Webinar: Conscientious objection in Turkey and in exile

7th July, Wednesday, 16:00 BST, 17:00 CEST, 18:00 Turkey

We are happy to invite you to a webinar in which conscientious objectors living in Turkey and in exile are given the floor to report about their experiences in the face of multiple repressions in their own country and an uncertain future abroad.

In the beginning, we are going to have a chance to hear about the general situation of conscientious objectors in Turkey by Merve Arkun, co-chair of the Conscientious Objection Association Turkey (Vicdani Ret Derneği).

Seyda Can Yılmaz will talk about his own experiences as a conscientious objector living in Turkey. We will also have a chance to watch short videos with Osman Murat Ülke and Davut Erkan.

This will continue with a brief description of the booklet, Conscientious Objection in Turkey by Semih Sapmaz and Rudi Friedrich who will talk about experiences in the asylum seeking process in Europe. Afterwards we will have a discussion together with conscientious objectors Seyda Can Yılmaz, Onur Erden, Ercan Aktaş and Beran Mehmet İşçi on conscientious objection more generally, facilitated by Tuğçe Oklay.

The webinar is based on a quadrilingual booklet published in English, Turkish, German and French on 15th May, 2021, International Conscientious Objection Day. You download and find more information about the booklet here: https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2021/new-publication-conscientious-objecti…;

Date and Time

7th July, Wednesday, 16:00 London, 17:00 Paris/Berlin, 18:00 Istanbul

Registration

This event is free but registration is required. Please use the link here to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUoce6ppz4uH9b5KiUk1ypfhABrrmBn9lSf

The event will last for 1 hour and 30 minutes and will be held in English and in Turkish with simultaneous translation.

We are looking forward to meeting you on 7th July!

This webinar is organized by War Resisters’ International, Connection e.V. and Union Pacifiste de France.