The human rights situation in Turkey has seriously deteriorated since the run-up to the elections of 7 June 2015. And after the coup d’etat attempt of July 2016 the freedom of expression has been limited even more. Is a silent war going on in Turkey? And what will Dutch politicians do to stop the violence against Kurds in Turkey?

At the beginning of September, both the HDP, the Democratic Peoples Party, as well as NGO’s in the Kurdish region called to restore the earlier broken peace process between Turkey and the Kurds. The government reacted by announcing the biggest offensive against the Kurds so far. Moreover, democratically elected Kurdish Majors were replaced by AKP-members and over 10.000 teachers got fired. By limiting both Kurdish and non-Kurdish opposition in the media and academic world, the voices of reason are being marginalised.

About the speakers

• Garo Paylan is a Turkish politician of Armenian decent. He is one of the founders of the HDP and a member of the Turkish Parliament. The HDP is mainly known among the Turkish people for its support of minorities. The party cooperates with the Kurdish Democratic Region Party (DBP).
• Murat Belge is a Turkish academic, columnist, and civil rights activist.
• Philosopher and Islam expert Michiel Leezenberg is a University Professor in the department of philosophy in the faculty of humanities at the University of Amsterdam.
• Frank Slijper is head of the program arms trade at PAX.
• Further with members of the second chamber Marit Maij (PvdA) and Sadet Karabulut (SP)
• Moderator is journalist, researcher and Islam expert Froukje Santing. Santing lived in Turkey for seventeen years as a correspondent for amongst othets NRC Handelsblad and the Radio 1 News. She closely monitored the developments in Turkey and wrote pieces about it for amongst others De Groene Amsterdammer and the Opinion page of the NRC Handelsblad.

About this program

Kurds & Friends and PAX organize this debate to draw attention to the silent war of the Turkish state against the Kurds and to hear from Dutch politicians what their commitment is to put an end to the violence in Turkey. The program financed by Fonds Vredesprojecten.