You are cordially invited to the Kurdish Studies Seminar

Real Time On Line Direct Democracy

Speaker: Dr Fereydun Refiq Hilmi

Date and Time: 26.01. 2012 @19:00pm

Venue: Room 442 School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG
Organised by Kurdish Studies and Students Organization (KSSO) and Kurdish Society at SOAS (KSSOAS)

Kurdish Studies seminars are open to interested students, academics and people who are interested in Kurdish matters

Turkey’s new constitution drafting process and human rights

Speakers:
Mr Altan Tan, Diyarbakır MP of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP

Mr Öztürk Türkdoğan, President of the Turkish Human Rights Association (IHD) and lawyer

Date: 15 December 2011
Time: 19:00
Venue: Room B102, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London(SOAS)Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG

Organised by Kurdish Society at SOAS (KSSOAS), Britain Peace Council and Kurdish Studies and Students Organization (KSSO)

You are cordially invited to the forthcoming seminar

Turkey’s new Constitution drafting process and human rights

Speakers:
Mr Altan Tan, Diyarbakır MP of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP

Mr Öztürk Türkdoğan, President of the Turkish Human Rights Association (IHD) and lawyer

Date: 15 December 2011
Time: 19:00
Venue: Room B102, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London(SOAS)Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG

Organised by Britain Peace Council, Kurdish Society at SOAS (KSSOAS) and Kurdish Studies and Students Organization (KSSO)

Seminar Abstract

To mark Human Rights Day we are holding an evening seminar on “Turkey’s new constitution drafting process and human rights”.

Despite the claims of the Turkish government and Prime Minister Erdogan to be implementing democratic reforms in Turkey and  highlighting the importance of democratic transition in the Middle East, human rights organizations,  PEN International, the worldwide association of writers and different bar associations and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) have publicly highlighted their  concerns about politically motivated mass arrest of human rights activists, Kurdish politicians  and mayors, journalists, lawyers, children and now even a professor. Thousands of Kurdish politicians and human rights activists are being questioned since 2009 and about 4000 people are jailed including six of the pro-Kurdish party BDP’s deputies are currently in prison.

Both speakers will talk about the new form of political McCarthyism and the politics of fear in Turkey and responses of the civil organizations, oppositions to the ruling party’s policies

Kurdish Studies Seminar

ACADEMIC RESEARCH AND TURKEY: THE CASE OF DERSIM AS A TABOO SUBJECT FOR ACADEMIC RESEARCH
Speaker: Dr. Sukru ASLAN, Lecturer at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University/ Istanbul/Turkey
Chaired: Ms Filiz Celik, PhD candidate at Swansea University

Date and Time: 21.11. 2011 @19:00pm
Venue: SOAS’ Phillips Building, Room 116, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG

Organised by Kurdish Studies and Students Organization (KSSO) and Kurdish Society at SOAS (KSSOAS)

Kurdish Studies seminars are open to interested students, academics and people who are interested in Kurdish matters

Seminar abstract
ACADEMIC RESEARCH AND TURKEY: THE CASE OF DERSIM AS TABOO SUBJECT OF ACADIC RESEARCH

This extra ordinary seminar will focus on difficulties in doing research on ethnic and religious minorities in Turkey. As the case study, Dr. Sukru ASLAN will explore the issues related to people of Dersim who experienced the most organised Turkish state coercive violence at the end of 30s.

Seminar will be accompanied by a documentary film screening. The documentary film called “38″ ( by Cayan Demirel, 67min, 2006) provides eyewitness and defendant testimonies of the Dersim massacre which took place during the Turkish state nationalist and coercive policies in Dersim between 1937-1938 in order to “create a country speaking with one language, thinking in the same way and sharing the same sentiment…” (Law of Settlement 1934, TBMM Zabıt Ceridesi, Devre:IV, Cilt:23, İçtima:3, 14/06/1934, p. 141). This documentary film is related to the oral history of people of Dersim and it is also a good example of visualizing Oral History.

In this seminar, Turkey’s “nation-state” mentality, which to a degree still continues to be influential, will be discussed in terms of how it is interfering with bringing of certain studies into the academia such as discussion of some ethno/cultural matters. Dersim is on top of the list of such subjects. An academic researcher studied the topic for the first time in 1970’s merely from the perspective of “forced settlements/internal displacement” and how he has been treated since set up a typical example for illustrating the difficulties in researching the any subject related to Dersim. Today, taking it further from there to present time to show how the research regarding Dersim has progressed would not only shed a light into how such research influenced current circumstances of academia in Turkey but also would provide opportunity to bring the unique nature of the Dersim into light in terms of its history and culture.

Biography
Dr. Sukru ASLAN is a lecturer at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Literature and Sociology Department. His research interests are urban sociology, migration, and social movements. He is the author of several books and numerous articles. His books are;
May Day District (Turkish: 1 Mayıs Mahallesi) (2004), İletişim Yayınları, 2004
Sociological approaches on the City (Turkish: Kent Üzerine Sosyolojik Düşünceler) (2007) İnşaat Mühendisleri Odası.
The Secret Known By Everyone (Herkesin Bildiği Sır: Dersim) (2010) İletişim Yayınları,
Les Quartıers Populaıres Et La Vılle (2010) Sukru Aslan, Mustafa Poyraz ve Loic Gandais .L’Harmattan
Remebering Dersim 1938 (Turkish: Dersim 38’i Hatırlamak) ( 2011) Sukru Aslan, Bülent Bilmez ve Gülay Kayacan , Tarih Vakfı, 2011

Documentary film “38″, by Cayan Demirel, 67min, 2006

This Documentary film is the first film of director Çayan Demirel and it explores violent events that took place in Dersim in 1937-38. There are detailed eyewitness and defendant testimonies and expert accounts from historians regarding the circumstances that caused great traumatic events in the lives of people from Dersim. Çayan Demirel’s first and second documentary called “Prison nr 5/ 5 nolu cezaevi (2009)” have been screened widely at international festivals.

Speaker: Ms. Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman of Kurdistan Regional Government‘s High Representative to the UK

Chair: Dr. Konrad Hirschler, Senior Lecturer in the History of the Near and Middle East, SOAS

Date/time: 20^th March 2010 at 5:00pm

Venue: G2, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (SOAS) Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG

Organised by Kurdish Studies and Students Organisation (KSSO) and Kurdish Society at SOAS (KSSOAS)

Seminar Abstract

In the 1980s, the people of Kurdistan in Iraq were under chemical bombardment, thousands of villages were being destroyed and the people were being massacred in their thousands by Saddam Hussein’s regime. Today the people of the Kurdistan Region live in a peaceful and stable environment, the number of universities has increased from one in 1991 to more than 10 today with more on the way, thousands of villages have been rebuilt and infrastructure projects undertaken. As well as having their own regional government, the Kurds hold key positions in the federal government in Baghdad. These achievements cannot be underestimated in the context of Iraq and the Middle East, however, the path has not been smooth and there are uncertainties that lie ahead of the Kurdistan Regional Government.

Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s High Representative to the UK, will discuss the challenges ahead.

Date/time: 28th January 2011 at 6:00pm

Venue: Institute of Education Bar (Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG)

Organised by Kurdish Studies and Student Organisation

The Kurds do not appear in much of UK statistical data. Official data, like the Census and the Labour Force Survey provide information on identity, ethnicity, religion, employment, economic activities’ of people and  communities in the UK.  However, “Census, Labour Force Survey or other survey questions do not provide any information on Kurds living in the UK and renders Kurds as “invisible” and questions relating to nationality provide Kurds with little option other than to define themselves as Turkish, Iraqi, Iranian, or Syrian.  As such, Kurdish identity is not only subsumed under ethnic categorizations that do not distinguish from other minority ethnic groups,… but it also imposes upon them an unacceptable national identity(ies) that most have spent their lives opposing”(Holgate at el 2009:23). As one writer notes, this has led to a situation where ‘not only has Kurdish origin been masked prior to leaving Turkey…it is also hidden from the moment of arrival on foreign soil’ (Laiser 1996: 127).

“This invisibility has practical implications. Despite a long period of Kurdish settlement in the UK, local and national authorities are still unable to assess the number of Kurds and are unable to plan service provision accordingly.  The exclusion of Kurds from the Census means that there is no information such as issues of health care, employment, education, economic activities of Kurdish population in the UK ”(Holgate at el 2009: 24). (Further information at http://www.workinglives.org/research-themes/wlri-project-websites/$-emraw/reports.cfm)

Kurdish communities have been lobbying for the recognition of the Kurdish ethnic identity in the official data and in other relevant papers produced by the different government institutions and highlighting that  the local and national government should introduce “Kurds” as separate ethnic category on the Census in order to rectify the problems Kurdish people are facing in their everyday life  at hospital, schools, and employment related matters. It has now been acknowledged by the UK institutions  that official data has led to group like Kurds becoming “invisible” to the institution in the UK and national, local government have no idea about the needs of Kurdish ethnic minority in the UK (Holgate at el 2009) therefore the Census 2011 will give “the acceptability of the ethnic group question” . In the paper of ‘[f]inal recommended questions for the 2009 census rehearsal and 2011 census’ states that “[t]he national identity question may also provide some scope for disaggregating ethnic categories …for example Kurdish. One local authority (2007) stated that: … ‘National Identity may identify significant groups in the UK which have not been recognized effectively in the past, for example, Kurds. [This information] could provide a rich dataset to complement country of birth since it is how people view themselves rather than a fact e.g. a person born in Turkey might rather write in Kurdish than Turkish or British.’”

This means that now the Kurdish population in the UK has the opportunity to overcome their subordination and invisibility and reject the imposed identities such as Turkish, Iraqi, Iranian, or Syrian. Kurds can write down their ethnicity and language on census 2011 forms.  Therefore KSSO has started to encourage the Kurdish population in the UK to attend the Census 2011 survey and put their language, ethnicity as “Kurdish” on the census forms. We need your help to promote greater awareness of the Kurds in the UK and to inform and  encourage Kurdish population in the UK to fill in the census forms. This will help us and local and national government to have an overview of demographical information of Kurdish population in the UK and their needs including education, housing, health,  and their number, how they define their ethnic, national, religious background. ONLY according to these demographic data, the local and national government can provide a proper service to Kurdish people.  We have only two months to inform and encourage Kurdish population living in the UK  to attend Census. KSSO is keen to inform actively the Kurdish community organizations and individuals on Census 2011

KSSO needs people who can help us to promote importance of Census 2011 for Kurdish population in the UK and  inform as well as  encourage them to attend census 2011.

Please contact us at mc@ksso.org.uk

George W. Bush’s Policy Towards Iraq: Change or Continuity?

Speaker: Dr Mohammed Shareef, recently awarded PhD, School of Government and International Affairs, University of Durham, England

Date and Time: 11.01. 2011 @ 7:00pm

Venue: School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, Room B104 Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG

Organised by Kurdish Studies and Students Organization (KSSO) and Kurdish Society at SOAS (KSSOAS)

Kurdish Studies seminars are open to interested students, academics and people who interested in Kurdish matters

Seminar abstract

A substantial amount of commentary has been dedicated to George W. Bush’s policy towards Iraq, with many perceiving it as a departure from traditional US foreign policy practice. The objective of this seminar is to address and challenge this contention. In this seminar the speaker contends that US policy towards Iraq has two major dimensions: the first is US policy towards Arab Iraq and the second its de facto policy towards Iraqi Kurdistan; both are defined by US strategy at the supra-national level. The speaker argues that US Iraq policy is primarily one of continuity rather than change, as US national interests and security, as regards Iraq, are defined by the same fundamental concerns, regardless of the nature of the American administration in office. The seminar concludes that, from the inception of the Bush administration, and the attacks on 9/11 that followed, the actual invasion of Iraq and US actions in its aftermath were all guided by the same considerations and goals.

Further information

www.ksso.org.uk

mc@ksso.org.uk

Kurdish Studies Seminar

You are kindly invited to our forthcoming seminar on

The Nudes and Their Master:

a Postmodern Re-conceptualisation of the Kurdish Issue

Speaker: Mr Sardar Aziz PhD Candidate Department of Government University College Cork/Ireland

Date and Time: 16.12. 2010 @ 7:00pm

Venue: School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, Room B104 Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG

Organised by Kurdish Studies and Students Organization (KSSO) and Kurdish Society at SOAS (KSSOAS)

Seminar abstract

The Nudes and Their Master: a Postmodern Re-conceptualisation of the Kurdish Issue

This seminar aims at analysing the Kurdish status within the discourse of modernity. It argues that modernity and local utilisation of modernity shaped and limited the Kurdish role and justified unjustified acts against them. The Kurdish problem in the Middle East, like the Middle East itself, is modernity’s product. It was made, through making them minorities, maintained by Westphalian model of sovereignty. This sovereign established state and fused with it, based on occidental modernity’s institutions, practices and ideas (Max Weber) legitimatised the monopoly violence and use it against the Kurds. Through the model of the Failed Modern State, I analyse the states in the Middle East from a different perspective.

My intention is neither to go through the history of the Kurds nor of the region. It is rather an exercise, based on Foucault’s methodology, to drive ‘thoughts’ from ‘ideas’. The notions of State, borders, sovereignty, people, citizen, nation, nationalism: civic and ethnic, minority, civil society, etc. are ideas belong to modernity. They urgently require to be transformed into thoughts, in order to analyse they become a problem for people, to paraphrase Foucault.

I argue that modern notions construct its own Other and refuse to reasoning it. For instance ‘Kurds have no language’ without ever taking in consideration the sine qua non relationship between the standard language and the emergence of the state or to analyse it comparatively. The Kurds portrayed within the discourse of modernity as people who their culture, identity, history and mode of life are pre-modern and for them in order to be modern have to abandon it. Hence, accordingly, one cannot be a Kurd and modern concurrently. As a result of the modernity’s ideas the Kurds are reduced to apolitical being, prohibited to use language (human), thus, they only have voice

In contrast to this, postmodern thoughts such as homo sacer (the one who may be killed yet not sacrificed), abandonment (positing of relation with the non-relational), exception (the ultimate configuration of facts), state of exception (emergency), potentiality (resisting actuality), people and People, will contribute in demystifying the reality and deconstructing the constructed discourses of modernity. Postmodern concepts are breaking the taboos and offer a new poetry of politics.

Sardar Aziz a Kurd from Iraqi (south) Kurdistan, final stage PhD (waiting for viva) at the Department of Government University College Cork/ Ireland. Columnist in a non-partisan Kurdish newspaper Awene: www/awene.com.

Further information

www.ksso.org.uk

mc@ksso.org.uk

The London Middle East Institute at SOAS is pleased to invite all PhD students with
a research focus on the Middle East to submit proposals. The conference will provide
an opportunity for young scholars to present their research and work in progress,
benefit from contacts with, and feedback from, academics and get to know other
scholars working on the Middle East. This is an international conference open to all
PhD students focusing on the Middle East.

The conference themes are wide ranging, and shall include, but are not limited to,
the following indicative themes:

● Cooperation and conflict
● Gender and sexuality
● Globalisation, regionalism and international integration
● Identities within and beyond the nation
● Human rights, civil society and transition to democracy
● The role of women in socio-economic development
● The role of media, film and communications in social and political transformation
● Trafficking, smuggling and the arms races
● Religion in politics and society
● Economic diversification in oil-based economies

Novel and innovative approaches to research are encouraged and the organisers are
especially keen to promote inter-disciplinary themes. Presenters are likely to find
themselves among an audience from mixed academic backgrounds who are brought
together by a desire to foster their understanding of the Middle East across
different disciplines. This will give academics from subject areas as diverse as
history, anthropology and economics, arts and culture, politics and diplomacy,
gender studies, and other fields, an opportunity to learn from each other and to
develop innovative approaches to their own work. The forum will involve lectures and
panel discussions, as well as networking opportunities. We hope to engage interested
publishers too with a view to encouraging potential publication of PhD research on
the Middle East.

The submission deadline for proposals is 15 January 2011. Applicants should submit
an abstract of no more than 400 words along with a short CV (2 pages only) to
(lmei@soas.ac.uk). A modest contribution for travel costs will be available for
successful applicants studying in institutions outside London.

POSTER SESSION: A number of presenters will be invited to exhibit their research in
the form of a poster as part of a Poster Session that will be also organised
alongside the main conference. Posters can be crafted in any number of creative ways
to showcase PhD research on different aspects of the Middle East and North Africa
region.

Selection of posters will be based on the draft proposals submitted (see above). If
selected, successful presenters will be advised accordingly. Interested applicants
can have a look at the following links to get useful ideas about poster sessions:
• http://www.graduatejunction.net/posters
• http://www.uwex.edu/ces/tobaccoeval/pdf/postertips.pdf
• http://www.uwex.edu/ces/tobaccoeval/pdf/postertips.pdf

We aim to select 10-15 posters for presentation at the conference. Accepted poster
presenters will receive a modest contribution towards expenses they incur in making
their posters.

You are kindly invited to our forthcoming KSSO and Kurdish Society at SOAS (KSSOAS)

The forgotten People: Kurds in Syria

The state of statelessness, rightlessness and systematic marginalization of the Kurds in Today’s Syria

Speakers

Ms. Sheila Mosley, Co-chair of SKS International Support Kurds in Syria Association
Mr. A.Semo Independent researcher

Date/time: 19th November 2010 @19:00

Venue: B 102/ School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG

Seminar abstract:

This seminar will focus on marginalization of Kurds in Syrian since its establishment in 1946. The Kurds in Syria have been subjected to discriminatory practices for decades. The exclusive ethno-centric Arab nation-building project also officially called the Arab republic of Syria has denied other ethnic and cultural groups equal and law full existence. The Census in 1962 deprived 100,000 thousands of Kurds to become citizens and they are now de-jure stateless.  This means they are not allowed to own property, or to work within the state institutions, they have been denied education in their own culture, they do not qualify for state aid, and they cannot travel as they have no documents.

Furthermore about the marginalization policies of Syrian state against the Kurds their land rights have been abused and the Kurdish areas have been raised, through the state giving strips of land to Arabs in order to break up the Kurdish geographical and cultural cohesion. The latest discriminatory law – Decree 49 - implemented on 10/09/2008 makes it a condition that in the Kurdish areas, a license must be obtained for building, renting, selling, and buying property but licenses are not given to Kurds.  This is affectively destroying one of the key sources of income for Kurdish families, that is to say, the construction industry. This policy is forcing Kurds to move out of their area into the cities through poverty.

Moreover about Syrian state fight against the Kurdish culture and heritage a systematic cultural attack practiced daily attempting to undermine the use of Kurdish language, for example, Kurdish shopkeepers are threatened with closure if they use the Kurdish language on the shop frontage, Kurdish children are not allowed to have Kurdish names – and these names would not be registered. Cultural rights are being abused: Newroz is the Kurdish celebration of New Year, and takes place on 20/21 March. It is recorded that in 2008 and 2010, people were killed in the street whilst celebrating Newroz,

The economic and welfare rights of the Kurds have been abused: the Kurdish area are being affected by drought due to climate change,  and the natural water that would have flowed to the area from Turkey is being rerouted into Turkey which has resulted in the agricultural industry being decimated as the land is becoming barren. People are suffering, and although international aid is being given to the Syrian Government, there is as yet no evidence that this aid is reaching Kurdish families.  The UN Rapporteur for food rights recently raised this issue with the Syrian authorities. People without citizenship are not entitled to food aid.

Political rights are being abused: There are no legal Kurdish political parties in Syria.  They are all banned. There has been a state of emergency since 1963, ostensibly to counter a threat from Israel; however, it is used to make arbitrary arrests and to imprison political activists indefinitely without trial. Sentences given to political activists by the courts are disproportionate and this system is designed to create fear in those who wish to challenge the Government.  The UN Committee on Torture in May was highly critical of the Syrian Government for its use of torture on prisoners, and in particular on political prisoners.

Relevant reports about the abuse of human rights in Syria are available from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, UN, UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the Home Office, Kurdish Human Rights Project.

Further information

www.ksso.org.uk

mc@ksso.org.uk

233915@soas.ac.uk

Images of working lives: Experiences of Kurdish migrants in London

Photo Exhibition

Organized by Working Lives Research Institute, London Metropolitan University

Date: Friday 16th- 23rd July 2010 ( Exhibition opening reception 5pm on Friday 16th July 2010)

Venue: RenkArt Centre, 86 Stoke Newington High Street, Stoke Newington N16 7PA

Images of working lives is an exhibition held as part of an Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded research project conducted by Working Lives Research Institute, London Metropolitan University to highlight the working conditions of an ‘invisible’ community, Kurdish Diaspora, in London.

The study focused on minority ethnic workers who experienced difficulties at work and how they developed strategies to solve work related problems including racism, discrimination, bullying, exclusion and isolation. We chose three different minority ethnic communities- locally based ethnic groups, Kurds in Hackney, South Asian in Ealing and Black Caribbeans in Lambeth- in London to enable us to compare and contrast a whole range of different issues. We interviewed total of 185 workers – 100 individually and 88 in 16 focus groups and 64 interviews with ‘key respondents’ who were officials from trade unions, advice agencies and community groups.

Our research team will give brief information on our research findings on the working condition of the Kurdish workers and their strategies to solve work related problems and difficulties.

The exhibition illustrates different experiences of the Kurdish Diaspora in the context of ethnicity, identity, belonging, community and working lives. The audience is invited to take a closer look at the migrants’ life experiences reflected to the lens of photo journalist Jim Hodson, Ümit Avcu and Kurdish photographers’ group RenkArt including Döndü Demir, Erdogan Guccuk, Bektaþ Arif, Alper Taþçý as well as locally based Kurdish photographer Ümit Avcu.

Research team: Dr Jane Holgate (Principal investigator), Janroj Keles, Dr Leena Kumarappan and Professor Anna Pollert.

For further information please contact Dr Jane Holgate or Janroj Keles

j.holgate@londonmet.ac.uk or j.keles@londonmet.ac.uk

This research project is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and is being undertakeby the Working Lives Research Institute, London Metropolitan University.
For further information about our research please visit our website
http://www.workinglives.org/research-themes/wlri-project-websites/$-emraw/emraw_home.cfm