The seventeenth International Conference on the European Union, Turkey and the Kurds will be held in the European Parliament in Brussels on 8 and 9 March.
The conference is hosted by the EU Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC) established in 2004 to contribute efforts towards Turkey’s EU membership and to ensure that the accession process is used to achieve respect for human and minority rights in Turkey, as well as a peaceful, just and democratic solution to the Kurdish question.
Though Turkey’s membership of the Union now seems unlikely, the initiative continues to hold annual conferences each year.
“The final resolution of each conference has urged the European Union, the United States, the international community and all democratic forces to use their political influence to encourage Turkey to find a peaceful, political solution to the Kurdish question,” EUTCC said in its invitation letter for the conference.
The conference is organised in cooperation with Die Linke (the Left), the Greens – European Free Alliance and the Groups of the Free Alliance of Socialists and Democrats.
Nobel Peace Prize Laureates Desmond Tutu and Shirin Ebadi, Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador Bianca Jagger, renowned professor Noam Chomsky, and Sakharov Prize winner Leyla Zana are named as the patrons of the conference.
“100 Years Republic of Turkey: Continuations, Contradictions and Change”, “The Causa İmralı and European Institutions: Law, Obligations and Deficits”, “The Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria: In the Crossfire of Interests”, and “Turkey, the Kurds and the Middle East: Continuations and Challenges” are among the titles of four panels to be held as a part of the conference.
Women Weaving Future, a coalition that includes women’s groups from several countries, will also organise a special panel during the conference to discuss obstacles and opportunities for the future.
