Overview
The Atlantic Council US-Turkey Congressional-Parliamentary Fellowship Program aims at engaging and connecting US congressional and Turkish parliamentary staff to build knowledge on bilateral relations and dialogue among key constituencies on both sides of the Atlantic. Through a series of lectures, peer-to-peer discussions and a study tour, Fellows will gain a better understanding of bilateral relations with a new perspective on mutually pertinent issues and will also have the opportunity of meeting with leading experts.
The Atlantic Council IN TURKEY’s US-Turkey Congressional-Parliamentary Fellowship* is a non-partisan fellowship program that connects staff members from the US Congress and Turkish Parliament and engages through a multifaceted curriculum featuring leading experts on US and transatlantic relations with Turkey. Through an eight-month nonresidential and unpaid fellowship, staffers will participate in off-the-record lectures, interactive discussions and a study tour led by experts to address issues critical to bilateral relations and the region.
2023-2024 program
We successfully organized our second fellowship class between November 2023-June 2024. Our second Fellowship class brought together ten US Congressional fellows and ten Turkish Parliamentary fellows. Our seminar topics included:
- Turkish history and political system
- Turkey’s foreign policy history: From its origins to our days with a focus on US- Turkey relations
- US history and political system
- Turkish and US foreign policy during the AKP era and current state of US-Turkey relations
- Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Black Sea security
- EU-Turkey relations
- US-Turkey energy relations
- Changing power landscape in the Middle East
- Turkey’s defense policy and defense industry
Fellowship trips to the United States and Turkey
To conclude our 2023-2024 fellowship program, we organized capstone study trips in which our fellows had the opportunity to have meetings with key decision-makers, experts, and engage & explore their counterparts culture.
The US fellows travelled to Istanbul and Ankara between May 26-June 1, 2024. Our fellows had the opportunity to meet with Turkish officials, diplomats, representatives of political parties, and their peers in parliament to learn and engage on bilateral relations and regional issues.
Between June 10-15, 2024, our Turkish fellows travelled to Washington, DC for the study trip. Our fellows had meetings with key US State Department officials, diplomats, Turkey watchers, peers in the Congress, and Atlantic Council leadership and representatives to learn and engage on bilateral relations, regional issues, and the role think-tanks play in DC and globally.
2021-2022 program
During our inaugural Fellowship in 2021-2022, seminars covered topics including:
- Turkey’s foreign policy history: From its origins to our days with a focus on US-Turkey relations
- Turkey’s past and current governmental systems
- US history overview and the federal government system
- Turkish and US foreign policy priorities
- Turkey’s foreign policy during AKP era and current state of US-Turkey relations
- US-Turkey relations in light of current geopolitical conflicts
- EU-Turkey relations
- Turkey’s energy sector and US-Turkey energy relations
- A regional issue at the crossroads of US-Turkey and EU-Turkey relations: The Eastern Mediterranean
Fellowship trips to the United States and Turkey
To conclude the fellowship, our Turkish fellows made a trip to the US between April 14-18, 2022, to meet with leading officials, experts and learn more about their counterparts’ history and culture.
Between May 23-27, 2022, the US fellows made a trip to Turkey to participate in discussions and activities to build knowledge of Turkey and bilateral relations through meetings with officials and experts, engage in dialogue with their Turkish counterparts and visit historically and culturally significant sites.
*This fellowship is funded by a grant from the US Mission to Türkiye.
The Atlantic Council in Turkey aims to promote and strengthen transatlantic engagement with the region by providing a high-level forum and pursuing programming to address the most important issues on energy, economics, security, and defense.