The Kurds and “the Others” in a Post‑Sectarian Middle East
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Date
Thursday, 28 September 2023
Until 29/09/2023
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Location
Museo Sigismondo Castromediano, Viale Gallipoli 31, Lecce
The conference “The Kurds and ‘the Others’ in a Post‑Sectarian Middle East” offers a critical reading of regional politics after 2003, challenging the idea that the Middle East can be reduced to a Sunni–Shi’a sectarian clash. The concept note highlights how the 2011 uprisings and the 2019 protest waves in several countries foregrounded demands for democracy, rights, and social justice beyond confessional boundaries. In this context, the Kurdish question is examined as a key site for understanding institutional change, mobilisation practices, and new political horizons.
Programme
28 September
- 2:00–3:00 PM Opening remarks
Luigi De Luca (Polo Bibliomuseale di Lecce), Rosita Di Peri (SeSaMO), Lorenza Giorgetti (Un Ponte Per), Anna Caputo (Arci Lecce Solidarietà), Samuela Pagani (University of Salento)
Presentation of the Italian Network of Kurdish Studies and introduction to the conference - 3:30–6:00 PM Panel: The Kurdish parties in Rojava facing the Syrian arena (English)
Elise Boyle Espinosa, Davide Grasso, Andrea Novellis, Thomas Schmidinger
Chair: Sevgi Doan
29 September
- 9:00–11:00 AM Panel: The Kurds in Turkey’s “Authoritarian Democracy” (English)
Delal Aydin, Mesut Yeen
Chair: Sevgi Doan - 11:30 AM–1:30 PM Panel: The Kurds in a Crumbling Iraq (English)
Kamal Chomani, Nicola Degli Esposti, Choman Hardi
Chair: Alessandro Tinti - 3:00–5:00 PM Round table: The Kurds and “the Others” (English, Italian)
Opening remarks by Fabio Pollice (Rector, University of Salento)
Delal Aydin, Domenico Chirico, Kamal Chomani
Discussant: Sevgi Doan
Chair: Samuela Pagani - 8:00–10:00 PM Kurdish Poetry Night: Il paese nel verso. Voci poetiche dal Kurdistan (English, Italian)
Opening remarks by Anna Caputo
Poetry reading by Choman Hardi in conversation with Rosita D’Amora and Francesco Marilungo