We regret to inform you that there has been a change of speaker for the seminar on Thursday 10th December 2009. Mr Akin Birdal, a human rights lawyer and senior DTP politician, has postponed his UK visit due to the threat of a ban of his political party, the pro-Kurdish DTP, by Turkish the Constitutional Court. In his place, Medeni Kırcı, a member of the DTP Foreign Affairs Committee will be speaking. The meeting will be chaired by Prof. Mary Davis. We apologize for this short notice and look forward to see you at our seminar, these recent developments will be addressed at the seminar too.

Speaker: Mr Medeni Kırcı, member of the DTP Foreign Affairs Committee

Chaired by Prof Mary Davis

Date: 10th December 2009 at 7:00 pm

Venue: G50 School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (SOAS) Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H 0XG

Seminar abstract

Mr Medeni Kırcı will address human rights violations and ethnic discrimination against the Kurds in Turkey. Mr  Kırcı will also talk about prosecution of Kurdish trade unionists and politicians including the prosecution of Leyla Zana for a talk she previously delivered at SOAS and discuss the responses of the Kurds and the European Union to the Turkey’s poor human rights record.

Further information

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

www.ksso.org.uk and email: mc@ksso.org.uk