Background

Fighting has recently flared up again in the Southern Caucasus, in particular in the unrecognized Republic of Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh). Internationally, this region belonged to Azerbaijan since the Soviet era. Historically, Nagorno-Karabakh is the heartland of Armenian identity and the population is largely Christian.

As with any military conflict, the main victim is once more the civilian population, which is predominantly Armenian. However, the west should realize that there is more to it than a mere ethnic conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. It should come as no surprise that Turkey has join the fight. Moreover, it seems that the Turkish jihadist front has somehow shifted from the Middle East to the Caucasus.

What could be the impact on the Western world? What is the role of major powers in this conflict and of Russia in particular? Is there a role to play for Europe and / or NATO?

Therefore, an Inter-Parliamentary Working Group

The Kurdish Institute organizes an Inter-parliamentary Working Group (IPWG) to formulate an answer to the many questions and to clarify the background of this conflict. We invite three speakers with considerable knowledge and experience regarding the affected region.

• Bogoz Muradian – is an Armenian doctor living in Brussels. Because of his passion for the history of his region, he is well placed to provide us quite some background information to better understand the context of the conflict.
• Freddy De Pauw – was Editor Foreign Affairs at De Standaard for about 30 years and has been writing in Uitpers since its inception in 1999. As a journalist, he followed for many years the situation in Central and Eastern Europe, and a large part of Asia. As a result, he closely follows the recent developments in the Southern Caucasus. Freddy De Pauw gives us his political analysis of the conflict and places it in an international context.
• Doğan Özgüden – is a Turkish journalist based in Belgium since 1974. He is editor-in-chief of Info-Turk and honorary chairman of Ateliers du Soleil. In Turkey, he was the editor of the left-wing daily Akşam and the socialist magazine ANT. Under the threat of more than 300 years of imprisonment for his writings and publications, he was forced to leave Turkey after the military coup of 1971. He was deprived of Turkish citizenship after the military coup of 1980. Doğan Özgüden will highlight very specifically Turkey’s role in this whole conflict.

Practical topics

Due to the corona situation, this IPWK cannot take place within the premises of the Parliament. Therefore, we opt for an “online” conference.

This webinar starts on Thursday, November 5 at 7 PM and takes about 75 minutes.

You can register via our webpage www.kurdishinstitute.be/contacteer-ons . After entering your name and email address, write in the field “Bericht“: “Registration Webinar 5-11”

After registration, you will receive a zoom link via which you can reach the webinar on Thursday evening 5-11.

The Kurdish Institute hopes to welcome you as a participant during this online conference.