11TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON “THE EUROPEAN UNION, TURKEY, THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE KURDS”
“CHAOS AND CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE EAST: NEW REGIONAL ORDER AND THE KURDS”
Wednesday 10th & Thursday 11th of December 2014
Room ASP 1G2
European Parliament, Brussels (B)
Since 2004 the EUTCC has held an annual conference in the European Parliament. One of its most important tasks is to monitor Turkish compliance with the EU accession criteria. EUTCC wishes to contribute to the progress of Turkish membership of the EU by spreading accurate, objective information both in Turkey and Europe about the progress made by Turkey, but also about any shortcomings which may still persist.
By these conferences the EUTCC also wishes to contribute to a democratic, peaceful and lasting solution of the Kurdish problem. It believes that this can only be achieved through a dialogue between the parties concerned, in which also the EU must play its part. This will require not only further changes in legislation, but a change in the ideology and mentality at all levels of Turkish society. From a state seeing the expression of Kurdish culture and language as a threat to its own existence, Turkey must become a state that recognizes differences and sees cultural diversity and freedom as positive and necessary elements of a true democracy.
In these ten years there have been only minor reform changes in Turkey regarding the situation of the Kurds. This year`s conference brings together internationally recognized speakers from various disciplines and fields together with the EUTCC patrons. At this year’s conference, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, the famous Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, will participate. Other well-known EUTCC patrons include Dr. Shirin Ebadi, Professor Noam Chomsky, Bianca Jagger Yasar Kemal, Leyla Zana and Vedat Turkali are supporting us.
Please register beforehand by sending your name, date of birth and ID-card number to:
EU Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC) Conference Committee – Brussels
Draft PROGRAMME
Conference’s Patrons:
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, South Africa
Dr. Shirin Ebadi
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Iran
Bianca Jagger
Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador
Chair of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation, UK
Professor Noam Chomsky
Writer, USA
Yasar Kemal
Writer, Turkey
Vedat Turkali
Writer, Turkey
Leyla Zana
European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought
Rafto Prize Laureate, Turkey
Wednesday, 10th December 2014, 15.00-16.00
Room ASP 1G2
Opening Session
- MEP Ms. Gaby ZIMMER, Chairwoman of the European United Left – Nordic Green
- Kariane WESTRHEIM, EUTCC Chairwoman, Norway
Left Group (GUE/NGL) in the European Parliament
- Adem UZUN, Executive Member of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK)
Wednesday, 10th December 2014, 16.00-18.30
Panel I, Room ASP 1G2
Strengthen the Turkish–Kurdish Peace Process:
A New Chance for Turkey and the Region
Moderators:
Judge Essa MOOSA, IPRI, South Africa
Ms. Dersim DAGDEVIREN, President of KURD-AKAD, Germany
- The Road Map for Real Negotiations
Prof Dr. Hans-Joachim GIESMANN, Director of Berghof Foundation, Germany
- The Role of Abdullah Ocalan in the Peace Process
MP Ms. Pervin BULDAN, Group-spokeswoman of HDP in the Turkish Parliament, Turkey
- The EU Policy Towards the Kurds in Europe
MEP……….(TBC)
- The Peace Process and Turkish civil society
Mr. Huseyin YAYMAN, Journalist, Turkey
- New Developments in the Region and the Peace Process
Ms. Arzu YILMAZ, PhD, Ankara University, Turkey
- EU Contribution and obstacles for the solution of the Kurdish Issue – Delisting PKK from the anti-terror list
Ms. Marieke van EIK, Lawyer, Prakken d’Oliveira, The Netherlands
Questions and discussion with moderators & discussants
Thursday, 11th December 2014, 09.30 – 13.00
Panel II, Room ASP 1G2
What are the Alternatives to the Chaos in the Middle East?
Security, Stability and Welfare in the Region
Moderators:
Prof. Michael GUNTER, EUTCC Secretary General, United States
Mr. Osman KAVALA, Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV), Turkey
- The Iraqi Crisis, ISIS and the Kurdistan Region
Prof. Abbas VALI, Bogazici University -Turkey
- Suraqiland and the Shifting Paradigms in the Middle East
Ms. Ofra BENGIO, Moshe Dayan Center, Tel Aviv University, Israel
- West-Kurdistan, ISIS and the Assad Regime
Ms. Bahar SIMSEK, PhD candidate Ankara University, Turkey
- The Kurdish Multi-Ethnic and Sectarian Solutions
Mr. Salih MUSLIM, Co-President of PYD, Rojava-Syria
- Possible Contributions of the EU for Peace, Stability and Security in the Middle East
Ms. Fréderike GEERDINK, Journalist, The Netherlands
- The EU Policy in the Middle East and Kurdistan
MEP Ms. Bodil CEBALLOS, MEP, Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance
Questions and discussion with moderators & discussants
Thursday, 11th December 2014, 15.00 – 17.30
Panel III, Room ASP 1G2
Responsibilities for Resolving the Crisis in the Middle East
Moderators:
Mr. Jurgen KLUTE, former GUE/NGL, Germany
Ms. Asli AYDINTASBAS, Journalist, Turkey
@ 15h00 – OPENING SPECIAL REMARKS:
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond TUTU, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, South Africa
- The EU-Turkey Relationship and Kurdish Issue
Dr. Phil. Günter SEUFERT, SWP Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik, Germany
- The Paris Murders of Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Dogan, and Leyla Saylemez: Two Years Later
Me. Antoine COMTE, Lawyer, France
- Radical Islam in the Middle-East
Ms. Sirin PAYZIN, Journalist, Turkey
- Women’s Perspectives for the solution of crisis
Ms. Gonul KAYA, Kurdish Women Movement Representative
- The Expectations and Plights of the West
Dr. Michael RUBIN, American Enterprise Institute, United States
- Kurdish Contribution to a New Democratic Turkey based on Unity of Diversities
MP Mr. Selahattin DEMIRTAS, Co-President of HDP, Turkey
Questions and discussion with moderators & discussants
Thursday, 11th December 2014, 17.30 – 18.30
Room ASP 1G2
Resolution & Final Remarks
EUTCC Board Members
Mr. Francis WURTZ, Former President of GUE/NGL Group in EP
MP Mr. Nazmi GUR, Vice President of the HDP, Turkey
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