Migration & Conflict
Objectives
- You will gain a first-hand insight into the cultural clashes involved in Turkey’s accession negotiations with the EU
- You will be able to bring Denmark’s immigration regime into direct comparison with the treatment of immigrants and minorities in Turkey
- You will get a comparative perspective on the very different Christian Secular Denmark and the Muslim Secular Turkey
- You get a Turkish perspective on Europe’s treatment of Turkish immigrants
- You will learn about the breathtaking layers of this former centre of both the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires
- Throughout, you are asked to be alert to the very different perspectives on overlapping issues and reflect on them
Previous Activities Have Included
- A lecture and discussion with leading researcher on Turkish minorities in Europe
- A visit to the prominent think tank TESEV
- A visit to the Istanbul’s Christian Interparish Migrants’ Program (IIMP)
- A visit to a community center in an immigrant neighborhood
- A visit to the Armenian newspaper, AGOS
- A visit to representatives of the small Greek minority living on the Princes’ Islands outside Istanbul
- Visits to the magnificent Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Mosque), and Top Kapi palace
- A visit to the Grand Bazaar and a Hamam, a Turkish bath
Description
Istanbul (formerly Byzantine, New Rome, and Constantinople) is a booming metropolis where urbanism has arrived at a breathtaking pace. It was the centre of cosmopolitan culture from 330 CE where Emperor Constantine the Great made it the Capital of the Roman Empire and until the fall of the Ottoman Empire in the aftermath of WWI.
In the 20th century it has been confronted with the challenge of sustaining a balance between East and West, as migration from rural Anatolia and international immigration from the Middle East and north Africa has brought a culture to Istanbul very different from the proclaimed European heritage of the Istanbul elite. Today, at the outset of the 21st century, Istanbul is symbolic also as the juncture where Western and Eastern civilizations either clash or come to meet.
During this study tour, students will learn about general ‘clash of civilization’ style issues between Turkey and Europe, heightened due to the accession negotiations as Turkey seeks EU membership. Also, students will study the role and experience of Turkish immigrants in Europe, and look at the treatment of migrants and minorities in Turkey.
