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antenna is an interdisciplinary laboratory that adopts innovative methods, fosters transformative encounters and supports networks of transnational solidarity in response to the growing authoritarianism.info@antenna-lab.org
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about an t e n n a
As Turkey was similarly going through an authoritative shift with increasing pressure on the civil society, the founders of Hafıza Merkezi ↗ , a human rights organization operating in İstanbul since 2011, focused on dealing with the past atrocities and countering forms of state violence to build a democratic and pluralistic memory, decided to establish an independent organization in Berlin. The main aim was to produce knowledge and foster expertise with a comparative perspective and civil society’s participation, engage more directly with the international human rights system, participate to human rights issues in countries other than their own and build bridges between different countries, groups and activists through internationalisation. We were established as a Berlin based organization in 2018, with the name of Hafiza Merkezi Berlin and received our charity status the same year.
What are our goals?
Based on the comprehensive knowledge and expertise stemming from its sister organisation Hafiza Merkezi, Antenna aims to deepen a research-based approach in the context of diverse peace-making processes and dealing with the past issues, sophisticate responses to the burning question of how to live together democratically with comparative perspectives, and promote human rights in alliance with other international actors, with the goal of fostering change at a global level. We believe in the significance of producing innovative and context-based research, building transnational alliances and perspectives, increasing international advocacy and solidarity actions with a comparative perspective to tackle the global backlash. To this end, we aim to support CSOs, researchers, activists and civil society members in Turkey and in Europe with new mechanisms, new encounters, new methodologies, new concepts and new networks and to establish long-term, efficient relationships in order to frame common agendas for the global human rights movement defending democratic, pluralistic and egalitarian societies. Our objective is to construct a transnational hub, where different stakeholders from Turkey, Europe and other broader geographies gather to build transnational waves of resilience built on knowledge, expertise, dialogue, encounters, solidarity, and radical imaginaries.
Antenna is uniquely positioned to spearhead this project due to its location in Berlin, Germany, coupled with its robust connections with civil society in Turkey. Operating from Europe offers distinct advantages for Antenna, primarily for developing transnational agendas, learning and inserting new methodologies, and promoting creative methods to strengthen the civil society actors facing escalating repression in Turkey. Although the civil society of Turkey still represents a vivid, productive and extremely resilient formation, countering the pervasive threats of systematic judicial harassment and growing security concerns requires finding and inventing new mechanisms, methodologies and approaches, inspired from global examples, based on a transnational approach. Our aim is to insert these novel elements in collaboration with the institutions of Turkey’s civil society milieu, with a perspective of solidarity. Moreover, the increasingly authoritarian climate in Turkey has compelled local organizations to adopt relatively more defensive strategies to protect hard-won gains amidst mounting pressure and repression. This restrictive environment not only limits opportunities for innovation and exploration of new methods within the field but also necessitates the inclusion of diaspora input, energy and perspectives in the human rights milieu of Turkey. Antenna can support and strengthen the civil society in Turkey by leveraging transnational perspectives, methodologies and research to develop innovative approaches and provide essential tools to the field. Finally, in recent years, a considerable portion of Turkey’s civil society capacity has relocated to other countries, forming a substantial diaspora community with valuable international knowledge, which represent a relatively unexplored potential who both are engaged more with transnational perspectives and enthusiastic to contribute to human rights struggle in Turkey. Antenna aims to mobilize this diaspora network and facilitate their engagement with civil society in Turkey. By harnessing the expertise and experiences of the diaspora, particularly in Europe, Antenna seeks to bolster the resilience of Turkish civil society and enhance its effectiveness in tackling mounting challenges, by being a transmitter of different transnational signals, waves and debates in mutual manners. As the space for human rights activism continues to shrink globally, it is crucial to maximize all available resources in the fight against oppression and to internationalize our perspectives, methodologies and concepts for establishing new transnational hubs. Antenna therefore represents a will to leverage the skills and experiences of the diaspora community to bolster the survival, creativity and growth of civil society in Turkey.