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We are pleased to invite you to our next gathering on November 13 at 6pm at our nest, Club Mama. This edition of Transnational Solidarities turns to Turkey: a country shaped by overlapping and often contradictory projects of modernization, neoliberal development and political repression.
Turkey is known as a central site in the European Union’s externalized border regime, with the EU-Turkey Deal tying the cooperation to preventing refugees from reaching Europe. Turkey, at the same time, does not apply the 1951 Refugee Convention and access to international protection remains sharply restricted for many. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have documented unlawful returns, deportations, pressure to sign “voluntary” return forms, and other risks to refugees and asylum seekers. Turkey is also promoted as a regional entrepreneurial hub while underprivileged populations, among them Syrian children and other displaced communities, live and work in conditions marked by unimaginable precarity, poverty, informal employment and inadequate protection.
Turkey’s role in Syria also demands particular analysis, as its role in the region should be understood as a continuation of its broader colonial, militaristic and anti-Kurdish policies aimed at suppressing Kurdish self-determination and in Syria destroying the revolutionary project developed in its northeastern part. Through military occupation, cross-border invasions, the instrumentalisation of jihadist armed groups, and systematic attacks on civilian infrastructure, Turkey has sought to undermine the democratic, feminist, and pluralistic model of self-governance developed in Rojava. This analysis is especially urgent in the context of Syria’s ongoing political transition, in the context of the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people and the illegal war on Iran, which is instigated by the coalition of Israel and the United States, during which Rojava achievements have been severely undermined by military defeat, externally imposed political arrangements, and the forced integration of its autonomous institutions into an increasingly centralised Syrian state. We will briefly situate Turkey within a regional landscape shaped by its NATO membership, ties with the United States, relations with Iran, and stated support for Palestine.
While examining the role Turkey plays in creating these regional instabilities, we will also thematise continuous silencing of the genocide against Armenians, political imprisonment, and restrictions on dissent and repression of the Kurdish liberation movement. We are interested in how political violence extends into the long standing attacks against left political organizing and the repression of Alewite communities. We will also consider the still limited, but increasingly successful, alliances between workers striking against corporate mining and local resistance to environmental catastrophe. These forces of oppression also intersect with the continuous attacks on feminist, women’s and LGBTQ+ organizing. Recent reporting documents arrests of women’s rights defenders, restrictions on protest, and government measures that undermine gender equality and LGBTQ+ rights.
Moreover, we will also examine the fallout from the split between Erdoğan and Fethullah Gülen, and the mass arrests and imprisonments that followed. Since the breakdown of the Erdoğan regime’s partnership with the Gülenist network, the regime has continued to target certain individuals, mostly abroad, for their alleged ties to the network, even as it has reintegrated some of the network’s leading figures into its own ranks. The government presented these actions as a purge of the Gülenist network; we will consider how far that framing accounts for the scale and targets of the crackdown, and how it may have served to justify wider political repression.
Our main concern, however, is with the solidarities people build across borders and struggles. In Zagreb, we are building and nurturing spaces for encounter with the small Turkish community living here. The upcoming Transnational Solidarities gathering offers an opportunity to listen and connect local experiences with wider struggles for justice, solidarity, and liberation. Together, we will ask how these connections can be sustained amid the intersecting forces of ethnonationalism, racism, securitization, and the policing of cultural difference, as well as wars that discipline encounters and constrain genuine connection.
We are delighted to be in this conversation with Zeynep Oğuz who is an architectural historian and architect. She earned her Ph.D. in the History of Art and Architecture from Harvard University in 2024, focusing on early Ottoman architecture and urban development. Since 2019, she has taught art and architectural history at the University of Zagreb. Her research explores Ottoman architecture, cities, and landscapes, with particular attention to multi-confessional buildings, infrastructure, and their connections to local heritage and wider Mediterranean and Eurasian networks.
Transnational Solidarities is conceived and facilitated by Lucija Mulalić and Emina Bužinkić. The program takes place within MaMa’s People on the Move program strand, curated by Marija Krstanović.
| After the discussion, an artist Jan Jafo will present his exhibition Jin. Jiyan. Azadî. – Woman. Life. Freedom.
This series of illustrations is inspired by Kurdish women, as well as women around the world—their strength, identities, and struggles for freedom. Braids are the central motif in my illustrations. They were inspired by the story of a Kurdish woman who was killed and whose braid was cut off after her death. To me, this story symbolizes violence, but also resistance, dignity, and identity. Each illustration tells its own story, and together they form a whole. This is a donation-based exhibition. Individual A4 prints are available for a minimum suggested donation of €20. Individual A3 prints are available for a minimum donation of €35. Two or more prints will be offered with a discounted price. Jan Jafo (born in 2002) is a visual artist of Kurdish heritage who lives and works in Zagreb. Through exhibitions, murals, and illustrations, he explores themes of identity, language, home, and borders, and is active in the independent cultural scene. This evening we will also enjoy the beautiful sounds of bağlama – saz, and songs in Kurdish, Turkish and Arabic performed by Abdullah Abdi. Also, don’t miss Turkish sweets. |
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Pletenice otpora i gušenje slobodarskih pokreta u Turskoj i preko granica
S radošću vas pozivamo na naše sljedeće okupljanje, 13. studenoga u 18h u našem gnijezdu, klubu Mama. Ovoga se puta u sklopu programa Transnacionalne solidarnosti okrećemo Turskoj, zemlji u kojoj se prepliću i sukobljavaju projekti modernizacije, neoliberalnog razvoja i političke represije.
Turska je jedno od ključnih uporišta europskog režima eksternaliziranih granica. Sporazum između Europske unije i Turske vezao je njihovu suradnju uz nastojanje da se izbjeglicama onemogući dolazak do Europe. Istodobno, Turska zadržava zemljopisno ograničenje pri primjeni Konvencije o statusu izbjeglica iz 1951. godine, a pristup međunarodnoj zaštiti za mnoge ostaje nemoguć. Human Rights Watch i Amnesty International dokumentirali su nezakonita vraćanja i deportacije, pritiske na ljude da potpišu obrasce o „dobrovoljnom povratku” te druge opasnosti kojima su izloženi izbjeglice i tražitelji azila. Turska se ujedno predstavlja kao regionalno poduzetničko središte, dok razne depriviliegirane populacije, među njima i sirijska djeca te druge raseljene zajednice, žive i rade u uvjetima nezamislive prekarizacije, siromaštva, neformalnog rada i nedostatne zaštite.
Posebnu pozornost posvetit ćemo ulozi Turske u Siriji i njezinu položaju u regiji, koji valja razumjeti kao nastavak širih kolonijalnih, militarističkih i protukurdskih politika usmjerenih na gušenje kurdskog prava na samoodređenje i razaranje revolucionarnog projekta izgrađenog na sjeveroistoku Sirije. Vojnom okupacijom, prekograničnim invazijama, instrumentalizacijom džihadističkih oružanih skupina i sustavnim napadima na civilnu infrastrukturu, Turska nastoji potkopati demokratski, feministički i pluralistički model samouprave razvijen u Rojavi. Ova je analiza osobito hitna u trenutku političke tranzicije u Siriji, genocida nad palestinskim narodom i nezakonitog rata protiv Irana, koji predvodi koalicija Izraela i Sjedinjenih Američkih Država. U tom su kontekstu postignuća Rojave teško uzdrmana vojnim porazom, izvana nametnutim političkim rješenjima i prisilnim uključivanjem autonomnih institucija u sve centraliziraniju sirijsku državu. Tursku ćemo ukratko smjestiti u regionalni poredak oblikovan njezinim članstvom u NATO-u, odnosima sa Sjedinjenim Američkim Državama, vezama i suparništvom s Iranom te javno iskazanom podrškom Palestini.
Dok promišljamo ulogu Turske u stvaranju regionalnih nestabilnosti, govorit ćemo i o trajnom prešućivanju genocida nad Armencima, političkom zatvaranju, ograničavanju prava na neslaganje i represiji nad kurdskim oslobodilačkim pokretom. Zanima nas kako se političko nasilje nastavlja kroz dugogodišnje napade na ljevičarsko političko organiziranje i represiju nad alevitskim zajednicama. Razmotrit ćemo i još uvijek ograničene, ali sve uspješnije saveze radnika u štrajku protiv korporativnog rudarstva i lokalnih zajednica koje se opiru ekološkom razaranju. Ti se oblici ugnjetavanja isprepliću i s neprestanim napadima na feminističko, žensko i LGBTQ+ organiziranje. Nedavna izvješća bilježe uhićenja braniteljica ženskih prava, ograničavanje prosvjeda te mjere vlasti kojima se potkopavaju rodna ravnopravnost i prava LGBTQ+ osoba.
Osvrnut ćemo se i na posljedice raskola između Erdoğana i Fethullaha Gülena te na masovna uhićenja i zatvaranja koja su uslijedila. Nakon raspada partnerstva Erdoğanova režima s gülenističkom mrežom, režim je nastavio progoniti određene osobe, većinom u inozemstvu, zbog njihovih navodnih veza s tom mrežom, dok je neke njezine vodeće aktere ponovno uključio u vlastite redove. Vlast je te postupke prikazivala kao čistku gülenističke mreže. Razmotrit ćemo koliko to tumačenje objašnjava razmjere i mete progona te kako je moglo poslužiti za opravdavanje šire političke represije.
Naše je glavno zanimanje, međutim, za solidarnosti koje ljudi grade preko granica i kroz različite borbe. U Zagrebu gradimo i njegujemo susrete s malom turskom zajednicom koja ovdje živi, a naredne Transnacionalne solidarnosti prilika su za slušanje i povezivanje lokalnih iskustava sa širim borbama za pravdu, solidarnost i oslobođenje. Pitat ćemo se kako te veze održati usred višestrukih represija etnonacionalizma, rasizma, sekuritizacije, kulturne razlike i ratove koji discipliniraju susrete i iskrena povezivanja.
Radujemo se razgovoru sa Zeynep Oğuz, povjesničarkom arhitekture i arhitekticom. Doktorirala je povijest umjetnosti i arhitekture na Sveučilištu Harvard 2024. godine, istražujući ranu osmansku arhitekturu i razvoj gradova. Od 2019. predaje povijest umjetnosti i arhitekture na Sveučilištu u Zagrebu. U svom se istraživačkom radu bavi osmanskom arhitekturom, gradovima i krajolicima, s posebnim naglaskom na višekonfesionalne građevine i infrastrukturu te njihove povezanosti s lokalnom baštinom i širim sredozemnim i euroazijskim mrežama.
Program Transnacionalne solidarnosti oblikuju i vode Emina Bužinkić i Lucija Mulalić, a održavaju se unutar programskog pravca MaMe Ljudi u pokretu, koji uređuje Marija Krstanović.
| Nakon razgovora, umjetnik Jan Jafo predstavit ce prodajnu izložbu Jin. Jiyan. Azadî. – Žena. Život. Sloboda.
Ova serija ilustracija inspirirana je kurdskim ženama, ali i ženama diljem svijeta, njihovom snagom, identitetom i borbom za slobodu. Pletenice su glavni motiv mojih ilustracija. Inspirirane su pričom o kurdskoj ženi koja je ubijena, a kojoj je nakon smrti odrezana pletenica. Ta priča za mene simbolizira nasilje, ali i otpor, dostojanstvo i identitet. Svaka ilustracija priča svoju priču, ali zajedno čine jednu cjelinu. Radovi su dostupni za kupnju u obliku printeva. Preporučena minimalna donacija za A4 print je 20 eura, a A3 print 35 eura. Donacija za dva ili više printeva ide s popustom. Jan Jafo (2002.) vizualni je umjetnik kurdskog porijekla koji živi i radi u Zagrebu. Kroz izložbe, murale i ilustracije istražuje teme identiteta, jezika, doma i granica te djeluje na nezavisnoj kulturnoj sceni. Večer će obogatiti zvuci bağlame (saza) i pjesme na kurdskom, turskom i arapskom u izvedbi Abdullaha Abdija. A ne propustite ni turske slastice! |
