How can we make sense of the constitutional closure case initiated against the third largest party in the Turkish parliament, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) last week? This panel includes eminent experts whose scholarship examines the relationship between authoritarianism and the law in the Ottoman Empire and in modern Turkey. Focusing on the ways in which law has been deployed in the case of the Kurdish community in particular, the panel began with comments by Hişyar Özsoy, PhD (HDP co-spokesperson for Foreign Affairs; Member of Parliament, representing Diyarbakır; former Assistant Professor of Anthropology at University of Michigan-Flint) followed by brief presentations by the panelists.
Our panelists, in alphabetical order of their last names, were:
Bilgin Ayata; Professor for Southeastern European Studies, University of Graz
Mücahit Bilici; Associate Professor of Sociology, John Jay College and CUNY Graduate Center
Serra Hakyemez; Assistant Professor of Anthropology, University of Minnesota
Dilek Kurban; Fellow and Lecturer, Hertie School
Nilay Özok-Gündoğan; Assistant Professor of History, Florida State University
Güneş Murat Tezcür; Jalal Talabani Chair of Kurdish Political Studies, University of Central Florida
After the initial panel presentations in the first hour, we will open the floor for a moderated question and answer session in the second hour.
The Judicial Coup against the HDP: Authoritarianism and the Law in Turkey
