Turkey has been a multiparty democracy since 1945, but its democratic development has been repeatedly disrupted by military interventions and the suppression of political opposition. Since Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2002, Turkey’s political system has undergone a profound transformation, accompanied by increasing restrictions on press freedom, human rights and political opposition.
The CHP’s landslide victory in the 2024 local elections raised hopes that voters could still shift the political balance through the ballot box. Yet the subsequent arrest of Istanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu, Erdoğan’s most prominent political challenger, and increasing judicial pressure on the CHP – such as the removal of the party leadership by court ruling – highlight that the regime is prepared to overturn electoral defeat and reshape the political landscape through a judiciary that serves its interests.
The panel will discuss, amongst other questions: Is Turkey crossing the line from electoral democracy towards outright authoritarianism? How much resistance can Turkish society and the opposition mobilise? Can a divided opposition mount a credible democratic challenge? And how resilient is Erdoğan’s increasingly personalised system of power? Finally, what can the EU, European political parties and civil society do to support democratic institutions and Turkey’s parliamentary opposition – and help preserve the possibility of genuine political competition?
Participants:
Berk Esen, Sabanci University
Görkem Yaz, MetroPOLL Strategic and Social Research Centre
Presenters:
Cengiz Günay, Austrian Institute for International Affairs – oiip
In cooperation with Austrian Institute for International Affairs.
The detailed thematic framework and the participants will be announced shortly.
Serbia – a key country in a state of upheaval: For a long time, the majority of the Serbian population was considered politically apathetic. Protests that flared up sporadically came to nothing. When the canopy at Novi Sad railway station collapsed in November 2024, killing several people, that changed abruptly. A broad protest movement emerged across the country: people are demanding a full investigation, denouncing abuses within the government and the civil service, and calling for the rule of law, public scrutiny and a genuine crackdown on corruption. Since then, President Vučić has come under increasing pressure.
Using this powerful movement as an example, Balkan expert Florian Bieber highlights the significance of civil protests – for Serbia, but also for Europe, Russia and the US. This is because, across the globe, autocrats such as Vučić, Orbán, Putin and Trump fear civil society protests – and combat them using the same tactics time and time again.
However, our focus should not be limited to Serbia. Other countries in the region also demonstrate how civil society protests can challenge established political power structures. In Hungary, the parliamentary elections in April 2026 brought an end to the 16-year reign of Viktor Orbán and his Fidesz party. In Albania, meanwhile, the protests of the so-called „Flamingo Revolution“ have been ongoing for months. Triggered by a controversial luxury development on the Adriatic coast – in which Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, is also involved – the protests are now increasingly directed against corruption, a lack of transparency and Edi Rama’s government.
Taking Serbia as a starting point and looking at Hungary, Albania and other countries in the region, the discussion will focus on the conditions under which civil society movements can challenge authoritarian and illiberal structures. What strategies do governments use to curb protest? When do protest movements succeed in bringing about political change beyond short-term mobilisation? And what prospects does this open up for democracy and the rule of law in the respective countries?
Florian Bieber, is a professor of South-Eastern European history and politics at the Centre for South-Eastern European Studies at the University of Graz. He coordinates the Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory Group (BiEPAG). His most recent publications include *Debating Nationalism* (Bloomsbury 2026), *Hvar in the Modern Age. Identity and Change in South-East Europe* (Bloomsbury 2026), and *What Autocrats Fear: Uprising in Serbia and the Crisis of Authoritarian Regimes* (Ch. Links 2026).
Peter Techet, who holds a PhD in law and history, is a research fellow at the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM) and a postdoctoral researcher at the Faculty of Law, University of Zurich.
Noljan Lole, journalist, editor-in-chief of the Albanian public broadcaster RTSH.
Tanja Topić, correspondent and member of the editorial team at the Belgrade weekly newspaper Vreme and a research fellow at the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Banja Luka. She studied political science.
Moderation
Gregor Mayer, lives in Belgrade and Budapest as an author and journalist. He studied philosophy and mathematics at the University of Graz.
2027 is set to be a year of famine across the Horn of Africa and parts of the Middle East. The weaponisation of starvation, the fallout from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the resulting shortages of fuel and fertiliser, as well as the worst El Niño on record, are causing extreme food shortages for people who are already poor and vulnerable. The international humanitarian aid system lacks the capacity and resources to respond.
Seven years after the adoption of the UNSC resolution Resolution 2417 (2018), which strongly condemns the use of starvation against civilians as a method of warfare, famines in Sudan and in Gaza were confirmed simultaneously in 2025, for the first time this century.
This public lecture Alex de Waal will examine the polycrisis fuelled by conflict, rising prices and climate change in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East, its local and global implications, and possible responses to it.
Alex de Waal is the Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation and a Research Professor at the Fletcher School, Tufts University. He has been working on the Horn of Africa, famine and conflict since the 1980s and has served as a senior adviser to the African Union on Sudan and South Sudan. He has published a number of books on famine and related topics, including "Mass Starvation: The History and Future of Famine" (Polity, 2018). His most recent book, "The Sudans" (Cornell University Press, 2026) details the work of the African Union’s High-Level Panel, led by former President Thabo Mbeki, to promote peace and democracy within and between the Sudans. It was Africa’s most ambitious peacemaking effort.
Moderator:
Irene Horejs, former EU Ambassador, curator at the Bruno Kreisky Forum specialising in Africa and Latin America, as well as in development and humanitarian policy.
in partnership with Jewish Museum Vienna and Israel Studies Centre Vienna
For Inon and Abu Sarah, peace is neither a slogan nor a sentimental dream, but the result of a courageous decision to take action.
Palestinian Aziz Abu Sarah and Israeli Maoz Inon — two tour guides, two friends — take their readers on a week-long journey through a land weighed down by myths and the burdens of world history. Inon lost his parents on 7 October 2023; Abu Sarah lost his brother during the First Intifada. Yet both are deeply committed peace activists. Rather than allowing their grief to turn into a desire for revenge, they use it as the starting point for a fundamental question: What path can lead to a future that is not governed by a logic of retaliation?
On their journey, they visit Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Nazareth and other places, speaking to ordinary people who, like themselves, must live with the ongoing conflict and its devastating consequences. In these intimate encounters, one question keeps coming up: How can we ever find hope in the face of so much suffering?
For Abu Sarah and Inon, the answer is clear and simple: hope is not something we find — it is something we create, through dialogue, responsibility and a commitment to the equality and dignity of every human being.
“We do not see ourselves as Palestinians and Israelis, or as Jews and Arabs, but as human beings who believe in a culture of dialogue, reconciliation and peace. To those who see only what divides us, we say: If you must divide us, then please divide us into those who believe in peace and equality and those who do not … yet.”
Far from succumbing to paralysing despair, *The Future Is Peace* presents a concrete vision for peace in Israel and Palestine, inspired by personal encounters in cities where the conflict has long drawn lines of separation.
Aziz Abu Sarah is a Palestinian peacebuilder, entrepreneur, author and National Geographic Explorer. He is the co-founder and Co-CEO of InterAct International and co-founder of MEJDI Tours, using dialogue, responsible travel and conflict transformation to build bridges between communities. His work has received international recognition, including from the United Nations.
Maoz Inon is an Israeli peace activist, entrepreneur and co-CEO of InterAct International. He has founded several tourism and social-impact initiatives in Israel and the Middle East. After losing both his parents in the attack on 7 October 2023, he became a prominent advocate for peace, reconciliation and dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians.
Moderation
Tessa Szyszkowitz, author and journalist for the Austrian weekly *Falter* and other publications. Distinguished Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute in London (RUSI)
A Discussion on Economic and Financial Education
DIALOGUES AT STEPHANSPLATZ
In cooperation with the University College of Teacher Education Vienna/Lower Austria, the Vienna Education Directorate, the Innovation Foundation for Education and the MEGA Education Foundation
The education policy of the Bruno Kreisky era laid the foundation for significant reforms in Austria and many successful educational biographies in this country. Since then, the challenges internationally and in Austria have not diminished: Globalisation and digitalisation, mobility, migration, diversity, challenges to democracy and human rights are just some of the issues.
Together with the partners mentioned above, the Bruno Kreisky Forum is organising the „Dialogues at Stephansplatz“ series „Sustainable visions of education between aspiration and reality“. Here we want to discuss with you the future of education, images of people, knowledge markets and structures and debate new approaches.
The keynote speech will be given by Professor Nicole Ackermann, JKU Linz
This will be followed by a panel discussion with Birgit Niessner, Matthias Reisinger among other things.
Moderation Lisa-Maria Sommer-Fein
Register by 27 October 2026 at thomas.schrei@kphvie.ac.at