On 11th May 2020, DPI staff met virtually with its Turkey-based members of the Council of Experts to conduct a brainstorming meeting to look at the way forward for Turkey in navigating the challenges and opportunities present now and in the future due to the Covid-19 pandemic. This meeting, hosted through an online platform, brought together a diverse range of actors from Turkey’s political and policy-making circles, academia, civil society, business and the media as well as representatives from the European Union and the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The participants were all experienced attendees of past DPI activities and, as such, held a collective knowledge and memory bank of the lessons learnt from many comparative study visits and roundtables on conflict resolution themes. This online brainstorming meeting provided a timely platform for participants to exchange views and assessments of the current situation in Turkey with a particular focus on the political and economic impact of the Covid-19 crisis. In an insightful discussion, participants also examined the possible roads ahead and discussed how Turkey can best emerge from this global health crisis and what avenues for peace, if any, might be opened up during this challenging time. In sharing their ideas, knowledge and expertise, participants expressed their thoughts on how they believe DPI can continue to contribute towards broadening the bases of dialogue on the themes of peace and democratisation in Turkey whilst noting the importance of maintaining dialogue during these difficult times. This online meeting forms part of a larger series of activities planned in the context of the project: “Supporting inclusive dialogue at a challenging time in Turkey”, supported by the EU and the Norwegian government.
