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
Komun Academy:
NEWS
- Imrali Peace Delegation publishes full report
- Women celebrate International Women’s Day worldwide
- Call for investigation into use of chemical gas in Turkish operation in Gare
- Ten newspapers in the UK publish “The Time has Come, Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan” call
- Americans, Russians compete for Kurdish support in northeast Syrian border area
- Drought threatens way of life for Iran’s Kurdish nomads
- Erdoğan vows to expand fight against PKK after deaths of 13 hostages
- Artists for Kurdish Freedom
- PKK: Rise up against the conspiracy and invasion!
- International organisations urged to condemn new Turkish invasion of Iraqi Kurdistan
- Syrians in Kurdish-administered regions struggle with price of bread
- Syrian oil fields no longer priority for US forces, says Pentagon
OPINION
- Sanitising imperialism — The problem with “The Daughters of Kobani”
- YJA Star: It’s time for freedom
- Turkey: Erdogan’s human rights initiative raises eyebrows of beleaguered activists
- Art in exile: A prison cell as an exhibition venue
- When we tried to visit Ocalan
- What the mythical figure of Şahmeran in Turkey represents and why activists use it
- Iran and Turkey appear to be on collision course in Iraq – analysis
- The case for a Syrian democratic republic
- Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party under pressure as calls increase for its closure
- Mother language in Iran another excuse for injustice against minorities
- Yazidis’ region is in Turkey and Iran’s crosshairs after genocide
- Bogazici resistance is about more than liberal notions of academic freedom, it is a fight against the whole system of oppression
- Turkey Targets Osman Kavala’s Arts Organization in Unprecedented Lawsuit
- International solidarity vital in Freedom for Ocalan campaign
- Analysis: Turkey’s new S-400 proposal offers olive branch to US
- The day the water had turned red
- Meet the victims of Britain’s bombs
- Erdogan’s dirty drone wars
MULTIMEDIA
- Self-determination: Kurdistan, Scotland and Beyond – An Interview with James Kelman
- ‘Global arms trade operates above the law’ – Andrew Feinstein
- Who are the Syrian Kurdish women fighters who took down the Islamic State? Gayle Tzemach Lemmon tells the inside story
- Artists’ declaration for Ocalan’s freedom
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NEWS
- Imrali Peace Delegation publishes full report
09 Mar 2021 | ANF English
The Imrali Peace Delegation consisted of ten members, including prominent politicians, trade unionists, academics, lawyers, and social movement activists, hailing from a diverse array of countries, including Iceland, India, Italy, the US, and the UK.
https://anfenglish.com/features/imrali-peace-delegation-publishes-full-report-50510
- Women celebrate International Women’s Day worldwide
09 Mar 2021 | ANF English
Since 1911, women around the world have celebrated International Women’s Day on March 8 to draw attention to women’s rights and gender equality. However, after more than 100 years, it is still evident that inequality persists.
https://anfenglish.com/women/women-celebrate-international-women-s-day-worldwide-50507
- Call for investigation into use of chemical gas in Turkish operation in Gare
27 Feb 2021 | ANF English
Despite the confession of the Turkish Minister of Defence and the accounts of PKK commander Murat Karayılan, the silence of international organizations including the OPCW (Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons) catches the attention.
- Ten newspapers in the UK publish “The Time has Come, Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan” call
23 Feb 2021 | ANF English
Ten newspapers in the UK, the Hucknall Dispatch, The Gazette, The Guardian, Advertiser, Rasen Mail, Sunderland Echo, Sleaford Standard, Visitor, The News Courier and The Bucks Herald, published the call “The Time has Come, Freedom for Abdullah Öcalan”.
https://anfenglish.com/news/x-50204
- Americans, Russians compete for Kurdish support in northeast Syrian border area
21 Feb 2021 | Wladimir van Wilgenburg, Kurdistan24
An area currently under the control of US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the northeasternmost parts of Syria has become a point of serious contention between Russian and American troops.
- Drought threatens way of life for Iran’s Kurdish nomads
20 Feb 2021 | Rudaw
Drought is threatening the way of life for nomads in Iran’s Kurdish province of Kermanshah.
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/iran/200220211
- Erdoğan vows to expand fight against PKK after deaths of 13 hostages
16 Feb 2021 | The Guardian
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has vowed to expand operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) as fallout from the deaths of 13 Turkish soldiers and police officers abducted by the militant group continued to reverberate at home and abroad.
- Artists for Kurdish Freedom
15 Feb 2021 | Bella Caledonia
Today, on the 22nd anniversary of the capture and imprisonment of Kurdish leader and radical thinker, Abdullah Ocalan, Peace in Kurdistan has released a declaration signed by over a hundred international artists.
https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2021/02/15/artists-for-kurdish-freedom/
- PKK: Rise up against the conspiracy and invasion!
12 Feb 2021 | ANF
On the 22nd anniversary of the abduction of the Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK Executive Committee published a statement in which it sharply criticized the imperialist states for their support of AKP/MHP fascism.
https://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/pkk-rise-up-against-the-conspiracy-and-invasion-49966
- International organisations urged to condemn new Turkish invasion of Iraqi Kurdistan
10 Feb 2021 | Steve Sweeney, Morning Star
Kurdish organisations called for an urgent international response to condemn Turkey’s bombing and invasion of Iraqi Kurdistan today as Ankara announced the start of a major new military offensive.
- Syrians in Kurdish-administered regions struggle with price of bread
10 Feb 2021 | Al-Monitor
Should Syria’s economy and currency continue to deteriorate, it is likely that the cost of wheat will also rise, further straining the Kurdish-led autonomous administration in its efforts to maintain bread subsidies and keep basic goods affordable in northeast Syria.
- Syrian oil fields no longer priority for US forces, says Pentagon
09 Feb 2021 | Middle East Eye
US forces in Syria are not guarding oil fields as previously ordered by former President Donald Trump, and are instead focused on fighting the remnants of the Islamic State (IS) group, a Pentagon spokesman said.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/syria-oil-fields-no-longer-priority-us-pentagon
OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS
- Sanitising imperialism — The problem with “The Daughters of Kobani”
10 Mar 2020 | Marcel Cartier, Green Left
Even before it was released and became a New York Times bestseller, Gayle Tzemach Lemmon’s book The Daughters of Kobani made headlines.
https://www.greenleft.org.au/content/sanitising-imperialism-problem-daughters-kobani
- YJA Star: It’s time for freedom
07 Mar 2021 | ANF English
“Women’s struggles are making a crucial contribution all over the world,” said women guerrillas in YJA-Star saluting all women fighting on 8 March.
https://anfenglish.com/women/yja-star-it-s-time-for-freedom-50465
- Turkey: Erdogan’s human rights initiative raises eyebrows of beleaguered activists
06 Mar 2021 | Middle East Eye
Despite Ankara announcing the new initiative, the co-chair of Turkey’s Human Rights Association says the situation is worse than ever.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-human-rights-initiative-government-groups-reaction
- Art in exile: A prison cell as an exhibition venue
03 Mar 2021 | Deutsche Welle
What form does artistic freedom take in prison? A show by exiled Turkish journalist Can Dündar explores the topic.
https://www.dw.com/en/art-in-exile-a-prison-cell-as-an-exhibition-venue/a-56749410
- When we tried to visit Ocalan
03 Mar 2021 | Roza Salih, Bella Caledonia
The Imrali Island prison, where Kurdish leader, Abdullah Ocalan, has been held in isolation for twenty-two years, accepts no visitors and the annual delegations never actually reach this island fortress. But the delegation’s visit to Turkey provides an opportunity for an international group to draw attention to the conditions faced by a political prisoner that many have called the Kurdish Mandela and find out about the state of human rights in Turkey more generally.
https://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2021/03/03/when-we-tried-to-visit-ocalan/
- What the mythical figure of Şahmeran in Turkey represents and why activists use it
01 Mar 2021 | The Conversation
At the center of recent protests over civil liberties and religious sensibilities in Turkey looms a half-woman, half-snake figure known as Şahmeran.
- Iran and Turkey appear to be on collision course in Iraq – analysis
01 Mar 2021 | Jerusalem Post
It appears that Iran, having helped the Iraqi government grab Sinjar from the Kurdistan region, doesn’t want Turkey entering Sinjar now.
- The case for a Syrian democratic republic
27 Feb 2021 | Jerusalem Post
President Bashar Assad remains ruler of a shattered nation. Assad’s party – the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party (ASBP) – continues to assert dominance over 60% of the country.
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/the-case-for-a-syrian-democratic-republic-comment-660432
- Turkey’s pro-Kurdish party under pressure as calls increase for its closure
23 Feb 2021 | Al-Monitor
The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party faces renewed pressure in Turkey amid rising calls for its closure and recent court decisions that could see one of its lawmakers removed from parliament.
- Mother language in Iran another excuse for injustice against minorities
20 Feb 2021 | Iran Human Rights Monitor
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1999 declared February 21, as the International Mother Language Day. In the same year, at the 30th session of UNESCO, the Iranian regime voted in favor of naming the day. Apart from Persian, people in different parts of Iran speak Azeri, Kurdish, Arabic, Turkmen, Gilaki, Mazandarani, Taleshi, Lori, Baluchi, Laki and Tati.
- Yazidis’ region is in Turkey and Iran’s crosshairs after genocide
20 Feb 2021 | Jerusalem Post
Warmongering from Ankara appears to be in line with its need to keep attacking Iraq and Syria using “fighting terrorism” as an excuse.
- Bogazici resistance is about more than liberal notions of academic freedom, it is a fight against the whole system of oppression
17 Feb 2021 | Steve Sweeney, Morning Star
Turkey’s revolutionary forces said today that protests centred on Bogazici University must remain a fight against fascism and oppression — not for “liberal ideas of academic freedom.”
- Turkey Targets Osman Kavala’s Arts Organization in Unprecedented Lawsuit
16 Feb 2021 | Hyperallergic
While art philanthropist Osman Kavala has been jailed in Turkey for more than three years without conviction, the country has now filed an unprecedented lawsuit in an attempt to dismantle his Istanbul-based arts organization Anadolu Kültür.
- International solidarity vital in Freedom for Ocalan campaign
14 Feb 2021 | Steve Sweeney, Morning Star
Once we exited the residency door I knew something was wrong,” interpreter Melsa Deniz said. “The last I saw of him was when his jeep turned into a building marked ‘police station.’ I counted five white men. I knew it was over.”
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/international-solidarity-vital-freedom-ocalan-campaign
- Analysis: Turkey’s new S-400 proposal offers olive branch to US
10 Feb 2021 | Al Jazeera
Ankara indicates it may be willing to compromise on the Russian air defence system that strained ties with the US.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/2/10/turkey-proposes-model-to-resolve-s-400-dispute-with-us
- The day the water had turned red
06 Feb 2021 | Steve Sweeney, Morning Star
One minute children were happily splashing about in the water, the next it was a bloodbath. The tranquillity and laughter turned into chaos and screams.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/the-day-the-water-had-turned-red
- Meet the victims of Britain’s bombs
05 Feb 2021 | Steve Sweeney, Morning Star
Families in Iraqi Kurdistan have been blown to pieces by the Turkish war machine – and Britain may be responsible.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/f/meet-victims-britains-bombs-part-2
- Erdogan’s dirty drone wars
04 Feb 2021 | Steve Sweeney, Morning Star
Turkey is the only country that routinely uses drones on its own citizens – with Britain supplying most of the component parts.
https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/erdogans-dirty-drone-wars
MULTIMEDIA
- Self-determination: Kurdistan, Scotland and Beyond – An Interview with James Kelman
09 Mar 2021 | Peace in Kurdistan
Connor Hayes speaks with writer James Kelman about a wide variety of topics, including self-determination, British history, literature, the tradition of Scottish common sense philosophy, and the Kurdish freedom movement.
- ‘Global arms trade operates above the law’ – Andrew Feinstein
01 Mar 2021 | Peace in Kurdistan
Director of Shadow World Investigations and author Andrew Feinstein interviewed by journalist Erem Kansoy.
- Who are the Syrian Kurdish women fighters who took down the Islamic State? Gayle Tzemach Lemmon tells the inside story
17 Feb 2021 | Al-Monitor
Bestselling author and senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations Gayle Tzemach Lemmon speaks to Al-Monitor about her new book, The Daughters of Kobani, which tells the story of the women who fought on the front lines of the war against the Islamic State in Syria.
Read more: https://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/podcasts/2021/02/who-are-the-syrian-kurdish-women-fighters-who-took-down-the-isla.html#ixzz6olR7gdMg
- Artists’ declaration for Ocalan’s freedom
15 Feb 2021 | Peace in Kurdistan
We are pleased to release this declaration signed by over a hundred international artists which is an initiative designed to highlight the contribution of Abdullah Ocalan to the revival of Kurdish cultural expression as part of the modern Kurdish political movement.
https://www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/video-pdf-artists-declaration-for-ocalans-freedom/
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.