NEWS
1. Recent Attacks by Iran and Turkey on Civilians in Iraqi Kurdistan: At Least a Dozen Dead; Thousands Displaced Since July
2. Turkish Police Arrest Journalists
3. Turkey Arrests 40 Over Alleged Kurdish Rebel Ties
4. Turkey arrests journalists in alleged terror plot
5. A new scandal: Printer convicted instead of writer and publisher
6. Arrests continue in many cities
7. Around 100 people turn themselves in to protest KCK arrests
8. Turkey: Kurdish man stabbed, shot dead for requesting Kurdish song
9. Crucial Problems: Detained Journalists and Censorship
10. “Free Agenda”, Free Press
11. US vows to support Turkey in fight against Kurdish rebels
12. International organizations write to president Gül
13. ITUC Protests Against Lengthy Prison Terms on Turkish Trade Unionists
14. Kemal receives award from France
15. Syrian Kurds In London Call For Stop To Syrian Massacres
COMMENT, OPINION AND ANALYSIS
16. What drives Turkish foreign policy
17. Warning signs for Kurds in Post-Assad Syria
18. Turkey’s human rights challenges
19. Is non-violent resistance an option for the Kurds?
20. The Lost Word by Oya Baydar – review
21. Leon Panetta’s vision of Turkey
22. Erdogan Cartoon
23. The Islamic Republic’s Executions of Kurds in 1979
STATEMENTS AND PETITIONS
24. Turkey: unjust prison sentence on trade union activists
25. Public declaration: Turkey must adhere to the ban on chemical weapons and the Chemical Weapons Convention!
26. State Terrorism in Turkey – and Germany their partner in crime. Statement by AZADI – Legal Aid Advocacy for Kurds in Germany
27. Another Vital Organ Of A Free And Transparent Democracy Finds Itself Arrested In Turkey: 40 Journalists Have Been Arrested For Their Opposition Of The Ruling Party
REPORTS
28. Formal complaint lodged against Turkish state for war crimes
29. Human Rights Watch report: Iran/Turkey: Recent attacks on civilians in Iraqi Kurdistan
NEWS
1. Recent Attacks by Iran and Turkey on Civilians in Iraqi Kurdistan: At Least a Dozen Dead; Thousands Displaced Since July
20 December 2011 / Payvand Iran News
Iran and Turkey’s cross-border attacks in Iraqi Kurdistan killed more than a dozen civilians and displaced thousands between mid-July and November 2011, including in areas that did not appear to have military targets, Human Rights Watch said today. Iran and Turkey contend that they are responding to cross-border attacks from armed militant groups. But Kurdish residents and officials in Iraq told Human Rights Watch, which visited the affected areas in November, that many of the areas attacked are purely civilian and have no armed groups conducting attacks against Iran and Turkey or any other potential military target.
http://www.payvand.com/news/11/dec/1205.html
Read the full Human Rights Watch report here: http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/12/20/iranturkey-recent-attacks-civilians-iraqi-kurdistan
2. Turkish Police Arrest Journalists
20 December 2011 / Wall Street Journal
Twenty-six journalists were among the suspects arrested on Tuesday in a crackdown on an organization tied to Turkey’s outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a media watchdog said, heightening criticism of the country’s record on press freedom. If the number is confirmed, the arrests would bring the number of journalists in Turkish jails to more than 90, one of the highest detention numbers for journalists in the world, the Bianet media-rights monitoring group said.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204058404577110491968093640.html
3. Turkey Arrests 40 Over Alleged Kurdish Rebel Ties
20 December 2011 / Huffington Post
Turkish police on Tuesday detained some 40 people, including journalists, as part of a growing investigation into a Kurdish group that prosecutors accuse of links to Kurdish rebels, the country’s state-run television said. The private Dogan news agency said Mustafa Ozer, a photographer working for the French news agency, Agence France Presse, and journalists for Kurdish media organizations were among the detained. Photographs obtained by The Associated Press show Ozer smiling as he is being led by a plain-clothed police officer into a van. Eric Baradat, editor-in-chief of Agence France Presse’s photo department, confirmed that a photographer for the Paris-based agency was detained but could not provide any details, citing agency policy.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/20/turkey-arrests-kurdish-rebels_n_1159930.html
4. Turkey arrests journalists in alleged terror plot
20 December 2011 / CNN
Turkish police detained dozens of people in a wave of raids targeting suspected members of the “press and propaganda wing” of a banned Kurdish separatist group accused of committing acts of terrorism, the semi-official Anatolian Agency reported Tuesday. In a move that alarmed human rights organizations, journalists’ associations and press freedom activists, police swept up a number of journalists in the raids.
http://edition.cnn.com/2011/12/20/world/meast/turkey-journalists-arrested/index.html?on.cnn=1
5. A new scandal: Printer convicted instead of writer and publisher
17 December 2011/ Infoturk
In Turkey, so-called democratic candidate to the European Union, where books are confiscated even before being printed and journalists imprisoned for simple articles of information, a new scandalous step has been taken by the detention of a printer. A book entitled “Abdullah Öcalan With My Reminiscences”, written by Gülseren Aksoy and published by Abdulrrezak Güngör, director of Çetin Publishing House, was confiscated by justice in 2005. The Criminal Court N°14 has been carrying on trials against Aksoy and Güngör for “propaganda of a terrorist organization”.
http://www.info-turk.be/400.htm#Printer
6. Arrests continue in many cities
18 December 2011 / ANF
Arrests of Kurds seem unstoppable as more people in Diyarbakır, Hakkari, Şırnak and Van have been taken into custody on Saturday. In Diyarbakır, two people, including a student of Dicle University, were taken into custody and transferred to the Erzincan Enes Bedes Police Station. In Hakkari, Ramazan Altınoluk, 27, was detained in the Esendere town of the city and transferred to the Yüksekova Police Department.
http://en.firatnews.eu/index.php?rupel=article&nuceID=3737
7. Around 100 people turn themselves in to protest KCK arrests
18 December 2011 / Dicle News Agency
In Ankara, around 100 people from Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Ankara Branch turned themselves in to protest the mass arrests in the context of the Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK) case. The Human Rights Association (İHD) continued the action named “We do not want to give testimony, but freely express ourselves” and distributed the magazine issued by the İHD as part of the Human Rights Week.
http://www.diclehaber.com/2/4/1/viewNews/286807
8. Turkey: Kurdish man stabbed, shot dead for requesting Kurdish song
18 December 2011 / AK News
A Kurdish man was several times stabbed and and then shot dead by a group of Turkish men after he requested a Kurdish song to be sung by a music group in one of th night clubs in Izmir, western Turkey, Turkish media reported Sunday.
http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/1/278997/
9. Crucial Problems: Detained Journalists and Censorship
15 December 2011 / Bianet
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Mijatovic paid her first official visit to Turkey to talk to government officials about media freedom. Prior to the talks she attended a panel of the Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences on freedom of expression. During her first visit to Turkey, Dunja Mijatovic, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, participated in the panel discussion “Turkey and Freedom of Expression”. The event was organized by the Ankara University Faculty of Political Sciences (SBF) and hosted by Ass. Prof Kerem Altıparmak.
http://bianet.org/english/freedom-of-expression/134779-crucial-problems-detained-journalists-and-censorship
10. “Free Agenda”, Free Press
12 December 2011 / Bianet
About 50 journalists and intellectuals sold the Özgür Gündem newspaper on Human Rights day in Istanbul to speak up for press freedom and freedom of expression. About 50 journalists and intellectuals came together on Istanbul’s Taksim Square on Human Rights Day on 10 December to demonstrate for press freedom and support the Özgür Gündem (‘Free Agenda’) newspaper.
http://bianet.org/english/minorities/134685-free-agenda-free-press
11. US vows to support Turkey in fight against Kurdish rebels
17 December 2011 / IKJ News
The United States will maintain its support of Turkey in the fight against Kurdish rebels, visiting US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said Friday.
“In my discussions here in Ankara, I made very clear that the United States would continue to assist Turkey in confronting this threat,” Panetta told a press conference. The United States said in October it planned to sell Turkey with three new Super Cobra attack helicopters for the campaign against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), in a deal worth $111 million.
http://ikjnews.com/?p=2751
12. International organizations write to president Gül
17 December 2011 / ANF
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), the Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA-International Association of Lawyers), the Conférence internationale des barreaux (CIB), Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) and the International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (Front Line) have sent a letter to Turkish president Abdullah Gül and minister of justice Sadullah Ergin to express their “deepest concern about the frequent use of arbitrary detention and judicial harassment against a significant number of lawyers for merely defending their clients’ rights in politically sensitive cases”.
http://en.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=article&nuceID=3732
13. ITUC Protests Against Lengthy Prison Terms on Turkish Trade Unionists
2 December 2011 / International Trade Union Conferderation
The 25, public sector workers and members of EGITIM Sen-KESK which include EI affiliate in Turkey of which KESK President Mr Lami Özgen, the former Women’s Secretary of KESK, Ms. Songul Morsumbul, Egitim Sen Women’s Secretary Ms. Sakine Esen Yilmaz, as well as former Women’s Secretaries Ms. Gulcin Isbert and Ms. Elif Akgul Ates were sentenced by the Izmir Criminal Court despite the head of the Court stating that they should be acquitted of the charges.
http://www.ituc-csi.org/ituc-protests-against-lengthy.html
14. Kemal receives award from France
16 December 2011 / Hurriyet
Renowned Turkish novelist and writer Yaşar Kemal will be decorated with the French Legion d’Honneur (Legion of Honor) at a ceremony Dec. 17 at the French Palace in Istanbul. According to a written statement made by Yapı Kredi Cultural Activities, Arts, and Publishing Inc., Kemal will receive the honor from Army Gen. Jean-Louis Georgelin, grand chancellor of the French National Order of the Legion of Honor.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/kemal-receives-award-from-france-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=9265&NewsCatID=386
15. Syrian Kurds In London Call For Stop To Syrian Massacres
18 December 2011 / eKurd.net
The Syrian Kurdish community protests at Downing St as massacres continue in Syria, demanding a federation to replace the Assad regime. London, United Kingdom. Saturday, 17th December 2011. The Syrian Kurdish community protested at Downing St as massacres continue in Syria, calling for Britain to help to stop them. They want freedom for Syria and also for Kurds in Syria in a federation to replace the Assad regime. London, UK.
http://www.ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2011/12/syriakurd397.htm
COMMENT, OPINION AND ANALYSIS
16. What drives Turkish foreign policy?
Winter Edition 2012 / Middle East Quarterly
Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, AKP) was reelected to a third term in June 2011. This remarkable achievement was mainly the result of the opposition’s weakness and the rapid economic growth that has made Turkey the world’s sixteenth largest economy. But Ankara’s growing international profile also played a role in the continued public support for the conservative, Islamist party. Indeed, in a highly unusual fashion, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan began his victory speech by saluting “friendly and brotherly nations from Baghdad, Damascus, Beirut, Amman, Cairo, Sarajevo, Baku, and Nicosia.”
http://www.meforum.org/3129/turkish-foreign-policy
17. Warning signs for Kurds in Post-Assad Syria
15 December 2011 / Rudaw
Since the start of the Syrian revolution, Kurds have not hesitated to join the movements against Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The Kurdish struggle against the Baath party and Assad’s regime did not begin recently, however, but in the early sixties. The Kurds struggled relentlessly against the Arabist ideology which always marginalized the Kurds and denied their rights in the Syrian Arab Republic. When Kurds in Qamishly rose up against Assad’s regime in the spring of 2004 and sacrificed many lives for freedom and a fair solution to their cause, Syrian Arabs didn’t support the Kurds. They didn’t mention the Kurdish courage in confronting the brutality and repression of this regime.
http://www.rudaw.net/english/news/syria/4228.html
18. Turkey’s human rights challenges
19 December 2011 / LA Times
There has been much discussion in the U.S. and European media of Turkey as a rising star after its recent stance on Syria and its general support for the “Arab Spring.” Turkey is viewed as the successful merger of Islam and modernization. The Muslim religious coloring of the ruling Justice and Development Party is not seen as being at odds with its democratic, pro-Western outlook. The government has won popular support in the region, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan greeted rapturously on his recent tour of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Turkey’s vibrant economy contrasts with the economic crises in Europe and the United States.
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-sinclair-kurds-20111219,0,2822797.story
19. Is non-violent resistance an option for the Kurds?
18 December 2011 / Rudaw
If you want to see a good Kurdish film that tries to define the complicated Kurdish Question in 102 minutes, go see Min Dit (I saw). Late Evrim Alatas, a journalist covering the killing fields of Kurdistan, is credited with its plot. Filmmaker Miraz Bezar has adapted it to the cinema. At first sight, violence seems to be its primary theme. The children are its collateral damage.
http://www.rudaw.net/english/culture_art/4235.html
20. The Lost Word by Oya Baydar – review
16 December 2011 / Guardian
Snow, the 2002 novel by Turkey‘s Nobel literature laureate Orhan Pamuk, was set in north-eastern Anatolia in the 1990s, as war with secessionist Kurds raged in the wings. Oya Baydar’s fine novel – her seventh, and the first to appear in English – brings that conflict to the fore. Published in Turkish in 2007, it is set in the recent past, as a war fought with Kurdish separatists since 1984 intensifies in the mountains and spills across borders, while tourists are targeted by seaside bombings.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/dec/16/lost-word-oya-baydar-review
21. Leon Panetta’s vision of Turkey
19 December 2011 / Today’s Zaman
Although my mind was preoccupied with the belligerent remarks recently uttered by senior Iranian officials against Turkey and concern over the protracted conflict in Syria when putting out my question, I think it was Thom Shanker of The New York Times who posed the most significant question in a roundtable Q&A session on Friday with US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, who was in Turkey for a two-day visit following a closure ceremony in Iraq a day earlier, officially marking the end of hostilities with Iraq.
http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist-266149-leon-panettas-vision-of-turkey.html
22. Erdogan Cartoon
17 December 2011 / Monthly Review
See how Recep Tayyip Erdoğan uses TMY (Terörle Mücadele Yasası, Anti-Terror Law) and ÖYM (Özel Yetkili Mahkemelerin, Special Courts) to deal with anyone who stands in his way. . . .
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/latuff171211.html
23. The Islamic Republic’s Executions of Kurds in 1979
1 November 2011 / loghmanahmedi.com
Iran Human Rights documentation Center has published a new document on the execution of Kurds after the revolution in 1979, the document is very interesting, even though it has some flaws. For example the document mostly relay on news articles published in Iranian newspapers at the time (which only reported the regimes version of the events at the time).
http://loghmanahmedi.com/2011/11/01/the-islamic-republic%E2%80%99s-executions-of-kurds-in-1979/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+loghmanahmedi%2FChPX+%28Loghman+H.+Ahmedi%29
STATEMENTS AND PETITIONS
24. Turkey: unjust prison sentence on trade union activists
Education International (EI) calls on you to condemn the prison sentences imposed on 25 Turkish trade unionists from the teacher union Egitim Sen and the Confederation of Public Employees’ Unions (KESK). The 25 members of Egitim Sen and KESK were condemned to 6 years and 5 months prison by the Izmir High Court for engaging in what would be regarded elsewhere as legitimate trade union activities. Egitim Sen lawyers are going to appeal to the upper court. 6 other defendants have been acquitted.
http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=1202
25. Public declaration: Turkey must adhere to the ban on chemical weapons and the Chemical Weapons Convention!
12 December 2011
With regards to renewed suspicion on the use of chemical weapons by the Turkish army, we demand an immediate clarification of what took place. It is necessary to seriously take account of the repeated allegations that the Turkish army uses internationally banned weapons. The incidents must be investigated, especially in the knowledge of the background that Turkey in 1997 ratified the chemical weapons convention of the United Nations.
http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/public-declaration-turkey-must-adhere-to-the-ban-on-chemical-weapons-and-the-chemical-weapons-convention/
26. State Terrorism in Turkey – and Germany their partner in crime
Statement by AZADI – Legal Aid Advocacy for Kurds in Germany
12 December 2011
On 8th December the 41-year old Kurdish exile politician, Vezir T., was arrested by the State Office for Criminal Investigations in Hanau. According to the Federal Public Prosecutor (GBA), he was “a PKK cadre” in charge of the areas of Sachsen (Saxony), Sachsen-Anhalt, and parts of Thüringen and Brandenburg between June 2008 and July 2009. In this role, he allegedly organised demonstrations and events, and was responsible for the provision of propaganda material.
http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/state-terrorism-in-turkey-and-germany-their-partner-in-crime/
27. Britain Peace Council Press Statement: Another Vital Organ Of A Free And Transparent Democracy Finds Itself Arrested In Turkey: 40 Journalists Have Been Arrested For Their Opposition Of The Ruling Party
“As one of many Peace Council’s working for the promotion of a peaceful resolution through dialog we find these arbitrary arrests deeply concerning and an obstacle for any attempts at a peaceful resolution. We therefore call for the immediate release of all prisoners of conscience, an end to the arbitrary arrests and for the Turkish anti-terror laws to be repealed.”
http://wp.me/p1UMS4-cU
REPORTS
28. Formal complaint lodged against Turkish state for war crimes
Lawyers in Germany have lodged a complaint against Prime Minister of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and former and acting Ministers of Defence and Chiefs of staff, for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and crimes consisting in the employment of prohibited means of warfare. A comprehensive report has been produced, documenting ten cases between 2003 and 2011, in which the Turkish state has been responsible for death, torture, and other violations of international and human rights.
For the full report, see attachments.
29. Human Rights Watch report: Iran/Turkey: Recent attacks on civilians in Iraqi Kurdistan, 20 December 2011.
http://www.hrw.org/news/2011/12/20/iranturkey-recent-attacks-civilians-iraqi-kurdistan