Saturday 1 March 2014
KURDISH NEWS WEEKLY BRIEFING, 22 28 February 2014
1. Öcalan to give Newroz message next week
24 February 2014 / ANFA BDP-HDP delegation is expected to visit Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan on İmralı island next week. Mr Öcalan is expected to give the delegation a Newroz (New Year) message during the visit. A BDP-HDP delegation last visited the island on 8 February. Following that visit BDP MPs İdris Baluken and Pervin Buldan announced the three conditions Mr Öcalan had proposed to enable the process to move forward at a press conference in the Turkish parliament. Although the BDP MPs called for the process to be put on a legal footing, and contact continued with the government, no steps have yet been taken.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/ocalan-to-give-newroz-message-next-week.htm
2. IHD demands release of Öcalan
23 February 2014 / Kurdish InfoAt a press conference attended by IHD (Human Rights Association) branches in the region a demand has been made for the government to meet its obligations for a lasting peace, and for the release of PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. At the press conference organised by 17 branches and representative offices in the region, it was stated that developments regarding the process were causing concern. Akdemir listed the joint proposals of the IHD offices in the region. *Firstly, in order for a democratic, honourable and lasting peace to be ensured, Mr Abdullah Öcalan, who is one of the architects of the process of resolution, must attain his freedom.
http://www.kurdishinfo.com/ihd-demands-release-ocalan
3. “We want 10 million signatures for Öcalan”, Teker
19 February 2014 / Kurdish InfoThe Freedom for Öcalan, for Peace Platform spokeswoman, Zübeyde Teker, has underlined that the campaign aims at collecting 10 millions of signatures. “This is a campaign – she said – for peace. To free Öcalan would be the biggest contribution to peace”. Teker added that “the campaign aims to make the request of freedom for Öcalan as the natural demand people should ask. We will get Öcalan known to everybody, his ideas, his thought, his role and contribution to peace”.
http://www.kurdishinfo.com/want-10-million-signatures-ocalan-teker
4. BDP to gather a million signatures for freedom for Öcalan in Amed
26 February 2014 / ANFThe Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Amed provincial organisation has announced a 5-day plan of action within the framework of the campaign petitioning for the release of Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan. The BDP is aiming to collect over a million signatures in Amed city and surrounding districts in five days. In a statement, BDP provincial co-chair Zübeyde Zümrüt said: "The Kurdish people refuse to accept the continuing incarceration of Mr Abdullah Öcalan, who was brought to Turkey as the result of an international conspiracy."
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/bdp-to-gather-a-million-signatures-for-freedom-for-ocalan-in-amed.htm
5. Swedish Left Party MP to apply to visit Öcalan
21 February 2014 / Kurdish InfoSwedish Left Party MP Amineh Kakabaveh said Sweden and other Western countries based their relations with Turkey and Iran on economic interests, not on human rights, adding that the peace process in Turkey had come to a halt on account of it being conducted unilaterally. Kakabaveh said the talks should be carried out in a transparent fashion under the auspices of a country or institution in order for the process to be revived. Kakabaveh compared İmralı island to Guantanamo, and said she would make a written application to the Interior and Justice ministries to visit Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan.
http://www.kurdishinfo.com/swedish-left-party-mp-apply-visit-ocalan
6. English News From Med Nuce Channel
23 February 2014 / Med Nuce TVIncluding news on YPG gains in Rojava, Sinam Mohammad’s recent visit to Norway, and new laws in Turkey granting the MIT further powers.http://www.kurdishinfo.com/english-news-med-nuce-channel-23-february-2014
7. Military activity increasing on South Kurdistan border
28 February 2014 / ANFThe Turkish army is continuing to create tension along the borderline despite the ongoing ceasefire of the Kurdish armed movement and its recent warnings over the increasing military activity of the Turkish army on the border. Besides the intense activity of military helicopters and warplanes in Şemdinli region, soldiers in large numbers are being deployed to reinforce border units and F-16 warplanes are carrying out flights over the regions controlled by the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) in Federal Kurdistan Region.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/military-activity-increasing-on-south-kurdistan-border.htm
8. Demirtaş slams MIT bill and promotes democratic autonomy
28 February 2014 / Kurdish InfoBDP co-president Selahattin Demirtaş yesterday opposed the Turkish government’s draft bill on the MIT (National Intelligence Organisation), rejecting claims that it creates a legal basis for the talks between the Turkish state and the jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan. ”This is not what we mean when we talk about a legal basis or foundation for the talks or negotiations. It is not correct to portray it like this. A legal basis for the process cannot be prepared in this way”, he told journalists in Amed, reports ANF.
“Secondly, other articles of this draft bill are a serious threat to democratic principles, and will increase violations both of the security of the individual and of personal freedom.”
http://kurdishinstitute.be/english/human_rights/8281-demirtas-slams-mit-bill-and-promotes-democratic-autonomy.html
9. BDP voices concern over Turkish government's intel draft as Kurdish talks continue
24 February 2014 / HurriyetThe new law on the National Intelligence Agency (MİT) aims to introduce legal immunity to the agency’s officials negotiating a peace deal with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), according to a prominent Kurdish politician. Pervin Buldan, the parliamentary group leader of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), said the talks ongoing on İmrali Island with the PKK’s jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan, as well as with PKK’s representatives in the Kandil Mountains, are currently illegal. “If the process is disrupted there is no guarantee of what will happen to us,” she told daily Hürriyet.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/bdp-voices-concern-over-turkish-governments-intel-draft-as-kurdish-talks-continue.aspx?pageID=238&nID=62820&NewsCatID=338
10. Turkish gov't takes a step back on intel bill upon harsh criticism
23 February 2014 / HurriyetUpon strong criticism from the public and the opposition parties, the government has taken a few steps back regarding its bill to equip the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) with expanded powers.
After lengthy discussions on Feb. 22, the first day of debates over the bill, Parliament’s Internal Affairs Commission resumed debates on Feb. 23, with the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) indicating that it was willing to take the bill to the General Assembly this week.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-govt-takes-a-step-back-on-intel-bill-upon-harsh-criticism.aspx?pageID=238&nID=62813&NewsCatID=338
11. Reports of widespread wiretapping make waves in Ankara
24 February 2014 / HurriyetThousands of people, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, national intelligence chief Hakan Fidan and a wide range of journalists, academics, business leaders and NGO representatives, have been wiretapped for years by the police as part of different probes, Turkish media claimed Feb. 24. The reports prompted a top judicial body to open an internal investigation into the claims, but were dismissed by the prosecutor involved in the cases. The classified files on the wiretappings were found in the Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office by the new prosecutors who were assigned following mass purges in the judiciary, pro-government dailies Star and Yeni Şafak claimed in separate but similar reports.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/thousands-wiretapped-including-pm-erdogan-intel-chief-and-top-journalists-report.aspx?pageID=238&nID=62850&NewsCatID=338
12. Erdogan accuses rival Gulen as new leaked recording emerges
27 February 2014 / Al AkhbarTurkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday openly challenged his arch-rival, US-based Muslim cleric Fethullah Gulen, to return home as their feud deepened with a second leaked recording linking the premier to a corruption scandal.
In his first direct appeal to Gulen, Erdogan said: "If you have not done anything wrong, do not stay in Pennsylvania. If your homeland is Turkey, come back to your homeland."
"If you want to engage in politics, go out to the squares. But do not stir up this country. Do not disturb the peace of this country," he told a boisterous crowd of supporters in the southwestern city of Burdur.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/erdogan-accuses-rival-gulen-new-leaked-recording-emerges
13. Erdoğan adviser says Fethullah Gülen to be tried for fake recording
27 February 2014 / Asharq Al-AwsatThe people involved in producing and broadcasting an alleged recording of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan speaking with his son will be prosecuted, according to a senior advisor to the prime minister. That recording has made waves this week, the latest in a string of controversies that have crippled Erdoğan’s government since a corruption investigation into senior members of his party was launched on December 17.
http://www.aawsat.net/2014/02/article55329453
14. HDP local election campaigners attacked by crowd in Aegean town
23 February 2014 / HurriyetThe People’s Democratic Party’s (HDP) local election campaign team in İzmir’s Urla district were targeted Feb. 23 by a crowd of 1,000 people, who were chanting nationalist slogans. Several people were injured as a result of the incidents as police struggled to bring the groups under control. The crowd hurled stones as around 100 HDP members arrived in the town to stage a campaign event, preventing the bus carrying them entering Urla’s center.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/hdp-local-election-campaigners-attacked-by-crowd-in-aegean-town.aspx?pageID=238&nID=62827&NewsCatID=341
15. First communal Kurdish school in Turkey to open in Lice
27 February 2014 / ANFIn an article appearing on vivahiba.com, Musa Ataç has written about the first communal Kurdish school in Turkey, construction on which recently began in the district of Lice in Diyarbakir Province. According to the article, the people of Lice are developing an alternative practice around education and ‘free life.’ The youth of the village of Kerwas (Turkish: Yalaza) made the decision to open a communal school and recently began work on its foundation. The youth taking part in the project are involved in everything from the school’s construction to education itself.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/first-communal-kurdish-school-in-turkey-to-open-in-lice.htm
16. Policy Experts Warn Obama That Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan Is Intent Upon “Diminishing the Rule of Law” — “Undermining Democracy”
23 February 2014 / Peace and FreedomA group of over 80 bipartisan lawmakers and foreign policy wonks are appealing to US President Barack Obama to take a more forceful, public stand against Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s efforts to “diminish the rule of law” and “undermine democracy.” The letter, whose existence was first reported on by The Daily Beast online news site, comes during tense times in Turkey, with Erdogan conducting a shake-up of the law enforcement and judicial establishments in order to shore up his hold on power.
http://johnib.wordpress.com/2014/02/23/policy-experts-warn-obama-that-turkeys-prime-minister-recep-tayyip-erdogan-is-intent-upon-diminishing-the-rule-of-law-undermining-democracy/
17. Interview with Afrin Canton VP: There is freedom in this model
25 February 2014 / ANFWith nearly one month now having passed since the proclamation of autonomy Abdulhamid Mustafa, the Vice-President of the Efrin Canton and an Arab, sat down with ANF and spoke about the model of democratic autonomy and its role in bringing democracy to the region. According to Mustafa “the Rojava autonomous governments are a decision to cheat the death that the capitalist system had prepared for the people and to begin a life of freedom.”
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/afrin-canton-vp-there-is-freedom-in-this-model.htm
18. Kurds Expel Radical Militants from Ancient Town in Syria
24 February 2014 / Fars News AgencyAccording to reports, Kurdish fighters from the Committees for the Protection of the Kurdish People (YPG) expelled all elements of Al-Qaeda’s al-Nusra Front, former Al-Qaeda representative in Syria, the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant, as well as militants from the Ahrar al-Sham armed group, Al-Alam reported.
Tell Brak is a settlement mound in the Upper Khabur area in Al-Hasakah Governorate, Northeastern Syria. Fighting in the area started on Friday after Kurdish fighters attacked militant bases in the town.
http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13921205001211
19. YPG Announces Suspension of Military Operations in Syria’s Kurdish Regions
28 February 2014 / RudawThe dominant military force in Syria’s Kurdish regions said it was halting military operations against Islamic extremist groups, following apparent allegations of arrests and human rights violations against local residents after an offensive on the town of Tal Barak. The People’s Protection Units (YPG) said in a statement it was suspending military operations in the three “cantons” of Cizire, Kobani and Afrin, created in the northeast last month by its political overseer, the Democratic Union Party (PYD).
The YPG said its decision was aimed at avoiding Kurdish-Arab tensions, which apparently rose following an offensive last week in which the Kurdish forces wrested control of Tal Barak from the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/syria/27022014
20. Rojava will greet March 8th with women’s laws
26 February 2014 / ANFWomen have played a major role in every phase of the Rojava Revolution, and with the proclamation of autonomy women are receiving legal guarantees of their rights.
Following the Cizîre Canton’s proclamation of autonomy last month the Women’s Legislative Committee was formed in order to draw up laws with the goal of promoting gender equality. The committee, which is composed of 25 people from various women’s organizations, is set to present 39 amendments to the canton government upon their finalization.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/rojava-will-greet-march-8th-with-women-s-laws.htm
Minority Kurds promote cultural diversity amid Syria's civil war (VIDEO)
25 February 2014 / Your Middle EastWhile fighting to reclaim their own cultural and political rights, Kurdish communities in Syria encourage others to defend peaceful co-existence. Thousands of Kurdish school kids in Syria’s Kurdish region took to the streets on International Mother Language Day to promote cultural diversity and multilingualism amid the ongoing sectarian civil war.
International Mother Language Day is a UNESCO sponsored annual observance day, although passing unnoticed in many countries around the world for school kids here in Syria’s Kurdish north it was a nationwide event celebrated in various forms.
http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/features/minority-kurds-promote-cultural-diversity-amid-syrias-civil-war_21854
21. Sînem Mihemed In Norway To Draw Attention To Rojava
21 February 2014 / Rojava ReportSînem Mihemed, the co-president of Rojava’s People’s Assembly, is currently in Norway in order to draw attention to the revolution in Rojava and the project of democratic autonomy. According to an article appearing in Yeni Özgür Politika written by Baran Adıyaman, Mihemed’s visit was organized by Roja Darian, the president of the Kurdistan group with the Norwegian Labor Party, and Mihemed has been accompanied during her visit by Serbest Welat, a member of the PYD Commission in Norway.
http://rojavareport.wordpress.com/2014/02/21/sinem-mihemed-in-norway-to-draw-attention-to-rojava/
22. Rojava Model On Agenda In Swedish Parliament
21 February 2014 / Kurdish InfoThe debate follows the release of the Swedish Government’s 2014 Foreign Policy Declaration as different parties within parliament are offering their views on Swedish foreign policy. Bodil Cebellos, the foreign-policy spokesperson of the Environmental Party/The Greens, referred to the proclamation of Democratic Autonomy in Rojava by saying that it could “cut the Gordian knot in Syria.” Rojava is one of many topics currently under discussion, including the crisis in Ukraine, NSA spying in Europe and Swedish government cooperation, and the Swedish role in NATO operations in Afghanistan.
http://www.kurdishinfo.com/rojava-model-agenda-swedish-parliament
23. Reza Barati's family: 'We want answers. What did they do to him?'
27 February 2014 The GuardianThe family of the Iranian asylum seeker killed during unrest in a Papua New Guinea detention centre have said they want answers from the Australian government on what happened to him in their custody.
The 23-year-old Reza Barati lost his life after sustaining “multiple head injuries” when violence broke out between asylum seekers and guards earlier this month. He was transferred to Manus Island following his arrival in Australia in July.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/27/reza-baratis-family-we-want-answers-what-did-they-do-to-him
COMMENT, OPINION AND ANALYSIS
24. Can Turkey handle free and fair elections?
26 February 2014 / Open DemocracySince the initiation of the graft probe on December 17, 2013 that forced four ministers to resign and PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan to reshuffle his cabinet, the AKP government has been fervently pushing through laws that have been provoking widespread reactions not only in Turkey but also in Europe and the US. Taken onto the agenda with unprecedented haste, these changes give sweeping additional powers to government, expanding executive control over key institutions ahead of the crucial elections in 2014.
http://www.opendemocracy.net/arab-awakening/halil-gurhanli/can-turkey-handle-free-and-fair-elections
25. Why are emerging markets in political turmoil?
24 February 2014 / HurriyetThe fighting between Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Islamic cleric Fethullah Gülen seems to have come to a halt. Investors are happy, as they feel that the conflict has been resolved for good, with Erdoğan having emerged victorious.
They could be making a fatal mistake. Maybe, we are just in the middle of a temporary ceasefire in trench warfare. This paper’s editor-in-chief Murat Yetkin, who is known to be well-connected in Ankara, argues that the second round will kick off after March 2, the deadline for replacing candidates for the upcoming local elections.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/why-are-emerging-markets-in-political-turmoil.aspx?pageID=238&nID=62837&NewsCatID=430
26. The Interwoven Worlds of Yaşar Kemal and Slim Memed
20 February 2014 / YabangeeBefore Orhan Pamuk came to prominence in the West and launched Turkey once more into the international literary scene, Yaşar Kemal was Turkey’s best known writer, nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times since 1973. A Turkish writer of Kurdish origin, he has been compared by many to Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. He is known for combining the folk stories and legends of the Çukurova plain of southern Turkey with the Turkish vernacular of the region, thus recreating the Turkish that was spoken by Turks before the purification of Turkish by Atatürk.
http://yabangee.com/2014/02/the-interwoven-worlds-of-yasar-kemal-and-slim-memed/
27. The Kurds and Rojava, State-Building in the Syrian War
10 February 2014 / Red AnalysisBefore to look at the Geneva Conference in general and to evaluate our scenarios and indicators, we need to understand all changes on the ground. Over the Autumn and Winter we have witnessed a major reconfiguration of forces in Syria, as seen in the last post with the rise of Salafi-Nationalists. We shall today look at the evolution that took place in Western Kurdistan, notably the birth of novel political institutions, Rojava, and how and why Kurds relate to the Geneva conference, before turning (forthcoming post) to the last Sunni alliance to emerge the Syrian Revolutionaries Front and to the National Coalition.
https://www.redanalysis.org/2014/02/10/creating-rojava/
28. Rojava: Kurdish revolution in Syria
19 February 2014 / FRFIRojava is the Western (Syrian) part of Kurdistan with a population of three million. Despite its relatively small size in terms of area and population, Rojava is today under attack by the reactionary and colonial forces in the Middle East. Embargoes are imposed and neighbouring countries try to isolate Rojava by closing borders. Puppet gangs are carrying out massacres. Between 1920 and 1946, when Syria was occupied by France, the national rights of the Kurds were not recognised. Nothing changed after the withdrawal of the French in 1946. The new Syrian government denied the Kurdish people their rights and they were considered as ‘foreigners living in the region’, without rights to education, property and movement.
http://www.revolutionarycommunist.org/index.php/international/3439-rk190214
29. The People’s Rule: An Interview With Saleh Muslim, Part I
27 February 2014 / Carnegie Endowment for PeaceIn 2003, Saleh Muslim Mohammed was a founding member of the Democratic Union Party, better known by its Kurdish acronym PYD, which is the largest Kurdish party in Syria. In 2010, he was elected party chairman. When the PYD established a gender-balanced double chairpersonship in 2012, he continued as one of two co-chairs alongside his female counterpart, Asya Abdullah.
http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=54675
30. Knocking On Every Door: An Interview With Saleh Muslim, Part II
28 February 2014 / Carnegie Endowment for PeaceThe PYD says it supports a negotiated transition, but it boycotted the Geneva II conference for peace in Syria. Why?We wanted to go, but . . . [those organizing the conference] didn’t allow us. If you invite somebody to come, you have to invite them in accordance with their identity. We would like to go there identified as Kurdish people, saying that the delegation has one member of the Kurdish people representing the Kurds. But they didn’t allow us to do this. But we are ready to join Geneva II or Geneva III anytime—as soon as they accept the Kurdish being.
http://carnegieendowment.org/syriaincrisis/?fa=54693
31. Window on Westminster
25 February 2014 / RudawThe decision by the influential Foreign Affairs Select Committee in the British Parliament to initiate an in-depth and comprehensive inquiry into all aspects of the Kurdistan Region is a triumph for all those who have long argued for the need to increase understanding between the UK and the Kurdistan Region.
The news of the inquiry follows two major parliamentary debates in a year on the Kurdish genocide, which was formally recognised as such by Parliament, and a more recent and general debate on Anglo-Kurdish links. The latter debate allowed MPs in the all-party group to ventilate the key recommendations of a visit last November. One of the key recommendations was a Foreign Affairs Committee inquiry.
http://rudaw.net/english/opinion/25022014
Rojava: Kurdish revolution in Syria, FRFI - and public meeting on Fri 28 Feb.
http://www.revolutionarycommunist.org/index.php/international/3439-rk190214
The RCG will be holding a public meeting about the revolution in Rojava and imperialism in Syria, in association with the MLKP. Imperialism out of the Middle East: Syria, Rojava and Kurdish Revolution - Friday 28th February, 19:30 at the Gik Der centre, 3 Victorian Grove, N16 8EN.
Rojava: Kurdish revolution in Syria
Created on Wednesday, 19 February 2014 12:29
2Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 237 February/March 2014
Rojava is the Western (Syrian) part of Kurdistan with a population of three million. Despite its relatively small size in terms of area and population, Rojava is today under attack by the reactionary and colonial forces in the Middle East. Embargoes are imposed and neighbouring countries try to isolate Rojava by closing borders. Puppet gangs are carrying out massacres.
Between 1920 and 1946, when Syria was occupied by France, the national rights of the Kurds were not recognised. Nothing changed after the withdrawal of the French in 1946. The new Syrian government denied the Kurdish people their rights and they were considered as ‘foreigners living in the region’, without rights to education, property and movement.
In 1963, the Ba’ath Party took the control of the country by a coup d’état and declared Syria an ‘Arab country’. Kurds were considered to be migrants from Turkey and Kurdish identity was banned. Original Kurdish names of villages and cities were changed. Kurds were forced to live as refugees in their own land. However, these Kurds have now taken matters into their own hands.
The first uprising and the revolution
The Kurds in Rojava first rose up in March 2004 but they were brutally suppressed. Despite the defeat, the Kurds continued to organise. There were about 16 Kurdish political organisations in Syria. Many members of these organisations were imprisoned by the Ba’ath regime and some members were forced into exile.
In the current civil war in Syria, which was initiated with the support of the imperialist powers and reactionary regional forces, the Kurds have neither sided with the Ba’ath government nor with the imperialists. They have developed their movement as the alternative to both: the democratic revolutionary path.
The first organisational work to seize power began in Derik. It then spread to other Kurdish cities. Three months before Kurdish people took control of the state institutions in their area, the agricultural lands in Kobane, which were seized by the Syrian state many years ago, were recaptured by the people. This achievement raised the morale of the people and they gained strength. On 19 July 2012, the people in Kobane took control of the Syrian state’s central tobacco sale facility, located just outside the city. The people of Kobane resisted to the death against the intervention of the state security forces. After that day, the armed forces formed by the people – the People’s Protection Units (Yekineyen Parastina Gel (YPG)) – took over all the state institutions and control of the city’s borders.
The Syrian government could not do much to prevent the Kurdish people’s moves as it was engaged in civil war against forces like Jabhat Al Nusra and the Free Syrian Army.
Following the uprising in Kobane the YPG forces, under the leadership of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Rojavan Movement of Democratic Society (TEV-DEM), liberated nine cities, dozens of towns and many villages, and reached the Derik district. The status of autonomy was announced and the Kurdish leadership, with the support of the people, started the social construction process. Together with other peoples of the region like Arabs, Yazidis and Assyrians, who also fled the atrocities in other parts of Syria, the Kurdish forces built defence systems.
TEV-DEM consists of PYD, the women’s movement Yekitiya Star, several youth and student movements, cultural institutions, shopkeepers’ associations and representatives of all other sections of society. Other than Kurds, there are also Arabs, Assyrians, Keldanis, Armenians and Christians represented in TEV-DEM and YPG.
The model of administration in Rojava
Rojava consists of three main regions: Cizire, Kobane and Efrin. There are working committees affiliated to the Supreme Kurdish Council, governing the autonomous region. The economy, politics, culture and social life are self-governed by the people. The people in Rojava have developed a structure, which could be an example for the whole of the Middle East: a model of administration from below, wherein people actively participate.
The YPG is the biggest military force in the region. Women constitute more than half of the YPG forces. Security is provided by an armed force formed by the people themselves. The units responsible for security and traffic in cities are formed outside of the YPG. They are accountable to the People’s Assemblies and academies have been built for their education.
In all the cities of Rojava, there are councils called ‘Mala Gel’; their members are elected. Mala Gel is a sort of local council and most of its activities are directed by People’s Assemblies, which are formed within the structure of Mala Gels and local problems are solved through these Assemblies.
Trade unions and occupational bodies represent another area in the process of institutionalisation in Rojava. The Union of Tailors, the Union of Electricians and the Union of Health Workers are some of the organisations. The importance of unions in the process of democratisation is emphasised in Rojava.
Rojava revolution is the revolution of oppressed peoples
The Rojava Revolution, led by Kurds and supported by Assyrians, many Arab socialists and democrats, Muslims and Christians, Sunnis and Alawites is the revolution of all oppressed classes and peoples.
All other uprisings, resisting dictatorial governments in the Middle East, so far have become open to imperialist interventions because they lacked organisation, a project for the future and self-belief. But the Rojavan revolution has everything that was missing in the other uprisings. Today, Rojava is organised as a state of the oppressed peoples. It is free and not under the control of any regional or imperialist power. All land and properties in Rojava belong to the people and not to individuals. What is being produced is being shared according to everyone’s labour and needs.
60% of Syrian oil is in Rojava. This is why the western imperialists and reactionary forces treat the PYD with one hand as the representative body they would negotiate with in the future. But with the other hand, they try to destroy it.
Massacres, bombings, kidnapping of women and children, rape, plunder and destruction carried out by Jabhat Al Nusra and Free Syrian Army forces continue in Rojava. Sabotage, border closure, embargoes and attempts to divide the Kurds internally are the other type of attacks. Turkey, Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan have imposed a blockade on Rojava. Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan prevented the passage of humanitarian aid. Under pressure from the people in Iraqi Kurdistan the embargo has been relaxed by the Barzani-led establishment. The forces against the Rojavan revolution are trying to force the people in Rojava to their knees in order to push them into a collaborationist position. The attacks are also intended to prevent international solidarity and to isolate Rojava.
Rojava revolution is a women’s revolution!
Women play an active and crucial part in Rojava and they are involved both in the armed forces and social organisations. The Rojavan revolution is the organised action of women for freedom. Before the revolution the women were oppressed both by the Ba’ath regime and the feudal conditions dominating in the region. Now there are women’s academies and centres everywhere, where the next generation of women cadres and leaders are being educated. The People’s Assemblies also have women’s assemblies within their structure. Women’s Security Units protect women in cities. When women have judicial problems or criminal issues to report, they first go to these units. The number of women at work is high compared with other regions of Kurdistan. The number of women in state institutions is rapidly increasing.
These developments in Rojava scare the regional dictatorships and reactionary forces as well as the imperialist countries. For the people of Rojava have given hope to all the people in the Middle East. The possibility of the Rojavan revolution spreading terrifies the rulers. The Kurdish ruling classes are also frightened because the revolution also threatens their historical rule. That is why Barzani’s Kurdish Regional Government (in northern Iraq) has such enmity for Rojava.
International solidarity
The Kurdish struggle in Rojava is a struggle for all the Kurds in the region. Rojava is the fire of a nation longing for democracy. It is the women resisting slavery and defending their freedom. It is the struggle of workers and labourers for a life in dignity. And that is why solidarity with Rojava is a duty of all revolutionary and progressive people around the world. The countries imposing the blockade on Rojava, supporting the terrorist gangs and the imperialist countries which are covertly involved in attacks on Rojava, have to be opposed.
Serkan Yılmaz
Atılım (socialist weekly newspaper in Turkey)
The RCG will be holding a public meeting about the revolution in Rojava and imperialism in Syria, in association with the MLKP. Imperialism out of the Middle East: Syria, Rojava and Kurdish Revolution - Friday 28th February, 19:30 at the Gik Der centre, 3 Victorian Grove, N16 8EN.
Click the link or email frfieastlondon@gmail.com for more details.
The RCG will be holding a public meeting about the revolution in Rojava and imperialism in Syria, in association with the MLKP. Imperialism out of the Middle East: Syria, Rojava and Kurdish Revolution - Friday 28th February, 19:30 at the Gik Der centre, 3 Victorian Grove, N16 8EN.
Rojava: Kurdish revolution in Syria
Created on Wednesday, 19 February 2014 12:29
2Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! 237 February/March 2014
Rojava is the Western (Syrian) part of Kurdistan with a population of three million. Despite its relatively small size in terms of area and population, Rojava is today under attack by the reactionary and colonial forces in the Middle East. Embargoes are imposed and neighbouring countries try to isolate Rojava by closing borders. Puppet gangs are carrying out massacres.
Between 1920 and 1946, when Syria was occupied by France, the national rights of the Kurds were not recognised. Nothing changed after the withdrawal of the French in 1946. The new Syrian government denied the Kurdish people their rights and they were considered as ‘foreigners living in the region’, without rights to education, property and movement.
In 1963, the Ba’ath Party took the control of the country by a coup d’état and declared Syria an ‘Arab country’. Kurds were considered to be migrants from Turkey and Kurdish identity was banned. Original Kurdish names of villages and cities were changed. Kurds were forced to live as refugees in their own land. However, these Kurds have now taken matters into their own hands.
The first uprising and the revolution
The Kurds in Rojava first rose up in March 2004 but they were brutally suppressed. Despite the defeat, the Kurds continued to organise. There were about 16 Kurdish political organisations in Syria. Many members of these organisations were imprisoned by the Ba’ath regime and some members were forced into exile.
In the current civil war in Syria, which was initiated with the support of the imperialist powers and reactionary regional forces, the Kurds have neither sided with the Ba’ath government nor with the imperialists. They have developed their movement as the alternative to both: the democratic revolutionary path.
The first organisational work to seize power began in Derik. It then spread to other Kurdish cities. Three months before Kurdish people took control of the state institutions in their area, the agricultural lands in Kobane, which were seized by the Syrian state many years ago, were recaptured by the people. This achievement raised the morale of the people and they gained strength. On 19 July 2012, the people in Kobane took control of the Syrian state’s central tobacco sale facility, located just outside the city. The people of Kobane resisted to the death against the intervention of the state security forces. After that day, the armed forces formed by the people – the People’s Protection Units (Yekineyen Parastina Gel (YPG)) – took over all the state institutions and control of the city’s borders.
The Syrian government could not do much to prevent the Kurdish people’s moves as it was engaged in civil war against forces like Jabhat Al Nusra and the Free Syrian Army.
Following the uprising in Kobane the YPG forces, under the leadership of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Rojavan Movement of Democratic Society (TEV-DEM), liberated nine cities, dozens of towns and many villages, and reached the Derik district. The status of autonomy was announced and the Kurdish leadership, with the support of the people, started the social construction process. Together with other peoples of the region like Arabs, Yazidis and Assyrians, who also fled the atrocities in other parts of Syria, the Kurdish forces built defence systems.
TEV-DEM consists of PYD, the women’s movement Yekitiya Star, several youth and student movements, cultural institutions, shopkeepers’ associations and representatives of all other sections of society. Other than Kurds, there are also Arabs, Assyrians, Keldanis, Armenians and Christians represented in TEV-DEM and YPG.
The model of administration in Rojava
Rojava consists of three main regions: Cizire, Kobane and Efrin. There are working committees affiliated to the Supreme Kurdish Council, governing the autonomous region. The economy, politics, culture and social life are self-governed by the people. The people in Rojava have developed a structure, which could be an example for the whole of the Middle East: a model of administration from below, wherein people actively participate.
The YPG is the biggest military force in the region. Women constitute more than half of the YPG forces. Security is provided by an armed force formed by the people themselves. The units responsible for security and traffic in cities are formed outside of the YPG. They are accountable to the People’s Assemblies and academies have been built for their education.
In all the cities of Rojava, there are councils called ‘Mala Gel’; their members are elected. Mala Gel is a sort of local council and most of its activities are directed by People’s Assemblies, which are formed within the structure of Mala Gels and local problems are solved through these Assemblies.
Trade unions and occupational bodies represent another area in the process of institutionalisation in Rojava. The Union of Tailors, the Union of Electricians and the Union of Health Workers are some of the organisations. The importance of unions in the process of democratisation is emphasised in Rojava.
Rojava revolution is the revolution of oppressed peoples
The Rojava Revolution, led by Kurds and supported by Assyrians, many Arab socialists and democrats, Muslims and Christians, Sunnis and Alawites is the revolution of all oppressed classes and peoples.
All other uprisings, resisting dictatorial governments in the Middle East, so far have become open to imperialist interventions because they lacked organisation, a project for the future and self-belief. But the Rojavan revolution has everything that was missing in the other uprisings. Today, Rojava is organised as a state of the oppressed peoples. It is free and not under the control of any regional or imperialist power. All land and properties in Rojava belong to the people and not to individuals. What is being produced is being shared according to everyone’s labour and needs.
60% of Syrian oil is in Rojava. This is why the western imperialists and reactionary forces treat the PYD with one hand as the representative body they would negotiate with in the future. But with the other hand, they try to destroy it.
Massacres, bombings, kidnapping of women and children, rape, plunder and destruction carried out by Jabhat Al Nusra and Free Syrian Army forces continue in Rojava. Sabotage, border closure, embargoes and attempts to divide the Kurds internally are the other type of attacks. Turkey, Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan have imposed a blockade on Rojava. Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan prevented the passage of humanitarian aid. Under pressure from the people in Iraqi Kurdistan the embargo has been relaxed by the Barzani-led establishment. The forces against the Rojavan revolution are trying to force the people in Rojava to their knees in order to push them into a collaborationist position. The attacks are also intended to prevent international solidarity and to isolate Rojava.
Rojava revolution is a women’s revolution!
Women play an active and crucial part in Rojava and they are involved both in the armed forces and social organisations. The Rojavan revolution is the organised action of women for freedom. Before the revolution the women were oppressed both by the Ba’ath regime and the feudal conditions dominating in the region. Now there are women’s academies and centres everywhere, where the next generation of women cadres and leaders are being educated. The People’s Assemblies also have women’s assemblies within their structure. Women’s Security Units protect women in cities. When women have judicial problems or criminal issues to report, they first go to these units. The number of women at work is high compared with other regions of Kurdistan. The number of women in state institutions is rapidly increasing.
These developments in Rojava scare the regional dictatorships and reactionary forces as well as the imperialist countries. For the people of Rojava have given hope to all the people in the Middle East. The possibility of the Rojavan revolution spreading terrifies the rulers. The Kurdish ruling classes are also frightened because the revolution also threatens their historical rule. That is why Barzani’s Kurdish Regional Government (in northern Iraq) has such enmity for Rojava.
International solidarity
The Kurdish struggle in Rojava is a struggle for all the Kurds in the region. Rojava is the fire of a nation longing for democracy. It is the women resisting slavery and defending their freedom. It is the struggle of workers and labourers for a life in dignity. And that is why solidarity with Rojava is a duty of all revolutionary and progressive people around the world. The countries imposing the blockade on Rojava, supporting the terrorist gangs and the imperialist countries which are covertly involved in attacks on Rojava, have to be opposed.
Serkan Yılmaz
Atılım (socialist weekly newspaper in Turkey)
The RCG will be holding a public meeting about the revolution in Rojava and imperialism in Syria, in association with the MLKP. Imperialism out of the Middle East: Syria, Rojava and Kurdish Revolution - Friday 28th February, 19:30 at the Gik Der centre, 3 Victorian Grove, N16 8EN.
Click the link or email frfieastlondon@gmail.com for more details.
KURDISH NEWS WEEKLY BRIEFING, 8 14 February 2014
1. Abdullah Öcalan puts forward three proposals
13 February 2014 / ANFKurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan has made three proposals to enable the peace process to progress, calling for the negotiation stage to be initiated without delay. BDP MPs announced these proposals at a press conference in the Turkish Parliament.
BDP group chairs Pervin Buldan and İdris Baluken and Amed MP Altan Tan organised the press conference concerning the "current stage of the process of resolution and future developments". Pervin Buldan, stressing the importance of the process continuing to evolve, announced the proposals made by Mr Öcalan.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/abdullah-ocalan-puts-forward-three-proposals.htm <http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/abdullah-ocalan-puts-forward-three-proposals.htm>
2. “People's Platform" for Öcalan
11 February 2014 / ANFPeace and Democracy Party (BDP) Diyarbakır provincial organization will initiate a three days “People's Platform” program on 13 February to mark the 15th anniversary of the international conspiracy against Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan on 15 February 1999. The event which will take place under the slogan “I demand the freedom of my leader” will start with a press conference to be held the Batıkent Square in Amed on 13 February. In a statement about the event, BDP Amed provincial co-chair Zübeyde Zümrüt described 15 February as a “black day” for the Kurdish people, and underlined that the events and activities to be held at Batıkent Square will primarily give the message that the freedom of Öcalan, who has been jailed in İmralı High Security prison for 15 years, has become a must today.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/people-s-platform-for-ocalan.htm <http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/people-s-platform-for-ocalan.htm>
3. Imprisoned Kurdish leader demands legal status for peace talks
13 February 2014 / World BulletinA group of deputies from the pro-Kurdish party held a press conference on Thursday after they visited the jailed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan.
The deputies, consisted of Pervin Buldan, Idris Baluken, and Altan Tan from the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), told Abdullah Ocalan's new requests for the peace process.
Ocalan told the BDP deputies that he expected to begin the legal negotiations between the government and the Kurdish party to discuss main subjects.
Secondly, Ocalan said that the government should take steps constitutionally. The leader also said that he wanted a government delagation to visit him routinely.
http://www.worldbulletin.net/todays-news/128839/imprisoned-kurdish-leader-demands-legal-status-for-peace-talks
4. Ocelan asks Barzani to hold Kurdish National Conference soon
13 February 2014 / Bas NewsAt a press conference at the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) representative office in Erbil yesterday, independent Kurdish Member of Parliament Leyla Zana announced that the letter from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) jailed leader Abdullah Ocelan to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani was about the Kurdish National Conference (KNC). Both Zana and Sırrı Süreyya Önder, co-chair of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) revealed the purpose of their three-day visit to the Kurdistan region.
http://www.basnews.com/en/News/Details/Ocelan-asks-Barzani-to-hold-Kurdish-National-Conference-soon/12749
5. BDP MPs Hold Press Conference On Öcalan, Peace Process
13 February 2014 / Rojava ReportBDP MPs have held a press conference in the Turkish Parliament in Ankara. Pervin Buldan, İdris Baluken and Diyarbakir MP Altan Tan all took part. The MPs discussed the recent meetings with imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, ongoing negotiations with the state, and the fragile condition of the peace process more generally.
The MPs began by voicing their support for three proposals that Öcalan outlined in his most recent meeting on February 8th: the implementation of a legal framework for the negotiations, the formation of observatory bodies, and a permanent commission to oversee the negotiations along 8 general headings. The MPs also shared Öcalan’a warning to the government that certain groups were attempting to undermine the peace process.
http://rojavareport.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/bdp-mps-hold-press-conference-on-ocalan-peace-process/
6. Ocalan: Greater Democracy is the Solution for Turkey’s Kurdish Issue
13 February 2014 / RudawA general amnesty for fighters will not solve the Kurdish problem in Turkey, which must be resolved with greater democracy for the Kurds, said Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey.
His comments were aired by two Kurdish MPs in the Turkish parliament, Sirri Surreyya Onder and Leyla Zana, who recently visited Ocalan at his Imrali island prison.
“A general amnesty would not solve the Kurdish issue,” Ocalan was quoted as saying by Onder. “What solves the Kurdish issue is the guarantee of democracy for the Kurds in Turkey," he reportedly said.
http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/13022014
7. Turkish editor hits out at media coercion under Erdogan
11 February 2014 / Yavuz BaydarA prominent Turkish newspaper editor has openly decried government pressure on the media, saying journalists live in fear, in unusually blunt criticism of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s leadership months ahead of elections, reports Reuters.
Erdogan is facing one of the greatest challenges of his 11-year rule as he battles a graft scandal he sees as orchestrated to unseat him, triggering an open feud with an influential U.S.-based cleric whose followers say they number in the millions.
He has reacted by reassigning thousands of police officers and hundreds of prosecutors – 166 more of them on Tuesday – in a bid to cleanse the influence of the cleric, Fethullah Gulen, and by seeking tighter controls over the Internet, actions his critics say highlight his authoritarian instincts.
http://yavuzbaydar.wordpress.com/2014/02/11/turkish-editor-hits-out-at-media-coercion-under-erdogan/
CPJ: Turkey world's leading jailer of the press
14 February 2014 / ANFFor the second year in a row, Turkey was the world's leading jailer of the press, with 40 journalists behind bars, according to CPJ's annual prison census.
Authorities continued to harass and censor critical voices, firing and forcing the resignation of almost 60 reporters in connection with their coverage of anti-government protests in Gezi Park in June.
The government tried to censor coverage of sensitive events, threatened to restrict social media, and, in one case, used social media to wage a smear campaign against a journalist.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/cpj-turkey-world-s-leading-jailer-of-the-press.htm
8. Paris Investigation: Tensions Grow over Murder of Kurdish Activists
12 February 2014 / Der SpiegelDid Turkey's secret service order the killing of three Kurdistan Worker's Party activists in Paris last year? Suspicion is growing that it did, and Germany's domestic intelligence agency has curtailed its cooperation with the Turks as a result. The triple murders in January 2014 of Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) activists in Paris may ultimately emerge as one of the most audacious political killings to take place in Western Europe in years. New suspicions -- although they are still only that -- suggest there may be Turkish intelligence links to the slayings, a development that, if proven, could have serious repercussions for relations between Ankara and Europe. The case has numerous links to Germany, and officials here are closely monitoring the investigation as it unfolds in France.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/suspicions-grow-of-turkish-involvement-in-murder-of-pkk-activists-a-952734.html
9. Report: Germany Has Evidence of Turkish Hand in PKK Killings in France
10 February 2014 / RudawGerman security services have evidence that Turkish intelligence agents were behind the killing of three female activists of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Paris more than a year ago, Germany’s respected Der Spiegel weekly reported.
The magazine warns that Turkey’s relations with the European Union will be significantly affected if Ankara’s hand in the killings is proven, with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan likely to come under greater pressure.
http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/10022014
10. Kurdish-American relations deteriorate
4 February 2014 / Bas NewsKurdish president Massoud Barzani’s delayed visit to the US has appeared to many as another indication of the weakening ties between the Kurdistan Region and Washington. According to US political expert, professor Michael Gunter from Tennessee Technological University, this is the result of wrong calculations made by the White House toward the Kurds of Iraq. While Kurdish MP Mahmoud Othman encourages Kurds to voice their concerns through American media in order shed more light on the Kurdish question.
http://www.basnews.com/en/News/Details/Kurdish-American-relations-deteriorate/12049
11. U.S. Official: PDK and PUK to be removed from terrorist list soon
8 February 2014 / Bas NewsU.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iraq and Iran Brett McGurk has announced that Washington will soon remove the two major Kurdish parties in the Kurdistan region, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (PDK) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), from its list of foreign terrorist organizations. Last week, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani canceled his visit to Washington as a result of his opposition towards the White House’s policy to keep both his party, the PDK, as well as the PUK on the U.S. foreign terrorist organization list, despite the KRG being the U.S.’s strongest ally in the region over the last decade.
http://www.basnews.com/en/News/Details/US-Official--PDK-and-PUK-to-be-removed-from-terrorist-list-soon-/12367
12. Iraqi Kurds protest delays in forming new government
13 February 2014 / Press TVDemonstrations have been held in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region to criticize the delays in forming the new regional government. Citizens are threatening to ramp up their action if the government is not formed by the end of this month. The ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party has been blamed for the delay.
It’s almost five months since Kurdistan’s parliamentary election results were announced. The region’s second ruling party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, was relegated to third place when the opposition Change Movement won second place. There are reports that the anti-corruption Change Movement is so fed up of the delays that the party will refuse to join the new government if it's not formed by the end of this month.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/02/13/350559/iraqi-kurds-protest-delays-in-forming-new-government/
Weapons of alleged Turkish terrorist 'clean,' forensic experts say
13 February 2014 / EkathimeriniForensic experts of the Greek Police on Thursday said that the weapons found in a counter-terrorism squad raid on an Athens apartment on Monday that led to the arrest of four Turkish nationals are "clean," meaning that there is no ballistic evidence to suggest that they have been used in any crimes in the past.
The suspects, all Turkish Kurds aged 49, 41, 33 and 25, were arrested on Monday, following the raid on an apartment in the neighborhood of Gyzi, near central Athens.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_13/02/2014_537354
COMMENT, OPINION AND ANALYSIS
13. Special Report | Gender and justice in an emerging nation: My impressions of Rojava, Syrian Kurdistan
11 February 2014 / Ceasefire15 year-old Kadria cried as she told me that, top of her class in her school in Aleppo, she had set her heart on becoming a doctor. Without schooling for the last ten months, living with three other IDP (Internally displaced persons) families in a barely furnished two-room cold-water apartment in an unfinished building in Derek, Rojava, obviously malnourished and deeply depressed, she said she felt she had no future.
http://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/gender-justice-emerging-nation-impressions-rojava-syrian-kurdistan/ <http://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/gender-justice-emerging-nation-impressions-rojava-syrian-kurdistan/>
14. Kurds in Syria answer Geneva II with self-rule and co-existence
10 February 2014 / Your Middle East“People in this region of Syria have made this move to set an example for the rest of the country, persisting that we can be united and that decentralization can bring about democracy, diversity and peaceful co-existence for us all in Syria,” says Kurdish leader.
Kurds with other ethnic minorities announced amid the mayhem in Syria and on the eve of the Geneva II peace conference, the formation of three self-rule governments under the banner of “Democratic Autonomy” without an international approval.
http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/features/kurds-in-syria-answer-geneva-ii-with-selfrule-and-coexistence_21450<http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/features/kurds-in-syria-answer-geneva-ii-with-selfrule-and-coexistence_21450>
15. Syria’s Kurds initiate experiment in self-rule
30 January 2014 / Financial TimesThe long-oppressed Kurdish minority in Syria has begun an experiment in self-rule that will shake up the balance of power in an already volatile Middle East and potentially complicate Geneva peace talks to end the country’s civil war.
Last week, Syrian Kurds declared the establishment of the semi-autonomous region of Rojava, the Kurdish name for one of three departments in the oil-rich Jazeera, the northwestern corridor wedged between Iraq and Turkey. They named 22 cabinet ministers to a regional government based in the city of Qamishli, where hundreds of revellers poured into the streets for a flag-waving celebration on the eve of the Geneva talks.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/64e97c3e-8465-11e3-9710-00144feab7de.html#axzz2tILcoZIu <http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/64e97c3e-8465-11e3-9710-00144feab7de.html%23axzz2tILcoZIu>
16. In Chaos of Syria Conflict, Kurds’ Autonomy Rests on Shaky Ground
3 February 2014 / World Politics ReviewThe autonomous districts recently declared by many of Syria’s Kurds—who with some 2.2 million persons make up about 10 percent of Syria’s population—have potentially important implications for the deadlocked Syrian civil war that has been raging for almost three years. This struggle has increasingly drawn in the United States and Russia, as well as various regional parties, such as Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, among others. In addition, Syria itself has degenerated into a Hobbesian war of all against all as the various opposition factions—increasingly dominated by Sunni jihadists from abroad—have begun fighting among themselves as well as against the Assad regime.
http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/13541/in-chaos-of-syria-conflict-kurds-autonomy-rests-on-shaky-ground
17. Dec. 17, the settlement process and the Kurds
12 February 2014 / CihanWhen we look at the statements made about the corruption probe launched on Dec. 17, 2013, we can see that the Kurdish people have reacted differently to the extraordinary developments that we have experienced since the probe became public than people living in the western parts of the country. On the one hand, the Kurds have said that allegations of corruption should be investigated and that those who are involved in corruption should be brought to trial; on the other hand, they have also interpreted the corruption probe as an attempt to undermine the settlement process launched by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government to find a peaceful and political solution to the decades-old Kurdish dispute and the armed conflict. This is how the Kurdish community perceived the corruption probe.
http://en.cihan.com.tr/news/Dec-17-the-settlement-process-and-the-Kurds_8542-CHMTM1ODU0Mi81
18. Iraqi Kurdistan: Old structures, new realities
12 February 2014 / Al Jazeera Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has been in hospital in Germany for more than a year after he suffered a stroke in December 2012. Because of the highly restrictive access to his private place, nobody really knows how he is doing except for a few people including his immediate family members who claim his health condition is "improving".
If that is the case, then it is certainly not advisable for him to be informed of what his political party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), has become since he left Iraq. PUK is no longer the strong and united party that enjoyed the support of nearly half of Iraqi Kurds for decades. In 1992, it won 49 percent of the votes and would, for two decades, remain a neck-and-neck rival of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the tribal-based group of Mullah Mustafa Barzani from which it splintered in 1975.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/02/iraqi-kurdistan-old-structures--201421264244206457.html
19. The Iran Interim Deal: Responses, Potential Impacts, and Moving Forward
30 January 2014 / Sustainable SecurityImplementation of the interim deal with Iran, which freezes the country’s nuclear enrichment in exchange for limited sanctions relief, began last week. As an initial outcome of this deal, we are witnessing a substantial shift in diplomatic relations and relationships between Iran and its regional neighbours – some positive, some not. This deal marks a significant step for the international non-proliferation regime, but will it achieve the trust and confidence-building goals intended? As the US and Iran face increasing domestic pushback on the terms of the agreement, questions remain on the interim deal’s impact on relations in the region and abroad, and the effect these relations may have on the prospects of coming to a full comprehensive follow-up agreement between Iran and the P5+1 countries.
http://sustainablesecurity.org/2014/01/30/iran-interim-deal-responses-and-impact/
20. End the despair of detention for female asylum seekers: 'I saw what my mother went through'
10 February 2014 / GuardianLoud noises still make her shake, says Meltem Avcil – a legacy of the day, almost seven years ago, when immigration officers arrived at her house at 6am, banged on the door, and ordered her and her mother into detention. She was 13, and had been in the UK since she was eight, a Doncaster schoolgirl with dreams of becoming a doctor.
Mother and daughter packed up a few of their belongings before being driven in a caged van to Yarl's Wood in Bedfordshire, Britain's largest immigration removal centre for women. On arrival, a series of metal doors slammed behind them and Avcil found herself in a world of guards, roll calls and barbed wire, where the windows only opened a few inches.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/feb/10/end-despair-detention-female-asylum-seekers-yarls-wood <http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/feb/10/end-despair-detention-female-asylum-seekers-yarls-wood>
REPORTS
21. Syria Document: Opposition Proposal at Geneva II Conference, 13 February 2014.The proposal of the Syrian opposition at the Geneva II conference, presented on Monday to United Nations envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and immediately rejected by the Assad delegation.
http://eaworldview.com/2014/02/syria-document-opposition-proposal-geneva-ii-conference/
13 February 2014 / ANFKurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan has made three proposals to enable the peace process to progress, calling for the negotiation stage to be initiated without delay. BDP MPs announced these proposals at a press conference in the Turkish Parliament.
BDP group chairs Pervin Buldan and İdris Baluken and Amed MP Altan Tan organised the press conference concerning the "current stage of the process of resolution and future developments". Pervin Buldan, stressing the importance of the process continuing to evolve, announced the proposals made by Mr Öcalan.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/abdullah-ocalan-puts-forward-three-proposals.htm <http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/abdullah-ocalan-puts-forward-three-proposals.htm>
2. “People's Platform" for Öcalan
11 February 2014 / ANFPeace and Democracy Party (BDP) Diyarbakır provincial organization will initiate a three days “People's Platform” program on 13 February to mark the 15th anniversary of the international conspiracy against Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan on 15 February 1999. The event which will take place under the slogan “I demand the freedom of my leader” will start with a press conference to be held the Batıkent Square in Amed on 13 February. In a statement about the event, BDP Amed provincial co-chair Zübeyde Zümrüt described 15 February as a “black day” for the Kurdish people, and underlined that the events and activities to be held at Batıkent Square will primarily give the message that the freedom of Öcalan, who has been jailed in İmralı High Security prison for 15 years, has become a must today.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/people-s-platform-for-ocalan.htm <http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/people-s-platform-for-ocalan.htm>
3. Imprisoned Kurdish leader demands legal status for peace talks
13 February 2014 / World BulletinA group of deputies from the pro-Kurdish party held a press conference on Thursday after they visited the jailed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan.
The deputies, consisted of Pervin Buldan, Idris Baluken, and Altan Tan from the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), told Abdullah Ocalan's new requests for the peace process.
Ocalan told the BDP deputies that he expected to begin the legal negotiations between the government and the Kurdish party to discuss main subjects.
Secondly, Ocalan said that the government should take steps constitutionally. The leader also said that he wanted a government delagation to visit him routinely.
http://www.worldbulletin.net/todays-news/128839/imprisoned-kurdish-leader-demands-legal-status-for-peace-talks
4. Ocelan asks Barzani to hold Kurdish National Conference soon
13 February 2014 / Bas NewsAt a press conference at the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) representative office in Erbil yesterday, independent Kurdish Member of Parliament Leyla Zana announced that the letter from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) jailed leader Abdullah Ocelan to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani was about the Kurdish National Conference (KNC). Both Zana and Sırrı Süreyya Önder, co-chair of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) revealed the purpose of their three-day visit to the Kurdistan region.
http://www.basnews.com/en/News/Details/Ocelan-asks-Barzani-to-hold-Kurdish-National-Conference-soon/12749
5. BDP MPs Hold Press Conference On Öcalan, Peace Process
13 February 2014 / Rojava ReportBDP MPs have held a press conference in the Turkish Parliament in Ankara. Pervin Buldan, İdris Baluken and Diyarbakir MP Altan Tan all took part. The MPs discussed the recent meetings with imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, ongoing negotiations with the state, and the fragile condition of the peace process more generally.
The MPs began by voicing their support for three proposals that Öcalan outlined in his most recent meeting on February 8th: the implementation of a legal framework for the negotiations, the formation of observatory bodies, and a permanent commission to oversee the negotiations along 8 general headings. The MPs also shared Öcalan’a warning to the government that certain groups were attempting to undermine the peace process.
http://rojavareport.wordpress.com/2014/02/13/bdp-mps-hold-press-conference-on-ocalan-peace-process/
6. Ocalan: Greater Democracy is the Solution for Turkey’s Kurdish Issue
13 February 2014 / RudawA general amnesty for fighters will not solve the Kurdish problem in Turkey, which must be resolved with greater democracy for the Kurds, said Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey.
His comments were aired by two Kurdish MPs in the Turkish parliament, Sirri Surreyya Onder and Leyla Zana, who recently visited Ocalan at his Imrali island prison.
“A general amnesty would not solve the Kurdish issue,” Ocalan was quoted as saying by Onder. “What solves the Kurdish issue is the guarantee of democracy for the Kurds in Turkey," he reportedly said.
http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/13022014
7. Turkish editor hits out at media coercion under Erdogan
11 February 2014 / Yavuz BaydarA prominent Turkish newspaper editor has openly decried government pressure on the media, saying journalists live in fear, in unusually blunt criticism of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s leadership months ahead of elections, reports Reuters.
Erdogan is facing one of the greatest challenges of his 11-year rule as he battles a graft scandal he sees as orchestrated to unseat him, triggering an open feud with an influential U.S.-based cleric whose followers say they number in the millions.
He has reacted by reassigning thousands of police officers and hundreds of prosecutors – 166 more of them on Tuesday – in a bid to cleanse the influence of the cleric, Fethullah Gulen, and by seeking tighter controls over the Internet, actions his critics say highlight his authoritarian instincts.
http://yavuzbaydar.wordpress.com/2014/02/11/turkish-editor-hits-out-at-media-coercion-under-erdogan/
CPJ: Turkey world's leading jailer of the press
14 February 2014 / ANFFor the second year in a row, Turkey was the world's leading jailer of the press, with 40 journalists behind bars, according to CPJ's annual prison census.
Authorities continued to harass and censor critical voices, firing and forcing the resignation of almost 60 reporters in connection with their coverage of anti-government protests in Gezi Park in June.
The government tried to censor coverage of sensitive events, threatened to restrict social media, and, in one case, used social media to wage a smear campaign against a journalist.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/cpj-turkey-world-s-leading-jailer-of-the-press.htm
8. Paris Investigation: Tensions Grow over Murder of Kurdish Activists
12 February 2014 / Der SpiegelDid Turkey's secret service order the killing of three Kurdistan Worker's Party activists in Paris last year? Suspicion is growing that it did, and Germany's domestic intelligence agency has curtailed its cooperation with the Turks as a result. The triple murders in January 2014 of Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) activists in Paris may ultimately emerge as one of the most audacious political killings to take place in Western Europe in years. New suspicions -- although they are still only that -- suggest there may be Turkish intelligence links to the slayings, a development that, if proven, could have serious repercussions for relations between Ankara and Europe. The case has numerous links to Germany, and officials here are closely monitoring the investigation as it unfolds in France.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/suspicions-grow-of-turkish-involvement-in-murder-of-pkk-activists-a-952734.html
9. Report: Germany Has Evidence of Turkish Hand in PKK Killings in France
10 February 2014 / RudawGerman security services have evidence that Turkish intelligence agents were behind the killing of three female activists of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Paris more than a year ago, Germany’s respected Der Spiegel weekly reported.
The magazine warns that Turkey’s relations with the European Union will be significantly affected if Ankara’s hand in the killings is proven, with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan likely to come under greater pressure.
http://rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/10022014
10. Kurdish-American relations deteriorate
4 February 2014 / Bas NewsKurdish president Massoud Barzani’s delayed visit to the US has appeared to many as another indication of the weakening ties between the Kurdistan Region and Washington. According to US political expert, professor Michael Gunter from Tennessee Technological University, this is the result of wrong calculations made by the White House toward the Kurds of Iraq. While Kurdish MP Mahmoud Othman encourages Kurds to voice their concerns through American media in order shed more light on the Kurdish question.
http://www.basnews.com/en/News/Details/Kurdish-American-relations-deteriorate/12049
11. U.S. Official: PDK and PUK to be removed from terrorist list soon
8 February 2014 / Bas NewsU.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iraq and Iran Brett McGurk has announced that Washington will soon remove the two major Kurdish parties in the Kurdistan region, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (PDK) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), from its list of foreign terrorist organizations. Last week, Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani canceled his visit to Washington as a result of his opposition towards the White House’s policy to keep both his party, the PDK, as well as the PUK on the U.S. foreign terrorist organization list, despite the KRG being the U.S.’s strongest ally in the region over the last decade.
http://www.basnews.com/en/News/Details/US-Official--PDK-and-PUK-to-be-removed-from-terrorist-list-soon-/12367
12. Iraqi Kurds protest delays in forming new government
13 February 2014 / Press TVDemonstrations have been held in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region to criticize the delays in forming the new regional government. Citizens are threatening to ramp up their action if the government is not formed by the end of this month. The ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party has been blamed for the delay.
It’s almost five months since Kurdistan’s parliamentary election results were announced. The region’s second ruling party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, was relegated to third place when the opposition Change Movement won second place. There are reports that the anti-corruption Change Movement is so fed up of the delays that the party will refuse to join the new government if it's not formed by the end of this month.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/02/13/350559/iraqi-kurds-protest-delays-in-forming-new-government/
Weapons of alleged Turkish terrorist 'clean,' forensic experts say
13 February 2014 / EkathimeriniForensic experts of the Greek Police on Thursday said that the weapons found in a counter-terrorism squad raid on an Athens apartment on Monday that led to the arrest of four Turkish nationals are "clean," meaning that there is no ballistic evidence to suggest that they have been used in any crimes in the past.
The suspects, all Turkish Kurds aged 49, 41, 33 and 25, were arrested on Monday, following the raid on an apartment in the neighborhood of Gyzi, near central Athens.
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_13/02/2014_537354
COMMENT, OPINION AND ANALYSIS
13. Special Report | Gender and justice in an emerging nation: My impressions of Rojava, Syrian Kurdistan
11 February 2014 / Ceasefire15 year-old Kadria cried as she told me that, top of her class in her school in Aleppo, she had set her heart on becoming a doctor. Without schooling for the last ten months, living with three other IDP (Internally displaced persons) families in a barely furnished two-room cold-water apartment in an unfinished building in Derek, Rojava, obviously malnourished and deeply depressed, she said she felt she had no future.
http://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/gender-justice-emerging-nation-impressions-rojava-syrian-kurdistan/ <http://ceasefiremagazine.co.uk/gender-justice-emerging-nation-impressions-rojava-syrian-kurdistan/>
14. Kurds in Syria answer Geneva II with self-rule and co-existence
10 February 2014 / Your Middle East“People in this region of Syria have made this move to set an example for the rest of the country, persisting that we can be united and that decentralization can bring about democracy, diversity and peaceful co-existence for us all in Syria,” says Kurdish leader.
Kurds with other ethnic minorities announced amid the mayhem in Syria and on the eve of the Geneva II peace conference, the formation of three self-rule governments under the banner of “Democratic Autonomy” without an international approval.
http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/features/kurds-in-syria-answer-geneva-ii-with-selfrule-and-coexistence_21450<http://www.yourmiddleeast.com/features/kurds-in-syria-answer-geneva-ii-with-selfrule-and-coexistence_21450>
15. Syria’s Kurds initiate experiment in self-rule
30 January 2014 / Financial TimesThe long-oppressed Kurdish minority in Syria has begun an experiment in self-rule that will shake up the balance of power in an already volatile Middle East and potentially complicate Geneva peace talks to end the country’s civil war.
Last week, Syrian Kurds declared the establishment of the semi-autonomous region of Rojava, the Kurdish name for one of three departments in the oil-rich Jazeera, the northwestern corridor wedged between Iraq and Turkey. They named 22 cabinet ministers to a regional government based in the city of Qamishli, where hundreds of revellers poured into the streets for a flag-waving celebration on the eve of the Geneva talks.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/64e97c3e-8465-11e3-9710-00144feab7de.html#axzz2tILcoZIu <http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/64e97c3e-8465-11e3-9710-00144feab7de.html%23axzz2tILcoZIu>
16. In Chaos of Syria Conflict, Kurds’ Autonomy Rests on Shaky Ground
3 February 2014 / World Politics ReviewThe autonomous districts recently declared by many of Syria’s Kurds—who with some 2.2 million persons make up about 10 percent of Syria’s population—have potentially important implications for the deadlocked Syrian civil war that has been raging for almost three years. This struggle has increasingly drawn in the United States and Russia, as well as various regional parties, such as Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, among others. In addition, Syria itself has degenerated into a Hobbesian war of all against all as the various opposition factions—increasingly dominated by Sunni jihadists from abroad—have begun fighting among themselves as well as against the Assad regime.
http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/13541/in-chaos-of-syria-conflict-kurds-autonomy-rests-on-shaky-ground
17. Dec. 17, the settlement process and the Kurds
12 February 2014 / CihanWhen we look at the statements made about the corruption probe launched on Dec. 17, 2013, we can see that the Kurdish people have reacted differently to the extraordinary developments that we have experienced since the probe became public than people living in the western parts of the country. On the one hand, the Kurds have said that allegations of corruption should be investigated and that those who are involved in corruption should be brought to trial; on the other hand, they have also interpreted the corruption probe as an attempt to undermine the settlement process launched by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government to find a peaceful and political solution to the decades-old Kurdish dispute and the armed conflict. This is how the Kurdish community perceived the corruption probe.
http://en.cihan.com.tr/news/Dec-17-the-settlement-process-and-the-Kurds_8542-CHMTM1ODU0Mi81
18. Iraqi Kurdistan: Old structures, new realities
12 February 2014 / Al Jazeera Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has been in hospital in Germany for more than a year after he suffered a stroke in December 2012. Because of the highly restrictive access to his private place, nobody really knows how he is doing except for a few people including his immediate family members who claim his health condition is "improving".
If that is the case, then it is certainly not advisable for him to be informed of what his political party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), has become since he left Iraq. PUK is no longer the strong and united party that enjoyed the support of nearly half of Iraqi Kurds for decades. In 1992, it won 49 percent of the votes and would, for two decades, remain a neck-and-neck rival of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the tribal-based group of Mullah Mustafa Barzani from which it splintered in 1975.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/02/iraqi-kurdistan-old-structures--201421264244206457.html
19. The Iran Interim Deal: Responses, Potential Impacts, and Moving Forward
30 January 2014 / Sustainable SecurityImplementation of the interim deal with Iran, which freezes the country’s nuclear enrichment in exchange for limited sanctions relief, began last week. As an initial outcome of this deal, we are witnessing a substantial shift in diplomatic relations and relationships between Iran and its regional neighbours – some positive, some not. This deal marks a significant step for the international non-proliferation regime, but will it achieve the trust and confidence-building goals intended? As the US and Iran face increasing domestic pushback on the terms of the agreement, questions remain on the interim deal’s impact on relations in the region and abroad, and the effect these relations may have on the prospects of coming to a full comprehensive follow-up agreement between Iran and the P5+1 countries.
http://sustainablesecurity.org/2014/01/30/iran-interim-deal-responses-and-impact/
20. End the despair of detention for female asylum seekers: 'I saw what my mother went through'
10 February 2014 / GuardianLoud noises still make her shake, says Meltem Avcil – a legacy of the day, almost seven years ago, when immigration officers arrived at her house at 6am, banged on the door, and ordered her and her mother into detention. She was 13, and had been in the UK since she was eight, a Doncaster schoolgirl with dreams of becoming a doctor.
Mother and daughter packed up a few of their belongings before being driven in a caged van to Yarl's Wood in Bedfordshire, Britain's largest immigration removal centre for women. On arrival, a series of metal doors slammed behind them and Avcil found herself in a world of guards, roll calls and barbed wire, where the windows only opened a few inches.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/feb/10/end-despair-detention-female-asylum-seekers-yarls-wood <http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/feb/10/end-despair-detention-female-asylum-seekers-yarls-wood>
REPORTS
21. Syria Document: Opposition Proposal at Geneva II Conference, 13 February 2014.The proposal of the Syrian opposition at the Geneva II conference, presented on Monday to United Nations envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and immediately rejected by the Assad delegation.
http://eaworldview.com/2014/02/syria-document-opposition-proposal-geneva-ii-conference/
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