Istanbul Gelisim University - Head of KAFKASSAM Prof. Dr. Hasan Oktay: The world will begin to talk about the Asia-Pacific countries in the next 10 ye

Head of KAFKASSAM Prof. Dr. Hasan Oktay: The world will begin to talk about the Asia-Pacific countries in the next 10 years

Head of Caucasus Strategic Research Center (KAFKASSAM) Prof. Dr. Hasan Oktay said that the world will begin to talk about this region in the next 10 years saying that Asia-Pacific countries are the rising power.

The 1^st International Asia-Pacific Studies Symposium was held in cooperation with the Caucasus Strategic Research Center (KAFKASSAM) and Istanbul Gelisim University (IGU). The theme of the symposium held in Istanbul was ‘South Asia with its Political, Economic and Social Aspects’. Many native and international scientists attended the symposium.

The symposium, which was held for the first time this year, aimed to find solutions to political, economic and social problems in the region. In addition, the potential of the region was also discussed and it aimed to increase the interest in the Asia-Pacific studies at the early stage in Turkey.

IGU Head of the Department of Political Science and International Relations Prof. Dr. Şenol Durgun stated that the world's economic center of gravity shifted from West to East talking about the symposium. Prof. Dr. Durgun said: “The Asia-Pacific countries are becoming increasingly prominent throughout the world. We receive information about these countries from the studies conducted in the west. We want to work towards the region in Turkey, we have organized this symposium with these aims. The studies abroad carried out for the region are made with their own perspectives. We wanted to have direct contact with academicians from the Asia-Pacific countries and meet face to face. Specialists from 12 different countries attended the symposium. We will discuss the political, economic and cultural aspects of the countries in the region”.

PROF. DR. OKTAY: THE WORLD WILL TALK ON ASIA-PACIFIC COUNTRIES

President of KAFKASSAM, who stated that some regions of the world come to the fore from time to time Prof. Dr. Hasan Oktay said: “The Middle East is no longer up to date, the US has been working on developing a strategy for Asia-Pacific countries for the last 2 years. Yesterday it was put an end by the Russia, US and Turkey. From now on, the world will begin to talk about Asia-Pacific. Asia-Pacific countries will be brought back to the world agenda in terms of population, economy and social mobility. The next 10 years Asia-Pacific will be discussed. Because this region has a large population, economic power and mobility ready to explode. They have economic power, but they are overpopulated, socially unable to combine the two. That's why they want to export the population. Because of the war, 60 percent of the Afghan population is about to leave the country. Even India and Pakistan could not integrate the economy with an unknown population”

US STRATEGY ON THE REGION

Indicating that over 50 million people are expected to go west from the Asia-Pacific region, recently Prof Dr. Oktay added: “In this case, the world's social balance will deteriorate, so other countries want to produce solutions in the region. The future strategy of the US, especially based in China, is to keep this country in its region, to prevent the mobility of its population and to make its economy and population self-sufficient.”

100 MILLION CHINESE ARE MOVING AROUND THE WORLD

Pointing that Turkey is a very important transit point for Asia-Pacific Prof. Dr. Oktay said: “If China suffices itself, it will stop exporting population to the world. Currently, nearly 100 million Chinese are moving around the world, trying to settle. Therefore, in the coming days, it is expected a new move capable to unite the population and the economy which will foster the export and l make the economy faster. India and Pakistan are very important at this point. They want to link economically with Turkey acces the World. Turkey is an important transit point and knows all theories between east and west. We are a rare geography that knows both Asia and Europe. Turkey's experience will be very important for Asia-Pacific.”

RELATIONS BETWEEN TURKEY AND ASIA-PACIFIC COUNTRIES ARE DEVELOPING

Indicating that Turkey is closely interested in the region Director of Public Diplomacy Research and Application Center at Kırklareli University Assoc. Prof. Dr. Muharrem Ekşi said that the symposium will contribute to political, economic and trade development between Turkey and countries of the region.

TRADE VOLUME REACHED 70 BILLION DOLLARS

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ekşi continued as follows: “The Asia-Pacific region emerged with its economic rise in global politics. This is defined as the ‘the rise of Asia’ on the international political scene. Taking into consideration the region's economic power in the context of having 30 percent of world trade, Turkey also is conducting trade diplomacy. Turkey, of course, does not improve only trade relations in Asia-Pacific but also political, cultural and social policies. Turkey increased the number of embassies to 15, in this context. The trade volume, which was 17 billion dollars in 2004, increased to 70 billion dollars in 2017.”