Turkish Paramilitarism Exported: The Case of SADAT in Post-Arab Spring Middle East

An online lecture by Dr Özlem Has, Visiting Professor at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. The lecture is no. 8/9 in the fall 2021 online lecture series.

The Arab Spring provided Turkey with an opportunity to act as a mediator during popular uprisings in the Arab world with the country’s longstanding democratic tradition. However, the ongoing refugee crisis and the regional Kurdish question triggered by the drastic transformations in the country’s immediate neighbourhood pushed Turkey to readjust its foreign policy from the policy of zero problems with the neighbours to more aggressive foreign policy interfering in the internal affairs of neighbouring countries. As a result, Turkey became a crucial transit country for extremist jihadist groups. This lecture aims to discuss the role of controversial SADAT International Defense Consultancy Inc. in the training and export of extremist groups to other conflict zones.

About

Dr Özlem Has has recently earned her PhD degree from the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies at the University of Copenhagen with the thesis titled “Structured Agencies of Paramilitaries in the Kurdish-Turkish Conflict: The JİTEM Case.” Her research interests focus on state violence, paramilitarism, transitional justice, and impunity.

Participate in the online event

Lecture Series

The research project Mediatized Diaspora – Contentious Politics among Arab Media Users in Europe at the Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies, University of Copenhagen, invites you to the fall 2021 online lecture series on Middle Eastern media, diaspora and politics Post-Arab Spring.

All lectures will take place on Thursdays at 17:15 (CET).

For any inquiries, please contact project leader: Dr Ehab Galal