From February 27 to March 2, a four-day excursion to Berlin took place as part of the preparation for the National Model United Nations (NMUN) conference in New York. A total of 18 delegates from Giessen University participated. The purpose of the trip was to gain deeper insights into Turkish foreign policy and detailed knowledge of the issues that will be discussed in the various committees of NMUN in order to authentically represent the Republic of Turkey in New York.
The excursion was organized by Vera Strobel and the association Gießen Model United Nations e.V. with the support of the MUN project team of the Chair of Public Law and International Law of Prof. Dr. Thilo Marauhn. On site, the group leadership was taken over by Christina Bähr, Lina Kost and Mohamad Rashid.
After the arrival the participants visited the museum „Futurium“. This was followed by a visit to the Federal Chancellery, where the delegates were given an exciting guided tour of the political center of Germany.
On Tuesday, the delegates were guests at the Federal Foreign Office and were received by Christina Busche, Deputy Head of the Turkey Department. There, the delegates had the opportunity to ask questions about their respective committees and received tips on the most important aspects of their subject areas. Afterwards, the delegates went to the Hertie School, where Turkey expert Dr. Begüm Başdaş gave her assessment of Turkey’s domestic and migration policies and the current situation in the nation. Critical aspects of the human rights situation in particular were addressed here.
The next day, the Turkish Embassy was on the agenda. The Turkish Ambassador H.E. Ahmet Başar Şen informed the delegates about Turkish foreign policy and was available to answer their questions. After the exciting talk, the diplomats of the Embassy took time to have tea with the delegates and talked to them about their role in New York and how they can best represent the Republic of Turkey there. After this, the delegates went to the Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik. There they met Dr. Hürcan Asli Aksoy, Deputy Director of the Center, and three other experts at the Center for Applied Turkish Studies (CATS). Here, too, the delegates had the chance to exchange views with the scholars on the role of Turkey and its positioning in the international system.
The last day of the excursion ended with a visit to the German Bundestag, where the participants had the opportunity to talk with the human rights representative of the Bundestag, Max Lucks, about the relationship between Germany and Turkey, as well as about Turkey’s foreign policy problems. This was followed by an exciting visit to a plenary session, where members of the Bundestag discussed the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and how to end it. The visit to the Bundestag was rounded off with a tour of the dome. Afterwards, the group took the train back to Giessen.
Giessen Model United Nations 