Year 2020” by Prof.Dr. Bui Nhat Quang, which was recently published by IAMES in Vietnamese.

On this occasion, a Memorandum of Understanding for Cooperation between SAM and IAMES was also signed.

For Ambassador Oktay’s remarks at the seminar:
http://www.hanoi.emb.mfa.gov.tr/ShowSpeech.aspx?ID=3731

For the related SAM web page and photos of the event:
http://sam.gov.tr/international-conference-coorganized-by-sam-and-iames/

For local press coverage of the event:
http://vietnamnews.vn/politics-laws/237863/vn-turkey-to-boost-development.html
http://en.vietnamplus.vn/Home/Vietnam-Turkey-look-to-foster-cooperation/20134/33172.vnplus
http://vietmaz.com/2013/04/boosting-vietnam-turkey-ties/#.UWEIO47HY20