Joint Forum: Turkey’s Kurdish Question: Past, Present and Future
The Centre for Turkey Studies (CEFTUS), London Kurdish Institute, Kurdish Society at SOAS and Kurdish Studies and Student Organisation are pleased to invite you to a Joint Forum: Turkey’s Kurdish Question: Past, Present and Future with Sociologist and Kurdologist Dr Ismail Besikci.
Dr Ismail Besikci has written extensively on Turkey’s Kurds and their rights. He is regarded as an icon for freedom of speech as he was imprisoned for 17 years on propaganda charges stemming from his studies on the Kurdish population in Turkey. For many years, he was the only prominent non-Kurdish academic who spoke against the oppression on Kurds. He studied at the Faculty of Political Sciences of Ankara University. In 1964, he became an assistant at the sociology chair of Erzurum Atatürk University. He completed his Ph.D. on the social structures of the nomadic Alikan tribe. He has been described as “modern Turkey’s pioneer of Kurdish studies”. He was nominated as a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1987. He is a PEN Honorary Member. Ismail Besikci Foundation of which Ismail Besikci is honorary chairman was established in 2012.
The event will take place on Tuesday 8th April 2014, between 7PM and 9.00PM in Room V211, Vernon Square Campus of School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.
Please note and see below for SOAS VERNON SQUARE CAMPUS address. The event WILL NOT take place at the more widely known SOAS Russell Square Campus.
School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
Vernon Square
Penton Rise
London
WC1X 9EW
The speaker will speak in Turkish. However, translation will be delivered during the speech and Q&A.
Booking is required for this event to ensure adequate seating availability. Please click register above or RSVP to [email protected]