KURDISH NEWS WEEKLY BRIEFING, 23 – 29 April 2016
NEWS
- Immunity talks start with harassment from AKP deputies
- Deputies’ fistfight closes Turkish parliament for two days
- HDP and KPRC organise 3rd Kurdish Conference in Washington
- Kurd’s Participation in Intra-Syria Talks Absolutely Necessary’ – Lavrov
- Turkish Watchdog: Essential for World to’ Notice War Crimes’ Against Kurds
- Kurdish PKK warns Turkey of long fight for freedom
- Kurdish PKK rebels warns of escalation of violence across Turkey
- Two Turkish journalists sentenced to two years in jail for Charlie Hebdo cover
- INTERVIEW-Syrian Kurdish leader sees Turkish hand in border closure
- Kurds rally with Armenians to commemorate genocide
- Both U.S., Russia strengthening engagement with Kurdish forces in Syria
- Qamishli Ceasefire Gives Kurds More Territory in Northern Syria
- Turkey’s Seizure of Churches and Land Alarms Armenians
- Obama’s legacy on Turkish-American relations
- MPs unanimously declare Yazidis and Christians victims of Isis genocide
- Turkish Watchdog: Essential for World to’ Notice War Crimes’ Against Kurds
COMMENT, OPINION, ANALYSIS
- Rojava revolution: It’s raining women
- The women of Rojava – Journalist Rahila Gupta on the experiment in gender equality
- Trial Observer Margaret Owen Reports on the Trial of the Four Academics in Istanbul
- Democratic autonomy in North Kurdistan: An interview with the Democratic Society Congress
- Will Turkey bid farewell to secularism?
- Turkey Government Wants to Label Kurds and Critics Terrorists
ACTION
- Launch of “Freedom for Ocalan Campaign” at UK Parliament
- Workers Union’s launch “Freedom for Ocalan’ Campaign at UK Parliament
- Open letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to think again on the planned World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul
BOOK REVIEW
- Abdullah Öcalan, 2015, Manifesto for a Democratic Civilization: Vol. I. Civilization. The Age of Masked Gods and Disguised Kings.
NEWS
- Immunity talks start with harassment from AKP deputies
28 April 2016 / ANF News
The talks regarding AKP’s proposal for lifting parliamentary immunity started with AKP MPs insulting and attacking HDP MPs. The meeting is open for all MPs except members of the commission.
HPD’s commission members Meral Danış Beştaş, Mithat Sancar and Garo Paylan were present in the commission as well as MPs İdris Baluken, Ferhat Encü, Ertuğrul Kürkçü and Mahmut Toğrul.
http://anfenglish.com/news/immunity-talks-start-with-harassment-from-akp-deputies
- Deputies’ fistfight closes Turkish parliament for two days
28 April 2016 / Daily News
Violent tension between lawmakers from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) descended into a brawl during a plenary session on April 27, delaying efforts to pass legislation on an EU migration deal.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/Default.aspx?pageID=238&nID=98454&NewsCatID=338
- HDP and KPRC organise 3rd Kurdish Conference in Washington
28 April 2016 / ANF News
The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and the Kurdish Policy Research Center (KPRC) have organised the 3rd International Kurdish Conference to be held on April 29 at The National Press Club in Washington D.C. The HDP and KPRC are jointly organizing this year’s conference, the theme of which is: Co-Existence Through Democratic Autonomy and Self-Governance: The Kurdish Case.
http://anfenglish.com/news/hdp-and-kprc-organise-3rd-kurdish-conference-in-washington
- Kurd’s Participation in Intra-Syria Talks Absolutely Necessary’ – Lavrov
28 April 2016 / Sputnik News
Russia supposes that it is absolutely necessary to invite Kurds to the intra-Syrian talks in Geneva, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA).
BEIJING (Sputnik) – According to Lavrov, it is now necessary to ensure “a stable and direct character of intra-Syrian dialogue, ensure giving it a truly representative character.”
http://sputniknews.com/politics/20160428/1038746338/lavrov-kurds-intra-syrian-talks.html
- Turkish Watchdog: Essential for World to’ Notice War Crimes’ Against Kurds
26 April 2016 / Sputnik News
The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) should send a monitoring mission to Turkey to observe cases of rights violations with respect to the Kurds, a Turkish rights watchdog said Tuesday.
GENEVA (Sputnik) — According to Turkdogan, Turkish justice is “not independent and unable to correctly assess the actions which can be considered as crimes against humanity.”
http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160426/1038648519/turkey-kurds-war-crimes.html
- Kurdish PKK warns Turkey of long fight for freedom
25 April 2016 / BBC
The Kurdish rebel PKK movement has told the BBC that it is ready to intensify its fight against Turkey because Ankara is trying to make it surrender.
Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Cemil Bayik said President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was “escalating this war”.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36081204
- Kurdish PKK rebels warns of escalation of violence across Turkey
25 April 2016 / Independent
Kurdish rebels have warned President Recep Tayyip Erdogan they will “escalate the war” in Turkey until their rights are accepted.
The leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), Cemil Bayik, said the group is willing to negotiate but not surrender in the wake of growing violence between the two sides.
- Two Turkish journalists sentenced to two years in jail for Charlie Hebdo cover
28 April 2016 / Daily News
Two journalists were sentenced to two years in prison on April 28 for republishing in their columns a cover of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo featuring an image of the Prophet Muhammad.
- INTERVIEW-Syrian Kurdish leader sees Turkish hand in border closure
27 April 2016 / Thomson Reuters Foundation News
BEIRUT/AMUDA, Syria, April 26 (Reuters) – The Kurdish government in Iraq has dealt a blow to Kurdish-controlled areas of northern Syria by keeping the border closed for more than one month, an economic and political setback for the Syrian region as it plans for wider autonomy.
http://news.trust.org/item/20160427144153-9btei/?source=reTheWire
- Kurds rally with Armenians to commemorate genocide
25 April 2016 / Kurdistan 24
LOS ANGELES, United States (Kurdistan24) – On Sunday, an estimated 60,000 protestors rallied before the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles to commemorate the 100+1 anniversary of the Armenian genocide.
- Both U.S., Russia strengthening engagement with Kurdish forces in Syria
25 April 2016 / World Tribune
A deployment of largely Army Green Berets will join the fight against Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (ISIL) in Syria, Obama administration officials CONFIRMED on April 24.
The Green Berets are among a group of 250 military personnel being deployed to Syria, increasing to 300 the number of U.S. forces battling ISIL. The group will also include an unknown number of medical and logistical support troops.
http://www.worldtribune.com/both-u-s-russia-strengthening-engagement-with-kurdish-forces-in-syria/
- Qamishli Ceasefire Gives Kurds More Territory in Northern Syria
24 April 2016 / Vice News
Both Kurdish and Syrian government forces agreed to a ceasefire after a three-day eruption of heavy fighting left more than 26 civilians dead.
According to the truce document, Kurdish forces can keep the territory they captured in Qamishli during those days of violence. Both sides will release prisoners taken during the clashes.
- Turkey’s Seizure of Churches and Land Alarms Armenians
23 April 2016 / The New York Times
ISTANBUL — The Turkish government has seized the historic Armenian Surp Giragos Church, a number of other churches and large swaths of property in the heavily damaged Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, saying it wants to restore the area but alarming residents who fear the government is secretly aiming to drive them out.
- Obama’s legacy on Turkish-American relations
25 April 2016 / Daily News
As the U.S. presidential elections near, many people, including President Barack Obama himself, have been engaging in a reassessment of the last eight years of American foreign policy.
- MPs unanimously declare Yazidis and Christians victims of Isis genocide
20 April 2016 / The Guardian
A government attempt to prevent MPs from declaring that Islamic State’s treatment of Yazidis and Christians amounted to genocide was crushed on Wednesday, when the Commons voted unanimously to condemn their treatment and refer the issue to the UN security council.
- Turkish Watchdog: Essential for World to’ Notice War Crimes’ Against Kurds
26 April 2016 / Sputnik News
The United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) should send a monitoring mission to Turkey to observe cases of rights violations with respect to the Kurds, a Turkish rights watchdog said Tuesday.
http://sputniknews.com/europe/20160426/1038648519/turkey-kurds-war-crimes.html#ixzz46yisgunK
COMMENT, OPINION, ANALYSIS
- Rojava revolution: It’s raining women
26 April 2016 / Open Democracy
In less than four years, the women’s umbrella organisation, Kongira Star, has set up an autonomous, grassroots, democratic structure which has resulted in shifting patriarchal mindsets and reversing gender discriminatory laws.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/rahila-gupta/rojava-revolution-it-s-raining-women
- The women of Rojava – Journalist Rahila Gupta on the experiment in gender equality
26 April 2016 / BBC Radio 4 Women’s Hour
Listen here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0783lh4
- Trial Observer Margaret Owen Reports on the Trial of the Four Academics in Istanbul
25 April 2016 / International Law Bureau
In Istanbul on Friday 22nd April, by mid-morning, thousands of people had gathered in the square outside the courthouse, the largest in the world, carrying banners and pictures of the 4 imprisoned academics, and bearing slogans demanding freedom of speech and an end to war and violence.
- Democratic autonomy in North Kurdistan: An interview with the Democratic Society Congress
28 April 2016 / Corporate Watch
Democratic autonomy is a movement which aims to establish a network of grassroots assemblies in Bakur (the Kurmanji Kurdish word for the area of Kurdistan within the borders of Turkey). Corporate Watch carried out interviews with several of the organisations involved in the process of democratic autonomy in June and July 2015.
- Will Turkey bid farewell to secularism?
27 April 2016 / AlMonitor
In the tranquility of Oxford, I was having a lunch with Eugene Rogan, a renowned historian and the director of the Middle East Centre of Oxford University. Last year, he had published a book, “The Fall of the Ottomans,” which was deservedly listed among The Economist’s top 10 best books of 2015. I mentioned something that was sure to interest him: For the first time ever, the Turkish government has issued instructions for the commemoration of the Battle of Kut.
- Turkey Government Wants to Label Kurds and Critics Terrorists
23 April 2016 / TeleSur
The Erdogan government is pushing a new law to target Kurds and other opposition to strip them of citizenship under the pretext of fighting terrorism.
“We are not terrorists; we are the Kurds who won’t assimilate,” reads a Kurdish slogan that has evolved within the Kurdish resistance movement and explains in only one sentence what the Kurdish question in Turkey has been about since its incurrence.
ACTION
- Launch of “Freedom for Ocalan Campaign” at UK Parliament
Freedom for Öcalan
The ‘Freedom for Öcalan Campaign’ led by British TRADE unions has been initiated with a widely attended meeting in the British parliament. The isolation of Öcalan criticised and the contribution Öcalan’s freedom will make to peace in the region is expressed in the historic meeting which sparked great interest.
http://www.freedomforocalan.org/uk_parliament
- Workers Union’s launch “Freedom for Ocalan’ Campaign at UK Parliament
26 April 2016 / Kurdish Question
Two of the United Kingdom’s largest workers’ unions have launched a campaign for the freedom of imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan.
Called ‘Freedom for Öcalan,’ the campaign was launched by workers’ unions GMB and Unite in a meeting at the UK Parliament on Monday 25 April.
- Open letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to think again on the planned World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul
25 April 2016 / The Kurdistan Tribune / by Peace in Kurdistan
Open letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to think again on the planned World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul
We learn with disbelief that the first World Humanitarian Summit will be hosted by President Erdogan in Istanbul…
BOOK REVIEW
- Abdullah Öcalan, 2015, Manifesto for a Democratic Civilization: Vol. I. Civilization. The Age of Masked Gods and Disguised Kings. (Norway and Cologne: New Compass Press. Translated by Havin Guneser. Review by Dr Felix Padel)
April 6 2016 / Ghandi Foundation
Kurdish issues have come into stronger focus recently, with the siege of
Kobane, and realisation that Kurdish fighters represent the frontline
against Islamic State, in Syria as well as Iraq. Yet the deeper significance
of Kurdish struggles for democracy and autonomy remain hazy for many
people, as well as the key importance of the Kurdish leader Abdullah
Öcalan, and his extraordinary prison writings.
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
Patrons: Lord Rea, Lord Dholakia, Baroness Sarah Ludford, Jill Evans MEP, Jean Lambert MEP, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Hywel Williams MP, Kate Osamor MP, Elfyn Llwyd, Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy, John Austin, Christine Blower, NUT General Secretary, Bruce Kent, Gareth Peirce, Julie Christie, Noam Chomsky, John Berger, Edward Albee, Margaret Owen OBE, Prof Mary Davis, Dr Thomas Jeffrey Miley, Mark Thomas, Nick Hildyard, Stephen Smellie, Derek Wall, Melanie Gingell