Sakarya University Middle East Institute
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| Abbreviation | ORMER |
|---|---|
| Type | Public |
| Location | |
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Director
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Kemal Inat |
| Affiliations |
Sakarya University MESC Jordan |
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Staff
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10 full-time faculty members and 18 research assistants |
| Website | http://ormer.sakarya.edu.tr/ ORMER Website] |
Sakarya University Middle East Institute (Turkish: Sakarya Üniversitesi Ortadoğu Enstitüsü, also known as ORMER) is located on the campus of Sakarya University in Sakarya, Turkey. Its mission is to enhance understanding the Middle East and contribute with rigorous programs to research and teaching on the people, economies, religions and politics of the region. As part of this mission, the institute hosts graduate programs and organizes academic conferences and events. Almost half of ORMER’s graduate students are international, coming mostly from the Balkans, the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia. ORMER has more than 10 full-time faculty and 18 research assistants.
The idea of Sakarya University Middle East Institute goes back to the year 2005 when the first issue of Middle East Annual (Ortadoğu Yıllığı) was published by a group of academics including the founding director of the institute, Kemal Inat. In the aftermath of the Arab Spring, this idea turned a concrete step with the opening of a master program on the Middle East under the Social Science Institute of Sakarya University in May 2012. At the same year, an online master program on the Middle East was also inaugurated. Those who opened Master-level programs organized the first Middle East Congress on Politics and Society between 9 and 11 October 2012.
After the opening of another Middle East program at PhD level, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Sakarya University was established on 11 December 2013. The main focus of the center was the effect of the Arab Spring on politics, society and economy of the Middle East. Accordingly, the second Middle East Congress on Politics and Society was organized in order to deal with effects of the Arab Spring on the Middle East.
According to founding director of the institute, Turkey's need for academically-educated experts on the Middle East became a problem especially after two important political developments in the opening years of the 21st Century, rising interest of Turkey towards the Middle East region, and political turmoil following the Arab Spring. Motivated by these political developments, the center reorganized itself as an institute. Therefore, Sakarya University Middle East Institute was officially established on May 25, 2015, and all graduate programs and staff were transferred to this institute. However, the institute continues to use ORMER as its abbreviation. ORMER is a shortened form of Ortadoğu Merkezi (Middle East Center).
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