PUBLIC MEETING

Peace in Kurdistan Campaign and Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) invite you to

The Collapsed State Systems in Syria & Iraq and the Rise of ISIS & the Kurds

Monday 12 January, 6 – 7.30pm

Venue: Committee Room 3, House of Lords, Westminster, SW1A 0AA

With Professor Michael M. Gunter and guest speakers; hosted by Lord Hylton.

The immediate origins of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) lie in the opportunity spaces provided by two bitter civil wars that challenged the existing state system and borders created by the Sykes-Picot Agreement of World War I: (1) The bloody Sunni-Shia civil war in Iraq that followed the U.S. overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003, and (2) the even more horrific civil war that has been raging in Syria since 2011. ISIS has gained its strength from a wide range of political, sociological, economic, and military factors, among others, and Turkey has played a very controversial role in this complex situation.

Michael M. Gunter, professor of political science at Tennessee Technological University and author of 11 critically appraised books on the Kurdish question, will discuss these issues in connection to the political ascendency of the Kurds in Syria. The talk will be based on his recent trip to the Kurdish region of Iraq and the background research he did for his recently published book Out of Nowhere: The Kurds in Syria in Peace and War (London: Hurst Publishers, 2014).[1]

 

This event begins at 6pm and is free and open to all. Please make sure you arrive 20 minutes prior to the start in order to pass through security checks at the Cromwell Green or St Stephens entrance of the Houses of Parliament.

Notes

[1] This timely book offers a critical analysis of ascending Kurdish autonomy in Syria in the past two years, which the author says may become a ‘tipping point’ that dramatically shifts the geopolitics of the Middle East. You can find more information on the book here.

More information

This event is kindly hosted by Lord Hylton for Peace in Kurdistan Campaign and Kurdistan National Congress. For more information& RSVP contact Peace in Kurdistan Campaign: estella24@tiscali.co.uk / 0207 586 5892 or Kurdistan National Congress: knklondon@gn.apc.org / 0207 272 7890