KURDISH NEWS WEEKLY BRIEFING, 7 – 13 May 2016
NEWS
- Bayık: United Nations should INVESTIGATE Turkey’s war crimes
- 73% of the women in state “protection” have been killed in Turkey
- Şırnak People’s Assembly calls for resistance
- Syrian Kurds increasing diplomatic representation abroad
- TEV-DEM calls for international action against Turkey’s attacks on Rojava
- Turkey accused of violating rights of Kurds, Syrians
- Turkey ‘needs to fulfil deal’ to gain visa-free EU travel
- German award goes to academics calling for end of Turkish military operations
- Turkish army destroying over 350 houses in Kurdish city
- Press freedom must be a part of any agreement with Turkey
- Erdoğan seeks injunction against German media chief who laughed at poem
- ‘Delicious & juicy’ Erdogan burgers off the menu: Threats force German eatery to close
- What next for Turkey’s AKP after Davutoglu’s exit?
- How the US caused the Erdogan-Davutoglu divorce
OPINION, COMMENT, ANALYSIS
- The Rojava Revolution and British Solidarity
- What’s left of Turkish democracy?
- Turkey’s Choices: Muslim Brotherhood or Regional Isolation
- Saudi King Shakes Up Government as Economic Plan Moves Forward
- US-NATO “Humanitarian Interventions” have Resulted in “Crimes against Humanity”…
- 15 steps for Turkish-Kurdish peace
- Women in Combat: Identifying Global trends
STATEMENTS
- Press freedom must be a part of any agreement with Turkey
- Rojava warns Turkey to stop its attacks
ACTION
- From Oslo to Ankara: two Kurdish women walk 5000 km for peace and justice
EVENTS
- Centre for Kurdish Progress Public Forum on 18 May: From Peace Process to Conflict in Turkey: State Violence and Media’s Role in Polarisation
- Kurdish Migration Conference 2016: From Subordination to Transnational Mobilisation, 27 May 2016
NEWS
- Bayık: United Nations should INVESTIGATE Turkey’s war crimes
12 May 2016 / ANF News
KCK Executive Council Co-President Cemil Bayık evaluated recent political developments to ANF. Bayık highlighted the intensified isolation of Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan, and said that the CPT’s visit to İmralı was overdue and made possible by the pressures of Kurdish people. Bayık stated that the CPT should INFORM the public about the conditions of Leader Öcalan as soon as possible.
http://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/bayik-united-nations-should-investigate-turkey-s-war-crimes
- 73% of the women in state “protection” have been killed in Turkey
12 May 2016 / ANF News
According to women’s organisations, 73% of the women with protection orders by the state have been killed in Turkey. While violence against women skyrocketed during the AKP rule, it is also significant that 47% of the murders are committed by ex-husbands or husbands in the divorce process.
http://anfenglish.com/women/73-of-the-women-in-state-protection-have-been-killed-in-turkey
- Şırnak People’s Assembly calls for resistance
12 May 2016 / ANF News
Şırnak People’s Democratic Assembly stated that the 2 months-old Botan resistance surpasses those of Stalingrad and Kela Dimdimê, and defends humanity’s communal values and moral-political life with the spirit of Kobanê.
http://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/sirnak-people-s-assembly-calls-for-resistance
- Syrian Kurds increasing diplomatic representation abroad
12 May 2016 / ARA News
The Syrian Kurdish administration recently opened a new office in Berlin in Germany. The Auto-Administration of Rojava is also planning to open two more offices in the future, a Kurdish official told ARA News.
http://aranews.net/2016/05/syrian-kurds-increasing-diplomatic-representation-abroad/
- TEV-DEM calls for international action against Turkey’s attacks on Rojava
12 May 2016 / ANF News
Rojava’s Democratic Society Movement (TEV-DEM) issued a written statement calling upon international institutions to adopt an attitude against the Turkish state’s inhuman practices targeting the people of West Kurdistan.
- Turkey accused of violating rights of Kurds, Syrians
10 May 2016 / `Washington Times
ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Turkey came under scrutiny on Tuesday for alleged human rights violations committed by security forces against Kurds in the southeast and Syrian refugees trying to enter the country, with two organizations calling for investigations.
- Turkey ‘needs to fulfil deal’ to gain visa-free EU travel
12 May 2016 / BBC News
A deal to allow Turks visa-free travel within Europe will collapse if Turkey does not fulfil its commitments, the European Commission president has said.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36276419
- German award goes to academics calling for end of Turkish military operations
9 May 2016 / DW
A group of more than 1,000 academics calling for an end of Turkish state violence against the country’s Kurdish population have won the prestigious Aachen Peace Award.
Academics for Peace, a group of scholars from universities inside and outside of Turkey, came into President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s crosshairs in January after they issued an open letter calling for the state to end ongoing military operations in southeastern Turkey and resume peace negotiations with Kurdish militants.
- Turkish army destroying over 350 houses in Kurdish city
9 May 2016 / ARA News
The Turkish army forces have been bombing the Kurdish city of Nusaybin southeastern Turkey for months, destroying hundreds of residential buildings in the city under heavy bombardment, Kurdish activists reported on Sunday.
http://aranews.net/2016/05/turkish-army-destroying-350-houses-kurdish-city/
- Press freedom must be a part of any agreement with Turkey
7 May 2016 / European Federation of Journalists
The European Federation of Journalist (EFJ) has strongly condemned the assassination attempt on 6 May in Istanbul against journalist Can Dündar (editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet daily newspaper) and the jail sentences of 5 years and 10 months for Can Dündar and 5 years for Erdem Gül for procuring, revealing and publishing state secrets. Cumhuriyet published in May 2015 footage that show Turkey’s state intelligence agency ferrying weapons into Syria in 2014, the journalists have since been accused of revealing state secrets.
- Erdoğan seeks injunction against German media chief who laughed at poem
10 May 2016 / The Guardian
The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is seeking an injunction against the chief executive of the German publisher Axel Springer.
The president’s lawyer, Ralf Höcker, said Erdoğan was taking legal action due to Mathias Döpfner’s support for a poem read out by comedian Jan Böhmermann on German television in March.
- ‘Delicious & juicy’ Erdogan burgers off the menu: Threats force German eatery to close
10 May 2016 / RT
A restaurant in Cologne that was selling “delicious and juicy” Erdogan burgers, apparently named after the Turkish president, was forced to close over “credible threats” it had received, the eatery said.
The burgers had only been on sale in the Urban Burgery restaurant since April.
https://www.rt.com/news/342492-german-restaurant-erdogan-burger/
- What next for Turkey’s AKP after Davutoglu’s exit?
6 May 2016 / Al Monitor
In Turkey, prime ministers normally lose their job when they lose an election, or they lose the majority of the seats in the parliament due to a break down in their party. Turkey’s current Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu had none of those problems. He had won a sweeping election victory just six months ago and his party is more intact than ever. Yet, still he had to give a farewell speech on May 5. He announced that there will be a surprise snap party congress in 17 days to chose the new party leader, but he himself will not run. “This is not my decision,” he said, “but a necessity.”
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2016/05/turkey-what-next-for-akp-after-davutoglu.html#
- How the US caused the Erdogan-Davutoglu divorce
5 May 2016 / Al Monitor
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is stepping down and the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) will hold an extraordinary congress on May 22 to elect a new chairman and prime minister. Davutoglu will not be one of the candidates on the ballot. Sources in Ankara explain the process as the graceful exit of Davutoglu from a messy situation and preserving the AKP’s status. Al-Monitor columnist Mustafa Akyol has provided a succinct account of the May 1 Pelican Brief blog that rocked Ankara and led to Davutoglu’s downfall.
OPINION, COMMENT ANALYSIS
- The Rojava Revolution and British Solidarity
2016 / Anarchist Studies 24.1
Since the civil war in Syria erupted, ordinary Syrians seemed to have been forced
to choose between two alternatives – to either side with the Assad regime or an
extremist Islamist group. The Kurds in the north of Syria rejected both of these to
instead pave the way for a third option: democracy. Taking advantage of the power
vacuum created after Assad’s forces withdrew from the region to fight Islamic
extremists, the Kurds in the north of Syria formed three autonomous cantons…
https://www.lwbooks.co.uk/sites/default/files/as24.1_01savran.pdf
- What’s left of Turkish democracy?
8 May 2016 / Al Monitor
The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) last week introduced a bill to deprive parliamentary deputies of immunity from prosecution, which will allow the government to prosecute pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers on charges of collusion with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which both Turkey and the United States consider a terrorist organization.
- Turkey’s Choices: Muslim Brotherhood or Regional Isolation
2 May 2016 / Middle East Institute
In the latest attempt to break Turkey’s regional isolation, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu wrapped up last week what he described as a watershed visit to the United Arab Emirates. He held meetings with high-ranking leaders and successfully improved ties with a key Arab state that has opposed Turkey’s pro-Muslim Brotherhood regional policies. The U.A.E. announced during the visit that it has decided to appoint an ambassador to Turkey after three years of coldness in ties.
http://www.mei.edu/content/article/turkey%E2%80%99s-choices-muslim-brotherhood-or-regional-isolation
- Saudi King Shakes Up Government as Economic Plan Moves Forward
7 May 2016 / NY Times
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Troubled by low oil prices and unsettled by a hostile landscape in the Middle East heightened by a growing rivalry with Iran, Saudi Arabia is moving to chart an ambitious new direction for the kingdom.
- US-NATO “Humanitarian Interventions” have Resulted in “Crimes against Humanity”…
9 May 2016 / Global Research
The West and its allies are perpetrating unspeakable yet well-documented crimes against humanity as Washington forges ahead with its pre-planned agenda to destroy non-compliant areas in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) in favour of its Wahhabi-inspired proxy armies, which include ISIS and al-Qaeda/Jabhat al-Nursra.
- 15 steps for Turkish-Kurdish peace
6 May 2016 / Open Democracy
In 2002 when elected for the first time, Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party (AKP) made six important pledges. These were: to develop ‘a new pluralistic constitution which respected the ethnic and religious diversity of the country’; to establish a ‘strong democracy’; to strengthen the ‘rule of law’; to respect ‘freedom of speech’; ‘to have zero problems with neighbours’ and ‘to find a peaceful resolution with the Kurds’.
- Women in Combat: Identifying Global trends
2016 / Carol Mann
https://www.academia.edu/24785852/Women_in_Combat_Identifying_Global_trends?auto=download
STATEMENT
- Press freedom must be a part of any agreement with Turkey
7 May 2016 / European Federation of Journalists
The European Federation of Journalist (EFJ) has strongly condemned the assassination attempt on 6 May in Istanbul against journalist Can Dündar (editor-in-chief of Cumhuriyet daily newspaper) and the jail sentences of 5 years and 10 months for Can Dündar and 5 years for Erdem Gül for procuring, revealing and publishing state secrets. Cumhuriyet published in May 2015 footage that show Turkey’s state intelligence agency ferrying weapons into Syria in 2014, the journalists have since been accused of revealing state secrets.
- Rojava warns Turkey to stop its attacks
12 May 2016 / ANF News
Rojava Cantons General Coordination issued a written statement on the crimes Turkish state forces have been committing in Rojava.
Rojava Cantons General Coordination stated that Syria has been open to violence despite their efforts to uphold peace and security in the region, and the Turkish state has been upsetting the coordination’s efforts to provide peace and security on the border between Rojava and Turkey.
http://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/rojava-warns-turkey-to-stop-its-attacks
ACTION
- From Oslo to Ankara: two Kurdish women walk 5000 km for peace and justice
Saadet Che Demir and Gulbahar Adanc are two young Kurdish women from Norway, who have a remarkable story to tell. Saadet and Gulbahar had been Kurdish activists for a long time, but the massacre in Cizre last September, where the Turkish army killed hundreds of Kurds during violent round-the-clock curfews, changed something in them. The ongoing massacres and injustices against Kurds in Turkey and the Middle East became too much to bear and urged them to do something. They decided to start a civil protest, of a scale that would match the atrocities being committed: Saadet and Gulbahar started walking from Norway to Turkey.
http://82992.seu1.cleverreach.com/m/6537302/0-702303b3d8142a403c5cabcc3a9b69c0
EVENTS
- Centre for Kurdish Progress Public Forum on 18 May: From Peace Process to Conflict in Turkey: State Violence and Media’s Role in Polarisation
18 May 2016 / Kurdish Progress
You are cordially invited to Centre for Kurdish Progress Public Forum with keynote speakers Mr Faysal Sariyildiz Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MP for Sirnak and journalist Mr Kadir Suleyman Kacan.
- Kurdish Migration Conference 2016: From Subordination to Transnational Mobilisation, 27 May 2016
27 May 2016, 9:00am London
The lack of a home nation state has led to a relative invisibility of Kurdish migrants both in public and academic spheres in the settlement countries where they have been registered according to their nationality but not ethnic affiliation. As a result of this, Kurdish migrants have constantly been encompassed in national categories of their COUNTRY OF ORIGIN. This was also reflected in a limited public and scholarly attention on them. However, local civic and cultural activism, together with transnationalized Kurdish political mobilisation has drawn attention to the Kurds in the Diaspora. Consequently, recent years have witnessed a growing number of theoretical, conceptual and empirical works on themes related to Kurdish migration. The Kurdish Migration Conference 2016 aims to bring together researchers from multiple disciplines working on Kurdish migration to exchange and share their research findings and experiences about all aspects of migration in, from and to Kurdistan.
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, 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