Intensifying Crisis in Turkey

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On October 27, a couple of days before the critical November 1st elections in Turkey, Public Seminar hosted a round table discussion titled Intensifying Crisis in Turkey with the participation of Ertug Tombus, Andrew Arato and Banu Bargu. The event was broadcasted live on our Periscope account.

Ertug Tombus opened the round table with an introduction on what happened in post June 7 elections. After the brief recap of the recent history of Turkey, Andrew Arato was the first presenter. He started his review on the intensifying crisis with the democratization process in Turkey in the mid 1990s. Arato concentrated on the constitutional negotiations and peace process, Gezi resistance, recent state violence, coalition negotiation after June 7 elections, conflict initiated with PKK, creation of war, the risk of fraud, and the possible outcomes on November 1st.

Banu Bargu, on the other hand, focused on the experience of violence and the experience of armed conflict. Bargu discussed the video becoming viral that shows the dead body of Kevser Eltuk, the guerilla who has been killed by the security forces in Mus, the statement from the governor’s office on this incident, reactions and protests of Kurdish women, and the lawlessness and systematicity of state violence.

Ertug Tombus, as the final presenter, went back to the June elections. Saying that June 8 was a happy day, he evaluated the success of HDP in broadening its base, especially since the Gezi resistance, during which the West started to understand what has been going on in the East. Tombus discussed the importance of the results of June 7 elections, the recent political violence, populism and fascism, and the possible outcomes of November 1st.