NEWS
- Kobanê International Film Festival has begun
- British director Ken Loach sends message to Kobane Film Festival
- KCK congratulates the guerrillas on new tactical offensive
- Protests against the US decision in Athens and Brussels
- Rally in Rome condemns US decision against PKK leaders
- Assyrians-Syriacs-Chaldeans condemn the US decision against PKK
- Parisian gesture for Erdogan: Kurdish politician arrested
- Kongreya Star: US must withdraw decision on PKK leaders
- PYD: US decision serves the terrorist organizations in Syria
- Turkish prosecutor charges Kurdish singer Tunç with alleged insult of President Erdoğan
- Ousted female Kurdish mayor from Cizre wins human rights award
- TEV-CAND: Promoting cultures and languages in Kobane
- YPJ Commander calls out from the EP: Stop the Turkish state
- Kurdish artists continue the protest for Öcalan in Strasbourg
- UN: DAESH buried up to 12,000 bodies in 200 mass graves in Iraq
- Demonstrations in the US for Kobane and Rojava
- Turkey’s Erdogan says joint U.S.-Kurdish patrols near Syria border unacceptable
- HDP’s Temelli: The Kurdish question is now a global issue
- Christian Peacemaker Teams call on White Helmets to speak out about Afrin abuses
OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS
- Analysts say US bounty for PKK leaders won’t stop Turkish hostility
- Kurds unite in new effort against linguistic assimilation in Turkey
- Turkey’s hard landing, high inflation and the fiscal mystery…
- Prof. Hannibal Travis Speaks on the Assyrian, Armenian, Greek, and Yezidi Genocides
- Heartbreaking film on Ezidis introduces the Kurdistan Memory Programme
- Turkey uses Khashoggi’s murder to rehabilitate its image, just as it bombs Syrian Kurds
STATEMENTS
- HDP MP Ms Leyla Güven on hunger strike.
- KNK: We condemn the decision for financial rewards for eliminating Kurdish freedom fighters
- MESSAGE OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE SATURDAY MOTHERS
————————————————————————————
NEWS
- Kobanê International Film Festival has begun
13 November 2018|ANF English
Kobanê International Film Festival has kicked off on Tuesday with the participation of directors, artists and musicians from various countries. The opening event of the festival was participated by representatives of the Autonomous Administration and directors, artists and musicians from several countries. 80 films from various countries will be screened during the course of the festival which will last 7 days.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/culture/kobane-film-festival-has-begun-30809
- British director Ken Loach sends message to Kobane Film Festival
13 November 2018|ANF English
Multi awarded British cinema director, Ken Loach, sent a message to Kobane International Film Festival which opens today in the Rojava city. “Your political achievements are respected around the world and there are many who support you in their hearts, though you may never hear from them”.
- KCK congratulates the guerrillas on new tactical offensive
13 November 2018|ANF English
The KCK statement further said that: “The Turkish state has been exerting intense pressure on the Kurdish people and the democratic forces for over three years. The attacks and arrests are intended to weaken the struggle of the people by using means of psychological warfare. An important dimension of psychological warfare is the concealment of guerilla actions and casualties suffered by the military and police forces. On the other hand, the losses of the guerrilla are greatly exaggerated in order to undermine the morale of the people.
- Protests against the US decision in Athens and Brussels
12 November 2018|ANF English
Demonstrations are being staged across Europe in protest at the US decision against three PKK leaders. The speeches reminded the role of the Greek state in the international conspiracy which led to the kidnapping of Abdullah Öcalan on 15 February 1999. Activists called for the end of the isolation imposed on the Kurdish People’s Leader in Imrali.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/news/protests-against-the-us-decision-in-athens-and-brussels-30783
- Rally in Rome condemns US decision against PKK leaders
11 November 2018 | ANF News
The U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs announced, during a visit to Ankara, that the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program is targeting three senior members of the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), namely Murat Karayilan, Cemil Bayik and Duran Kalkan. A rally was organised to protest against the racist policies of the Italian government. Kurds launched an appeal to join the national rally to be held in Rome on 16 February to demand freedom for Ocalan. Reminding that the three PKK executives are “politicians who have fought and fight against Turkish fascism, DAESH and Erdogan totalitarism”.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/news/rally-in-rome-condemns-us-decision-against-pkk-leaders-30747
- Assyrians-Syriacs-Chaldeans condemn the US decision against PKK
10 November 2018 | ANF News
The Mesopotamia Freedom Party (MOP) said, “In the name of the Assyrian-Syriac-Chaldean peoples, we condemn the US decision against leading PKK cadres.”
- Parisian gesture for Erdogan: Kurdish politician arrested
10 November 2018 | ANF News
Kurdish politician Ahmet Kaya was detained in Paris on Thursday. Kaya was taken to the court on Friday and was accused of travelling to the UK, Germany and Turkey – but he doesn’t have a passport.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/news/parisian-gesture-for-erdogan-kurdish-politician-arrested-30741
- Kongreya Star: US must withdraw decision on PKK leaders
10 November 2018 | ANF News
Kongreya Star said: “The US must abandon its anti-Kurdish policy and immediately fulfill its responsibility in the search for a solution.” The women’s movement said it was known by everyone that the Turkish state has first established DAESH and then supported it, as it is likewise also behind terrorist groups such al-Qaeda. Kongreya Star said the Kurdish people are under continuous attack and massacre by the Turkish state that supports and feeds these terrorist groups.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/news/kongreya-star-us-must-withdraw-decision-on-pkk-leaders-30734
- PYD: US decision serves the terrorist organizations in Syria
9 November 2018 | ANF News
Democratic Union Party (PYD) issued a written statement on the US government’s decision on the 3 PKK leading cadres and said: “It is clear that the PKK exists for a just solution to the Kurdish issue as a movement of Kurdistan”. It also said, “The US decision serves terrorist organizations gathered in Syria like ISIS, Al Nusra, Huras Al Din and Turkistan Islamic Party who take their orders from Ankara.”
https://anfenglishmobile.com/news/pyd-us-decision-serves-the-terrorist-organizations-in-syria-30718
- Turkish prosecutor charges Kurdish singer Tunç with alleged insult of President Erdoğan
9 November 2018 | Stockholm Centre for Human Rights
A Turkish prosecutor in İstanbul has charged Kurdish singer Ferhat Tunç with insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Tunc said, “I have the right to criticize whoever it is that does wrong, even if it’s the President. But unfortunately these are dark times when this isn’t seen as a right.”
- Ousted female Kurdish mayor from Cizre wins human rights award
9 November 2018 | Rudaw
Ousted Cizre co-mayor Leyla Imret, who is wanted in Europe by Turkey, won an international human rights award for continuing to fight for equality while in exile. Internationale Liga fur Menschenrechte (International League for Human Rights (ILHR)) awarded Imret the Carl von Ossietzky Medal this week in Berlin, Germany.”In exile, she continues to fight fearfully for her return to the mayor’s office, where she has been democratically elected, and courageously continues to promote human rights in Turkey, as well as a peaceful and righteous solution to the Kurdish question,” ILHR stated.
http://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/09112018
- TEV-CAND: Promoting cultures and languages in Kobane
8 November 2018 | ANF News
Hozan Serhat was a PKK guerrilla and a musician who played saz and composed some of the most precious songs in contemporary Kurdish music. His album, Hewler, a gem, is a must for all musicians. Hozan Osman is the co-chair of TEV-CAND cultural centre in Kobane. He welcomes ANF in the centre which has been taken over by TEV-CAND after the regime left the city.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/features/tev-cand-promoting-cultures-and-languages-in-kobane-30690
- YPJ Commander calls out from the EP: Stop the Turkish state
8 November 2018 | ANF News
Commander Arian, title character in director Alba Sotorra’s documentary, attended an event after the screening of the film in the EP through a video call. Commander Arian said, “Stop the Turkish state and all who help ISIS.”
https://anfenglishmobile.com/news/ypj-commander-calls-out-from-the-ep-stop-the-turkish-state-30694
- Kurdish artists continue the protest for Öcalan in Strasbourg
7 November 2018 | ANF News
Kurdish artists have taken on the protest held with the motto, “Öcalan’s freedom is our freedom” in the second day in Strasbourg. The demonstration launched yesterday with a press statement that thousands of people attended on the call of KCDK-E (European Kurdish Democratic Society Congress) and TJK-E (European Kurdish Women’s Movement) demanding an end to the aggravated isolation imposed upon Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan is on its second day. Representatives from institutions throughout Europe and patriots will take on the protest every day until November 18.
- UN: DAESH buried up to 12,000 bodies in 200 mass graves in Iraq
7 November 2018 | ANF News
A report by the UN detailed the mass graves discovered in Iraq in the 2014-2017 period when DAESH ruled wide areas of the country. The mass graves were discovered in the cities of Niniva, Kirkuk and Saladin. In addition, 28 mass graves were found in the city of Anbar and information on 1,258 bodies were shared.
- Demonstrations in the US for Kobane and Rojava
6 November 2018 | ANF News
Demonstrations against Turkish aggression in Rojava were held in Los Angeles, California and Washington, DC over the past several days. On Sunday, demonstrators called attention to the recent Turkish attacks on Kobane and Tal Abyad (Gire Spi) at the Turkish Airlines booth at Los Angeles International Airport. They handed out materials describing Turkey’s war on Kurdistan, and asked all people to refuse to fund Erdogan’s war machine by traveling to Turkey or purchasing Turkish goods and services.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/news/demonstrations-in-the-us-for-kobane-and-rojava-30640
- Turkey’s Erdogan says joint U.S.-Kurdish patrols near Syria border unacceptable
6 November 2018 | Reuters
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that joint U.S.-Kurdish patrols just over the Turkish border with Syria were unacceptable and he expected U.S. President Donald Trump to stop them. The SDF said on Friday that U.S. troops had started patrolling the border in a bid to defuse tensions with Ankara – though it did not say whether its own forces had joined in. The U.S.-led coalition in Syria said there had been no increase in patrolling.
- HDP’s Temelli: The Kurdish question is now a global issue
3 November 2018 | ANF News
HDP Co-Chair Sezai Temelli spoke at the 19th General Assembly of the Human Rights Association “When we look at the 32 years we left behind, we see that especially on 12 September [1980, the military coup] period we lost many of our friends.” Temelli added: “We have witnessed how the regime of the 12 September military coup was able to reproduce itself while we were trying to get rid of it. And then came the AKP. The AKP is actually building an authoritarian regime and does not leave the championship in human rights violations to anyone. We have become incapable of discussing democratisation issues”.
https://anfenglishmobile.com/news/hdp-s-temelli-the-kurdish-question-is-now-a-global-issue-30589
- Christian Peacemaker Teams call on White Helmets to speak out about Afrin abuses
1 November 2018 | Kurdistan 24
In a letter on Monday, the Christian Peace Makers Team called on the White Helmets to change their policies and called for the withdrawal of the Turkish army and rebels from Afrin. The letter said: “Because of our mutual human rights and life-affirming work, we are dismayed to learn that you are working with the Turkish invading forces and their Free Syrian Army mercenaries in the Syrian region of Afrin.” The CPT letter also said, “Before the Turkish invasion, Afrin was a region where Kurds, Arabs, [Yezidis], Armenians, and other minorities lived together peacefully. Women were safe and held leadership positions in the government”. The CPT noted that over 100,000 people “have been violently displaced from their homes and prevented from returning.”
http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/195ecc98-7c6f-4d93-a81c-3225ff9626be
OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS
- Analysts say US bounty for PKK leaders won’t stop Turkish hostility
9 November 2018 | Kurdistan 24
Experts say that the US announcement of multi-million dollar bounties on three senior Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leaders on Tuesday will not stop Turkish hostility towards the People’s Protection Units (YPG) which the US backs in the fight against the Islamic State (IS) in Syria. Professor David Romano, from Missouri State University, added that the “PKK and its PYD [Democratic Union Party] relative in Syria were probably the first to fight ISIS (IS) in Sinjar (Shingal), saving thousands of Yezidis (Ezidis) and buying time for the better armed Iraqi army and KRG peshmerga to marshal a response to the Jihadist threat.”
http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/dea38b61-b78d-4b10-aa45-4bfe47f21b5b
- Kurds unite in new effort against linguistic assimilation in Turkey
8 November 2018 | Al Monitor
In a rare show of unity, nine Kurdish parties in Turkey have estabkished a joint platform to promote the Kurdish language against what they see as a creeping danger of assimilation and oblivion. The initiative aims to revive the Kurds’ decades-long efforts to use their language freely, especially in education. The struggle has been in a lull since settlement talks between Ankara and the Kurds collapsed in 2015.
- Turkey’s hard landing, high inflation and the fiscal mystery…
8 November 2018 | Ahval
The US is now positioned to waive sanctions for Turkey on oil trade with Iran for the next 180 days. The sizable fine from the U.S. Treasury on state-owned Halkbank for undisclosed past transactions with Iran also looks to be shelved for now. But there remains key issues between the two countries’ different approach to relations with the Syrian Kurds, Turkey’s plans to purchase the S-400 advanced missile defense system from Russia and ExxonMobil’s drilling activities near Cyprus.
https://ahvalnews.com/turkey-inflation/turkeys-hard-landing-high-inflation-and-fiscal-mystery?amp
- Prof. Hannibal Travis Speaks on the Assyrian, Armenian, Greek, and Yezidi Genocides
31 October 2018 |MassisPost
During WWI an estimated 250,000 Assyrians were murdered by Ottoman Turkey and Kurdish irregulars in the Assyrian Genocide or “Seyfo,” which means “sword” in the Assyrian language. In the same period, invading Ottoman forces also murdered many Assyrians in northwest Persia. In 1915, explained Travis, Assyrians made resistance stands, such as in today’s southeastern Turkey, against Turkish troops and Kurdish brigands.
- Heartbreaking film on Ezidis introduces the Kurdistan Memory Programme
29 October 2018|Kurdistan 24
A heartbreaking screening of the documentary film “One Yazidi (Ezidi) Family Vs. ISIS” made an impression on the audience in Erbil’s cinema, bringing some to tears Sunday. The screening was sponsored by Kurdistan 24 and is part of the launch of the Kurdistan Memory Programme (KMP). The film tells the tragic story of the Ezidi Chatto family, who was the victim of the 2014 massacre carried out by jihadists as the Islamic State (IS) took over Sinjar (Shingal). Eventually, survivors of the family manage to flee to Germany and build a new life.
http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/culture/7b098154-9d8b-497f-8d58-fdc594596949
- Turkey uses Khashoggi’s murder to rehabilitate its image, just as it bombs Syrian Kurds
29 October 2018 | The Canary
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is successfully rehabilitating his international image by exploiting the apparent Saudi murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. This occurs despite Erdoğan’s horrendous record on human rights and press freedoms, and amid escalating Turkish state violence in Syria.
STATEMENTS
- HDP MP Ms Leyla Güven on hunger strike.
12 November 2018|Peace in Kurdistan
On 7 November 2018, during the third hearing of her case at Diyarbakır 9th Heavy Penal Court, Ms Leyla Güven announced that she began an indefinite hunger strike in protest of the politics of isolation imposed on Mr Abdullah Öcalan at İmralı Island Prison. See the HDP’s statement on Ms Leyla Guven, MP for Hakkari in prison since 31 January 2018, who began an indefinite hunger strike to protest the politics of isolation imposed on Mr Abdullah Ocalan at Imrali Island Prison.
https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/2018/11/12/hdp-mp-ms-leyla-guven-on-hunger-strike/#more-9409
- KNK: We condemn the decision for financial rewards for eliminating Kurdish freedom fighters
11 November 2018|Peace in Kurdistan Campaign
On November 6th the U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Matthew Palmer, announced that the U.S. Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program is targeting three senior members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The KCK has condemned the “flagrantly unjust decision. It is obvious that this is a political decision to give Turkey greater latitude to continue with its atrocities against Kurdish people, often with sophisticated weapons and military intelligence of the NATO”.
- MESSAGE OF SOLIDARITY WITH THE SATURDAY MOTHERS
Peace in Kurdistan Campaign
We send solidarity greetings to the Saturday Mothers and demand that they be allowed to continue to gather in Galatasaray Square, Istanbul, unmolested by the forces of the Turkish state. The courage of the Saturday Mothers has made them an inspiration for people in Britain and all around the world who care for human rights, justice and democracy. They must not be attacked, harassed or persecuted. It is an alarming development when Turkey’s Interior Minister describes these women as being ‘exploited by terrorists’. The Saturday Mothers have held their peaceful protest for 23 years simply to ask the authorities to provide them with information on the fate of their loved ones who have been disappeared.
https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/message-of-solidarity-with-the-saturday-mothers/
Peace in Kurdistan
Campaign for a political solution of the Kurdish Question
Email: estella24@tiscali.co.uk
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.