1. Reports from solidarity delegations to North Kurdistan
20 November 2014 / Peace in Kurdistan CampaignIn the wake of the severe onslaught by ISIS fighters on the town of Kobane in Rojava, Peace in Kurdistan Campaign has helped to facilitate two delegations to North Kurdistan. This first delegation included PiK’s trade union liaison officer Stephen Smellie, Unite member Paul Toner, trade union activist Ruth Walter, Zaher Aarif of the Haringey Solidarity Group, and environmental activist and Unison member, Helen Steel. During the visit, Stephen wrote several blog posts, covering the needs of Syrian refugees and the harassment of health workers. The delegation also released a statement calling on the people of the UK to donate what they can for the relief effort and on the UK government to pressure Turkey to allow a humanitarian corridor to Kobane.- ‘We Can’t Ever Go Back. The Islamists Will Kill Us’(3 November 2014 / Morning Star): http://morningstaronline.co.uk/a-aab0-We-cant-ever-go-back-The-Islamists-will-kill-us#.VGTvYVesVy6- ‘Women Are Leading Our Revolution’ (8 November 2014 / Morning Star): http://morningstaronline.co.uk/a-0774-Women-are-leading-our-revolution#.VGTt9FesVy4- Health workers in Kurdistan harassed by Turkish police for treating refugees from Kobane (5 November 2014 / Peace in Kurdistan Campaign): http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/2014/11/07/health-workers-in-kurdistan-harassed-by-turkish-police-for-treating-refugees-from-kobane/- The social revolution will sweep Turkey Kurdistan sooner or later (16 November 2014 / Anarkismo):http://www.anarkismo.net/article/27623- Patrick Smith reports from Diyarbakir on community-run food banks (12 November 2014 / Peace in Kurdistan Campaign):http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/2014/11/13/patrick-smith-reports-from-diyarbakir-on-community-run-food-banks/ - “Another fighter laid to rest” (14 November 2014 / Peace in Kurdistan Campaign: http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/2014/11/14/another-fighter-laid-to-rest/ More information on the delegations can be found here: http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/activities/delegations/solidarity-delegation-to-north-kurdistan/
2. Turkey rejects outside mediation to resolve Kurdish issue
17 November 2014 / eKurdTurkey rejected Monday a proposal for a third party to help mediate the long-standing conflict with the Kurdish minority, the deputy prime minister said. "This is a local process. It is a process which Turkey has brought to life through its own discretion. We do not find it right to have a different country, mechanism, system or organization as a part of this," Yalcin Akdogan told the state-run Anadolu news agency. The armed Kurdistan Workers‘ Party (PKK) declared a ceasefire last year, which has largely held.
Last month the ceasefire appeared under threat as the air force launched strikes against the group‘s bases in the east of the country, which was followed by accusations that the PKK had carried out attacks against Turkish soldiers.
http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2014/11/turkey5236.htm
3. Finnish mediator Ahtisaari ‘turned down’ Kurds’ mediation offer
19 November 2014 / HurriyetFinnish peace mediator Martti Ahtisaari has said the Kurds contacted him to play a mediation role in the Kurdish conflict years ago, but he did not respond at the time due to the Turkish government’s hesitance over foreign involvement in the process. “Very often, governments do not want to have any outsiders involved, or they do not want to internationalize the issue,” Ahtisaari told the Hürriyet Daily News on Nov. 18. The former Finnish president and international mediator won the 2008 Nobel Peace Prize for his conflict resolution work around the world, and was in Ankara for a symposium.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/finnish-mediator-ahtisaari-turned-down-kurds-mediation-offer.aspx?pageID=238&nid=74514&NewsCatID=338
4. Peace bid must be finalized before 2015 elections, Demirtaş says
20 November 2014 / HurriyetAn accord to end Turkey’s decades-old Kurdish issue must be completed before the general elections scheduled for June 2015, according to People’s Democratic Party (HDP) co-leader Selahattin Demirtaş. “The Kurdish issue cannot shoulder another election. Considering the general trends in the Middle East, this should happen,” he said Nov. 20. Abdullah Öcalan, the jailed leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), also wants to finalize the process before the elections, he said, adding that Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu also told him in person that the government wanted to complete the process within the same timeframe.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/peace-bid-must-be-finalized-before-2015-elections-demirtas-says.aspx?pageID=238&nID=74581&NewsCatID=338
5. Turkish intel, security to get exclusive authority on personal data
21 November 2014 / HurriyetTurkey’s intelligence agency, the police and the gendarmerie are to get exclusive authority on the personal data of citizens, according to a new draft law that is likely to stir further debate about “profiling” by the government. Earlier this year, former President Abdullah Gül had ordered the State Audit Board (DDK) to review a related draft law that had been prepared by the Turkish government. The draft had been slammed by opposition parties on the grounds that it would increase the National Intelligence Organization’s (MİT) powers without adequate checks and balances. The DDK report acknowledged problems in the draft law regarding the protection of personal data.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-intel-security-to-get-exclusive-authority-on-personal-data.aspx?PageID=238&NID=74617&NewsCatID=338
8. Turkey: Border abuses and destitution aggravating plight of Syria refugees
20 November 2014 / Amnesty InternationalThe international community’s failure to deal with the growing number of Syrian refugees fleeing into Turkey has led to a crisis of unprecedented proportions with refugees facing push-backs and live fire at the border and hundreds of thousands living in destitution, said Amnesty International in a new report published today. Struggling to Survive: Refugees from Syria in Turkey documents serious human rights risks faced by the 1.6 million people who have sought refuge in the country over the last three and a half years. It also highlights the deplorable reluctance of the international community to take meaningful financial responsibility for the refugee crisis.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/turkey-border-abuses-and-destitution-aggravating-plight-syria-refugees-2014-11-20
9. Kurdish authorities, Turkish government argue over Yazidi refugees
21 November 2014 / McClatchyIn a picnic grove nestled in wheat and cotton fields just south of Diyarbakir, municipal officials have set up a refugee camp for more than 4,000 Kurdish Yazidis who fled the threat of genocide when Islamic State extremists captured their cities in early August. U.S. airstrikes provided the cover for Yazidis to escape the Sinjar region of northern Iraq, but it was the Syrian affiliate of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, known by its Kurdish initials as the PKK, that set up a security corridor and guided them to safety through Iraqi Kurdistan and later to Turkey. Now the local branch of Turkey’s ruling party is accusing the PKK and Diyarbakir city officials of using the Yazidis to promote the PKK’s cause. The party has a big following in Diyarbakir, though many families resent its recruiting methods, impressing young men to join them in the mountains.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/11/20/247591_turkish-government-kurdish-authorities.html?rh=1
10. Kurds in Syrian Kurdistan advance in heart of Kobani: monitor
18 November 2014 / eKurdSyrian Kurds fighting the Islamic State IS group in the flashpoint town of Kobani of Syrian Kurdistan made new gains Tuesday, expelling the jihadists from several central buildings and seizing weapons, a monitor said. The advance came hours after the US-led coalition launched four strikes against IS positions in central Kobani, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) staged a "special operation" during which they captured six buildings used by IS, said the Britain-based group, which relies on a network of sources in Syria. Thirteen IS fighters were killed, it said. The Kurds "captured a large amount of weapons and ammunition, including RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) rounds, light weapons, sniper guns and thousands of heavy machinegun rounds," the Observatory said.
http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2014/11/syriakurd1692.htm
11. Monitors: Kurds Seize Islamic State Arms, Buildings in Kobani
18 November 2014 / Voice of AmericaKurdish fighters captured six buildings used by Islamic State militants besieging the Syrian town of Kobani on Tuesday, and seized a large amount of the jihadi group's weapons and ammunition, a group monitoring the war said.
Islamic State has been trying to take control of the town, also known as Ayn al-Arab, for more than two months in an assault that has driven tens of thousands of Kurdish civilians over the border into Turkey and drawn strikes by U.S.-led forces.
http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-monitors-say-kurds-seize-islamic-state-arms-buildings-in-kobani/2524552.html
12. Islamic State militants face war of attrition in Syrian Kurdistan's Kobani
15 November 2014 / eKurdThe Islamic State IS group is locked in a war of attrition in the border Kurdish town of Kobani in Syrian Kurdistan, where Kurdish fighters backed by US-led air strikes are mounting fierce resistance. Two months after IS launched a major offensive to try to capture the strategic prize on the Turkish frontier, the jihadists have failed to defeat the town's Kurdish defenders. "Several weeks ago, it looked like Kobani would fall, but it is now clear that it will not," said Romain Caillet, a French expert on jihadist movements.
"IS controls more than half of the town but is unable to advance further," he told AFP.
http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2014/11/syriakurd1683.htm
13. Syria Kurds give women equality. Take that, ISIS!
17 November 2014 / CNNIt's a revolutionary decree. In the midst of the fight against Islamist rebels seeking to turn the clock back to the 7th century, a Kurdish region in Syria has just approved a new law ordering equality for women. Take that, ISIS! The status of women has become one of the ideological battlegrounds in the fierce war between the self-described Islamic State and the Kurdish defenders, who have received air support from the United States. With the defiant decree by the small canton, the Kurds are doubling down, staking out a position as the stalwarts of modernity, not intimidated by opponents whose brutality has caused other armies to flee.
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/17/opinion/ghitis-kurdish-womens-rights/
14. Anwar Moslem: Everyone Supporting Us Has a Share in Kobane Resistance
17 November 2014 / Civiroglu.netThe Premier of the Kobane Canton Anwar Moslem told us about the final situation in the region as well as the recent visit he paid to Iraqi Kurdistan Region.
Mr. Anwar, you have been on a visit to Iraqi Kurdistan Region. Before talking about this visit, I want to ask you about the final situation in Kobane. Reports that YPG are making an advance and taking more areas under their control are coming through over the past couple of days. What is the current situation in Kobane?The resistance in Kobane has left two months behind. Within this period, Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) have managed to put up an effective fight against the heavy terror attacks of ISIS, also with the support of the coalition forces. The aerial operations by coalition forces against ISIS positions and their heavy weaponry have both weakened the power of ISIS and bolstered the YPG’s morale.
http://civiroglu.net/2014/11/17/showyourv4ypg/
15. 'Canton administrations in Rojava should be contacted directly'
20 November 2014 / ANFGisela Pentaker, from Doctors Without Borders, spoke at a panel organised by the German Green Party in Hannover, saying that ISIS attacks and the trade embargo had not prevented the people of Rojava from developing their model. Green MP Kinder from the Federal Parliament said: "If assistance is to be provided the Kurdish forces should be spoken to directly and the aid conveyed by the UN. In that way there will be no reliance on the whims of any state,” adding that the canton administrations in Rojava should be directly contacted. Writer Memo Şahin said that humanitarian aid was being randomly obstructed by the Turkish authorities.
http://en.firatnews.com/news/news/canton-administrations-in-rojava-should-be-contacted-directly.htm
16. Kurds launch new offensive against 'IS'
20 November 2014 / Deutsche WelleSupported by US-led airstrikes, Kurdish peshmerga forces launched a new offensive Wednesday aimed at retaking Iraqi territories conquered by the Islamic State (IS) militia group this past summer.
The new Kurdish offensive targeted areas in the Diyala and Kirkuk provinces in Iraq, according to peshmerga spokesman Jaber Yawe. The regions had been conquered by IS militia forces during an offensive this past August that saw the terror group take control of a third of Iraq.
http://www.dw.de/kurds-launch-new-offensive-against-is/a-18074939
17. French senator: Remove the PKK from the list and stop attacks on humanity
20 November 2014 / HawrnewsAs debates on the ongoing criminalisation of the Kurdish armed movement continue across Europe, also in Germany on the 21st year of the ban on the PKK that was imposed in 1993, Aymeri de Montesquiou, member of the Senate of Rance and mayor of the Marsan town, also highlighted the need to remove the PKK from the terrorist list.
In an article published by Atlantico.fr, the French senator pointed out that it is absurd to maintain the PKK in the list of terrorist organizations, while it is the first relay of resistance against the Islamic state.
http://www.hawarnews.com/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2932:french-senator-remove-the-pkk-from-the-list-and-stop-attacks-on-humanity&catid=1:news&Itemid=2
18. Final resolution of Êzîdî Conference at EP issued
20 November 2014 / Kurdish InfoA conference on “The Middle East and the Êzîdîs” organised in the European Parliament has concluded with the publication of a final resolution, calling for assistance from international powers. The conference, jointly organised in Brussels by the Peoples Democracy Party, the Federation of Êzîdî Associations and the Brussels Kurdish Institute was hosted by MEP Ana Gomes from the Social Democratic Group. In the final resolution it was noted that the Êzîdîs are the most ancient community in the Middle East, and that with the 3 August attack by ISIS on Sinjar, at least 5,000 people were killed and as many abducted. “Thousands of women were raped and then sold openly in markets. While 10 thousand people remain on Mount Sinjar, under attack from ISIS, 350 thousand have fled their homes and been scattered throughout the region. As a community the Êzîdîs have experienced a serious trauma and face annihilation. It is the duty of all humanity, but particularly international powers, to protect this community and prevent its destruction.”
http://www.kurdishinfo.com/final-resolution-ezidi-conference-ep-issued
COMMENT, OPINION AND ANALYSIS
19. Kobane, and the failure of Turkey's Kurdish policy
17 November 2014 / Open DemocracyThe stateless Kurdish people have attracted increased international attention recently as the media spotlight focusses on their peshmerga forces fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria. However, while the Kurds are enjoying the sympathy and military support of the west, not everyone in their neighbourhood shares these positive sentiments. Turkey has dragged its heels in responding to international calls and domestic pressure to allow Kurdish fighters to cross its territory and help their brethren in the town of Kobane, Syria, which has been under siege by Islamic State since September 2014. The reasons for such a reluctant attitude are tied up with Turkey’s troubled past with its own Kurdish population and its apparent unwillingness to encourage Kurds to play a greater role in the Middle East.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/opensecurity/arman-baisuanov/kobane-and-failure-of-turkey%27s-kurdish-policy
20. Rojava: Syria’s Secret Revolution
15 November 2014 / BBC: Our WorldIs the Middle East's newest country a territory called Rojava? Out of the chaos of Syria's civil war, mainly Kurdish leftists have forged a radical, egalitarian, multi-ethnic mini-state run on communal lines. But with ISIS jihadists attacking them at every opportunity - especially around the beleaguered city of Kobane, how long can this idealistic social experiment last? Our World has gained exclusive access to Rojava, from the frontlines to the politicians and refugee camps.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04t0xnn
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b04t0xnn/our-world-rojava-syrias-secret-revolution
21. Struggle against ISIS in historical perspective
13 November 2014 / Live EncountersDavid Morgan: Two months or so ago, the name of Kobane was virtually unknown outside Syria and the Kurdish region. Now, as a result of the heroic resistance of Kobane against ISIS, the name is inspiring people around the world. Actions in support of Kobane’s struggle have been held in the unlikeliest of places many far removed from the Middle East. By any estimate, Kobane has put up a remarkably formidable resistance against ISIS which has sought to conquer the city for months. It has refused to yield.
Kurds are asking why ISIS is expending so much effort to take Kobane. Why has ISIS concentrated on taking this once obscure city? It is said to occupy a strategically vital border location integral for control of Syria, but there are many other important locations in Syria and Iraq where ISIS seeks to hold sway.
http://liveencounters.net/?page_id=8964
22. Geopolitics of Kurdish Peace
20 November 2014 / Carnegie Endowment for PeaceWhen Syria’s Kurdish town of Kobani—a border town between Syria and Turkey—became a target of the Islamic State (IS), Kurds across the region reacted with a new collective consciousness. It has led to a strategic rapprochement among historically contentious Kurdish groups, especially the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq under the rule of Masoud Barzani, Turkey’s Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and Syria’s Democratic Union Party (PYD). Yet the different stakes that actors hold in the conflict are also straining intra-Kurdish relations even as their sense of collective identity is increasing. Stable Kurdish peace in the Middle East will therefore depend on a broader internal reconciliation among different Kurdish actors as well as an external consensus with non-Kurdish actors—both of which remain a distant possibility.
http://carnegieendowment.org/sada/2014/11/20/geopolitics-of-kurdish-peace/huzc
23. Kobani Crossroads
20 November 2014 / Huffington PostKobani represents a crossroads in the war against the Islamic State (IS). The battle for Kobani is also a defining moment in US policy toward the Kurds, the construction of Kurdish national identity, and the West's view of Turkey as an ally.
Kobani has both strategic and symbolic importance.
The IS has deployed vast resources to the Battle for Kobani. Seizing Kobani would give the Islamic State uninterrupted control of territory stretching 60 miles from Raqqa to the Turkish border, and 350 miles from Raqqa to the outskirts of Baghdad. In addition, it would give IS control of all three official border crossings between Turkey and Syria.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-l-phillips/kobani-crossroads_b_6194334.html
24. Watching Kobani
18 November 2014 /Al MonitorI spent time Nov. 15-16 close to the besieged Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani, located within half an hour's drive from Turkey’s historical provincial capital Urfa. Suruc, the twin Kurdish town on the Turkish side of the border, is about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) across a flat and fertile plain that was built on a hill overlooking the plain. About 8 p.m. Nov. 15, I witness vehicles moving toward Kobani from Suruc being stopped and diverted by Turkish security forces. Turning left, my young Kurdish guide from Kobani and I reach a small village called Caykara in Turkish and Mehser in Kurdish. At the village's entrance, we see a makeshift parking lot full of cars with license plates from Turkey’s heavily Kurdish-populated provinces as well as from Ankara and Istanbul.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/11/turkey-syria-isis-kobani-kurds-pyd-pkk.html#ixzz3JhsD0WJX
25. The War in Syrian Kurdistan: The Fall of Kobani is a Prerequisite for the Invasion of Syria
17 November 2014 / Global ResearchSince October 2014, both Ankara and Washington altered or adjusted their approaches to the battle over Kobani. Mounting pressure, including domestic anger and protests in Turkish Kurdistan against Turkey’s ruling AK Party, forced neo-Ottomanist Turkish President Erdogan and his officials to allow token support to cross the Syrian-Turkish border into Kobani. One hundred and fifty Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) peshmerga troopers from Iraqi Kurdistan were allowed to transit through Turkish territory into Kobani on November 1, 2014. The Pentagon also started to airdrop supplies near Kobani.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-war-in-syrian-kurdistan-the-fall-of-kobani-is-a-prerequisite-for-the-invasion-of-syria/5414609
26. Kurds and US vs ISIS
19 November 2014 / Huffington Post"[The Kurds] are the absolute antithesis of ISIS. [With] ISIS you have these incredible fundamentalists that are bloodthirsty and who believe they are doing God's work, and then you have these Marxist secularists, many of them even atheists, who are fighting for their own local rights and Kurdish rights in the region," reported Richard Engel, the gold standard for American foreign news correspondents. In his reporting, Engel singled out the Kurds as the most important factor in the fight for Kobane, a town whose struggle has become symbolic of the fight against ISIS.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ryan-campbell/kurds-and-us-vs-isis_b_6173680.html
27. How a German doctor became a PKK hero
18 November 2014 / eKurdHigh in the Qandil mountains separating Iraq from Iran, a German physician has become a beacon of hope for ailing Kurds across the region. On a sunny autumn afternoon, scores of women, young and old, squatted in a small clinic awaiting their turn for a free examination by the doctor, who goes by the code name of “Medya.” "I can’t have children; it's my hormones," whispered Dilwaz Aziz, 20-something newlywed, stroking a hirsute upper lip. "I know Dr. Medya will help me." But “Dr. Medya” is no ordinary do-gooder. She is a full-fledged member of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The rebel group has fought on and off for Kurdish self-rule inside Turkey since 1994…Long before starry-eyed Westerners and assorted war junkies joined the Kurds' fight against the jihadists, the general practitioner from Hamburg dropped a promising career to join the guerrillas in 1993.
http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2014/11/turkey5238.htm
28. Turkish-Kurd peace process in disarray
16 November 2014 / Middle East EyeOver the past six weeks, the “peace process” aimed at resolving the decades-old conflict between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Turkey’s central government has been shaken to the core, amid tensions over Ankara’s unwillingness to allow support for Syrian Kurds battling Islamic State fighters seeking to take over their town of Kobane.
For 30 years, the PKK fought for Kurdish independence, until in the late 1990s it dropped those aspirations while continuing its struggle for more autonomy and formal recognition of Kurdish identity.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkish-kurd-peace-process-disarray-1931069528#sthash.k4FWYpyI.dpuf
29. Armenian-Kurdish Relations Is A Strategic Necessity
17 November 2014 / Asbarez PostInadvertent avoidance of the obvious in a country’s external affairs is sheer incompetence. Deliberate evasion of the same is mere stupidity. This equation may well explain Armenia’s nonchalant attitude toward Kurdistan and the Kurds.
The obvious that is being avoided or evaded in Armenia’s external affairs is the fact of the rising empowerment of the Kurdish national movements spreading over eastern Turkey, northern Iraq and northeastern Syria. Armenia and Armenians can only ignore this geopolitical reality at the peril of their national interests.
http://asbarez.com/128973/armenian-kurdish-relations-is-a-strategic-necessity/
30. Turkey's Kurdish client state
14 November 2014 / Al MonitorSeveral months ago, the international media and political pundits were predicting imminent Kurdish statehood. Many in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) believed, and perhaps still do, that the KRG could independently export crude oil to Turkey and create a viable, autonomous revenue source. These expectations were fueled by "energy agreements" between Erbil and Ankara, a cold war between former Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and international oil company interests in the Kurdistan region.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/11/turkey-krg-client-state.html#ixzz3JhvLLVKD
31. Iraq's Dubai Hits The Pause Button
18 November 2014 / Foreign PolicyUnused escalators rise up to bare concrete floors in the Ankawa mall; particle-board dividers form makeshift living spaces. Instead of shoppers browsing Western chain stores -- the most visible signs of Erbil's recent economic boom -- the unfinished mall is filled with destitute, displaced families who fled the Islamic State's takeover of northern Iraq in August. With no money to move themselves to more permanent housing, they and tens of thousands of others will likely spend the winter in construction sites like these.
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/11/18/iraqs_dubai_is_on_pause_kurdistan_islamic_state_isis
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