Conversations with Turkey's Career Pioneers - Dr. Burak Erdenir

The second guest on our Career Pioneers Talk this week was Dr. Burak Erdenir, Deputy Secretary General for EU Affairs. Mr. Erdenir, who started his talk by introducing himself, first listed the schools he graduated from; TED Ankara College, METU Department of Food Engineering, MBA Georgetown University, MPA (Public Administration) Harvard University Kennedy School of Government. He stated that he intended to go into the public sector right from the start and thus planned his education accordingly. Mr. Erdenir, who started his first job at the Undersecretariat of Treasury, then moved onto the Secretariat General for European Union Affairs in the year 2000 and respectively served as; European Union specialist, deputy secretary general, and minister counselor.

Mr. Erdenir indicated that the European Union is an ongoing process, and that we need to believe in Turkey’s EU process, democratization, modernization and Turkey’s opening to the EU. He added that he believes the youth is the one to make all these happen.

He said that the schools we go to are structured in line with Western philosophies, and that this is the foundation of the Republic. He told our students not to put themselves into certain molds and that they will be able to determine their priorities as they get to know themselves. Mr. Erdenir said that while he thought his mathematic side was good, he discovered that his ability to write was what was actually better. He ended his talk by answering student questions.