Sunday 6 October 2013
Kurdish News Weekly Briefing, 27 September - 4 October 2013
1. Turkey presents reforms aimed at pressing Kurdish peace process
30 September 2013 / ReutersTurkey on Monday announced reforms seen as designed to salvage a peace process with Kurdish insurgents, including changes to the electoral system, broadening of language rights and permission for villages to use their original Kurdish names.
The pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) said the proposals, presented by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, were not enough to satisfy Kurdish militants who this month halted their withdrawal from Turkish territory. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) insurgency has tarnished Turkey's human rights record and crippled the economy in the mainly Kurdish southeast of the country. More than 40,000 people have been killed in fighting since 1984. Other reforms include allowing election campaigns to be conducted in languages other than Turkish and decriminalising the use of Kurdish letters not found in the Turkish alphabet. All primary school students in state schools will now also no longer have to recite a deeply nationalistic vow at the start of each week, which begins with the words: "I am a Turk".
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/09/30/uk-turkey-politics-reforms-idUKBRE98T0HP20130930
2. Turkey's Kurds say reforms do not go far enough
30 September 2013 / ReutersTurkey's proposed reforms aimed at addressing some Kurdish grievances do not go far enough to advance the peace process with militants, the head of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) said on Monday.
The package of reforms, including lowering an electoral threshold and allowing for Kudish-language education at private schools, did not meet the BDP's expectations, co-chairwoman Gultan Kisanak told a news conference. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan presented the much-anticipated proposals earlier on Monday.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/09/30/uk-turkey-reforms-kurds-idUKBRE98T0GC20130930<http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/09/30/uk-turkey-reforms-kurds-idUKBRE98T0GC20130930>
3. What do New Judicial Reforms Include?
30 September 2013 / BianetAnnounced by PM Erdoğan this morning around 11 am local time, new judicial reforms - known as democratization package - offer three alternatives for electoral threshold, state aid to political parties and facilitation on political party organizations.
While the speech was simultaneously translated to English and Arabic, TRT Şeş - Turkey’s Official TV network in Kurdish - aired the speech live in Kurmanji, Sorani and Zaza dialects. Some of the highlights from PM Erdoğan's statement included:
“We are laying the ground for the discussion of three alternatives to the electoral thresholds. The current systems stir criticism. However, this system is not something that AKP brought. In 2002 elections, we came [to power] with the same system. Even at the time we founded our party, we brought the need to change this system. At our 4th Grand Congress, we already declared that we would change this as a part of our 2023 vision. Several reports including the one by Wise People Commission mentioned this. Now we are taking a step forward to resolve this.
http://www.bianet.org/english/politics/150293-what-do-new-judicial-reforms-include<http://www.bianet.org/english/politics/150293-what-do-new-judicial-reforms-include>
4. Turkish PM unveils reforms after summer of protests
30 September 2013 / GuardianTurkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, unveiled the first big package of liberalising reforms in years on Monday, making overtures to the large Kurdish minority and proposing that headscarved women be allowed to sit in parliament and work as civil servants for the first time in the history of the Turkish republic.
The proposals, which have been repeatedly delayed due to their potentially incendiary impact, followed a summer of the largest and most persistent anti-government protests in Erdogan's 11 years in power. At a press conference in Ankara, where journalists were not allowed to ask questions, Erdogan announced that the headscarf ban would be lifted for women in public offices except for those that require uniforms such as the military, police and the courts. The ban has long been one of Turkey's most contentious laws and many analysts see the reform as an important step towards more democratic rights.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/30/turkish-pm-erdogan-reforms
5. Turkey's pro-Kurdish party rejects govt. reforms
30 September 2013 / Press TVTurkey’s pro-Kurdish party has rejected a recently unveiled reform package by Ankara, saying it is not enough to advance the ongoing peace process with the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) militants. On Monday, co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), Gulten Kisanak, said the reform package "didn't address any of their expectations." The reaction comes shortly after Prime Minister Reccep Tayyip Erdogan proposed long-awaited reforms to enhance the rights of Turkey's Kurdish community. The reform package is seen as key to the continuation of the peace process aimed at ending the decades-long insurgency of the PKK. Under the reforms, Kurdish-language education will be permitted in private schools, and candidates in elections will be allowed to campaign in Kurdish. The reforms will also aim to ease rules preventing pro-Kurdish and other smaller parties from entering parliament. Women have been also granted permission to wear headscarves in state institutions.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/09/30/326900/prokurdish-party-rejects-govt-reforms/<http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/09/30/326900/prokurdish-party-rejects-govt-reforms/>
6. ‘Historic’ package not ordered by jailed PKK leader, genuine AKP project: Turkish PM
28 September 2013 / HurriyetPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has brushed aside opposition criticism about a much-anticipated democratization package that will be made public Sept. 30, saying the reforms were not ordered by the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party’s (PKK) jailed leader as claimed, but were genuine government projects. Erdoğan then returned the accusations, slamming the opposition parties for having “agitated against any reform” undertaken by the government since the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came into power.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/historic-package-not-ordered-by-jailed-pkk-leader-genuine-akp-project-turkish-pm.aspx?pageID=238&nID=55323&NewsCatID=338 <http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/historic-package-not-ordered-by-jailed-pkk-leader-genuine-akp-project-turkish-pm.aspx?pageID=238&nID=55323&NewsCatID=338>
7. “Sayın Öcalan” Ruled as FoE
1 October 2013 / BianetThe European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found the Turkish State guilty of violating freedom of expression one more time. The case concerned 19 applicants who stated that they had taken part in a petition campaign which had involved between 60 and 70 persons. Relying on Article 10 (freedom of expression), the applicants complained about their conviction for having used the word “sayin” – which, they alleged, is a term of courtesy – when sending 67 letters on 18 July 2008 to the Halfeti State. The court ordered Turkey to pay 60,660 euros to 19 applicants. On 18 July 2008, 67 individuals sent letters to the Halfeti State Prosecutor within a petition campaign called “If addressing [someone] using the term “sayın” is an offense, then I too say “sayın” Abdullah Öcalan, I commit this offense and I denounce myself”. Notably, the letters included the following passage “If addressing [someone] using the term “sayın” is an offense, then I too say “sayın” Abdullah Öcalan, I commit this offense and I denounce myself”.
http://www.bianet.org/english/world/150332-sayin-ocalan-ruled-as-foe
8. BDP MP for Hakkari Adil Zozani: ‘We are determined to take this journey for peace’
1 October 2013 / Peace in Kurdistan campaignMr Adil Zozani, Member of Parliament for the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), was recently in the UK to attend the Labour Party Conference and address a public meeting with members of London’s Kurdish community. Peace in Kurdistan Campaign spoke with him about the conference, the BDP’s role in current peace negotiations for the resolution of the Kurdish Question, and about Turkey’s questionable role in developments in Rojava, northern Syria.
http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2013/10/04/bdp-mp-for-hakkari-adil-zozani-we-are-determined-to-take-this-journey-for-peace/
9. More cooperation needed for peace and democratisation to succeed
3 October 2013 / ANFThe so-called "democratisation package" presented on Sunday by Turkey's Prime Minister Erdogan is a step in the right direction", according to GUE/NGL MEP Jürgen Klute (Germany), but "cannot be seen as a substitute for the urgently needed constitutional reform" in the country. Commenting further on the details of the initiative, Klute criticises the "missed opportunity to bring new momentum to the peace process with the PKK, which was considered its main purpose. None of the key Kurdish demands - mother-tongue education in public schools, the release of political prisoners and the introduction of a fair electoral threshold to enable parliamentary pluralism - were fulfilled."
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/more-cooperation-needed-for-peace-and-democratisation-to-succeed.htm
10. Turkey accused of gross human rights violations in Gezi Park protests
2 October 2013 / Amnesty InternationalTurkish authorities committed human rights violations on a massive scale in the government’s attempts to crush the Gezi Park protests this summer said Amnesty International. In a report published today [available below] the organization details the worst excesses of police violence, during the protests, the failure to bring these abuses to justice and the subsequent prosecution and harassment of those that took part.
“The attempt to smash the Gezi Park protest movement involved a string of human rights violations on a huge scale. They include the wholesale denial of the right to peaceful assembly and violations of the rights to life, liberty and the freedom from torture and ill-treatment,” said Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International’s expert on Turkey.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/turkey-accused-gross-human-rights-violations-gezi-park-protests-2013-10-02
11. KCK trial continues in Istanbul
3 October 2013 / ANFThe seventh hearing of the KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) Istanbul main trial resumes at Istanbul 15th High Criminal Court. 205 Kurdish politicians (94 in prison) are tried in the KCK Istanbul case. BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) Istanbul executive Nazım Adıgüzel and BDP Sancaktepe former chair Çiçek Arıç have defended themselves in the hearing today. Arıç pointed out that the KCK case was political and was aimed at legal political works of Kurds and their party BDP.
“I appear on the dock today because of my political identity, and because of the state's repressive and totalitarian policies against Kurds, democratic circles, women and their identity. It is nearly 20 years now that I am taking part in political events -such as press conferences, party meetings and rallies- which are all legal works of the BDP but are being put forwards against me as crimes”, she said.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/kck-trial-continues-in-istanbul.htm
12. Mass Grave Foundation to Establish in Diyarbakır
27 September 2013 / BianetHuman Right Association (IHD) Diyarbakır Branch is preparing to establish a mass grave foundation - an initiative aimed to form a DNA bank and seek disappeared people as well as deceased PKK members upon family applications.
The foundation will work on to locate those PKK members who were killed in clashes, as well as civilians. İHD Diyarbakır Branch Chairperson Raci Bilici released a statement on the their website, promoting the foundation. “For decades, we have been working on the mass grave. The [Turkish] state has yet to make no attempts on the issue. We see this kind of initiatives in countries like ours, where there are long lasting wars. We have decided to start this foundation for this purpose. “The foundation will work with anthropologists as well as archeologists and psychologists. We will also receive support from organizations like MEYA-DER, YAKAY-DER, Peace Mothers Initiative. The legal paperwork will be complete by January 2014.”
http://www.bianet.org/english/minorities/150250-mass-grave-foundation-to-establish-in-diyarbakir
13. Armed feuds increase in the southeast following PKK withdrawal
27 September 2013 / SE TimesSocial conflicts that were suppressed during the army-PKK conflict are resurfacing in the wake of the ceasefire, with violent confrontations between families becoming more frequent in the southeast. Dozens of people were killed in land disputes and blood feuds this summer. Earlier this month, five people were gunned down in front of Mardin prison as they went to visit relatives. The southeast is no stranger to such incidents, but local experts and civil society leaders say the problems have become aggravated since the PKK's withdrawal to northern Iraq. They say social and economic precautions are needed. Rustem Erkan, head of the sociology department at Diyarbakir's Dicle University, attributed the uptick in feuds to changes in the countryside. Feuds decreased with migration to cities and a drop in the value of land caused by the war. Thanks to the peace process, people are moving back to their villages, and competition for resources is increasing.
http://turkey.setimes.com/en_GB/articles/ses/articles/features/departments/society/2013/09/27/feature-01<http://turkey.setimes.com/en_GB/articles/ses/articles/features/departments/society/2013/09/27/feature-01>
14. Kurdish PYD leader denies Syrian Kurds seek secession
3 October 2013 / eKurdSalih Muslim, the leader of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), deemed to be the most powerful politician among the Syrian Kurdish parties, was in Geneva to hold meetings with international organizations and explain his perspective. The PYD, which has close ties to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), controls areas inhabited by Kurds in northern Syria (Eastern Kurdistan), and has a highly disciplined fighting force made up of a few thousand soldiers. When I met him, he told me that these organizations “sometimes receive information from other Syrian Kurdish groups trying to distort our image. We came here to express our viewpoint and convey facts from the field.” When I asked him about the role played by the United Nations in the Syrian conflict, he laughed and replied, “In the mid-1990s, the UN almost stopped working after the United States refused to pay its dues. Does this answer your question?”
http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2013/10/syriakurd910.htm
15. Iraq Kurd opposition party consolidates position in regional vote
28 September 2013 / ReutersIraqi Kurdistan's main opposition party has come in second in the autonomous region's parliamentary election, according to preliminary results on Saturday that left the shape of the government still unclear a week after the vote.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) share power in the previous cabinet with a combined 59 out of 111 parliamentary seats, having fought out their rivalries in a civil war during the 1990s.
But from its genesis ahead of the last election in 2009, the Gorran (Change) party has rapidly built a following among those disenchanted with corruption and the lack of transparency, particularly around revenues from the region's oil.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/28/us-iraq-kurds-vote-idUSBRE98R0EJ20130928<http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/28/us-iraq-kurds-vote-idUSBRE98R0EJ20130928>
17. London Kurdish Film Festival Screenplay Competition
3 October 2013 /ANFRecognising the vital importance of well constructed and developed screenplays for the enrichment of Kurdish cinema, the London Kurdish Film Festival is organising a competition to select the best entry for a screenplay for a feature film on a Kurdish theme. The competition forms part of the 8th London Kurdish Film Festival that is taking place between 15th and 24th November 2013. The wining entry will receive a prize of five thousand US Dollars ($5000), sponsored by University of Kurdistan – Hewlér. – The competition is open to all.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/culture/london-kurdish-film-festival-screenplay-competition.htm
COMMENT, OPINION AND ANALYSIS
18. Say It Again. Kurdish Independence Now
September 213 / The TowerThe civil war in Syria and the increasing fragility of Iraq have thrown the long-term future of these states into question. For years, they were ruled by brutal regimes that held power in the name of Arab nationalism; as a result, they failed to knit together the populations they ruled into a coherent national identity. With the decline of repressive centralized authority in Syria and Iraq, however, older nationalities and identities are reemerging. Chief among them are the Kurds. Indeed, current regional developments make Kurdish statehood a realistic possibility for the first time in living memory. I have reported on a number of occasions from both Iraqi and Syrian Kurdistan. I last visited these areas four months ago, and have an extensive network of friends and contacts there and in the wider Kurdish world. And it has become overwhelmingly clear to me that Kurdish sovereignty would be of benefit to the Kurds, the region as a whole, and Western interests in the Middle East.
http://www.thetower.org/article/freedom-for-the-kurds-now/
19. When demagogy replaces democracy. Or, the empty package
30 September 2013 / ANFThe AKP propaganda machine had been working for weeks. And finally the day of the announcement arrived. The "religious" character of this "democratisation package" which was presented as a "revelation" was quite unsettling. Skepticism was the most prevalent attitude and not only among Kurds. Indeed the "surprise" promised by Prime Minister Erdoğan proved to be as inexistent as the content of the so much boasted about "democratisation package" unveiled today. To begin with, looking around the room of the press conference, one could not stop thinking and feeling quite unsettled about the fact that most of the Kurdish (and left) journalists who would normally have attended PM Erdogan's presentation were not there. The contradiction about the PM presenting his "democratisation package" and the absence (not because of their will) of these journalists was painful: these journalists were not there today because they are sitting in prison.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/when-demagogy-replaces-democracy-or-the-empty-package.htm<http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/when-demagogy-replaces-democracy-or-the-empty-package.htm>
20. Erdogan Democratization Package: What Does it Offer Minorities?
30 September 2013 / Al MonitorTurkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his long-awaited "democratization package" in a press conference on Monday, Sept. 30. He said the announcement of the package was a "historic moment for Turkey." He sent a message to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Kurdish movement by saying that new reforms will follow as long as politics are used as a means of solving issues.
In his talk, Erdogan frequently referred to the 1960 military coup. He said that the coup had broken the mechanism of a well-functioning democracy, and that the shadow of that coup has obstructed change in Turkey since. This was an indirect allusion to the Gezi protests. The 1960 military coup followed intensive protests by university students, secular and urbanized segments of the population — a bit similar to the makeup of the Gezi Park protests.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/09/democratization-package-kurds-turkey-minorities.html <http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/09/democratization-package-kurds-turkey-minorities.html>
21. Turkish democracy: Making letters Q, W and X legal
3 October 2013 / Alliance of Kurdish Rights“Cowards cannot erect victory monuments. Those who are afraid of change, reforms and advanced standards cannot proceed even one step forward.”
Those were the words of Prime Minister Erdogan when he presented the people of Turkey with his democracy package, “the result of an 11-year process” that began when his AK party came to power in 2002. His promise that this package would not be the last of reforms were emphasized by his EU Minister Egemen Bagis: “Even among the EU member states today, no other government can keep up with the pace of reforms being carried out by the AK Party. Turkey has repeatedly established itself as the most reformist country in Europe.” Turkey, a country infamous for being the world’s largest prison for journalists and for refusing to take responsibility for a massacre committed by its military against 34 civilian Kurds in December 2011, now compliments itself on being the most reformist country in Europe.
http://kurdishrights.org/2013/10/03/turkish-democracy-making-letters-q-w-and-x-legal/
22. After the protests: Recep Tayyip Erdogan announces a reform package
5 October 2013 / The EconomistIS THE grand reformer back? It depends whom you ask. Many among Turkey’s tiny Syrian Orthodox Christian community, or Syriacs, would say “yes”, in response to the cocktail of legislative and administrative reforms unveiled on September 30th by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the conservative prime minister. It includes a provision under which the state will return land belonging to Mor Gabriel, the world’s oldest Syriac monastery.
Ask the country’s largest ethnic minority, the Kurds, and you might get a different response. Never mind that pupils at state-run schools will no longer need to declare every Monday morning that “I am a Turk” or that thousands of “Turkified” villages can reclaim their original names. In the words of Gulten Kisanak, co-chair of Peace and Democracy (BDP), Turkey’s biggest pro-Kurdish party, “this package does not respond to any of our expectations”.
http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21587261-recep-tayyip-erdogan-announces-reform-package-after-protests
23. Erdogan's reforms - how does the West see it?
1 October 2013 / World MonitorTurkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's democratic reform package has a mixed reception from the foreign press. Most picked up on the lifting of the headscarf ban in state institutions and education in Kurdish language in private schools as the key areas of reform. "Erdogan eases headscarf ban as Kurds say reform plan falls short" was the Bloomberg Businessweek headline. Kurdish human rights lawyer Sezgin Tanrikulu also quoted, says the reforms "fail to amend anti-terror laws and other legislation used to jail Kurdish politicians." Most of the press linked the introduction of the Kurdish language reforms to the peace process with the outlawed PKK, and its political wing, the BDP. Some of the other reforms include the llifting of restrictions on using Kurdish alphabet and place names which will be able to revert back to their orginal Kurdish place names.
http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=119522 <http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=119522>
24. How Turkey blew its chance to lead this troubled region
29 September 2013 / IndependentWhatever happened to the idea that Turkey was the coming power in the Middle East, with its surging economy and stable democracy under a mildly Islamic government which might be the model for Arab states as they ended decades of police state rule in 2011? Turkey seemed perfectly positioned to lead the way, with no serious enemies in the region and with good relations with the US and the EU. Oversimplified headlines comparing modern Turkey with the Ottoman empire in the days before it became a great power in the 16th century did not seem wholly exaggerated.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/how-turkey-blew-its-chance-to-lead-this-troubled-region-8846456.html
25. End of empire: The glory of the Ottomans - and the devastation wreaked since they lost power
29 September 2013 / IndependentThere are few things more profoundly dead than an ex-empire, but around the time that the Soviet empire came apart at the seams, I became aware that the ghosts of a much older one – that of the Turkish Ottomans – were still haunting its former domains.
It was in the spring of 1990. All Europe's communist dominoes had already fallen over, the most recent being Romania, whose dictator Ceausescu had just been executed. The only one left standing was tiny, reclusive Albania. Every half-serious newspaper in Fleet Street wanted a bite of it, but foreigners were barred from entering – not only journalists, but even ordinary tourists. The only outsiders admitted were archaeology enthusiasts who were occasionally permitted to undertake study tours.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/end-of-empire-the-glory-of-the-ottomans--and-the-devastation-wreaked-since-they-lost-power-8842053.html <http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/end-of-empire-the-glory-of-the-ottomans--and-the-devastation-wreaked-since-they-lost-power-8842053.html>
26. No Friends But the Kurds
2 October 2013 / National InterestAliza Marcus: The United States has spent the past two years struggling to craft a policy to weaken Syrian president Bashar Assad and Al Qaeda-linked militants at the same time. Now, as President Barack Obama seeks to strip Syria of its chemical weapons, it’s time for Washington to build ties to those inside Syria who are committed to the same anti-Assad and anti-jihadist goals: the Kurds. Many Kurds in Syria, for decades oppressed and marginalized by the regime, oppose both Assad and the jihadists. They have championed reshaping Syria into a democratic state that can protect their rights. They have expanded their hold over the traditionally Kurdish region of north and northeast Syria bordering Turkey and Iraq. In the process, the Kurds have built up fledgling and secular local governing institutions.
http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/no-friends-the-kurds-9161# <http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/no-friends-the-kurds-9161%23>
27. Syria’s Assad needs to unite with Kurds against Turkey (the country dreams of restoring the Great Ottoman Empire)
3 October 2013 / GagruleSyrian Kurds are in heavy fighting with the rebels of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the jihadists. The Kurds have long spoken about the need to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad and even fought against government forces. The situation has changed now, much owing to the skillful diplomacy of the Syrian government. For the Kurds, Assad is a lot better than opposition. At the end of last week, in the course of nearly two days of fighting near the towns of Atma, Jindaris and Hassakeh, the Kurds killed nearly 30 Islamists, including several leaders of jihadists, including Abu Omar al-Chechena (also known as Abu Omar al-Shishani), news agencies said. The Turkish media confirm the information, making references to the “moderate Kurds” from the “National Council of Syrian Kurds” (KNC), the Kurds from the Party of Democratic Union (PYD) as one side of the conflict and “moderate” FSA and Al-Qaeda groups – the already mentioned An- Nusra” and the “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” (ISIL).
http://www.gagrule.net/?p=10980
28. Watch out for bad neighbours
5 October 2013 / The EconomistTHE results of Iraqi Kurdistan’s general election, announced on October 2nd, were scarcely earth-shaking. The dominant party won a few more seats, with merely a faint whiff of impropriety. The long-declining share of its historical rival fell a bit more, and an upstart party confirmed its growing appeal. Yet for this largely autonomous region of Iraq the lack of drama itself counts as a victory. Bounded by more powerful states, as well as by violent turmoil and ceaseless intrigue, Iraq’s 5m Kurds have carved out a zone of relative peace and prosperity. A terrorist attack in their capital, Erbil, on September 29th only underscored the anomaly. It was the first such incident in six years. The assailants killed six policemen, but failed to reach their target, the headquarters of the Kurds’ main security agency. By contrast, on the same day alone Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, was hit by at least a dozen bombs that left 55-plus people dead.
http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21587271-iraqi-kurds-haven-peace-being-buffeted-last-turmoil
29. Panel 4: The Turkey-Iran-Iraq Nexus
19 June 2013 / Middle East InstituteThe fourth panel at the fourth annual Turkey Conference featuring Henri J. Barkey, Lehigh University, Alireza Nader, RAND Corporation and Denise Natali, National Defense University. Moderated by Phebe Marr, Author and Historian.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z6AfBTJAU8&noredirect=1 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z6AfBTJAU8&noredirect=1>
Kurdish News Update, 1 October 2013: Turkey announces reform package
KURDISH NEWS UPDATE, 1 October 2013
Turkey presents reforms aimed at pressing Kurdish peace process
30 September 2013 / ReutersTurkey on Monday announced reforms seen as designed to salvage a peace process with Kurdish insurgents, including changes to the electoral system, broadening of language rights and permission for villages to use their original Kurdish names.
The pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) said the proposals, presented by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, were not enough to satisfy Kurdish militants who this month halted their withdrawal from Turkish territory. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) insurgency has tarnished Turkey's human rights record and crippled the economy in the mainly Kurdish southeast of the country. More than 40,000 people have been killed in fighting since 1984. Other reforms include allowing election campaigns to be conducted in languages other than Turkish and decriminalising the use of Kurdish letters not found in the Turkish alphabet. All primary school students in state schools will now also no longer have to recite a deeply nationalistic vow at the start of each week, which begins with the words: "I am a Turk".
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/09/30/uk-turkey-politics-reforms-idUKBRE98T0HP20130930
Turkey's Kurds say reforms do not go far enough
30 September 2013 / ReutersTurkey's proposed reforms aimed at addressing some Kurdish grievances do not go far enough to advance the peace process with militants, the head of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) said on Monday.
The package of reforms, including lowering an electoral threshold and allowing for Kudish-language education at private schools, did not meet the BDP's expectations, co-chairwoman Gultan Kisanak told a news conference. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan presented the much-anticipated proposals earlier on Monday.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/09/30/uk-turkey-reforms-kurds-idUKBRE98T0GC20130930
What do New Judicial Reforms Include?
30 September 2013 / BianetAnnounced by PM Erdoğan this morning around 11 am local time, new judicial reforms - known as democratization package - offer three alternatives for electoral threshold, state aid to political parties and facilitation on political party organizations.
While the speech was simultaneously translated to English and Arabic, TRT Şeş - Turkey’s Official TV network in Kurdish - aired the speech live in Kurmanji, Sorani and Zaza dialects. Some of the highlights from PM Erdoğan's statement included:
“We are laying the ground for the discussion of three alternatives to the electoral thresholds. The current systems stir criticism. However, this system is not something that AKP brought. In 2002 elections, we came [to power] with the same system. Even at the time we founded our party, we brought the need to change this system. At our 4th Grand Congress, we already declared that we would change this as a part of our 2023 vision. Several reports including the one by Wise People Commission mentioned this. Now we are taking a step forward to resolve this.
http://www.bianet.org/english/politics/150293-what-do-new-judicial-reforms-include
Turkey's pro-Kurdish party rejects govt. reforms
30 September 2013 / Press TVTurkey’s pro-Kurdish party has rejected a recently unveiled reform package by Ankara, saying it is not enough to advance the ongoing peace process with the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) militants. On Monday, co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), Gulten Kisanak, said the reform package "didn't address any of their expectations." The reaction comes shortly after Prime Minister Reccep Tayyip Erdogan proposed long-awaited reforms to enhance the rights of Turkey's Kurdish community. The reform package is seen as key to the continuation of the peace process aimed at ending the decades-long insurgency of the PKK. Under the reforms, Kurdish-language education will be permitted in private schools, and candidates in elections will be allowed to campaign in Kurdish. The reforms will also aim to ease rules preventing pro-Kurdish and other smaller parties from entering parliament. Women have been also granted permission to wear headscarves in state institutions.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/09/30/326900/prokurdish-party-rejects-govt-reforms/
Government takes steps on headscarf, Kurds, electoral system
30 September 2013 / HurriyetThe Turkish government will lift its much-debated ban on wearing headscarves in public offices, permit education in mother tongues in private schools and commence a debate on the country’s much-criticized electoral system with a long-anticipated democratization package announced yesterday. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the package was a result of Turkey’s "democratization history," particularly over the last 11 years. “This package is not a first and will not be the last package of such reforms,” Erdoğan said, stressing that the package was not the “final point” of a reform process that he claimed the ruling party had been pursuing since coming to power in 2002.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-to-lift-ban-on-headscarf-introduce-kurdish-education-with-democracy-package-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=55393&NewsCatID=338
‘Historic’ package not ordered by jailed PKK leader, genuine AKP project: Turkish PM
28 September 2013 / HurriyetPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has brushed aside opposition criticism about a much-anticipated democratization package that will be made public Sept. 30, saying the reforms were not ordered by the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party’s (PKK) jailed leader as claimed, but were genuine government projects. Erdoğan then returned the accusations, slamming the opposition parties for having “agitated against any reform” undertaken by the government since the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came into power.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/historic-package-not-ordered-by-jailed-pkk-leader-genuine-akp-project-turkish-pm.aspx?pageID=238&nID=55323&NewsCatID=338
Armed feuds increase in the southeast following PKK withdrawal
27 September 2013 / SE TimesSocial conflicts that were suppressed during the army-PKK conflict are resurfacing in the wake of the ceasefire, with violent confrontations between families becoming more frequent in the southeast. Dozens of people were killed in land disputes and blood feuds this summer. Earlier this month, five people were gunned down in front of Mardin prison as they went to visit relatives. The southeast is no stranger to such incidents, but local experts and civil society leaders say the problems have become aggravated since the PKK's withdrawal to northern Iraq. They say social and economic precautions are needed. Rustem Erkan, head of the sociology department at Diyarbakir's Dicle University, attributed the uptick in feuds to changes in the countryside. Feuds decreased with migration to cities and a drop in the value of land caused by the war. Thanks to the peace process, people are moving back to their villages, and competition for resources is increasing.
http://turkey.setimes.com/en_GB/articles/ses/articles/features/departments/society/2013/09/27/feature-01
Iraq Kurd opposition party consolidates position in regional vote
28 September 2013 / ReutersIraqi Kurdistan's main opposition party has come in second in the autonomous region's parliamentary election, according to preliminary results on Saturday that left the shape of the government still unclear a week after the vote.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) share power in the previous cabinet with a combined 59 out of 111 parliamentary seats, having fought out their rivalries in a civil war during the 1990s.
But from its genesis ahead of the last election in 2009, the Gorran (Change) party has rapidly built a following among those disenchanted with corruption and the lack of transparency, particularly around revenues from the region's oil.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/28/us-iraq-kurds-vote-idUSBRE98R0EJ20130928
When demagogy replaces democracy. Or, the empty package
30 September 2013 / ANFThe AKP propaganda machine had been working for weeks. And finally the day of the announcement arrived. The "religious" character of this "democratisation package" which was presented as a "revelation" was quite unsettling. Skepticism was the most prevalent attitude and not only among Kurds. Indeed the "surprise" promised by Prime Minister Erdoğan proved to be as inexistent as the content of the so much boasted about "democratisation package" unveiled today. To begin with, looking around the room of the press conference, one could not stop thinking and feeling quite unsettled about the fact that most of the Kurdish (and left) journalists who would normally have attended PM Erdogan's presentation were not there. The contradiction about the PM presenting his "democratisation package" and the absence (not because of their will) of these journalists was painful: these journalists were not there today because they are sitting in prison.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/when-demagogy-replaces-democracy-or-the-empty-package.htm
Erdogan Democratization Package: What Does it Offer Minorities?
30 September 2013 / Al MonitorTurkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his long-awaited "democratization package" in a press conference on Monday, Sept. 30. He said the announcement of the package was a "historic moment for Turkey." He sent a message to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Kurdish movement by saying that new reforms will follow as long as politics are used as a means of solving issues.
In his talk, Erdogan frequently referred to the 1960 military coup. He said that the coup had broken the mechanism of a well-functioning democracy, and that the shadow of that coup has obstructed change in Turkey since. This was an indirect allusion to the Gezi protests. The 1960 military coup followed intensive protests by university students, secular and urbanized segments of the population — a bit similar to the makeup of the Gezi Park protests.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/09/democratization-package-kurds-turkey-minorities.html
Erdogan's reforms - how does the West see it?
1 October 2013 / World MonitorTurkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's democratic reform package has a mixed reception from the foreign press. Most picked up on the lifting of the headscarf ban in state institutions and education in Kurdish language in private schools as the key areas of reform. "Erdogan eases headscarf ban as Kurds say reform plan falls short" was the Bloomberg Businessweek headline. Kurdish human rights lawyer Sezgin Tanrikulu also quoted, says the reforms "fail to amend anti-terror laws and other legislation used to jail Kurdish politicians." Most of the press linked the introduction of the Kurdish language reforms to the peace process with the outlawed PKK, and its political wing, the BDP. Some of the other reforms include the llifting of restrictions on using Kurdish alphabet and place names which will be able to revert back to their orginal Kurdish place names.
http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=119522
How Turkey blew its chance to lead this troubled region
29 September 2013 / IndependentWhatever happened to the idea that Turkey was the coming power in the Middle East, with its surging economy and stable democracy under a mildly Islamic government which might be the model for Arab states as they ended decades of police state rule in 2011? Turkey seemed perfectly positioned to lead the way, with no serious enemies in the region and with good relations with the US and the EU. Oversimplified headlines comparing modern Turkey with the Ottoman empire in the days before it became a great power in the 16th century did not seem wholly exaggerated.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/how-turkey-blew-its-chance-to-lead-this-troubled-region-8846456.html
End of empire: The glory of the Ottomans - and the devastation wreaked since they lost power
29 September 2013 / IndependentThere are few things more profoundly dead than an ex-empire, but around the time that the Soviet empire came apart at the seams, I became aware that the ghosts of a much older one – that of the Turkish Ottomans – were still haunting its former domains.
It was in the spring of 1990. All Europe's communist dominoes had already fallen over, the most recent being Romania, whose dictator Ceausescu had just been executed. The only one left standing was tiny, reclusive Albania. Every half-serious newspaper in Fleet Street wanted a bite of it, but foreigners were barred from entering – not only journalists, but even ordinary tourists. The only outsiders admitted were archaeology enthusiasts who were occasionally permitted to undertake study tours.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/end-of-empire-the-glory-of-the-ottomans--and-the-devastation-wreaked-since-they-lost-power-8842053.html
Turkey presents reforms aimed at pressing Kurdish peace process
30 September 2013 / ReutersTurkey on Monday announced reforms seen as designed to salvage a peace process with Kurdish insurgents, including changes to the electoral system, broadening of language rights and permission for villages to use their original Kurdish names.
The pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) said the proposals, presented by Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, were not enough to satisfy Kurdish militants who this month halted their withdrawal from Turkish territory. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) insurgency has tarnished Turkey's human rights record and crippled the economy in the mainly Kurdish southeast of the country. More than 40,000 people have been killed in fighting since 1984. Other reforms include allowing election campaigns to be conducted in languages other than Turkish and decriminalising the use of Kurdish letters not found in the Turkish alphabet. All primary school students in state schools will now also no longer have to recite a deeply nationalistic vow at the start of each week, which begins with the words: "I am a Turk".
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/09/30/uk-turkey-politics-reforms-idUKBRE98T0HP20130930
Turkey's Kurds say reforms do not go far enough
30 September 2013 / ReutersTurkey's proposed reforms aimed at addressing some Kurdish grievances do not go far enough to advance the peace process with militants, the head of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) said on Monday.
The package of reforms, including lowering an electoral threshold and allowing for Kudish-language education at private schools, did not meet the BDP's expectations, co-chairwoman Gultan Kisanak told a news conference. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan presented the much-anticipated proposals earlier on Monday.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/09/30/uk-turkey-reforms-kurds-idUKBRE98T0GC20130930
What do New Judicial Reforms Include?
30 September 2013 / BianetAnnounced by PM Erdoğan this morning around 11 am local time, new judicial reforms - known as democratization package - offer three alternatives for electoral threshold, state aid to political parties and facilitation on political party organizations.
While the speech was simultaneously translated to English and Arabic, TRT Şeş - Turkey’s Official TV network in Kurdish - aired the speech live in Kurmanji, Sorani and Zaza dialects. Some of the highlights from PM Erdoğan's statement included:
“We are laying the ground for the discussion of three alternatives to the electoral thresholds. The current systems stir criticism. However, this system is not something that AKP brought. In 2002 elections, we came [to power] with the same system. Even at the time we founded our party, we brought the need to change this system. At our 4th Grand Congress, we already declared that we would change this as a part of our 2023 vision. Several reports including the one by Wise People Commission mentioned this. Now we are taking a step forward to resolve this.
http://www.bianet.org/english/politics/150293-what-do-new-judicial-reforms-include
Turkey's pro-Kurdish party rejects govt. reforms
30 September 2013 / Press TVTurkey’s pro-Kurdish party has rejected a recently unveiled reform package by Ankara, saying it is not enough to advance the ongoing peace process with the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) militants. On Monday, co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), Gulten Kisanak, said the reform package "didn't address any of their expectations." The reaction comes shortly after Prime Minister Reccep Tayyip Erdogan proposed long-awaited reforms to enhance the rights of Turkey's Kurdish community. The reform package is seen as key to the continuation of the peace process aimed at ending the decades-long insurgency of the PKK. Under the reforms, Kurdish-language education will be permitted in private schools, and candidates in elections will be allowed to campaign in Kurdish. The reforms will also aim to ease rules preventing pro-Kurdish and other smaller parties from entering parliament. Women have been also granted permission to wear headscarves in state institutions.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/09/30/326900/prokurdish-party-rejects-govt-reforms/
Government takes steps on headscarf, Kurds, electoral system
30 September 2013 / HurriyetThe Turkish government will lift its much-debated ban on wearing headscarves in public offices, permit education in mother tongues in private schools and commence a debate on the country’s much-criticized electoral system with a long-anticipated democratization package announced yesterday. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said the package was a result of Turkey’s "democratization history," particularly over the last 11 years. “This package is not a first and will not be the last package of such reforms,” Erdoğan said, stressing that the package was not the “final point” of a reform process that he claimed the ruling party had been pursuing since coming to power in 2002.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-to-lift-ban-on-headscarf-introduce-kurdish-education-with-democracy-package-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=55393&NewsCatID=338
‘Historic’ package not ordered by jailed PKK leader, genuine AKP project: Turkish PM
28 September 2013 / HurriyetPrime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has brushed aside opposition criticism about a much-anticipated democratization package that will be made public Sept. 30, saying the reforms were not ordered by the outlawed Kurdistan Worker’s Party’s (PKK) jailed leader as claimed, but were genuine government projects. Erdoğan then returned the accusations, slamming the opposition parties for having “agitated against any reform” undertaken by the government since the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) came into power.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/historic-package-not-ordered-by-jailed-pkk-leader-genuine-akp-project-turkish-pm.aspx?pageID=238&nID=55323&NewsCatID=338
Armed feuds increase in the southeast following PKK withdrawal
27 September 2013 / SE TimesSocial conflicts that were suppressed during the army-PKK conflict are resurfacing in the wake of the ceasefire, with violent confrontations between families becoming more frequent in the southeast. Dozens of people were killed in land disputes and blood feuds this summer. Earlier this month, five people were gunned down in front of Mardin prison as they went to visit relatives. The southeast is no stranger to such incidents, but local experts and civil society leaders say the problems have become aggravated since the PKK's withdrawal to northern Iraq. They say social and economic precautions are needed. Rustem Erkan, head of the sociology department at Diyarbakir's Dicle University, attributed the uptick in feuds to changes in the countryside. Feuds decreased with migration to cities and a drop in the value of land caused by the war. Thanks to the peace process, people are moving back to their villages, and competition for resources is increasing.
http://turkey.setimes.com/en_GB/articles/ses/articles/features/departments/society/2013/09/27/feature-01
Iraq Kurd opposition party consolidates position in regional vote
28 September 2013 / ReutersIraqi Kurdistan's main opposition party has come in second in the autonomous region's parliamentary election, according to preliminary results on Saturday that left the shape of the government still unclear a week after the vote.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) share power in the previous cabinet with a combined 59 out of 111 parliamentary seats, having fought out their rivalries in a civil war during the 1990s.
But from its genesis ahead of the last election in 2009, the Gorran (Change) party has rapidly built a following among those disenchanted with corruption and the lack of transparency, particularly around revenues from the region's oil.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/28/us-iraq-kurds-vote-idUSBRE98R0EJ20130928
When demagogy replaces democracy. Or, the empty package
30 September 2013 / ANFThe AKP propaganda machine had been working for weeks. And finally the day of the announcement arrived. The "religious" character of this "democratisation package" which was presented as a "revelation" was quite unsettling. Skepticism was the most prevalent attitude and not only among Kurds. Indeed the "surprise" promised by Prime Minister Erdoğan proved to be as inexistent as the content of the so much boasted about "democratisation package" unveiled today. To begin with, looking around the room of the press conference, one could not stop thinking and feeling quite unsettled about the fact that most of the Kurdish (and left) journalists who would normally have attended PM Erdogan's presentation were not there. The contradiction about the PM presenting his "democratisation package" and the absence (not because of their will) of these journalists was painful: these journalists were not there today because they are sitting in prison.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/when-demagogy-replaces-democracy-or-the-empty-package.htm
Erdogan Democratization Package: What Does it Offer Minorities?
30 September 2013 / Al MonitorTurkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his long-awaited "democratization package" in a press conference on Monday, Sept. 30. He said the announcement of the package was a "historic moment for Turkey." He sent a message to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Kurdish movement by saying that new reforms will follow as long as politics are used as a means of solving issues.
In his talk, Erdogan frequently referred to the 1960 military coup. He said that the coup had broken the mechanism of a well-functioning democracy, and that the shadow of that coup has obstructed change in Turkey since. This was an indirect allusion to the Gezi protests. The 1960 military coup followed intensive protests by university students, secular and urbanized segments of the population — a bit similar to the makeup of the Gezi Park protests.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/09/democratization-package-kurds-turkey-minorities.html
Erdogan's reforms - how does the West see it?
1 October 2013 / World MonitorTurkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's democratic reform package has a mixed reception from the foreign press. Most picked up on the lifting of the headscarf ban in state institutions and education in Kurdish language in private schools as the key areas of reform. "Erdogan eases headscarf ban as Kurds say reform plan falls short" was the Bloomberg Businessweek headline. Kurdish human rights lawyer Sezgin Tanrikulu also quoted, says the reforms "fail to amend anti-terror laws and other legislation used to jail Kurdish politicians." Most of the press linked the introduction of the Kurdish language reforms to the peace process with the outlawed PKK, and its political wing, the BDP. Some of the other reforms include the llifting of restrictions on using Kurdish alphabet and place names which will be able to revert back to their orginal Kurdish place names.
http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=119522
How Turkey blew its chance to lead this troubled region
29 September 2013 / IndependentWhatever happened to the idea that Turkey was the coming power in the Middle East, with its surging economy and stable democracy under a mildly Islamic government which might be the model for Arab states as they ended decades of police state rule in 2011? Turkey seemed perfectly positioned to lead the way, with no serious enemies in the region and with good relations with the US and the EU. Oversimplified headlines comparing modern Turkey with the Ottoman empire in the days before it became a great power in the 16th century did not seem wholly exaggerated.
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/how-turkey-blew-its-chance-to-lead-this-troubled-region-8846456.html
End of empire: The glory of the Ottomans - and the devastation wreaked since they lost power
29 September 2013 / IndependentThere are few things more profoundly dead than an ex-empire, but around the time that the Soviet empire came apart at the seams, I became aware that the ghosts of a much older one – that of the Turkish Ottomans – were still haunting its former domains.
It was in the spring of 1990. All Europe's communist dominoes had already fallen over, the most recent being Romania, whose dictator Ceausescu had just been executed. The only one left standing was tiny, reclusive Albania. Every half-serious newspaper in Fleet Street wanted a bite of it, but foreigners were barred from entering – not only journalists, but even ordinary tourists. The only outsiders admitted were archaeology enthusiasts who were occasionally permitted to undertake study tours.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/end-of-empire-the-glory-of-the-ottomans--and-the-devastation-wreaked-since-they-lost-power-8842053.html
Panel Discussion: Anti-terror Legislation and the Obstruction of Justice in Turkey, Weds 9 Oct at 6.30pm
PANEL DISCUSSION
Anti-terror Legislation and the Obstruction of JusticeThe Implications of Mass Trials in Turkey for the Peace Process with the Kurds
Wednesday 9 October 2013, 6.30pm
Venue: Garden Court Chambers, 57-60 Lincolns Inn Fields, London WC2A
(closest tube Holborn)
Chair: Prof Bill Bowring School of Law, Birkbeck, University of London; President of the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights (ELDH); International Secretary of the Haldane Society and Founder and Chair of the International Steering Committee, of the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC).
Panelists: Margaret Owen OBE, barrister/Door tenant, 9 Bedford Row Chambers; Bronwen Jones, barrister, Tooks Chambers; Tony Fisher, solicitor and Law Society Human Rights Committee member; Hugo Charlton, barrister, 1 Grays Inn Square Chambers; Ali Has,solicitor/advocate and member of the Law Society Human Rights Committee International Action Team; Mark Jones, barrister, St Ives Chambers.
Organised by Peace in Kurdistan Campaign and Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC) Find the event on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1420901108124053/
Register here: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/event/8472414219
In April 2009, police operations across Turkey began against the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), which the Turkish government alleges is the ‘urban wing’ of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). It has become one of the world’s largest and most significant ongoing anti-terrorism operations and as such should be a concern for everyone with an interest in protecting civil liberties, rights and freedoms. It has resulted in over 10,000 arrests of Kurdish lawyers, academics, politicians and local councillors, trade unionists and journalists.
One manifestation of this clampdown inside Turkey is the trial of Kurdish lawyers which has been continuing intermittently over the past 22 months since the lawyers were rounded up in dawn raids by Turkey’s anti-terror police. Their case has implications for the exercise of judicial process and it reflects the way the Turkish state treats the Kurds as second class citizens.
This could seriously obstruct the peace process launched following talks between the Turkish government and Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan. While these talks raised hopes that a just settlement might at long last not be too far away, the actions taken against lawyers and Kurdish civil society organisations more generally has threatened to derail the process. The use of the war on terrorism as a pretext for political manoeuvring and is designed to weaken Kurdish social and political organisations.
On 17th September the 6th hearing of the trial of 45 Kurdish lawyers facing criminal charges under Turkey's anti-terror laws took place. Lawyers from the UK went to Turkey to act as eyewitnesses to observe the legal procedure and on their return have expressed their profound misgivings at the conduct of the trial. It is over 22 months since the Kurdish lawyers were rounded up in dawn raids by Turkey's anti-terror police and throughout this period many of the defendants have been held in pre-trial detention, denied bail without any reason being given.
The trial is a manifestation of how Turkey treats its Kurdish population and continues to deny them rights despite all the fine words about implementing a reform package.
What is happening inside Turkey is very much a concern of people living outside the country, not just for Kurdish diaspora communities but for everyone concerned about reversing the threat to civil liberties posed by anti-terrorism legislation.
The use of sweeping anti-terrorism legislation actually has implications for civil liberties everywhere and it needs to be situated within the perspective of the global war on terrorism which sees governments worldwide pursing ever more draconian legislation, coordinating state surveillance across borders and adopting ever more sophisticated technologies of social control.
The panelists will address the wider issues at stake for the future of democracy in Turkey and the connections with anti-terrorism policies elsewhere. Members of the team of trial monitors from the UK who have been present at all six hearings of Kurdish lawyers over the last two years will discuss the latest developments in the case and its wider implications for the Kurdish-Turkish peace process.
For more information contact:
Peace in Kurdistan Campaign for a political solution of the Kurdish Question
Email: estella24@tiscali.co.uk <mailto:estella24@tiscali.co.uk> / Tel: 0207 5865892
www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com <http://www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com>
Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC)
www.campacc.org.uk <http://www.campacc.org.uk>
Anti-terror Legislation and the Obstruction of JusticeThe Implications of Mass Trials in Turkey for the Peace Process with the Kurds
Wednesday 9 October 2013, 6.30pm
Venue: Garden Court Chambers, 57-60 Lincolns Inn Fields, London WC2A
(closest tube Holborn)
Chair: Prof Bill Bowring School of Law, Birkbeck, University of London; President of the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and Human Rights (ELDH); International Secretary of the Haldane Society and Founder and Chair of the International Steering Committee, of the European Human Rights Advocacy Centre (EHRAC).
Panelists: Margaret Owen OBE, barrister/Door tenant, 9 Bedford Row Chambers; Bronwen Jones, barrister, Tooks Chambers; Tony Fisher, solicitor and Law Society Human Rights Committee member; Hugo Charlton, barrister, 1 Grays Inn Square Chambers; Ali Has,solicitor/advocate and member of the Law Society Human Rights Committee International Action Team; Mark Jones, barrister, St Ives Chambers.
Organised by Peace in Kurdistan Campaign and Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC) Find the event on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/1420901108124053/
Register here: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/event/8472414219
In April 2009, police operations across Turkey began against the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), which the Turkish government alleges is the ‘urban wing’ of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). It has become one of the world’s largest and most significant ongoing anti-terrorism operations and as such should be a concern for everyone with an interest in protecting civil liberties, rights and freedoms. It has resulted in over 10,000 arrests of Kurdish lawyers, academics, politicians and local councillors, trade unionists and journalists.
One manifestation of this clampdown inside Turkey is the trial of Kurdish lawyers which has been continuing intermittently over the past 22 months since the lawyers were rounded up in dawn raids by Turkey’s anti-terror police. Their case has implications for the exercise of judicial process and it reflects the way the Turkish state treats the Kurds as second class citizens.
This could seriously obstruct the peace process launched following talks between the Turkish government and Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan. While these talks raised hopes that a just settlement might at long last not be too far away, the actions taken against lawyers and Kurdish civil society organisations more generally has threatened to derail the process. The use of the war on terrorism as a pretext for political manoeuvring and is designed to weaken Kurdish social and political organisations.
On 17th September the 6th hearing of the trial of 45 Kurdish lawyers facing criminal charges under Turkey's anti-terror laws took place. Lawyers from the UK went to Turkey to act as eyewitnesses to observe the legal procedure and on their return have expressed their profound misgivings at the conduct of the trial. It is over 22 months since the Kurdish lawyers were rounded up in dawn raids by Turkey's anti-terror police and throughout this period many of the defendants have been held in pre-trial detention, denied bail without any reason being given.
The trial is a manifestation of how Turkey treats its Kurdish population and continues to deny them rights despite all the fine words about implementing a reform package.
What is happening inside Turkey is very much a concern of people living outside the country, not just for Kurdish diaspora communities but for everyone concerned about reversing the threat to civil liberties posed by anti-terrorism legislation.
The use of sweeping anti-terrorism legislation actually has implications for civil liberties everywhere and it needs to be situated within the perspective of the global war on terrorism which sees governments worldwide pursing ever more draconian legislation, coordinating state surveillance across borders and adopting ever more sophisticated technologies of social control.
The panelists will address the wider issues at stake for the future of democracy in Turkey and the connections with anti-terrorism policies elsewhere. Members of the team of trial monitors from the UK who have been present at all six hearings of Kurdish lawyers over the last two years will discuss the latest developments in the case and its wider implications for the Kurdish-Turkish peace process.
For more information contact:
Peace in Kurdistan Campaign for a political solution of the Kurdish Question
Email: estella24@tiscali.co.uk <mailto:estella24@tiscali.co.uk> / Tel: 0207 5865892
www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com <http://www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com>
Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC)
www.campacc.org.uk <http://www.campacc.org.uk>
Press statement by UK lawyers delegation - Kurdish Lawyers on Trial in Turkey: A Travesty of Justice
Kurdish Lawyers on Trial in Turkey: A Travesty of Justice
Press Statement, 24.09.2013
Six UK lawyers*) formed part of the 30-strong delegation of European human rights lawyers, from several countries, that, on the 17th September, observed, at the Silivri prison court, the 6th hearing of the trial of 45 Kurdish lawyers, who face criminal charges under Turkey's anti-terror laws.
It has been 22 months since these lawyers were rounded up in dawn raids by Turkey's anti-terror police. Throughout this period many of the defendants have been held in pre-trial detention, without any reason being given. From time to time, some have been bailed, but 16 lawyers still remain incarcerated.
The next one-day hearing will not be until December 19th, but trials such as these could be prolonged so as to go on for many years.
All of the lawyers have acted for the Kurdish leader, Abdullah Ocalan, held on the Imrali Island Prison since his capture in 1999. The arrested lawyers have two common characteristics, 1) their Kurdish ethnicity and 2) that they acted for Mr. Ocalan at various times since 1999.
We have been observing this trial since its first hearing in June, 2012 and have noted the serious flaws in the procedures that breach international and European standards of justice and fairness in trials, and relating to the rights and roles of lawyers. Our concerns relate both to the circumstances of the original arrests as well as to the trial process itself.
The nub of the prosecution case against the lawyers is that they are members of a “leadership committee”, headed by Ocalan, which is affiliated to the KCK, a civil society movement regarded as the urban arm of the PKK. The PKK, founded by Ocalan, is a banned organisation, listed as promoting terrorism. The prosecution alleges that the lawyers took specific terrorist-linked orders from Ocalan and conveyed the same to the PKK.
We condemn the absence of due process, the administration of the Turkish justice system in general; and deplore the targeting of lawyers, who are simply carrying out the duties of their profession, as yet another means of destroying lawful Kurdish efforts to obtain their freedoms, their fundamental rights, in the cause of justice and of peace. The judiciary lacks independence and is incapable of delivering a fair verdict in this type of trial which is clearly a political one.
These are our particular concerns:
1. The judge failed to conduct any meaningful cross examination of the defendants;
2. The prosecutor made no submissions to rebut the defences put forward;
3. The fashion in which the alleged evidence against the lawyers has been gathered, including illegal searches of the lawyers offices and homes, the confiscation of confidential and privileged information belonging to other clients, and illegal intercepts of private and privileged communications between the lawyers, their clients, and their families;
4. The entire evidence is based on subjective police opinion;
5. The use of pre-trial detention, and the refusal of bail without any reasons being given;
6. All the consultations the defendants held with their client have been recorded since 1999 and a member of the Turkish Ministry of Justice has been present since 2005;
7. The constant adjournments at 3 month intervals of hearings that only last one day
8. The court has dismissed without any reasoning, the defence request that Mr. Ocalan should be called as a witness and accordingly the prosecution should exercise its duty of gathering evidence that may assist the defence.
Lawyers throughout Turkey, Turkish as well as Kurdish, now feel intimidated by these trials where there is no presumption of innocence, and where lawyers can be identified with the alleged crimes of their client.
Today, Turkey's prisons hold more than 10,000 political prisoners, who include politicians, mayors, academics, journalists, trade unionists, human rights activists. These detentions and these patently unfair political trials not only discredit the AKP government internationally and regionally, but also render questionable its real intentions regarding the current peace negotiations,
Turkey should dismiss these prosecutions and release all of its political detainees without delay. This will not only be just and fair but could remove the tarnished image that stains Turkey for its apparent lack of regard for the rule of law.
It is of vital importance that international observers report on this political trial, and a UK delegation will return to Istanbul for the December 19th hearing.
Ali Has
Margaret Owen
Bronwen Jones
Hugo Charlton
Tony Fisher
Mark Jones
*) Margaret Owen OBE, Tony Fisher – Solicitor/Member of the Law Society Human Rights Committee, Ali Has – Solicitor/Advocate, Hugo Charlton – Barrister, Bronwen Jones – Barrister and Mark Jones – Barrister.
For information contactMargaret Owen: Margie O director.wpd@gmail.com <mailto:director.wpd@gmail.com>
Ali Has: Ali Has av.alihas@gmail.com <mailto:av.alihas@gmail.com>
Peace in Kurdistan Campaign: Estella Schmid <estella24@tiscali.co.uk>
Press Statement, 24.09.2013
Six UK lawyers*) formed part of the 30-strong delegation of European human rights lawyers, from several countries, that, on the 17th September, observed, at the Silivri prison court, the 6th hearing of the trial of 45 Kurdish lawyers, who face criminal charges under Turkey's anti-terror laws.
It has been 22 months since these lawyers were rounded up in dawn raids by Turkey's anti-terror police. Throughout this period many of the defendants have been held in pre-trial detention, without any reason being given. From time to time, some have been bailed, but 16 lawyers still remain incarcerated.
The next one-day hearing will not be until December 19th, but trials such as these could be prolonged so as to go on for many years.
All of the lawyers have acted for the Kurdish leader, Abdullah Ocalan, held on the Imrali Island Prison since his capture in 1999. The arrested lawyers have two common characteristics, 1) their Kurdish ethnicity and 2) that they acted for Mr. Ocalan at various times since 1999.
We have been observing this trial since its first hearing in June, 2012 and have noted the serious flaws in the procedures that breach international and European standards of justice and fairness in trials, and relating to the rights and roles of lawyers. Our concerns relate both to the circumstances of the original arrests as well as to the trial process itself.
The nub of the prosecution case against the lawyers is that they are members of a “leadership committee”, headed by Ocalan, which is affiliated to the KCK, a civil society movement regarded as the urban arm of the PKK. The PKK, founded by Ocalan, is a banned organisation, listed as promoting terrorism. The prosecution alleges that the lawyers took specific terrorist-linked orders from Ocalan and conveyed the same to the PKK.
We condemn the absence of due process, the administration of the Turkish justice system in general; and deplore the targeting of lawyers, who are simply carrying out the duties of their profession, as yet another means of destroying lawful Kurdish efforts to obtain their freedoms, their fundamental rights, in the cause of justice and of peace. The judiciary lacks independence and is incapable of delivering a fair verdict in this type of trial which is clearly a political one.
These are our particular concerns:
1. The judge failed to conduct any meaningful cross examination of the defendants;
2. The prosecutor made no submissions to rebut the defences put forward;
3. The fashion in which the alleged evidence against the lawyers has been gathered, including illegal searches of the lawyers offices and homes, the confiscation of confidential and privileged information belonging to other clients, and illegal intercepts of private and privileged communications between the lawyers, their clients, and their families;
4. The entire evidence is based on subjective police opinion;
5. The use of pre-trial detention, and the refusal of bail without any reasons being given;
6. All the consultations the defendants held with their client have been recorded since 1999 and a member of the Turkish Ministry of Justice has been present since 2005;
7. The constant adjournments at 3 month intervals of hearings that only last one day
8. The court has dismissed without any reasoning, the defence request that Mr. Ocalan should be called as a witness and accordingly the prosecution should exercise its duty of gathering evidence that may assist the defence.
Lawyers throughout Turkey, Turkish as well as Kurdish, now feel intimidated by these trials where there is no presumption of innocence, and where lawyers can be identified with the alleged crimes of their client.
Today, Turkey's prisons hold more than 10,000 political prisoners, who include politicians, mayors, academics, journalists, trade unionists, human rights activists. These detentions and these patently unfair political trials not only discredit the AKP government internationally and regionally, but also render questionable its real intentions regarding the current peace negotiations,
Turkey should dismiss these prosecutions and release all of its political detainees without delay. This will not only be just and fair but could remove the tarnished image that stains Turkey for its apparent lack of regard for the rule of law.
It is of vital importance that international observers report on this political trial, and a UK delegation will return to Istanbul for the December 19th hearing.
Ali Has
Margaret Owen
Bronwen Jones
Hugo Charlton
Tony Fisher
Mark Jones
*) Margaret Owen OBE, Tony Fisher – Solicitor/Member of the Law Society Human Rights Committee, Ali Has – Solicitor/Advocate, Hugo Charlton – Barrister, Bronwen Jones – Barrister and Mark Jones – Barrister.
For information contactMargaret Owen: Margie O director.wpd@gmail.com <mailto:director.wpd@gmail.com>
Ali Has: Ali Has av.alihas@gmail.com <mailto:av.alihas@gmail.com>
Peace in Kurdistan Campaign: Estella Schmid <estella24@tiscali.co.uk>
Kurdish News Weekly Briefing, 12 - 19 September 2013
1. Northern Kurdistan Conference offers an eight-point solution proposal
13 September 2013 / ANFComponents of the Northern Kurdistan Unity and Solution Conference issued a press conference in Amed about the recent developments in the democratic resolution process and the Kurdish people's basic demand to be educated in their mother language.
The press conference was attended by DTK (Democratic Society Congress) co-chairs Ahmet Türk and Aysel Tuğluk, BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş,Diyarbakır Chamber of Doctors Chairperson Kenan Karadaş, KADEP President Lütfi Baksi, Azadi Initiative Deputy Coordinator Muhammet Dara Akar, GÜNSİAD former chair Şahismail Bedirhanoğlu, TUHAD-FED President Zübeyde Teker, Peace Mothers Initiative as well as representatives of NGOs and political parties serving as the components of the Northern Kurdistan Unity and Solution Conference.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/northern-kurdistan-conference-offers-an-eight-point-solution-proposal.htm
2. Öcalan proposes “new format” for PKK-Turkey truce
17 September 2013 / Asharq Al-Awsat Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan called for a “new format” in the stalled peace process with Turkey on Sunday after the Kurdish movement stopped the withdrawal of its fighters last week citing Ankara’s failure to meet the conditions of a nascent peace agreement. Öcalan issued a statement—released by the Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP)—calling for “thorough negotiations” to restart the peace process. The latest statement comes after secret meetings between Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MiT) leader, Hakan Fidan, and Öcalan in Imrali Island where he is currently being held. While Öcalan remains head of the PKK, day-to-day running of the group is currently held by military commander Cemil Bayik, who was recently elected to lead the group at its Mount Qandil base in Iraqi Kurdistan. Bayik has issued escalating threats to the Ankara leadership over the stalled peace process, warning that the PKK will send its fighters back to Turkey if the Erdoğan government refuses to implement the provisions of the peace agreement.
http://www.aawsat.net/2013/09/article55317115
3. Why is the Turkish government delaying the Kurdish package?
19 September 2013 / HurriyetThe upcoming package is not only a Kurdish package, corrects Hüseyin Çelik, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) spokesman, and continues: “It is a conceptual work for a relief of all layers in Turkey who feel themselves as ‘others’ of the establishment. That includes groups like non-Muslims, pious Muslims, Alevis and Kurds as well. That is why we call it a ‘democratization’ package.” The “package” was expected to be revealed in August. It was the reason for the warning by both the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Kurdish problem focused Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), which share the same grassroots, urging the Tayyip Erdoğan government to take steps before Sept. 1. The deadline passed, but in the meantime Erdoğan has said they are at the final stages of work on the package, so needed some more time.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/why-is-the-turkish-government-delaying-the-kurdish-package.aspx?pageID=238&nID=54698&NewsCatID=409
4. Turkish and Kurdish Officials Working on Peace Package
14 September 2013 / AINAKurdish lawmakers in Turkey say they are hopeful going into continued talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on a democratization package.
Erdogan on Friday met with Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) officials to finalize the democratization package, and is expected to announce the details of the package next week, Hurriyet Daily News reported. "We are not expecting that this package will include and meet all demands, but there is hope, at least. The government should include some issues which will relieve the Turkish public opinion and offer solutions to the peace process in the package. There are expectations on amendments to the Anti-Terror Law and Turkish Criminal Code, release of KCK [Kurdish Communities Union] members under arrest, sick prisoners, freedom of belief, removing discrimination, the issue of the mother tongue and issues concerning women," said BDP deputy group chairman Pervin Buldan.
http://www.aina.org/news/20130914144822.htm
5. Öcalan: Dialogue process should advance in a new format
15 September 2013 / ANFPeace and Democracy Party (BDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş and group parliamentary deputy chair Pervin Buldan have released a statement after returning from İmralı island where they have visited Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan on Sunday.According to the statement of the BDP, Öcalan said the dialogue process which began one year ago should advance in a new and more purposeful format, be intensified and evolve to negotiations. Öcalan who said he had already conveyed his proposals to the Turkish state and Kandil (referring to the executives of the Kurdish Movement, KCK) about the means and possibilities required for purposeful negotiations.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/ocalan-dialogue-process-should-advance-in-a-new-format-flash.htm
6. CPJ calls on Erdogan to embrace press freedom
17 September 2013 / ANFIn a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Committee to Protect Journalists voiced its concerns about the continued press freedom crisis in Turkey.
The CPJ letter was delivered yesterday to Kenan Özdemir, deputy undersecretary in the Ministry of Justice, who met with a delegation from CPJ to discuss the organization's concern. The delegation consisted of CPJ Chairman Sandra Mims Rowe, board member John Carroll, Executive Director Joel Simon, and Turkey correspondent Özgür Öğret.
Referring to the special report CPJ published in October 2012, which highlighted the widespread criminal prosecution and imprisonment of journalists and the government's use of various forms of pressure that promotes self-censorship, the Committee remarked that almost a year later, the media environment in Turkey remained extremely difficult.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/cpj-calls-on-erdogan-to-embrace-press-freedom.htm
7. KCK calls for school boycott to demand education in Kurdish
14 September 2013 / World BulletinKCK is planning to prevent Kurds from sending their children to school for the first week of the school year in protest of the government's inaction on taking concrete steps regarding education in the Kurdish language. There is still debate about whether or not the right to be educated in one's mother tongue will be included in a new package of democratic reforms the government is working on and the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) -- an umbrella organization that includes the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) – has called on all Kurds to boycott the first week of school to promote their demand for an education in the Kurdish language.
http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=117873
8. UK lawyers condemn jailing of 21 journalists in Turkey
13 September 2013 / Press GazetteOn 5 August, 21 Turkish journalists were sentences to jail terms ranging from 6 years to life in solitary confinement on charges of attempting to overthrow the government. As the dust settles over the latest wave of imprisonments, a delegation of UK lawyers is speaking out against a criminal justice system mired in political corruption.
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/turkey-media-crisis-delegation-flies-out-challenge-government-over-jailing-journalists
9. Gezi protesters detained and released in Ankara to face trial 17 September 2013 / Hurriyet
A Public Prosecutor’s office in Ankara will launch a mass case against individuals accused of attending Gezi Park protests in the city, with nearly 500 people who were detained and released in early protests estimated to be tried in the case in Ankara alone. One prosecutor has already opened six criminal files against some 137 individuals and a new mass case is set to begin soon, daily Cumhuriyet reported today. The first case regarding the Gezi protests was launched after a protest on June 16 in Ankara’s central square Kızılay against some 35 people who assembled to denounce the fourth death since clashes between riot police and protesters began in Turkey.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/gezi-protesters-detained-and-released-in-ankara-to-face-trial-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=54589&NewsCatID=341
10. Kurdish Leaders Apologize for Genocide During Monument Inauguration in Turkey
18 September 2013 / AINAThe Sur Municipality of Diyarbakir held the official inauguration of the Monument of Common Conscience on Sept. 12, with mayor Abdullah Demirbas apologizing in the name of Kurds for the Armenian and Assyrian genocides.
"We Kurds, in the name of our ancestors, apologize for the genocide of the Armenians and Assyrians in 1915," Demirbas declared in his opening speech. "We will continue our struggle to secure atonement and compensation for them." The mayor called upon the Turkish authorities to issue an apology and do whatever needed to atone for the genocide. "We invite them to take steps in this direction," he said. The inscription on the monument at the Anzele Park, near a recently restored historic fountain, reads, in six languages including Armenian: We share the pain so that it is not repeated.
http://www.aina.org/news/20130917190533.htm
11. Syrian opposition agrees to include more Kurds
16 September 2013 / France 24Syria's Kurds reached an agreement with the main opposition coalition to include more members from the minority in the body, the Kurdish National Council and the opposition said Monday. The deal reached between the KNC came after months of stalling, as the Syrian National Coalition's general assembly meeting came to a close.
"The National Coalition and the Kurdish National Council voted in an agreement on Sunday, that will bring in more Kurdish members," Coalition spokesman Louay Safi told AFP. "We think it's important because it builds trust. We want Syria to be a country where equality and political rights are guaranteed for all," said Safi.
http://www.france24.com/en/20130916-syrian-opposition-agrees-include-more-kurds
12. Syria: Kurdish Group Calls for Autonomy
11 September 2013 / Israel News The People's Council of Western Kurdistan (also known as the PYD) has released a draft proposal calling for Kurdish autonomy in northern Syria - along similar lines to the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) which currently exists in northern Iraq.
The introduction to the proposal stipulates that it is not calling for a complete "split" from the rest of Syria, and stresses that such an autonomous region would not pose any threat to neighboring states. Rather, it is meant as a vehicle to achieve stability and security for Syria's Kurdish population, as a first step towards a free and "pluralistic" Syrian state. Among other items, the proposal - launched jointly with Kurdish officials in the northern Syrian city of Qamishli - outlines plans to establish an independent committee to draw up a draft constitution, as well as for the establishment of interim social, economic and security institutions in Kurdish-held territories.
Under the proposal, democratic legislative elections would take place six months after the establishment of an interim Kurdish government, allowing half a year for the drafting of a constitution.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/171816#.UjhtVLx1Gcc
13. Court Case Reveals Turkey Arms Flow To Syrian Rebels
13 September 2013 / Al Monitor“To tell the truth, it’s a flat lie when the state claims it does not help provide the opposition with weapons,” Cihat Acikalin, a lawyer in the Turkey-Syria border town Reyhanli, told Al-Monitor. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected all conjecture regarding the transfer of weapons to the Syrian opposition through Turkey as recently as May 10. Erdogan stressed that Turkey only provides humanitarian help by opening its borders to nearly 300,000 refugees, costing the country roughly $1 billion. The conjecture about Turkey’s assistance to the opposition peaked after Syria allegedly shot down a Turkish warplane in June 2012. Erdogan said at the time, “Turkey and the Turkish people will provide all sorts of support to the Syrian people until they free themselves from this persecution, this bloody-handed dictator and his gang.” This statement led to much speculation and brought the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government's policy toward Syria under a domestic and foreign spotlight.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/09/turkey-arms-rebels-syria-court-case.html
14. Turkey Establishes Kurdish Jihadist Brigade to Fight Against Syria
14 September 2013 / Global ResearchAccording to the Intelligence Online, a professional French journal closely following the activities of intelligence services in the world, Ankara established a Kurdish jihadist brigade to fight against the main Syrian Kurdish party PYD (Democratic Union Party).“To fight the troops of the Syrian Kurdish movement PYD , which is part of the border between Syria and Turkey , Ankara has encouraged the formation of a jihadist brigade composed almost exclusively of Kurds and called Katibat al- Taliban ( KaT ) . The fighters of the movement , mostly young Kurdish penniless receive nearly $ 1 000 when they engage . They are then sent to fight the PYD on the Turkish- Syrian border alongside the Free Syrian Army (FSA ) and jihadists Jabhat al- Nosra . Many of them were killed in late July during an assault in the town of Tell Halaf “, Intelligence Online said.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/turkey-establishes-kurdish-jihadist-brigade-to-fight-against-syria/5349815
15. Kurds push jihadists from Syria village: activist group
18 September 2013 / Daily StarKurdish fighters have forced jihadists to pull out of a village in northeastern Syria after clashes that left 21 dead on both sides, an activist group said Wednesday.
Fighters from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) have been battling jihadists from the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) and Al-Nusra Front for months. "The YPG fighters took control of the village of Aluk, to the east of the town of Ras al-Ain," on the border with Turkey, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Kurdish fighters seized the town after four days of clashes with ISIS and Al-Nusra, who had entered it from the border area, the Observatory said.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Sep-18/231718-kurds-push-jihadists-from-syria-village-actvist-group.ashx#axzz2fLUG3ePl
16. Turkish army opens fire on YPG fighters in Susikê village in Tal Abyad
19 September 2013 / ANFTurkish army opened fire on People's Defense Units (YPG) fighters in the Susike village, 10 km away from the Tal Abyad (Girê Spî) city bordering Turkey, on Thursday.
According to the reports received from YPG sources, units of the Turkish army deployed on the ‘Ceman Beg’hill on Turkey's side have launched an attack targeting YPG forces in the Susikê village at noontime. Two fighters of the YPG have been killed in the attack which was reportedly carried out by snipers. The Turkish attack came after the eruption of fierce clashes between YPG and al-Qaeda affiliated Islamist gang groups which launched artillery attacks against the Susikê village at around 5 a.m. on Thursday.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/turkish-army-opens-fire-on-ypg-fighters-in-susike-village-in-tal-abyad.htm
17. UN to Investigate Claims of Kurdish Massacre in Syria
12 September 2013 / RudawIn a report this week, the United Nations accuses Kurdish armed groups of committing human rights abuses in the Syrian civil war, and says it will investigate the killings of Kurdish civilians by anti-government groups outside the city of Aleppo. In a report released this week, and based on 258 interviews, the UN accuses both the government in Syria and pro-government forces of crimes against humanity. The report says the UN sees no military solution for the Syrian conflict and believes that “a political solution” is the only path to peace. The Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is affiliated with the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), backs a political solution and rejects foreign intervention. It also supports the UN position for more diplomacy. The UN says it will investigate claims by the PYD of human rights abuses in Til Aran and Aleppo in its next reporting period. The PYD claims that a brutal massacre of Kurdish civilians took place in the countryside of Aleppo in late July by jihadi fighters involved in Syria’s complex civil war. But the armed Islamist groups have denied they target Kurdish civilians.
http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/12092013
18. In Iraqi Kurdistan, former refugees embrace new ones
17 September 2013 / World BulletinFor many Iraqi Kurds, being a refugee is an experience they vividly remember. For decades, they had to flee Saddam Hussein's tyranny and take refuge in neighboring countries, such as Iran and Turkey, and some even migrated as far as Europe, North America and Australia. But the newfound prosperity and security of the Iraqi Kurdistan region have meant they are now hosting refugees from elsewhere. Syrian Kurds are just the latest group. With the civil war in Syria showing no sign of abating, tens of thousands of Syrian refugees, mostly Kurds from the northern and northeastern parts of the country, have fled to the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq. Kurdish authorities put the number at more than 200,000 people.
http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=118133
19. Kurdistan Region Elections: A to Z
17 September 2013 / RudawHere are some facts about the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which goes to the polls on Saturday to elect its next regional legislature:
GEOGRAPHY: Iraqi Kurdistan, or the Kurdistan Region, is an autonomous area in northern Iraq where the country’s five million Kurds exercise self-rule over the provinces of Erbil, Sulaimani and Duhok. The predominantly Sunni Kurds and the Shiite-led Arab central government in Baghdad both also lay claim to large tracts of disputed lands, among them multiethnic Kirkuk, an immensely energy-rich province over which the two came close to war early this year. The Kurdistan Region covers an area of more than 40,000 square kilometers and borders Iran to the East, Turkey to the north, Syria to the west and the rest of Iraq to the south. Its capital city is Erbil, which is 400 kilometers north of Baghdad.
http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/17092013
COMMENT, OPINION AND ANALYSIS
20. Inch by inch: New tensions emerge between the government and the PKK
14 September 2013 / EconomistTHE peace process between Turkey and its rebellious Kurds is crawling at a snail’s pace. Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), has moved to a larger cell on the prison island where he has been bargaining with Turkey’s spy chief. The semi-official Anatolian news agency has launched its first Kurdish-language service. “What of its content though, further lies?” asks one Kurdish tweeter. And what of the government’s reforms, which Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister promised in “a matter of weeks” (they may come this weekend)? In a statement on September 9th peppered with accusations of treachery against Mr Erdogan and his Justice and Development (AK) party, the PKK said it was halting the withdrawal of fighters from Turkey to Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. Mr Erdogan said he would not budge until all had gone. The PKK says it needs a gesture from the government.
http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21586324-new-tensions-emerge-between-government-and-pkk-inch-inch
21. Al Qaeda's Turkish base?
18 September 2013 / Deutsche WelleFrom Nevroz Algiç's restaurant one can taste the spicy local food while enjoying the best views over the front line, literally across the street. The fighting is so close that gunfire can still be heard over the arabesque music blaring out of the loudspeakers. Located 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) southeast of Ankara, Ceylanpinar was once known for its gigantic agricultural complex. However, this city with a population of 40,000 is now yet another victim of the Syrian war. Since October 2012, four residents have been killed and dozens have been wounded by stray bullets, mortars and rockets. "Before the new teachers would eat here and stay in this guesthouse but none of them wants to come here now. No one knows when the shooting will start or when will it finish," Algiç tells DW. The bullet holes on these walls are a stark reminder of what's happening round the corner. Still, material losses are not that important.
http://www.dw.de/al-qaedas-turkish-base/a-17097437
22. Analysis: ‘Unprecedented’ events in and around Turkey likely to increase regional turbulence
18 September 2013 / Armenia NowSome unprecedented events are taking place in Turkey that potentially can have significant consequences for the entire region in general and neighboring Armenia, in particular. The global analytical community has long called Turkey one of the main actors of the international operation in Syria. Moreover, in the light of this conflict, leading experts say that a struggle has begun in Turkey between the Alawites and the Islamists – parallel to the movement of the Kurds who recently suspended the process of withdrawal of militants abroad. In addition, the Kurds held a strike yesterday in the province of Van, demanding to be allowed to teach their children at schools in Kurdish. All Kurdish children yesterday boycotted school classes.
http://armenianow.com/commentary/analysis/48554/armenia_analysis_turkey_region
23. Turkey’s Syria Border on Edge
13 September 2013 / Al MonitorLast week, I traveled to Turkey’s border with Syria. I was planning to cross into the Kurdish-controlled northeast to find out how the country’s most influential Kurdish group, the Democratic Unity Party (PYD), was running the string of towns and villages that fell under its control last summer. I would have to cross into Syria illegally because Turkey’s formal border crossings with the Kurdish region remain sealed. My destination was the PYD-controlled town of Ras al-Ain, or Serekaniye in Kurdish, that stands opposite Ceylanpinar on the Turkish side. Colleagues who had used smuggler routes to get in assured me that I would sail through. But when I arrived in Ceylanpinar, I learned that the trip across included wiggling my way through barbed-wire fencing and risking being spotted by trigger-happy Turkish border guards. I dropped the idea, deciding instead to investigate widespread claims that Turkey is propping up Syrian rebels in a little-reported proxy war against the PYD.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/09/turkey-danger-syria-border-rebels-kurds.html
24. Middle East reconfigured: Turkey vs. Iran vs. Saudi Arabia
13 September 2013 / CNNTurkish-Iranian posturing on Syria, with Ankara arguing for more than limited strikes against the regime and Tehran saying that whoever strikes President Bashar al-Assad must bear the consequences, serves as a harbinger for the birth of a new Middle East order. Just as World War 1 transformed the Middle East by ending the Ottoman rule and creating contemporary nation states, so the Arab Spring has recalibrated this regional system by ushering in a tri-axial Middle East composed of: a Turkey-Kurdish-Muslim Brotherhood (MB) axis; an Iran-Shiite axis; and a Saudi Arabia-pro-status quo monarchies axis.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/13/opinion/khanna-cagaptay-turkey-iran-saudi-arabia/?hpt=hp_t5
25. Kurds Caught in Throes of Syria's War
12 September 2013 / Voice of AmericaSyrian Kurds are caught in the middle of Syria's civil war, fighting among themselves and also battling Islamist extremists for control of pockets of the country. When Soaad Zenno left Syria with her three children a year ago, she left a country that banned Kurdish holidays and wouldn’t allow Kurdish history or language to be taught in schools. But for families like Zenno's, crowded into two rooms near the Syrian border as refugees in Lebanon, there is nothing good about the war for Kurds.Talking about the hardship of living displaced from her war-torn homeland, Zenno said her children did’t even go to school. Syrians Kurds have fled by the tens of thousands as fighting rages in Syria not only among Kurdish factions, but also between Kurdish groups and Islamist insurgents.
http://www.voanews.com/content/kurds-caught-in-throes-of-syria-war/1748612.html
13 September 2013 / ANFComponents of the Northern Kurdistan Unity and Solution Conference issued a press conference in Amed about the recent developments in the democratic resolution process and the Kurdish people's basic demand to be educated in their mother language.
The press conference was attended by DTK (Democratic Society Congress) co-chairs Ahmet Türk and Aysel Tuğluk, BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş,Diyarbakır Chamber of Doctors Chairperson Kenan Karadaş, KADEP President Lütfi Baksi, Azadi Initiative Deputy Coordinator Muhammet Dara Akar, GÜNSİAD former chair Şahismail Bedirhanoğlu, TUHAD-FED President Zübeyde Teker, Peace Mothers Initiative as well as representatives of NGOs and political parties serving as the components of the Northern Kurdistan Unity and Solution Conference.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/northern-kurdistan-conference-offers-an-eight-point-solution-proposal.htm
2. Öcalan proposes “new format” for PKK-Turkey truce
17 September 2013 / Asharq Al-Awsat Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan called for a “new format” in the stalled peace process with Turkey on Sunday after the Kurdish movement stopped the withdrawal of its fighters last week citing Ankara’s failure to meet the conditions of a nascent peace agreement. Öcalan issued a statement—released by the Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP)—calling for “thorough negotiations” to restart the peace process. The latest statement comes after secret meetings between Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MiT) leader, Hakan Fidan, and Öcalan in Imrali Island where he is currently being held. While Öcalan remains head of the PKK, day-to-day running of the group is currently held by military commander Cemil Bayik, who was recently elected to lead the group at its Mount Qandil base in Iraqi Kurdistan. Bayik has issued escalating threats to the Ankara leadership over the stalled peace process, warning that the PKK will send its fighters back to Turkey if the Erdoğan government refuses to implement the provisions of the peace agreement.
http://www.aawsat.net/2013/09/article55317115
3. Why is the Turkish government delaying the Kurdish package?
19 September 2013 / HurriyetThe upcoming package is not only a Kurdish package, corrects Hüseyin Çelik, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) spokesman, and continues: “It is a conceptual work for a relief of all layers in Turkey who feel themselves as ‘others’ of the establishment. That includes groups like non-Muslims, pious Muslims, Alevis and Kurds as well. That is why we call it a ‘democratization’ package.” The “package” was expected to be revealed in August. It was the reason for the warning by both the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Kurdish problem focused Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), which share the same grassroots, urging the Tayyip Erdoğan government to take steps before Sept. 1. The deadline passed, but in the meantime Erdoğan has said they are at the final stages of work on the package, so needed some more time.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/why-is-the-turkish-government-delaying-the-kurdish-package.aspx?pageID=238&nID=54698&NewsCatID=409
4. Turkish and Kurdish Officials Working on Peace Package
14 September 2013 / AINAKurdish lawmakers in Turkey say they are hopeful going into continued talks with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on a democratization package.
Erdogan on Friday met with Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) officials to finalize the democratization package, and is expected to announce the details of the package next week, Hurriyet Daily News reported. "We are not expecting that this package will include and meet all demands, but there is hope, at least. The government should include some issues which will relieve the Turkish public opinion and offer solutions to the peace process in the package. There are expectations on amendments to the Anti-Terror Law and Turkish Criminal Code, release of KCK [Kurdish Communities Union] members under arrest, sick prisoners, freedom of belief, removing discrimination, the issue of the mother tongue and issues concerning women," said BDP deputy group chairman Pervin Buldan.
http://www.aina.org/news/20130914144822.htm
5. Öcalan: Dialogue process should advance in a new format
15 September 2013 / ANFPeace and Democracy Party (BDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş and group parliamentary deputy chair Pervin Buldan have released a statement after returning from İmralı island where they have visited Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan on Sunday.According to the statement of the BDP, Öcalan said the dialogue process which began one year ago should advance in a new and more purposeful format, be intensified and evolve to negotiations. Öcalan who said he had already conveyed his proposals to the Turkish state and Kandil (referring to the executives of the Kurdish Movement, KCK) about the means and possibilities required for purposeful negotiations.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/ocalan-dialogue-process-should-advance-in-a-new-format-flash.htm
6. CPJ calls on Erdogan to embrace press freedom
17 September 2013 / ANFIn a letter to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Committee to Protect Journalists voiced its concerns about the continued press freedom crisis in Turkey.
The CPJ letter was delivered yesterday to Kenan Özdemir, deputy undersecretary in the Ministry of Justice, who met with a delegation from CPJ to discuss the organization's concern. The delegation consisted of CPJ Chairman Sandra Mims Rowe, board member John Carroll, Executive Director Joel Simon, and Turkey correspondent Özgür Öğret.
Referring to the special report CPJ published in October 2012, which highlighted the widespread criminal prosecution and imprisonment of journalists and the government's use of various forms of pressure that promotes self-censorship, the Committee remarked that almost a year later, the media environment in Turkey remained extremely difficult.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/cpj-calls-on-erdogan-to-embrace-press-freedom.htm
7. KCK calls for school boycott to demand education in Kurdish
14 September 2013 / World BulletinKCK is planning to prevent Kurds from sending their children to school for the first week of the school year in protest of the government's inaction on taking concrete steps regarding education in the Kurdish language. There is still debate about whether or not the right to be educated in one's mother tongue will be included in a new package of democratic reforms the government is working on and the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) -- an umbrella organization that includes the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) – has called on all Kurds to boycott the first week of school to promote their demand for an education in the Kurdish language.
http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=117873
8. UK lawyers condemn jailing of 21 journalists in Turkey
13 September 2013 / Press GazetteOn 5 August, 21 Turkish journalists were sentences to jail terms ranging from 6 years to life in solitary confinement on charges of attempting to overthrow the government. As the dust settles over the latest wave of imprisonments, a delegation of UK lawyers is speaking out against a criminal justice system mired in political corruption.
http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/turkey-media-crisis-delegation-flies-out-challenge-government-over-jailing-journalists
9. Gezi protesters detained and released in Ankara to face trial 17 September 2013 / Hurriyet
A Public Prosecutor’s office in Ankara will launch a mass case against individuals accused of attending Gezi Park protests in the city, with nearly 500 people who were detained and released in early protests estimated to be tried in the case in Ankara alone. One prosecutor has already opened six criminal files against some 137 individuals and a new mass case is set to begin soon, daily Cumhuriyet reported today. The first case regarding the Gezi protests was launched after a protest on June 16 in Ankara’s central square Kızılay against some 35 people who assembled to denounce the fourth death since clashes between riot police and protesters began in Turkey.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/gezi-protesters-detained-and-released-in-ankara-to-face-trial-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=54589&NewsCatID=341
10. Kurdish Leaders Apologize for Genocide During Monument Inauguration in Turkey
18 September 2013 / AINAThe Sur Municipality of Diyarbakir held the official inauguration of the Monument of Common Conscience on Sept. 12, with mayor Abdullah Demirbas apologizing in the name of Kurds for the Armenian and Assyrian genocides.
"We Kurds, in the name of our ancestors, apologize for the genocide of the Armenians and Assyrians in 1915," Demirbas declared in his opening speech. "We will continue our struggle to secure atonement and compensation for them." The mayor called upon the Turkish authorities to issue an apology and do whatever needed to atone for the genocide. "We invite them to take steps in this direction," he said. The inscription on the monument at the Anzele Park, near a recently restored historic fountain, reads, in six languages including Armenian: We share the pain so that it is not repeated.
http://www.aina.org/news/20130917190533.htm
11. Syrian opposition agrees to include more Kurds
16 September 2013 / France 24Syria's Kurds reached an agreement with the main opposition coalition to include more members from the minority in the body, the Kurdish National Council and the opposition said Monday. The deal reached between the KNC came after months of stalling, as the Syrian National Coalition's general assembly meeting came to a close.
"The National Coalition and the Kurdish National Council voted in an agreement on Sunday, that will bring in more Kurdish members," Coalition spokesman Louay Safi told AFP. "We think it's important because it builds trust. We want Syria to be a country where equality and political rights are guaranteed for all," said Safi.
http://www.france24.com/en/20130916-syrian-opposition-agrees-include-more-kurds
12. Syria: Kurdish Group Calls for Autonomy
11 September 2013 / Israel News The People's Council of Western Kurdistan (also known as the PYD) has released a draft proposal calling for Kurdish autonomy in northern Syria - along similar lines to the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) which currently exists in northern Iraq.
The introduction to the proposal stipulates that it is not calling for a complete "split" from the rest of Syria, and stresses that such an autonomous region would not pose any threat to neighboring states. Rather, it is meant as a vehicle to achieve stability and security for Syria's Kurdish population, as a first step towards a free and "pluralistic" Syrian state. Among other items, the proposal - launched jointly with Kurdish officials in the northern Syrian city of Qamishli - outlines plans to establish an independent committee to draw up a draft constitution, as well as for the establishment of interim social, economic and security institutions in Kurdish-held territories.
Under the proposal, democratic legislative elections would take place six months after the establishment of an interim Kurdish government, allowing half a year for the drafting of a constitution.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/171816#.UjhtVLx1Gcc
13. Court Case Reveals Turkey Arms Flow To Syrian Rebels
13 September 2013 / Al Monitor“To tell the truth, it’s a flat lie when the state claims it does not help provide the opposition with weapons,” Cihat Acikalin, a lawyer in the Turkey-Syria border town Reyhanli, told Al-Monitor. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected all conjecture regarding the transfer of weapons to the Syrian opposition through Turkey as recently as May 10. Erdogan stressed that Turkey only provides humanitarian help by opening its borders to nearly 300,000 refugees, costing the country roughly $1 billion. The conjecture about Turkey’s assistance to the opposition peaked after Syria allegedly shot down a Turkish warplane in June 2012. Erdogan said at the time, “Turkey and the Turkish people will provide all sorts of support to the Syrian people until they free themselves from this persecution, this bloody-handed dictator and his gang.” This statement led to much speculation and brought the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government's policy toward Syria under a domestic and foreign spotlight.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/09/turkey-arms-rebels-syria-court-case.html
14. Turkey Establishes Kurdish Jihadist Brigade to Fight Against Syria
14 September 2013 / Global ResearchAccording to the Intelligence Online, a professional French journal closely following the activities of intelligence services in the world, Ankara established a Kurdish jihadist brigade to fight against the main Syrian Kurdish party PYD (Democratic Union Party).“To fight the troops of the Syrian Kurdish movement PYD , which is part of the border between Syria and Turkey , Ankara has encouraged the formation of a jihadist brigade composed almost exclusively of Kurds and called Katibat al- Taliban ( KaT ) . The fighters of the movement , mostly young Kurdish penniless receive nearly $ 1 000 when they engage . They are then sent to fight the PYD on the Turkish- Syrian border alongside the Free Syrian Army (FSA ) and jihadists Jabhat al- Nosra . Many of them were killed in late July during an assault in the town of Tell Halaf “, Intelligence Online said.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/turkey-establishes-kurdish-jihadist-brigade-to-fight-against-syria/5349815
15. Kurds push jihadists from Syria village: activist group
18 September 2013 / Daily StarKurdish fighters have forced jihadists to pull out of a village in northeastern Syria after clashes that left 21 dead on both sides, an activist group said Wednesday.
Fighters from the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) have been battling jihadists from the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) and Al-Nusra Front for months. "The YPG fighters took control of the village of Aluk, to the east of the town of Ras al-Ain," on the border with Turkey, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Kurdish fighters seized the town after four days of clashes with ISIS and Al-Nusra, who had entered it from the border area, the Observatory said.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Sep-18/231718-kurds-push-jihadists-from-syria-village-actvist-group.ashx#axzz2fLUG3ePl
16. Turkish army opens fire on YPG fighters in Susikê village in Tal Abyad
19 September 2013 / ANFTurkish army opened fire on People's Defense Units (YPG) fighters in the Susike village, 10 km away from the Tal Abyad (Girê Spî) city bordering Turkey, on Thursday.
According to the reports received from YPG sources, units of the Turkish army deployed on the ‘Ceman Beg’hill on Turkey's side have launched an attack targeting YPG forces in the Susikê village at noontime. Two fighters of the YPG have been killed in the attack which was reportedly carried out by snipers. The Turkish attack came after the eruption of fierce clashes between YPG and al-Qaeda affiliated Islamist gang groups which launched artillery attacks against the Susikê village at around 5 a.m. on Thursday.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/turkish-army-opens-fire-on-ypg-fighters-in-susike-village-in-tal-abyad.htm
17. UN to Investigate Claims of Kurdish Massacre in Syria
12 September 2013 / RudawIn a report this week, the United Nations accuses Kurdish armed groups of committing human rights abuses in the Syrian civil war, and says it will investigate the killings of Kurdish civilians by anti-government groups outside the city of Aleppo. In a report released this week, and based on 258 interviews, the UN accuses both the government in Syria and pro-government forces of crimes against humanity. The report says the UN sees no military solution for the Syrian conflict and believes that “a political solution” is the only path to peace. The Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is affiliated with the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), backs a political solution and rejects foreign intervention. It also supports the UN position for more diplomacy. The UN says it will investigate claims by the PYD of human rights abuses in Til Aran and Aleppo in its next reporting period. The PYD claims that a brutal massacre of Kurdish civilians took place in the countryside of Aleppo in late July by jihadi fighters involved in Syria’s complex civil war. But the armed Islamist groups have denied they target Kurdish civilians.
http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/12092013
18. In Iraqi Kurdistan, former refugees embrace new ones
17 September 2013 / World BulletinFor many Iraqi Kurds, being a refugee is an experience they vividly remember. For decades, they had to flee Saddam Hussein's tyranny and take refuge in neighboring countries, such as Iran and Turkey, and some even migrated as far as Europe, North America and Australia. But the newfound prosperity and security of the Iraqi Kurdistan region have meant they are now hosting refugees from elsewhere. Syrian Kurds are just the latest group. With the civil war in Syria showing no sign of abating, tens of thousands of Syrian refugees, mostly Kurds from the northern and northeastern parts of the country, have fled to the Kurdistan region in northern Iraq. Kurdish authorities put the number at more than 200,000 people.
http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=118133
19. Kurdistan Region Elections: A to Z
17 September 2013 / RudawHere are some facts about the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, which goes to the polls on Saturday to elect its next regional legislature:
GEOGRAPHY: Iraqi Kurdistan, or the Kurdistan Region, is an autonomous area in northern Iraq where the country’s five million Kurds exercise self-rule over the provinces of Erbil, Sulaimani and Duhok. The predominantly Sunni Kurds and the Shiite-led Arab central government in Baghdad both also lay claim to large tracts of disputed lands, among them multiethnic Kirkuk, an immensely energy-rich province over which the two came close to war early this year. The Kurdistan Region covers an area of more than 40,000 square kilometers and borders Iran to the East, Turkey to the north, Syria to the west and the rest of Iraq to the south. Its capital city is Erbil, which is 400 kilometers north of Baghdad.
http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/17092013
COMMENT, OPINION AND ANALYSIS
20. Inch by inch: New tensions emerge between the government and the PKK
14 September 2013 / EconomistTHE peace process between Turkey and its rebellious Kurds is crawling at a snail’s pace. Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), has moved to a larger cell on the prison island where he has been bargaining with Turkey’s spy chief. The semi-official Anatolian news agency has launched its first Kurdish-language service. “What of its content though, further lies?” asks one Kurdish tweeter. And what of the government’s reforms, which Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister promised in “a matter of weeks” (they may come this weekend)? In a statement on September 9th peppered with accusations of treachery against Mr Erdogan and his Justice and Development (AK) party, the PKK said it was halting the withdrawal of fighters from Turkey to Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. Mr Erdogan said he would not budge until all had gone. The PKK says it needs a gesture from the government.
http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21586324-new-tensions-emerge-between-government-and-pkk-inch-inch
21. Al Qaeda's Turkish base?
18 September 2013 / Deutsche WelleFrom Nevroz Algiç's restaurant one can taste the spicy local food while enjoying the best views over the front line, literally across the street. The fighting is so close that gunfire can still be heard over the arabesque music blaring out of the loudspeakers. Located 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) southeast of Ankara, Ceylanpinar was once known for its gigantic agricultural complex. However, this city with a population of 40,000 is now yet another victim of the Syrian war. Since October 2012, four residents have been killed and dozens have been wounded by stray bullets, mortars and rockets. "Before the new teachers would eat here and stay in this guesthouse but none of them wants to come here now. No one knows when the shooting will start or when will it finish," Algiç tells DW. The bullet holes on these walls are a stark reminder of what's happening round the corner. Still, material losses are not that important.
http://www.dw.de/al-qaedas-turkish-base/a-17097437
22. Analysis: ‘Unprecedented’ events in and around Turkey likely to increase regional turbulence
18 September 2013 / Armenia NowSome unprecedented events are taking place in Turkey that potentially can have significant consequences for the entire region in general and neighboring Armenia, in particular. The global analytical community has long called Turkey one of the main actors of the international operation in Syria. Moreover, in the light of this conflict, leading experts say that a struggle has begun in Turkey between the Alawites and the Islamists – parallel to the movement of the Kurds who recently suspended the process of withdrawal of militants abroad. In addition, the Kurds held a strike yesterday in the province of Van, demanding to be allowed to teach their children at schools in Kurdish. All Kurdish children yesterday boycotted school classes.
http://armenianow.com/commentary/analysis/48554/armenia_analysis_turkey_region
23. Turkey’s Syria Border on Edge
13 September 2013 / Al MonitorLast week, I traveled to Turkey’s border with Syria. I was planning to cross into the Kurdish-controlled northeast to find out how the country’s most influential Kurdish group, the Democratic Unity Party (PYD), was running the string of towns and villages that fell under its control last summer. I would have to cross into Syria illegally because Turkey’s formal border crossings with the Kurdish region remain sealed. My destination was the PYD-controlled town of Ras al-Ain, or Serekaniye in Kurdish, that stands opposite Ceylanpinar on the Turkish side. Colleagues who had used smuggler routes to get in assured me that I would sail through. But when I arrived in Ceylanpinar, I learned that the trip across included wiggling my way through barbed-wire fencing and risking being spotted by trigger-happy Turkish border guards. I dropped the idea, deciding instead to investigate widespread claims that Turkey is propping up Syrian rebels in a little-reported proxy war against the PYD.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/09/turkey-danger-syria-border-rebels-kurds.html
24. Middle East reconfigured: Turkey vs. Iran vs. Saudi Arabia
13 September 2013 / CNNTurkish-Iranian posturing on Syria, with Ankara arguing for more than limited strikes against the regime and Tehran saying that whoever strikes President Bashar al-Assad must bear the consequences, serves as a harbinger for the birth of a new Middle East order. Just as World War 1 transformed the Middle East by ending the Ottoman rule and creating contemporary nation states, so the Arab Spring has recalibrated this regional system by ushering in a tri-axial Middle East composed of: a Turkey-Kurdish-Muslim Brotherhood (MB) axis; an Iran-Shiite axis; and a Saudi Arabia-pro-status quo monarchies axis.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/09/13/opinion/khanna-cagaptay-turkey-iran-saudi-arabia/?hpt=hp_t5
25. Kurds Caught in Throes of Syria's War
12 September 2013 / Voice of AmericaSyrian Kurds are caught in the middle of Syria's civil war, fighting among themselves and also battling Islamist extremists for control of pockets of the country. When Soaad Zenno left Syria with her three children a year ago, she left a country that banned Kurdish holidays and wouldn’t allow Kurdish history or language to be taught in schools. But for families like Zenno's, crowded into two rooms near the Syrian border as refugees in Lebanon, there is nothing good about the war for Kurds.Talking about the hardship of living displaced from her war-torn homeland, Zenno said her children did’t even go to school. Syrians Kurds have fled by the tens of thousands as fighting rages in Syria not only among Kurdish factions, but also between Kurdish groups and Islamist insurgents.
http://www.voanews.com/content/kurds-caught-in-throes-of-syria-war/1748612.html
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