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The Nordic Baltic Institute (NBI) will become the first Türkiye-based think tank to organize a session at the Arctic Circle Assembly, an international gathering on the future of the Arctic region taking place in Reykjavik, Iceland, on Oct. 8-10.
Titled "Türkiye and the Arctic: Epistemic and Civil Networks," the session will be held on Oct. 10 from 11:00 a.m. to 11:55 a.m. local time in the Kaldalon hall of Reykjavik's Harpa Concert and Conference Center.
The discussion comes as the Arctic's significance increasingly extends beyond climate change. Interest in shipping routes, energy resources and critical minerals intersects with geopolitical competition and changing defense priorities, drawing countries outside the region into debates about its future.
Esra Ozturk, founder and chair of the board of NBI, will moderate the session and present a paper on connecting Türkiye and the Arctic through civil and epistemic networks.
Prof. Mehmet Levent Kurnaz, director of Bogazici University's Climate Change and Policies Implementation and Research Center, will address Arctic climate change and Türkiye's response. Assoc. Prof. Gizem Cakmak of Yeditepe University will discuss the funding, priorities and expert networks behind polar research in Türkiye.
Mustafa Furkan Durmaz, vice chair of the board of NBI, will examine how networks of specialists can inform policy and connect research with institutional action. Andreas Raspotnik, director of the High North Center for Business and Governance at Nord University in Norway, will offer a northern perspective on Türkiye's engagement and opportunities for cooperation.
The session will also include two video messages. Ambassador Cagri Erhan, deputy chairman of the Security and Foreign Policies Council of the Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye and chief adviser to the president, will add a policy perspective.
Assoc. Prof. Ebru Caymaz, a working-group member of the International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARP), a global effort to set Arctic research priorities, will speak on Arctic science diplomacy.
The Arctic Circle Assembly is expected to bring together more than 2,000 participants from over 70 countries, including heads of state and government, ministers, business leaders, scientists, experts and Indigenous representatives. The program includes more than 200 sessions with over 700 speakers.
Türkiye is also represented by a high-level delegation. Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology Kasim Gonullu will speak at a plenary session. Prof. Burcu Ozsoy, head of the TUBITAK Polar Research Institute, Ambassador Zafer Ates of the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Burhan Ozdemir, head of the business association MUSIAD, are also among the participants.
Other speakers on the plenary stage include Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand, Greenland's Foreign Minister Mute B. Egede, EU Commissioner Jozef Sikela and Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy. Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chair of the NATO Military Committee, will speak on Saturday.
Based in Türkiye, NBI works to strengthen cooperation between Türkiye and the eight Nordic-Baltic countries through research, publications, public dialogue and institutional partnerships.
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