THE KURDISH QUESTION IN TURKEY: TIME TO RENEW THE DIALOGUE AND RESUME DIRECT NEGOTIATIONS

Interpretation available in Turkish, English, French, German, Dutch, Danish

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

Wednesday, 5th December 2012, 15.00-16.30: Opening Remarks and Greetings

Ms. Kariane Westrheim, PhD, Chair of EUTCC, Associate Professor, University of Bergen, Norway, MEP Ms. Gabi Zimmer President of the European United Left - Nordic Green Left Group (GUE/NGL) in the European Parliament, Germany, MEP Ms. Hélène Flautre (to be confirmed) Co-president of the Joint Parliamentary Committee EU-Turkey Greens-EFA Group, France, Video messages of Conference's Patrons Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, South Africa

Opening Speech: MP Ms. Leyla Zana Member of the Turkish Parliament, European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, Rafto Prize Laureate, Turkey ·

Wednesday, 5th December 2012, 16.30-18.30: The Turkish-Kurdish Conflict – where is it going?

Moderators: MEP Mr. Jürgen Klute, Coordinator of the EP-Kurds Friendship Group, GUE/NGL Group, Germany

The EU and Turkish Accession: The Rule of Law and the Limits of Judicial Reform · Mr. Walter Schwimmer, Former Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Austria · MEP Mr. Claude Moraes, Socialists & Democrats Group, UK · MEP Ms. Ana Miranda, Greens-EFA Group, Galicia

Press Freedom, Media Censorship and the Kurdish question · Mr. Ahmet Şık, Journalist, Turkey

The New Constitution – what Democratic Legitimacy? What's missing? · Professor Sevtap Yokuş, Kocaeli University, Turkey

The impact of the Turkish/US/EU legislation on the Kurdish conflict · Ms. Meral Danış Beştaş, Lawyer, Turkey

Democracy Deferred – the Continuing Challenges: Political Trials, Identity and Human Rights Mr. Raci Bilici, Chair of the Human Rights Association Diyarbakır Office, Turkey

The Roboski Massacre – Unanswered Questions · Mr. Ferhat Encü, Victim, Turkey The Importance of Women & Gender Issues in Turkey · Ms. Özgür Sevgi Göral, Academic, Turkey Questions and discussion with moderators & discussants

Thursday, 6 December 2012, 09.30-13.00: Middle East at the cross-roads: Whose regional order?

Moderators: Mr. Hans Branscheidt, EUTCC, Germany MEP Mr. Søndergaard Søren Bo, GUE/NGL, Denmark

The achievement of Kurdish democratic autonomy in Syria and its regional ramifications · Mr. Saleh Muslim, Co-President of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) and Deputy General Coordinator of the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria (NCB)

Turkey's role in the Arab Spring and it regional and international policies: present scenarios · Mr. Cengiz Çandar, Journalist, Turkey

Rethinking politics and democracy in the Middle-East · Mr. Joost Jongerden, PhD,Wageningen UR, Netherlands

Who will determine what "System" for the Middle East? · Mr. Serdar Akinan, Journalist, Turkey

The Upheavals in the Region and their Impact on the Kurds · Professor Ofra Bengio, Senior Research Fellow at the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern, Israel

What role could the Kurdish "democratic autonomy" project play? · Ms. Aysel Tuğluk, Co-Chair of Democratic Society Congress (DTK), Turkey Questions and discussion with moderators & discussants

Thursday, 6 December 2012, 18.00-18.30: Conclusions and Recommendations

Moderator Professor Michael Gunter, EUTCC, United States

Final Remarks by the Board of the EUTCC

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Press Release Gabi Zimmer & Jürgen Klute: Peace initiative on Kurdish issue aims to kick-start talks, end violence, Brussels 3/12/2012