SOAS Kurdish Society in association with Peace in Kurdistan Campaign organise the seminar "The long road to peace and reconciliation in Turkey. Opportunities for genuine dialogue between Ankara and the Kurds".  
The event will take place on Saturday, 16 November between 4 and 6pm at SOAS, University of London.
The speakers will be Judge Essa Moosa, International Peace and Reconciliation Initiative, South Africa, Akif Wan, Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) UK Representative. Chair: Birgul Yilmaz, PhD Candidate in Linguistics & Teaching Fellow, SOAS, Faculty of Languages and Cultures.

The key speaker at this seminar will be Judge Essa Moosa, a distinguished human rights advocate from South Africa, who is making a brief visit to London and will bring his considerable experience of involvement in the successful anti-apartheid struggle to contribute towards a peaceful democratic resolution of the Kurdish question, in this case in Turkey. Mr Moosa will discuss his work with the new International Peace and Reconciliation Initiative, established a year ago in response to a call from Archbishop Desmond Tutu for the Turkish government to begin negotiations with the Kurdish movement.

Prospects for an end to the denial of full equality rights to the Kurdish people in the country have faltered in recent months; the enormous hopes vested in the ‘’Kurdish opening’’ promised by Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan have dissipated as the democratic reforms failed to live up to the Kurdish people’s reasonable expectations.

Meanwhile, across the border from Turkey the ongoing and increasingly fractured conflict in Syria has further brought the urgency of Kurdish claims for democratic autonomy to the forefront of the political agenda. At the same time, the resumption of accession talks between the European Union and Turkey in early November has again highlighted the need for EU negotiators to seriously address the Kurdish issue; the fact that an EU spokesman has seen fit to warmly welcome the ‘’important progress on reforms that have been recently made in Turkey, in particular positive developments in the area of democracy and rule of law" is a cause for concern among Kurds who look to Brussels to uphold international treaty obligations.  

Turkey’s reforms so far have not dealt with the thousands of Kurdish activists and children held in prison for political activities that would be viewed as a normal part of democratic activity elsewhere. In fact more people continue to be put in prison and brought to trial for engaging in peaceful political activities. In addition, the Turkish state pursues the prosecution of journalists, lawyers, academics and other Kurdish activists on charges arising from the carrying out of their routine professional duties. More importantly, Erdogan’s reform package also fails to address the anti-terror legislation which is generally regarded as at the root of the problem; this body of law criminalises anyone who advocates and seeks to exercise fundamental human rights such as freedom of association, freedom of expression and universal basic rights.

The international community, the EU, Washington and the UK in particular, given that Turkey is their close ally, have a moral duty to encourage the peace process between Ankara and the Kurds, including the participation of jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, and to ensure that genuine negotiations are embarked upon and conducted in good faith on both sides. Moral duty inspired Archbishop Tutu to make the call for talks between the Turkish government and Kurdish leader and this has been supported by celebrated international political figures and Nobel Prize Laureates.

Their call should provide a guide as to how to approach this vital international issue.