100th Anniversary of the Sykes-Picot: Agreement which changed the Middle East

The Students‘ Solidarity Movement is proud to invite you to a discussion organised on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the so-called Sykes-Picot Agreement.

The discussion is organised for all those who are interested in history, international relations, war studies, as well as for all those who wish to know more about the Middle East conflicts and their origins.

The Sykes-Picot Agreement was a secret accord between the Great Britain and France from 16th May 1916, by which most of the Arab lands under the rule of the Ottoman Empire were to be divided into British and French spheres of influence with the conclusion of World War I. It has allegedly had some severe repercusssions on the socio-political climate in the Middle East for the rest of the 20th century. Today, the Sykes-Picot is often mentioned by those who blame the West for destroying stability in the Middle East.

Are these accusations well-founded? What were the circumstances of this Agreement? Did it reflect the already existing non-political borders? What results can be identified? How do common people in Syria, Iraq or Lebanon see this Agreement today?

To answer these questions, we invited some very distinguished guests to join the panel debate:

Mr Raber Talaat (Jagellonian University in Krakow) – Kurdish researcher, graduate of Sociology from the University of Erbil

Mr Hadi Khatib (Anglo-American University in Prague) – Syrian student who is currently writing his thesis about the effects of the Sykes-Picot on today’s conflict in Syria and the civil war in Lebanon

Mr Alejandro Guttierréz – Spanish-Italian researcher on human rights violations and war crimes in Syria, Iraq or Iran

Ms Zora Hesová (Association for International Affairs) – Czech arabist, studied political science in Toulouse, Islamic studies at the Free University in Berlin, Arabic at Damascus University and Russian at the Moscow RGG.

We are currently waiting for other guests to accept our invitations, so the panel may be wider in the end.

The entry is free, no registration needed.
Discussion will be held in English.

Your Students‘ Solidarity Movement