NEWS
1. Uludere Attack: Survivors Froze to Death
2. PKK Calls For Uprising After Turkish Warplanes Kill 36 People
3. Uludere Katliamı – Ax lımın Dayê (Şırnak 28.12.2011) – Video
4. Turkey airstrike: mourners pummel local official
5. Two people killed by police – UPDATE
6. Kurds at ‘breaking point’ after killing of civilians
7. Turkey to compensated air strike victims
8. Two more Journalists Arrested
9. Bill of Exception for Detained Journalists
10. Turkish military chief: We do not want to call our citizens ‘terrorists’
11. KCK trial to resume on 9 January
12. Pro-Kurdish deputies stage sit-in protest in Turkish Parliament
13. Charges against journalists dim the Democratic glow in Turkey
14. Assad: Friend or foe of the Kurds
15. Turkey to Broach Kurdistan Issue in Tehran
16. Kurds to stay clear of Iraq sectarian strife
17. Kurds launch “Letter to President Obama” campaign
COMMENT, OPINION AND ANALYSIS
18. END THE MASSACRE OF KURDS IN TURKEY!
19. Karayilan: 2012 will be the year of freedom
20. The massacre of Kurds in Sirnak: Turkish state terror in action
21. Rebels Against The Pasdaran
PRESS RELEASES AND STATEMENTS
22. KNK Press Release: Massacre by Turkish state continues! 29 December 2011
23. BDP Statement to the press and public, 29 December 2011
24. Amnesty International Press Release: Turkey Must Investigate Civilian killings, 30 December 2011
25. Assembly of Armenians of Europe: WE CONDEMN THE CONTINUOUS TURKISH VIOLATIONS, Stockholm, December 30, 2011
CAMPAIGNS
26. SEND YOUR OWN LETTER TO OBAMA: Do not be a part of the Kurdish massacre in Turkey!
NEWS
1. Uludere Attack: Survivors Froze to Death
4 January 2012 / Bianet
Eight non-governmental Turkish organizations carried out a joint investigation into the military operation on Uludere in the pre-dominantly Kurdish region of south-eastern Turkey. 35 civilians died in the course of aerial strikes on 28 December 2011. The Association of Human Rights and Solidarity for Oppressed Peoples (MAZLUMDER), the Human Rights Association (İHD), the Confederation of Trade Unions of Public Employees (KESK), the Turkish Medical Chamber (TTB), the Association of Contemporary Lawyers (ÇHD), the Turkish Human Rights Foundation (TİHV), the Turkey Peace Parliament (TBM) and the General Workers’ Union affiliated to the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions (DİSK) announced their findings in a joint press release on Tuesday (3 January).
http://bianet.org/english/minorities/135206-uludere-attack-survivors-froze-to-death
2. PKK Calls For Uprising After Turkish Warplanes Kill 36 People
30 December 2011 / Rudaw – Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) called for an uprising on Thursday against the Turkish state, after Turkish warplanes killed at least 36 civilian Kurds near the village of Uludere in Sirnak province. “We call on all the people of Kurdistan and especially that of Hakkari and Sirnak to show their reaction against this massacre and to hold the perpetrators of this massacre accountable through their serhildan [uprising],” Bahoz Erdal, a PKK commander said in a press release.
http://www.rudaw.net/english/news/turkey/4276.html
3. Uludere Katliamı – Ax lımın Dayê (Şırnak 28.12.2011) – Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfOjcf9rHtI&feature=related
4. Turkey airstrike: mourners pummel local official
31 December 2011 / Boston.com
Angry Kurds on Saturday assaulted a local official who sought to offer condolences in a village in Turkey where 35 civilians were mistakenly killed in a military airstrike meant to target Kurdish rebels. The televised spectacle of men throwing punches and stones at Naif Yavuz, a district governor, was the latest eruption of fury over Wednesday’s airstrikes, and it highlighted the deep gulf of trust between the Turkish state and large segments of its ethnic Kurd minority.
http://articles.boston.com/2011-12-31/news/30577252_1_kurdish-rebels-kurdistan-workers-murat-karayilan
5. Two people killed by police – UPDATE
31 December 2011 / ANF
According to reports coming through two young people have been killed by police in Diyarbakır, in the Kayapınar area. Earlier reports said that during a house raid by police a clash broke out and two wounded people threw themselves or were thrown out from the building. It is now claimed by eyewitnesses that in fact the two boys have been shot on the street by the police.
http://en.firatnews.eu/index.php?rupel=article&nuceID=3814
6. Kurds at ‘breaking point’ after killing of civilians
3 January 2012 / Hurriyet
The peaceful, non-militant Kurds are ‘hurt’ by the government’s attitude following a botched air raid by the Turkish military killing 35 civilians, says Sezgin Tanrıkulu, deputy leader of the main opposition party. The government’s “dismissive attitude” after a botched air raid killed 35 civilians in Southeast Anatolia has led to a drastic shift of sentiment among peaceful, non-militant Kurds in the area, a senior Republican People’s Party (CHP) official has said.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/kurds-at-breaking-point-after-killing-of-civilians.aspx?pageID=238&nID=10598&NewsCatID=338
7. Turkey to compensated air strike victims
3 January 2012 / Guardian
Turkey will compensate the families of 35 civilians mistakenly killed in an air strike meant for Kurdish rebels, the deputy prime minister has said, even as he insisted that military officials followed proper procedures, including firing warning shots. The air strikes, guided by intelligence from drones and fired by Turkish F-16 jets, hit a group of Kurdish smugglers in northern Iraq last week. The loss of life was one of the highest civilian death tolls in one day in Turkey’s conflict with the rebels.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/03/turkey-compensate-air-strike-victims
8. Two more Journalists Arrested
4 January 2012 / Bianet
33 people were taken into custody in the course of protests in Diyarbakır against the military attack in Uludere (south-eastern Turkey). As reported on 3 January, 16 of the people in custody were arrested, among them journalist Eser Sevgül, reporter for the Halkın Günlüğü (Agenda of the People’) newspaper. At the same time, journalist Turabi Kişin, former editor of the Özgür Gündem (‘Free Agenda’) newspaper, was arrested in the scope of an operation related to the Union of Kurdish Communities (KCK), the umbrella organization that includes the armed outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
http://bianet.org/english/minorities/135202-two-more-journalists-arrested
9. Bill of Exception for Detained Journalists
2 January 2012 / Bianet
A group of defence lawyers affiliated with the Istanbul Bar Association issued a press release in front of the Beşiktaş (Istanbul) Courthouse on 29 December in order to support journalists who are detained in the context of the trial related to the Union of Kurdish Communities (KCK). The KCK was founded by Abdullah Öcalan, imprisoned leader of the armed outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The lawyers submitted a bill of exception with regard to the detention of the journalists.
http://bianet.org/english/freedom-of-expression/135153-bill-of-exception-for-detained-journalists
10. Turkish military chief: We do not want to call our citizens ‘terrorists’
5 January 2012 / Todays Zaman
Turkish Chief of General Staff Gen. Necdet Özel has said the military does not want to refer to members of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as terrorists as they think that they are citizens of Turkey who were deceived by the PKK. In an interview with the Milliyet daily’s Fikret Bila, Özel commented on the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) recently revised counterterrorism strategies when asked about a photograph published in almost all Turkish newspapers last month from a military operation in Bingöl which showed a 15-year-old PKK member captured in a ground operation.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-267665-.html
11. KCK trial to resume on 9 January
30 December 2011 / ANF
Trial against 152 Kurdish politicians and human rights activists once more adjourned
The trial against over 150 Kurdish politicians and human rights activists in Diyarbakır has been postponed to the 9 of January at the end of today’s hearing. The so called KCK (Kurdish Communities Union) trial opened in October last year and so far has failed to produce any concrete evidence of what the defendants actually stand trial for.
http://en.firatnews.eu/index.php?rupel=article&nuceID=3812
12. Pro-Kurdish deputies stage sit-in protest in Turkish Parliament
3 January 2012 / Todays Zaman
Pro-Kurdish deputies from the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and other independent deputies in Parliament staged a sit-in protest on Tuesday night to express their discontent with the “latest developments” in Turkey that they say have brought the country to a critical juncture.
http://www.todayszaman.com/news-267561-pro-kurdish-deputies-stage-sit-in-protest-in-turkish-parliament.html
13. Charges against journalists dim the Democratic glow in Turkey
5 January 2012 / Star Advertiser
A year ago, journalist Nedim Sener was investigating a murky terrorist network that prosecutors maintain was plotting to overthrow Turkey’s Muslim-inspired government. Today, Sener stands accused of being part of that plot, jailed in what human rights groups call a political pogrom against the governing party’s critics.
http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/19040101_Charges_against_journalists_dim_the_Democratic_glow_in_Turkey.html
14. Assad: Friend or foe of the Kurds?
4 January 2012 / The Australian
As Syrian protesters battle to overthrow President Bashar Al Assad, the country’s large Kurdish minority is struggling to decide if its interests lie in the fall of the regime or in its survival. Politically divided and uncertain about their future, Syria’s two million Kurds, 10 per cent of the population, have played a limited role in the uprising, analysts, activists and Kurdish groups say.
http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/assad-friend-or-foe-of-the-kurds
15. Turkey to Broach Kurdistan Issue in Tehran
4 January 2012 / Voice of America
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is in Iran for talks that are expected to address the burgeoning political crisis in neighboring Iraq, where Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi has fled to the semiautonomous Kurdistan region to escape a warrant for his arrest. Al-Hashemi has taken sanctuary in the disputed northern territory in the wake of charges he led Sunni death squads against Shi’ite opponents — charges he denies. Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, a Shi’ite who ordered the arrest warrant, has demanded the Iraqi Kurds hand over Hashemi. They have refused and are instead calling for talks to resolve the crisis.
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Turkey-to-Broach-Sensitive-Kurdistan-Issue-in-Tehran-136676958.html
16. Kurds to stay clear of Iraq sectarian strife
4 January 2012 / Reuters Africa
Iraq’s Kurds are determined not to get dragged into a sectarian conflict over Shi’ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s attempted arrest of the Sunni vice-president, and the Kurds’ leader said failure to implement a federal system would lead to disaster.
http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE80318U20120104
17. Kurds launch “Letter to President Obama” campaign
5 January 2012 / ANF
Within the frame of the campaign launched by KON-KURD (the Confederation of In Kurdish Associations in Europe) and other 10 federations affiliated to it, Kurds are beginning to send a letter to U.S. president Barack Obama. The campaign will last until January 31th. Kurdish institutions aim to point out the support the USA are providing to Turkey, both in terms of intelligence-sharing and military sales, ultimately hits Kurds.
http://en.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=article&nuceID=3845
To write your own letter to President Obama, see below for details.
COMMENT, OPINION AND ANALYSIS
18. END THE MASSACRE OF KURDS IN TURKEY!
29 December 2011 / Apgogeeculture
Following the authorisation given by the Turkish government to its army to attack all life forms seen in the Kurdish countryside, Turkish war planes have begun a process of systematic massacre against the Kurdish people. This systematic killing has claimed the lives of 35 Kurds after F-16 fighter jets attacked the outskirts of Roboski village using illegal weapons and gas.
http://apogeeculture.blogspot.com/
19. Karayilan: 2012 will be the year of freedom
1 January 2012 / Rojhelat
Murat Karayilan the President of Kurdistan’s Communities Union (KCK) stated in an in interview with ANF that Roboski Massacre was premeditated and the village was deliberately targeted by the Turkish army. “In my opinion – said Karayilan – the village of Roboski was deliberately targeted in this clearly planned attack. This event is above the 33 bullet event in which 33 Kurdish citizens were slaughtered in Ozalp district of Wan 68 years ago.
http://www.rojhelat.info/english/taybet/1939-karayilan-2012-will-be-the-year-of-freedom
20. The massacre of Kurds in Sirnak: Turkish state terror in action
3 January 2012 / Rojhelat
The ruling AKP government in Turkey (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi, Justice and Development Party) has made a huge effort in recent years to promote to the outside world an image of an almost “progressive” government, verbally embracing the Palestinian cause and condemning in the strongest terms the repression in Syria. This has been part of its bid to win a position for Turkey as a regional power in the Middle East, trying to overcome the reluctance of their Arab neighbours towards them since the time of Ottoman Empire.
http://www.rojhelat.info/english/perspectives/1948-the-massacre-of-kurds-in-sirnak-turkish-state-terror-in-action
21. Rebels Against The Pasdaran
2 January 2012 / Gloria Centre, Global Research in International Affairs
In July, 2011, as the world focused on the bright hopes raised by the Arab Spring, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps launched a large-scale assault across the Iran-Iraq border. Their intention was to wipe out an armed challenge to the Islamist regime in Teheran. The target was PJAK (Party for a Free Life In Kurdistan), an Iranian Kurdish organization engaged in both political and military struggle against the regime.
http://www.gloria-center.org/2012/01/rebels-against-the-pasdaran/
PRESS RELEASES AND STATEMENTS
22. KNK Press Release: Massacre by Turkish state continues! 29 December 2011
Turkish war planes bomb Kurdish village and massacre 40 children and youth in Sirnak, South East Turkey. Turkish war planes bombed Roboski village, a Kurdish village in the South East province of Sirnak, Turkey, killing at least 40 civilians, many of them children and youth, late last night. 24 of those killed belonged to the same family.
http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/knk-press-release-massacre-by-turkish-state-continues/
23. BDP Statement to the press and public, 29 December 2011
Another massacre was added to the massacre history of Turkey last night. F-16 war planes which took flight from Diyarbakir military airbase carried out air attacks in the surrounding area of Sirnak province, Uludere towns’, Ortasu (Roboski) village and killed 35 civilians, most of whom are between the ages of 15-20.
http://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2012/01/04/bdp-statement-atrocities-in-sirnak-province/
24. Amnesty International Press Release: Turkey Must Investigate Civilian killings, 30 December 2011
Amnesty International calls on the Turkish authorities to investigate immediately the death of at least 35 civilians in a military airstrike near the Iraqi border in south-eastern Turkey on the night of 28 December 2011.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/for-media/press-releases/turkey-must-investigate-civilian-killings-2011-12-30
25. Assembly of Armenians of Europe: WE CONDEMN THE CONTINUOUS TURKISH VIOLATIONS, Stockholm, December 30, 2011
The Assembly of Armenians of Europe condemns the bombardment of Iraqi Kurdistan by the Turkish artillery forces and the murder of unarmed Kurdish people.
http://norkhosq.net/?p=9143
CAMPAIGNS
26. SEND YOUR OWN LETTER TO OBAMA: Do not be apart of the Kurdish massacre in Turkey!
Join the campaign and tell President Obama what you think. You will find a sample letter here, which you can send to:
Address: US Presidency – The Whitehouse – Washington DC
e-mail: president@whitehouse.gov <mailto:president@whitehouse.gov>
Phone: 001 202 456-1414 – Fax: 001 202 456-2461
For more information on the letter writing campaign, contact Kurdish Info: kurdishinfoen@gmail.com/ kurdishinfo_info@yahoo.com