Mission and objectives

Istanbul Policy Center (IPC) is an independent policy research institute with global outreach. Its main aim is to foster academic research in social sciences and its application to policy making. IPC is firmly committed to providing decision-makers, opinion leaders, academics, and general public with innovative and objective analyses in key domestic and foreign policy issues.

The institute has expertise in a wide range of areas, including Turkey-EU-U.S. relations, conflict resolution, education, climate change, Middle East, democratisation, current trends of political and social transformation in Turkey, as well as civil society and local governance. IPC stands out from many of its peers with its exceptional access to intellectual capital and vast reserves of scientific knowledge at Sabancı University. IPC thus offers policy makers, academics and young researchers a unique platform where sound academic research in social sciences shapes hands-on policy work.

IPC’s objective is to enhance the quality and effectiveness of policy research, teaching, and outreach on the EuroMed area as part of its EU-Turkey program. To this end, it has launched in 2001 Turkey’s EU Observatory. This program draws on the faculty resources of Sabanci University’s Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence and three Jean Monnet professors.