Prague Centre for Middle East Relations in the Academic Year 2021/22
Date of publication: August 8, 2022
Public Events
On August 31, 2021, PCMR held a debate entitled “Afghanistan once more under the Taliban rule.” Our guests were journalist Lenka Klicperová, former head of civilian division of Provincial Reconstruction team in Logar Matyáš Zrno and president of the Czech-afghan Joint Chamber of Commerce Fawad Nadri. Our guests discussed the causes and consequences of the current situation and future developments in Afghanistan after the collapse of the central government and the Taliban’s retaking of power. See more HERE.
On October 11, 2021, PCMR organized a debate “Taliban’s Victory in Afghanistan: Impacts of US Withdrawal on European and Global Security.” Our distinguished guest was Prof. Gilles Kepel from the Paris Sciences and Lettres University. The session focused on implications of chaotic withdrawal of Coalition forces from Afghanistan, and Taliban once again decisively taking control of the country. The event was part of the Forum 2000’s Festival of Democracy. See more HERE.
On November 18, 2021, PCMR organized another debate entitled “Iraq after Elections: Between Resilient Status Quo and Drivers of Change”. The guest of the debate was award-winning Iraqi-Kurdish journalist and analyst Hiwa Osman. He also worked as media advisor to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani in 2005-2008. The debate, which took place on-site at CEVRO Institute focused on the political situation in Iraq after the elections. See more HERE.
On December 1, 2021, PCMR organized a debate entitled “Mali: A New Battlefield in the War on Terror?” Our guests were Dr. Aly Tounkara, Director of the Centre for Security and Strategic Studies in the Sahel, and Jan Havranek, Deputy Minister for Defence Policy and Strategy of the Czech Republic. Our guests discussed contemporary security and geopolitical situation in Mali and the G5 Sahel countries in the context of the Czech and other European armed forces enagement in the region combating radical Islamists. See more HERE.
Roundtables
On November 19, 2021, PCMR organized discussion entitled “Iraq after Elections: What Should We Expect?” with Hiwa Osman, an award winning Iraqi Kurdish journalist, analyst and commentator. The aim of this closed expert session was to discuss early parliamentary elections held in October 2021 in Iraq and its aftermath. See more HERE.
On December 1, 2021, PCMR organized a roundtable entitled “Mali: Sahel Security in the Context of European Engagement” with Dr. Aly Tounkara, director of the Centre for Security and Strategic Studies in the Sahel. The roundtable meeting focused on the contemporary security and political situation in Mali and the engagement of European militaries in combating radical Islamists. See more HERE.
On April 4, 2022, PCMR and PCTR organized a roundtable event entitled “Situation in Sinai and the Role of the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO).” Our guest was Amb. R. Stephen Beecroft, the Director General of the MFO. The purpose of this closed roundtable was to discuss the current security and geopolitical situation in the Sinai and the current state of the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty. Ambassador Beecroft and the experts have paid special attention to the importance of the Multinational Force and Observers’ (MFO) mission in the Sinai. See more HERE.
On April 5, 2022, PCMR amd PCTR organized the next roundtable discussion entitled “Turkey-EU Relations in the Face of Russian Aggression towards Ukraine” with Amb. Faruk Kaymakci, Deputy Foreign Minister of Turkey and Director for EU Affairs. The discussed topic included potential developments in EU-Turkey relations in the face of Russian attacks in Ukraine, energy security and Ankara’s role as a mediator in the war in Ukraine. See more HERE.
Publications
PCMR’s Research Fellow Vojtěch Bílý published in August 2021 an article “The End of Operation Barkhane: A New Chapter in the Fight Against Islamist Terrorism in Sahel” for The Conservative. He analyzed the security and political situation in Sahel considering the reduced French engagement in the region. The article also reflects on the implications for Czech military deployment in Mali. See more HERE.
Tomáš Kaválek, Director of PCMR, published an article entitled “Why so many Kurds are leaving Iraq’s KRG?” for Zenith magazine in December 2021. The article explored migration push factors from Iraqi Kurdistan. Iraqi Kurds consituted a significant portion of illegal migrants stranded on the Poland-Belaruss border. See more HERE.
In March 2022, PCMR published a policy paper entitled “Erbil Missile Attack: A Repeated Policy and Continued Attack” by Ziryan Rojhelati, Director of Rudaw Research Center in Erbil. The policy paper focused on the main implications of the missile attack on the Kurdistan region’s capital of Erbil. See more HERE.
In April 2022, Ramazan Ozel, Research Intern at PCMR published a policy paper on coalition building prior to the upcoming presidential elections in Turkey. The paper, entitled “Coalition Building before 2023 Presidential Elections in Turkey: What Lies Ahead?” discussed the alliance formations and the current developments regarding the presidential and parliamentary elections of June 2023 in Turkey. See more HERE.
In July 2022, Ramazan Ozel, Research Intern at PCMR published a policy paper the role of the pro-Kurdish political party HDP and its potential impacts on the upcoming elections in Turkey. The paper, entitled “The Pivotal Role of the Pro-Kurdish Party HDP in Turkish Politics”, investigated the potential implications of the pro-Kurdish HDP on the alliance formations and its relations with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). See more HERE.
Media Outputs
On December 2, 2021, we published an interview for CEVRO Arena with a prominent Iraqi-Kurdish journalist and former advisor to Iraqi president Hiwa Osman. The interview focused on the importance of the Iraqi elections, weakening Iranian influence in the country as well as building confidence in electoral processes in Iraq. See more HERE.
On February 18, 2022, Tomáš Kaválek, Director of PCMR, conducted an interview with Seznam Zpravy on the situation in Idlib and the aftermath of the killing of ISIS leader Haji Abdallah. The interview focused on the situation in the Syrian town Idlib and the engagement of the different armed forces in the context of the Syrian civil war. See more HERE.
Miscellaneous
In March 2022, PCMR launched a new webpage for PCMR at www.pcmr.cz. See more HERE.
At the beginning of March 2022, PCMR welcomed its new Research Intern Ramazan Ozel. Ramazan, a master’s student of Crisis Management at the Friedrich-Schiller University of Jena in Germany, joined PCMR to assist with PCMR’s activities and conduct his research on security issues in the Middle East. See more HERE.
In July 2022, Research Fellow of PCMR, Vojtěch Bílý visited Bamako, Mali. The purpose of the visit was to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between CEVRO Institute and École de Maintien de la Paix Alioune Blondin Beye (EMP-ABB), in English Alioune Blondin Beye Peace Keeping School. The scope of cooperation with EMP-ABB includes activities such as research and analysis in the areas of peace and security, publications, exchange of lecturers, and knowledge-sharing activities. Vojtěch Bílý also delivered a lecture at the EMP-ABB on the issue of peace negotiations in the Central African Republic. See more HERE.
During his visit to Mali, PCMR’s Vojtěch Bílý also met with Imam Mahmoud Dicko, one of the most influential politico-religious figures in the country who also supported the opposition movement in Mali in early 2020. Vojtěch Bílý and Imam Dicko discussed the political challenges in Mali. See more HERE.
