NEWS
1. Details of Öcalan’s September 11 meeting with his brother on İmralı
2. Demirtas: EP could take initiatives for resolution process in Turkey.
3. Syrian Kurds demand recognition of Rojava federal project as condition to fight for Raqqa
4. TEV-DEM calls for action against Turkish state’s massacres and attacks
5. Final declaration of the KNK’s ‘Southern Kurdistan Workshop’ release
6. Women in Shengal to organise under Êzidî Free Women’s Movement
7. Kurds repel Islamic State attack on Manbij, deny death of American fighter
8. Turkey Trying to ‘Break up Alliance Between US and Syrian Kurds’
9. 12 Kurdish and Alevi TV stations closed in Turkey, as crackdown extended
10. More trials pile up
11. Turkey: IFJ/EFJ solidarity mission with journalists on trial
OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS
1. Turkey’s “Illegal Invasion” of Syria: Operation “Euphrates Shield” Turns Into Operation “Occupation”
2. It’s time for a new peace process between Turkey and the Kurds
3. Georgi Dimov: The trends in Turkey’s economy are frightening
4. Todenhöfer: Interview With Al-Nusra Commander “The Americans stand on our side”
5. Foreign policy mishaps prove costly for Turkish contractors
6. How a kick rattled Turkey
7. Are US-Turkey military ties under threat?
8. Are Ankara, Washington on collision course in Syria?
9. Turkey’s State of Emergency and the March to One-Man Rule
10. ‘Promoting our culture is every Kurds’ responsibility’
BOOK REVIEW
Review of Abdullah Ocalan’s Manifesto for a Democratic Civilization BY Dr. Donald H. Matthews and Dr. Thomas Jeffrey Miley
PRESS RELEASE
The Freedom for Ocalan Campaign fringe meeting at Labour Party Conference on 27 September 2016 in Liverpool
CONFERENCES
1. Solidarity message by Peace in Kurdistan Campaign to PYD 8th Congress held in Brussels
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NEWS
1. Details of Öcalan’s September 11 meeting with his brother on İmralı
29 September/ANF English
Mehmet Öcalan spoke to ANF regarding the messages given by his brother, Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan, whom he met on September 11 after months of ban on communication within the scope of the isolation imposed upon him in line with pro-war policies pursued by the AKP / Palace against the Kurds.
Mehmet Öcalan said the Kurdish leader did not want to meet him when he was finally allowed access to İmralı on September 11. According to Mehmet Öcalan, it would take the Kurdish leader to come to the meeting scene just 5 minutes during their previous meetings throughout 18 years, but he came to see his brother 30-40 minutes later this time only after he was convinced by the administrators of the prison.
Demirtaş: EP could take initiatives for resolution process in Turkey
http://anfenglish.com/special/details-of-ocalan-s-september-11-meeting-with-his-brother-on-imrali
- Demirtas: EP could take initiatives for resolution process in Turkey.
After the meeting with EP President Schulz, Demirtaş said: “The EP could take official initiatives regarding the peace and solution process in Turkey, and establish a commission on how a lasting solution can be reached.”
http://anfenglish.com/news/demirtas-ep-could-take-initiatives-for-resolution-process-in-turkey
3. Syrian Kurds demand recognition of Rojava federal project as condition to fight for Raqqa
28 September/Global Research
Turkey’s operation ‘Euphrates Shield’ that had originally begun as the operation to drive the Kurdish militias back to the eastern side of Euphrates River is now turning into a mission to create a ‘safe zone’ inside Syria to reinforce not only its own position in the region but also to buttress the Turkey-backed militias controlling the eastern part of Aleppo city.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/turkeys-illegal-invasion-of-syria-operation-euphrates-shield-turns-into-operation-occupation/5548280
- TEV-DEM calls for action against Turkish state’s massacres and attacks
28 September/ANF English
Rojava’s Movement for a Democratic Society (TEV-DEM) Executive Board issued a statement on the Turkish state’s massacres against Kurdish, Syriac, Assyrian, Arab and Turkmen people from Northern Syria.
The statement called attention to the ongoing barbaric attacks of the occupant Turkish state targeting the peoples of Northern Syria, saying: “AKP/Erdoğan dictator regime is attacking not only the Kurds but all the peoples and faith groups in Northern Syrian lands as well. The enmity of the AKP is essentially aimed at the free living of democratic societies and democratization of Syria, for which reason it utters threat and commits savagery against Northern Syria at every opportunity. Alongside its occupant forces, AKP is both supporting the gang groups such as Al-Nusra and FSA and using these in an immoral manner.
http://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/tev-dem-calls-for-action-against-turkish-state-s-massacres-and-attacks
5. Final declaration of the KNK’s ‘Southern Kurdistan Workshop’ released
27 September/ANF English
Final declaration of the ‘Southern Kurdistan Workshop’ Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) held in Kirkuk on September 23-24 has been released. In the final declaration, the activities of the newly formed commission and committee as well as the need to create solutions to the ongoing crisis and channel them to the society were emphasized.
The ‘Southern Kurdistan Workshop’ held by KNK in Kirkuk’s Qerehencir region was participated by political party representatives, parliamentarians, academicians, NGO representatives and intellectuals.
http://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/final-declaration-of-the-knk-s-southern-kurdistan-workshop-released
6. Women in Shengal to organise under Êzidî Free Women’s Movement
28 September/ANF English
The final declaration of the 2nd Women’s Conference held by Shengal Women’s Assembly on September 25 in Shengal Mountain has been published. The declaration states that Shengal Women’s Assembly has decided to organise under the name Êzidî Free Women’s Movement – Tavgera Azadiya Jinen Êzidxan and that they have formed an assembly and decided on a flag. The decision to fight for the freedom of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan was also taken in the conference.
http://anfenglish.com/women/women-in-shengal-to-organise-under-ezidi-free-women-s-movement
7. Kurds repel Islamic State attack on Manbij, deny death of American fighter
27 September/ARA News
Militants of the Islamic State (ISIS) launched on Monday an offensive on the western countryside of Manbij city, in northern Syria, bombing a security checkpoint for the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The group said in a statement, released by the jihadi Amaq Agency, that nine Kurdish fighters and an American volunteer were killed in the attack.
http://aranews.net/2016/09/kurds-repel-islamic-state-attack-on-manbij-deny-death-of-american-fighter/
8. Turkey Trying to ‘Break up Alliance Between US and Syrian Kurds’
26 September/Sputnik News
Militants of the Islamic State (ISIS) launched on Monday an offensive on the western countryside of Manbij city, in northern Syria, bombing a security checkpoint for the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The group said in a statement, released by the jihadi Amaq Agency, that nine Kurdish fighters and an American volunteer were killed in the attack.
https://sputniknews.com/politics/20160926/1045699249/turkey-us-syria-kurds.html
9. 12 Kurdish and Alevi TV stations closed in Turkey, as crackdown extended
29 September/Middle East Eye
A dozen Kurdish and Alevi TV channels were closed on Wednesday evening by the Turkish government with the crackdown following the failed 15 July coup attempt showing no sign of abating.
The channels closed include Zarok TV, Turkey’s first Kurdish-language children’s channel. The broadcasts were stopped on Wednesday night and have been removed from the TURKSAT satellite, an official in the Kurdish-majority southeastern city of Diyarbakir told AFP. Alevism is a heterodox sect of Shia Islam, whose adherents are thought to compose as much as a fifth of Turkey’s population and are split between ethnic Turks and Kurds.
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/12-kurdish-and-alevi-tv-stations-closed-turkey-1285867841
10. More trials pile up
25 September/The spark
The next day (Wednesday 21 September) we arrived at the Caglayan Court of Justice in Istanbul which was hearing 5 different prosecution cases against journalists. We were originally told that there would only be one! Again we were with the IFJ/EFJ affiliates TGS (Journalists Union of Turkey), DISK-Basin-Is (Journalists Union of Turkey from DISK) and TGC (Journalists Association of Turkey) to observe the following cases:
http://thespark.me.uk
11. Turkey: IFJ/EFJ solidarity mission with journalists on trial
20 September/International Federation of Journalists
The trial of Turkish journalists Ayse Düzkan, Ragip Duran, Hüseyin Akyol and Inan Kizilkaya started today at Istanbul court of justice. After 20 minutes’ hearing, the judges decided to merge this case with 20 other similar ones and postponed the hearing to 15 December 2016. The four journalists are charged with participating in a solidarity campaign with the Kurdish daily newspaper Özgür Gündem.
OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS
1. Turkey’s “Illegal Invasion” of Syria: Operation “Euphrates Shield” Turns Into Operation “Occupation”
28 September/Global Research
Turkey’s operation ‘Euphrates Shield’ that had originally begun as the operation to drive the Kurdish militias back to the eastern side of Euphrates River is now turning into a mission to create a ‘safe zone’ inside Syria to reinforce not only its own position in the region but also to buttress the Turkey-backed militias controlling the eastern part of Aleppo city.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/turkeys-illegal-invasion-of-syria-operation-euphrates-shield-turns-into-operation-occupation/5548280
2. It’s time for a new peace process between Turkey and the Kurds
27 September/Washington Post
President Obama’s special envoy on the Islamic State, Brett McGurk, got attention last week in New York from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his visit in February to the town of Kobani in Syria, the ultimate symbol of Kurdish resistance to the Islamic State. He received an award from the Kurdish fighters there — whom Erdogan considers terrorists.
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Georgi Dimov: The trends in Turkey’s economy are frightening
27 September/Focus
International agency Moody’s lowered Turkey’s credit rating. The reasons pointed out by the agency were the increased risks related to delayed reforms in the country, weaker economic growth, need of external financing, and unfavorable investment climate. This already happened with Standart & Poor’s credit rating of the country as well in July. Out of all large ratings agencies, only Fitch retained Turkey’s credit level at above junk status. We are also going to discuss the political problems in Turkey now with our guest Georgi Dimov, former consul general of Bulgaria in Edirne.
http://www.focus-fen.net/opinion/2016/09/27/4503/georgi-dimov-the-trends-in-turkeys-economy-are-frightening.html
4. Todenhöfer: Interview With Al-Nusra Commander “The Americans stand on our side”
26 September/Moon of Alabama
It was the seventh trip by my son Frederic and me to the civil war country Syria. We were there for 13 days. Words can only barely describe the extend of damage and suffering on both sides.
We conducted the interview ten days ago with a commander of the al-Qaida branch “Jabhat al-Nusra”. Abu al-Ezz reported quite openly about his financiers Saudi-Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait. We were able to exactly research the identity of the man and know practically everything about him.
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2016/09/todenhöfer-interview-with-al-nusra-commander-the-americans-stand-on-our-side.html#more
5. Foreign policy mishaps prove costly for Turkish contractors
26 September/Al Monitor
The collapse of the Justice and Development Party government’s foreign policy ambitions of neo-Ottomanism, Islamic world leadership, regional leadership, and so forth have cost Turkey enormously in many fields. The escalating terror in the country and Turkey’s growing global isolation caused problems for all sectors of the economy.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/09/turkey-contractors-pay-for-foreign-policy-mistakes.html#ixzz4LUtxhg8m
6. How a kick rattled Turkey
26 September/Al Monitor
A young Turkish woman, Aysegul Terzi, was attacked by a man on an Istanbul public bus earlier this month for wearing shorts. According to security camera footage and witness accounts, the man, identified as Abdullah Cakiroglu, shouted, “Why are you going about in shorts!” He then told the 23-year-old nurse, “You are the Satan,” and kicked her violently in the face. Terzi says the other passengers remained silent and the driver dumped her at the first stop. She went first to the hospital, and then filed a complaint with the prosecutor’s office. The alleged assailant was caught and booked for “actual bodily harm” before walking free. He was soon re-arrested, but only after widespread outcry over his release.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/09/turkey-women-take-to-streets-denounce-pressures.html?utm_source=Boomtrain&utm_medium=manual&utm_campaign=20160927&bt_email=estella24@tiscali.co.uk&bt_ts=1474993605485
7. Are US-Turkey military ties under threat?
23 September/Al Monitor
In those good old days, billions of dollars’ worth of defense projects between the two countries moved forward despite minor hiccups and, financed by the International Military Education and Training Fund, hundreds of Turkish officers and noncommissioned officers went to the United States for training. Every year, the two sides carried out about 20 bilateral or multilateral exercises and maneuvers, organized high-level military summits, and they even awarded each other medals of outstanding service.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/09/turkey-united-states-military-ties.html#ixzz4LjTW7apj
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Are Ankara, Washington on collision course in Syria?
22 September/Al Monitor
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s supporters were awed once again by his performance at the UN General Assembly meeting in New York. He spoke at the summit about Syrian refugees and touched upon nearly every issue on in his agenda, as if he was addressing an admiring domestic audience in Turkey.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/09/turkey-united-states-syria-operation-euphrates-shield.html#ixzz4LjUJc6rP
Turkey’s State of Emergency and the March to One-Man Rule
September 27/Lobe Log
Turkey declared a “State of Emergency” (OHAL) on July 20, five days after the failed coup. It is to last for three months but can be extended at four-month intervals indefinitely if parliament agrees., Since it became a republic in 1923, Turkey has experienced one form or another of such extraordinary rule in stretches that add up to more than 40 years.
https://lobelog.com/turkeys-state-of-emergency-and-the-march-to-one-man-rule/
10. ‘Promoting our culture is every Kurds’ responsibility’
26 September/Kurdistan 24
“Yad” (recollections) is the title of the new album released by Sweden-based Kurdish composer, singer, and songwriter Chia Madani. Consisting of nine songs, “Yad” uses expert musicians from Kurdistan, Tehran, and the diaspora.
Born and raised in Mahabad, Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhelat), Madani was in the eighth grade when, despite his interest in education and good grades, he left school and joined the Peshmerga to fight for his “occupied home.”
http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/07433662-5fdc-464e-8f12-78a88ffffc07/-Promoting-our-culture-is-every-Kurds–responsibility-
BOOK REVIEW
Review of Abdullah Ocalan’s Manifesto for a Democratic Civilization BY Dr. Donald H. Matthews and Dr. Thomas Jeffrey Miley
28 September/Peace in Kurdistan
Respect for Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdish Freedom Movement, “chained to the rock of Imrali,” a symbol of resistance, of fortitude and resilience, a responsible leader, a prophet, a man with a powerful political vision.
A vision that has inspired the revolutionaries in Rojava in Syria, and that fuels the Kurdish resistance to Erdogan’s tyranny in the southeast of Turkey (and beyond).
The heroic defence of Kobane caught the world’s attention, the movement’s will to struggle, its ability to mobilize the people for collective self-defence, to sacrifice and to die for a cause, and not just for any cause, for a good cause: the project of “democratic confederalism,” a project which represents the only alternative to the negative dialectic of tyranny and chaos currently tearing the Middle East apart, or, in Ocalan’s terms, the only alternative to “hierarchical and dominated civilization.”
https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/2016/09/28/review-of-abdullah-ocalans-manifesto-for-a-democratic-civilization-dr-thomas-jeffrey-miley-university-of-cambridge/
PRESS RELEASE
The Freedom for Ocalan Campaign fringe meeting at Labour Party Conference on 27 September 2016 in Liverpool
27 September/Peace in Kurdistan
The meeting, entitled Building solidarity with the Kurdish struggle for democracy, equality and freedom is co-sponsored by the GMB, UNITE andPeace in Kurdistan Campaign.
Following the adopting of a strongly supportive resolution at the TUC conference on 14th September, this meeting will present firsthand accounts of the extraordinary purge under way in Turkey, from Kurdish women politicians who are at the sharp end of these repressive measures. The solidarity campaign has benefitted from the outset from the support of our newly re-elected leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has always supported the Kurdish movement and who is a patron of the Peace in Kurdistan Campaign.
https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/2016/09/28/press-release-building-solidarity-with-the-kurdish-struggle-for-democracy-equality-and-freedom/
CONFERENCES
1. Solidarity message by Peace in Kurdistan Campaign to PYD 8th Congress held in Brussels
28 September/Peace in Kurdistan
The meeting, entitled Building solidarity with the Kurdish struggle for democracy, equality and freedom is co-sponsored by the GMB, UNITE andPeace in Kurdistan Campaign.
Following the adopting of a strongly supportive resolution at the TUC conference on 14th September, this meeting will present firsthand accounts of the extraordinary purge under way in Turkey, from Kurdish women politicians who are at the sharp end of these repressive measures. The solidarity campaign has benefitted from the outset from the support of our newly re-elected leader Jeremy Corbyn, who has always supported the Kurdish movement and who is a patron of the Peace in Kurdistan Campaign.
https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/2016/09/28/pyd-8th-congress-held-in-brussels/
2. Ross Greer: Support Kurdish democracy from Turkish persecution
PEOPLE IN SCOTLAND should call for an end to the war against the people of Kurdistan, according to Scottish Green MSP Ross Greer.
Greer, part of a delegation to the conference of Kurdish PYD party, wants pressure to be placed on the Turkish government to stop its bombing campaign against Kurdish target.
The Kurds, the world’s largest stateless community, have faced decades of violent persecution in relation to their minority status across several Middle Eastern countries.
https://www.commonspace.scot/articles/9485/ross-greer-support-kurdish-democracy-turkish-persecution
3. AFTER GENOCIDE: GENDERED TRAUMA, TRANSMISSION AND REINVENTION, YEREVAN SEPTEMBER 17-18-19, texts of two speeches by Meral Cicek, REPAK
28 September/Peace in Kurdistan
The imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan named his in 2010 drafted defence writing “The Kurdish question and the Democratic Nation Solution: Defending the Kurds under the yoke of cultural genocide”. Many Kurds maybe found this warning exaggerated. Wasn’t the era of genocide in Kurdistan over? The 20th century has been a century of uprisings and genocides in Kurdistan.
https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/2016/09/28/two-speeches-by-meral-cicek-of-repak/
Peace in Kurdistan
Campaign for a political solution of the Kurdish Question
Email: [estella24@tiscali.co.uk]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 International Secretary, Simon Dubbins. UNITE International Director 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