Izmir - COMPREHENSIVE COOPERATION PRACTITIONER SEMINAR was held between the period of 22-26 June 2015 at LANDCOM. The aim of the seminar was to build a shared understanding of the complex strategic considerations in contemporary crisis management design including the necessity of inter-institutional and civilian-military collaboration to foster security and stability. The seminar contents are the results of close cooperation between the International Staff at NATO Headquarters, the NATO Defense College, and (USA) European Command. The seminar consisted of a day of lectures and academic discussions on Comprehensive Approach and its applications which was followed by a three-day table top crises management exercise where participants split into 4 syndicates and discussed the root causes and key challenges of the problem, relevant stakeholders and possible solutions.
Seminar started with the opening remarks of LANDCOM Chief of Staff, MG Ugur Tarcın. General Tarcın underlined the importance of comprehensive approach in his remarks and stated that complex conflicts and crises of our century require a wide range of internal and external actors, including governments, civil society, the private sector and international agencies, to work together in a coherent and coordinated effort in order to address interrelated challenges in a fragile or post conflict state which has insufficient capacities to address these issues by itself.
Briefers from SHAPE, LANDCOM, US European Command, UNWOMEN and ICRC reflected their point of view on implementing a comprehensive appoach.
LANDCOM Commander, LTG John Nicholson joined the seminar on the second day and expressed his gratitude of seeing subject matter experts from different organization working together. General Nicholson shared his experiences of operationalizing comprehensive approach with the audience and answered their questions.
The senior mentors and the instructor team were experienced civilians and military personnel from USEUCOM, US Army Europe 361st CA Bde, US Mission to NATO, ICRC, LANDCOM, US Naval Forces in Europe and Gediz University. There were 41 external participants from Eurocorps, NRDC-Italy, NRDC-Turkey, Red Crescent, Turkish National Police, Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turkish War College, Universities and AFAD, About 20 LANDCOM personnel from different divisions were among the audience.