Public Meeting: UK launch of the paper by Adem Uzun and published by Berghof Foundation

 

PUBLIC MEETING

“Living Freedom”: The Evolution of the Kurdish Conflict in Turkey and the Efforts to Resolve It

 

Friday 20 June, 2014, 6.30pm

Venue: Room B102, Brunei Gallery, SOAS, University of London, Thornhaugh St, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG

 

Luxshi Vimalarajah, Programme Director of Dialogue, Mediation and Peace Support Structures at the Berghof Foundation
Adem Uzun, Executive Member of Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) on video
Selma Benkhelifa, Lawyer, Progress Lawyers Network, Belgium
Jean Lambert MEP
Desmond Fernandes, Peace in Kurdistan Campaign & CAMPACC

Chaired by Margaret Owen OBE, International Human Rights Lawyer & Patron of Peace in Kurdistan Campaign

 

Political violence is a tool of both state and non-state actors, and replacing it by political methods of conflict management is essential to making sustainable peace. Adem Uzun’s case study about the Kurdish conflict is part of a series produced by the Berghof Foundation to bring to wider attention and appreciation those important voices – including those deliberately silenced as ‘’terrorists’’ – which are usually excluded or devalued in the analysis of conflict.

In his report Adem sets out to explain the emergence and internal evolution of the PKK within the context of the Kurdish struggle for freedom and democracy against the repressive and nationalistic policies pursued by the Turkish state. The seminar will focus on the need to understand in more depth the dynamics of organisations, such as the Kurds, who have been making the transition from conflict to democratic politics, in order to improve the understanding of their role, and ultimately contribute towards the achievement of lasting peace.

You can read the report, Living Freedom by Adem Uzun for the Berghof Foundation, here.

Organised by SOAS Kurdish Society in association with Peace in Kurdistan Campaign & Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC)

For more information contact

SOAS Kurdish Society: Rosa Burc 576029@soas.ac.uk

Peace in Kurdistan
Campaign for a political solution of the Kurdish Question
Email: estella24@tiscali.co.uk
www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com
Contacts Estella Schmid 020 7586 5892 & Melanie  Sirinathsingh – Tel: 020 7272 7890

Patrons: Lord Avebury, Lord Rea, Lord Dholakia, Baroness Sarah Ludford, Jill Evans MEP, Jean Lambert MEP, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Hywel Williams MP, Elfyn Llwyd MP, Conor Murphy MP, John Austin, Bruce Kent, Gareth Peirce, Julie Christie, Noam Chomsky, John Berger, Edward Albee, Margaret Owen OBE, Prof Mary Davis, Mark Thomas