CAIS Lecturer, Dr Murat Yurtbilir and research scholar, Victoria Xiaoli Guo participated in an international conference in which one of the central themes was Turkey's foreign policy in relation to China.

The Fifth International Forum on Asia and the Middle East: A global perspective on Middle East Governance, was held at the Shanghai International Studies University, on 24-25 September.

(Image: Dr Yurtbilir)

Dr Yurtbilir's paper was entitled: 'Turkish Foreign Policy and China: Strategic prospects and imminent challenges for the 2020s'. In the paper he argued that Turkey's NATO membership, its long term alliance with the US, and its candidate country status for EU membership set the limits of enhancing Turkish-Chinese relations. These factors limit Turkey-China relations to the economic sphere.

In Ms Guo's paper,'Is Turkey Acting Fairly? Turkey’s Choice of the T-LORAMIDS', she discussed the recent challenges arising from Turkey's attempts to acquire a new missile defence system.