ValEUs–Istanbul Summer School 2025: Migration and Enlargement in the Wake of the Ukraine War
Venue: İstanbul Bilgi University | Energy Museum Seminar Room
Date: 11–15 August 2025
Organized within the framework of the ValEUs Project, the Summer School on Multiple Crises and the Contestation of EU Values convened students and scholars from across the globe. The program took place simultaneously in Mexico, Denmark, and Turkey, with joint sessions enabling real-time transnational academic exchange. In Turkey, the Summer School was hosted by İstanbul Bilgi University.
Exploring EU Values, Migration, and Security
The Istanbul program focused on critical themes including EU enlargement, migration policies, identity formation, democratic governance, and European security. Through lectures, simulation exercises, and field visits, participants examined the diffusion and contestation of European norms across regions from the Balkans to the Caucasus.
The program featured a distinguished faculty offering diverse perspectives. Prof. Ayhan Kaya provided a historicist view of migration in Turkey and analyzed EU asylum policies, while Dr. Ozan Kuyumcuoğlu examined transformations in Turkish foreign policy over the past 15 years. Prof. Timm Beichelt explored the gap between the EU’s professed values—freedom, mobility, and solidarity—and their practical implementation. Günsu Karacaoğlan (SGDD-ASAM) shared insights from refugee support and integration work across Turkey. Prof. Jarosław Jańczak led a simulation exercise on the EU–Belarusian border migration crisis, and Prof. Nina Sajić offered a postcolonial critique of EU values and their global implications. Dr. Özge Onursal-Beşgül focused on Turkey–EU relations and Europeanisation processes, Prof. Zsuzsánna Magdó examined historical and contemporary constructions of Ukrainian identity, and Dr. Mehmet Ali Tuğtan discussed European security and the impact of the Ukraine war.
Engaging Learning Experiences
Participants visited the Santralistanbul Energy Museum and Archives, linking the industrial heritage of the Silahtarağa Power Plant with contemporary political and societal debates. Joint sessions across three countries encouraged comparative analysis, collaborative learning, and intercultural dialogue. By combining high-level academic instruction, practitioner insights, simulation exercises, and intercultural engagement, the ValEUs Summer School 2025 provided a rigorous platform for scholarly discussion and strengthened international collaboration on pressing European issues.
We sincerely thank all participating students for their intellectual engagement and contributions, which were instrumental in making the Summer School a successful academic event. We also extend special appreciation to İstanbul Bilgi University students Didem Karabiber, Dilara Korkmaz, Duru Şimşek, Enes İçen, Fevzi Umut Güven, and Şimal Karamahmutoğlu, whose dedicated support greatly contributed to the smooth implementation of the program.
