The Centre for Kurdish Progress is pleased to host a panel discussion examining the evolving landscape of Kurdish peace efforts amid significant regional transformation.

Kurdish Peace Efforts in a Changing Region: Developments in Iran, Turkey and Northern Syria will bring together leading academic, political and civil society voices to assess prospects for dialogue, democratic representation, and conflict resolution. The discussion will explore recent political developments, shifting geopolitical dynamics, and their implications for Kurdish actors and broader regional stability.

The event will take place on 11 March 2026 (19:30–21:00) in the Boothroyd Room at Portcullis House, within the UK Parliament estate. The discussion will be followed by audience Q&A.

Speakers

• Michael M. Gunter

Michael M. Gunter is Professor of Political Science at Tennessee Technological University and Secretary-General of the EU Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC).

A leading scholar of the Kurdish question, he has authored ten critically acclaimed books on Kurdish politics and edited or co-edited five additional volumes. His most recent works include Out of Nowhere: The Kurds of Syria in Peace and War (2014), The Kurds: A Modern History (3rd ed., 2019), Historical Dictionary of the Kurds (3rd ed., 2018), and the Routledge Handbook on the Kurds (2019).

Professor Gunter has published widely in major academic journals and previously taught Kurdish and Middle Eastern politics for the U.S. Government Area Studies Program and the U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Institute.

• Elif Sarican

Elif Sarican is a writer and editor at The Amargi. She is editor of She Who Struggles: Revolutionary Women Who Shaped the World, highlighting the political thought and praxis of women across global movements.

Sarican guest edited Barnard College’s special issue Rage, Struggle, Freedom: Politics of Hope and Love, and translated The Purple Colour of Kurdish Politics: Women Politicians Write from Prison, amplifying the voices of Kurdish women political prisoners. Her work centres on feminist internationalism and gendered dimensions of resistance.

• Sara Kermanian

Sara Kermanian is an Associate Researcher in the Department of International Relations at the University of Sussex. Her research interests lie at the intersection of International Relations and political theory, with a focus on theories of time, [geo]political imaginations, non-Western imperialism, authoritarianism, sovereignty and subjectivity, and auto-reductive resistance. Her geographical focus is on Middle East, particularly when related to Kurdistan, Turkey, and Iran.

• Simon Dubbins

Simon Dubbins is Director of International at UNITE the Union, one of the UK’s largest trade unions. He leads the union’s global solidarity and international policy work, focusing on labour rights, democratic participation, and transnational worker justice.

Dubbins has extensive experience building international trade union alliances, supporting workers in conflict-affected contexts, and advocating for human rights within global supply chains. He brings a labour internationalist perspective to discussions on Kurdish political representation and peacebuilding.