ISTANBUL – Ebru Günay, Deputy Co-Chair of the DEM Party, stated that participants from many countries will attend the conference organised by the DEM Party on 6-7 December regarding the process.
The Peoples' Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party will hold the "International Peace and Democratic Society Conference" in Istanbul on 6-7 December. The Peace and Democratic Society Process, launched by Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan on 27 February 2025, will be discussed at the conference alongside experiences from around the world. The opening speech of the conference, to be held at the Cem Karaca Conference Hall, will be delivered at 09:30 a.m. local time by DEM Party Co-Chair Tulay Hatimogullari and Veysi Aktas, who was a political prisoner on Imrali Island.
WHO WILL BE PRESENT ON THE FIRST DAY?
On the first day of the conference, speakers will include: Member of the DEM Party Imrali Delegation lawyer Özgür Faik Erol, Prof. Louis Lemkow from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Prof. Cihangir Islam, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Arzu Yılmaz from Hewler Kurdistan University, Nobel laureate and Yemeni journalist Tawakkol Karman, former Senator and Chair of the Parliamentary Constitutional Committee Mohamed Bhabha, Sinn Fein National President Declan Kearney, former Catalonia Prime Minister Pere Aragonès Garcia, Basque Parliament member Igor Zulaika, politician Azime Işık, and Nobel laureate Jody Williams will each give a presentation.
FROM NATION-STATE TO DEMOCRATIC NATION-STATE
The conference will commence at 10:00 a.m. local time on the second day, with the first session featuring a discussion entitled "From Nation-State to Democratic Nation-State". The session, moderated by Ebru Günay, Co-Deputy Chair of the DEM Party, will be preceded by remarks from Dilshad Shaba, Spokesperson for the Regional Presidency of Kurdistan.
Legal scholar Dr Orhan Gazi Ertekin will speak on the topic "A New Social Contract in Light of Constitutional Citizenship and Identity Definitions". During the session, Prof. Mohamed Refaat, Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at Damanhour University in Egypt, will give a presentation titled "The Importance of Historical Experiences in Building a Democratic Nation." Prof. Norman Paech will address the topic "Strengthening Local Democracy Against Centralization and Resisting Hegemonic Relations".
Georges Dallemagne, Member of Parliament from Belgium, will give a presentation titled "International Contributions to Sustaining Non-Conflict and Building Peace". Journalist and writer Nadire Mater will give a presentation titled "Freedom of the Press for Truth, the Language of Peace and Discourse".
MARXIST PHILOSOPHER JOHN HOLLOWAY
Human rights defender Eren Keskin will moderate the conference's second session, entitled "Freedom, Peace and Future Perspectives". Irish Marxist lawyer, sociologist and philosopher John Holloway will address the topic "A Light Shining in the Darkness".
ANTI-FASCIST ITALIAN PARLIAMENTARIAN
Laura Boldrini, Chair of the Italian Parliament's Human Rights Committee, will speak under the title "Transforming Europe’s Perception of the Kurdish Question: From Individual Rights to Collective Rights as a Ground for Freedom and Peace.”
NOBEL LAUREATE SHIRIN EBADI
Haydar Ergül, editor of Democratic Modernity and journalist-writer, will address the topic "Öcalan's Manifesto: The Perspective of Peace and a Democratic Society". Finally, a video message from Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi will be shared.
Following the conclusion of the sessions, a closing forum will be held. Here, the "Joint Peace Declaration" of the two-day conference will be announced.
'THE CONFERENCE WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE PROCESS'
Evaluating the conference, Ebru Günay stated that coming together with a community that discusses and evaluates the views of Abdullah Öcalan on an intellectual level is important for the process. Ebru Günay said: "Mr Öcalan's paradigm offers an alternative to everyone around the world who wants democracy and seeks a different world model. Thanks to this paradigm, the whole world recognises the Kurdish people's struggle and discusses Mr Öcalan's paradigm."
She stated that the conference would also make a significant contribution to the ongoing Peace and Democratic Society process in Turkey, noting that solution models from around the world would also be discussed at the conference.
Drawing attention to the fact that many figures from South Africa to Catalonia, from the Basque Country to Northern Ireland, and from Başûr (South) to Rojava will be attending the International Peace and Democratic Society Conference, Ebru Günay stated: "This conference will be a platform that brings together both Kurds and the international community to discuss the process."
'MR OCALAN'S VIEWS WILL BE DISCUSSED'
Ebru Günay stated that people from different parts of the world will discuss the Kurdish issue and that "Ocalan, who is taboo in Turkey," will be discussed. She concluded: "Therefore, it is certainly important for politicians from different parts of the world and different segments to adopt and evaluate Mr Öcalan's views, and this will allow us to look at things from a different perspective. It will be proof that an alternative anti-capitalist order is possible and how it can be built together through solidarity."