Brussels 03/12/2012
Peace initiative on Kurdish issue aims to kick-start talks, end violence
Representatives of the Dalai Lama and Desmond Tutu today presented a call for the peaceful resolution of the Kurdish question in Turkey (check attachment) . The "International Peace Initiative" is supported by nine international leaders, among them former US president Jimmy Carter, former Finnish and Swedish prime ministers Paavo Lipponen and Ingvar Carlsson.
GUE/NGL Chair Gabi Zimmer welcomes the appeal: "During this year, we had to observe the 'Arab Spring' process of democratisation being blocked in many countries in the region. I share the view of this international appeal that the unresolved Kurdish question deserves much greater attention among the international community and European foreign policy makers in order to develop democracy and stability in the region. Turkey is often cited as an example for its neighbour States. It can only be so if both the Turkish government and Kurdish PKK rebels stop the violence and take credible steps towards dialogue and peace negotiations now.“
"For this reason, I warmly welcome the international peace initiative on the Kurdish question and I hope that the 9th international conference on "EU, Turkey and the Kurds“ that my group is hosting this week in European Parliament together with EU Turkey Civic Commission can contribute to the goals of the appeal“ Zimmer concludes.
GUE/NGL MEP and Coordinator of the Kurdish friendship group in the European Parliament Jürgen Klute, underlines his support for the initiative: "I think the appeal is coming at a decisive moment. Hopes created by Prime Minister Erdogan for a peaceful resolution have been frustrated with mass detentions of political activists and aggravated violence by the armed forces. The hunger strike undertaken by 700 political prisoners has highlighted the need for dialogue and common respect between Turks and Kurds. I call on Primer Minister Erdogan and his government to give a credible engagement for peace and not to waste this opportunity for building peace now".
The 9th International Conference on EU, Turkey and the Kurds will open on Wednesday in the European Parliament. Click here for details. <http://www.guengl.eu/showPage.php?ID=11153&ROOTPAGE=&LANG=1&GLANG=1>
GUE/NGL Press Contacts:
David Lundy +32 485 50 58 12
Gay Kavanagh +32 473 84 23 20
david.lundy@europarl.europa.eu
gabrielle.kavanagh@europarl.europa.eu
European United Left / Nordic Green Left
European Parliamentary Group
www.guengl.eu <http://www.guengl.eu/>
Thursday, 6 December 2012
Kurdish News Weekly Briefing, 23 - 29 November 2012
1. Kurdistan: Victory, but no solution
22 November 2012 / Communist Part of Great Britain
The mass hunger-strike staged by hundreds of Kurdish prisoners ended on the 68th day of the campaign, on November 18, when committees in 37 prisons decided to end the strike on the basis of the call issued by Abdullah Öcalan, jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), that reached the prisons the night before. On the penultimate day the infamously mishap-prone shuttle ship from the mainland to the island prison of İmralı finally managed the passage, and the usual ‘unfavourable weather and sea conditions’ suddenly disappeared too, allowing comrade Öcalan’s brother to visit him for the first time in months. Öcalan was expecting a visit from the solicitor representing him, as previously agreed during the negotiations. However, after a protest against the government’s last-minute tricks, he agreed to see his brother and hand over to him his hand-written note calling on the prisoners to end their strike.
http://www.cpgb.org.uk/home/weekly-worker/939/kurdistan-victory-but-no-solution
2. Kurdistan’s food security begins at home
26 November 2012 / Financial Times
If Iraq is the cradle of civilisation, the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in the north gave birth to agriculture. The first crops were planted in these fertile plains and mountain valleys and animals are said to have been domesticated on the area’s ideal pastoral land seven millennia ago. But if the region was once the bread basket of Iraq, renowned for its top-quality wheat, it is now an increasingly large consumer of imported food. Turkey, Kurds’ strongest trade partner, imported about $7bn worth of goods into northern Iraq last year, the majority of which was food, officials say. Iran, the area’s second largest importer, is another important source for food, especially livestock.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/382419e2-3732-11e2-893a-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2DWJJrXbQ
3. 223 Kurdish minors arrested in November
21 November 2012 / Rojhelat
Arrest of Kurdish minors by Turkish police and security personnel took a sharp increase in November. Around 417 minors had been arrested this year, of these 223 were arrested in November. Kurdish minors have experienced the apex of violence during the AKP the ruling Turkish party. As a result of high pressures on the government reforms were designed to take place in 2010 but nothing has happened to lower the level violence inflicted on Kurdish children. In cities such as Adana and Merin Kurdish children are trailed in courts dealing with adults. They are denied or rights to be accompanied by parents or guardians.
http://rojhelat.info/en/?p=4477
4. Fifty-one people detained in new KCK operation
26 November 2012 / ANF
At least 51 people have been taken into custody in the provinces of Van, Iğdır and Mersin on Monday in the scope of so-called Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) operation which targets Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), Kurdish media and non-governmental organizations since the local elections in 2009 when the BDP achieved a historic victory across Turkey. Among the main circles targeted by the KCK operations are elected executives, journalists, unionists, lawyers, human rights defenders, academics, authors, children, students and woman activists. Thousands of people have been subjected to political arrests in the scope of the KCK operation and the anti-terror law in the last four years.
http://en.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=article&nuceID=5411 <http://en.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=article&nuceID=5411>
5. Saturday Mothers Call for Week 400
23 November 2012 / Bianet
With the demand to learn about their beloved ones who disappeared in the 1990s, Saturdays mothers/people will demonstrate a sit-in protest tomorrow in the heart of Istanbul for the 400th time. Sit-in protests began on May 27, 1995, when the dead body of Hasan Ocak was found buried in an anonymous graveyard after 55 days of torture.
Between 1995 and 1999, hundreds of women in traditional veiled clothing gathered every Saturday at 12 pm with their demand to have information about their beloved ones and see their perpetrators persecuted. Saturday mothers became subject to police violence several times, especially and heavily between the weeks 170 and 200. Press photographers from all over the world snapped photos of old women being dragged by their hair into custody vehicles. Police detained a total of 1093 protestors in 17 years.
http://www.bianet.org/english/human-rights/142321-saturday-mothers-call-for-week-400
6. Kürkçü: Roboski Massacre jointly organized by the Government and Chief of Defence
28 November 2012 / ANF
Perpetrators of the Roboski Massacre are yet to be brought to justice as almost a year has passed over the incident in which 34 Kurdish civilians,among whom 19 were children, were bombed by Turkish warplanes on 28 December 2011. The trial of those responsible hasn't started in the last eleven months as the state claims that perpetrators couldn't be ascertained yet. Kurds and democratic circles on the other hand point the state as the perpetrator of the massacre. Public opinion is also denied the right to obtain information about the legal process because of the 'confidentiality verdict' imposed on the investigation. Families of victims, in response to their demand for justice, have however been provided with compensation which they are still refusing to receive, saying they will not accept the money paid for the murder of their children.
http://en.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=article&nuceID=5416
7. Set journalists free in Turkey: EFJ campaign update
29 November 2012 / Peace in Kurdistan campaign
The latest update from the European Federation of Journalists campaign to free imprisoned journalists in Turkey.
http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/set-journalists-free-in-turkey-efj-campaign-update-7/
8. ECHR Rule Two Verdicts Against Turkey
22 November 2012 / Bianet
In a week, the European Court of Human Rights found Turkey guilty of torture, harsh treatment, violation of freedom of expression and union rights abuses in two separate cases. The court awarded the applicant Ahmet Sami Belek, the owner daily newspaper Günlük Evrensel, a sum of 10,320 Euros compensating pecuniary damage, non-pecuniary damage, costs and expenses. "Relying in particular on Article 10 (freedom of expression), he complained that he had been convicted on three occasions under the Anti-Terrorism Act – which made it an offense to publish declarations or leaflets emanating from terrorist organizations – for having published articles containing statements by members of the illegal armed organization PKK (Workers’ Party of Kurdistan), including its president, Mr Öcalan," the November 20 verdict said.
http://www.bianet.org/english/freedom-of-expression/142286-echr-rule-two-verdicts-against-turkey
9. Turkey-Syria Standoff: NATO Missiles Readied, Kurdish Fighters On Border
25 November 2012 / Global Research
Syria has lashed out at Turkey’s “provocative” request to deploy NATO surface-to-air missiles on the countries’ shared border. The batteries may be installed in a matter of weeks, in a buildup that could further flare tensions in the turbulent zone. Ankara has asked its NATO partners to station Patriot missile batteries along its southern border, claiming they are needed to protect Turkey’s national security. The system can shoot down aircraft and some missiles at a range of up to 600 kilometers. The region has seen a number of episodes of cross-border mortar fire in recent months, though Syrian warplanes and gunboats were never reported attacking targets on Turkish territory. The request was acknowledged by NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Thursday, who said that the possible deployment of the missiles was “purely defensive,” and would “serve as a deterrent to possible enemies even thinking of attacks”.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/turkey-syria-standoff-nato-missiles-readied-kurdish-fighters-on-border/5312896
10. Syrian Kurds form unified army, call for feralism
26 November 2012 / Ashaq Alawsat
Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity, revealed that “Kurdish forces represented in the People’s Council of West Kurdistan and the Kurdish National Council arrived in Erbil to pave the way for the unification of fighters inside Syria’s Kurdish regions, to establish a popular army as an alternative to the armed militias that have run the security situation in Syria for a number of months”.
This group of Kurdish parties and forces, along with coordinating bodies, met in Erbil a few days ago to reach an agreement on unifying Kurdish efforts. This is in order to confront the threats that Kurdish regions are currently facing from Salafi groups, who in recent days have engaged in military confrontations with members of the Kurdish Democratic Union Party, which effectively controls the situation on the ground in Syria’s Kurdish cities.
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=31947
11. Syrian Kurds Agree on Forming Joint Military Council
25 November 2012 / Rudaw
Syrian Kurdish leaders have agreed on forming a joint military council for northeastern Syria, otherwise known as Western Kurdistan. The agreement came after representatives of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Kurdish National Council (KNC) met in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Ismail Hama, Secretary-General of the Kurdish Union Party, told Rudaw that despite some obstacles in the course of the talks, they agreed to “Work to establish a military council. So we hope that this agreement is implemented on the ground.” According to Hama, the PYD has agreed to bring its armed wing, the People’s Defense Units (YPG) under the control of the Supreme Kurdish Council and that they will accept Peshmargas—defected Kurdish soldiers from the Syrian army—in their ranks.
http://www.rudaw.net/english/news/syria/5468.html
12. Kurdish Language Revival in Syria
28 November 2012 / Rudaw
Under the rule of President Bashar al-Assad and the Baath Party, Syria’s Kurds were deprived of their cultural identity and forbidden to learn their language for decades. But the ongoing Syrian uprising has created unprecedented opportunities for the Kurdish people in Syria to hold cultural forums and open language centers to teach their mother tongue. After Assad’s forces withdrew from and Kurdish forces began to claim control of towns such as Derek, Efrin, Kobane and Amude, the Kurmanji dialect began being openly taught in these Kurdish areas of Syria. Under the banner “Our Language is Our Existence,” the recently founded Kurdish Language Institute in Efrin announced the graduation of 300 participants from its first course in language teaching.
http://www.rudaw.net/english/news/syria/5479.html
13. Syria's Circassians Flee to Turkey en Masse
23 November 2012 / Bianet
Sagus Metin Alhas, a Circassian living in Reyhanli, Hatay Province, performed on November 17 a "one-man demonstration" with banners saying "Speak up and stop Circassian killings" to bring awareness to the human crisis in Syria.
"Circassian are being killed Syria even though they are not taking any side in the civil war. I want people to speak up for this," Alhas said the protest reminding that hundreds of Circassians are doing similar demonstrations all around the world. Alhas told bianet that he realized the protest under the umbrella of "Patriot Circassians Entity", a platform founded to bring into surface the problems of Circassians in Russia and Turkey.
"In Reyhanli, we are hosting 24 families who fled from Syria under the umbrella of Caucasian Associations Federation. We are trying to take care of 95 individuals all by our limited budget. When we run out of money, our federation takes care of it," Alhas said.
http://www.bianet.org/english/minorities/142316-syrias-circassians-flee-to-turkey-en-masse
14. Iraqi federal, Kurdish forces continue buildup in disputed areas
25 November 2012 / Xinhua
The Iraqi federal troops and the Kurdish regional forces were continuing sending reinforcements to the disputed areas in northern Iraq, despite efforts to ease the tension between the two sides, a security source said Sunday. "The Kurds have sent more troops on Saturday to their positions near the city of Tuz-Khurmato, 200 km north of Baghdad," a source from the provincial Operations Command of Salahudin province told Xinhua on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media. "More Kurdish troops set up new positions near a mountain located in east of the city of Kirkuk, some 250 km north of Baghdad," the source said. On the other side, the Iraqi forces continue their buildup in the disputed areas along a 180-km line that starts from Khanaqin in eastern Iraq to areas in north of Kirkuk city, the source said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-11/25/c_131997822.htm
15. Syrian Kurds demonstrate outside the Cypriot Embassy
26 November 2012 / Peace in Kurdistan campaign
Syrian Kurds demonstrated at Downing Street on Sunday afternoon against the killings and destruction of houses at Ras al-Ain, a Syrian Kurdish town of 55,000 people on the Turkish border. The eighty demonstrators marched to a rally outside the embassy of Cyprus, which holds the presidency of the European Union. They carried the Kurdish national flag. They want full Kurdish autonomy, and they are opposed to Turkish intervention in Syria. They want the overthrow of the Assad regime, and also oppose Free Syrian Army and Islamist incursions into Syrian Kurdistan, as occurred this month at Ras al-Ain.
http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2012/11/26/syrian-kurds-demonstrate-outside-the-cypriot-embassy/
COMMENT, OPINION AND ANALYSIS
16. Ocalan still wields influence from island prison
27 November 2012 / Daily Star
Snatched by Turkish commandos in Nairobi, Kurdish rebel chief Abdullah Ocalan looked resigned and bewildered as he was flown back to Ankara, the gallows beckoning. A decade later, on his island prison, he appears to have the ear of a Turkish government eager to end a devastating conflict. It seems an unlikely comeback. Reviled in most of Turkey but commanding fierce loyalty from Kurdish nationalists, Ocalan has been held in virtual isolation on the barren island of Imrali, 50 km south of Istanbul, since his capture in 1999. Even his lawyers haven’t seen him for 15 months. But after the bloodiest summer for years in Turkey’s conflict with Kurdish militants, and with fears over the spread of Kurdish insurrection in neigboring Syria, Ocalan is emerging from the virtual oblivion of Imrali.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Nov-27/196229-ocalan-still-wields-influence-from-island-prison.ashx#axzz2DWO4nwSW
17. For better or worse? The Kurdish hunger strike
25 November 2012 / apogeeculture
It has been just over a week since the 68 day hunger strike of Kurdish political prisoners in Turkey and North Kurdistan ended following an appeal by the imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. Since that day everybody concerned with the hunger strike, Turkey, Kurdistan and the region has been debating the gains and losses and possible future developments regarding the Kurdish issue. Most of the debates have been centred and in some ways suffocated around the fact that the hunger strikers’ demands were not met, except a minor change in the constitution which allows for defence in the Kurdish language; although this right can be arbitrarily refused if the judge in court sees fit. The demands were: the right to education in the Kurdish language and for steps to be taken to end the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan and guarantee his health, security and eventual release for a peaceful and political solution to the Kurdish question.
http://apogeeculture.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1 <http://apogeeculture.blogspot.co.uk/?m=1>
18. Veteran PKK Leader: Turkey Uses Armed Groups to Impose Its Agenda in Syrian Kurdistan
26 November 2012 / Rudaw
Aldar Khalil, a member of the Kurdish Supreme Council, has been a well-known and active politician since the beginning of the Syrian revolution. Khalil, who joined the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in 1990, is one of the founders of the Democratic Union Party (PYD). He also runs the Movement for Democratic Communities (TEVDEM), and also played a major role in resolving the issues between the Kurdish National Council (KNC) and the National Assembly affiliated with PYD. Khalil sat down with Rudaw to discuss a range of issues related to Syrian Kurdistan.
http://www.rudaw.net/english/interview/5473.html
19. The Emperor Erdogan’s new clothes
26 November 2012 / Alliance for Kurdish Rights
This is an example of a statement that should be a matter of fact but when it is proclaimed by Erdogan, the prime minister of a country infamous for its violation of human rights, it should be seen as an opportunity for world leaders to ask: “Then how can we consider Turkey a legitimate state?” sThese Mandela-Gandhi-Aung San Suu Kyi-like statements are not free of consequences. Yes, every person who does not have an agenda to say otherwise will admit that words like these coming from Erdogan are as empty as pro-Kurdish newspaper offices.
http://kurdishrights.org/2012/11/26/the-emperor-erdogan%E2%80%99s-new-clothes/
20. A third party joins the fray
23 November 2012 / Economist
THE bloodshed in Syria has taken a nasty turn, as Syrian rebels fighting against Bashar Assad’s regime clash with their Kurdish compatriots. Worries of an ethnic war between Syria’s Arabs and its 3m-odd Kurds have increased. Kurds on both sides of the border are pointing the finger of blame at the government of Turkey. The trouble began on November 8th when Syrian rebels attacked a small group of Syrian soldiers loyal to Mr Assad in Ras al-Ayn, a town close to the border with Turkey. Despite being bombed by the Syrian air force, the rebels took the town, which lies just across the border from the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar. Syria’s best armed and most powerful Kurdish group, the Syrian Democratic Union Party (known by its Kurdish initials, PYD), which controls the Kurdish districts of Ras al-Ayn, says it feared retaliation from the Assad forces if it was seen to connive at their expulsion, so it asked the Syrian rebels, who are said to have been Salafists, to leave.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/pomegranate/2012/11/turkey-syria-and-kurds
21. Turkey confronts a resurgent Kurdish threat
25 November 2012 / Washington Post
This town of 19,000 nestled in an idyllic mountain pass of impossibly green pastures and golden autumn trees is on the front lines of Turkey’s rapidly escalating guerrilla war.
In a struggle for autonomy as well as independent language and education rights, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has waged a low-grade conflict in Turkey for decades. But in recent months, the group has reemerged as a stronger, better equipped and increasingly organized force that is now in the midst of one of its bloodiest campaigns since the worst days of the conflict in the 1990s.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/turkey-confronts-a-resurgent-kurdish-threat/2012/11/23/588775fe-2cff-11e2-b631-2aad9d9c73ac_story.html <http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/turkey-confronts-a-resurgent-kurdish-threat/2012/11/23/588775fe-2cff-11e2-b631-2aad9d9c73ac_story.html>
22. Syria's Kurdish Spring
22 November 2012 / Vice
Syria’s three million Kurds are the country’s largest minority and have been part of the uprising since it first erupted. Their rebellion, however, is in a separate struggle. The Kurds have been fighting for basic rights under oppressive regimes ever since the Ottoman Empire fell after the First World War, leading to the region where the bulk of Kurds live being divided between what is today northwestern Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and northwestern Iran. In Syria, when the Ba’ath party came to power in 1963, they banned the Kurdish language and flag and stripped hundreds of thousands of Kurds of their citizenship, passports and official documents, leaving them unable to work, study, marry or travel. By Karlos Zurutuza http://www.vice.com/read/syrias-kurdish-spring-turkish-boader
23. Kurd teachers debate war under Assad gaze
25 November 2012 / Khalaeej Times (AFP)
Residents and militias in Derik have removed almost all the ubiquitous presidential portraits from official buildings since the regime made its exit from the Kurdish town in northeast Syria. They have also taken down a statue in the town centre of President Bashar Al Assad’s late father and predecessor Hafez Al Assad over the past week.
But one place the two leaders still look down from their official portraits is on the wall of the headmaster’s office in the town’s secondary school. “We don’t have any problem with these pictures,” says English teacher Suzanne, 27. “Assad is our president. I hope he’ll stay, but I don’t think so,” she adds resignedly. Before the revolt, “I could do whatever I wanted, I could travel wherever I wanted and now I can’t because of terrorists,” she says, using the standard regime term for rebels fighting to unseat Assad.
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2012/November/middleeast_November414.xml§ion=middleeast
24. VIDEO: ‘Turkey’s support of separatism in Iraq will eventually backfire’
28 November 2012 / Press TV
A prominent analyst tells Press TV that Ankara’s support of Kurdistan separatism issue in Iraq will eventually backfire as Turkey’s Kurds are not happy with their situation either. In further escalation of tension between Iraq and its semi-autonomous Kurdish region, the two parties have reinforced military presence along their separation line. According to the Iraqi constitution, the federal government has the authority to establish and manage armed forces to guarantee the security of Iraq. But the constitution also requires the Iraqi parliament’s consent before military commands are formed. Maliki had not sought this consent.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/11/28/274979/turkeys-kurdistan-support-will-backfire/
UK delegation briefs MP's on "highly political" KCK trial in Turkey
Press release
For immediate release
29 November 2012
UK delegation briefs MP’s on ‘highly political‘ KCK trial in Turkey
A successful meeting was held on Tuesday 27 November in Portcullis House, Westminster, hosted by Hywel Williams MP and attended by Mary Glindon MP, Pat Doherty MP, and Lord Rea. A considerable number of MPs also sent messages of support.
The meeting was addressed by human rights lawyer Margaret Owen OBE and barristers Bronwen Jones and Melanie Gingell, who all recently observed a hearing of the ongoing KCK trial in which 47 lawyers, many of whom had represented leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, are being tried for terrorism offences. Representatives of the International Bar Association and Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers were also present.
The delegates informed MPs that the trial is highly political in nature. They also identified major issues that potentially breach international law, including the use of wiretapping of privileged client-lawyer conversations as evidence and the denial of bail without reason.
‘Each of the KCK trials have exposed the grave limitations of the Turkish justice system. At last the international community is becoming aware of Turkey's gross violations of human rights,’ Margaret Owen stated.
The meeting also discussed the recent hunger strike of hundreds of Kurdish political prisoners, which ended after 67 days with a call from Ocalan. One major demand of the hunger strike was for the Turkish government to allow the mother tongue to be used in court. This has long been called for by Kurdish defendants in court and has halted proceedings many KCK trials. The Turkish government lifted this ban, seemingly in response to the hunger strikes, but with a series of conditions that the delegates and MPs present regarded as severely limiting.
Barry White, member of the European Federation of Journalists, also spoke of his recent observation of trials of journalists in Turkey. 44 journalists are on trial in another KCK case, most of whom have also been held in detention without bail since their arrest 11 months ago.
Also present was Urko Aiartza Azurtza, senator for Gizpuzkoa, who likened the criminalisation of the Kurds in Turkey to the situation facing Basque political prisoners in Spain. Representatives of the Kurdish community as well as from the International Bar Association and the Haldane Society of Socialist lawyers were also present.
The meeting proposed to ensure another delegation is sent to observe the next hearings of both the journalists and the lawyers, on the 27 December and 3 January respectively, to ensure all political prisoners are supported in Turkey and awareness is raised in the UK of how criminalisation of large segments of Kurdish civil society is serving to prolong the conflict.
It was also decided to issue a statement to Prime Minister Erdogan and Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin to voice concerns raised during the meeting.
For further information, contact:
Peace in Kurdistan
Campaign for a political solution of the Kurdish Question
Email: estella24@tiscali.co.uk <mailto:estella24@tiscali.co.uk>
www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com
Contacts Estella Schmid 020 7586 5892 & Melanie Sirinathsingh - Tel: 020 7272 7890
Fax: 020 7263 0596
Patrons: Lord Avebury, Lord Rea, Lord Dholakia, Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP, Jill Evans MEP, Jean Lambert MEP, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Hywel Williams MP, Elfyn Llwyd MP, Conor Murphy MP, John Austin, Bruce Kent, Gareth Peirce, Julie Christie, Noam Chomsky, John Berger, Edward Albee, Margaret Owen OBE, Prof Mary Davis, Mark Thomas
*) Full quote by Margaret Owen:
The hunger strike is over, but the Kurdish question still remains unresolved. There can be no lasting resolution of the conflict until the just demands of the Kurdish political prisoners are met.
It is impossible to predict even the immediate future in the region, given its present political instability. However, I like to think that we are now seeing a glimmer of hope. PM Erdogan has been forced to realise that most Kurds look to Ocalan as their leader. Without his participation in negotiations, there can be no peace. Each of the KCK trials have exposed the grave limitations of the Turkish justice system. At last the international community is becoming aware of Turkey's gross violations of human rights.
For immediate release
29 November 2012
UK delegation briefs MP’s on ‘highly political‘ KCK trial in Turkey
A successful meeting was held on Tuesday 27 November in Portcullis House, Westminster, hosted by Hywel Williams MP and attended by Mary Glindon MP, Pat Doherty MP, and Lord Rea. A considerable number of MPs also sent messages of support.
The meeting was addressed by human rights lawyer Margaret Owen OBE and barristers Bronwen Jones and Melanie Gingell, who all recently observed a hearing of the ongoing KCK trial in which 47 lawyers, many of whom had represented leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan, are being tried for terrorism offences. Representatives of the International Bar Association and Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers were also present.
The delegates informed MPs that the trial is highly political in nature. They also identified major issues that potentially breach international law, including the use of wiretapping of privileged client-lawyer conversations as evidence and the denial of bail without reason.
‘Each of the KCK trials have exposed the grave limitations of the Turkish justice system. At last the international community is becoming aware of Turkey's gross violations of human rights,’ Margaret Owen stated.
The meeting also discussed the recent hunger strike of hundreds of Kurdish political prisoners, which ended after 67 days with a call from Ocalan. One major demand of the hunger strike was for the Turkish government to allow the mother tongue to be used in court. This has long been called for by Kurdish defendants in court and has halted proceedings many KCK trials. The Turkish government lifted this ban, seemingly in response to the hunger strikes, but with a series of conditions that the delegates and MPs present regarded as severely limiting.
Barry White, member of the European Federation of Journalists, also spoke of his recent observation of trials of journalists in Turkey. 44 journalists are on trial in another KCK case, most of whom have also been held in detention without bail since their arrest 11 months ago.
Also present was Urko Aiartza Azurtza, senator for Gizpuzkoa, who likened the criminalisation of the Kurds in Turkey to the situation facing Basque political prisoners in Spain. Representatives of the Kurdish community as well as from the International Bar Association and the Haldane Society of Socialist lawyers were also present.
The meeting proposed to ensure another delegation is sent to observe the next hearings of both the journalists and the lawyers, on the 27 December and 3 January respectively, to ensure all political prisoners are supported in Turkey and awareness is raised in the UK of how criminalisation of large segments of Kurdish civil society is serving to prolong the conflict.
It was also decided to issue a statement to Prime Minister Erdogan and Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin to voice concerns raised during the meeting.
For further information, contact:
Peace in Kurdistan
Campaign for a political solution of the Kurdish Question
Email: estella24@tiscali.co.uk <mailto:estella24@tiscali.co.uk>
www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com
Contacts Estella Schmid 020 7586 5892 & Melanie Sirinathsingh - Tel: 020 7272 7890
Fax: 020 7263 0596
Patrons: Lord Avebury, Lord Rea, Lord Dholakia, Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP, Jill Evans MEP, Jean Lambert MEP, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Hywel Williams MP, Elfyn Llwyd MP, Conor Murphy MP, John Austin, Bruce Kent, Gareth Peirce, Julie Christie, Noam Chomsky, John Berger, Edward Albee, Margaret Owen OBE, Prof Mary Davis, Mark Thomas
*) Full quote by Margaret Owen:
The hunger strike is over, but the Kurdish question still remains unresolved. There can be no lasting resolution of the conflict until the just demands of the Kurdish political prisoners are met.
It is impossible to predict even the immediate future in the region, given its present political instability. However, I like to think that we are now seeing a glimmer of hope. PM Erdogan has been forced to realise that most Kurds look to Ocalan as their leader. Without his participation in negotiations, there can be no peace. Each of the KCK trials have exposed the grave limitations of the Turkish justice system. At last the international community is becoming aware of Turkey's gross violations of human rights.
Turkey is supporting and setting Jihadist groups against the Kurds.
To the Press & Public Opinion
Turkey is supporting and setting Jihadist groups against the Kurds.
There have been important developments since November 8th in Serekani (Ras al-Ayn), the Kurdish area of Syria, which is also on the border of Turkey. Neighbouring a town by the same name (Ceylanpınar) on the Turkey border, Serekani is a multicultural and multiethnic city with Arab, Assyrian and Circassian inhabitants. Both Serekani’s are divided by barbed wire. On November 8th 2012 the armed groups Ghuraba al-Sham, Al-Nisra Front and Al-Tawhid Front all groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Salafis entered Serekani (Syria) from the Turkish border.
The majority of the members of the above mentioned groups are not Syrian, but formed of Jihadist people from different countries. Furthermore the Free Syrian Army has also declared that these groups do not belong to them. The command and logistics centre of these groups is Turkey. Initially these groups battled with the Syrian Army and embedded themselves in the Arab neighbourhoods. When they had consolidated their place they then began attacking the Kurdish neighbourhoods. On November 19th 2012 they ambushed Serekani Kurdish People’s Parliament President Abid Xelil and those next to him, who were on their way to a meeting with them. Abid Xelil and another person were killed and three people were wounded in the attack. This resulted in battles between the YPG (Kurdish People’s Defence Battalions) and these Jihadist groups.
When the battles intensified and the mentioned groups began struggling, they were reinforced by missiles launched from the Turkish side; other logistic support was also provided and they carried their wounded militants over the Turkish border. Despite this a great part of the city was cleansed from these groups. Currently they have presence only in a few neighbourhoods which are on the border and face Turkey. At the moment there is a ceasefire due to the intervention of a few Arab tribes. However these groups could go back on the offensive at any time if they receive reinforcements from Turkey.
Turkey’s Syrian policy is wholly shaped around an anti-Kurdish axis. Only two years ago Turkey were in the best of relations with the Syrian regime. Together they were conducting operations against the Kurds. Tayyip Erdoğan and Beşar Al-Assad were constantly seen arm-in-arm and were close enough to take family vacations together. There common interest was their Anti-Kurdish policy. The Turkish government, with the belief that the regime would topple early on, put their weight behind the opposition. The aim was to be on the same page as the opposition in relation to the Kurdish issue.
However the regime has not been toppled yet. The Kurds have become a force and begun administering their own areas. The Kurdish region is calm and many people fleeing from the conflict in other areas have found sanctuary in these areas. This is why Turkey is uncomfortable and wants to disturb the Kurdish region and in the process endanger the gains of the Kurds. This is why they are arming groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and Salafis and sending them to the Kurdish Region. Turkey is the real force behind the Serekani attack and ensuing developments. They tried the same thing in the Kurdish neighbourhoods of Aleppo but were forced to retract after heavy losses and were also defeated in the Kurdish city of Kobane (Ayn al-Arab). However Turkey and the groups that are aiding their policies have not given up yet. Turkey are continuing their enmity towards Kurds both inside Turkey and outside; this is the root of the problem.
Although the main concern in Turkey’s Syrian policy is the gain of Kurds, it is not limited to this. There is also a sectarian approach which foregrounds Sunni-Islam which is Turkey’s Middle East policy currently rests on. This is the connection between the AKP and the Islamic and Jihadist that it is supporting; although not the same, they belong to the same ideological family. This is why they were collaborating with the Muslim Brotherhood from the outset and foregrounded this organisation from among the Syrian opposition; transferring their central command to Turkey and providing every type of support in the process.
And now Turkey have asked for Patriot missiles from NATO and will be provided with these. They will be deployed on the Syria border. The Syrian Army do not have the strength to attack let alone target or threaten Turkey. Therefore the argument ‘these missiles are for defence purposes’ does not ring true. The only purpose of these missiles is to form a buffer zone in North Syria. As is well know North Syria is home to the Kurdish people. By forming a buffer zone in this area Turkey are attempting to intervene in and prevent any possible Kurdish gains.
The area where the Patriot missiles will be deployed is right across the area of conflict. With this deployment the air-space control of many areas taken over by rebels and all of the Kurdish region will fall into the hands of Turkey. The Patriot missiles will protect the rebels against airstrikes by Syrian warplanes and the prerequisites for a no-fly zone will come into effect. Therefore Turkey will do everything in its power to either engage in a direct intervention or intensify its support of Islamist-Jihadist groups to take control of the Kurdish region. This is Turkey’s intention and this is why they have asked for the Patriot missiles.
>From whichever aspect it is viewed Turkey’s Syrian policy will create new problems for the region and World. If this policy is successful it will lead to a long-term civil war in Syria and create a new Lebanon for the region and a new Afghanistan for Jihadist groups. It is evident that this will not benefit anyone but conversely complicate the situation.
However neither is it possible nor a solution to accept the current regime and status quo. What needs to be done is the following: Without engaging in military intervention, a dialogue which includes all the political, religious, ethnic and other groups in Syria must begin and be supported by all so that a democratic, plural and inclusive Syria can be shaped.
Within this framework we call on all forces concerned and public opinion to be aware of Turkey’s aggressive Anti-Kurdish policy and sectarian approach, and to take a stance against this in support of a political solution to the Syria issue.
Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) Executive Council
26.11.2012
--
Kurdistan National Congress - KNK
Rue Jean Stas 41,
1060 Brussels
Turkey is supporting and setting Jihadist groups against the Kurds.
There have been important developments since November 8th in Serekani (Ras al-Ayn), the Kurdish area of Syria, which is also on the border of Turkey. Neighbouring a town by the same name (Ceylanpınar) on the Turkey border, Serekani is a multicultural and multiethnic city with Arab, Assyrian and Circassian inhabitants. Both Serekani’s are divided by barbed wire. On November 8th 2012 the armed groups Ghuraba al-Sham, Al-Nisra Front and Al-Tawhid Front all groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Salafis entered Serekani (Syria) from the Turkish border.
The majority of the members of the above mentioned groups are not Syrian, but formed of Jihadist people from different countries. Furthermore the Free Syrian Army has also declared that these groups do not belong to them. The command and logistics centre of these groups is Turkey. Initially these groups battled with the Syrian Army and embedded themselves in the Arab neighbourhoods. When they had consolidated their place they then began attacking the Kurdish neighbourhoods. On November 19th 2012 they ambushed Serekani Kurdish People’s Parliament President Abid Xelil and those next to him, who were on their way to a meeting with them. Abid Xelil and another person were killed and three people were wounded in the attack. This resulted in battles between the YPG (Kurdish People’s Defence Battalions) and these Jihadist groups.
When the battles intensified and the mentioned groups began struggling, they were reinforced by missiles launched from the Turkish side; other logistic support was also provided and they carried their wounded militants over the Turkish border. Despite this a great part of the city was cleansed from these groups. Currently they have presence only in a few neighbourhoods which are on the border and face Turkey. At the moment there is a ceasefire due to the intervention of a few Arab tribes. However these groups could go back on the offensive at any time if they receive reinforcements from Turkey.
Turkey’s Syrian policy is wholly shaped around an anti-Kurdish axis. Only two years ago Turkey were in the best of relations with the Syrian regime. Together they were conducting operations against the Kurds. Tayyip Erdoğan and Beşar Al-Assad were constantly seen arm-in-arm and were close enough to take family vacations together. There common interest was their Anti-Kurdish policy. The Turkish government, with the belief that the regime would topple early on, put their weight behind the opposition. The aim was to be on the same page as the opposition in relation to the Kurdish issue.
However the regime has not been toppled yet. The Kurds have become a force and begun administering their own areas. The Kurdish region is calm and many people fleeing from the conflict in other areas have found sanctuary in these areas. This is why Turkey is uncomfortable and wants to disturb the Kurdish region and in the process endanger the gains of the Kurds. This is why they are arming groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and Salafis and sending them to the Kurdish Region. Turkey is the real force behind the Serekani attack and ensuing developments. They tried the same thing in the Kurdish neighbourhoods of Aleppo but were forced to retract after heavy losses and were also defeated in the Kurdish city of Kobane (Ayn al-Arab). However Turkey and the groups that are aiding their policies have not given up yet. Turkey are continuing their enmity towards Kurds both inside Turkey and outside; this is the root of the problem.
Although the main concern in Turkey’s Syrian policy is the gain of Kurds, it is not limited to this. There is also a sectarian approach which foregrounds Sunni-Islam which is Turkey’s Middle East policy currently rests on. This is the connection between the AKP and the Islamic and Jihadist that it is supporting; although not the same, they belong to the same ideological family. This is why they were collaborating with the Muslim Brotherhood from the outset and foregrounded this organisation from among the Syrian opposition; transferring their central command to Turkey and providing every type of support in the process.
And now Turkey have asked for Patriot missiles from NATO and will be provided with these. They will be deployed on the Syria border. The Syrian Army do not have the strength to attack let alone target or threaten Turkey. Therefore the argument ‘these missiles are for defence purposes’ does not ring true. The only purpose of these missiles is to form a buffer zone in North Syria. As is well know North Syria is home to the Kurdish people. By forming a buffer zone in this area Turkey are attempting to intervene in and prevent any possible Kurdish gains.
The area where the Patriot missiles will be deployed is right across the area of conflict. With this deployment the air-space control of many areas taken over by rebels and all of the Kurdish region will fall into the hands of Turkey. The Patriot missiles will protect the rebels against airstrikes by Syrian warplanes and the prerequisites for a no-fly zone will come into effect. Therefore Turkey will do everything in its power to either engage in a direct intervention or intensify its support of Islamist-Jihadist groups to take control of the Kurdish region. This is Turkey’s intention and this is why they have asked for the Patriot missiles.
>From whichever aspect it is viewed Turkey’s Syrian policy will create new problems for the region and World. If this policy is successful it will lead to a long-term civil war in Syria and create a new Lebanon for the region and a new Afghanistan for Jihadist groups. It is evident that this will not benefit anyone but conversely complicate the situation.
However neither is it possible nor a solution to accept the current regime and status quo. What needs to be done is the following: Without engaging in military intervention, a dialogue which includes all the political, religious, ethnic and other groups in Syria must begin and be supported by all so that a democratic, plural and inclusive Syria can be shaped.
Within this framework we call on all forces concerned and public opinion to be aware of Turkey’s aggressive Anti-Kurdish policy and sectarian approach, and to take a stance against this in support of a political solution to the Syria issue.
Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) Executive Council
26.11.2012
--
Kurdistan National Congress - KNK
Rue Jean Stas 41,
1060 Brussels
Turkey is supporting and setting Jihadist groups against the Kurds.
To the Press & Public Opinion
Turkey is supporting and setting Jihadist groups against the Kurds.
There have been important developments since November 8th in Serekani (Ras al-Ayn), the Kurdish area of Syria, which is also on the border of Turkey. Neighbouring a town by the same name (Ceylanpınar) on the Turkey border, Serekani is a multicultural and multiethnic city with Arab, Assyrian and Circassian inhabitants. Both Serekani’s are divided by barbed wire. On November 8th 2012 the armed groups Ghuraba al-Sham, Al-Nisra Front and Al-Tawhid Front all groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Salafis entered Serekani (Syria) from the Turkish border.
The majority of the members of the above mentioned groups are not Syrian, but formed of Jihadist people from different countries. Furthermore the Free Syrian Army has also declared that these groups do not belong to them. The command and logistics centre of these groups is Turkey. Initially these groups battled with the Syrian Army and embedded themselves in the Arab neighbourhoods. When they had consolidated their place they then began attacking the Kurdish neighbourhoods. On November 19th 2012 they ambushed Serekani Kurdish People’s Parliament President Abid Xelil and those next to him, who were on their way to a meeting with them. Abid Xelil and another person were killed and three people were wounded in the attack. This resulted in battles between the YPG (Kurdish People’s Defence Battalions) and these Jihadist groups.
When the battles intensified and the mentioned groups began struggling, they were reinforced by missiles launched from the Turkish side; other logistic support was also provided and they carried their wounded militants over the Turkish border. Despite this a great part of the city was cleansed from these groups. Currently they have presence only in a few neighbourhoods which are on the border and face Turkey. At the moment there is a ceasefire due to the intervention of a few Arab tribes. However these groups could go back on the offensive at any time if they receive reinforcements from Turkey.
Turkey’s Syrian policy is wholly shaped around an anti-Kurdish axis. Only two years ago Turkey were in the best of relations with the Syrian regime. Together they were conducting operations against the Kurds. Tayyip Erdoğan and Beşar Al-Assad were constantly seen arm-in-arm and were close enough to take family vacations together. There common interest was their Anti-Kurdish policy. The Turkish government, with the belief that the regime would topple early on, put their weight behind the opposition. The aim was to be on the same page as the opposition in relation to the Kurdish issue.
However the regime has not been toppled yet. The Kurds have become a force and begun administering their own areas. The Kurdish region is calm and many people fleeing from the conflict in other areas have found sanctuary in these areas. This is why Turkey is uncomfortable and wants to disturb the Kurdish region and in the process endanger the gains of the Kurds. This is why they are arming groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and Salafis and sending them to the Kurdish Region. Turkey is the real force behind the Serekani attack and ensuing developments. They tried the same thing in the Kurdish neighbourhoods of Aleppo but were forced to retract after heavy losses and were also defeated in the Kurdish city of Kobane (Ayn al-Arab). However Turkey and the groups that are aiding their policies have not given up yet. Turkey are continuing their enmity towards Kurds both inside Turkey and outside; this is the root of the problem.
Although the main concern in Turkey’s Syrian policy is the gain of Kurds, it is not limited to this. There is also a sectarian approach which foregrounds Sunni-Islam which is Turkey’s Middle East policy currently rests on. This is the connection between the AKP and the Islamic and Jihadist that it is supporting; although not the same, they belong to the same ideological family. This is why they were collaborating with the Muslim Brotherhood from the outset and foregrounded this organisation from among the Syrian opposition; transferring their central command to Turkey and providing every type of support in the process.
And now Turkey have asked for Patriot missiles from NATO and will be provided with these. They will be deployed on the Syria border. The Syrian Army do not have the strength to attack let alone target or threaten Turkey. Therefore the argument ‘these missiles are for defence purposes’ does not ring true. The only purpose of these missiles is to form a buffer zone in North Syria. As is well know North Syria is home to the Kurdish people. By forming a buffer zone in this area Turkey are attempting to intervene in and prevent any possible Kurdish gains.
The area where the Patriot missiles will be deployed is right across the area of conflict. With this deployment the air-space control of many areas taken over by rebels and all of the Kurdish region will fall into the hands of Turkey. The Patriot missiles will protect the rebels against airstrikes by Syrian warplanes and the prerequisites for a no-fly zone will come into effect. Therefore Turkey will do everything in its power to either engage in a direct intervention or intensify its support of Islamist-Jihadist groups to take control of the Kurdish region. This is Turkey’s intention and this is why they have asked for the Patriot missiles.
>From whichever aspect it is viewed Turkey’s Syrian policy will create new problems for the region and World. If this policy is successful it will lead to a long-term civil war in Syria and create a new Lebanon for the region and a new Afghanistan for Jihadist groups. It is evident that this will not benefit anyone but conversely complicate the situation.
However neither is it possible nor a solution to accept the current regime and status quo. What needs to be done is the following: Without engaging in military intervention, a dialogue which includes all the political, religious, ethnic and other groups in Syria must begin and be supported by all so that a democratic, plural and inclusive Syria can be shaped.
Within this framework we call on all forces concerned and public opinion to be aware of Turkey’s aggressive Anti-Kurdish policy and sectarian approach, and to take a stance against this in support of a political solution to the Syria issue.
Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) Executive Council
26.11.2012
--
Kurdistan National Congress - KNK
Rue Jean Stas 41,
1060 Brussels
Turkey is supporting and setting Jihadist groups against the Kurds.
There have been important developments since November 8th in Serekani (Ras al-Ayn), the Kurdish area of Syria, which is also on the border of Turkey. Neighbouring a town by the same name (Ceylanpınar) on the Turkey border, Serekani is a multicultural and multiethnic city with Arab, Assyrian and Circassian inhabitants. Both Serekani’s are divided by barbed wire. On November 8th 2012 the armed groups Ghuraba al-Sham, Al-Nisra Front and Al-Tawhid Front all groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Salafis entered Serekani (Syria) from the Turkish border.
The majority of the members of the above mentioned groups are not Syrian, but formed of Jihadist people from different countries. Furthermore the Free Syrian Army has also declared that these groups do not belong to them. The command and logistics centre of these groups is Turkey. Initially these groups battled with the Syrian Army and embedded themselves in the Arab neighbourhoods. When they had consolidated their place they then began attacking the Kurdish neighbourhoods. On November 19th 2012 they ambushed Serekani Kurdish People’s Parliament President Abid Xelil and those next to him, who were on their way to a meeting with them. Abid Xelil and another person were killed and three people were wounded in the attack. This resulted in battles between the YPG (Kurdish People’s Defence Battalions) and these Jihadist groups.
When the battles intensified and the mentioned groups began struggling, they were reinforced by missiles launched from the Turkish side; other logistic support was also provided and they carried their wounded militants over the Turkish border. Despite this a great part of the city was cleansed from these groups. Currently they have presence only in a few neighbourhoods which are on the border and face Turkey. At the moment there is a ceasefire due to the intervention of a few Arab tribes. However these groups could go back on the offensive at any time if they receive reinforcements from Turkey.
Turkey’s Syrian policy is wholly shaped around an anti-Kurdish axis. Only two years ago Turkey were in the best of relations with the Syrian regime. Together they were conducting operations against the Kurds. Tayyip Erdoğan and Beşar Al-Assad were constantly seen arm-in-arm and were close enough to take family vacations together. There common interest was their Anti-Kurdish policy. The Turkish government, with the belief that the regime would topple early on, put their weight behind the opposition. The aim was to be on the same page as the opposition in relation to the Kurdish issue.
However the regime has not been toppled yet. The Kurds have become a force and begun administering their own areas. The Kurdish region is calm and many people fleeing from the conflict in other areas have found sanctuary in these areas. This is why Turkey is uncomfortable and wants to disturb the Kurdish region and in the process endanger the gains of the Kurds. This is why they are arming groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and Salafis and sending them to the Kurdish Region. Turkey is the real force behind the Serekani attack and ensuing developments. They tried the same thing in the Kurdish neighbourhoods of Aleppo but were forced to retract after heavy losses and were also defeated in the Kurdish city of Kobane (Ayn al-Arab). However Turkey and the groups that are aiding their policies have not given up yet. Turkey are continuing their enmity towards Kurds both inside Turkey and outside; this is the root of the problem.
Although the main concern in Turkey’s Syrian policy is the gain of Kurds, it is not limited to this. There is also a sectarian approach which foregrounds Sunni-Islam which is Turkey’s Middle East policy currently rests on. This is the connection between the AKP and the Islamic and Jihadist that it is supporting; although not the same, they belong to the same ideological family. This is why they were collaborating with the Muslim Brotherhood from the outset and foregrounded this organisation from among the Syrian opposition; transferring their central command to Turkey and providing every type of support in the process.
And now Turkey have asked for Patriot missiles from NATO and will be provided with these. They will be deployed on the Syria border. The Syrian Army do not have the strength to attack let alone target or threaten Turkey. Therefore the argument ‘these missiles are for defence purposes’ does not ring true. The only purpose of these missiles is to form a buffer zone in North Syria. As is well know North Syria is home to the Kurdish people. By forming a buffer zone in this area Turkey are attempting to intervene in and prevent any possible Kurdish gains.
The area where the Patriot missiles will be deployed is right across the area of conflict. With this deployment the air-space control of many areas taken over by rebels and all of the Kurdish region will fall into the hands of Turkey. The Patriot missiles will protect the rebels against airstrikes by Syrian warplanes and the prerequisites for a no-fly zone will come into effect. Therefore Turkey will do everything in its power to either engage in a direct intervention or intensify its support of Islamist-Jihadist groups to take control of the Kurdish region. This is Turkey’s intention and this is why they have asked for the Patriot missiles.
>From whichever aspect it is viewed Turkey’s Syrian policy will create new problems for the region and World. If this policy is successful it will lead to a long-term civil war in Syria and create a new Lebanon for the region and a new Afghanistan for Jihadist groups. It is evident that this will not benefit anyone but conversely complicate the situation.
However neither is it possible nor a solution to accept the current regime and status quo. What needs to be done is the following: Without engaging in military intervention, a dialogue which includes all the political, religious, ethnic and other groups in Syria must begin and be supported by all so that a democratic, plural and inclusive Syria can be shaped.
Within this framework we call on all forces concerned and public opinion to be aware of Turkey’s aggressive Anti-Kurdish policy and sectarian approach, and to take a stance against this in support of a political solution to the Syria issue.
Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) Executive Council
26.11.2012
--
Kurdistan National Congress - KNK
Rue Jean Stas 41,
1060 Brussels
For better or worse? The Kurdish hunger strike, by Memed Boran
Sunday, 25 November 2012
For better or worse? The Kurdish hunger strike
It has been just over a week since the 68 day hunger strike of Kurdish political prisoners in Turkey and North Kurdistan ended following an appeal by the imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. Since that day everybody concerned with the hunger strike, Turkey, Kurdistan and the region has been debating the gains and losses and possible future developments regarding the Kurdish issue. Most of the debates have been centred and in some ways suffocated around the fact that the hunger strikers’ demands were not met, except a minor change in the constitution which allows for defence in the Kurdish language; although this right can be arbitrarily refused if the judge in court sees fit. The demands were: the right to education in the Kurdish language and for steps to be taken to end the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan and guarantee his health, security and eventual release for a peaceful and political solution to the Kurdish question. So, if the hunger strike did not achieve what it had targeted, why did Abdullah Öcalan call for it to end and why did the hunger strikers, numbering thousands inside and outside prisons, heed his call? The answer to this is where the internal dialectic and struggle methods of the Kurdish movement are hidden and it is why most people including their enemies do not comprehend it.
The most important trait of the modern Kurdish Freedom Movement which began as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) but has now spread to include it, as well as the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the legal Peace & Democracy Party (BDP), and countless other organisations around the world, is its self-sufficiency, ability to determine the political agenda, and the importance it bestows on organising and developing its internal structure among the people. Every single action taken by the organisations listed above is first and foremost aimed at raising awareness and consciousness among the Kurdish people in Kurdistan and around the world. One cannot highlight this enough, and viewing the hunger strike in this light will make it more comprehensible. In this sense the hunger strike was an appeal to the Kurdish people and all democratic circles in Turkey and around the world to lay claim to the demands of the hunger strikers and come out onto the streets to show the government that these were also their demands also. Thus the ensuing meetings, demonstrations, marches, squirmishes with state forces, diplomacy and media coverage have politicized further and given the Kurdish people the necessary organisation and impetus to keep the struggle going for at least another few years, a time-period that is, according to the Kurdish movement, crucial for the freedom of the Kurds in the Middle East.
If we evaluate the hunger strike from a temporal and contextual perspective we can say that it came at a time when the Middle East has become a hot-bed of activity, especially in North and Western Kurdistan. This is a time which the Kurdish movement has determined as being the final stretch of the walk to freedom and a political status in Turkish and Syrian occupied Kurdish areas, which are inextricably linked together due to Turkey’s involvement in Syria. For the first time since Öcalan’s capture in 1999 the summer months had seen an unprecedented escalation in warfare between the PKK’s military wing the Peoples’ Defence Forces (HPG) and the Turkish army. The PKK said they were changing their strategy from ‘hit and run’ to ‘hit and stay,’ and the media black out enforced by the AKP government during the summer months (it now continues regarding Turkey’s involvement in Syria) seemed to reinforce the PKK’s claims that they were in control of large areas of the Kurdish south-east. This gave the Kurdish movement the psychological and political advantage over the AKP but it was not enough to lift the isolation on Öcalan and make the Turkish state and AKP government change their tone and come back to the negotiation table which had been set up in Oslo, but knocked down in 2011 by PM Tayyip Erdoğan, who did not accept the protocols drawn up by Öcalan for a political and peaceful solution to the Kurdish question.
As the winter months neared the initiative passed from the mountains to the cities and legal political sphere. However the ‘KCK arrests’ which began in 2009 and which have until now led to the imprisonment without trial of almost 10,000 Kurdish/BDP MPs, mayors, executives, women’s rights activists, journalists and most of Öcalan’s lawyers had blocked and marginalized the political legal sphere. The AKP government were also doing their best to exclude the BDP as Turkish PM Erdoğan was continuously stating that they were not legitimate interlocutors. It was in this military and political deadlock climate that the hunger strike came onto the agenda, and it was only logical from the perspective of the Kurdish movement that those imprisoned should begin; as had happened in 1982 when the leading cadres of the PKK had gone on hunger strike against the policies of the September 12th 1980 military coup. It is this act of resistance which is seen as ‘giving birth’ to the modern Kurdish Freedom Movement and resurrecting the Kurdish people. In fact hunger strikes had begun in April and May 2012 in prisons and in Europe even before an escalation to the war, but due to lack of organisation and possible internal disagreements, the hunger strike in prisons had ended soon after starting, whereas the hunger strike of 15 people in Strasbourg lasted 52 days. However this action did not receive any international media coverage nor was it very effective in Turkey and Kurdistan in terms of highlighting the demands of the hunger strikers. It is also important to note that cadres of the Kurdish movement, regardless of where they are, always make it their top priority to remain active within the struggle to prove to their oppressors that they cannot be suppressed. In this sense although it was not one of the demands, a cry for freedom was also one of the messages sent out by the hunger strikers who on a large scale have not even been sentenced yet.
Although I have gone into detail regarding the political context of the hunger strike I think it will make the following points clearer and more understandable. Firstly, due to the hunger strike the Kurdish movement has emphasised once again and this time also to international public opinion, the importance of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan to the peace process. Although his isolation has not been lifted and only his family members are being allowed to visit him, it is evident that state organisations and representatives have met with him recently. Despite not knowing what has been discussed we can surmise that Öcalan is back in the frame and in a stronger position than before. For a week leading Turkish newspapers, journalists and think tanks have been discussing openly Öcalan’s importance as a political player. Some are calling Öcalan the most important politician after PM Erdoğan. Furthermore Öcalan’s intervention to end the hunger strike has also ended the silence of international media regarding his isolation and prison conditions. A rise in Öcalan’s profile will mean that opening the path to peace in the international arena will be easier. Nelson Mandela’s journey to peace is a good example for this. Moreover the Turkish people, who are the majority and who are the key for a peaceful-political solution have seen once again the importance of Öcalan as a bridge between them and Kurdish people; they will have seen that it is Öcalan’s stance which will bring about a peace in which Turkey is not divided. For some the foregrounding of Öcalan is a contentious matter and they believe his position is exaggerated, but after the hunger strike I think there can be no further arguments about his importance, as now the legal political sphere (BDP and democracy forces) have also openly declared him their leader.
The crystallization of the demands of the Kurdish people via the hunger strike has also created an important change in the political situation. Until now manipulation by the government, state sponsored political analysts and the Turkish media had clouded and put into question the struggle for legitimate demands in the eyes of the majority in Turkey. Criminalisation, ridicule and outright threats were used to silence the demands; and the AKP government’s relations with the important powers of the west had meant that for the EU and USA and their media outlets, the Kurdish movement was only composed of an armed wing and violence. The hunger strike has helped shatter this image of the Kurdish movement as being a separatist and ‘terrorist’ organisation and one can see from recent articles and reports that the language and terminology is changing. This will make it easier for journalists, human rights workers, political activists and NGOs to report, engage and develop ties and solidarity with the non-violent and legal arms of the heterogeneous Kurdish movement which is by far the most progressive political force not just in Turkey but the Middle East in general. The period of activism for raising awareness about the hunger strike has already created opportunities for many different organisations and people to come together in all the European cities. We can even say that the hunger strikes have strengthened the unity of Kurds from different parts of Kurdistan as the Kurdish conscience from areas outside of North Kurdistan has become bound with their brethren.
So what of the government and opposition political parties in Turkey who are the different sides to this age-old problem? In the face of such a great resistance and legitimate demands, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Republican Peoples’ Party (CHP), the two opposition parties in parliament apart from the BDP, have only been able to resort to initially ignoring the hunger strike and then saying that meeting the demands would create a divide in the Turkish nation-state. The AKP engaged the MHP by bringing capital punishment (for Öcalan) back onto the agenda and discussing it for a few days and amused the CHP with quotidian arguments ranging from the importance of Ataturk for the nation and the constitutional change relating to the administration of cities (Büyükşehir Yasası). It was important however to see that both these parties, who are the protectors of the status quo, could not argue fervently any longer against the legitimate rights of the Kurdish people.
Concurrently the AKP government and especially PM Erdoğan, the Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin and the Vice PM Bülent Arınç, who were the main politicians making statements about the hunger strike, portrayed the divide or should we say how ‘slippery’ the AKP could be in their politics. While the PM was stating that the hunger strike was a show and that hunger strikers were eating liver, the Justice Minister Ergin was giving official figures that 683 people were on hunger strike and Vice PM Arınç was pleading with them to end the action. This divided stance highlights the long known fact that the AKP are not homogeneous regarding their approach to the Kurdish question and its resolution; it also shows that the PM maybe losing his strong-hold on the party and that the AKP is weakening from within. But the fact that the hunger strike has ended without death is also an indication that the AKP has dealt with a crisis which could have exploded into something much more. This is a positive result for the government and could be a spring-board to coalesce and draw up a road-map for the resolution of the Kurdish question using peaceful and political means. The first step to a new round of negotiations could be a mutual ceasefire. But before even that can happen the isolation on Öcalan must be lifted and he must be given permission to meet with his lawyers; not because his life is more important than the thousands in the mountains and prisons and millions in the cities, but because they see him as their political will and his freedom as their freedom.
Epilogue: We must not forget that hundreds of people put their lives at risk and were without food for 68 days and that some of these people are still in hospital recuperating. The hundred or so people who were in the first and second groups to start the hunger strike will probably have lasting psychological and physical damage. Unfortunately they are the children of a nation that has had to suffer many hardships to gain legitimate democratic and national rights. They were not the first but let us hope that they will be the last. I believe that although their demands have not been met (yet), with this action they have already prevented the deaths of thousands by bringing peace and democratisation closer to us. That is what this hunger strike was demanding: for peace to be given a chance.
Memed Boran
25.11.2012
For better or worse? The Kurdish hunger strike
It has been just over a week since the 68 day hunger strike of Kurdish political prisoners in Turkey and North Kurdistan ended following an appeal by the imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan. Since that day everybody concerned with the hunger strike, Turkey, Kurdistan and the region has been debating the gains and losses and possible future developments regarding the Kurdish issue. Most of the debates have been centred and in some ways suffocated around the fact that the hunger strikers’ demands were not met, except a minor change in the constitution which allows for defence in the Kurdish language; although this right can be arbitrarily refused if the judge in court sees fit. The demands were: the right to education in the Kurdish language and for steps to be taken to end the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan and guarantee his health, security and eventual release for a peaceful and political solution to the Kurdish question. So, if the hunger strike did not achieve what it had targeted, why did Abdullah Öcalan call for it to end and why did the hunger strikers, numbering thousands inside and outside prisons, heed his call? The answer to this is where the internal dialectic and struggle methods of the Kurdish movement are hidden and it is why most people including their enemies do not comprehend it.
The most important trait of the modern Kurdish Freedom Movement which began as the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) but has now spread to include it, as well as the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK), the legal Peace & Democracy Party (BDP), and countless other organisations around the world, is its self-sufficiency, ability to determine the political agenda, and the importance it bestows on organising and developing its internal structure among the people. Every single action taken by the organisations listed above is first and foremost aimed at raising awareness and consciousness among the Kurdish people in Kurdistan and around the world. One cannot highlight this enough, and viewing the hunger strike in this light will make it more comprehensible. In this sense the hunger strike was an appeal to the Kurdish people and all democratic circles in Turkey and around the world to lay claim to the demands of the hunger strikers and come out onto the streets to show the government that these were also their demands also. Thus the ensuing meetings, demonstrations, marches, squirmishes with state forces, diplomacy and media coverage have politicized further and given the Kurdish people the necessary organisation and impetus to keep the struggle going for at least another few years, a time-period that is, according to the Kurdish movement, crucial for the freedom of the Kurds in the Middle East.
If we evaluate the hunger strike from a temporal and contextual perspective we can say that it came at a time when the Middle East has become a hot-bed of activity, especially in North and Western Kurdistan. This is a time which the Kurdish movement has determined as being the final stretch of the walk to freedom and a political status in Turkish and Syrian occupied Kurdish areas, which are inextricably linked together due to Turkey’s involvement in Syria. For the first time since Öcalan’s capture in 1999 the summer months had seen an unprecedented escalation in warfare between the PKK’s military wing the Peoples’ Defence Forces (HPG) and the Turkish army. The PKK said they were changing their strategy from ‘hit and run’ to ‘hit and stay,’ and the media black out enforced by the AKP government during the summer months (it now continues regarding Turkey’s involvement in Syria) seemed to reinforce the PKK’s claims that they were in control of large areas of the Kurdish south-east. This gave the Kurdish movement the psychological and political advantage over the AKP but it was not enough to lift the isolation on Öcalan and make the Turkish state and AKP government change their tone and come back to the negotiation table which had been set up in Oslo, but knocked down in 2011 by PM Tayyip Erdoğan, who did not accept the protocols drawn up by Öcalan for a political and peaceful solution to the Kurdish question.
As the winter months neared the initiative passed from the mountains to the cities and legal political sphere. However the ‘KCK arrests’ which began in 2009 and which have until now led to the imprisonment without trial of almost 10,000 Kurdish/BDP MPs, mayors, executives, women’s rights activists, journalists and most of Öcalan’s lawyers had blocked and marginalized the political legal sphere. The AKP government were also doing their best to exclude the BDP as Turkish PM Erdoğan was continuously stating that they were not legitimate interlocutors. It was in this military and political deadlock climate that the hunger strike came onto the agenda, and it was only logical from the perspective of the Kurdish movement that those imprisoned should begin; as had happened in 1982 when the leading cadres of the PKK had gone on hunger strike against the policies of the September 12th 1980 military coup. It is this act of resistance which is seen as ‘giving birth’ to the modern Kurdish Freedom Movement and resurrecting the Kurdish people. In fact hunger strikes had begun in April and May 2012 in prisons and in Europe even before an escalation to the war, but due to lack of organisation and possible internal disagreements, the hunger strike in prisons had ended soon after starting, whereas the hunger strike of 15 people in Strasbourg lasted 52 days. However this action did not receive any international media coverage nor was it very effective in Turkey and Kurdistan in terms of highlighting the demands of the hunger strikers. It is also important to note that cadres of the Kurdish movement, regardless of where they are, always make it their top priority to remain active within the struggle to prove to their oppressors that they cannot be suppressed. In this sense although it was not one of the demands, a cry for freedom was also one of the messages sent out by the hunger strikers who on a large scale have not even been sentenced yet.
Although I have gone into detail regarding the political context of the hunger strike I think it will make the following points clearer and more understandable. Firstly, due to the hunger strike the Kurdish movement has emphasised once again and this time also to international public opinion, the importance of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan to the peace process. Although his isolation has not been lifted and only his family members are being allowed to visit him, it is evident that state organisations and representatives have met with him recently. Despite not knowing what has been discussed we can surmise that Öcalan is back in the frame and in a stronger position than before. For a week leading Turkish newspapers, journalists and think tanks have been discussing openly Öcalan’s importance as a political player. Some are calling Öcalan the most important politician after PM Erdoğan. Furthermore Öcalan’s intervention to end the hunger strike has also ended the silence of international media regarding his isolation and prison conditions. A rise in Öcalan’s profile will mean that opening the path to peace in the international arena will be easier. Nelson Mandela’s journey to peace is a good example for this. Moreover the Turkish people, who are the majority and who are the key for a peaceful-political solution have seen once again the importance of Öcalan as a bridge between them and Kurdish people; they will have seen that it is Öcalan’s stance which will bring about a peace in which Turkey is not divided. For some the foregrounding of Öcalan is a contentious matter and they believe his position is exaggerated, but after the hunger strike I think there can be no further arguments about his importance, as now the legal political sphere (BDP and democracy forces) have also openly declared him their leader.
The crystallization of the demands of the Kurdish people via the hunger strike has also created an important change in the political situation. Until now manipulation by the government, state sponsored political analysts and the Turkish media had clouded and put into question the struggle for legitimate demands in the eyes of the majority in Turkey. Criminalisation, ridicule and outright threats were used to silence the demands; and the AKP government’s relations with the important powers of the west had meant that for the EU and USA and their media outlets, the Kurdish movement was only composed of an armed wing and violence. The hunger strike has helped shatter this image of the Kurdish movement as being a separatist and ‘terrorist’ organisation and one can see from recent articles and reports that the language and terminology is changing. This will make it easier for journalists, human rights workers, political activists and NGOs to report, engage and develop ties and solidarity with the non-violent and legal arms of the heterogeneous Kurdish movement which is by far the most progressive political force not just in Turkey but the Middle East in general. The period of activism for raising awareness about the hunger strike has already created opportunities for many different organisations and people to come together in all the European cities. We can even say that the hunger strikes have strengthened the unity of Kurds from different parts of Kurdistan as the Kurdish conscience from areas outside of North Kurdistan has become bound with their brethren.
So what of the government and opposition political parties in Turkey who are the different sides to this age-old problem? In the face of such a great resistance and legitimate demands, the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and Republican Peoples’ Party (CHP), the two opposition parties in parliament apart from the BDP, have only been able to resort to initially ignoring the hunger strike and then saying that meeting the demands would create a divide in the Turkish nation-state. The AKP engaged the MHP by bringing capital punishment (for Öcalan) back onto the agenda and discussing it for a few days and amused the CHP with quotidian arguments ranging from the importance of Ataturk for the nation and the constitutional change relating to the administration of cities (Büyükşehir Yasası). It was important however to see that both these parties, who are the protectors of the status quo, could not argue fervently any longer against the legitimate rights of the Kurdish people.
Concurrently the AKP government and especially PM Erdoğan, the Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin and the Vice PM Bülent Arınç, who were the main politicians making statements about the hunger strike, portrayed the divide or should we say how ‘slippery’ the AKP could be in their politics. While the PM was stating that the hunger strike was a show and that hunger strikers were eating liver, the Justice Minister Ergin was giving official figures that 683 people were on hunger strike and Vice PM Arınç was pleading with them to end the action. This divided stance highlights the long known fact that the AKP are not homogeneous regarding their approach to the Kurdish question and its resolution; it also shows that the PM maybe losing his strong-hold on the party and that the AKP is weakening from within. But the fact that the hunger strike has ended without death is also an indication that the AKP has dealt with a crisis which could have exploded into something much more. This is a positive result for the government and could be a spring-board to coalesce and draw up a road-map for the resolution of the Kurdish question using peaceful and political means. The first step to a new round of negotiations could be a mutual ceasefire. But before even that can happen the isolation on Öcalan must be lifted and he must be given permission to meet with his lawyers; not because his life is more important than the thousands in the mountains and prisons and millions in the cities, but because they see him as their political will and his freedom as their freedom.
Epilogue: We must not forget that hundreds of people put their lives at risk and were without food for 68 days and that some of these people are still in hospital recuperating. The hundred or so people who were in the first and second groups to start the hunger strike will probably have lasting psychological and physical damage. Unfortunately they are the children of a nation that has had to suffer many hardships to gain legitimate democratic and national rights. They were not the first but let us hope that they will be the last. I believe that although their demands have not been met (yet), with this action they have already prevented the deaths of thousands by bringing peace and democratisation closer to us. That is what this hunger strike was demanding: for peace to be given a chance.
Memed Boran
25.11.2012
Friday, 23 November 2012
Kurdish News Weekly Briefing, 16 - 22 November 2012
1. Turkish PM seeks talk with jailed Kurdish leader
20 November 2012 / AFP
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was not opposed to talks between the state and the jailed Kurdish leader in a bid to bring an end to the insurgency, media reported Tuesday. The National Intelligence Organisation "can do the talks, we see nothing wrong in that," Erdogan was quoted as telling reporters who asked about such talks with PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. "The goal is to solve the problem," he said on his way back to Turkey from Egypt on Monday, according to Hurriyet daily. Erdogan's comments came after hundreds of Kurdish prisoners ended a 68-day hunger strike on Sunday, following an appeal by Ocalan, who said the action had achieved its goal.
http://tinyurl.com/bllfhfp
2. What Abdullah Öcalan told his brother
20 November 2012 / ANF
Mehmet Öcalan had said that he had been taken to Imrali Island by ferry, the same ferry which has been defined as 'not working' for over a year. The message the Kurdish leader gave to his brother was this, as reported by DIHA news agency, "I'm calling from here to ask you to end the hunger strikes now. This action has achieved its goals. Abdullah Öcalan's brother said: "I met my brother, who hasn't been allowed to see his lawyers for more than 15 months, for about 45 minutes. It was a face to face meeting and we obviously talked about the hunger strike. Everyone knows that only leader Apo can end the hunger strike". said. Öcalan has repeated to his brother that "the hunger strike has achieved its goals. This action is very meaningful for me. And because it was carried out in prison it is even more meaningful for me".
http://en.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=article&nuceID=5392
3. Turkey says it will hold talks with Kurdish militants
19 November 2012 / Reuters
Turkey opened the door to talks with Kurdish militants it brands terrorists on Monday, raising hopes of a push to end a conflict which has killed tens of thousands of people and stunted development in its mainly Kurdish southeast.
Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin said talks would be held with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, Turkey's main domestic security threat, which took up arms almost three decades ago and seeks Kurdish autonomy.
"These talks have been held as and when deemed necessary in the past, and will be held in the future," Ergin told reporters in Ankara. He did not elaborate. Talks between the Turkish state and the PKK were unthinkable until only a few years ago and more recent contacts have proved highly controversial, with parts of the nationalist opposition strongly condemning any suggestion of negotiations.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/11/19/uk-turkey-kurds-talks-idUKBRE8AI0J420121119
4. Indication of Peace Talks Following End of Hunger Strike in Turkey
19 November 2012 / Rudaw
Kurdish prisoners ended their 67-day hunger strike on Sunday. Deniz Kaya, a spokesperson for the strikers, said that the prisoners received a call from Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan who asked them from his prison on Imrali Island to end their strike. A Turkish newspaper attributed the end of the hunger strike to the possible resumption of negotiations between Turkish Intelligence (MIT) and Ocalan. Meanwhile, Ocalan’s brother, Mehmet Ocalan, said that realizing that only Ocalan could end the hunger strike, the Turkish government has been holding talks with him for several days. Seven hundred Kurdish prisoners went on a hunger strike in prisons across Turkey, demanding the ability to use the Kurdish language in court and better conditions for Ocalan. As the days went by, Turkish authorities were concerned about the worsening health of the prisoners and feared their imminent deaths.
http://www.rudaw.net/english/news/turkey/5441.html
5. Ocalan wants end to Turkey hunger strike
17 November 2012 / Info-Turk
Jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan called for an end to a hunger strike by hundreds of his supporters in prisons across Turkey on Saturday, raising hopes of a push to end a decades-old conflict. The hunger strike by at least 1,700 people to demand an end to Ocalan's isolation is in its 67th day and doctors have said prisoners could soon die. The protest has posed a growing challenge to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and risked fuelling tension in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast. "Today I went to see my brother Abdullah Ocalan face-to-face in Imrali prison," Ocalan's brother Mehmet said in a statement. "He wants me to share immediately with the public his call about the hunger strikes .... This action has achieved its goal. Without any hesitation, they should end the hunger strike."
http://www.info-turk.be/411.htm#Ocalan
6. Hunger Striker Journalist Emphasizes on Dialogue
20 November 2012 / Bianet
On Monday, representatives from Turkey's two main media associations visited Temel in a Diyarbakir Province hospital. Ercan İpekçi, head of Turkish Journalists' Union, told bianet that while Temel's general health is improving, he is still suffering from fatigue, sensitivity to certain sounds and difficulty in speaking, walking and reading. Hunger striker inmates in Diyarbakir Prison with grave after effects will remain in the hospital for another ten days, İpekçi said. There are currently 49 inmates from Diyarbakir prison, who suffer from after effects and remain in hospital care. Most inmates refused to take solid food for a period of 68 days until PKK leader Ocalan made an appeal to end hunger strikes. İpekçi and Yaşar, along with other members from Turkish Jornalists Association, have scheduled appointments with two female hunger striker journalists, Fatma Koçak from DIHA and Ayşe Oyman from Özgür Gündem.
http://www.bianet.org/english/other/142220-hunger-striker-journalist-emphasizes-on-dialogue
7. Set journalists free in Turkey: EFJ campaign update
19 November 2012 / Peace in Kurdistan campaign
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) launched an international campaign to set free all journalists in Turkey. Here is the latest update.
http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/set-journalists-free-in-turkey-efj-campaign-update-6/
8. Kurd militants end hunger strike in Turkey, deal seen
18 November 2012 / Reuters
Hundreds of Kurdish militants ended a hunger strike in jails across Turkey on Sunday in response to an appeal from their leader, fuelling hopes a deal had been struck that could revive talks to end a decades-old conflict.
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan called on his supporters to end their protest after holding a series of discussions with Turkish MIT intelligence agency officials, according to one media report.
Top MIT officials have held secret meetings with senior PKK representatives in Oslo in recent years and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said in September more talks were possible.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/18/us-turkey-hungerstrikes-idUSBRE8AH0F020121118
9. Kurdish issue in Turkey and the idea of a united Kurdistan
18 November 2012 / Globalia Magazine
Interior Minister Besir Atalay recently announced details of the government's long-awaited plan to give more rights to the Kurdish minority. The blueprint includes establishing an independent authority to investigate cases of alleged torture against Kurds, as well as measures to ease current restrictions on the use of the Kurdish language. The cabinet of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already taken measures to expand the cultural rights of the Kurdish community through the launch of a state television channel that broadcasts in Kurdish. In addition, Kurd-dominated towns and cities will be allowed to reclaim their former Kurdish names. The main opposition parties oppose the reforms, arguing they undermine national unity.
http://www.globaliamagazine.com/?id=1369
10. Syrian Kurdish leader rejects new opposition coalition
20 November 2012 / Ma’an News Agency
A party that controls much of Syria's Kurdish region on Tuesday rejected the new opposition coalition, highlighting the deep divisions still remaining between the many Syrian armed groups 20 months into the uprising against President Bashar Assad. Saleh Muslim, head of the Democratic Union Party, said he had not been invited to talks in Doha this month in which the Syrian National Coalition was formed, and he labelled the group a proxy of Turkey and Qatar. The coalition, led by moderate Sunni Muslim cleric Mouaz Alkhatib, was meant to unify Syria's myriad opposition groups in a bid to secure Western backing in their efforts to topple Assad, and has been endorsed in the West by Britain and France.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=540375
11. US Pushes Syrian Kurds to Join Rebellion
16 November 2012 / Voice of America
As the Obama administration pushes to solidify Syria's political opposition, it also is working to improve ties between Syrian Kurds and groups battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Concentrating control in their own areas of northwest Syria, Kurdish leaders have been slow to join the broader rebellion against Assad, preferring to seek greater regional autonomy with Kurds in neighboring Iraq and Turkey. Before the rebellion accelerated, Assad granted new political freedoms to Syrian Kurds who have long sought greater autonomy inside and outside of Syria.
http://www.voanews.com/content/us-pushes-syrian-kurds-to-join-rebellion/1547710.html
12. Turkish Army bombs Syrian Kurds
20 November 2012 / KNK statement, MESOP
Since 8th November 2012, armed groups infiltrated by Turkey entered Serekani (Ras al-Ain), the city of Syria. These armed groups affiliated with and are being supported by Turkey. The Kurds, Arabs and Assyrians have been living in Serekani, which is the border city with Turkey. Armed groups first entered into Arab districts. As well as Arabs, Kurds and Assyrians have been affected by the clashes between Syrian regime and armed groups. The president of Serekani Kurdish Council Abid Xelil and another person who went to discuss the conflict with the armed groups this morning (19th November 2012), were attacked by the mentioned group and died. Five Kurdish were also injured. The clashes, then, have started between People’s Defense Units (YPG) and these armed groups.
http://www.mesop.de/2012/11/20/knk-statement-turkish-army-bombs-syrian-kurds/
13. Dozens dead after clashes in Syrian border town
21 November 2012 / CNN
A flashpoint Syrian border town recently captured by rebels was reeling Tuesday after deadly clashes erupted between Syrian rebels and a Kurdish militia.
The battle left dozens of fighters from both sides dead, including one prominent ethnic Kurdish leader. "Today it is quiet. I hope in my heart that there will be no more fighting between Kurds and Arabs because we are all brothers," said a Kurdish activist and resident of Ras Al Ain, who asked only to be named "Baran" for his safety. "But I am sure there will be more fighting," he predicted, adding that both the Syrian rebels and Kurdish fighters were calling for reinforcements.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/20/world/europe/turkey-syria-violence/
14. Dozens die as Kurds, rebels clash in north
20 November 2012 / The Australian
FRESH fighting between Kurdish militiamen and Syrian rebels has erupted in the northern Syria town of Ras al-Ain, where dozens have died since the new front in Syria's complex civil war opened last week.
Elsewhere in northern Syria, several rebel battalions went on the offensive on Tuesday and attacked the Sheikh Suleiman air defence battalion west of Aleppo city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The clashes came less than two days after rebels, armed with at least five tanks according to a military source, took full control of the sprawling Base 46 in the same province. The Britain-based Observatory said that at least 29 people had died in clashes in Ras al-Ain, near the Turkey border, over the past 24 hours.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/eu-recognises-new-syrian-coalition/story-fn3dxix6-1226520039128
15. On Syrian border, mixed feelings for rebel ‘liberators’
17 November 2012 / First Post
From a park on the outskirts of Turkey’s Ceylanpinar, Farhad watches with unease as his would-be liberators, guns slung across their backs, roam through his town just over the border in Syria. “I don’t want the rebels in my town,” the 25-year-old Kurdish man laments. “Why would I want Assad’s planes to come and bomb us? I don’t want Assad, nor do I want the rebels.” His is a familiar sentiment among refugees from Ras al-Ain, a mixed Arab and Kurdish town on Syria’s border with Turkey that was dragged into Syria’s civil war last week with the arrival of rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad.
http://www.firstpost.com/world/on-syrian-border-mixed-feelings-for-rebel-liberators-526521.html
16. Public Protest Against Iran's Decision to Execute 27 Kurdish Prisoners
16 November 2012 / Rudaw
Activists in Iranian Kurdistan have called on people to stage a public strike to protest the death sentence on 27 Kurdish prisoners in Iranian jails.
A group of human rights activists encourage Iranian people to not report to work starting Saturday, November 17, to boycott classes and close the markets.
In open letters published on the Internet, the activists have urged people to visit the families of the prisoners on this day in solidarity with their plight.
Part of a letter published on Kurdpa, a Kurdish website, says that Kurds everywhere and in every position should object to this anti-human right action.
According to the International Campaign for Human Right in Iran 28 Kurds are on death row in Iran in five different prisons of Sanandaj, Uromieh, Semnan, Rajai shahr and Saghez.
http://www.rudaw.net/english/news/iran/5429.html
17. Kurdish commander warns of battle against Iraq
20 November 2012 / Yahoo News
The commander of Kurdish Peshmerga forces warned Tuesday that his troops might attack Iraqi government soldiers at "any minute" after the central government sent tanks and armored vehicles toward the disputed city of Kirkuk.
The threat was the latest sign of increasing tension between the autonomous Kurdish region and Baghdad after the central government sent forces last month to the area, including disputed sites in a new military command.
Already poor relations between the central government and Kurds worsened after an Iraqi government decision last month to set up a new military command there. The force also oversees disputed areas claimed by Iraqi Arabs, Turkomen and Kurds, in particular the areas surrounding Mosul and Kirkuk.
http://news.yahoo.com/kurdish-commander-warns-battle-against-iraq-110008335.html
18. Iranian Kurds Fight Discrimination, Hope for Change
19 November 2012 / Voice of America
The Kurdish minority in Iran has for decades suffered discrimination and many Kurds have been thrown into prison and executed for seeking equal rights from the Islamic government in Tehran. But "Arab Spring" uprisings in the Middle East and threats of military attacks to stop Iran’s nuclear program have given some Iranian Kurds hope for change. An estimated 12 million Kurds live in Iran, mostly in the northwest of the country bordering Kurdish-majority areas of Iraq and Turkey. Tehran says it has generally improved living conditions and education for Iran's Kurds and they are integrated into the political process. But Kurds say they have lesser rights and a rebel group, known as PJAK - the Free Life Party of Kurdistan - has been waging an insurgency based in the Qandil Mountains.
http://www.voanews.com/content/iranian-kurds-fight-discrimination-hope-for-change/1549125.html
19. Rapprochement in Turkey, by Michael M Gunter
16 November 2012 / Encompassing Crescent
During the summer and fall of 2009, the continuing and at times still violent Kurdish problem in Turkeyseemed on the verge of a solution when the ruling Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi [Justice and Development Party] or AK Party (AKP) government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul announced a Kurdish Opening. Gul declared that “the biggest problem of Turkey is the Kurdish question” and that “there is an opportunity [to solve it] and it should not be missed.” Erdogan asked: “If Turkey had not spent its energy, budget, peace and young people on [combating] terrorism, if Turkey had not spent the last 25 years in conflict, where would we be today?” Even the insurgent Partiya Karkaren Kurdistan (PKK) or Kurdistan Workers Party, still led ultimately by its imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan, itself briefly took Turkey’s Kurdish Opening seriously. For a fleeting moment optimism ran rampant. Why did this hopeful Opening fail?
http://encompassingcrescent.com/2012/11/rapprochement-in-turkey-by-michael-m-gunter/
20. The Power of the Hunger Strike
19 November 2012 / Counterpunch
The hunger strike has a long political pedigree. It combines sensationalism with moral anger, but it also minimizes harm to others who are not directly involved in the conflict. “Collateral damage”, the military argot’s most vicious euphemism, is avoided – at least in principle. Instead, harm comes to the person initiating the strike. Privations are made public. The demise is gradual. There is no spectacular image of a man set on fire, or the instantaneous moment of bomb blast. The hunger strike enables a narrative to be fashioned by the protester. That said any political weapon has its limits. Measuring the success of the hunger strike is no different. Illusion can be as convincing as fact. Legends are easily born – and a legend, claimed the habitually acerbic H. L. Mencken, is often a lie that has merely attained the dignity of age.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/11/19/the-power-of-the-hunger-strike/
21. A gritty bite of Turkish delight
17 November 2012 / Irish Times
Mention the name Tarlabasi to any Istanbul resident and their reaction will put you off going there forever. “Tarlabasi is dirty,” they say. “Tarlabasi is dangerous!”
Looking for an affordable place to live, I had no choice but to at least consider an area where the rents are low. With Istanbul’s most famous main shopping avenue, Istiklal, only yards away, I also found myself drawn by the fact that you could not get any closer to the commercial and cultural heart of Istanbul. A feeling only emboldened by passing landmarks on the way such as the Grand Hotel De Londres – where it is said Agatha Christie wrote Murder on The Orient Express – and the even grander British Consulate nearby.
The only thing I could think of as I crossed the single, busy highway that conveniently amputates Tarlabasi from the next-door tourist meccas of Istanbul was: how bad can it really be?
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/travel/2012/1117/1224326544227.html
22. Turkey's Kurds Want More Freedoms, Autonomy
20 November 2012 / Voice of America
Tensions in heavily Kurdish areas of Turkey are highlighting how the nation's decades-old "Kurdish question" remains unresolved. Turkey's prime minister says the government has given Turkey's Kurds unprecedented freedoms. But most Kurds say they continue to suffer discrimination and alienation. And there are increasing skirmishes between Turkish forces and Kurdish insurgents, causing an outcry among Turks and harsh crackdown rhetoric from Ankara. At the Tigris-Euphrates Cultural Center in Diyarbakir, inside the walls of the Old City, Kurds are trying to revive traditional Kurdish culture, which has been under threat since the creation of the Turkish Republic nearly 90 years ago.
http://www.voanews.com/content/turkey-kurds-want-more-freedoms-autonomy/1549871.html
23. Report from visit to Turkey 15-17 November
20 November 2012 / The Spark
As part of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) campaign in support of journalists held in prisons in Turkey, or under threat of imprisonment, I visited the country as an EFJ observer between 15 and 17 November. Other members of the EFJ’s governing board have also attended trials and will continue to do so in acts of solidarity.
Friday 16 November saw the reconvening of the OdaTV trial at the Judgement Palace in Istanbul. This was the 14th hearing. Together with representatives from the TGS, we arrived early to see meet defendants and their supporters outside the courts. My first (and brief) meeting was with Mr. İlhan Cihaner, a Member of Parliament from the Republican People’s Party (CHP). Before taking his seat in parliament, Mr. Cihaner was a prosecutor in the provinces of Adana and Erzincan. However, during his tenure in Erzincan, circumstances surrounding his investigations into İsmail Ağa and Fethullah Gülen groups led to his arrest and he was held prison being accused of being connected to the Ergenekon terrorist organisation.
http://www.thespark.me.uk/?p=475
24. Inter-Kurdish tensions mounting against FSA
20 November 2012 / Daily Star
Unwilling to fight alongside the Syrian Army while they targeted civilians, young Kurdish conscript Novin defected, fleeing his hometown of Qamishli to Iraqi Kurdistan, where he ended up in the Diwan refugee camp. Now, he proudly wears a crisp new uniform of a different kind – with the Kurdistan flag, with its yellow sun – sewn on the sleeve. Novin, one of two new officers of the so-called “Syrian Peshmerga,” spoke to The Daily Star from the outskirts of one of the new training camps established by the president of semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, Massoud Barzani, in the northern Duhok region bordering Syria. Barzani confirmed his government has provided training to Syrian Kurds to protect Kurdish areas in the event of a security vacuum in Syria. There have been conflicting reports, however, as to the number of recruits and whether any have yet entered Syria.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Nov-20/195610-inter-kurdish-tensions-mounting-against-fsa.ashx#axzz2Cnk7vqO2
25. Kurds oust Syrian forces from northern towns
19 November 2012 / Al Jazeera
"Assad is gone! I am very happy. Until now, we didn't even have ID cards," says Abdi Karim, 56, with a tired but big smile. Karim is a fighter in the People's Defence Units (YPG) in Derik, a city in Syria's Kurdish area in the northeast near the borders of Turkey and Iraq. The YPG is an armed militia that has been publicly active in this region for at least the last four months. Recently, the YPG and residents of Derik - known as al-Malkia in Arabic - forced the last of the regime's troops and police to leave the city. "We have the rifles to protect the people here, just to protect," Karim said pointing at his old AK-47 and talking in the building where President Bashar al-Assad's intelligence services once had their base in Derik.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/11/2012111984841162626.html
26. Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan Moving Closer
20 November 2012 / Middle East Online
Iraqi Kurdistan Prime Minster recently visited Iran. He met with Iran’s top officials. The talks included a wide range of issues. The visit is important given serious internal and regional developments. The bilateral relations have deteriorated and, of special importance, the visit would improve relations and the two would cooperate on an amalgam of issues including political, security and economic. Domestic and regional developments deteriorated the relations between Iran and Kurdistan Region. In a series of reports, Iranian officials and media attacked Iraqi Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party in particular. Throughout them, sensitive cases were used. The Kurds were tried to be portrayed as pro-Israel, pro-Sunni and anti-Shiite.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=55620
20 November 2012 / AFP
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was not opposed to talks between the state and the jailed Kurdish leader in a bid to bring an end to the insurgency, media reported Tuesday. The National Intelligence Organisation "can do the talks, we see nothing wrong in that," Erdogan was quoted as telling reporters who asked about such talks with PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. "The goal is to solve the problem," he said on his way back to Turkey from Egypt on Monday, according to Hurriyet daily. Erdogan's comments came after hundreds of Kurdish prisoners ended a 68-day hunger strike on Sunday, following an appeal by Ocalan, who said the action had achieved its goal.
http://tinyurl.com/bllfhfp
2. What Abdullah Öcalan told his brother
20 November 2012 / ANF
Mehmet Öcalan had said that he had been taken to Imrali Island by ferry, the same ferry which has been defined as 'not working' for over a year. The message the Kurdish leader gave to his brother was this, as reported by DIHA news agency, "I'm calling from here to ask you to end the hunger strikes now. This action has achieved its goals. Abdullah Öcalan's brother said: "I met my brother, who hasn't been allowed to see his lawyers for more than 15 months, for about 45 minutes. It was a face to face meeting and we obviously talked about the hunger strike. Everyone knows that only leader Apo can end the hunger strike". said. Öcalan has repeated to his brother that "the hunger strike has achieved its goals. This action is very meaningful for me. And because it was carried out in prison it is even more meaningful for me".
http://en.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=article&nuceID=5392
3. Turkey says it will hold talks with Kurdish militants
19 November 2012 / Reuters
Turkey opened the door to talks with Kurdish militants it brands terrorists on Monday, raising hopes of a push to end a conflict which has killed tens of thousands of people and stunted development in its mainly Kurdish southeast.
Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin said talks would be held with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group, Turkey's main domestic security threat, which took up arms almost three decades ago and seeks Kurdish autonomy.
"These talks have been held as and when deemed necessary in the past, and will be held in the future," Ergin told reporters in Ankara. He did not elaborate. Talks between the Turkish state and the PKK were unthinkable until only a few years ago and more recent contacts have proved highly controversial, with parts of the nationalist opposition strongly condemning any suggestion of negotiations.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/11/19/uk-turkey-kurds-talks-idUKBRE8AI0J420121119
4. Indication of Peace Talks Following End of Hunger Strike in Turkey
19 November 2012 / Rudaw
Kurdish prisoners ended their 67-day hunger strike on Sunday. Deniz Kaya, a spokesperson for the strikers, said that the prisoners received a call from Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan who asked them from his prison on Imrali Island to end their strike. A Turkish newspaper attributed the end of the hunger strike to the possible resumption of negotiations between Turkish Intelligence (MIT) and Ocalan. Meanwhile, Ocalan’s brother, Mehmet Ocalan, said that realizing that only Ocalan could end the hunger strike, the Turkish government has been holding talks with him for several days. Seven hundred Kurdish prisoners went on a hunger strike in prisons across Turkey, demanding the ability to use the Kurdish language in court and better conditions for Ocalan. As the days went by, Turkish authorities were concerned about the worsening health of the prisoners and feared their imminent deaths.
http://www.rudaw.net/english/news/turkey/5441.html
5. Ocalan wants end to Turkey hunger strike
17 November 2012 / Info-Turk
Jailed Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan called for an end to a hunger strike by hundreds of his supporters in prisons across Turkey on Saturday, raising hopes of a push to end a decades-old conflict. The hunger strike by at least 1,700 people to demand an end to Ocalan's isolation is in its 67th day and doctors have said prisoners could soon die. The protest has posed a growing challenge to Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan and risked fuelling tension in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast. "Today I went to see my brother Abdullah Ocalan face-to-face in Imrali prison," Ocalan's brother Mehmet said in a statement. "He wants me to share immediately with the public his call about the hunger strikes .... This action has achieved its goal. Without any hesitation, they should end the hunger strike."
http://www.info-turk.be/411.htm#Ocalan
6. Hunger Striker Journalist Emphasizes on Dialogue
20 November 2012 / Bianet
On Monday, representatives from Turkey's two main media associations visited Temel in a Diyarbakir Province hospital. Ercan İpekçi, head of Turkish Journalists' Union, told bianet that while Temel's general health is improving, he is still suffering from fatigue, sensitivity to certain sounds and difficulty in speaking, walking and reading. Hunger striker inmates in Diyarbakir Prison with grave after effects will remain in the hospital for another ten days, İpekçi said. There are currently 49 inmates from Diyarbakir prison, who suffer from after effects and remain in hospital care. Most inmates refused to take solid food for a period of 68 days until PKK leader Ocalan made an appeal to end hunger strikes. İpekçi and Yaşar, along with other members from Turkish Jornalists Association, have scheduled appointments with two female hunger striker journalists, Fatma Koçak from DIHA and Ayşe Oyman from Özgür Gündem.
http://www.bianet.org/english/other/142220-hunger-striker-journalist-emphasizes-on-dialogue
7. Set journalists free in Turkey: EFJ campaign update
19 November 2012 / Peace in Kurdistan campaign
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) launched an international campaign to set free all journalists in Turkey. Here is the latest update.
http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2012/11/19/set-journalists-free-in-turkey-efj-campaign-update-6/
8. Kurd militants end hunger strike in Turkey, deal seen
18 November 2012 / Reuters
Hundreds of Kurdish militants ended a hunger strike in jails across Turkey on Sunday in response to an appeal from their leader, fuelling hopes a deal had been struck that could revive talks to end a decades-old conflict.
Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan called on his supporters to end their protest after holding a series of discussions with Turkish MIT intelligence agency officials, according to one media report.
Top MIT officials have held secret meetings with senior PKK representatives in Oslo in recent years and Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said in September more talks were possible.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/11/18/us-turkey-hungerstrikes-idUSBRE8AH0F020121118
9. Kurdish issue in Turkey and the idea of a united Kurdistan
18 November 2012 / Globalia Magazine
Interior Minister Besir Atalay recently announced details of the government's long-awaited plan to give more rights to the Kurdish minority. The blueprint includes establishing an independent authority to investigate cases of alleged torture against Kurds, as well as measures to ease current restrictions on the use of the Kurdish language. The cabinet of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already taken measures to expand the cultural rights of the Kurdish community through the launch of a state television channel that broadcasts in Kurdish. In addition, Kurd-dominated towns and cities will be allowed to reclaim their former Kurdish names. The main opposition parties oppose the reforms, arguing they undermine national unity.
http://www.globaliamagazine.com/?id=1369
10. Syrian Kurdish leader rejects new opposition coalition
20 November 2012 / Ma’an News Agency
A party that controls much of Syria's Kurdish region on Tuesday rejected the new opposition coalition, highlighting the deep divisions still remaining between the many Syrian armed groups 20 months into the uprising against President Bashar Assad. Saleh Muslim, head of the Democratic Union Party, said he had not been invited to talks in Doha this month in which the Syrian National Coalition was formed, and he labelled the group a proxy of Turkey and Qatar. The coalition, led by moderate Sunni Muslim cleric Mouaz Alkhatib, was meant to unify Syria's myriad opposition groups in a bid to secure Western backing in their efforts to topple Assad, and has been endorsed in the West by Britain and France.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=540375
11. US Pushes Syrian Kurds to Join Rebellion
16 November 2012 / Voice of America
As the Obama administration pushes to solidify Syria's political opposition, it also is working to improve ties between Syrian Kurds and groups battling Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Concentrating control in their own areas of northwest Syria, Kurdish leaders have been slow to join the broader rebellion against Assad, preferring to seek greater regional autonomy with Kurds in neighboring Iraq and Turkey. Before the rebellion accelerated, Assad granted new political freedoms to Syrian Kurds who have long sought greater autonomy inside and outside of Syria.
http://www.voanews.com/content/us-pushes-syrian-kurds-to-join-rebellion/1547710.html
12. Turkish Army bombs Syrian Kurds
20 November 2012 / KNK statement, MESOP
Since 8th November 2012, armed groups infiltrated by Turkey entered Serekani (Ras al-Ain), the city of Syria. These armed groups affiliated with and are being supported by Turkey. The Kurds, Arabs and Assyrians have been living in Serekani, which is the border city with Turkey. Armed groups first entered into Arab districts. As well as Arabs, Kurds and Assyrians have been affected by the clashes between Syrian regime and armed groups. The president of Serekani Kurdish Council Abid Xelil and another person who went to discuss the conflict with the armed groups this morning (19th November 2012), were attacked by the mentioned group and died. Five Kurdish were also injured. The clashes, then, have started between People’s Defense Units (YPG) and these armed groups.
http://www.mesop.de/2012/11/20/knk-statement-turkish-army-bombs-syrian-kurds/
13. Dozens dead after clashes in Syrian border town
21 November 2012 / CNN
A flashpoint Syrian border town recently captured by rebels was reeling Tuesday after deadly clashes erupted between Syrian rebels and a Kurdish militia.
The battle left dozens of fighters from both sides dead, including one prominent ethnic Kurdish leader. "Today it is quiet. I hope in my heart that there will be no more fighting between Kurds and Arabs because we are all brothers," said a Kurdish activist and resident of Ras Al Ain, who asked only to be named "Baran" for his safety. "But I am sure there will be more fighting," he predicted, adding that both the Syrian rebels and Kurdish fighters were calling for reinforcements.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/20/world/europe/turkey-syria-violence/
14. Dozens die as Kurds, rebels clash in north
20 November 2012 / The Australian
FRESH fighting between Kurdish militiamen and Syrian rebels has erupted in the northern Syria town of Ras al-Ain, where dozens have died since the new front in Syria's complex civil war opened last week.
Elsewhere in northern Syria, several rebel battalions went on the offensive on Tuesday and attacked the Sheikh Suleiman air defence battalion west of Aleppo city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The clashes came less than two days after rebels, armed with at least five tanks according to a military source, took full control of the sprawling Base 46 in the same province. The Britain-based Observatory said that at least 29 people had died in clashes in Ras al-Ain, near the Turkey border, over the past 24 hours.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/eu-recognises-new-syrian-coalition/story-fn3dxix6-1226520039128
15. On Syrian border, mixed feelings for rebel ‘liberators’
17 November 2012 / First Post
From a park on the outskirts of Turkey’s Ceylanpinar, Farhad watches with unease as his would-be liberators, guns slung across their backs, roam through his town just over the border in Syria. “I don’t want the rebels in my town,” the 25-year-old Kurdish man laments. “Why would I want Assad’s planes to come and bomb us? I don’t want Assad, nor do I want the rebels.” His is a familiar sentiment among refugees from Ras al-Ain, a mixed Arab and Kurdish town on Syria’s border with Turkey that was dragged into Syria’s civil war last week with the arrival of rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad.
http://www.firstpost.com/world/on-syrian-border-mixed-feelings-for-rebel-liberators-526521.html
16. Public Protest Against Iran's Decision to Execute 27 Kurdish Prisoners
16 November 2012 / Rudaw
Activists in Iranian Kurdistan have called on people to stage a public strike to protest the death sentence on 27 Kurdish prisoners in Iranian jails.
A group of human rights activists encourage Iranian people to not report to work starting Saturday, November 17, to boycott classes and close the markets.
In open letters published on the Internet, the activists have urged people to visit the families of the prisoners on this day in solidarity with their plight.
Part of a letter published on Kurdpa, a Kurdish website, says that Kurds everywhere and in every position should object to this anti-human right action.
According to the International Campaign for Human Right in Iran 28 Kurds are on death row in Iran in five different prisons of Sanandaj, Uromieh, Semnan, Rajai shahr and Saghez.
http://www.rudaw.net/english/news/iran/5429.html
17. Kurdish commander warns of battle against Iraq
20 November 2012 / Yahoo News
The commander of Kurdish Peshmerga forces warned Tuesday that his troops might attack Iraqi government soldiers at "any minute" after the central government sent tanks and armored vehicles toward the disputed city of Kirkuk.
The threat was the latest sign of increasing tension between the autonomous Kurdish region and Baghdad after the central government sent forces last month to the area, including disputed sites in a new military command.
Already poor relations between the central government and Kurds worsened after an Iraqi government decision last month to set up a new military command there. The force also oversees disputed areas claimed by Iraqi Arabs, Turkomen and Kurds, in particular the areas surrounding Mosul and Kirkuk.
http://news.yahoo.com/kurdish-commander-warns-battle-against-iraq-110008335.html
18. Iranian Kurds Fight Discrimination, Hope for Change
19 November 2012 / Voice of America
The Kurdish minority in Iran has for decades suffered discrimination and many Kurds have been thrown into prison and executed for seeking equal rights from the Islamic government in Tehran. But "Arab Spring" uprisings in the Middle East and threats of military attacks to stop Iran’s nuclear program have given some Iranian Kurds hope for change. An estimated 12 million Kurds live in Iran, mostly in the northwest of the country bordering Kurdish-majority areas of Iraq and Turkey. Tehran says it has generally improved living conditions and education for Iran's Kurds and they are integrated into the political process. But Kurds say they have lesser rights and a rebel group, known as PJAK - the Free Life Party of Kurdistan - has been waging an insurgency based in the Qandil Mountains.
http://www.voanews.com/content/iranian-kurds-fight-discrimination-hope-for-change/1549125.html
19. Rapprochement in Turkey, by Michael M Gunter
16 November 2012 / Encompassing Crescent
During the summer and fall of 2009, the continuing and at times still violent Kurdish problem in Turkeyseemed on the verge of a solution when the ruling Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi [Justice and Development Party] or AK Party (AKP) government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul announced a Kurdish Opening. Gul declared that “the biggest problem of Turkey is the Kurdish question” and that “there is an opportunity [to solve it] and it should not be missed.” Erdogan asked: “If Turkey had not spent its energy, budget, peace and young people on [combating] terrorism, if Turkey had not spent the last 25 years in conflict, where would we be today?” Even the insurgent Partiya Karkaren Kurdistan (PKK) or Kurdistan Workers Party, still led ultimately by its imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan, itself briefly took Turkey’s Kurdish Opening seriously. For a fleeting moment optimism ran rampant. Why did this hopeful Opening fail?
http://encompassingcrescent.com/2012/11/rapprochement-in-turkey-by-michael-m-gunter/
20. The Power of the Hunger Strike
19 November 2012 / Counterpunch
The hunger strike has a long political pedigree. It combines sensationalism with moral anger, but it also minimizes harm to others who are not directly involved in the conflict. “Collateral damage”, the military argot’s most vicious euphemism, is avoided – at least in principle. Instead, harm comes to the person initiating the strike. Privations are made public. The demise is gradual. There is no spectacular image of a man set on fire, or the instantaneous moment of bomb blast. The hunger strike enables a narrative to be fashioned by the protester. That said any political weapon has its limits. Measuring the success of the hunger strike is no different. Illusion can be as convincing as fact. Legends are easily born – and a legend, claimed the habitually acerbic H. L. Mencken, is often a lie that has merely attained the dignity of age.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/11/19/the-power-of-the-hunger-strike/
21. A gritty bite of Turkish delight
17 November 2012 / Irish Times
Mention the name Tarlabasi to any Istanbul resident and their reaction will put you off going there forever. “Tarlabasi is dirty,” they say. “Tarlabasi is dangerous!”
Looking for an affordable place to live, I had no choice but to at least consider an area where the rents are low. With Istanbul’s most famous main shopping avenue, Istiklal, only yards away, I also found myself drawn by the fact that you could not get any closer to the commercial and cultural heart of Istanbul. A feeling only emboldened by passing landmarks on the way such as the Grand Hotel De Londres – where it is said Agatha Christie wrote Murder on The Orient Express – and the even grander British Consulate nearby.
The only thing I could think of as I crossed the single, busy highway that conveniently amputates Tarlabasi from the next-door tourist meccas of Istanbul was: how bad can it really be?
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/travel/2012/1117/1224326544227.html
22. Turkey's Kurds Want More Freedoms, Autonomy
20 November 2012 / Voice of America
Tensions in heavily Kurdish areas of Turkey are highlighting how the nation's decades-old "Kurdish question" remains unresolved. Turkey's prime minister says the government has given Turkey's Kurds unprecedented freedoms. But most Kurds say they continue to suffer discrimination and alienation. And there are increasing skirmishes between Turkish forces and Kurdish insurgents, causing an outcry among Turks and harsh crackdown rhetoric from Ankara. At the Tigris-Euphrates Cultural Center in Diyarbakir, inside the walls of the Old City, Kurds are trying to revive traditional Kurdish culture, which has been under threat since the creation of the Turkish Republic nearly 90 years ago.
http://www.voanews.com/content/turkey-kurds-want-more-freedoms-autonomy/1549871.html
23. Report from visit to Turkey 15-17 November
20 November 2012 / The Spark
As part of the European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) campaign in support of journalists held in prisons in Turkey, or under threat of imprisonment, I visited the country as an EFJ observer between 15 and 17 November. Other members of the EFJ’s governing board have also attended trials and will continue to do so in acts of solidarity.
Friday 16 November saw the reconvening of the OdaTV trial at the Judgement Palace in Istanbul. This was the 14th hearing. Together with representatives from the TGS, we arrived early to see meet defendants and their supporters outside the courts. My first (and brief) meeting was with Mr. İlhan Cihaner, a Member of Parliament from the Republican People’s Party (CHP). Before taking his seat in parliament, Mr. Cihaner was a prosecutor in the provinces of Adana and Erzincan. However, during his tenure in Erzincan, circumstances surrounding his investigations into İsmail Ağa and Fethullah Gülen groups led to his arrest and he was held prison being accused of being connected to the Ergenekon terrorist organisation.
http://www.thespark.me.uk/?p=475
24. Inter-Kurdish tensions mounting against FSA
20 November 2012 / Daily Star
Unwilling to fight alongside the Syrian Army while they targeted civilians, young Kurdish conscript Novin defected, fleeing his hometown of Qamishli to Iraqi Kurdistan, where he ended up in the Diwan refugee camp. Now, he proudly wears a crisp new uniform of a different kind – with the Kurdistan flag, with its yellow sun – sewn on the sleeve. Novin, one of two new officers of the so-called “Syrian Peshmerga,” spoke to The Daily Star from the outskirts of one of the new training camps established by the president of semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan, Massoud Barzani, in the northern Duhok region bordering Syria. Barzani confirmed his government has provided training to Syrian Kurds to protect Kurdish areas in the event of a security vacuum in Syria. There have been conflicting reports, however, as to the number of recruits and whether any have yet entered Syria.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Nov-20/195610-inter-kurdish-tensions-mounting-against-fsa.ashx#axzz2Cnk7vqO2
25. Kurds oust Syrian forces from northern towns
19 November 2012 / Al Jazeera
"Assad is gone! I am very happy. Until now, we didn't even have ID cards," says Abdi Karim, 56, with a tired but big smile. Karim is a fighter in the People's Defence Units (YPG) in Derik, a city in Syria's Kurdish area in the northeast near the borders of Turkey and Iraq. The YPG is an armed militia that has been publicly active in this region for at least the last four months. Recently, the YPG and residents of Derik - known as al-Malkia in Arabic - forced the last of the regime's troops and police to leave the city. "We have the rifles to protect the people here, just to protect," Karim said pointing at his old AK-47 and talking in the building where President Bashar al-Assad's intelligence services once had their base in Derik.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/11/2012111984841162626.html
26. Iran and Iraqi Kurdistan Moving Closer
20 November 2012 / Middle East Online
Iraqi Kurdistan Prime Minster recently visited Iran. He met with Iran’s top officials. The talks included a wide range of issues. The visit is important given serious internal and regional developments. The bilateral relations have deteriorated and, of special importance, the visit would improve relations and the two would cooperate on an amalgam of issues including political, security and economic. Domestic and regional developments deteriorated the relations between Iran and Kurdistan Region. In a series of reports, Iranian officials and media attacked Iraqi Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party in particular. Throughout them, sensitive cases were used. The Kurds were tried to be portrayed as pro-Israel, pro-Sunni and anti-Shiite.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=55620
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