On 24-26 September 2019, Democratic Progress Institute (DPI) carried out a planned reverse Comparative Study Visit in Istanbul, Turkey, on the theme of ‘The role of media in conflict resolution: reflections on Turkey’s resolution process’.
As part of DPI’s long-running series of meetings exploring the media’s role in conflict resolution, peacebuilding, and democratisation processes, this reverse CSV, for the first time, provided a forum for participants to discuss this topic directly in relation to the situation in Turkey.
The event invited a group of mainstream media professionals and active social media users to reflect on their work and share their insight into the role of media played in conflict resolution in Turkey. The group benefitted from the presentation delivered by Dr Thomas Colley from King’s College London, who talked about how the use of misinformation and social media can shape conflict resolution and democratisation. The participants then engaged in a critical roundtable discussion over the role the media played and the challenges it faced in conflict resolution specifically in relation to Turkey.
This afforded the participants the opportunity to reflect on their own experiences as journalists and broadcasters during the previous resolution process in Turkey. They shared their own testaments and discussed the collective lessons that could be learnt from the process.
This reverse CSV 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 Irish, Dutch and Norwegian governments.