50 Years of Turkish-Belgian Migration History

Date: May 16, 2015 Saturday
Time: 9.30-17.00
Place: santralistanbul Campus, E1-301

The symposium is organized by the Center for Migration Research of İstanbul Bilgi University in collaboration with the Consulate-General of Belgium in İstanbul and the Turkish-Belgian Friendship and Cultural Association.

The present symposium aims to facilitate the dialogue and the further development of a network in the field of migration studies by bringing together Turkish and international academics as well as artists with a migration background. It investigates key issues and themes of Belgian-Turkish migration by looking at the legal and social history, national and European policy, the present cultural diversity, identity and ethnicity, transmigration and return migration, as well as artistic responses and perceptions in film, literature, visual arts and theatre. Hence, the symposium aims to contribute to the debates about the sociological memory that binds Turkey and Belgium for over 50 years.

PROGRAM:

09.00-9.30 Registration

9.30-10.00 Brief Introduction by Pieter Verstraete (Hacettepe University) Welcoming by Emre Gönen (İstanbul Bilgi University, Advisor to the Rector) Welcoming by Henri Vantieghem (Consul General of Belgium in Istanbul)
1st SESSION “ENTWINED HISTORIES: WORKFORCE, COMMUNITY, LOCALITY” Moderator:  Pınar Uyan Semerci (İstanbul Bilgi University)
  10.00-10.30   Mazyar Khoojinian (Université Libre de Bruxelles) “The Turkish Immigration in the Belgian Coal Mine Industry: Management, Control and Stabilization of a Mobile Workforce (1963-1967)”

10.30-11.00     Ayhan Kaya (İstanbul Bilgi University) “Power of the Weak: Making and Unmaking Communities in Diaspora”

11.00-11.30 Tina De Gendt (Independent Historian) “Zooming in. A Different Perspective on a Global Process. The Story of Ghent: Not Just Another Turkish Town”

11.30-12.00 Open Discussion

12.00-13.00 Lunch

2nd SESSION “PERSPECTIVES: ETHNICITY, EMIRDAG, EUROPE” Moderator:  Susan Rottmann (Koç University)

13.00-13.30 Christianne Timmerman, University of Antwerp “Changing Migration Dynamics between Turkey and the EU”

13.30-14.00 Jak Den Exter (NIHA/University of Leiden) "Some Chains are Stronger than Others...”

14.00-14.30 Klaartje Van Kerckem (University of Ghent) “Bridging the Gap: The Construction and Negotiation of a Turkish-Belgian Ethnic Boundary”

14.30-15:00 Open Discussion

15.00-15.15 Coffee Break

3rd SESSION “TODAY’S RESPONSES: ART, IDENTITY AND POLICY” Moderator: Kevin Smets (University of Antwerp)

15.15-15.35 Birsen Taşpınar (Author)

15.35-15.55 Kenan Görgün (Author, Scriptwriter)

15.55-16.15 Mesut Arslan (Theatre Artist)

16.15-17:00 ROUND TABLE AND OPEN DISCUSSION Moderator: Pieter Verstraete, Hacettepe University
With the participation of Tülin Erkal Kara, Chairperson of the Turkey-Belgium Interparliamentary Friendship Group

*Symposium will be held in Turkish and English with simultaneous translation.

Contact: İstanbul Bilgi University Center for Migration Research rc.mig@bilgi.edu.tr | 0212 311 53 50