The departments of contemporary studies of IFEA (Istanbul) and IFPO organize a workshop in Erbil, the 29th of May 2014. This workshop aims at analysing the evolving dynamics of the Kurdish populated areas in Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran. More precisely, it will focus on the changing interactions between the nation-states and the Kurdish political actors, and on the impacts of these transformations on the modes of local governance. 

Argument

For twenty years, the relations between the states and their Kurdish populations have been engaged in an evolving process of redefinition, illustrated by the autonomous status that some Kurdish groups have obtained, or claim to have. Some Kurdish political actors have taken advantage from the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 and from the Syrian civil war since 2011 to increase their local autonomy in the Kurdish populated areas. In Turkey, the Kurdish issue has gradually evolved with the AKP government, which is in power since 2002, and with the progressive marginalisation of the military. Besides, as Kurdish political actors mainly place their actions in their respective national context, the evolution of the nature of the regimes in each country has had a decisive impact on the positioning of these Kurdish actors.

In this perspective, this workshop will address the following questions:

- How can we analyse the transformations of the relations between the nation-states and the Kurdish populated areas in Turkey, Iraq, Syria and Iran?

- What are the impacts of these evolutions on the strategies of contestation of the nation-states by the Kurdish political actors?

- How do new modes of governance emerge and are being shaped by local actors in the Kurdish populated areas of these countries?

A common programme between IFEA/IFPO

This workshop will be held at the French Institute for the Near East in Erbil (Iraqi Kurdistan). The language spoken will be English. Participants’ transportation and housing fees will be covered.

This workshop will be followed by another conference organised by IFEA and IFPO in Istanbul, winter 2014.

Application instructions

Abstracts should not exceed 1 500 signs and should be submitted in English before the 10th of March to the following adress : ifea.ifpo@gmail.com

Selected participants will be asked to submit their complete article before May 15th, 2014. Papers should be around 20 000 signs.

Organizing committee

• Yohanan Benhaim (IFEA)
• Arthur Quesnay (IFPO)

Scientific committee

• Hosham Dawod (IFPO)
• Jean-François Pérouse (IFEA)
• Yohanan Benhaim (IFEA)
• Arthur Quesnay (IFPO)

Calendar

- March 10th, 2014: deadline for submitting abstracts

- End of March 2014: proposals’ selection and notification sent to participants

- May 15th, 2014: deadline for submitting papers

- May 29th, 2014: workshop in Erbil