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As Truth Justice Memory Center, we recently published a report that analyses impunity for serious violations of human rights of the 1990s, a key focus area since our inception. The report titled “The Problem of Impunity for Serious Human Rights Violations Committed in the 1990s in Turkey: The Prosecution Stage” scrutinizes criminal proceedings of the cases that have so far been initiated concerning these violations. In the report – an output of our trial monitoring activities we have been conducting over failibelli.org for a while now – the legislation practices and judicial attitudes that result in impunity are examined based on the findings derived from our observations at the hearings.  

On the occasion of this report, we are organizing an online webinar where we will discuss the problem of impunity in the context of the new dynamics Turkey is facing at the domestic, regional and global levels.

► Click here to register.
► Date: November 18, 15:00

Context

Considering the present state of Turkey’s democracy, the dynamics of the early 2000s when Turkey’s full EU membership negotiations started seems to have completely changed. It should be noted that the opening of criminal proceedings on these cases took place during the prevalent pro-democracy dynamics of this passing era. Over the past couple of years, however, many things have changed both domestically and globally. Today, we live in a new era that is characterized by rising populism, conflicts, post-truth and the refugee crisis, all with deep-rooted influences on the norms and practices of human rights. It is in this changing setting that we’ve seen the defendants previously accused of serious violations acquitted one by one, making the possibility of even a remote resemblance of a confrontation out of reach. 

In this webinar, we would like to present the findings of our report on the cases dealing with atrocities of the 1990s, as well as build insight into the effects and future implications of these new dynamics on the problem of impunity in Turkey. As an era closes and a new one begins, we believe this kind of insight to be essential for building a viable future for the recognition of past atrocities in Turkey. 

Agenda*

15:00 – 15:15 Keynote Speech and Report Findings, Emel Ataktürk Sevimli
15:15 – 15:35 The Impact of Domestic Dynamics on the Unavailing Justice in Turkey, Serdar Tekin
15:35 – 15:55 The Impact of Changing Dynamics in Turkey’s Relations with the EU on Local Human Rights Policies, Senem Aydın-Düzgit
16:55 – 16:15 The Failure of Democratization in Turkey in the Light of Regional and Global Dynamics, Evren Balta

*Simultaneous interpretation will be provided during the event. 

Speakers

Emel Ataktürk Sevimli is a lawyer and human rights defender. She is among the founders of Truth Justice Memory Center and continues to work as the program manager of its Legal Studies Program.

Evren Balta is a lecturer at Özyeğin University. She received her PhD in political science from The Graduate Center, CUNY, her master’s degree in international relations from Columbia University and in sociology from METU; and her undergraduate degree in international relations from Ankara University, Faculty of Political Sciences. Her work focuses on comparative politics, political violence, security, foreign policy, citizenship and transnational politics.

Senem Aydın-Düzgit is a lecturer at the Department of International Relations at Sabancı University and a Senior Specialist and Research and Academic Relations Coordinator at the Istanbul Policy Center.

Serdar Tekin was born in Ankara in 1974. He completed his PhD in political theory at the University of Toronto. He was dismissed from the Department of Philosophy at Ege University, where he worked as a lecturer, on 6 January 2017, with the Decree No. 679, for signing the declaration entitled “We will not be a party to this crime!”, also known as the “Peace Statement.” His book Founding Acts: Constitutional Origins in a Democratic Age was published in the US by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 2016. He prepared the report titled “The State of Emergency of the University: A Study on the Destruction of the Academic Environment”, within the body of TİHV Academy, and the report was published by the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) in 2019. He is still on the editorial board of the journal Toplum ve Bilim and works as a researcher at the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey.