CEFTUS and LSE Middle East Centre Joint Forum
‘Changing Kurdish Dynamics in the Middle East’
The Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS) in partnership with the London School of Economics Middle East Centre is pleased to invite you to a Joint Forum Debate with speakers veteran journalist and author Mr Cengiz Candar, Dr Zeynep Kaya, LSE Middle East Centre Research Fellow and Mr Robert Lowe, Manager of the Middle East Centre.
The event will take place on Tuesday 19 April 2016, between 7.00PM and 9.00PM in Committee Room 8, House of Commons. Please note that security checks are required to enter the House of Commons, so we kindly ask you to arrive at 6.30PM, allowing the event to start and end promptly on time.
This event is kindly hosted by Sharon Hodgson Labour MP for Washington & Sunderland West and Shadow Children’s Minister.
At the 100th anniversary of infamous Sykes-Picot agreement which defined the borders of Iraq and Syria, the peoples of the region whose lives have been affected by this agreement over the last century find themselves again in the middle of a conflict that may have a global effect. Starting from the Iraq War in early 2000s, shattered borders in the region have been reclaimed by the barbaric terrorist organisation DAESH also known as ISIS since their emergence due to intensifying Syrian conflict from 2011 onwards.
Kurds in Syria who had been denied autonomy at the beginning of the century have become key actors in their fight for survival and for democracy against DAESH. At the same time, Kurds in Turkey as a result of collapse of peace talks between the Turkish government and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) have suffered gravely with many civilians losing their lives over the last year, reminding many observers of the circumstances in 1990s. As a nation-wide political and security crisis looms in Turkey where many consecutive terror attacks have been carried out by DAESH and the PKK over the last year, Mr Cengiz Candar will elaborate on the 100th Anniversary of Sykes-Picot and Turkey, Syria and the Kurds at the brink of a change. Mr Lowe will share his analysis on the present and future of Rojava in Syria and Dr Zeynep Kaya will analyse the implications of the sudden shift from talks to conflict in Turkey.
We look forward to welcoming you at this joint forum.
Booking is required for this event to ensure adequate seating availability.
Speaker biographies
Mr Cengiz Candar studied political science and international relations at Ankara University. He began his career as journalist in 1976 in Turkish daily Vatan after living some years in the Middle East and Europe due to his opposition to the regime in Turkey following the military intervention in 1971. An expert for the Middle East (Lebanon and Palestine) and the Balkans (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Candar worked for the Turkish News Agency and for Turkish newspapers Cumhuriyet, Hürriyet, Referans and Güneş as a war correspondent. Currently, he is a columnist for Radikal. Candar served as special adviser to Turkish president Turgut Özal between 1991 and 1993. His interest was drawn to the events during the ethnic unrest in the Balkans between 1993 and 1995. From 1997, Candar lectured for two years on “History and Politics in the Middle East” at Bilgi University in İstanbul. Between 1999 and 2000, he did research work on “Turkey of the 21st century” as a Public Policy Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace. His description of the 1998 events in Turkey as a “post-modern coup” gained notice internationally, though Radikal columnist Türker Alkan had used the term two weeks earlier.
Dr Zeynep Kaya is a Research Fellow at the LSE Middle East Centre. Her expertise is on the international relations of the Middle East, with a focus on Kurdish politics, nationalism, self-determination, sovereignty and gender. She is currently completing her research project on international-local interactions to support gender mainstreaming in Iraqi Kurdistan with a focus on the Women, Peace and Security agenda.
Mr Robert Lowe is the Manager of the Middle East Centre. He joined the centre when it opened in 2010. Previously, Robert was Manager and Research Fellow, Middle East and North Africa Programme, Chatham House. He held a Research Fellowship from The Leverhulme Trust from 2008 to 2010 and was an Honorary Fellow at the Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, from 2008 to 2010.