1. Erdogan puts hopes for peace with Kurds in hands of Barzani
16 November 2013 / Middle East onlineTurkey's prime minister welcomed the leader of Iraq's autonomous north to his country's own Kurdish-dominated territory for the first time Saturday, in a visit designed to kickstart a stalled peace process.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan greeted Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani in the Kurds' heartland of Diyarbakir, southeast Turkey, ahead of a series of joint engagements including officiating at a mass wedding.
Barzani has visited the capital of Ankara many times but Saturday's meeting was described by Erdogan as "historic" and a "crowning moment" in overcoming a decades-old conflict with the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Ankara hopes to use Barzani's influence as a respected figure among Turkey's Kurds to bring them back to the negotiating table.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=62642
2. Iraqi Kurdish president in Turkey to back PM's peace effort
16 November 2013 / ReutersThe president of Iraqi Kurdistan called on Turkey's Kurds to back a flagging peace process with Ankara on Saturday, making his first visit to southeastern Turkey in two decades in a show of support for Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. Masoud Barzani's trip to Diyarbakir, the main city in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast, comes as Ankara finalizes billions of dollars of energy deals with his semi-autonomous region and amid mutual concern over the ambitions of Kurdish militias in the chaos of neighboring Syria. Thousands gathered to hear Barzani and Erdogan speak, opening a day of ceremonies including a performance by Kurdish poet and singer Sivan Perwer, who had fled Turkey in the 1970s, and a wedding of 400 couples.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/16/us-turkey-kurdistan-idUSBRE9AF05L20131116?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews<http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/16/us-turkey-kurdistan-idUSBRE9AF05L20131116?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews>
3. Erdogan launches peace talks with Iraqi Kurdish leader
16 November 2013 / Daily StarTurkey's prime minister welcomed the leader of Iraq's autonomous north to his country's own Kurdish-dominated territory for the first time Saturday, in a visit designed to kickstart a stalled peace process. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan greeted Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani in the Kurds' heartland of Diyarbakir, southeast Turkey, ahead of a series of joint engagements including officiating at a mass wedding.Barzani has visited the capital of Ankara many times but Saturday's meeting was described by Erdogan as "historic" and a "crowning moment" in overcoming a decades-old conflict with the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Nov-16/238056-erdogan-launches-peace-talks-with-iraqi-kurdish-leader.ashx#axzz2kxQWpkM5<http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Nov-16/238056-erdogan-launches-peace-talks-with-iraqi-kurdish-leader.ashx#axzz2kxQWpkM5>
4. Government should ensure Öcalan's contact with civil society
22 November 2013 / ANFPeace and Democracy Party (BDP) co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş spoke to reporters about the visit Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani paid to the main Kurdish city Amed/Diyarbakır last weekend. Demirtaş said the Amed visit gave no messages concerning the language, identity and self governance of Kurds, and reminded that all the PM said was that “mountains and jails shall be emptied”. BDP co-chair underlined that “It seems this visit took place because of the deadlock Turkey is facing today in relation with the regional developments, and with an intention to overcome the obstacles it is facing in its foreign policy.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/government-should-ensure-ocalan-s-contact-with-civil-society.htm
5. ICG: Barzani’s visit to Diyarbakir challenged PKK
21 November 2013 / Bas NewsThe director of the International Crisis Group (ICG) Turkish Project, Hugh Pope, said that the visit of Kurdish president Massoud Barzani to Diyarbakir was a challenge to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Pope told BasNews that Barzani’s visit was not part of Erdoğan’s election propaganda as some media outlets have suggested. “This visit dramatically underlines a new push along two major progressive lines in Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) policy: normalization with the KRG, and the effort to find a more inclusive national narrative for Turkey, specifically in terms of the Kurds,” said Pope.http://basnews.net/en/News/Details/ICG--Barzani-s-visit-to-Diyarbakir-challenged-PKK/6299 <http://basnews.net/en/News/Details/ICG--Barzani-s-visit-to-Diyarbakir-challenged-PKK/6299>
6. 2 Day-Long Diyarbakır Meeting Aired For 142 Hours
21 November 2013 / BianetAccording to statistics released by Medya Takip Merkei (Media Monitoring Center), last weekend’s meeting between Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Masoud Barzani, Şirwan Perwer and Ibrahim Tatlıses has been reported in 1460 various news programs for 142 hours.
A Haber marked with 128 news highlights as the TV Network with the most coverage on the issue. It was also listed as the second TV network regarding the program durations (14 hours).
The second rank in the most coverage was Ülke TV with news highlights and 15 hours of program coverage.
http://www.bianet.org/english/minorities/151472-2-day-long-diyarbakir-meeting-aired-for-142-hours<http://www.bianet.org/english/minorities/151472-2-day-long-diyarbakir-meeting-aired-for-142-hours>
7. Diyarbakir meeting: Promise of emptying prisons, but when?
17 November 2013 / InfoturkDuring a joint rally with the leader of the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government, Masoud Barzani, in Diyarbakır, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan asked the Kurdish population to support the ongoing resolution process. “We will witness a new Turkey where those in the mountains come down, the prisons empty and the 76 million [citizens of Turkey] become one,” Erdoğan said, hinting to a general amnesty demaned by many Kurdish groups, including the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). “In Diyarbakır, the city of brotherhood, we are brothers from time immemorial. We are not fellow travelers, we also share the same faith,” Erdoğan said.
http://www.info-turk.be/423.htm#emptying <http://www.info-turk.be/423.htm#emptying>
8. Öcalan: We are ready for negotiations
19 November 2013 / ANFMehmet Öcalan spoke to DIHA (Dicle News Agency) about the details of the meeting he had with his brother, Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan in İmralı prison on Monday. Mehmet Öcalan said the Kurdish leader spoke during the meeting about the developments in the last one year of the resolution process, approaching local elections in Turkey and the recent developments in Rojava, western Kurdistan. The PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) leader reacted to the reports of some Turkish media organs and government officials about the suspension of the dislocation of Kurdish guerrillas along the borders. Responding to the criticism over the suspension of the withdrawal process, the Kurdish leader said that; “This is a quite fragile subject. The withdrawal was suspended because of the fact that the Turkish state and government prepared no legal ground for this process. This is also the reason why the process is continuing this way now”.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/ocalan-we-are-ready-for-negotiations.htm
9. Sick Hunger-Striker Ergin Aktaş Transferred to High Security Prison
22 November 2013 / ANFErgin Aktaş, who took part in a three-day warning hunger strike with paralysed inmate Ali Haydar Yıldız in protest at inhumane conditions in the Metris R Type Prison, has been transferred to the Ümraniye F Type Prison as a punishment. It has emerged that after the three-day hunger strike Ergin Aktaş was told by the prison governor that he was being punished for 'Disturbing the tranquillity of the prison' and was transferred on 14 November. Ergin Aktaş’s cousin Ahmet Aktaş spoke to ANF, saying that instead of being released sick prisoners were being transferred to other prisons. Aktaş added: “This cruelty of the state is a crime against humanity. Ergin said that in the event of the three-day hunger strike not achieving results they would launch an indefinite hunger strike."
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/sick-hunger-striker-ergin-aktas-transferred-to-high-security-prison.htm
10. Turkey has no plans to give Kurdish PKK rebels general amnesty
19 November 2013 / eKurdTurkey on Monday said it was not considering a general amnesty for Kurdish rebels as the government stepped up efforts to restart a stalled peace process with the outlawed Kurdish PKK group. The issue came to the fore on Saturday when Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hinted in the country's Kurdish southeast [northern Kurdistan] that Turkish prisons would one day be emptied. Erdogan had welcomed at the weekend the president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, Massoud Barzani, to Turkey's own Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, in a landmark trip designed to revive the peace process between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish state. "We will witness a new Turkey where those in the mountains come down, the prisons empty and 76 million (citizens of Turkey) become united," Erdogan said in remarks which some local media saw as a veiled reference to a general amnesty, one of the key demands of the PKK.
http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2013/11/turkey4849.htm <http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2013/11/turkey4849.htm>
11. Father and son killed by police fire commemorated in Kızıltepe on 9th anniversary of death
21 November 2013 / HurriyetAhmet Kaymaz and his 12-year-old son, Uğur Kaymaz, who were shot dead by police while walking along a local street in the southeastern Mardin province's populated Kızıltepe district nine years ago, were commemorated on Nov. 21 by relatives and members of civil society. The event was also attended by the independent Mardin Deputy Ahmet Türk as well as his nephew and Kızıltepe's Mayor elected from the ranks of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), Ferhan Türk.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/father-and-son-killed-by-police-fire-commemorated-in-mardin-on-9th-anniversary-of-death.aspx?pageID=238&nID=58342&NewsCatID=341
12. Laz community opens institute to save culture
21 November 2013 / InfoturkTurkey’s Laz community is establishing an institute in Istanbul to protect its culture and Lazuri language. The institute will be opened in the Kadıköy district of Istanbul on Nov. 23 under the leadership of politician and academic Prof. Mehmet Bekaroğlu. In 2010, the UNESCO Atlas of the World’s Languages in Danger declares Lazuri as a language.
He said that even though he is the founding president, in reality late singer Kazım Koyuncu, who died of lung cancer at the age of 34 in 2005, is a founder of the institute. The artist, who was the leader of Turkey’s first ever Lazuri rock band Zuğaşi Berepe, took “the first step” for them, Bekaroğlu said. Bekaroğlu insisted they are not aiming at nationalism; they are just trying to protect their language and culture. He also added there is a lack of knowledge in society on Laz culture, and many people think the Laz people are just Black Sea Region residents, “speaking Turkish with a very bad accent.”
“This [perception] is totally meaningless, Laz people have centuries old culture and language,” he said.
http://www.info-turk.be/423.htm#Laz <http://www.info-turk.be/423.htm%23Laz>
13. Iran pleased with PYD transitional administration
18 November 2013 /Bas NewsThe Iranian government is pleased with the PYD’s declaration of a local transitional administration in the Kurdish areas of Syria. Iranian Radio Fardareported that the Iranian government and President Bashar al-Assad are pleased with last week’s declaration of an interim government. Iranian media agencies are praising the efforts by the PYD in fighting extremists in northern Syria. According to these media outlets, the People’s Protection Unit (YPG) have defeated extremists in 16 villages of Syria’s Kurdish region. Due to the transitional government, Assad has now put his hopes in the revival of an Alawites government in the areas of Damascus, Homs and Lathikiya and up to the border with the Syrian Kurdish areas.
http://basnews.net/en/News/Details/Iran-pleased-with-PYD-transitional-administration/6113 <http://basnews.net/en/News/Details/Iran-pleased-with-PYD-transitional-administration/6113>
14. Iran arrests 180 Kurdish activists
20 November 2013 / Bas NewsOver the last two months 180 Kurds have been arrested in Iranian Kurdistan. This week, two Kurdish activists were arrested by Iranian intelligence forces in Kamyaran, after they crossed the border from the Kurdistan Region into Iranian Kurdistan. A source has told BasNews that two Kurdish activists, Mihrdad Saburi and Afshin Nadimi, from Kurdish cities Sina and Kamyaran, disappeared 10 days ago. It was recently announced that they were arrested on Nov. 17.Two siblings are also said to have mysteriously disappeared from Bokan city. There has been no information regarding the whereabouts of 28-year-old Afsana Bayazidi and her 25-year-old brother Shaho. Security agencies in that area have yet to release a statement regarding the disappearances. This week, an Iranian court sentenced Shahin Bayazidi, a Kurdish activist and former member of Bokan municipality council, to two years in jail.
http://basnews.net/en/News/Details/Iran-arrests-180-Kurdish-activists/6223 <http://basnews.net/en/News/Details/Iran-arrests-180-Kurdish-activists/6223>
15. Thousands protested against Massoud Barzani in Syrian Kurdistan
20 November 2013 / eKurdThousands in the Syrian Kurdistan city of Efrin [Afrin] staged a march to protest against Massoud Barzani, president of Iraqi Kurdistan region, in relation with his statements against the revolution in Syrian Kurdistan and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) party. Referring to the statements of Barzani who claimed there was no Syrian Kurdistan revolution and spoke against the PYD, Behçet Berekat, deputy president of Efrin People's Assembly, said that “They are denying the revolution which has been attained with the blood of hundreds of youngsters. This denial is the denial of the blood of these youngsters and the denial of the labor of our people”.
http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2013/11/syriakurd950.htm<http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2013/11/syriakurd950.htm>
16. Three Syrian Kurds killed by Turkish Army
18 November 2013 / Bas NewsAt around 1.30am on Sunday, Turkish border guards killed three Kurdish Syrians trying to cross over the Turkish border. According to BasNews correspondent in Qamishlo, the Kurds were trying to cross the Turkish border illegally. The incident happen in the border village of Himo in Syrian Kurdistan. The bodies were taken to a local hospital in Malatya, a Turkish border town. Kurdish human rights organizations in Syrian Kurdistan have called for immediate investigation into the killings. Recent protests over Turkey’s plan to build a wall along the Syrian-Turkish border has caused tensions near the border areas. According to AFP, Turkey has taken in more than 600,000 Syrian refugees fleeing the civil war, of which 200,000 are living in about 10 camps along the border region.
http://basnews.net/en/News/Details/Three-Syrian-Kurds-killed-by-Turkish-Army/6092 <http://basnews.net/en/News/Details/Three-Syrian-Kurds-killed-by-Turkish-Army/6092>
17. 20,000 march in Berlin to demand PKK ban lifted
17 November 2013 / AFPSome 20,000 people marched through central Berlin on Saturday to demand the German government lift its 20-year ban on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), organisers said.
Under a heavy police presence, the protest passed off peacefully with demonstrators marching under the banner: "Support the peace process, lift the ban on the PKK."
Despite the ban on the PKK, in place in Germany since 1993, the organisation enjoys considerable support there, with an estimated 500,000 Kurds in the country -- the majority of Turkish origin. German authorities believe the PKK has around 11,500 active members. Organisers of the march said police had been stopping protesters to search for banners displaying imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and imposing fines on those possessing them. Police provided no estimate of turnout.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5guST212mxdWHW0XFRZzjCcWDyrnA?docId=54dd5d03-1483-4652-b399-f87a83f2f1c5<http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5guST212mxdWHW0XFRZzjCcWDyrnA?docId=54dd5d03-1483-4652-b399-f87a83f2f1c5>
COMMENT, OPINION AND ANALYSIS
19. Erdogan-Barzani 'Diyarbakir encounter' milestone
20 November 2013 / Al MonitorLast weekend Turkey lived through many "firsts" at Diyarbakir, which is seen by all Kurds — not only the ones in Turkey — as their "spiritual center." The weekend meeting, labeled as the "Diyarbakir encounter," bringing together Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani, was choreographed by Erdogan. It was, above all, a phenomenal public relations achievement for the prime minister.
The Diyarbakir encounter can also be considered a significant political comeback for Erdogan, whose image inside the country and abroad has suffered considerably after the Taksim-Gezi protests at the beginning of the summer.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/11/erdogan-barzani-kurdistan-diyarbakir-political-decision.html
20. Is Intra-Kurdish Strife the Price of Turkish-Kurdish Peace?
20 November 2013 / AINAIraqi Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani's visit to Diyarbakir together with Kurdish singer Sivan Perwer is no doubt a development that has historic aspects.
Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for instance, made quite emotional remarks about Turkish-Kurdish fraternity. He broke a taboo by uttering the word "Kurdistan." He pointed to a new threshold in the peace process by saying, "God willing, we will see the day when those up in the mountains return and the prisons are emptied." He paid tribute to [Kurdish singer] Ahmet Kaya, saying he wished Kaya were there with them. The Kurdistan and Turkish flags flew side by side. Perwer returned home after 38 years, singing a requiem in Kurdish. Erdogan paid his first ever visit to the Diyarbakir municipality, which is run by the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). No doubt, those were long-awaited moments that came with a heavy price.
http://www.aina.org/news/20131120163627.htm <http://www.aina.org/news/20131120163627.htm>
22. Kurdish leader makes historic Turkey visit
20 November 2013 / Al JazeeraIt was a breakthrough moment: Massoud Barzani, the president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, shouting messages of peace to thousands of spectators. It was an emotionally momentous day for Turkish Kurds for another reason as well. Iconic Kurdish poet and singer Sivan Perwer, who fled Turkey in 1976, accompanied Barzani on his trip and returned to his homeland after decades of exile. Barzani's visit came at a complicated time: Talks continue between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an outlawed armed Kurdish group, and the Turkish state. Meanwhile, Syria's Kurds aim to seize autonomy in the north of the war-torn country. Turkey is set to hold local elections in early 2014. Finally, the KRG seeks to export oil through pipelines in Turkey.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/11/kurdish-leader-makes-historic-turkey-visit-201311208312697500.html<http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/11/kurdish-leader-makes-historic-turkey-visit-201311208312697500.html>
23. Mixed Feelings Over Barzani’s Visit to Diyarbakir
16 November 2013 / Rudaw Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani is expected to arrive in Diyarbakir, the largest Kurdish city in Turkey, on Saturday. He will meet with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan; attend the inauguration of government projects and partake in some wedding celebrations.
Barzani’s invitation to Diyarbakir clearly marks a break from the traditional Turkish policy towards the Kurds in the whole region. It is true that provincial elections are coming in March next year and Erdogan wants to win Kurdish voters. But the story of the visit cannot only be read from this angle.
http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/151120131 <http://rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/151120131>
24. Social media responses to Barzani and Erdogan’s gathering
16 November 2013 / Alliance for Kurdish RightsThe President of Southern Kurdistan visited Turkey’s Kurdish-dominated southeast for the first time in nearly two decades, and gave a speech alongside Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on prolonging the peace settlement. As a way of celebrating Kurdish culture and music, Şivan Perwer was invited to sing at the gathering in Kurdish, alongside Ibrahim Tatlisis. Perwer fled Turkey in 1976 because he was threatened, and Turkish authorities were demanding his arrest at the time for singing in Kurdish. His presence was symbolic of recognising Kurdish cultural differences, and music, which for decades was banned in Turkey.
http://kurdishrights.org/2013/11/16/social-media-responses-to-barzani-and-erdogans-gathering/ <http://kurdishrights.org/2013/11/16/social-media-responses-to-barzani-and-erdogans-gathering/>
25. Turkey’s draft constitution appears dead
20 November 213 / Al MonitorAfter more than two years of intense work, Turkey's hopes for a civilian constitution have been declared dead, ready to be buried. The announcement, coming from various parts of the so-called Conciliation Commission, brings new doubts to the fore about the future of the country's dragging, slow-motion democratization process, for it raises new questions on whether or not there are any options left for a badly needed social contract. Concerns are, with no progress noted, Turkey's wide-open Pandora's box may lead to sharper polarization and even riskier domestic tension.
The final deadlock in parliament came as a surprise to no one. In the past six months or so, the commission turned into a scene for daily tactics among the four parties which constitute it, and signs of a cul-de-sac became clear when the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) insisted on the amendment which it hoped would empower the president — following the elections in August 2014 — as the head of the political executive.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/11/turkey-constitution-parliament-polarization-democratization.html
26. Can Sarigul, the hope of Turkey's left, unseat Erdogan?
20 November 2013 / Al MonitorTurkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s opponents have pinned their hopes on Mustafa Sarigul, Turkey’s most popular center-left politician and the mayor of Sisli district, the “Manhattan” of Istanbul. Most anti-Erdogan media believe that Sarigul is the only person who could unseat Erdogan. It is interesting, though, that Sarigul, someone I know personally, has not uttered a single word targeting Erdogan. On the contrary, he has always praised him and accorded more attention to pro-Erdogan commentators than leftist ones.Sarigul has based his political strategy on standing close to liberals and pious Muslims. Despite his leftist background, he has always acted as a rightist and sometimes even as an Islamist politician, hence his attitude of not criticizing Erdogan. In his speeches Sarigul praises Erdogan as a great leader who has governed Turkey successfully but who is now tired and should hand over his post.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/11/sarigul-erdogan-unseat-elections-left.html
27. Turkey’s Alevi question
21 November 2013 / Al MonitorLike the Kurdish problem, predominantly Sunni Turkey has had an age-old Alevi problem. Like the Kurdish problem, there are efforts today by the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to solve this problem, too. These efforts also tie in with Ankara’s steps aimed at appeasing the Shiites in the Middle East. Some Alevi organizations have welcomed these efforts by the government, which President Abdullah Gul has also been contributing to. But not all are convinced of their sincerity and, given past disappointments, appear justified. Turkey’s Alevi problem cuts deep — having a bloody history — and has resulted in tragic events in recent times. One tragic case was the “Kahramanmaras incidents” in 1978, when more than 100 Alevis — mostly poor Kurds, including women and children — were massacred by a politically manipulated nationalist Sunni rabble.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/11/turkey-erdogan-alevi-strengthen-relations-sectarian-policies.html
28. Upcoming Game Changer: Turkish-Kurdish Alliance?
17 November 2013 / On IslamRecently held regional Kurdish conference in Turkish capital Ankara may have surprised many in the Middle East and beyond but few realized that the event was a culmination of methodically crafted maneuvering of Turkish government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The smart move is aiming at forging an alliance with the Kurds of the region, divided in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and Syria respectively. Kurdish leaders and intellectuals of all the four aforementioned regions have attended the two day long conferences on Nov. 9-10, and discussed the Kurdish solution process in Turkey and developments outside of Turkey.
http://www.onislam.net/english/politics/middle-east/466083-upcoming-game-changer-turkish-kurdish-alliance.html<http://www.onislam.net/english/politics/middle-east/466083-upcoming-game-changer-turkish-kurdish-alliance.html>
29. Judge Essa Moosa interview on Kurdish Question
18 November 2013 / Midori HouseLast week, Judge Essa Moosa, prominent South African human rights lawyer and chairperson of the Kurdish Human Rights Action Group (KHRAG) in Cape Town, was in London to speak at a seminar about possibilities for peace and reconciliation in Turkey, and his work with the International Peace and Reconciliation Initiative. The IPRI was launched after a call from Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu last year for Turkey to reopen talks with the Kurdish leader, Abdullah Ocalan. While here, Mr Moosa was interviewed by Monocle 24’s news show Midori House about the part he played in dismantling Apartheid in South Africa and his work in support of the Kurdish movement.
Midori House
Episode 534, 18 November 2013http://monocle.com/radio/shows/midori-house/534 <http://monocle.com/radio/shows/midori-house/534> Midori House
Episode 535, 19 November 2013http://monocle.com/radio/shows/midori-house/535 <http://monocle.com/radio/shows/midori-house/535>
30. Turkey Spotlight: The Kurds & Ankara’s Foreign Policy Dilemma
18 November 2013 / EA WorldviewIn recent months, Ankara has taken steps to reduce its isolation in the region, striving to boost its relations with Syria’s neighbors, hoping to replace the regional power struggles of the last two years with an active foreign policy through soft power.
The problem? given the Turkish ruling party’s limited perspective, which is conditioned on domestic gains, there is no second part of the would-be “zero problems with neighbors” policy. One of the central issues in Turkey’s attempts to reposition itself in the region is the Kurdish question. After lengthy disputes with Baghdad, with Damascus, and with Kurds outside Iraqi Kurdistan, Ankara has finally shown concrete signs of a shift in its tactical approach toward this issue.
http://eaworldview.com/2013/11/turkey-spotlight-kurds-ankaras-foreign-policy-dilemma/ <http://eaworldview.com/2013/11/turkey-spotlight-kurds-ankaras-foreign-policy-dilemma/>
31. Erdoğan and Barzani Cooperating Against the Rojava Revolution
19 November 2013 / ANFErdoğan, Barzani, Şivan Perwer and İbrahim Tatlises kicked off the AKP’s election campaign in Kurdistan [last weekend]. And when some intelligent (!) Kurdish politicians went on about how “it would be wrong to understand this meeting as support for Erdoğan in the election campaign” it can be clearly seen that this was a manipulation. The Erdoğan-Barzani meeting was fundamentally a reasonable and everyday affair. However this reasonableness was not a reasonableness related to the demands or preferences of the Kurdish people. What we are talking about is a reasonableness as relates to particular ideological-political preferences. The AKP and KDP are two “brothers” who take the same line on the subjects of statism, sexuality, family values and property. Both parties can be understood as having entered in the spirit of history as cogs in the wheel of capitalist hegemony relying on imperialist powers.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/features/erdogan-and-barzani-cooperating-against-the-rojava-revolution.htm<http://en.firatnews.com/news/features/erdogan-and-barzani-cooperating-against-the-rojava-revolution.htm>
32. Kurdish Political engagement and online activism
20 November 2013 / Alliance for Kurdish RightsWe have spoken about the plight and struggles of Kurdish people for decades. Numerous academic literature has been published, reports announced, and condemnations expressed of the horrific ordeal that many Kurdish people have been subjected to historically. Some of the horrendous historical accounts of Kurdish history includes (but not limited to) Kurdish women committing suicide in fear of being raped by Turkish soldiers during the Dersim massacre, to the banning of Kurdish music and culture that led to the exiling of Kurdish singers. While literature on the history of Kurdish people is limited, and embarrassingly few given that Kurds are the largest transnational stateless ethnic group because of the censorship Kurdish academics have faced by repressive regimes in Middle east.
http://kurdishrights.org/2013/11/20/kurdish-political-engagement-and-online-activism/
33. Spectre of resource regionalism haunts the Middle East
17 November 2013 / The NationalIt’s remarkable how oil, this sticky black fluid, arouses ambitions – ranging from the quixotic to the Machiavellian. Entrepreneurs see it as a ticket to wealth; ambitious politicians, the tool to achieve nationalist dreams; local people, as a route out of poverty. These ambitions merge into a spectre that is haunting the wider Middle East – the spectre of resource regionalism. In Iraqi Kurdistan, recent oil and gas finds offer the region the prospect of independence – whether formal or factual – from Arab Iraq, and aspirations to leadership of the wider Kurdish community. But for now, the Kurdish budget still comes almost entirely from Baghdad, and independent exports require agreement with Turkey.
http://www.thenational.ae/business/industry-insights/energy/spectre-of-resource-regionalism-haunts-the-middle-east
34. Time for U.S. to embrace Kurdish self-determination
17 November 2013 / The Lawton ConstitutionBack in the fall of 2005, when the internecine warfare in Iraq was at its height, I argued in a column entitled "Acknowledging Honor And Interest In Iraq" that those obligations applied especially to American support of Iraq's Kurds, who alone among their neighbors seemed genuinely interested in building something resembling a peaceful democratic future. At the time, I pointed out, Kurdish Iraq was the most stable province of that war-torn country, thanks largely to the self-sacrifice and determination of the Kurds themselves. So it remains today, even while elsewhere in Iraq, sectarian violence has mounted to the point where an Iraqi government happy in 2010 to see America's back now pleads with us to reengage.
http://www.swoknews.com/news-top/miscellaneous/item/11767-time-for-us-to-embrace-kurdish-self-determination<http://www.swoknews.com/news-top/miscellaneous/item/11767-time-for-us-to-embrace-kurdish-self-determination>
35. A vastly changed Middle East
21 November 2013 / Jerusalem PostAweek and a half ago, Syria’s Kurds announced they are setting up an autonomous region in northeastern Syria. The announcement came after the Kurds wrested control over a chain of towns from al-Qaida in the ever metastasizing Syrian civil war. The Kurds’ announcement enraged their nominal Sunni allies – including the al-Qaida forces they have been combating – in the opposition to the Assad regime. It also rendered irrelevant US efforts to reach a peace deal between the Syrian regime and the rebel forces at a peace conference in Geneva. But more important than what the Kurds’ action means for the viability of the Obama administration’s Syria policy, it shows just how radically the strategic landscape has changed and continues to change, not just in Syria but throughout the Arab world.
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Columnists/COLUMN-ONE-A-vastly-changed-Middle-East-332624
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