İSTANBUL, Eren ABDULLAHOĞULLARI- Esra Albayrak, Chair of the Board of Directors of the NUN Education and Culture Foundation, said at the World Decolonization Forum in Istanbul that colonialism is not limited to land occupation. She argued that it has evolved into a broader system of domination, reaching from science to the digital world.
Speaking during the forum’s sessions held at Atatürk Cultural Center (AKM) on May 11–12, Albayrak said that genuine liberation requires decolonization not only in political terms, but also at epistemic and institutional levels. She noted that the event is supported by around 15 major institutions, including universities and research organizations, bringing together participants from Latin America, Africa, Asia, and Russia.
Commenting on the prevailing atmosphere of global “alarm,” Albayrak said the situation in Gaza illustrates how the international system is failing: decisions cannot be enforced, justice cannot be established, and rights presented as universal are not consistently treated as such.
Albayrak also highlighted the role of the digital realm, describing it as technocolonialism or technofeudalism—where a small number of technology companies hold significant economic and financial power while operating without formal state control. She concluded that behind tools such as smartphones, social media, and AI, the underlying system of thought, software, and information continues to reproduce older hierarchies.
Forum Concludes in Istanbul
The second and closing day of the World Decolonization Forum, organized through the cooperation of 13 partner institutions across nine countries, was held in Istanbul.
On the first day, the theme “Decolonizing the Production and Circulation of Knowledge” took center stage. Discussions focused on the structural inequalities in knowledge production and their epistemic and institutional dimensions. Topics included the historical background of claims to Eurocentric universalism, the ideological function of “neutrality/objectivity” narratives in the social sciences, the connections between field research/ethnography and colonialism, and the position of Indigenous knowledge systems within academic hierarchies.
On the second day, the forum examined media as a field of power.
“Institutional Racism Persists in Sports”
A closing discussion held shortly before the forum ended featured Stephan Ortega as moderator, with the participation of Guadeloupean-French activist and former footballer Lilian Thuram.
Thuram shared his experience of winning with France in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000. He also described how, after leaving professional football in 2008, he launched the “Education contre le racisme” (Education Against Racism) initiative. Thuram said that he first encountered race-related experiences upon arriving in Paris at the age of nine, adding that football is a “mirror” reflecting society.
Closing Session at AKM
The forum’s final session at AKM was chaired by Selçuk Aydın, Head of the Scientific Committee. Members of the Scientific Committee, including İpek Coşkun Armağan, Anne Norton, Walter Mignolo, Joseph Massad, Syed Farid Alatas, and Siba N’Zatioula Grovogui, also took part in the session.
