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)

Interpretation available also in Turkish, English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian

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

All Conference’s sessions – video

Wednesday 10th December 2014, 15.00-18.30http://eventstream.streamovations.be/european-union-turkey-middle-east-kurds-10-dec.php

Thursday 11th December 2014, 09.30-18.30 http://eventstream.streamovations.be/european-union-turkey-middle-east-kurds-11-dec.php

 

PROGRAM

Wednesday, 10th December 2014, 15.00-16.00
Opening Session, Room ASP 1G2

• Prof. Kariane WESTRHEIM, Chairwoman of the EU-Turkey Civic Commission,
University of Bergen, Norway
• MEP Gaby ZIMMER, Chairwoman of the European United Left – Nordic Green
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, International Peace and Reconciliation Initiative (IPRI), South Africa
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 Pervin BULDAN, Group-spokeswoman of HDP in the Turkish Parliament, Turkey

• The EU Policy Towards the Kurds in Europe
MEP Rina Ronja KARI, GUE/NGL Member of the European Parliament, Denmark

• The Peace Process and Turkish Civil Society
Huseyin YAYMAN, Journalist, Turkey

• New Developments in the Region and the Peace Process
Arzu YILMAZ, PhD, Ankara University, Turkey

• EU Contribution and Obstacles for the Solution of the Kurdish Issue – Delisting the PKK from the Anti-terror List
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
Osman KAVALA, Civil Society Activist, Turkey

• The Iraqi Crisis, ISIS and the Kurdistan Region
Prof. Abbas VALI, Bogazici University -Turkey

• Suraqiland and the Shifting Paradigms in the Middle East
Prof. Ofra BENGIO, Moshe Dayan Center, Tel Aviv University, Israel

• West-Kurdistan, ISIS and the Assad Regime
Bahar SIMSEK, PhD candidate Ankara University, Turkey

• The Kurdish Multi-Ethnic and Sectarian Solutions
Salih MUSLIM, Co-President of PYD, Rojava-Syria

• Possible Contributions of the EU for Peace, Stability and Security in the Middle East
Fréderike GEERDINK, Journalist, The Netherlands

• The EU Policy in the Middle East and Kurdistan
MEP Bodil CEBALLOS, Greens/European Free Alliance Group in the E.P.

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:
Jürgen KLUTE, former GUE/NGL MEP, Germany
Asli AYDINTASBAS, Journalist, Turkey

• 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
Sirin PAYZIN, Journalist, Turkey

• Women’s Perspectives for the Solution of Crisis
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 Diversity
MP Selahattin DEMIRTAS, Co-President of HDP, Turkey

Questions and discussion with moderators & discussants

Thursday, 11th December 2014, 17.30 – 18.30
Resolution & Final Remarks, Room ASP 1G2

EUTCC Board Members
Francis WURTZ, Former President of GUE/NGL Group in EP, France
MP Nazmi GUR, Vice President of the HDP, Turkey