A TSN & SJT Panel Discussion

Tuesday, 13 May 2025 | 17.00-18.30 CET (Panel Discussion) | Utrecht University | Brenninkmeijerzaal | Achter Sint Pieter 200 Utrecht| On-site only | Registration required

TSN & SJT Panel discussion – ‘Protest & Authoritarianism: Turkey’s Disintegration of Democracy & Europe’s Silence

How should we interpret the current repression in Turkey and Europe’s lack of response to this dramatic moment? The Turkey Studies Network in the Low Countries and Students for Justice Turkey cordially invite you to a panel discussion on Turkey’s democratic backsliding, state violence and Turkey-EU relations. We would like to explicitly invite our students and colleagues from all over the Netherlands.

The recent arrests of prominent citizens and government officials, notably Istanbul mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu signals a further step in the deterioration of democracy and rule of law in Turkey. Turkey’s currency and economy was launched into freefall following the move, while millions of citizens hit the streets all over Turkey in order to call a halt to their country’s democratic dismantling. The ruling party seems to try to sit it out, answering their citizens with media gags and police force brutalities.

Meanwhile, European institutions have sustained a dramatic silence with regard to Turkey’s next step in its authoritarian backsliding. Echoing the Commission’s grim pattern of realpolitik, statements merely expressed concern and a generic call to uphold democratic values.

In this panel we provide context on the ruling party’s rationales and panics in the current political, social and economic fallout, what it means for the relationship between Turkey and the EU, and, importantly, how citizens, academics and students are affected by the regime’s tightening grip on politics and society.

Programme

17:00 – Word of welcome on behalf of Utrecht University and Turkey Studies Network in the Netherlands by Dr Enno Maessen and opening by moderator Dr Beste İşleyen.

17:05 – First panel presentation by Dr Berk Esen – ‘After İmamoğlu’s Arrest: Has Turkey Become an Autocracy?’

17:20 – Second panel presentation by Dr Müge Kınacıoğlu – ‘Silence and Strategy: European Responses to Democratic Backsliding in Turkey’

17:35 – Third panel presentation by Rana Kechrioti – ‘Navigating Grief and Resistance in Erdoğan’s Turkey and Beyond’

17:50 – Intermezzo by Flores Özer

17:55 – Opening of panel discussion

18:10 – Q&A with the audience

18:30 – Closing words and drinks

About the speakers

Dr Berk Esen is Associate Professor of Political Science at the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Sabancı University, Turkey. Dr Esen is a leading expert on Turkish politics, democratic backsliding, party politics and authoritarian regimes in Turkey, as well Latin America and the Middle East.

Dr Müge Kınacıoğlu is a professor of International Relations and currently a lecturer in the Institute of Political Science, Leiden University. Her research interests include security studies, politics of international law, use of force and foreign armed interventions, and Turkish foreign policy and identity.

Rana Kechrioti is a student of history, political science, and law at Utrecht University College, a native of Istanbul and one of the co-founders of Students for Justice Turkey.

An intermezzo will be provided by: Flores Özer, political science student at the University of Amsterdam and member of Students for Justice Turkey.

The event is moderated by Dr Beste İşleyen, associate professor in Political Science at the University of Amsterdam.