In 2014, the French Institute for Anatolian Studies (IFEA, Istanbul), the French Institute for the Near East (Ifpo, Erbil) and the University of Exeter, with the help of Aix-Marseille University, launched a common research program aiming at understanding the redefinition of relations between States and Kurdish-populated areas in the current regional context of intensification of transnational dynamics. A first workshop was organized in June 2014 at the Ifpo-Erbil. It aimed at analysing local modes of government in Kurdish-populated areas with a special focus on the role of political parties’ practices and ways to control the territory. The objective of this second workshop that will be held in Istanbul the 23 January 2015 at the Ifea-Istanbul is to carry on this reflexion while addressing the question of the production of State policies in Kurdish-populated areas of Syria, Iraq, Turkey and Iran. The production of State policy has often been analyzed through a binary scheme opposing the States’ actions on the one hand, and the societies of these regions on the other hand. On the contrary, this workshop intends to give room for contributions that follow sociological, anthropological, contemporary history, political geography, political science or public policy approaches taking into account the non-unitary nature of the State and the multiple interactions between state authorities and local population or elite, and the role of transnational dynamics in the policy-making process. In doing so, the workshop also aims at distancing itself from any kind of nationalist narrative that could leave in the shadow the decisive importance of national, local and transnational contexts. The predominance of coercive and repressive State policies should not let us overstate the specificity of these regions regarding State policy-making even if other factors have to be taken into account. The current intensification of relations between the different Kurdish-populated areas in the region can indeed be considered as an opportunity to question the effect of increasing regional interdependence links on States transformations. The role and the power of the State, the level of autonomy of the Kurdish-populated areas, the different kind of policy-making process and the patterns of conflicts vary across countries of the region. Yet, civil-wars in Syria and in Iraq, as well as the ambiguities of the Turkish or Iranian regimes on the Kurdish issue regarding their domestic and foreign policies are questioning both the evolving nature of States’ policies and their sovereignties in this cross-border space.
Program
8.30 am – 9.00 am : Introduction Jean François Pérouse (IFEA Director), Boris James (Ifpo-Erbil Head)- presentation of the partnership Arthur Quesnay (PhD Candidate, Sorbonne University - Ifpo) & Yohanan Benhaim (PhD Candidate, Sorbonne University - IFEA) 9.30 am – 11.45 am FIRST PANEL : Identity, state policy and local politics (Clémence Scalbert-Yücel, IFEA) 9:30 – 11:00 am Presentations Beril Cakir (PhD Candidate, Amsterdam University) - Naming places as résistance Julien Boucly (PhD Candidate, EHESS) - Cultural heritage policy-making in Diyarbakir: beyond Kurdish- Turkish dichotomy Thomas McGee (PhD Candidate, Exeter University) - Mapping Action and Identity in the Kobani Crisis Response 11:00 – 11:45 am Discussion with the audience 11:45 – 1:15 pm Lunch 1.15 pm – 3.00 pm SECOND PANEL : Control, cooperation and negociation at the border (Jordi Tejel, Research Professor at the Graduate Institute Geneva) 1:15 – 2:15 pm Presentations Gurcan Kolay (EHESS) - How do border gate regulations reflect state politics? The case of Habur border crossing between Turkey and Iraq from 1991 to 2O14 Emrah Yildiz (PhD Candidate, Harvard University) - “You can’t draw lines on water:” Contraband Commerce as Economic Transaction and Political Action across the Turkey / Syria Border 2:15 – 3:00 pm : Discussion with the audience 3:00 – 3:30 pm : Coffee break 3:30 pm – 6.30 pm THIRD PANEL : From domestic transformations to change in foreign policies (Olivier Grojean, Aix-Marseille University) 3:30 – 5:00 pm Presentations Renad Mansour (PhD Candidate, Cambridge University) - Using Diplomacy to Build a State: The Case of the KRG Fuat Dündar (TOBB ETU of Ankara) - Iraqi Kurds in the Turkish Foreign Policy from the Prism of the 2007 Events Yohanan Benhaim (PhD Candidate, Sorbonne University - IFEA) - Understanding change in Turkish foreign policy towards Iraqi Kurdistan threw Advocacy Coalition Framework 5:00 – 6:00 pm Discussion with the audience 6:00 – 6:30 pm Conclusion Gilles Dorronsoro (Professor of Political Science, Sorbonne University) - Concluding speech
Place : French Institute for Anatolian Studies (IFEA), Palais de France Nur-i Ziya Sokak, 10 Beyoğlu - Istanbul