NEWSROOM

Sweden became the 32nd member of NATO at the beginning of March, after completing the membership process with the approval of Turkey. Young academics have initiated a new project aimed at better understanding between Swedish and Turkish societies during this process. Academics and independent researchers can contribute to the project.

TURKEY - After receiving approval from Turkey and other member countries, Sweden joined NATO as the 32nd member at the beginning of March. Particularly during the process of Sweden's NATO membership, young academics who believe that both countries and societies need to understand each other more deeply, launched a project titled “Nordic Charm and Anatolian Legacy: Exploring the ties between Sweden and Turkey.” The project, conducted in collaboration with the Swedish Turkish University Students and Academics Association (TSAF) and the “heritors of today's Turkish social sciences site” slogan-bearing Tomorrow's Culture platform, will explore the historical and socio-political ties between Sweden and Turkey.

Ahu Mangeli, one of the TSAF Project Executives, highlighted that over 150,000 people of Turkish origin live in the country today, "We know that migration from various parts of Anatolia to Sweden began about 60 years ago. The ties between the two countries, however, date back even further. Starting from the end of March, we aim to uncover these connections in depth with articles to be published throughout the year on yarininkulturu.org."

One-fourth of Sweden's population has a foreign cultural background

Leyla Kaptancı, another TSAF Project Executive, stated, “Immigrant communities, regardless of ethnic origin, face similar problems, challenges of identity and belonging. Through the project conducted with the cooperation of TSAF and Tomorrow's Culture, with the contributions of young academics, we will address topics such as the historical relations between Sweden and Turkey, the Turkish diaspora, identity and migration, cultural interactions, education and employment, social participation, and activism in an objective, questioning, and scientific manner. Thus, we will produce a series of articles that will shed light on topics such as the impact of the Turkish diaspora in Sweden on Swedish society and the interaction between the two cultures. Academics and independent researchers wanting to contribute to the project can reach us with summaries not exceeding 250 words and their short resumes."

Articles will be published on the Tomorrow's Culture platform

Muratcan Zorcu, the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Tomorrow's Culture, described the study conducted with TSAF as valuable in shedding light on unknown aspects of the past within the context of social sciences. "At Tomorrow's Culture, articles range from politics to philosophy, literature to contemporary culture, mostly written by authors who continue their academic lives. In addition to the project we are running with TSAF, we have other simultaneous studies. For instance, we compiled and published speeches by the Turkish historian M. Tayyib Gökbilgin on national holidays. Now, we are working on a Şark Report from 1944 to be published in April. We distribute our limited-edition books for free and also share them for free on our website," he said.

Nazlı Esen Albayrak, the editor of Tomorrow's Culture, defines the platform as an entity that leans on social sciences while trying to keep up with the present. Albayrak shared her thoughts on the project conducted with TSAF, “I think we are providing a small opportunity to countless young people inside academia whose names have not yet been widely heard. This is both a very proud and exciting process. I hope we can make our voice heard to a wider audience in the coming years and reach people from different sectors with our writings.”

“Globalization has opened the door to a new era in identity and belonging”

Mert Can Yılmaz, the president of TSAF, emphasized that being an immigrant is an issue of identity, regardless of geography, ethnic origin, or the country of migration. Yılmaz shared his views with the following words:

“The sense of belonging is a critical factor that shapes our identities. Globalization has opened the door to a new era in issues of identity and belonging. Today, for the third or fourth generation of immigrant origin in Sweden, this issue is even more important. A generation that has not fully integrated into Swedish society, whose ties with the Anatolian geography have weakened, and who constantly questions their own identity, feels that a more troubled period is looming on the horizon with a right-wing nationalist coalition in Sweden today. The more accurately we can identify the source of problems, the closer we will be to the solution. Therefore, we believe that this project conducted with Tomorrow's Culture will have very valuable reflections.