For all of the latest Kurdish news, see these sources:
ANF English: https://anfenglishmobile.com/
Hawar News: https://www.hawarnews.com/en/
Rojava Information Center: https://rojavainformationcenter.com
Women Defend Rojava: http://womendefendrojava.net/en/
Rojhelat: http://rojhelat.info/en/
Rojava Centre for Strategic Studies: http://nrlsrojava.com/en/
Komun Academy: https://komun-academy.com
Peoples’ Democratic Party: https://www.hdp.org.tr/en/
KCK-Kurdistan Democratic Communities Union: https://kck-info.com
NEWS
1. Trees planted to mark Öcalan’s birthday in Şırnak
2. HDP claims expelled parliamentarian beaten by Turkish security forces
3. Abducted from hospital, HDP MP Gergerlioğlu taken to Sincan Prison
4. HDP: Gergerlioğlu ‘abducted’ from hospital and put in prison
5. Turkish police tighten security measures as Öcalan’s birthday approaches
6. Women take to the street reclaiming the Istanbul Convention
7. Ebru Günay: “This is no longer just about the HDP”
8. Indictment seeking ban of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish HDP returned to prosecutor
9. Sinn Féin condemns oppression of Kurdish political representatives in Turkey
10. Luxembourg Left Party sends solidarity message to HDP
11. MEPs call on EU summit participants to end the appeasement policy towards Erdoğan regime
12. EU threatens ‘provocative’ Turkey with ‘political and economic consequences’
13. EU halts planned sanctions on Turkey in indication of thawing tensions
14. Turkey moves to ban pro-Kurdish HDP opposition party
15. Fears grow of imminent Turkish military operation in northern Iraq
OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS
1. In Turkey, Kurds left with few options
2. European Council report presents roadmap for EU-Turkey ties
3. Turkey Is Trying to Ban the Socialist, Pro-Kurdish HDP
4. Turkey rebuffs criticism of crackdown on pro-Kurdish HDP party
5. Analysis: Move to ban Kurdish party shows Erdogan’s march to nationalism
6. This is Anna Campbell. She fought and died for the liberation of all women.
7. On International Women’s Day, let’s take a look at one of the strongest women’s movements in the world
STATEMENTS
1. We shall defend HDP and keep it alive to the end…
2. İstanbul Convention is ours, we will never give up on it
3. Threat of HDP ban: European lawyers demand credible EU response
4. HDP faces closure after the appeal of the Chief Public Prosecutor to the Constitutional Court
MULTIMEDIA
1. (AUDIO) Behind the News With Doug Henwood
2. (AUDIO) What will be the consequences of the closure case against pro-Kurdisth HDP?
EVENTS
1. Webinar: What would the closure of the HDP mean for Turkey and the Kurds?
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NEWS
1. Trees planted to mark Öcalan’s birthday in Şırnak
3 April 2021|ANF English
Abdullah Öcalan turns 72 on April 4. In Kurdistan, the population traditionally celebrates this day by planting trees. This was also the case in Şırnak. There, the district association of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in Cizre, together with the Peace Mothers’ Initiative, invited people to a joint tree-planting event this Saturday.
https://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/trees-planted-to-mark-Ocalan-s-birthday-in-Sirnak-51096
2. HDP claims expelled parliamentarian beaten by Turkish security forces
3 April 2021|Rudaw
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) claimed on Saturday that a lawmaker, who has recently been stripped of his parliamentary membership, was beaten by Turkish security forces late Friday while being arrested. A medical report released to the public has noted bodily harm on the politician in detention.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/03042021
3. Abducted from hospital, HDP MP Gergerlioğlu taken to Sincan Prison
3 April 2021|ANF English
HDP (Peoples’ Democratic Party) MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu was mistreated and dragged out of his apartment without shoes while he was arrested Friday evening. The deputy for Kocaeli had been deprived of his parliamentary mandate on March 17 because of a conviction. The authorities set a deadline of ten days for him to be detained. Gergerlioğlu announced that he would not comply with the request and would stay in his apartment. The MP for Kocaeli was taken to the hospital due to chest and heart pain after being taken into custody. Footages and pictures of the arrest showed that he was subjected to violence by the police while he was taken into custody.
https://anfenglish.com/news/abducted-from-hospital-hdp-mp-gergerlioglu-taken-to-sincan-prison-51092
4. HDP: Gergerlioğlu ‘abducted’ from hospital and put in prison
3 April 2021|Bianet
Ousted Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) deputy Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu was hospitalized due to having chest pain following his detention on April 2. He was taken to the Ankara City Hospital and put in intensive care after undergoing angiography. Gergerlioğlu was taken to prison on 3 April. although his treatment was still continuing, HDP deputy Mahmut Toğrul told bianet.
https://bianet.org/english/politics/241839-hdp-gergerlioglu-abducted-from-hospital-and-put-in-prison
5. Turkish police tighten security measures as Öcalan’s birthday approaches
3 April 2021|ANF English
Two days before the 72nd birthday of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan on April 4, the rural neighborhood of Amara (Ömerli) in Urfa’s Halfeti district where Öcalan was born has been blockaded by Turkish police and soldiers. Anti-riot water cannon vehicles and armored police vehicles cordoned off the neighborhood even though no program has been announced for the birthday of the Kurdish leader, which is celebrated massively every year despite government bans.
6. Women take to the street reclaiming the Istanbul Convention
3 April 2021|ANF English
Women in Turkey continue to take to the streets to condemn the decision to withdraw from the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention) taken by presidential decree. On Friday, on Barbaros Square in Istanbul’s Beşiktaş district, the stories of fifty women who were murdered by men were read out. Actvisist reminded that these women could still be alive had the Istanbul Convention really be implemented.
https://anfenglish.com/women/women-take-to-the-street-reclaiming-the-istanbul-convention-51086
7. Ebru Günay: “This is no longer just about the HDP”
1 April 2021|ANF English
HDP spokeswoman Ebru Günay has commented in Ankara on the motion to ban her party, which was rejected by the Constitutional Court on Wednesday. She said the rejection was not only for formal reasons, but because of the baselessness of the indictment. The thesis put forward by the Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office that the HDP is the focus of anti-state actions is thus invalid, Günay said at the press conference at HDP headquarters.
https://anfenglish.com/news/ebru-gunay-this-is-no-longer-just-about-the-hdp-51053
8. Indictment seeking ban of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish HDP returned to prosecutor
31 March 2021|Rudaq
Turkey’s top court has sent back an indictment attempting to close down the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) to the case’s prosecutor due to “procedural deficiencies,” reported state media on Wednesday. The Chief Prosecutor at Turkey’s Supreme Court of Appeals, Bekir Sahin, filed a lawsuit at the country’s Constitutional Court on March 17 for the dissolution of the HDP due to its alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party – a political movement, with an wing, struggling for increased rights of Kurds in Turkey, but listed as a terrorist organization by Ankara.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/31032021
9. Sinn Féin condemns oppression of Kurdish political representatives in Turkey
31 March 2021|ANF English
Sinn Féin spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Defence, John Brady TD, today condemned the ongoing efforts of the Erdogan regime in Turkey to ban the HDP. Brady said: “We have recently had the development of a process intent on the banning of a legitimate democratic party in the state of Turkey, the Kurdish HDP, the third largest in the Turkish Parliament.”
10. Luxembourg Left Party sends solidarity message to HDP
31 March 2021|ANF English
A new solidarity message has been sent to the HDP which is facing a closure case on the order of the AKP-MHP government. In a written statement, the Left Party (Déi Lénk), one of the opposition parties in Luxembourg, condemned the closure case against the HDP. “We condemn the Turkish government’s crackdown on dissidents and the Kurds inside and outside the country,” the Left Party said.
https://anfenglish.com/news/luxembourg-left-party-sends-solidarity-message-to-hdp-51007
11. MEPs call on EU summit participants to end the appeasement policy towards Erdoğan regime
25 March 2021|ANF English
69 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) addressed a letter to Charles Michel, President of the European Council Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission Josep Borrell, High Representative/ Vice- President of the European Commission regarding the latest developments in Turkey.
12. EU threatens ‘provocative’ Turkey with ‘political and economic consequences’
23 March 2021|Rudaw
The European Union threatened Turkey with “political and economic consequences” if Ankara does not take steps to improve relations with Europe, in a report released on Monday ahead of an EU summit this week. The report also criticized the deterioration of human rights in Turkey and court actions against the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/23032021
13. EU halts planned sanctions on Turkey in indication of thawing tensions
18 March 2021|Middle East Eye
The European Union has halted plans to blacklist senior executives at Turkey’s state-owned oil and gas company, in a sign that the body is easing some pressure on Ankara in the wake of Turkey’s “unauthorised drilling activities” for natural gas in disputed waters in the eastern Mediterranean. A demand by a Turkish prosecutor to ban the pro-Kurdish HDP party is unlikely to revive any talk of sanctions, although it may be discussed by the EU, one diplomat added.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-eu-sanctions-thawing-tensions
14. Turkey moves to ban pro-Kurdish HDP opposition party
17 March 2021|BBC
A Turkish prosecutor has asked the country’s top court to ban the main pro-Kurdish opposition party, in a move the group branded a “political coup”. The prosecutor filed a case accusing the Peoples’ Democratic Party – or HDP – of colluding with a banned Kurdish militant movement. The HDP, which is the third-largest party in Turkey’s parliament, denies any links to the militants.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-56438070
15. Fears grow of imminent Turkish military operation in norther Iraq
12 March 2021|Morning Star
Fears are growing of an imminent Turkish invasion of Shengal in northern Iraq, with the autonomous administration vowing today to resist any attack. Shengal Democratic Autonomous Assembly co-president Heso Birahim said that the region must not be sacrificed for political schemes, urging the authorities to respect the will of the people.
OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS
1. In Turkey, Kurds left with few options
29 March 2021|Washington Kurdish Institute
Turkey’s authoritarian leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, supported by the coalition government consisting of what remains of his Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), have been using all means at their disposal to gradually increase the intensity of their crackdown on Turkey’s second largest opposition party, progressive, pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), for years.
https://dckurd.org/2021/03/29/in-turkey-kurds-left-with-few-options/
2. European Council report presents roadmap for EU-Turkey ties
23 March 2021|Al-Monitor
Ahead of a European Council summit this week, a report by EU Foreign Policy Chief Josep Borrell laid out a roadmap to deepen bilateral trade despite recent setbacks in Ankara’s human rights record, while outlining economic sanctions should more turbulence arise.
https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2021/03/european-council-report-presents-roadmap-eu-turkey-ties
3. Turkey Is Trying to Ban the Socialist, Pro-Kurdish HDP
22 March 2021|Jacobin
Last week, Turkey’s far-right regime launched a series of attacks on the opposition’s right to organize. Led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party, the fascist Nationalist Movement Party, and other ultranationalist and fascistic elements within the state, this all-out war on oppositional forces makes up part of a broader fascization process — one that is increasingly suppressing any democratic space in Turkey.
https://jacobinmag.com/2021/03/turkey-erdogan-hdp-peoples-democratic-party-pro-kurdish-socialism
4. Turkey rebuffs criticism of crackdown on pro-Kurdish HDP party
19 March 2021|Ahval
Turkey on Thursday told foreign countries to keep out of its domestic affairs after Western powers uniformly condemned its bid to shut down the main pro-Kurdish party. The U.S. State Department said the ban would “further undermine” democracy in Turkey and the European Union said it was “deeply concerned” since the party’s closure “would violate the rights of millions of voters in Turkey”. “Criminal proceedings against numerous MPs and members of the HDP are all part of a development that calls into question the rule of law in Turkey,” a German foreign ministry spokesman added in Berlin.
https://en.qantara.de/content/turkey-rebuffs-criticism-of-crackdown-on-pro-kurdish-hdp-party
5. Analysis: Move to ban Kurdish party shows Erdogan’s march to nationalism
19 March 2021|Reuters
Eight years on, long after the talks collapsed in a surge of violence, analysts say Erdogan, now president, is dependent on his nationalist allies in parliament led by Devlet Bahceli.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-politics-kurds-erdogan-idUSKBN2BB1CZ
6. This is Anna Campbell. She fought and died for the liberation of all women.
15 March 2021|The Canary
This is the revolutionary Anna Campbell. Monday 15 March marks three years since she was murdered by the Turkish state in Rojava, north-east Syria. Anna was an anti-fascist, feminist and queer internationalist. She joined the women’s revolution in Rojava in May 2017 during the fight against Daesh. She was murdered by a Turkish missile strike in March 2018, along with her friends Sara Merdin and Serhildan, as they tried to help refugees flee Afrin.
7. On International Women’s Day, let’s take a look at one of the strongest women’s movements in the world
8 March 2021|The Canary
Perhaps the strongest women’s movement in the world right now is the Kurdish Women’s Movement Kurdish women came to world attention in 2014, gaining global media headlines in their fight against Daesh (ISIS/Isil) in Rojava, Syria. Yet, as is typical in a patriarchal society, western media outlets usually depicted the Kurdish Women’s Movement as young, beautiful twenty-somethings with guns, even appearing in women’s magazine Marie Claire.
STATEMENTS
1. We shall defend HDP and keep it alive to the end…
30 March 2021|Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP)
On 28-29 March 2021, HDP Party Assembly convened for its ordinary meeting where discussions took place regarding the closure case filed against the party. The Party Assembly issued a final declaration of its meeting.
https://www.hdp.org.tr/en/we-shall-defend-hdp-and-keep-it-alive-to-the-end/15264/
2. İstanbul Convention is ours, we will never give up on it
25 March 2021|Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP)
The HDP’s Women’s Assembly of the HDP issued a statement condemning and critiquing the decision made by the Turkish president to withdraw his country from the Council of Europe’s Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, also known as the Istanbul Convention.
https://www.hdp.org.tr/en/istanbul-convention-is-ours-we-will-never-give-up-on-it/15235/
3. Threat of HDP ban: European lawyers demand credible EU response
22 March 2021|European Association of Lawyers for Democracy & World Human Rights
A few days ago Turkey’s Chief prosecutor of the Supreme Court filed an indictment seeking dissolution of the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). The indictment accuses HDP leaders and members “of acting in a way that flouts the democratic and international rules of law, colluding with the terrorist PKK and affiliated groups, and aiming to destroy and eliminate the indivisible integrity of the state with its country and nation”.
https://eldh.eu/en/2021/03/22/threat-of-hdp-ban-european-lawyers-demand-credible-eu-response/
4. HDP faces closure after the appeal of the Chief Public Prosecutor to the Constitutional Court
18 March 2021|Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP)
The HDP’s co-spokespersons on Foreign Affairs issued a joint statement condemning attempts by the AKP government to closedown their party, the third-largest in Turkey. “These attacks against the HDP have come briefly after President Erdoğan declared a new Human Rights Action Plan, which was promoted as including reforms on law and human rights”, Feleknas Uca and Hişyar Özsoy point out.
MULTIMEDIA
1. (AUDIO) Behind the News With Doug Henwood
25 March 2021|Behind the News
Güney Isikara and Doug Henwood discuss why Turkish president Recep Erdogan is getting even more authoritarian
https://shout.lbo-talk.org/lbo/RadioArchive/2021/21_03_25.mp3
2. (AUDIO) What will be the consequences of the closure case against pro-Kurdisth HDP?
19 March 2021|The Greak Current via Ahval
In the latest crackdown on Turkey’s pro-Kurdish opposition party, the HDP, Turkish authorities on Wednesday stripped Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, a prominent HDP legislator and human rights advocate, of his parliamentary seat. Meanwhile, a prosecutor filed a case with Turkey’s highest court, seeking the HDP’s disbandment. The HDP has come under intensified pressure recently, with the far-right nationalist allies of President Erdogan’s party calling for it to be banned. Merve Tahiroglu, the Turkey Program Coordinator at the Project on Middle East Democracy, joins The Greek Current with a breaking analysis.
https://www.spreaker.com/user/ahvalpod/what-will-be-the-consequences-of-the-clo
EVENTS
1. Webinar: What would the closure of the HDP mean for Turkey and the Kurds?
8 April 2021, 11AM EST|Washington Kurdish Institute
Dr. Nicholas Danforth and Dr. Nazan Bedirhanoglu will join Shwan Karim, contributor to the Washington Kurdish Institute to discuss the political motivation behind attempts by the Turkish state to ban the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
Register Here: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gvPpPWnzTeaqvWPUFVuAGQ
Peace in Kurdistan
Campaign for a political solution of the Kurdish Question
Email: estella@gn.apc.org
https://www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/peaceinkurdistan1/
Contacts Estella Schmid: 07846 666 804 & Melanie Gingell: 07572 430903
Patrons: John Austin, Baroness Blower of Starch Green, former GS NUT, Prof Bill Bowring, Julie Christie, Noam Chomsky, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Prof Mary Davis, Lord Dholakia, Simon Dubbins, UNITE International Director, Jill Evans, former MEP, Desmond Fernandes, Lindsey German, Convenor STWC, Melanie Gingell, Christopher Gingell, Prof Dr. Michael Gunter, Secretary-General, EU Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC), Rahila Gupta, journalist, Nick Hildyard, policy advisor, Dafydd Iwan, Former President Plaid Cymru, James Kelman, Bruce Kent, Jean Lambert, former MEP, Dr Les Levidow, Open University, Elfyn Llwyd, John McDonnell MP; Aonghas MacNeacail, Scottish Gaelic poet, Mike Mansfield QC, David Morgan, journalist, Doug Nicholls, General Secretary, GFTU, Dr. Jessica Ayesha Northey, Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy, Dr Thomas Jeffrey Miley, Kate Osamor MP, Margaret Owen OBE, Ali Gul Ozbek, Former Councillor and Mayor of Haringey; Gareth Peirce, Dr Felix Padel, Maxine Peake, actor, Dr Thomas Phillips, Liverpool John Moores University, Trevor Rayne, writer, Joe Ryan, Tony Simpson, Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation, Stephen Smellie, PIK Trade Union Liaison Officer, Jonathan Steele, journalist, Steve Sweeney, journalist, Gianni Tognoni, General Secretary Permanent People’s Tribunal, Dr Tove Skutnabb-Kangas, Dr Federico Venturini, Associate Researcher, University of Udine, Italy; Dr Tom Wakeford, Dr Derek Wall, Julie Ward, former MEP, Kariane Westrheim, Chair, EU Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC); Hywel Williams MP.