A Two-Day Event Carried out for the Merih Celasun Memorial Day

The second memorial event in commemoration for Prof. Dr. Merih Celasun lasted for two days.

ANKARA – The second event of the Memorial Day events TEPAV has been organizing in commemoration of Professor Merih Celasun, who offered critical solutions for Turkey's economic problems with his studies on economic policy driven by scientific thought, was held. The events carried out on 20-21 June 2012 covered memorial lecture, memorial speeches, Merih Celasun Award Ceremony and a panel where the award-winning study was presented.

The Second Merih Celasun Memorial Day events carried out at TEPAV started on Thursday 20 June 2012 with memorial speeches by Prof. Celasun's friends and students. Composed of anecdotes, this part of the event witnessed emotional moments. The memorial speeches were delivered by TEPAV Director Prof. Dr. Güven Sak, former minister Oltan Sungurlu, TEPAV Impact Assessment Program Director Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sibel Güven, and Executive Editor of the journal İktisat, İşletme ve Finans Ali Bilge.

Sak: "We are happy to have awarded a study on a neglected topic."

During his speech, Sak stated that with the Merih Celasun Memorial Day events TEPAV aimed to create a platform for the discussion on Turkey's economic issues and to expand the scope of the Memorial Day with a series of events that will last more than a day. He stated in this context that 2012's memorial event was to continue with a panel meeting the following day. Reminding that as a part of the events TEPAV had decided to grant Merih Celasun Award to support and promote academic research on Turkey, Sak stated that he was glad that the 2011 Award had been granted to a study on agricultural productivity, a neglected topic in Turkey.

Following the memorial speeches, Daron Acemoğlu, Professor of Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and two-time nominee for the Nobel Prize delivered the memorial lecture. During the lecture, he talked about his latest book Why Nations Fail, which he co-authored with James Robinson and answered the questions from the audience.

Please click here to watch Acemoğlu's presentation.

The event received high participation

This event, the second of the Merih Celasun Memorial Days events organized by TEPAV attracted great attention. Participants involved his former students and friends who are prominent politicians, academics, and bureaucrats as well as many students and academics who wanted to listen to Acemoğlu's lecture.

The program continued with the ceremony for Merih Celasun Award, launched in 2011 to support and promote academic research on the Turkish economy.

The award was won by the study titled "Agricultural Productivity and Growth in Turkey" by Prof. Ayşe İmrohoroğlu and Prof. Selahattin İmrohoroğlu of South Califonia University and Dr. Murat Üngör of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey. Authors Prof. Dr. Ayşe İmrohoroğlu and Dr. Murat Üngör, present at the Merih Celasun 2011 Award Ceremony, received their awards from Prof. Daron Acemoğlu. The Celasun Family Special Award was granted to the same study. The authors received their awards from Ali Bilge, Executive Editor of the journal İktisat, İşletme ve Finans. The study was shared and discussed during a panel meeting held on Thursday, 21 June 2012.

Please click here for the award-winning study.

The first day of the events ended after a cocktail reception.

A panel meeting on agricultural productivity held in the second day of the events

In the second day of the Memorial Day events on Friday, 21 June 2012, "Merih Celasun 2011 Award Panel" was held. The study that won the Award, titled "Agricultural Productivity and Growth in Turkey" by Prof. Ayşe İmrohoroğlu and Prof. Selahattin İmrohoroğlu of South Califonia University and Dr. Murat Üngör of the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey was presented. Key findings of the study were introduced by Dr. Murat Üngör, one of the authors. Following the presentation, a panel discussion was carried out with the moderation of Prof. Dr. Serdar Sayan, TEPAV Stability Institute Director. Discussants of the panel session were Prof. Dr. Erol Çakmak, Dean of the TED University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Prof. Dr. Mahir Fisunoğlu of Çukurova University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, and Ozan Acar, TEPAV Economic Policy Analyst.

Please click here to read the article on the panel meeting.