The Mesopotamia Psychology Congress, organised by the Mesopotamia Psychologists’ Association at the DBB Ali Emiri Congress Centre on 25, 26 and 27 September under the slogan “People should experience their psychology through their own language and identity”, has begun. The opening ceremony was attended by Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor Serra Bucak, DEM Party Provincial Co-Chair Gülşen Özer, DEM Party Diyarbakır MP Adalet Kaya, DEM Party Mardin MP Beritan Güneş Altın, DBB Assembly members, heads of departments, district municipality co-mayors, representatives of civil society organisations and psychologists.

‘The outcomes of the congress could inform our work’

Speaking at the opening, Co-Mayor Bucak highlighted the importance of the congress, noting that the Metropolitan Municipality and district municipalities had provided substantial support for the event. Saying that they hoped to draw a wide range of outcomes from the congress, Co-Mayor Bucak said: “These outcomes could inform the municipality’s work in social services or psychology. As a municipality, we want to take our work in this field forward. The ways and methods we use are very important, and as local government representatives, we also want to understand what we take from these outcomes. This is very important for collective work.”

‘We want to find answers to these questions here’

Co-Mayor Bucak said that the Metropolitan Municipality takes society’s needs into account when delivering its services, and drew attention to the needs of women, children, older people and people with disabilities, as well as the importance of the relationship between language, psychology and social services. Co-Mayor Bucak said: “After this congress, we want to find answers to these questions here. We know that this is not easy, but we have the strength to do it. We need time, effort and resources. We also need an action plan.”

‘We will achieve this together’

Saying that society was going through a very important period, including the peace process, Co-Mayor Bucak stressed the importance of work in psychology in terms of society’s psychological wellbeing during this critical period. Co-Mayor Bucak said:

“The Peace and Democratic Society Process is very important to us. How can we support this process? This is an important question for us. We have the strength to do it. We will support you, and you will support us. We will achieve this together.”

Speaking at the congress, DEM Party Mardin MP Beritan Güneş Altın also highlighted the importance of language and psychology, and emphasised the significance of work in this field.

Workshop to be held

Following the opening speeches, the congress continued with sessions entitled “Work on the construction of language and identity”, “Testing and therapy in psychological practice” and “The role of the mother tongue in the construction and denial of identity”. The first day of the congress will conclude with a workshop.