The open letter below and attached has been sent to each French embassy in Europe, including in London, demanding a complete and thorough investigation into the circumstances which led to the assassinations of three Kurdish politicians in Paris last Wednesday.
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Open Letter to the French Ambassador in LONDON 12-01-2013
58 Knightsbridge, LONDON SW1X 7JT
Call for a thorough investigation into the apparent assassination of three Kurdish politicians in exile in Paris
On the evening of 09.01.2013, Sakine Cansiz, a founding member of the PKK, Fidan Dogan, a representative of the KNK, and Leyla Soylemez, a young activist, were all victims of a callous killing in the office of the Kurdish Information Centre in Paris. Not only does the use of silencers point to a professional contract killing, but other facts also, for example, the targeted shoot to kill.
The timing of the attack implies a connection to the most recent political peace negotiations: For some weeks, negotiations were being held between representatives of the Turkish government; the leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, who is imprisoned in total isolation on Imrali prison island; and the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). The attack on political exiles can therefore be considered as provocation and an act of sabotage against a possible renewed peace process.
But the French influencing factors cannot be left out of consideration. A few months ago, French Judge Thierry Fragnoli, who is responsible for anti-terror matters, spoke to this effect, when it was proposed that a group of 4 judges, 8 lawyers and 28 commissioners would work exclusively with regard to Kurds in France. How, under such strict observation, such a murder could happen, is highly suspect. In light of this, the reaction of the French Home Secretary that “the murder was unacceptable” – downplays the true gravity of the incident.
Because of this, the following questions arise, for which we expect answers from you and the French government.
· How could it happen that the culprit(s) could commit this cold-blooded murder by day in such a populated area, when, in France, Kurdish activists, certainly including the victims of the murder, are under constant observation by state security and the police?
· Is there no video recording of the culprits? If so, why has this been withheld from the public?
· Did the French secret service have any information of a possible murder before the act took place? If so, why was this not made public and/or the victims not warned about this?
Against the backdrop that the French authorities did not shy away from the illegal arrest of Kurdish political activist, Adem Uzun, even cooperating with the Turkish secret service, it is absolutely incomprehensible that the French authorities were in no position to stop the act. If there is, therefore, no prompt explanation for the murder, the Kurdish community would question, for better or worse, the role of France in the Kurdish conflict. The confidence of around 150 000 Kurds in France, in the French government and in their authorities is shaken anyway. Reasons being the state repression against Kurdish activists, closures of Kurdish organisations, or the inconsistent attacks on Kurdish facilities, for instance the burning down on a Kurdish organisation in Mulhouse at the end of December last year. The Kurdish community will pursue the examination of French authorities around this incident, and continue to question the words of French Home Secretary Manuel Valls all the more, because those responsible will have to get to the bottom of this “unacceptable act”.
We completely condemn this attack, and demand a full investigation into the circumstances of the killing and its background! The fact that the French authorities share responsibility for this act must not be disregarded. With raids of Kurdish organisations and the arrest of Kurdish activists in the last year, French police and justice may have contributed to this crime. We call on the French government to reassess its anti-Kurdish policies.
We ask you to reply to all the queries of the Kurdish community.
Akif R.WAN
Representative of KNK in The UK
6-9 Manor Gardens
London, N7 6LA
Sunday, 20 January 2013
KNK & PIK press statement: This brutal execution of Kurdish women activists is a cynical attempt to derail the peace process that won't succeed
Kurdistan National Congress UK & Peace in Kurdistan Campaign
Press statement, 10 January 2012
For immediate release
This brutal execution of Kurdish women activists is a cynical attempt to derail the peace process that won’t succeed
In the early hours of Thursday morning, in the heart of Paris, an appalling crime was perpetrated against the entire Kurdish nation: the cold-blooded murder of three of our most dedicated Kurdish women activists.
The victims represent three generations of Kurdish women; the most senior victim was Sakine Canziz, a founder member of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK, who has since been playing a crucial role in the Kurdish women’s movement; Fidan Dogan (Rojbin) who was a member of the Kurdistan National Congress and the youngest casualty, Leyla Soylemez, an activist working on diplomatic relations.
All had dedicated their lives to the achievement of a lasting peace settlement between Turkey and the Kurdish movement and at the time of their brutal deaths were just about to see all their efforts come to fruition with the reopening of peace talks between representatives of the Turkish government and the leader of the Kurdish people, Abdullah Ocalan.
Tragically our three friends and comrades will now never be able to see the final outcome of the peace that they had worked so long and hard for; it must be left to others to carry out the task of securing the peace and justice on behalf of our people.
Our three friends were singled out for execution because of their ethnicity in what must surely count as one of the most shocking hate crimes to have occurred in a sophisticated Parisian suburb in recent years.
News of the killings was met with universal shock and horror. The French President Francois Hollande described the killings as "horrible", while the country’s Interior Minister Manuel Valls expressed the view that the manner of their deaths was "surely an execution".
The Kurdish people, who were filled with hope and expectations after the start of peace talks, have reacted to these deaths with outrage and anger but tempered by remarkable self-discipline and restraint.
It is clear that the executions were carried out by a professional assassin and the incident can only be interpreted as an act of provocation designed to derail the emerging peace process; since it surely can be no coincidence that the murders came within hours of the announcement of peace talks between Turkey and Mr Ocalan.
All the circumstances therefore point to the fact that Sakine, Fidan and Leyla were killed by someone who does not want to see Turkey and the Kurds ever reaching a peace accord.
To take away the lives of innocent people in cold blood is the most heinous crime imaginable, but to commit such a barbaric act as a cynical attempt to prevent peace must be counted as the worst of all villainies.
Those responsible for the brutal murders are the enemies of peace and also the sworn enemies of all peace-loving humanity.
There can be no rest until the culprits of the execution of our sisters and comrades are tracked down and brought to justice.
The French authorities and all their European counterparts have a duty also to support the peace process to which they can most constructively contribute by removing the obstacles that they have placed in its way, primarily by ending the criminalisation of the Kurdish community through the delisting of the PKK as a terrorist organisation and specifically in the case of France, the authorities should release the leading Kurdish peace activist and KNK representative Adem Uzun, who was arrested in Paris in October 2012.
After our initial shock and sadness, the Kurdish people’s demand for justice must inevitably grow stronger.
The Kurdish movement can best honour the memory of our martyred sisters by redoubling our efforts for peace and we remain dedicated to the successful implementation of the roadmap to bring the much longed for justice for all our people after generations of struggle.
Press statement, 10 January 2012
For immediate release
This brutal execution of Kurdish women activists is a cynical attempt to derail the peace process that won’t succeed
In the early hours of Thursday morning, in the heart of Paris, an appalling crime was perpetrated against the entire Kurdish nation: the cold-blooded murder of three of our most dedicated Kurdish women activists.
The victims represent three generations of Kurdish women; the most senior victim was Sakine Canziz, a founder member of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, PKK, who has since been playing a crucial role in the Kurdish women’s movement; Fidan Dogan (Rojbin) who was a member of the Kurdistan National Congress and the youngest casualty, Leyla Soylemez, an activist working on diplomatic relations.
All had dedicated their lives to the achievement of a lasting peace settlement between Turkey and the Kurdish movement and at the time of their brutal deaths were just about to see all their efforts come to fruition with the reopening of peace talks between representatives of the Turkish government and the leader of the Kurdish people, Abdullah Ocalan.
Tragically our three friends and comrades will now never be able to see the final outcome of the peace that they had worked so long and hard for; it must be left to others to carry out the task of securing the peace and justice on behalf of our people.
Our three friends were singled out for execution because of their ethnicity in what must surely count as one of the most shocking hate crimes to have occurred in a sophisticated Parisian suburb in recent years.
News of the killings was met with universal shock and horror. The French President Francois Hollande described the killings as "horrible", while the country’s Interior Minister Manuel Valls expressed the view that the manner of their deaths was "surely an execution".
The Kurdish people, who were filled with hope and expectations after the start of peace talks, have reacted to these deaths with outrage and anger but tempered by remarkable self-discipline and restraint.
It is clear that the executions were carried out by a professional assassin and the incident can only be interpreted as an act of provocation designed to derail the emerging peace process; since it surely can be no coincidence that the murders came within hours of the announcement of peace talks between Turkey and Mr Ocalan.
All the circumstances therefore point to the fact that Sakine, Fidan and Leyla were killed by someone who does not want to see Turkey and the Kurds ever reaching a peace accord.
To take away the lives of innocent people in cold blood is the most heinous crime imaginable, but to commit such a barbaric act as a cynical attempt to prevent peace must be counted as the worst of all villainies.
Those responsible for the brutal murders are the enemies of peace and also the sworn enemies of all peace-loving humanity.
There can be no rest until the culprits of the execution of our sisters and comrades are tracked down and brought to justice.
The French authorities and all their European counterparts have a duty also to support the peace process to which they can most constructively contribute by removing the obstacles that they have placed in its way, primarily by ending the criminalisation of the Kurdish community through the delisting of the PKK as a terrorist organisation and specifically in the case of France, the authorities should release the leading Kurdish peace activist and KNK representative Adem Uzun, who was arrested in Paris in October 2012.
After our initial shock and sadness, the Kurdish people’s demand for justice must inevitably grow stronger.
The Kurdish movement can best honour the memory of our martyred sisters by redoubling our efforts for peace and we remain dedicated to the successful implementation of the roadmap to bring the much longed for justice for all our people after generations of struggle.
Kurdish News Weekly Briefing, 4 - 10 January 2013
1. Three PKK members killed in Paris attack
10 January 2013 / Hurriyet
An office of the Kurdistan Information Center in Paris was attacked by unknown people in the French capital Paris late yesterday, resulting in the deaths of three women, including one of the founders of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Sakine Cansız, one of the PKK founders in 1978, Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress' (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doğan, and Leyla Söylemez were found dead in the office, located near Gare du Nord station.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/three-pkk-members-killed-in-paris-attack.aspx?pageID=238&nid=38748
2. 3 Female Kurdish Politicians Found Dead in Paris
10 January 2013 / Bianet
Last night, 3 Kurdish female politicians--PKK co-founder Sakine Cansız, Kurdish National Congress Paris representative Fidan Doğan and Leyla Söylemez--were found dead at the Kurdish Information Office in Paris. The three women were allegedly murdered by a group of individuals who raided the office, Firat News Agency said.
Rumors say that Cansız and Doğan were shot dead with a bullet in the head while Söylemez died due to a gun wound in the belly. Murders were said to be orchestrated with gun silencers. "We didn't hear from Fidan Doğan for hours. So we headed to the office after midnight around 1am. There were traces of blood by the entrance. We broke in and found them dead," Selma Akkaya from Özgür Politika newspaper said.
http://www.bianet.org/english/other/143431-3-female-kurdish-politicians-found-dead-in-paris
3. Paris attack draws reactions
10 January 2013 / Hurriyet
French Interior Minister Manuel Valls has described the attack at the office of the Kurdistan Information Center in Paris, which resulted in the death of three women, as "insupportable." French authorities are determined to uncover the truth in this case," Valls said during his visit to the crime scene this morning. Valls offered his condolescences to the families of the three victims. "Three women have been shot down, killed, without doubt executed. This is a very serious incident, which is why I am here. It is completely unacceptable," he told reporters, AFP has reported.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/paris-attack-draws-reactions.aspx?pageID=238&nID=38755&NewsCatID=338 <http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/paris-attack-draws-reactions.aspx?pageID=238&nID=38755&NewsCatID=338>
4. PKK militants should leave Turkey: Erdoğan
10 January 2013 / Hurriyet
The aim of ongoing talks with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is to convince the group’s militants to lay down their arms and abandon Turkey, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said yesterday. “Our sincerity can be seen in the steps that we have taken in the last few days. Our aim is to have the separatist terrorist organization’s cadres leave Turkey. [We want to make them] lay down their arms and leave,” Erdoğan said during a joint press conference with Nigerien Prime Minister Mahamadou Issoufou in reference to the talks between Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the PKK, and the government.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/pkk-militants-should-leave-turkey-erdogan.aspx?pageID=238&nID=38735&NewsCatID=338
5. Turkey agrees peace roadmap with PKK: media
9 January 2013 / AFP
The Turkish government and jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan have agreed on a roadmap to end a three-decade-old insurgency that has claimed tens of thousands of lives, Turkish media reported Wednesday.
The deal was reached during a new round of talks between Ankara and Ocalan and aims to have the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) lay down arms in March, private news network NTV and Radikal newspaper reported.
An initial cessation of hostilities was to evolve into a fully-fledged ceasefire agreement over the following months, they said, without revealing their sources for the reported breakthrough.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ifEh-KB11EiuHKRaYWhVTErjDTJQ?docId=CNG.3ea52f50071a0fb8fe29207717dd1604.b1 <http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ifEh-KB11EiuHKRaYWhVTErjDTJQ?docId=CNG.3ea52f50071a0fb8fe29207717dd1604.b1>
5. Demirtaş: It's the AKP's turn to move
8 January 2012 / ANF
Speaking on Tuesday during his party's parliamentary group meeting. Selahattin Demirtaş, co-chair of the BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) welcomed the contacts with Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and said they are "logical, right and the only path to peace". He also said the talks are a positive but late and inadequate development. "If Öcalan is to negotiate for peace, he must have direct contact with the Kurdish Communities Union and the Kurdish people,” Demirtaş added. Demirtaş underlined that the KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union), DTK (Democratic Society Congress) and BDP need to be included into the process of ongoing talks so that these meetings could pave the way for negotiations. “It is important to us that the talks have been given publicity 14 years later and are progressing in partial transparency at present. This is a logical and right step taken in such a critical process”, he said.
http://en.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=article&nuceID=5541
6. İmralı meeting is correct decision: PKK Europe head
6 January 2013 / Hurriyet
Zübeyir Aydar, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party's (PKK) European head, has denied recent reports that his group is against negotiations between Kurdish deputies and PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, Doğan News Agency has reported. "The PKK is a whole and its follows its leader. It doesn't have sects. Meeting with our leader, constructing dialogue and negotiating with him is the right decision. We have said for years that our interlocutor is Öcalan. The dialogue which has been started with him is our demand. It is unthinkable for us to be against it. Any other comments are manipulations of psychological warfare," he said.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/imrali-meeting-is-correct-decision-pkk-europe-head.aspx?pageID=238&nID=38443&NewsCatID=338
7. Turkey's Erdogan rules out amnesty for Kurdish militants
6 January 2013 / Reuters
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan ruled out a general amnesty for Kurdish militants on Sunday but said intelligence agents would continue to talk to the rebels' jailed leader in a bid to end a near three-decade insurgency.
Erdogan's chief adviser said last week that Turkish officials had been discussing disarmament with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and on Thursday two Kurdish lawmakers paid a rare visit to the militant group's leader in his island prison.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/06/us-turkey-kurds-idUSBRE90505N20130106
8. In Rare Talks Ocalan Demands Release of Prisoners, Contact With Rebel Base
7 January 2013 / Rudaw
Jailed rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan has asked Ankara to free thousands of Kurdish prisoners and let him communicate with his mountain base in Iraqi Kurdistan, in rare talks believed to have centered on disarming guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey, a source told Rudaw. Ocalan, who has lived in virtual isolation on Turkey’s Imrali island since his capture in 1999, met last week with two pro-Kurdish MPs, the first meeting with anyone outside his family for more than a year. Details of Thursday’s talks, led by Aylat Akat of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) have not been disclosed, but Turkish intelligence and other officials have said that, “The talks with Ocalan are about disarming the PKK."
http://www.rudaw.net/english/news/turkey/5632.html
9. Kurdish Politicians Apply to Meet Öcalan
9 January 2013 / ANF
Peace and Democracy Party co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş said the appointment delegation would include co-chairs of Peace and Democracy Party and Democratic Society Congress. "We have applied to the Ministry of Justice before," Demirtaş said. "But our efforts yielded no results. This time, we believe that our request will be accepted." Demirtaş underscored the importance of their participation in the Imrali process--the ongoing detente and negotiations between Turkish state and PKK. "If our request will be approved, we will head to Imrali island and meet Öcalan."
Demirtaş Also reminded last week's meeting where Öcalan received deputies Ahmet Türk and Ayla Akat Ata, which he suggested to "bring a positive climate".
http://www.bianet.org/english/politics/143420-kurdish-politicians-apply-to-meet-ocalan
10. Kurdish and Turkish lawyers on trial for representing imprisoned leader
9 January 2012 / Guardian Law blog
While UK courts made their traditionally slow start to the new year, a hearing in Istanbul managed to pack more than 100 lawyers onto its benches on January 3rd.
The mass trial of Kurdish and Turkish lawyers has raised concern among the international legal community about the state of justice in one of NATO's more powerful members. Turkey is also a member of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/guardian-law-blog/2013/jan/09/kurdish-turkish-lawyers-trial
11. After 682 days in jail Soner Yalcin is released
30 December 2012 / The Spark
By Barry White. Soner Yalcin, international journalist and owner of Odatv news web site was released at the end of the 15th hearing of the Odatv trial at the Judgement Palace in Istanbul on 27 December. However, he can’t leave Turkey and he will have to report weekly to the court. He was first imprisoned in February 2011, along with nine other journalists working for the internet news site. They were accused of being involved in the alleged ‘Ergenekon’ coup plot to overthrow the government. The defendants have always maintained that the case was an excuse to bully independent and critical journalists. One journalist, Yalcin Kucuk remains in prison along with former intelligence officer, Hanefi Avci.
http://www.thespark.me.uk/?p=479
COMMENT, OPINION AND ANALYSIS
12. Turkey makes game-changing move on Kurdish problem
5 January 2013 / Hurriyet
The Turkish government has made a game-changing move on the country’s chronic Kurdish problem by letting two Kurdish-origin members of Parliament visit the leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, at his İmralı island prison on Jan. 3 following a number of contacts with him by Hakan Fidan, the head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT). Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin told reporters that his ministry had decided give a positive answer to the applications of the Kurdish problem-focused Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) to talk to Öcalan themselves instead of hearing what he says on the future of the Kurdish problem from government officials, lawyers or his relatives.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-makes-game-changing-move-on-kurdish-problem-.aspx?pageID=449&nID=38417&NewsCatID=409
13. Karayılan: Dialogue is important but there also needs to be a policy for resolution
9 January 2013 / Peace in Kurdistan Campaign
KCK Executive Council President Murat Karayılan talked to ANF reporters Deniz Kendal and Rosida Mardin about the recent meeting with the leader of the Kurdish people, Abdullah Öcalan, on Imrali Island. Stressing the importance of monitoring the initiative carefully, he said, “the initiative launched for dialogue is both an important and an accurate approach.” Karayılan said that meetings have been taking place with Öcalan since November, and he continued, “of course the visit of Ahmet Turk and Ayla Akat to Imrali showed the significance of these meetings.” This is a new dimension and we are aware of its importance. However, we will find out in the coming days whether these meetings and the renewed dialogue will turn into a process that leads to a resolution of the Kurdish issue or not.
http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2013/01/09/karayilan-dialogue-is-important-but-there-also-needs-to-be-a-policy-for-resolution/
14. Cemil Bayık: talks are the last chance for AKP
7 January 2013 / Peace in Kurdistan campaign
While the talks with the Kurdish Leader Abdullah Öcalan in Imrali are being debated, member of the KCK Executive Council, Cemil Bayık, evaluated the subject in his column published at the Yeni Özgür Politika and Azadiya Welat newspapers.
Bayık, in his article written in Kurdish, entitled ‘the last chance for AKP’, stated that as a result of the resistance of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan against one and a half year of threats and blackmailing, the AKP had to restart the talks. Stating “resistance of the Guerrilla and the People also forced the AKP to talk with the Kurdish People’s Leader”, Bayık’s article is as follows.
http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/bayik-talks-are-the-last-chance-for-akp/
15. Demirtas addresses BDP group meeting about peace talks
10 January 2013 / Peace in Kurdistan
Co-chair of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Selahattin Demirtas addressed the BDP group meeting on Tuesday with an in-depth discussion on the renewed negotiations between the Turkish state and the PKK. Here is a translated version of the full speech.
http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/demirtas-addresses-bdp-group-meeting-about-peace-talks/
16. KCK Trial of Kurdish Lawyers – Istanbul 3rd January 2013
6 January 2013 / Peace in Kurdistan campaign
As part of Peace in Kurdistan’s continuing monitoring of the ongoing KCK Trials in Turkey, solicitor Tony Fisher and barrister Melanie Gingell have returned from Istanbul where they observed the latest hearing of a mass trial of 46 Kurdish lawyers. Tony Fisher, a member of the Law Society’s Human Rights Committee, has written the following report about the hearing on 3 January, which includes a summary of the proceedings and a commentary on the highly politicised nature of the trial. The report is also available for download.
http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/report-from-the-lastest-kck-trial-of-kurdish-lawyers/
17. Open letter to PM Erdoğan
5 January 2013 / Alliance for Kurdish Rights
Honorable Prime Minister Erdoğan, as you are aware, the long-standing Kurdish struggle for autonomy has remained a constant issue in Turkish national politics. Kurdish history is dominated by the unending fight for self-determination and recognition of a distinct ethnic identity within the Turkish community. http://kurdishrights.org/2013/01/05/open-letter-to-pm-erdogan/ <http://kurdishrights.org/2013/01/05/open-letter-to-pm-erdogan/>
18. Canadian MP Jim Karygiannis: Kurdish Issue is ‘Also Our Problem’
8 January 2013 / Rudaw
As a Liberal Party member of the Canadian House of Commons since 1988, Jim Karygiannis is working to establish peace through dialogue between the Kurdish and Turkish communities in Canada as well as in Turkey. In an interview with Rudaw, he says that on the Kurdish issue Turkey and Iran can learn from Canada, where Francophones exist alongside Anglophones and enjoy similar rights. He adds that, because Kurds are part of the Canadian community, the Kurdish issue is also a Canadian problem. He urges young Canadian Kurds to see themselves as full citizens and become more engaged in Canadian politics.
http://www.rudaw.net/english/interview/5633.html
19. Syria: Whatever happened to balanced reporting?
2 January 2013 / eKurd
How many reports have we seen telling us that Kurds in Syria are working for al-Assad, that the Kurdish PKK (from Turkey) is behind the actions of Kurdish Democratic Union Party – PYD, that PYD runs the Kurdish area, and that Kurds are divided? There are many. In contrast, where are the articles that positively report the unity of the Kurdish political parties and the creation of a safe area within the Kurdish region in the North-East where those who come without weapons are welcomed and cared for? Where are the articles that give voice to those working for a solution based on dialogue and non-violence? There are just a few.
http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2013/1/syriakurd717.htm
20. This could be the birth of an independent Kurdish state
9 January 2013 / Guardian
I was surprised to read an article in the Baghdad newspaper al-Sabah, by its editor Abd al-Jabbar Shabbout, suggesting it was time to settle the "age-old problem" between Iraq's Arabs and Kurds by establishing a "Kurdish state". I had never heard a formerly so heretical view expressed in any Arab quarter so publicly. And this was no ordinary quarter: al-Sabah is the mouthpiece of the prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki himself. Shabbout went on to suggest a negotiated "ending of the Arab-Kurdish partnership in a peaceful way".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/09/birth-kurdish-state-ottoman-syria-arab-spring
21. ‘From the Amazons to Hasankeyf: Damocracy’ – new documentary
9 January 2013 / Mesop
A new documentary, out next month, makes the case against huge dam projects, such as the one in north Kurdistan which threatens to destroy the 10,000 year old town of Hansankeyf, one of the oldest continually inhabited places on earth. Film maker Todd Southgate travelled from the deepest corners of the vast Amazon rainforest in Brazil to the mountains and plains of fertile upper Mesopotamia in north Kurdistan/Turkey.
http://www.mesop.de/2013/01/09/from-the-amazons-to-hasankeyf-damocracy-new-documentary/
10 January 2013 / Hurriyet
An office of the Kurdistan Information Center in Paris was attacked by unknown people in the French capital Paris late yesterday, resulting in the deaths of three women, including one of the founders of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Sakine Cansız, one of the PKK founders in 1978, Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress' (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doğan, and Leyla Söylemez were found dead in the office, located near Gare du Nord station.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/three-pkk-members-killed-in-paris-attack.aspx?pageID=238&nid=38748
2. 3 Female Kurdish Politicians Found Dead in Paris
10 January 2013 / Bianet
Last night, 3 Kurdish female politicians--PKK co-founder Sakine Cansız, Kurdish National Congress Paris representative Fidan Doğan and Leyla Söylemez--were found dead at the Kurdish Information Office in Paris. The three women were allegedly murdered by a group of individuals who raided the office, Firat News Agency said.
Rumors say that Cansız and Doğan were shot dead with a bullet in the head while Söylemez died due to a gun wound in the belly. Murders were said to be orchestrated with gun silencers. "We didn't hear from Fidan Doğan for hours. So we headed to the office after midnight around 1am. There were traces of blood by the entrance. We broke in and found them dead," Selma Akkaya from Özgür Politika newspaper said.
http://www.bianet.org/english/other/143431-3-female-kurdish-politicians-found-dead-in-paris
3. Paris attack draws reactions
10 January 2013 / Hurriyet
French Interior Minister Manuel Valls has described the attack at the office of the Kurdistan Information Center in Paris, which resulted in the death of three women, as "insupportable." French authorities are determined to uncover the truth in this case," Valls said during his visit to the crime scene this morning. Valls offered his condolescences to the families of the three victims. "Three women have been shot down, killed, without doubt executed. This is a very serious incident, which is why I am here. It is completely unacceptable," he told reporters, AFP has reported.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/paris-attack-draws-reactions.aspx?pageID=238&nID=38755&NewsCatID=338 <http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/paris-attack-draws-reactions.aspx?pageID=238&nID=38755&NewsCatID=338>
4. PKK militants should leave Turkey: Erdoğan
10 January 2013 / Hurriyet
The aim of ongoing talks with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) is to convince the group’s militants to lay down their arms and abandon Turkey, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said yesterday. “Our sincerity can be seen in the steps that we have taken in the last few days. Our aim is to have the separatist terrorist organization’s cadres leave Turkey. [We want to make them] lay down their arms and leave,” Erdoğan said during a joint press conference with Nigerien Prime Minister Mahamadou Issoufou in reference to the talks between Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the PKK, and the government.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/pkk-militants-should-leave-turkey-erdogan.aspx?pageID=238&nID=38735&NewsCatID=338
5. Turkey agrees peace roadmap with PKK: media
9 January 2013 / AFP
The Turkish government and jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan have agreed on a roadmap to end a three-decade-old insurgency that has claimed tens of thousands of lives, Turkish media reported Wednesday.
The deal was reached during a new round of talks between Ankara and Ocalan and aims to have the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) lay down arms in March, private news network NTV and Radikal newspaper reported.
An initial cessation of hostilities was to evolve into a fully-fledged ceasefire agreement over the following months, they said, without revealing their sources for the reported breakthrough.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ifEh-KB11EiuHKRaYWhVTErjDTJQ?docId=CNG.3ea52f50071a0fb8fe29207717dd1604.b1 <http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5ifEh-KB11EiuHKRaYWhVTErjDTJQ?docId=CNG.3ea52f50071a0fb8fe29207717dd1604.b1>
5. Demirtaş: It's the AKP's turn to move
8 January 2012 / ANF
Speaking on Tuesday during his party's parliamentary group meeting. Selahattin Demirtaş, co-chair of the BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) welcomed the contacts with Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan and said they are "logical, right and the only path to peace". He also said the talks are a positive but late and inadequate development. "If Öcalan is to negotiate for peace, he must have direct contact with the Kurdish Communities Union and the Kurdish people,” Demirtaş added. Demirtaş underlined that the KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union), DTK (Democratic Society Congress) and BDP need to be included into the process of ongoing talks so that these meetings could pave the way for negotiations. “It is important to us that the talks have been given publicity 14 years later and are progressing in partial transparency at present. This is a logical and right step taken in such a critical process”, he said.
http://en.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=article&nuceID=5541
6. İmralı meeting is correct decision: PKK Europe head
6 January 2013 / Hurriyet
Zübeyir Aydar, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party's (PKK) European head, has denied recent reports that his group is against negotiations between Kurdish deputies and PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, Doğan News Agency has reported. "The PKK is a whole and its follows its leader. It doesn't have sects. Meeting with our leader, constructing dialogue and negotiating with him is the right decision. We have said for years that our interlocutor is Öcalan. The dialogue which has been started with him is our demand. It is unthinkable for us to be against it. Any other comments are manipulations of psychological warfare," he said.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/imrali-meeting-is-correct-decision-pkk-europe-head.aspx?pageID=238&nID=38443&NewsCatID=338
7. Turkey's Erdogan rules out amnesty for Kurdish militants
6 January 2013 / Reuters
Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan ruled out a general amnesty for Kurdish militants on Sunday but said intelligence agents would continue to talk to the rebels' jailed leader in a bid to end a near three-decade insurgency.
Erdogan's chief adviser said last week that Turkish officials had been discussing disarmament with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and on Thursday two Kurdish lawmakers paid a rare visit to the militant group's leader in his island prison.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/06/us-turkey-kurds-idUSBRE90505N20130106
8. In Rare Talks Ocalan Demands Release of Prisoners, Contact With Rebel Base
7 January 2013 / Rudaw
Jailed rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan has asked Ankara to free thousands of Kurdish prisoners and let him communicate with his mountain base in Iraqi Kurdistan, in rare talks believed to have centered on disarming guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey, a source told Rudaw. Ocalan, who has lived in virtual isolation on Turkey’s Imrali island since his capture in 1999, met last week with two pro-Kurdish MPs, the first meeting with anyone outside his family for more than a year. Details of Thursday’s talks, led by Aylat Akat of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) have not been disclosed, but Turkish intelligence and other officials have said that, “The talks with Ocalan are about disarming the PKK."
http://www.rudaw.net/english/news/turkey/5632.html
9. Kurdish Politicians Apply to Meet Öcalan
9 January 2013 / ANF
Peace and Democracy Party co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş said the appointment delegation would include co-chairs of Peace and Democracy Party and Democratic Society Congress. "We have applied to the Ministry of Justice before," Demirtaş said. "But our efforts yielded no results. This time, we believe that our request will be accepted." Demirtaş underscored the importance of their participation in the Imrali process--the ongoing detente and negotiations between Turkish state and PKK. "If our request will be approved, we will head to Imrali island and meet Öcalan."
Demirtaş Also reminded last week's meeting where Öcalan received deputies Ahmet Türk and Ayla Akat Ata, which he suggested to "bring a positive climate".
http://www.bianet.org/english/politics/143420-kurdish-politicians-apply-to-meet-ocalan
10. Kurdish and Turkish lawyers on trial for representing imprisoned leader
9 January 2012 / Guardian Law blog
While UK courts made their traditionally slow start to the new year, a hearing in Istanbul managed to pack more than 100 lawyers onto its benches on January 3rd.
The mass trial of Kurdish and Turkish lawyers has raised concern among the international legal community about the state of justice in one of NATO's more powerful members. Turkey is also a member of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/guardian-law-blog/2013/jan/09/kurdish-turkish-lawyers-trial
11. After 682 days in jail Soner Yalcin is released
30 December 2012 / The Spark
By Barry White. Soner Yalcin, international journalist and owner of Odatv news web site was released at the end of the 15th hearing of the Odatv trial at the Judgement Palace in Istanbul on 27 December. However, he can’t leave Turkey and he will have to report weekly to the court. He was first imprisoned in February 2011, along with nine other journalists working for the internet news site. They were accused of being involved in the alleged ‘Ergenekon’ coup plot to overthrow the government. The defendants have always maintained that the case was an excuse to bully independent and critical journalists. One journalist, Yalcin Kucuk remains in prison along with former intelligence officer, Hanefi Avci.
http://www.thespark.me.uk/?p=479
COMMENT, OPINION AND ANALYSIS
12. Turkey makes game-changing move on Kurdish problem
5 January 2013 / Hurriyet
The Turkish government has made a game-changing move on the country’s chronic Kurdish problem by letting two Kurdish-origin members of Parliament visit the leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, at his İmralı island prison on Jan. 3 following a number of contacts with him by Hakan Fidan, the head of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT). Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin told reporters that his ministry had decided give a positive answer to the applications of the Kurdish problem-focused Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) to talk to Öcalan themselves instead of hearing what he says on the future of the Kurdish problem from government officials, lawyers or his relatives.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-makes-game-changing-move-on-kurdish-problem-.aspx?pageID=449&nID=38417&NewsCatID=409
13. Karayılan: Dialogue is important but there also needs to be a policy for resolution
9 January 2013 / Peace in Kurdistan Campaign
KCK Executive Council President Murat Karayılan talked to ANF reporters Deniz Kendal and Rosida Mardin about the recent meeting with the leader of the Kurdish people, Abdullah Öcalan, on Imrali Island. Stressing the importance of monitoring the initiative carefully, he said, “the initiative launched for dialogue is both an important and an accurate approach.” Karayılan said that meetings have been taking place with Öcalan since November, and he continued, “of course the visit of Ahmet Turk and Ayla Akat to Imrali showed the significance of these meetings.” This is a new dimension and we are aware of its importance. However, we will find out in the coming days whether these meetings and the renewed dialogue will turn into a process that leads to a resolution of the Kurdish issue or not.
http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2013/01/09/karayilan-dialogue-is-important-but-there-also-needs-to-be-a-policy-for-resolution/
14. Cemil Bayık: talks are the last chance for AKP
7 January 2013 / Peace in Kurdistan campaign
While the talks with the Kurdish Leader Abdullah Öcalan in Imrali are being debated, member of the KCK Executive Council, Cemil Bayık, evaluated the subject in his column published at the Yeni Özgür Politika and Azadiya Welat newspapers.
Bayık, in his article written in Kurdish, entitled ‘the last chance for AKP’, stated that as a result of the resistance of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan against one and a half year of threats and blackmailing, the AKP had to restart the talks. Stating “resistance of the Guerrilla and the People also forced the AKP to talk with the Kurdish People’s Leader”, Bayık’s article is as follows.
http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/bayik-talks-are-the-last-chance-for-akp/
15. Demirtas addresses BDP group meeting about peace talks
10 January 2013 / Peace in Kurdistan
Co-chair of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Selahattin Demirtas addressed the BDP group meeting on Tuesday with an in-depth discussion on the renewed negotiations between the Turkish state and the PKK. Here is a translated version of the full speech.
http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/demirtas-addresses-bdp-group-meeting-about-peace-talks/
16. KCK Trial of Kurdish Lawyers – Istanbul 3rd January 2013
6 January 2013 / Peace in Kurdistan campaign
As part of Peace in Kurdistan’s continuing monitoring of the ongoing KCK Trials in Turkey, solicitor Tony Fisher and barrister Melanie Gingell have returned from Istanbul where they observed the latest hearing of a mass trial of 46 Kurdish lawyers. Tony Fisher, a member of the Law Society’s Human Rights Committee, has written the following report about the hearing on 3 January, which includes a summary of the proceedings and a commentary on the highly politicised nature of the trial. The report is also available for download.
http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2013/01/08/report-from-the-lastest-kck-trial-of-kurdish-lawyers/
17. Open letter to PM Erdoğan
5 January 2013 / Alliance for Kurdish Rights
Honorable Prime Minister Erdoğan, as you are aware, the long-standing Kurdish struggle for autonomy has remained a constant issue in Turkish national politics. Kurdish history is dominated by the unending fight for self-determination and recognition of a distinct ethnic identity within the Turkish community. http://kurdishrights.org/2013/01/05/open-letter-to-pm-erdogan/ <http://kurdishrights.org/2013/01/05/open-letter-to-pm-erdogan/>
18. Canadian MP Jim Karygiannis: Kurdish Issue is ‘Also Our Problem’
8 January 2013 / Rudaw
As a Liberal Party member of the Canadian House of Commons since 1988, Jim Karygiannis is working to establish peace through dialogue between the Kurdish and Turkish communities in Canada as well as in Turkey. In an interview with Rudaw, he says that on the Kurdish issue Turkey and Iran can learn from Canada, where Francophones exist alongside Anglophones and enjoy similar rights. He adds that, because Kurds are part of the Canadian community, the Kurdish issue is also a Canadian problem. He urges young Canadian Kurds to see themselves as full citizens and become more engaged in Canadian politics.
http://www.rudaw.net/english/interview/5633.html
19. Syria: Whatever happened to balanced reporting?
2 January 2013 / eKurd
How many reports have we seen telling us that Kurds in Syria are working for al-Assad, that the Kurdish PKK (from Turkey) is behind the actions of Kurdish Democratic Union Party – PYD, that PYD runs the Kurdish area, and that Kurds are divided? There are many. In contrast, where are the articles that positively report the unity of the Kurdish political parties and the creation of a safe area within the Kurdish region in the North-East where those who come without weapons are welcomed and cared for? Where are the articles that give voice to those working for a solution based on dialogue and non-violence? There are just a few.
http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2013/1/syriakurd717.htm
20. This could be the birth of an independent Kurdish state
9 January 2013 / Guardian
I was surprised to read an article in the Baghdad newspaper al-Sabah, by its editor Abd al-Jabbar Shabbout, suggesting it was time to settle the "age-old problem" between Iraq's Arabs and Kurds by establishing a "Kurdish state". I had never heard a formerly so heretical view expressed in any Arab quarter so publicly. And this was no ordinary quarter: al-Sabah is the mouthpiece of the prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki himself. Shabbout went on to suggest a negotiated "ending of the Arab-Kurdish partnership in a peaceful way".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/09/birth-kurdish-state-ottoman-syria-arab-spring
21. ‘From the Amazons to Hasankeyf: Damocracy’ – new documentary
9 January 2013 / Mesop
A new documentary, out next month, makes the case against huge dam projects, such as the one in north Kurdistan which threatens to destroy the 10,000 year old town of Hansankeyf, one of the oldest continually inhabited places on earth. Film maker Todd Southgate travelled from the deepest corners of the vast Amazon rainforest in Brazil to the mountains and plains of fertile upper Mesopotamia in north Kurdistan/Turkey.
http://www.mesop.de/2013/01/09/from-the-amazons-to-hasankeyf-damocracy-new-documentary/
Three Pens & Three Kurdish Women Activists assassinated in Paris
To whom it may concern,
Kurds have woken up with deep pain in their hearts today. As yesterday three Kurdish women activists - including a co-founder of the militant nationalist PKK - have been found dead with gunshot wounds in a Kurdish information centre in Paris.
The bodies of Sakine Cansiz and two others were found on Thursday in which darkness does not only descend upon Kurds in the Middle east it has also followed them to the Europe where it has claimed three peaceful Kurdish female activists.
French Interior Minister Manuel Valls said the killings were "intolerable". However, killing of three beautiful Kurdish people in Paris can only mean one thing for European Kurds, “leaving their loved ones and Kurdistan behind does not mean they are safe in the other part of the world where other countries and Europe turned their back to protect them”.
The motive for the shootings is unclear. Some 40,000 people have died in the 25-year conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK. Moreover, the murdered subjects were dedicated people not only to their people but to the humanity.
Who were the victims?
Sakine Cansiz: Founding member of the PKK, and first senior female member of the organisation; while jailed, led Kurdish protest movement out of Diyarbakir prison in Turkey in 1980s; after being released, worked with PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in Syria; was a commander of the women's guerrilla movement in Kurdish areas of northern Iraq; later took a lower profile and became responsible for the PKK women's movement in Europe
Fidan Dogan: Paris representative of the Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress (KNC) political group; responsible for lobbying the EU and diplomats on behalf the PKK via the KNC
Leyla Soylemez: Junior activist working on diplomatic relations and as a women's representative on behalf of the PKK.
Members of the Kurdish Community demonstrated outside the information centre as Mr Valls arrived.The three women were "undoubtedly executed", Mr Valls said, adding that the French authorities were determined to "shed light on this act".
However, what is striking that before the French Authorities have made a statement on the incident a Turkish AKP minister (Mr Celik) had released some inadequate information on the incident which means Turkish Government had already known about the assassinations or seems got the first hand information.
We as the Kurdish Federation in Britain call for an immediate “International Soliditary” for Kurdistan’s people. We appeal to the “International Communities” with our hearts and pain and urge them to take actions and put pressure on Turkey and French Government in order to solve those ruthless murders and bring peaceful solutions to the Kurdish question by dialogue and implementing democracy for Kurds not only in Turkey but in the Middle East too.
Fedbir in UK,
11 Portland Gardens London
Kurds have woken up with deep pain in their hearts today. As yesterday three Kurdish women activists - including a co-founder of the militant nationalist PKK - have been found dead with gunshot wounds in a Kurdish information centre in Paris.
The bodies of Sakine Cansiz and two others were found on Thursday in which darkness does not only descend upon Kurds in the Middle east it has also followed them to the Europe where it has claimed three peaceful Kurdish female activists.
French Interior Minister Manuel Valls said the killings were "intolerable". However, killing of three beautiful Kurdish people in Paris can only mean one thing for European Kurds, “leaving their loved ones and Kurdistan behind does not mean they are safe in the other part of the world where other countries and Europe turned their back to protect them”.
The motive for the shootings is unclear. Some 40,000 people have died in the 25-year conflict between the Turkish state and the PKK. Moreover, the murdered subjects were dedicated people not only to their people but to the humanity.
Who were the victims?
Sakine Cansiz: Founding member of the PKK, and first senior female member of the organisation; while jailed, led Kurdish protest movement out of Diyarbakir prison in Turkey in 1980s; after being released, worked with PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in Syria; was a commander of the women's guerrilla movement in Kurdish areas of northern Iraq; later took a lower profile and became responsible for the PKK women's movement in Europe
Fidan Dogan: Paris representative of the Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress (KNC) political group; responsible for lobbying the EU and diplomats on behalf the PKK via the KNC
Leyla Soylemez: Junior activist working on diplomatic relations and as a women's representative on behalf of the PKK.
Members of the Kurdish Community demonstrated outside the information centre as Mr Valls arrived.The three women were "undoubtedly executed", Mr Valls said, adding that the French authorities were determined to "shed light on this act".
However, what is striking that before the French Authorities have made a statement on the incident a Turkish AKP minister (Mr Celik) had released some inadequate information on the incident which means Turkish Government had already known about the assassinations or seems got the first hand information.
We as the Kurdish Federation in Britain call for an immediate “International Soliditary” for Kurdistan’s people. We appeal to the “International Communities” with our hearts and pain and urge them to take actions and put pressure on Turkey and French Government in order to solve those ruthless murders and bring peaceful solutions to the Kurdish question by dialogue and implementing democracy for Kurds not only in Turkey but in the Middle East too.
Fedbir in UK,
11 Portland Gardens London
3 Kurdish women politicians killed in Paris
Three PKK members killed in Paris attack
10 January 2013 / Hurriyet
An office of the Kurdistan Information Center in Paris was attacked by unknown people in the French capital Paris late yesterday, resulting in the deaths of three women, including one of the founders of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Sakine Cansız, one of the PKK founders in 1978, Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress' (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doğan, and Leyla Söylemez were found dead in the office, located near Gare du Nord station.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/three-pkk-members-killed-in-paris-attack.aspx?pageID=238&nid=38748
3 Female Kurdish Politicians Found Dead in Paris
10 January 2013 / Bianet
Last night, 3 Kurdish female politicians--PKK co-founder Sakine Cansız, Kurdish National Congress Paris representative Fidan Doğan and Leyla Söylemez--were found dead at the Kurdish Information Office in Paris. The three women were allegedly murdered by a group of individuals who raided the office, Firat News Agency said.
Rumors say that Cansız and Doğan were shot dead with a bullet in the head while Söylemez died due to a gun wound in the belly. Murders were said to be orchestrated with gun silencers. "We didn't hear from Fidan Doğan for hours. So we headed to the office after midnight around 1am. There were traces of blood by the entrance. We broke in and found them dead," Selma Akkaya from Özgür Politika newspaper said.
http://www.bianet.org/english/other/143431-3-female-kurdish-politicians-found-dead-in-paris
Paris attack draws reactions
10 January 2013 / Hurriyet
French Interior Minister Manuel Valls has described the attack at the office of the Kurdistan Information Center in Paris, which resulted in the death of three women, as "insupportable." French authorities are determined to uncover the truth in this case," Valls said during his visit to the crime scene this morning. Valls offered his condolescences to the families of the three victims. "Three women have been shot down, killed, without doubt executed. This is a very serious incident, which is why I am here. It is completely unacceptable," he told reporters, AFP has reported.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/paris-attack-draws-reactions.aspx?pageID=238&nID=38755&NewsCatID=338
10 January 2013 / Hurriyet
An office of the Kurdistan Information Center in Paris was attacked by unknown people in the French capital Paris late yesterday, resulting in the deaths of three women, including one of the founders of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Sakine Cansız, one of the PKK founders in 1978, Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress' (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doğan, and Leyla Söylemez were found dead in the office, located near Gare du Nord station.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/three-pkk-members-killed-in-paris-attack.aspx?pageID=238&nid=38748
3 Female Kurdish Politicians Found Dead in Paris
10 January 2013 / Bianet
Last night, 3 Kurdish female politicians--PKK co-founder Sakine Cansız, Kurdish National Congress Paris representative Fidan Doğan and Leyla Söylemez--were found dead at the Kurdish Information Office in Paris. The three women were allegedly murdered by a group of individuals who raided the office, Firat News Agency said.
Rumors say that Cansız and Doğan were shot dead with a bullet in the head while Söylemez died due to a gun wound in the belly. Murders were said to be orchestrated with gun silencers. "We didn't hear from Fidan Doğan for hours. So we headed to the office after midnight around 1am. There were traces of blood by the entrance. We broke in and found them dead," Selma Akkaya from Özgür Politika newspaper said.
http://www.bianet.org/english/other/143431-3-female-kurdish-politicians-found-dead-in-paris
Paris attack draws reactions
10 January 2013 / Hurriyet
French Interior Minister Manuel Valls has described the attack at the office of the Kurdistan Information Center in Paris, which resulted in the death of three women, as "insupportable." French authorities are determined to uncover the truth in this case," Valls said during his visit to the crime scene this morning. Valls offered his condolescences to the families of the three victims. "Three women have been shot down, killed, without doubt executed. This is a very serious incident, which is why I am here. It is completely unacceptable," he told reporters, AFP has reported.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/paris-attack-draws-reactions.aspx?pageID=238&nID=38755&NewsCatID=338
Saturday, 5 January 2013
KURDISH NEWS WEEKLY BRIEFING, 21 December 2012 – 4 January 2013
1. Turkish Kurd deputies meet jailed militant leader Ocalan: lawmaker
3 January 2013 / Reuters
Two Kurdish lawmakers made a rare visit to Abdullah Ocalan at his island prison on Thursday, signaling that Turkey is negotiating with the influential militant leader over ending a conflict that has killed tens of thousands over three decades.
Pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) deputy Ayla Akat Ata and prominent Kurdish politician Ahmet Turk went with a lawyer to Imrali, where Ocalan has been held in virtual isolation since his capture in 1999, a Kurdish lawmaker said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/03/us-turkey-kurds-idUSBRE9020K720130103
2. Intel agency starts fresh talks on İmralı island
1 January 2013 / Hurriyet
Turkish intelligence officials are holding talks with the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party <http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/tag/PKK> (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, in an effort to convince his organization to lay down their arms, daily Hürriyet reported yesterday. Officials from the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) held a four-hour meeting with Öcalan Dec. 22 on İmralı Island, where he has been serving a life sentence since 1999. During the meeting, Öcalan reportedly demanded direct contact with his organization and better prison conditions as a first step toward the militants’ disarmament.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/intel-agency-starts-fresh-talks-on-imrali-island.aspx?pageID=238&nid=38084
3. To End Kurdish Conflict, Turkey Calls on Archenemy
2 January 2013 / IHT Rendezvous
Turkish intelligence agents have been making the short hop from Istanbul across the Sea of Marmara to the prison Island of Imrali in recent weeks for talks with a jailed Kurdish separatist leader who was once Turkey’s most wanted man.
Abdullah Ocalan, founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the P.K.K., has been languishing on Imrali since he was captured in Nairobi in 1999 while on the run. He is serving a life term after a death sentence was commuted.
Now the Turkish government wants his help to end a resurgent war with P.K.K. rebels that has claimed around 900 lives in the past year and a half.
http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/02/hoping-to-end-decades-long-kurdish-conflict-turkey-calls-on-archenemy/
4. Turkey, jailed Kurd leader discuss disarmament: report
31 December 2012 / France 24
Turkey's intelligence agency has discussed the issue of disarmament with the jailed Kurdish leader in a bid to bring an end to the nearly three-decade old insurgency, a newspaper reported on Monday.
Officials from the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) held a four-hour meeting with Abdullah Ocalan on December 23 to urge outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants to lay down their arms, the Hurriyet newspaper reported.
But Ocalan demanded that he must have a direct contact with the PKK and his detention conditions must be improved, according to the paper.
http://www.france24.com/en/20121231-turkey-jailed-kurd-leader-discuss-disarmament-report
5. Turkey: Military will keep fighting rebel Kurds
4 January 2013 / Associated Press
Turkey will press ahead with military operations against autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels even as Turkish officials hold talks with the rebels' jailed leader to end the 28-year-old conflict, officials said Friday. Last week, the government confirmed that Turkey's intelligence agency was talking to rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan with the aim of convincing the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, to disarm. Ocalan has been serving a life sentence on a prison island off Istanbul since 1999. Yet Turkish officials said Turkey had no intention of halting its military drive against the group, which took up arms in 1984 and is fighting for self-rule in southeast Turkey, often from bases in northern Iraq. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people since then.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iWbJouA1rbi-UVV-M38d96f5sc-Q?docId=819d27e4ad1548cb8c52c696fb57a7ed
6. Thousands Commemorate in Roboski, Demand for Justice
28 December 2012 / Bianet
Today marked as the anniversary of Roboski Massacre, killing of 34 Kurdish civilians from Roboski and Bujeh villages--which are officially recongnized as Ortasu and Gülyazı respectively--after a Turkish military air strike days only three before 2012. Turkish state officials claim that killings were caused due to false intelligence reports provided by U.S. Army, an argument that created controversy in Turkey.
Turkish police tightened security on Riboski entrance, controlling human circulation in and out of the village with barricades. Last night several vehicles heading to Sirnak province has been halted by the police for vehicle license checks. Many individuals said they were IDed by the police in downtown Sirnak.
http://www.bianet.org/english/human-rights/143162-thousands-commemorate-in-roboski-demand-for-justice
7. The Kurds, Syria and the denial of Kurdish Rights
6 December 2012 / Stop the War Coalition
For the last twenty months Syria has provided the scenery for a longstanding and violent upheaval. News coverage of events taking place in the country has been narrowly focused on the conflict between the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the Syrian opposition on one side and the Syrian regime on the other.
Northern Syria, or “West Kurdistan” as the Kurds call it, has had very little media coverage during this period. The situation there is an entirely different story. This region of Syria is home to approximately 3 million Kurds. The Kurds make up the largest ethnic minority group within Syria.
http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php/syria/2116-the-kurds-syria-and-the-denial-of-kurdish-rights
8. Map of Western Kurdistan – First stage
YASA – Kurdish Centre for Legal Studies and Consultancy
After many months of work and cooperation with many Kurds both inside and outside Syria, YASA, the Kurdish Center for Legal Studies & Consultancy, has created a map of Western Kurdistan.
The first phase of the project is completed, and we are currently working on the second phase. People and experts who want to join us or have any comments or suggestions can contact us using the following e-mail address:
info@yasa-online.org <mailto:info@yasa-online.org> .
http://yasa-online.org/index.php/77-yasa-english/138-map-of-western-kurdistan-first-stage
9. 401 years and 9 months prison sentence in KCK Şırnak case
3 January 2013 / ANF
The hearing of the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) Şırnak case was held at Diyarbakır 6th High Criminal Court on Wednesday. 41 of the 55 Kurdish politicians tried in the case have been jailed for years, including Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Şırnak deputy Faysal Sarıyıldız. The court passed a total of 401 years and 9 months prison sentence on 40 Kurdish politicians for allegedly being members of the KCK organization and holding explosive substances. Following the protest of defendants against the court decision, lawyer Fethi Gümüş objected to the sentence which he said was passed without defendants being given the right to defend themselves in their mother tongue Kurdish. Defendant Metin Fındık also asked the court board to postpone the trial until after the imminent legislation of the mother tongue arrangement by the Parliament. The court board replied that the present legislation didn't allow mother tongue at courts.
http://en.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=article&nuceID=5519
10. Court Rejects Testimony in Kurdish
3 January 2013 / Bianet
The 6th Diyarbakir High Criminal Court found 40 defendants guilty for being a KCK organization member, ordering prison sentences from six years and three months to seventeen years. In 2009, police raided several apartments in Şırnak province, detaining dozens of individuals suspected of being a member of KCK, an organization recognized as the urban branch of PKK. On the 24th session of Şırnak KCK trial, the judge ruled to prosecute 12 suspects--including Şırnak province deputy Faysal Sarıyıldız--under a separate trial. Defendant attorneys requested that suspects testified in Kurdish, a proposition rejected by the court. The judge ruled that legislation regulating testimonies in other languages than Turkish has not yet implemented. The judge also rejected defense attorneys' request for additional time until the the suspects could testify in Kurdish.
http://www.bianet.org/english/human-rights/143266-diyarbakir-court-rejects-testimony-in-kurdish
11. Demirtas criticizes Erdogan Roboski remarks, derides opposition leaders
24 December 2012 / Kurd Press
The Leader of pro- Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Selahhatin Demirtas criticized Turkey prime minister remarks over last year Roboski Massacre where 34 Kurdish civilians were killed in an army air strike. Addressing BDP fans in southern Turkey province of Mersin, Demirtas said more than a year has passed but the result of the case is still vague and undecided. “More surprisingly is that Erdogan (Turkey Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan) voices remarks that prove he is thinking of a new plan over the case,” Demirtas said, adding that Erdogan has asked judiciary system and security officials to count some of the Roboski victims as members of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to decriminalize the operation.
“The operation was a war crime even if all the civilians are proved to be PKK members,” he further said.
http://tinyurl.com/abp3xek <http://tinyurl.com/abp3xek>
12. HPG's war statement for 2012
3 January 2013 / ANF
HPG (People’s Defense Forces) Press Office (HPG-BIM) released its statement about the 2012 balance of operations and clashes. The statement remarked that the Turkish army had carried out 320 ground operations and 184 aerial attacks in the last year. According to the statement, guerrilla forces carried out 736 actions and 314 guerrillas lost their lives in clashes during the year. The war statement for 2012 shows that the year has been the severest one of late years as clashes are seen to have intensified the most in the months of August-September-October, three months when guerrilla actions reached an all-time high.
http://en.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=article&nuceID=5521
13. Human Rights Watch: Turkey Must Account for Roboski Bombing
28 December 2012 / Rudaw
On the first anniversary of a Turkish airstrike that killed 34 Kurdish villagers near the border with Iraqi Kurdistan, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Turkey of failing the families of victims in their search for justice.
“One year on, no one has been held (to) account for ordering the F-16 jets to drop the bombs that killed the 34 villagers,” Emma Sinclair-Webb, senior researcher for Turkey at HRW, said in a statement on Thursday.
“The Turkish government, parliament, and Diyarbakır prosecutor have so far failed the families of the victims in their search for justice,” she added.
http://www.rudaw.net/english/news/turkey/5596.html
14. Set journalists free in Turkey: EFJ campaign update
3 January 2013 / Peace in Kurdistan campaign
The latest updates from the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) this week includes news of ODA TV’s Sonar Yalcin ‘s release from prison.
http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/set-journalists-free-in-turkey-efj-campaign-update-10/
15. Turkey arms Syrian rebels against Kurds: BDP leader
17 December 2012 / Kurd Press
Pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) co-Chair Gultan Kisanak said Ankara government is meddling in Syria Kurdish regions by arming Arab rebels to fight against Kurdish parties in Syria Kurdish region of Sarikani in the north of the country.
Addressing a group of BDP fans in southeastern province of Batman, Kisanak said Turkey has ordered an illegal and secret group to fuel tensions in Sarikani and make Kurds and Arabs fight against each other.
“We talked to dozens of People in Jilanpinar (southeastern Turkey city in Syria border). We fortunately have achieved undeniable documents that prove Turkey is arming and paying hireling and urges them to make Sarikani biggest war scene between Arabs and Kurds.
http://tinyurl.com/a95lm6a <http://tinyurl.com/a95lm6a>
16. Will Turkey Squander Its Opportunity to Lead?
30 December 2012 / IHT Rendezvous
Instead of Turkey leading the post-Arab Spring Middle East, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is setting a new standard of intolerance. Fourteen months after he touted Turkey as an example for the region, Mr. Erdogan is polarizing politics in his country and squelching dissent.
Turkey is, at last, in a unique and enviable position on the world stage: sitting astride Europe, Asia and the Middle East, culturally as well as politically, and relatively strong economically. As post-Mubarak Egypt grapples with old demons in new forms, Syria approaches a bloody denouement, and Saudi Arabia and Iran offer little in the way of viable paths to progress, this could be Turkey’s moment.
http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/30/will-turkey-squander-its-opportunity-to-lead/
17. Erdogan Talks Turkey with the Kurds
2 January 2013 / The American Interest
Turkey is talking with the Kurds, the FT is reporting. A senior political adviser to Prime Minister Erdogan has admitted that his government has opened disarmament discussions with the jailed leader of the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan: “Pointing out that after close to three decades of armed struggle with the PKK neither side had achieved its aims, Mr Akdogan explained that Turkey had tried to negotiate with the PKK before and was doing so again in an effort to end the conflict.”
http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2013/01/02/erdogan-talking-turkey-with-kurdish-leader/
18. Turkish talks offer hope of peace with Kurdish militants
31 December 2012 / Guardian
If you were looking for some new year cheer, you could do worse than look toward Turkey, with confirmation this weekend that talks between Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government and Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK), are continuing and that the focus of the negotiations was getting the movement to lay down its arms. Any glimmer of hope for an end to an insurgency that has cost at least 40,000 lives is to be welcomed. Especially since the last 18 months have witnessed a surge in violence the like of which has not been seen since Ocalan was seized by Turkish special forces in 1999.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/31/turkish-peace-talks-kurdish-militants-pkk
19. Erdogan's troubling shift toward repression
28 December 2012 / CNN Global Public Square
Editor’s note: Mehmet Yuksel is the BDP representative in Washington, DC. The views expressed are the author’s own.
Many U.S. officials still consider Turkey a model for the Middle East, crediting Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with ushering in reforms that have excised the presence of the Turkish military from the political sphere. They are wrong. Erdoğan’s recent treatment of political opposition suggest that rather than democratize Turkey, he is instead following the model employed by Vladimir Putin in Russia or Mohamed Morsy in Egypt. Erdoğan entered office promising a new approach on the Kurdish issue, a topic which the predominantly Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party [BDP] holds dear. But his outreach was insincere.
http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/28/erdogans-troubling-shift-toward-repression/
20. The Kurdish Issue in Turkey: An Interview with Selahattin Demirtas
17 December 2012 / Foreign Policy Association blog
At thirty-nine years old, Selahattin Demirtas is the Chairman of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) in Turkish parliament. He has held this position since January 2010 and was first elected to parliament in 2007 as the MP for the Kurdish majority city of Diyarbakir, after which he joined the now-defunct Democratic Society Party (DTP). After the DTP was dissolved, he joined the BDP and rose to his present rank. A controversial figure, Demirtas was sentenced to ten months in prison for alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) after suggesting that the Turkish government talk to imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. He has been extremely outspoken regarding the inclusion of Ocalan in political negotiations and the creation of some sort of autonomy for Turkey’s Kurdish population.
http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2012/12/17/the-kurdish-issue-in-turkey-an-interview-with-selahattin-demirtas/ <http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2012/12/17/the-kurdish-issue-in-turkey-an-interview-with-selahattin-demirtas/>
21. Solidarity Letters from Political Prisoners in Turkey
23 December 2012 / Alliance for Kurdish Rights
The number of political prisoners in Turkey is increasing on a daily basis. Despite Turkey being criticised for its crackdowns on mostly Kurdish but also Turkish journalists, lawyers, politicians and activists, there hasn’t been sufficient pressure on Turkey to end these mass and arbitrary arrests. The violations of Kurdish rights in Turkey have been ongoing for decades. The struggle against the Turkish state to stop the unjust and degrading treatment of the Kurds seems never-ending. The number of Kurdish political prisoners strikes us as infinite, and consequently the prisoners are faceless to the outside world; just a mere number in a Turkish prison. An often forgotten statistic. However, an initiative attempts to put a face and give a voice to those unknown defenders of human rights.
http://kurdishrights.org/2012/12/23/solidarity-letters-from-political-prisoners-in-turkey/ <http://kurdishrights.org/2012/12/23/solidarity-letters-from-political-prisoners-in-turkey/>
22. We Need Mother Tongue Education for a Democratic Citizenship | Levent Pişkin
6 December 2012 / Turkey Constitution Watch
Mother tongue education has become one of the most hotly debated topics of the constitution-drafting process. But what exactly does this issue entail?
The republican regime and the nation-state have imposed an essentialist view of society by both de jure and de facto means. For years, the phrase “mother tongue education” meant only teaching Turkish. “Citizen, Speak Turkish!” campaigns were organized, while any questioning of the unified, state-led education system was forbidden.
According to the most recent edition of the Turkish Language Association’s Turkish dictionary, “mother tongue” is defined as “the language a child acquires from its family or the society in which it lives.” The definition widely used in the social sciences does not differ to a great extent from that of the Turkish Language Association. A survey of their definitions might lead us to the following synthesis: “Mother tongue” is “the language that a person acquires by skill and from the extended family into which he or she is born, is developed within that person’s social network, and enables his or her socialization.”
http://turkeyconstitutionwatch.org/2012/12/05/we-need-native-language-education-for-a-democratic-citizenship-levent-piskin/
23. Turkey: Where the Army Can’t Protect Its Own Troops
21 December 2012 / American Interest
Turkey’s Islamist government started life planning to spread peace and security around the Middle East. With war in Syria and tensions building with Iran, that ambition isn’t looking so good. And now the Turks are discovering that the peace of their own country isn’t that secure; the long sputtering Kurdish revolt is back with a bang.
Things are so bad that the Turkish army can’t protect its own troop convoys on Turkish roads anymore; Turkey’s armed forces are going to begin transporting troops to bases in the southeast by commercial aircraft in order to avoid roadside bombs set by the Kurds.
Reuters reports: Turkey’s government and military began discussing alternative transport arrangements with the airline [Turkish Airlines] after a bomb attack on a security convoy in southeastern Bingol province which killed 10 people in September. [...]
http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2012/12/21/is-turkey-losing-control-of-inner-anatolia/
24. Statehood for Kurds?
4 January 2013 / LA Times
The Baghdad newspaper Sabah published a surprising article a few weeks ago. Its editor, Abd Jabbar Shabbout, suggested it was time to settle the "age-old problem" between Iraq's Arabs and Kurds by establishing a "Kurdish state." Never before had I heard such a once-heretical view so publicly expressed in any Arab quarter. And this was no ordinary quarter: Sabah is the mouthpiece of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki. Shabbout went on to suggest a negotiated "ending of the Arab-Kurdish partnership in a peaceful way." He called his proposal Plan B, Plan A being the "dialogue" between Iraq's central government and the Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq that emerged after the fall of Saddam Hussein. But Plan A, he said, was getting nowhere. Differences over power and authority, oil and natural resources, territory and borders were so deep that the dialogue repeatedly failed. In December the Iraqi army and Kurdish peshmerga faced off in an atmosphere so tense, according to Shabbout, that hostilities could have broken out at any moment as a result of the slightest miscalculation.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-hirst-kurds-iraq-syria-20130104,0,1540675.story
25. An Interview with Nechirvan Barzani: Will There Be an Independent Kurdistan?
21 December 2012 / Time
If there is one man who deserves the credit for the growing Turkish-Kurd rapprochement, it’s Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani of Iraqi Kurdistan. Five years ago Kurds and foreigners alike laughed in his face when he told them that not only did he want Iraqi Kurdistan to export its own oil, but that he wanted to export it to Turkey, which has had an intractable problem with its own large Kurdish minority. Barzani’s strategy was one of patience: starting with confidence-building with the Turks and then coaxing small oil companies and then larger ones to risk Baghdad’s ire to drill for oil not only in the autonomous region but in territory disputed by both Barzani’s government and the Iraqi central government.
Barzani sat down with TIME on December 13 to talk about the Turks, his stormy relationship with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the potential for an independent Kurdish state–and how that would affect members of the non-Arab ethnicity, which lives in Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria.
http://world.time.com/2012/12/21/an-interview-with-nechirvan-barzani-will-there-be-an-independent-kurdistan/
26. Syrian Kurdish Plight Requires Independence
2 January 2013 / The Front Page Mag
Once again the Kurds find themselves in a humanitarian crisis not of their own making. The Syrian Kurds are caught between the Assad regime and its allied forces, (including the Kurdish PYD – Union Democratic Party, which is linked to the PKK), and the Syrian opposition, principally the Free Syrian Army and its radical Islamists affiliates (such as Jabhat al-Nusra, with close ties to Al-Qaeda). Both are seeking to draw the Kurds, who are the largest ethnic minority in Syria, to their side. In the meantime, both groups are confiscating vital supplies destined for the beleaguered Syrian Kurdish region. http://frontpagemag.com/2013/joseph-puder/syrian-kurdish-plight-requires-independence/
3 January 2013 / Reuters
Two Kurdish lawmakers made a rare visit to Abdullah Ocalan at his island prison on Thursday, signaling that Turkey is negotiating with the influential militant leader over ending a conflict that has killed tens of thousands over three decades.
Pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) deputy Ayla Akat Ata and prominent Kurdish politician Ahmet Turk went with a lawyer to Imrali, where Ocalan has been held in virtual isolation since his capture in 1999, a Kurdish lawmaker said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/03/us-turkey-kurds-idUSBRE9020K720130103
2. Intel agency starts fresh talks on İmralı island
1 January 2013 / Hurriyet
Turkish intelligence officials are holding talks with the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party <http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/tag/PKK> (PKK), Abdullah Öcalan, in an effort to convince his organization to lay down their arms, daily Hürriyet reported yesterday. Officials from the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) held a four-hour meeting with Öcalan Dec. 22 on İmralı Island, where he has been serving a life sentence since 1999. During the meeting, Öcalan reportedly demanded direct contact with his organization and better prison conditions as a first step toward the militants’ disarmament.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/intel-agency-starts-fresh-talks-on-imrali-island.aspx?pageID=238&nid=38084
3. To End Kurdish Conflict, Turkey Calls on Archenemy
2 January 2013 / IHT Rendezvous
Turkish intelligence agents have been making the short hop from Istanbul across the Sea of Marmara to the prison Island of Imrali in recent weeks for talks with a jailed Kurdish separatist leader who was once Turkey’s most wanted man.
Abdullah Ocalan, founder of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, the P.K.K., has been languishing on Imrali since he was captured in Nairobi in 1999 while on the run. He is serving a life term after a death sentence was commuted.
Now the Turkish government wants his help to end a resurgent war with P.K.K. rebels that has claimed around 900 lives in the past year and a half.
http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/02/hoping-to-end-decades-long-kurdish-conflict-turkey-calls-on-archenemy/
4. Turkey, jailed Kurd leader discuss disarmament: report
31 December 2012 / France 24
Turkey's intelligence agency has discussed the issue of disarmament with the jailed Kurdish leader in a bid to bring an end to the nearly three-decade old insurgency, a newspaper reported on Monday.
Officials from the National Intelligence Organisation (MIT) held a four-hour meeting with Abdullah Ocalan on December 23 to urge outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) militants to lay down their arms, the Hurriyet newspaper reported.
But Ocalan demanded that he must have a direct contact with the PKK and his detention conditions must be improved, according to the paper.
http://www.france24.com/en/20121231-turkey-jailed-kurd-leader-discuss-disarmament-report
5. Turkey: Military will keep fighting rebel Kurds
4 January 2013 / Associated Press
Turkey will press ahead with military operations against autonomy-seeking Kurdish rebels even as Turkish officials hold talks with the rebels' jailed leader to end the 28-year-old conflict, officials said Friday. Last week, the government confirmed that Turkey's intelligence agency was talking to rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan with the aim of convincing the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, to disarm. Ocalan has been serving a life sentence on a prison island off Istanbul since 1999. Yet Turkish officials said Turkey had no intention of halting its military drive against the group, which took up arms in 1984 and is fighting for self-rule in southeast Turkey, often from bases in northern Iraq. The conflict has killed tens of thousands of people since then.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iWbJouA1rbi-UVV-M38d96f5sc-Q?docId=819d27e4ad1548cb8c52c696fb57a7ed
6. Thousands Commemorate in Roboski, Demand for Justice
28 December 2012 / Bianet
Today marked as the anniversary of Roboski Massacre, killing of 34 Kurdish civilians from Roboski and Bujeh villages--which are officially recongnized as Ortasu and Gülyazı respectively--after a Turkish military air strike days only three before 2012. Turkish state officials claim that killings were caused due to false intelligence reports provided by U.S. Army, an argument that created controversy in Turkey.
Turkish police tightened security on Riboski entrance, controlling human circulation in and out of the village with barricades. Last night several vehicles heading to Sirnak province has been halted by the police for vehicle license checks. Many individuals said they were IDed by the police in downtown Sirnak.
http://www.bianet.org/english/human-rights/143162-thousands-commemorate-in-roboski-demand-for-justice
7. The Kurds, Syria and the denial of Kurdish Rights
6 December 2012 / Stop the War Coalition
For the last twenty months Syria has provided the scenery for a longstanding and violent upheaval. News coverage of events taking place in the country has been narrowly focused on the conflict between the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and the Syrian opposition on one side and the Syrian regime on the other.
Northern Syria, or “West Kurdistan” as the Kurds call it, has had very little media coverage during this period. The situation there is an entirely different story. This region of Syria is home to approximately 3 million Kurds. The Kurds make up the largest ethnic minority group within Syria.
http://www.stopwar.org.uk/index.php/syria/2116-the-kurds-syria-and-the-denial-of-kurdish-rights
8. Map of Western Kurdistan – First stage
YASA – Kurdish Centre for Legal Studies and Consultancy
After many months of work and cooperation with many Kurds both inside and outside Syria, YASA, the Kurdish Center for Legal Studies & Consultancy, has created a map of Western Kurdistan.
The first phase of the project is completed, and we are currently working on the second phase. People and experts who want to join us or have any comments or suggestions can contact us using the following e-mail address:
info@yasa-online.org <mailto:info@yasa-online.org> .
http://yasa-online.org/index.php/77-yasa-english/138-map-of-western-kurdistan-first-stage
9. 401 years and 9 months prison sentence in KCK Şırnak case
3 January 2013 / ANF
The hearing of the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) Şırnak case was held at Diyarbakır 6th High Criminal Court on Wednesday. 41 of the 55 Kurdish politicians tried in the case have been jailed for years, including Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Şırnak deputy Faysal Sarıyıldız. The court passed a total of 401 years and 9 months prison sentence on 40 Kurdish politicians for allegedly being members of the KCK organization and holding explosive substances. Following the protest of defendants against the court decision, lawyer Fethi Gümüş objected to the sentence which he said was passed without defendants being given the right to defend themselves in their mother tongue Kurdish. Defendant Metin Fındık also asked the court board to postpone the trial until after the imminent legislation of the mother tongue arrangement by the Parliament. The court board replied that the present legislation didn't allow mother tongue at courts.
http://en.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=article&nuceID=5519
10. Court Rejects Testimony in Kurdish
3 January 2013 / Bianet
The 6th Diyarbakir High Criminal Court found 40 defendants guilty for being a KCK organization member, ordering prison sentences from six years and three months to seventeen years. In 2009, police raided several apartments in Şırnak province, detaining dozens of individuals suspected of being a member of KCK, an organization recognized as the urban branch of PKK. On the 24th session of Şırnak KCK trial, the judge ruled to prosecute 12 suspects--including Şırnak province deputy Faysal Sarıyıldız--under a separate trial. Defendant attorneys requested that suspects testified in Kurdish, a proposition rejected by the court. The judge ruled that legislation regulating testimonies in other languages than Turkish has not yet implemented. The judge also rejected defense attorneys' request for additional time until the the suspects could testify in Kurdish.
http://www.bianet.org/english/human-rights/143266-diyarbakir-court-rejects-testimony-in-kurdish
11. Demirtas criticizes Erdogan Roboski remarks, derides opposition leaders
24 December 2012 / Kurd Press
The Leader of pro- Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Selahhatin Demirtas criticized Turkey prime minister remarks over last year Roboski Massacre where 34 Kurdish civilians were killed in an army air strike. Addressing BDP fans in southern Turkey province of Mersin, Demirtas said more than a year has passed but the result of the case is still vague and undecided. “More surprisingly is that Erdogan (Turkey Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan) voices remarks that prove he is thinking of a new plan over the case,” Demirtas said, adding that Erdogan has asked judiciary system and security officials to count some of the Roboski victims as members of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) to decriminalize the operation.
“The operation was a war crime even if all the civilians are proved to be PKK members,” he further said.
http://tinyurl.com/abp3xek <http://tinyurl.com/abp3xek>
12. HPG's war statement for 2012
3 January 2013 / ANF
HPG (People’s Defense Forces) Press Office (HPG-BIM) released its statement about the 2012 balance of operations and clashes. The statement remarked that the Turkish army had carried out 320 ground operations and 184 aerial attacks in the last year. According to the statement, guerrilla forces carried out 736 actions and 314 guerrillas lost their lives in clashes during the year. The war statement for 2012 shows that the year has been the severest one of late years as clashes are seen to have intensified the most in the months of August-September-October, three months when guerrilla actions reached an all-time high.
http://en.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=article&nuceID=5521
13. Human Rights Watch: Turkey Must Account for Roboski Bombing
28 December 2012 / Rudaw
On the first anniversary of a Turkish airstrike that killed 34 Kurdish villagers near the border with Iraqi Kurdistan, New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Turkey of failing the families of victims in their search for justice.
“One year on, no one has been held (to) account for ordering the F-16 jets to drop the bombs that killed the 34 villagers,” Emma Sinclair-Webb, senior researcher for Turkey at HRW, said in a statement on Thursday.
“The Turkish government, parliament, and Diyarbakır prosecutor have so far failed the families of the victims in their search for justice,” she added.
http://www.rudaw.net/english/news/turkey/5596.html
14. Set journalists free in Turkey: EFJ campaign update
3 January 2013 / Peace in Kurdistan campaign
The latest updates from the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) this week includes news of ODA TV’s Sonar Yalcin ‘s release from prison.
http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2013/01/03/set-journalists-free-in-turkey-efj-campaign-update-10/
15. Turkey arms Syrian rebels against Kurds: BDP leader
17 December 2012 / Kurd Press
Pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) co-Chair Gultan Kisanak said Ankara government is meddling in Syria Kurdish regions by arming Arab rebels to fight against Kurdish parties in Syria Kurdish region of Sarikani in the north of the country.
Addressing a group of BDP fans in southeastern province of Batman, Kisanak said Turkey has ordered an illegal and secret group to fuel tensions in Sarikani and make Kurds and Arabs fight against each other.
“We talked to dozens of People in Jilanpinar (southeastern Turkey city in Syria border). We fortunately have achieved undeniable documents that prove Turkey is arming and paying hireling and urges them to make Sarikani biggest war scene between Arabs and Kurds.
http://tinyurl.com/a95lm6a <http://tinyurl.com/a95lm6a>
16. Will Turkey Squander Its Opportunity to Lead?
30 December 2012 / IHT Rendezvous
Instead of Turkey leading the post-Arab Spring Middle East, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is setting a new standard of intolerance. Fourteen months after he touted Turkey as an example for the region, Mr. Erdogan is polarizing politics in his country and squelching dissent.
Turkey is, at last, in a unique and enviable position on the world stage: sitting astride Europe, Asia and the Middle East, culturally as well as politically, and relatively strong economically. As post-Mubarak Egypt grapples with old demons in new forms, Syria approaches a bloody denouement, and Saudi Arabia and Iran offer little in the way of viable paths to progress, this could be Turkey’s moment.
http://rendezvous.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/30/will-turkey-squander-its-opportunity-to-lead/
17. Erdogan Talks Turkey with the Kurds
2 January 2013 / The American Interest
Turkey is talking with the Kurds, the FT is reporting. A senior political adviser to Prime Minister Erdogan has admitted that his government has opened disarmament discussions with the jailed leader of the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan: “Pointing out that after close to three decades of armed struggle with the PKK neither side had achieved its aims, Mr Akdogan explained that Turkey had tried to negotiate with the PKK before and was doing so again in an effort to end the conflict.”
http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2013/01/02/erdogan-talking-turkey-with-kurdish-leader/
18. Turkish talks offer hope of peace with Kurdish militants
31 December 2012 / Guardian
If you were looking for some new year cheer, you could do worse than look toward Turkey, with confirmation this weekend that talks between Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government and Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK), are continuing and that the focus of the negotiations was getting the movement to lay down its arms. Any glimmer of hope for an end to an insurgency that has cost at least 40,000 lives is to be welcomed. Especially since the last 18 months have witnessed a surge in violence the like of which has not been seen since Ocalan was seized by Turkish special forces in 1999.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/31/turkish-peace-talks-kurdish-militants-pkk
19. Erdogan's troubling shift toward repression
28 December 2012 / CNN Global Public Square
Editor’s note: Mehmet Yuksel is the BDP representative in Washington, DC. The views expressed are the author’s own.
Many U.S. officials still consider Turkey a model for the Middle East, crediting Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan with ushering in reforms that have excised the presence of the Turkish military from the political sphere. They are wrong. Erdoğan’s recent treatment of political opposition suggest that rather than democratize Turkey, he is instead following the model employed by Vladimir Putin in Russia or Mohamed Morsy in Egypt. Erdoğan entered office promising a new approach on the Kurdish issue, a topic which the predominantly Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party [BDP] holds dear. But his outreach was insincere.
http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/28/erdogans-troubling-shift-toward-repression/
20. The Kurdish Issue in Turkey: An Interview with Selahattin Demirtas
17 December 2012 / Foreign Policy Association blog
At thirty-nine years old, Selahattin Demirtas is the Chairman of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) in Turkish parliament. He has held this position since January 2010 and was first elected to parliament in 2007 as the MP for the Kurdish majority city of Diyarbakir, after which he joined the now-defunct Democratic Society Party (DTP). After the DTP was dissolved, he joined the BDP and rose to his present rank. A controversial figure, Demirtas was sentenced to ten months in prison for alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) after suggesting that the Turkish government talk to imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. He has been extremely outspoken regarding the inclusion of Ocalan in political negotiations and the creation of some sort of autonomy for Turkey’s Kurdish population.
http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2012/12/17/the-kurdish-issue-in-turkey-an-interview-with-selahattin-demirtas/ <http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/2012/12/17/the-kurdish-issue-in-turkey-an-interview-with-selahattin-demirtas/>
21. Solidarity Letters from Political Prisoners in Turkey
23 December 2012 / Alliance for Kurdish Rights
The number of political prisoners in Turkey is increasing on a daily basis. Despite Turkey being criticised for its crackdowns on mostly Kurdish but also Turkish journalists, lawyers, politicians and activists, there hasn’t been sufficient pressure on Turkey to end these mass and arbitrary arrests. The violations of Kurdish rights in Turkey have been ongoing for decades. The struggle against the Turkish state to stop the unjust and degrading treatment of the Kurds seems never-ending. The number of Kurdish political prisoners strikes us as infinite, and consequently the prisoners are faceless to the outside world; just a mere number in a Turkish prison. An often forgotten statistic. However, an initiative attempts to put a face and give a voice to those unknown defenders of human rights.
http://kurdishrights.org/2012/12/23/solidarity-letters-from-political-prisoners-in-turkey/ <http://kurdishrights.org/2012/12/23/solidarity-letters-from-political-prisoners-in-turkey/>
22. We Need Mother Tongue Education for a Democratic Citizenship | Levent Pişkin
6 December 2012 / Turkey Constitution Watch
Mother tongue education has become one of the most hotly debated topics of the constitution-drafting process. But what exactly does this issue entail?
The republican regime and the nation-state have imposed an essentialist view of society by both de jure and de facto means. For years, the phrase “mother tongue education” meant only teaching Turkish. “Citizen, Speak Turkish!” campaigns were organized, while any questioning of the unified, state-led education system was forbidden.
According to the most recent edition of the Turkish Language Association’s Turkish dictionary, “mother tongue” is defined as “the language a child acquires from its family or the society in which it lives.” The definition widely used in the social sciences does not differ to a great extent from that of the Turkish Language Association. A survey of their definitions might lead us to the following synthesis: “Mother tongue” is “the language that a person acquires by skill and from the extended family into which he or she is born, is developed within that person’s social network, and enables his or her socialization.”
http://turkeyconstitutionwatch.org/2012/12/05/we-need-native-language-education-for-a-democratic-citizenship-levent-piskin/
23. Turkey: Where the Army Can’t Protect Its Own Troops
21 December 2012 / American Interest
Turkey’s Islamist government started life planning to spread peace and security around the Middle East. With war in Syria and tensions building with Iran, that ambition isn’t looking so good. And now the Turks are discovering that the peace of their own country isn’t that secure; the long sputtering Kurdish revolt is back with a bang.
Things are so bad that the Turkish army can’t protect its own troop convoys on Turkish roads anymore; Turkey’s armed forces are going to begin transporting troops to bases in the southeast by commercial aircraft in order to avoid roadside bombs set by the Kurds.
Reuters reports: Turkey’s government and military began discussing alternative transport arrangements with the airline [Turkish Airlines] after a bomb attack on a security convoy in southeastern Bingol province which killed 10 people in September. [...]
http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2012/12/21/is-turkey-losing-control-of-inner-anatolia/
24. Statehood for Kurds?
4 January 2013 / LA Times
The Baghdad newspaper Sabah published a surprising article a few weeks ago. Its editor, Abd Jabbar Shabbout, suggested it was time to settle the "age-old problem" between Iraq's Arabs and Kurds by establishing a "Kurdish state." Never before had I heard such a once-heretical view so publicly expressed in any Arab quarter. And this was no ordinary quarter: Sabah is the mouthpiece of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki. Shabbout went on to suggest a negotiated "ending of the Arab-Kurdish partnership in a peaceful way." He called his proposal Plan B, Plan A being the "dialogue" between Iraq's central government and the Kurdish regional government in northern Iraq that emerged after the fall of Saddam Hussein. But Plan A, he said, was getting nowhere. Differences over power and authority, oil and natural resources, territory and borders were so deep that the dialogue repeatedly failed. In December the Iraqi army and Kurdish peshmerga faced off in an atmosphere so tense, according to Shabbout, that hostilities could have broken out at any moment as a result of the slightest miscalculation.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-hirst-kurds-iraq-syria-20130104,0,1540675.story
25. An Interview with Nechirvan Barzani: Will There Be an Independent Kurdistan?
21 December 2012 / Time
If there is one man who deserves the credit for the growing Turkish-Kurd rapprochement, it’s Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani of Iraqi Kurdistan. Five years ago Kurds and foreigners alike laughed in his face when he told them that not only did he want Iraqi Kurdistan to export its own oil, but that he wanted to export it to Turkey, which has had an intractable problem with its own large Kurdish minority. Barzani’s strategy was one of patience: starting with confidence-building with the Turks and then coaxing small oil companies and then larger ones to risk Baghdad’s ire to drill for oil not only in the autonomous region but in territory disputed by both Barzani’s government and the Iraqi central government.
Barzani sat down with TIME on December 13 to talk about the Turks, his stormy relationship with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and the potential for an independent Kurdish state–and how that would affect members of the non-Arab ethnicity, which lives in Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria.
http://world.time.com/2012/12/21/an-interview-with-nechirvan-barzani-will-there-be-an-independent-kurdistan/
26. Syrian Kurdish Plight Requires Independence
2 January 2013 / The Front Page Mag
Once again the Kurds find themselves in a humanitarian crisis not of their own making. The Syrian Kurds are caught between the Assad regime and its allied forces, (including the Kurdish PYD – Union Democratic Party, which is linked to the PKK), and the Syrian opposition, principally the Free Syrian Army and its radical Islamists affiliates (such as Jabhat al-Nusra, with close ties to Al-Qaeda). Both are seeking to draw the Kurds, who are the largest ethnic minority in Syria, to their side. In the meantime, both groups are confiscating vital supplies destined for the beleaguered Syrian Kurdish region. http://frontpagemag.com/2013/joseph-puder/syrian-kurdish-plight-requires-independence/
Urgent Action Alert: Write to Adem Uzun, Kurdish political prisoner
Urgent Action Alert: Write to Adem Uzun, Kurdish political prisoner
Dear friends,
On 6 October last year, Kurdish political campaigner, strategist and leading member of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK), Adem Uzun, was arrested by French authorities as he prepared to attend a major conference in the French parliament to discuss the future of the Kurds in Syria (background information attached). He was not granted bail and remained in prison over the period of Christmas and the New Year.
The KNK, Peace in Kurdistan Campaign, CAMPACC, the Kurdish Human Rights Action Group (KHRAG) and the EU Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC) have all already issued statements demanding his release, and efforts to campaign for the French authorities to drop the charges and release him are ongoing.
In the meantime, however, we appeal to everyone to write Adem a card or letter that expresses solidarity with him, and offers him support while he is forced to stay behind bars. We know that a gesture of this kind would provide him with great comfort and strength, so we hope that you take the time to show your support!
Please send to postcard to the following address
Attention personnelle de M. Adem UZUN
(en état de détention provisoire)
Maison d'arrêt "La Santé"
42, Rue de la Santé
F-75674 Paris Cedex 14
France
Thank you,
Friends of Adem Uzun
Dear friends,
On 6 October last year, Kurdish political campaigner, strategist and leading member of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK), Adem Uzun, was arrested by French authorities as he prepared to attend a major conference in the French parliament to discuss the future of the Kurds in Syria (background information attached). He was not granted bail and remained in prison over the period of Christmas and the New Year.
The KNK, Peace in Kurdistan Campaign, CAMPACC, the Kurdish Human Rights Action Group (KHRAG) and the EU Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC) have all already issued statements demanding his release, and efforts to campaign for the French authorities to drop the charges and release him are ongoing.
In the meantime, however, we appeal to everyone to write Adem a card or letter that expresses solidarity with him, and offers him support while he is forced to stay behind bars. We know that a gesture of this kind would provide him with great comfort and strength, so we hope that you take the time to show your support!
Please send to postcard to the following address
Attention personnelle de M. Adem UZUN
(en état de détention provisoire)
Maison d'arrêt "La Santé"
42, Rue de la Santé
F-75674 Paris Cedex 14
France
Thank you,
Friends of Adem Uzun
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