The regional/international conference on Citizenhip & Human Security, co-organized by the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly, the European Institute & the Human Rights Law Research Centre of the Istanbul Bilgi University was held on 23/24/25 January 2015 in Dolapdere Campus. 

The conference was a centrepiece event of a collaborative working process to build a “Citizens’ Network for Peace, Reconcilliation and Human Security” < http://cn4hs.org/ > from below, beyond borders. Our aim was to advocate and mobilize civic action and political change towards “humanizing” security, across practices & interactions of daily life. In that vein, we seek to link “human security” -- i.e., safe and dignified individual/collective livelihoods in integrity-- with rights/freedoms and democratization vis a vis pressures of vicious, unharnessed 'development' & state security.

The endeavour is led by hCa (Turkey) in collaboration with five partner organizations, ADP-Zid (Montenegro), CRDP (Kosovo), IRIS (Bulgaria), ORC-Tuzla (Bosnia Herzegovina) and, SeCons (Serbia), in association with AEC (France), ISA (Macedonia) & KEPAD (Greece), along with the guidance & support of prominent scholars from LSE (UK) and from SEERN. The project is funded by the European Commission, co-financed by Open Society Foundation (Turkey) and the British Embassy in Ankara. Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Turkey, the Human Rights Joint Platform (İHOP) and the Balkan Trust for Democracy have also provided support to project activities.

The conference presented and opened discussion what have been learned and done so far in the past two years on various dimensions of human security, in particular on “youth & violence”, “violence in the workplace”, and, “displacement as violence”. The program also included sessions on various cycles & axes of violence/insecurity: “globalization, state sovereignty, citizenship”; “grounds of human (in)security”, “discourses/policies of “public order & security”; “corrosion of social policies & (dis)trust in the public system”; “the dimension of ethnicity in tensions/conflicts between refugees/migrants & local communities”, and, “new definitions/practices of citizenship, as a lateral safety net”. The event brought together people from different walks of life, across civil society, academia and associated stakeholder groups.

 

PROGRAM

Citizenship & Human Security

International Conference

January 23-24-25, 2015 (Fri-Sat-Sun)

Istanbul Bilgi University, Dolapdere Campus (Rooms: Court Hall-601-602-606)

Hacıahmet Mah., Pir Hüsamettin Street No: 20, Beyoglu – Istanbul

 

23 January 2015, Friday / at “Court Hall”, 3rd Floor - Dolapdere Campus

16:30-17:00                Registration

17:00-19:00                Panel Discussion: Globalization, State Sovereignty, Citizenship & Human Security

·         “Humanizing” Security - Ahmet Insel

·         Deconstructing the Securitization Discourse vis-a-vis Others - Ayhan Kaya

·         Rule of Law & Human Security - Turgut Tarhanli

·         Democratization, Rights/Freedoms, Social Peace & Pluralism - Murat Belge

·         “Human Security” & the EU Enlargement Process - Jadranka Jelincic (tbc)

Moderator: Emel Kurma

24 January 2015, Saturday / 6th Floor, Dolapdere Campus

10:00-10:30                Registration

10:30-11:45                Grounds of Human (In)Security / Room # 606

                                                                                                               

• Contemporary International Economy: Crisis, Trade & Food Security - Predrag Bjelic
• Erosion of the “Commons” (tbc) - Hande Gülen

• Developing a Human (In)Security Index: An exercise on regional data in Turkey - Haluk Levent
• Human Security in the Balkans & Turkey: Regional Research Findings & Some Highlights for Advocacy /  Mary Martin, Vesna Bojicic-Dzelilovic, Emel Kurma

            Moderator: Stefan Ralchev

11:45-12:15 Break

12:15-13:30 Group Discussions

Youth & Violence / # 606	Violence in Workplace / # 601	Displacement as Violence / # 602
* ….. / ... (tbc) * …....   Moderator: Svetlana D.-Lukic	* …. / Zeynep Şarlak * …....   Moderator: Mary Martin	* ….... / Hale Akay * …....   Moderator: Anna Krasteva

13:30 – 14:30 Lunch / Cafeteria at ground floor

14:30-15:45 Group Discussions (cont.)

Youth & Violence / # 606	Violence in Workplace / # 601	Displacement as Violence / # 602
* “Small Arms” / Svetlana D.-Lukic * …....   Moderator: Nora Ahmetaj	* “Corporates” / Mary Martin,  Vesna Bojicic-Dzelilovic * …....   Moderator: Zeynep Şarlak	* … / ??? *     Moderator: Ayşe Çavdar

15:45-16:00 Break

16:30-17:30    Discourse/Policies of “Public Order & Security”, Corrosion of Social Policies & (Dis)Trust in the Public System / Room # 606

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

            (* session starts with briefings from groups discussions by Nora A., Zeynep S., Ayşe C.)

                                           

• A Threat to Sustainable Human Security: Corruption - Bülent Bali
• Dimensions/Manifestations of Distrust in Public/Political Authority: Demonstrations in Tuzla - Miralem Tursinovic
• Laws of “Public (In)Security” - Nalan Erkem
• Paris Suburbs... Nantes Airport Protests... “Charlie Hebdo”... - Bernard Dreano

            Moderators: Olivera Pavlovic

25 January 2015, Sunday

11:00-12:00                “Brunch” at Cafeteria, ground floor

               time for open networking & ad hoc meetings amongst participants

               (space to be arranged at the conference venue by organizers upon request)

12:00-13:30    Refugees/Migrants & Local Communities: tensions/conflict & the dimension of ethnicity / Room # 606

• Inter-communal peace reconciliation in Balkans – Nora Ahmetaj
• The case of Syria: “Balkanization” …. (tbc) – Seda Altuğ
• Post-conflict Yugoslavia as a "worst practice" for post-conflict Mesopotamia / Cengiz Aktar

         Moderator: Bulent Bilmez

13:30-14:00 Break

14:00-15:30 Group Discussions

Legal Dimension: Opportunities & Restrictions # 606	# 601 - Social Rights: Education, Health, Housing # 601	Socio-Economic Integration: Employment, Urban Life # 602
* …... * …....   Moderator: Nalan Erkem	* ... / Şenay Özden (tbc) * …....   Moderator: Tamer Aker	* ….... * …....   Moderator: (Ayşe Cavdar)

15:30-16:00 Break

16:00-17:30 Citizenship as our Safety Net... / Room # 606

                                                                                           

• Globalization, Citizenship, New Mobilizations / Anna Krasteva
• Can we build our collective/individual security from below? / Gianluca Solera
• A New “Europe” and Citizens' Network for Human Security (“Quo Vadis EU?”)

Open discussion on advocacy: What Can Be Done? How? Prospects on Knowledge, Civic Intervention & Policy Reforms on Local/Country & Regional Level

            Moderator: Ahmet İnsel