DİSA has been organizing panels, workshops and conferences on issues related to the social and political problems of Turkey and also conducting research projects since 8 March 2010 mostly in the city of Diyarbakır. The research projects that have covered a wide range of topics including mother tongue-based multilingual education and the economic development of Diyarbakır, continues with Conflict Resolution.

The Ceasefire and Disarmament Panel Series will be taking place in April, May and June this year. The guest speaker of the first panel today was Jonathan Powell, previously the chief British government negotiator on the Northern Ireland peace process during his time as Chief of Staff for Prime Minister Tony Blair from 1997 to 2007. The panel was moderated by writer and journalist Cengiz Çandar.

After an opening speech that included positive remarks on the ongoing peace process, DİSA President Necdet İpekyüz introduced the discussion topics and speakers of the next sessions of the Ceasefire and Disarmament Panel Series within the Conflict Resolution Program of DİSA.

Cengiz Çandar started his speech by greeting the participants in Kurdish. Çandar likened Jonathan Powell to a kirve (someone who acts as a kind of godfather at the circumcision ceremony) during the peace negotiations between the IRA and the United Kingdom. He also pointed out that Powell actively contributed to the negotiation processes between ETA and the Spanish government as well as the one between FARC and the Colombian government and cited Powell by these words: "A peace process is like riding a bicycle where one should never stop pedaling. If you ever fall off your bicycle, it is very difficult to take control once again." 

"An atmosphere of balance and equality are prerequisites for getting results."

"There is no single model to be followed, you can draw lessons from every negotiation process" said Jonathan Powell at the beginning of his speech. He went on by saying that agreements are not merely enough for establishing mutual trust and that the process should look like a ballet where you both make your steps based on mutually kept promises.  

"A sustainable solution requires consistency and time."

Powell underlined the importance of meeting with all the stakeholders in the negotiation process in order to get any results and that third parties had an active role to play in establishing trust and pushing the process forward. He further added: "Every problem has a solution, there is no process without any solutions. Some might not be in favour of the peace process ending with concrete progress or some events may shatter the mutual trust. All these possibilities need to be considered in order to reach a solution. A true leadership requires making bold decisions, taking risks and patience."

Also talking about the peace process in Turkey, Powell said that the Newroz statement was both very important and promising. Citing IRA, Powell said "You may use the concept of terror to describe a tactic, but I do not think that it would help anybody in solving this problem to define a whole movement as terrorist."

This panel will be followed by another two: On May 4, Sinn Fein MP Conor Murphy will talk about his experiences during the negotiation process between the IRA and the UK. The panel will be moderated by DİSA founder Meral Danış Beştaş. The speaker of the third panel on June 8 will be Dr.Gustavo Palma who is a researcher on the peace process in Guatemala. This panel will be moderated by Dr.Nesrin Uçarlar who works on transitional justice.

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