EUTCC Newsletter March 2023

Dear Sir or Madam,
Please find below our monthly newsletter.
Kind regards 


Prof. Kariane Westrheim 

Chairperson 

Final resolution 17th EUTCC Conference The Annual International Conference on the EU, Turkey, the Middle East and the Kurds was hosted by the EU Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC) in cooperation with the The Left Group, the Greens-European Free Alliance (GREENS/EFA), the Groups of the Free Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and the Kurdish Institute Brussels. The conference was successfully held on 8th and 9th of March 2023 in the European Parliament in Brussels.  
http://eutcc.net/?p=1296

Report by Human Rights Foundation on rights violations in quake zone17 people were subjected to torture and ill-treatment, one person died, and at least 10 people were injured in nine separate incidents in the region.
https://www.duvarenglish.com/human-rights-foundation-of-turkey-reports-17-torture-cases-in-quake-zone-news-61955

Solidarity statement of the Socialists and Democrats, the Greens/EFA and the Left Groups in the European Parliament with the Peoples’ Democratic Party in Turkey The closure of HDP would be an irreversible blow to the democratic system of Türkiye and its relations with the EU. 
https://www.socialistsanddemocrats.eu/publications/solidarity-statement-socialists-and-democrats-greensefa-and-left-groups-european

Statement by the Council of Europe on Osman Kavala and Selahattin Demirtaş The Council of Europe has again urged the Turkish authorities to immediately release Osman Kavala and Selahattin Demirtaş, in line with judgments from the European Court of Human Rights.
https://search.coe.int/directorate_of_communications/Pages/result_details.aspx?ObjectId=0900001680aa82c8

Commentaries 23: The Implications of Turkish Interventions in Rojava for US and EU Foreign Policiesby Dr. Veysi Dağ, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and SOAS
This essay focuses on the anti-intellectualism in Turkey in relation to the oppression, persecution, and discrediting of critical academics. It shows how this anti-intellectualism affects the reproduction and re-legitimation of war policies in regards to the Turkish-Kurdish conflict. To this end, first it presents excerpts from in-depth interviews with academics who were dismissed from universities by presidential decrees for This paper examines how Turkish invasions into Northern Syria’s Kurdish enclave undermine US and European policy objectives. It argues that the Turkish state, obsessed with Kurdish hostility, endangers American and European foreign policies by further destabilising war-torn Syria, facilitating the empowerment of Islamist extremist groups, impeding a peaceful resolution to Syria’s protracted conflict, and assisting Russia’s anti-Western interests. The paper suggests that the US and Europe could rather deploy a dual strategy aimed at exerting pressure on Turkey to discontinue its disruptive and belligerent actions. To cease targeting anti-ISIS Kurdish forces, Turkey must either resume the Kurdish-Turkish peace process or risk being designated as a rival state, analogous to Russia, and subjected to punitive sanctions.
http://eutcc.net/?p=1280

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