NEWS
1. Swedish Left Party MP sends letter to Öcalan
2. Turkish state to build colonial roads to invaded territory
3. Muslim: Our goal is for TEV-DEM to organize the 3rd territory
4. Afrin people protest human rights organizations for their silence
5. Turkey police fire tear gas at mothers’ protest
6. ‘Kurdish-led delegation holds fresh talks with Syria govt. in Damascus’
7. Turkish star witnesses against US pastor Andrew Brunson are his expelled congregants
OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS
1. Kurds hit Turkey-backed rebels in Afrin’s countryside
2. Russia-Turkey-Iran pact can end over Idlib
3. Syriaʹs Kurds hold the cards
4. The Kurds- Erdogan’s Favored Target, and Turkish Democracy’s Greatest Hope
5. ‘I met my IS captor on a German street’
6. Nurtured by the state
7. Turkey’s President Erdogan Vows to Win ‘Economic War’ With U.S.
8. Turkey: Erdogan’s rule is built on quicksand
9. The fallout from Turkey’s crisis will cause damage far beyond its borders
10. The reason Turkey’s economic collapse is so scary is that Iran, Russia, and Syria are waiting in the wings
11. World Markets Brace for Impact of Turkish Lira Crisis
12. The US-Turkey Crisis: The NATO Alliance Forged in 1949 Is Today Largely Irrelevant
13. Turkey’s repressive regime turns academic’s life upside-down
14. In colonised Kurdish society even the flowers can be labelled terrorists
15. Journalism in Exile: “Turkey had turned into hell for journalism”
16. It feels like everyday life under the revolution: Growing a new world in Rojava.
17. Why Moscow left Kurds. Five reasons
18. The Rojava experiment
DOCUMENTS
1. Freedom of Expression Weekly Bulletin 17 August 2018
2. Freedom of Expression Weekly Bulletin 03 August 2018
3. What happened in Turkey in July 2018
EVENTS, CAMPAIGNS, ACTION
1. Call for the long march “Freedom for Rêber APO!” from 2nd to 7th of September
2. REVOLUTION IN THE MAKING – International Women’s Conference – 5.-7.10.2018
3. 26th International Kurdish Culture and Art Festival in Germany
————————————————————————————
NEWS
1. Swedish Left Party MP sends letter to Öcalan
28 August 2018/ANF News
Swedish Left Party deputy Jeannette Escanilla sent a letter to the Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan with a memorandum of parliament.
https://anfenglish.com/news/swedish-left-party-mp-sent-letter-to-Oecalan-29253
2. Turkish state to build colonial roads to invaded territory
28 August 2018/ANF News
Al Monitor revealed Turkish state plans to build a network of roads in the invaded territories of Syria.
https://anfenglish.com/news/turkish-state-to-build-colonial-roads-to-invaded-territory-29244
3. Muslim: Our goal is for TEV-DEM to organize the 3rd territory
27 August 2018/ANF English
Salih Muslim said circumstances have changed and that the TEV-DEM aims to return to the task of organizing civilian society: “Our fundamental argument is that an organized society can do anything.”
https://anfenglish.com/news/muslim-our-goal-is-for-tev-dem-to-organize-the-3rd-territory-29245
4. Afrin people protest human rights organizations for their silence
27 August 2018/ANF News
The people of Afrin are protesting the international human rights organizations and states that have remained silent in the face of the barbaric attacks against civilians by the invading Turkish state and their allied gangs.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/rojava-northern-syria/afrin-people-protest-human-rights-organizations-for-their-silence-29241
5. Turkey police fire tear gas at mothers’ protest
25 August 2018/BBC News
Officers used water cannon and tear gas and detained about 50 people, including veteran protester Emine Ocak, said to be in her 80s.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45311134
6. ‘Kurdish-led delegation holds fresh talks with Syria govt. in Damascus’
14 August 2018/Press TV
The political wing of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has visited the Syrian capital Damascus for a second time since the central government extended an offer of negotiation to the mainly Kurdish militant group.
https://www.presstv.com/Detail/2018/08/14/571134/Syria-SDF-negotiation-Damascus-Kurdish-YPG-Turkey
7. Turkish star witnesses against US pastor Andrew Brunson are his expelled congregants
13 August 2018/Religion News Service
As Turkish prosecutors prepare for the high-profile trial of American pastor Andrew Brunson on terrorism-related charges, their case points directly to his small evangelical church and the internal strife stemming from his outreach to Syrian refugees.
https://religionnews.com/2018/08/13/brunson-accusers/
OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS
1. Kurds hit Turkey-backed rebels in Afrin’s countryside
26 August 2018/Kurdistan 24
The People’s Protection Units (YPG) on Sunday said they hit two rebel groups allied to Turkey in the countryside of Afrin, this happened one week after they made clear any other group carrying assaults on Turkish-backed forces in Afrin are not affiliated to the Kurdish forces.
http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/01745602-da23-453e-bfdd-dbbcb0667216
2. Russia-Turkey-Iran pact can end over Idlib
25 August 2018/Gulf News
The fate of the rebel-held Syrian province of Idlib may decide the future of the uneasy alliance between Russia, Turkey and Iran. A trilateral summit on the issue is expected to take place in Tehran early next month.
https://gulfnews.com/opinion/thinkers/russia-turkey-iran-pact-can-end-over-idlib-1.2270540
3. Syriaʹs Kurds hold the cards
23 August 2018/Qantara
With a shared enemy and perceived advantages from co-operation, the outcome of current negotiations between the Syrian Democractic Council and Damascus could well be a continued Assad presidency, sustained by Kurdish support
http://en.qantara.de/content/assad-and-the-future-of-northern-syria-syrias-kurds-hold-the-cards
4. The Kurds- Erdogan’s Favored Target, and Turkish Democracy’s Greatest Hope
21 August 2018/Washington Kurdish Institute
The emergence of the Turkish Republic from the ashes of the withered Ottoman Empire created a state predicated Turkish ethno-nationalism, which was by nature hostile to attempts by minority groups to affirm their distinct identities, let alone exercise any measure of self determination.
https://dckurd.org/2018/08/21/the-kurds-erdogans-favored-target-and-turkish-democracys-greatest-hope/
5. ‘I met my IS captor on a German street’
18 August 2018/BBC News
A Yazidi teenager sold into slavery by Islamic State has told the BBC of her horror after she escaped to Germany, only to come face-to-face with her captor in the street.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-45209868
6. Nurtured by the state
16 August 2018/Weekly Worker
As the monetary crisis is intertwined with the Erdoğan regime’s falling out with the US president, another set of experts are busy commenting on Turkey’s international relations.
https://weeklyworker.co.uk/worker/1216/nurtured-by-the-state/
7. Turkey’s President Erdogan Vows to Win ‘Economic War’ With U.S.
15 August 2018/The Real News Network
Economist Heiner Flassbeck and Political Analyst Ekrem Ekici say Turkey’s economic crisis runs deeper than U.S. sanctions
https://therealnews.com/stories/turkeys-president-erdogan-vows-to-win-economic-war-with-u-s
8. Turkey: Erdogan’s rule is built on quicksand
14 August 2018/RCG
Erdogan ended the state of emergency on 18 July, but his dictatorial powers will be enshrined in law. After his inauguration Erdogan issued a decree putting the armed forces’ general staff under the authority of the defence ministry.
http://www.revolutionarycommunist.org/middle-east/turkey/5294-turkey-erdogan-s-rule-is-built-on-quicksand
9. The fallout from Turkey’s crisis will cause damage far beyond its borders
14 August 2018/The Guardian
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s hubris has destablised a nation of pivotal regional importance
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/14/turkey-crisis-recep-tayyip-erdogan-hubris
10. The reason Turkey’s economic collapse is so scary is that Iran, Russia, and Syria are waiting in the wings
13 August 2018/Business Insider UK
Turkey’s currency is in free fall. Inflation is at 15% and climbing. The Turkish economy could enter a recession. The US has imposed economic sanctions on the country because President Recep Tayyip Erdogan refuses to hand over an American preacher who has been jailed there.
http://uk.businessinsider.com/what-if-turkey-collapses-from-lira-crisis-iran-russia-syria-are-waiting-2018-8?r=US&IR=T
11. World Markets Brace for Impact of Turkish Lira Crisis
13 August 2018/Global Research
One of the world’s largest bond trading companies, Pimco, has warned that the Turkish crisis is the outcome of a shift in the global financial environment resulting from the increase in US interest rates by the Federal Reserve and the winding down of its holdings of financial assets.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/world-markets-brace-for-impact-of-turkish-lira-crisis/5650419
12. The US-Turkey Crisis: The NATO Alliance Forged in 1949 Is Today Largely Irrelevant
13 August 2018/Global Research
The immediate cause of the breakdown is ostensibly President Donald Trump’s demand that an American Protestant minister who has lived in Turkey for twenty-three years be released from detention.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/the-us-turkey-crisis-the-nato-alliance-forged-in-1949-is-today-largely-irrelevant/5650396
13. Turkey’s repressive regime turns academic’s life upside-down
09 August 2018/Index on Censorship
“There is no future, no jobs for us as long as Erdogan and the AKP rule the country.”
https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2018/08/turkeys-repressive-regime-turns-academics-life-upside-down/
14. In colonised Kurdish society even the flowers can be labelled terrorists
08 August 2018/Index on Censorship
Front Line Defenders’ Global Laureate for Human Rights Defenders at Risk Nurcan Baysal talks to Index
https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2018/08/in-colonised-kurdish-society-even-the-flowers-can-be-labelled-terrorists/
15. Journalism in Exile: “Turkey had turned into hell for journalism”
06 August 2018/ Index on Censorship
Baydar is an accomplished journalist with a career that spans four decades. In addition to his journalism roles, he was a co-founder of the non-profit P24, Platform for Independent Journalism which acts as an example of editorial independence in the Turkish press.
https://www.indexoncensorship.org/2018/08/journalism-in-exile-turkey-had-turned-into-hell-for-journalism/
16. It feels like everyday life under the revolution: Growing a new world in Rojava.
14 July 2018/This is Hell Radio
Matt Broomfield and Tolhildan of The Internationalist Commune of Rojava discuss the daily work of ecological and social revolution – from restoring the health of liberated lands, to learning new ways of living and working together.
https://thisishell.com/interviews/1012-matt-broomfield-tolhildan
17. Why Moscow left Kurds. Five reasons
26 January 2018/Warsaw Institute
Turkish military operations against Kurdish enclave Afrin would not have begun without Russian permission. Moscow has made cold estimation of gains and losses on this matter.
https://warsawinstitute.org/moscow-left-kurds-five-reasons/
18. The Rojava experiment
13 March 2017/New Humanist
Behind the frontlines in Syria, a self-governing Kurdish region is making a radical attempt at gender equality.
https://newhumanist.org.uk/articles/5160/the-rojava-experiment
DOCUMENTS
1. Freedom of Expression Weekly Bulletin
17 August 2018/Dusun-think.net
www.dusun-think.net/dosya/bulten/18081733-18-freedom-of-expression-weekly-bulletin.pdf <http://www.dusun-think.net/dosya/bulten/18081733-18-freedom-of-expression-weekly-bulletin.pdf>
2. Freedom of Expression Weekly Bulletin
03 August 2018/Dusun-think.net
http://www.dusun-think.net/dosya/bulten/18080331-18-freedom-of-expression-weekly-bulletin.pdf
3. What happened in Turkey in July 2018
August 2018/Dusun-think.net
http://www.dusun-think.net/dosya/bulten/july-monthly-digest.pdf
EVENTS, CAMPAIGNS, ACTION
1. Call for the long march “Freedom for Rêber APO!” from 2nd to 7th of September
05 – 07 September 2018
Kurdish and Internationalist revolutionary Youth in Europe is calling for the long march from 2nd to 7th of September from Dortmund to Düsseldorf. The meeting and starting point will be on 1st of September in Dortmund in Bornstraße 166, to start on the 2nd September.
https://www.ok.ru/video/1014453963392
https://northerniraq.info/forums/viewtopic.php?t=18768&p=124770#p124770
2. REVOLUTION IN THE MAKING – International Women’s Conference – 5.-7.10.2018
05 – 07 October 2018
We want to bring together and combine our knowledge, power to change and our experiences in the conference “Revolution in the Making”, which will take place in Frankfurt between 6-7 October 2018.
http://revolutioninthemaking.blogsport.eu/
3. 26th International Kurdish Culture and Art Festival in Germany
07 – 08 September 2018
Each year our traditional Festival brings tens of thousands of Kurds and their friends together for solidarity with the Kurdish democratic and peaceful struggle. This year the Festival is dedicated to the Kurdish enclave Afrin – Northern Syria.
Peace in Kurdistan
Campaign for a political solution of the Kurdish Question
Email: estella24@tiscali.co.uk
www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.com <http://www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.com>
Contacts Estella Schmid 020 7586 5892 & Melanie Gingell – Tel: 020 7272 7890
Fax: 020 7263 0596
Patrons: John Austin, Christine Blower, NUT International Secretary, Prof Bill Bowring, Julie Christie, Noam Chomsky, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Prof Mary Davis, Lord Dholakia, Simon Dubbins, UNITE International Director, Jill Evans MEP, Lindsey German, Convenor STWC, Melanie Gingell, Rahila Gupta, Nick Hildyard, Dafydd Iwan, Former President Plaid Cymru, James Kelman, Bruce Kent, Jean Lambert MEP, Elfyn Llwyd, Aonghas MacNeacail, Scottish Gaelic poet, Mike Mansfield QC, Doug Nicholls, General Secretary, GFTU, Dr. Jessica Ayesha Northey, International Coordinator, Green Party of England and Wales; Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy, Dr Thomas Jeffrey Miley, Kate Osamor MP, Margaret Owen OBE, Gareth Peirce, Maxine Peake, Lord Rea, Joe Ryan, Stephen Smellie, Steve Sweeney, Dr Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, Dr Tom Wakeford, Dr Derek Wall, Julie Ward MEP, Hywel Williams MP.