DPI held an online roundtable on 6 May, entitled ‘Opposition’s Perspective on the political, social and economic effects of COVID-19 in Turkey’. This meeting was the second online roundtable held as part of a series of meetings with political parties in Turkey, including AK Party, CHP, DEVA Party, Future Party, HDP and Saadet Party. This meeting hosted as speaker, Pervin Buldan, who is a Member of Parliament from Istanbul and a co-chair of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). The purpose of this meeting was to assess the current situation and understand the opposition’s perspective on the impact of COVID-19 in Turkey. This meeting brought together through an online platform a diverse group of participants from Turkey, including academics, WPC members, journalists, politicians and lawyers. During the discussion session, participants contributed to a timely and inclusive dialogue on the challenges and opportunities for democratisation and normalisation. We were also delighted to be virtually joined by international participants from various parts of the world, including our funders, Council of Experts members, as well as representatives from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Embassies of the UK, Ireland, Kingdom of the Netherlands and Denmark to Turkey, among others. The meeting provided an insightful discussion on the current developments in Turkey and on the potential challenges and opportunities presented by COVID-19 in the political, social and economic spheres. The RT 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.
