UKH Dean of External Engagement and Research, Dr. Bayar Mustafa has recently participated in a three-day workshop titled “State Asymmetry Workshop” at the Eurac Research Centre Bolzano in Italy. Dr. Bayar presented a study on Kurdistan’s autonomy, titled “Assimilationism vs. Autonomy: Contrasting Kurdistan Accommodation Strategies in the Turkish and Iraqi States.”
The workshop was co-organised by the George Washington University’s Elliot School of International Affairs Research Initiative on Multinational States and the EURAC Research’s Institute for Comparative Federalism, in the autonomous province of Bolzano/Bozen, South Tyrol
The State Asymmetry Workshop, which was part of Eurac Research’s RIMS project, looked at recent literature and debates on federalism, territorial autonomies, and special status arrangements from an international comparative viewpoint. The workshop’s goal is to foster civic engagement and discourse by developing new critical perspectives and raising public awareness of asymmetric state structures and power imbalances across legal, normative, and political systems.
The programme featured a case study of South Tyrol, an autonomous province in Italy, and an example of successful power sharing. The discussions featured examples of regional self-government, such as Basque Country, Catalonia, Ãland (Finland), and Kurdistan (Iraq). The event included panels, roundtable discussions, open debates, and a day of field site visits, including meetings with South Tyrol’s governing body. The workshop also covered recent research developments in state asymmetry and federal systems.
