Topics
15th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
“THE EUROPEAN UNION, TURKEY, THE MIDDLE EAST AND THE KURDS”
THE KURDISH FACTOR IN WORLD POLITICS:
CRISIS, CHALLENGES AND SOLUTIONS
Brussels, European Parliament
Wednesday 5th & Thursday 6th of December 2018
PATRONS
ARCHBISHOP EMERITUS DESMOND TUTU
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, South Africa
SHIRIN EBADI
Human Rights Lawyer
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Iran
BIANCA JAGGER
Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador
Chair of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation, UK
NOAM CHOMSKY
Institute Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy
at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
LEYLA ZANA
European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought,
Rafto Prize Laureate, Turkey
In cooperation with
KURDISH INSTITUTE OF BRUSSELS
IMPORTANT TECHNICAL INFORMATION
“HOW TO PARTICIPATE AND ENTER THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT”
An official “European Parliament personal badge/pass” will be available for all ALREADY REGISTERED participants to the Conference.
Your “personal badge / pass” will be available at the main entrance of the European Parliament (Place de Luxembourg – main European Parliament’s building “Altiero Spinelli” – just after the sliding doors you’ll find a conference desk), during and only the following date / hours:
– Wednesday 5th of December, 08.00 – 09.00
– Thursday 6th December, 08.00 – 09.00
All participants must take care of their own “EP badge / pass” during both days; if someone lose the “pass / badge” it will be impossible for the conference’s organizers to replace it, according to the E.P. internal rules.
For any additional information, please contact the conference’s secretariat:
Wednesday, 5th of December 2018, 09.00-10.00
OPENING SESSION, Room ASP 3G2 (ASP Building)
Interpretation in
Turkish, English, German, Kurdish (passive)
OPENING SPEECHES AND GREETINGS
Ms. Kariane WESTRHEIM, Chair of EUTCC, University of Bergen, Norway
Mr. Dimitrios PAPADIMOULIS, Vice-President of the European Parliament, MEP of the European United Left – Nordic Green Left Group (GUE/NGL), Greece
Mr. Josef WEIDENHOLZER, MEP, Vice-President of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) in the European Parliament, Austria
Ms. Ana Miranda, MEP, The Greens / European Free Alliance, Spain
Ms. Margaret Owen, OBE, human rights lawyer focusing on women´s and children´s rights; Director of Widows for Peace through Democracy (WPD)
Wednesday, 5th of December 2018, 10.00-12.30
Panel I, Room ASP 3G2 (ASP Building)
Turkish, English, German, Kurdish (passive)
TURKEY AS A STATE DEPRIVED OF THE RULE OF LAW
Moderator
Mr. Akın Birdal, Former Chair of Human Rights Association, Former MP, Turkey
Ms. Heike Geisweid, lawyer, MAF-DAD, Germany
THE CURRENT STATE OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN TURKEY
Ms. Gülseren Yoleri, Co-Chair of Human Rights Association Istanbul, Turkey
THE REALITY INSIDE TURKEY´S PRISONS AND THE INFLUENCE OF THE EMERGENCY LAW /
THE IMRALI PRISON SYSTEM AS A PROTOTYPE OF THE OHAL PRISON SYSTEM
Mr. Öztürk Türkdoğan, Co-chair of Human Rights Association, Turkey
ISOLATION IN IMRALI PRISON AS A METHOD OF TORTURE AND HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION AND
ITS LEGAL BASIS
Mr. Ibrahim Bilmez, Asrin Law Office, Turkey
THE INFLUENCE OF THE INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW AND INTERNATIONAL
HUMAN RIGHTS BODIES ON THE STRUGGLE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND LEGAL RIGHTS IN TURKEY
Mr. Thomas Schmidt, General Secretary ELDH, Germany
RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE INTERNATIONAL POLITICS / HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS AND
FUTURE PERSPECTIVES
Mr. Gianni Tognoni, General Secretary Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal, Italy
QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION WITH MODERATORS & DISCUSSANTS
Wednesday, 5th of December 2018, 15.00-17.30
Panel II, Room PHS 04 B O1 (PHS Building )
Turkish, English, German, Kurdish (passive)
LIVING SOLIDARITY
Moderator
Ms. Sarah Glynn, artist and activist, Member of Scottish Solidarity with Kurdistan, UK
Mr. Ragip Duran, journalist, Germany
YOUR FREEDOM AND MINE: ABDULLAH ÖCALAN AND THE SOLUTION TO THE CRISIS
IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Mr. Federico Venturini, independent researcher and activist, Member of Advisory Board of the Transnational Institute of Social Ecology, Italy
PLEASE TELL MY STORY
Mr. Joe Ryan, Chair of Westminster Justice and Peace Commission, UK
THE INTERNATIONAL STRUGGLE FOR ÖCALANS FREEDOM: THE FREEDOM FOR ÖCALAN
WORLD CAMPAIGN
Ms. Clare Baker, UNITE the Union, UK
ON THE JUDGEMENT OF THE EUROPEAN GENERAL COURT: POLTICAL AND LEGAL CONSEQUENCES
Mr. Mahmut Şakar, lawyer, MAF-DAD , Germany
TOWARDS A NEW INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY
Mr. Thomas Jeffrey Miley, Lecturer of political sociology at the University of Cambridge, UK
QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION WITH MODERATORS & DISCUSSANTS
Thursday, 6th of December 2018, 09.00-13.00
Panel III, Room ASP 1G2 (ASP Building)
(Interpretation in Turkish, English, French, German, Italian, Dutch and other EU languages)
THE MIDDLE EAST: REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL CONFLICTS AND CONNOTATIONS
Moderator
Ms. Jean Lambert, MEP, UK
Ms. Gökay Akbulut, MP, Germany
TURKISH FOREIGN POLICY TOWARDS THE KURDS IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD
Mr. Kinoshita Akinobu, Japan-Kurdish Friendship Group, Japan
THE KURDISH FACTOR IN MIDDLE EASTERN GEOPOLITICS
Mr. Ahmet Yildirim, former MP, Peoples` Democratic Party, Turkey
THE ROLE OF REGIONAL POWERS IN THE CONFLICT
Mr. Bill Park, Senior Lecturer in the department of defence studies at Kings College London, UK
NATO AND THE MIDDLE EAST: CRISIS VERSUS CONSOLIDATION
Mr. Michael Gunter, EUTCC Secretary General, USA
THE KURDS AND THE MIDDLE EAST: FROM FACTOR OF INSTABILITY TO ACTOR OF STABILITY
Mr. Zubeyir Aydar, Kurdistan National Congress (KNK), Belgium
QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION WITH MODERATORS & DISCUSSANTS
Thursday, 6th of December 2018, 14.30-16.30
Panel IV, Room ASP 1G2 (ASP Building)
(Interpretation in Turkish, English, French, German, Italian, Dutch and other EU languages)
THE MIDDLE EAST: PERSPECTIVES AND SOLUTIONS
Moderator
Ms. Deniz Yonucu, Social anthropologist, LMU Munich, Germany
Ms. Dersim Dağdeviren, EUTCC Board Member, Germany
THE DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION OF NORTH-SYRIA: AN OASIS OF DEMOCRACY IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Mr. Michael Knapp, Historian, Berlin, Germany
YOUNG VOICES FROM MAXMUR: EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE IN A LIVING DEMOCRATIC AUTONOMY
Ms. Kariane Westrheim, University of Bergen, Chair of EUTCC, Norway
BETWEEN EXTINCTION AND POLITICAL CO-DETERMINATION – THE ETHNIC AND RELIGIOUS MINORITIES IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Mr. Simon Jacob, Central Council of Oriental Christians, Germany
ON THE RUINS OF KOBANE: INTERNATIONAL RESPONSIBILITY IN THE RECONSTRUCTION OF ROJAVA AND THE RECOGNITION OF THE DEMOCRATIC FEDERATION OF NORTHERN SYRIA
Mr. Jonathan Spyer, Director of the Rubin Center, Israel
THE KURDISH QUESTION AND THE EUROPEAN UNION: DELISTING OF PKK FROM THE TERROR LIST
Ms. Marie-Christine Vergiat, MEP, France
THE MIDDLE EAST: GLOBAL CHALLENGES NEEDS GLOBAL SOLUTIONS – THE NEED FOR AN INTERNATIONAL DEMOCRATIC ALLIANCE
Ms. Nilufer Koc, Co-Chair of KNK, Belgium
QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION WITH MODERATORS & DISCUSSANTS
Thursday, 6th of December 2018, 16.30-18.00
Panel V, Room ASP 1G2 (ASP Building)
(Interpretation in Turkish, English, French, German, Italian, Dutch and other EU languages)
PEACE POWER IN THE MIDDLE EAST: WOMEN
Moderators
Ms. Julie Ward, MEP, UK
Ms. Münevver Azizoglu-Bazan, University of Bremen, Germany
GENDER PERSPECTIVES FOR THE MIDDLE EAST
Ms. Mechthild Exo, University of Emden/Leer, Germany
DEMOCRATIC AUTONOMY AND WOMEN’S LIBERATION IN ROJAVA
Ms. Ilham Ehmed, Democratic Federation of Northern Syria
GAINING VOICE: KURDISH WOMEN’S STRUGGLE FOR RECOGNITION
Ms. Marlene Schäfers, University of Ghent, Belgium
DEMOCRATIC CONFEDERALISM AND THE STRUGGLE AGAINST PATRIARCHY
Ms. Döne Güzel, Kurdish Women’s Movement in Europe
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN´S STRUGGLE: CHALLENGES AND TASKS
Ms. Eleonora Forenza, MEP, Italy
QUESTIONS & DISCUSSION WITH MODERATORS & DISCUSSANTS
Thursday, 6th of December 2018, 18.00-18.30
Panel VI, Room ASP 1G2 (ASP Building)
(Interpretation in Turkish, English, French, German, Italian, Dutch and other EU languages)
CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND FINAL RESOLUTION
EUTCC Board Members
Ms. Dersim DAGDEVIREN, KURD-AKAD, Germany
Mr. Michael GUNTER, Tennessee Technological University, USA
Ms. Kariane WESTRHEIM, University of Bergen, Norway
Ms. Estella SCHMID, Peace in Kurdistan (PIK), UK
Mr. Thomas MILEY, Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge, UK