Book talk - Conscientious Objection in Turkey: A Socio-legal Analysis of the Right to Refuse Military Service

The book provides a socio-legal analysis of the right to refuse military service and explores the relationship between cultural norms, international law, and domestic law. It discovers the relationship between socio-cultural norms and the non-recognition of the right to conscientious objection in Turkey, a country that requires mandatory military conscription with no alternative service. The book draws on semi-structured interviews with conscientious objectors to provide an empirical and socio-legal analysis of the right to conscientious objection. It highlights the importance of understanding the legal framework to affect social change and argues that challenging militarization requires a deep understanding of the relationship between law and cultural norms. 

Speakers

Professor Özgür Heval Çɪnar  

Professor at the University of Greenwich, School of Law and Criminology 

Professor Özgür Heval Çɪnar is a professor at the University of Greenwich, School of Law and Criminology. He completed his PhD at the School of Law, University of Essex, on the subject of conscientious objection to military service and the case of Turkey. Previously, he was a post-doc fellow at the University of Oxford between 2012-2016. Moreover, he is a lawyer and works as a legal expert for the Council of Europe. 
 

Dr Demet Asli Caltekin 

Assistant Professor in Criminal Law and Criminal Justice 

Dr Demet Asli Caltekin is an Assistant Professor in Criminal Law and Criminal Justice at Durham Law School. Demet’s research interests include Critical Military Studies with a focus on anti-militarism, Socio-legal Studies, and Gender and Criminal Law. She employs a multi-disciplinary approach, combining feminist and socio-legal methodologies to analyse the relationship between law and society. 

Chair

Bahar Baser

 Registration will close two hours before the event begins