Webinar: The Future of the Kurdish movement in Turkey

Despite winning a streak of elections since 2015, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic (HDP) continue to face pressure by the Turkish government. Since the local elections in March 2019, the Turkish government has sacked 65 HDP, mainly Kurdish mayoral seats. Additionally, since July of 2016, thousands of HDP members have been imprisoned including former leaders of the HDP. Since their alliance with the ultra-nationalists, the ruling party of Justice and Development (AKP) have launched a war against the Kurds and ended a hopeful peace process between the Turkish government and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The panel discussed the future of the Kurdish movement in Turkey amid the increase of violence toward them. Topics will include: How the HDP would be able to survive as a political entity fighting for democracy for all? Is the Turkish opposition’s approach to the Kurds reliable or is it a tool to win Kurdish votes during elections? How can the HDP continue to win the Kurdish nationalists' votes since the HDP’s “democracy first” path in Turkey has faced obstacles? And Is a new peace process possible under the current Turkish government? More will be discussed by our distinguished panelists:
Dr. Najmaldin Karim– President of the Washington Kurdish Institute (WKI) & Former Governor of Kirkuk-Iraq

Henri Barkey– Adjunct Senior Fellow for Middle East studies at the Council on Foreign Relations & Professor of International Relations, Lehigh University
David Pollack– Bernstein Fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy
Giran Ozcan- HDP Representative to the United States.
Date: Tuesday, June 16, 2020 @ 11:00am EST
Where: Online via ZOOM