Urko Aiartza Azurtza

Urko Aiartza Azurtza is a lawyer from the Basque Country and previously served as a senator (2011-2015) in Madrid. 

He also served as Spokesperson in the Justice, Foreign Affairs, Iberoamerican and Standing Senate Committees.

He is a member of the Gipuzkoa Bar, and has represented many human rights’ groups and individuals in his role as a lawyer at national and international courts and institutions, including the ECHR and UN. 

He has been deeply involved in seeking peace in the Basque Country. During recent years, he has engaged in consultancy work on peace and mediation with armed groups  in various locations for private and public International Institutions.

In 2017 he joined the European Institute of Peace (EIP) as a Senior Advisor. Since 2019, he has acted as the Director of the Olaso Dorrea Foundation and its “TM eLab”, a laboratory of ideas in the Basque Country, where he was born and lives.

Featured work

• Articles & reports

  Urko Aiartza Azurtza (2017) The Basque Country: The Long Walk to a Democratic Scenario, Berghof Foundation, Transitions Series No. 7.

  Urko Aiartza Azurtza (2017) ETA’s disarmament in the context of international DDR guidelines: Lessons learnt from an innovative Basque scenario, Berghof Foundation, Transitions Series No. 12.

  Urko Aiartza Azurtza (2019) Strategic thinking and conflict transformation: A reflection on and from the Basque Country, Berghof Foundation, Transitions Series No. 14.

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