A Conversation with Turkey’s Kurdish Leaders
Date: Tuesday, May 4, 2010 Time: 8:30 to 10:00 a.m. Location: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Speakers: Selahattin Demirtas, Ahmet Türk, and Henri J. Barkey
Last August, the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government launched an opening to Turkey’s large Kurdish minority—a source of great hope for Turks and Kurds who believed that their bitter struggle would finally come to an end. Almost nine months later, however, the opening seems to have run aground, as the government focuses instead on constitutional changes to redress civil-military relations.
Not only is the Kurdish question not going away, it has also acquired an important international dimension. The fate of Turkish Kurds is interlinked with their brethren across the border in northern Iraq. As the United States prepares to withdraw from Iraq, the United States and Turkey have a vested interested in maintaining peace and stability in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
To better understand the Kurdish perspective on these developments, please join us for a conversation with two leading Turkish-Kurdish politicians: Selahattin Demirtas and Ahmet Türk. Henri J. Barkey will moderate.
Not only is the Kurdish question not going away, it has also acquired an important international dimension. The fate of Turkish Kurds is interlinked with their brethren across the border in northern Iraq. As the United States prepares to withdraw from Iraq, the United States and Turkey have a vested interested in maintaining peace and stability in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
To better understand the Kurdish perspective on these developments, please join us for a conversation with two leading Turkish-Kurdish politicians: Selahattin Demirtas and Ahmet Türk. Henri J. Barkey will moderate.
