CONF MA students' conference participation

CONF MA program students Pelin Baş, Ekin Ok and Yevgeniya Ovsiyenko will be presenting their papers at the “Biennial Conflict Studies Conference” at University of Massachusetts Boston, which will be held in Boston, USA on October 22-23, 2010.

The titles and abstracts of their works are below:

Ekin Ok

Title: The "Kurdish Question" in

Turkey: How has it become a 'Prisoner's Dilemma' ?

Abstract: This paper takes an analytical approach to Turkey's most important and protracted internal conflict, namely “the Kurdish Issue”, by attempting to explain it with regard to the well-known model of Prisoner’s Dilemma. It illustrates how the escalation process of the conflict can be explained with the nature of the Prisoner’s Dilemma by referring to specific examples, and also employs the socio-psychological theories of conflict to elucidate the reasons for its perpetuation.

Yevgeniya Ovsiyenko

Title:  The Sources Of Social Conflict: An Analytical Perspective

Abstract:  The question about the essential causes of social conflict is one of key debates in conflict analysis and is the focus of the present essay. Two main thought currents are specifically considered: the contingency and the inherency theories. Both have considerable influence and are rooted in intellectual traditions; at the same time, their findings can ontologically be combined to increase their explanative power.

Pelin Baş

Title: Turkey’s Kurdish Question from Conflict Resolution Perspective  

Abstract: Ever since Kurdish question emerged in the process of nationalization and independence movements in Ottoman Empire, it has been one of the most challenging issues for Turkey, by being associated with different problems in different decades. In 1980s, it was a terrorism problem for Turkey. By the end of 1990s, it started to be viewed as an issue of human rights and cultural rights of minorities, especially with the recognition of Turkey as a candidate for European Union. Today, as the issue is being discussed under “Turkish Opening”, referring to the democratization process, it is now being considered as an issue of rights. Throughout this process, with the changing identifications, the matter of discussion has also changed, evolved, and the issues mushroomed. In this paper, along with the ongoing discussions about the “opening process” by Turkish government, current situation of the Kurdish question is also being examined.

In order to be able to discuss the current process, this paper will identify the key issues through historical process, actors and stages of the conflict from a conflict resolution perspective.