Strasbourg University has hosted an international workshop highlighting democratic governance experiments led by Kurdish municipalities in Turkey between 1990 and 2016, amid ongoing state repression. Held on 29 April and organised by the Societies, Actors, Government in Europe (SAGE) Research Centre in collaboration with the prestigious École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), the event examined how local democratic innovations in Kurdish cities offered alternative models of civic engagement under authoritarian pressure.
The workshop brought together European scholars, municipal experts, and several former co-mayors from Turkey’s Kurdish regions – many of whom are now imprisoned or in exile. Participants explored how these municipalities developed participatory systems that gave voice to women, youth, and marginalised communities, and how these structures functioned as mechanisms of social healing in areas affected by political violence.
Speakers including former mayors Leyla İmret of Cizre (Cizîr), Osman Baydemir of Diyarbakır (Amed), and Abdullah Demirbaş of Sur shared first-hand accounts of both achievements and repression. The closing session outlined recommendations for reinforcing local democracy as a bulwark against authoritarianism and violence.
Organisers stressed that the event aimed not only to document past innovations but also to stimulate transnational dialogue on protecting civic space and democratic thought in crisis regions.
Programme Summary:
Understanding Innovation in Local Democracy
Michel Agier (EHESS) – Urban Action
Patricia Zander (SAGE, University of Strasbourg) – The City and European Democracy
Wiebke Keim (SAGE, University of Strasbourg) – Agency: A Lever for Liberation?
Hamit Bozarslan (EHESS) – Structural Challenges and Interactions with Political Powers
Local Policies in the Invention of Local Participatory Democracy Systems
Gilbert Vincent (CREPHAC, University of Strasbourg)
Leyla İmret (Former Co-Mayor of Cizre)
Bediha Özgökçe (Former Co-Mayor of Van (Wan))
Osman Baydemir (Former Co-Mayor of Diyarbakır)
Political and Social Violence: Participatory Democracy as a Means of Reparation
Fleur Laronze (DRES, University of Strasbourg) – Discussant
Fırat Anlı (Former Co-Mayor of Diyarbakır)
Abdullah Demirbaş (Former Co-Mayor of Sur)
Nejdet Atalay (Former Co-Mayor of Batman (Êlih))
Fatma Şık (Former Co-Mayor of Sur)
Closing and Solution Proposals
