On the 23rd of October, the Democratic Progress Institute (DPI) organised an event titled ‘Communicating Peace and Enhancing Dialogue: Reconsidering the Role of Media in Conflict Resolution.’ Owen Bowcott, The Guardian’s Ireland correspondent during ‘The Troubles’, shared his observations and experiences reporting the conflict with journalists from Turkey. While explaining his first-hand experiences, he highlighted that journalists were under constant surveillance and that their phones were tapped. Moreover, he described how extreme the situation can get by giving some examples. He talked about how the violence was normalised over time. Furthermore, he discussed the importance of the language used in a polarised society while reporting. Finally, he pointed out the similarities between problems occurring in Northern Ireland and Turkey concerning the Kurdish issue. During the rest of the event, journalists shared their experiences in Turkey.
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