NEWS
1. “Rojava Revolution also makes a global revolution possible”
2. Kurdish official: Turkey attacks Afrin to regain influence in Syria
3. WATCH: Russia asks Kurds to hand Afrin to Syrian regime to stop Turkish attacks
4. Syrian Kurds must be given role in drafting new constitution: UN envoy
5. SDF to attend the meeting of anti-ISIS Coalition in Washington
6. Yüksekdağ: “We return Erdoğan’s comments in full”
7. Swedish politicians accuse Erdogan of genocide against Kurds
8. Germany sentences Kurdish politician to 3 years and 3 months
9. Co-Chair Demirtaş is nominated for the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize
10. OPEN CALL to The Chair Of The AKP
11. #WeareDemirtaş
12. British man and two Americans killed fighting Isis in Syria
KURDISH NEWS WEEKLY BRIEFING, 8 – 14 JULY 2017
13. A symbol of solidarity – Two more Turks honoured with Leipzig’s freedom of the press award
14. EU Parliament urges Turkey to release arrested journalists immediately
OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS
1. Torture, Brutality and Police Crime in Erdogan’s Turkey
2. The Intercept – TO SYRIA AND BACK
3. Iraq War veterans warn: Mosul ‘victory’ is prelude to Iraqi state-failure
4. No time for rest as Turkey’s Justice March reaches Istanbul
5. As ISIS Loses Ground the Trump Administration Should Extend Political Support to the Syrian Kurds: Analyst
6. Ankara may be counting on US-Russian rivalry in Syria
7. Cozy Tillerson-Erdogan meeting in Turkey raises hope for warming ties
8. The Next Battle: State Department, US Military Divided Over Kurdish Fighters In Syria and Russia
EVENTS
Kurdish Cultural Festival 30 July Quorn
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NEWS
1. “Rojava Revolution also makes a global revolution possible”
13 July/ANF News
BÖG fighter İmera Fereya Yeşilgöz: “We do not consider the Raqqa Operation as disconnected from the AKP’s fascism. Every blow we deliver here, and every single gang member we kill here, is at heart a blow to the ISIS gangs nested in Turkey and the world.”
https://anfenglish.com/news/rojava-revolution-also-makes-a-global-revolution-possible-20956
2. Kurdish official: Turkey attacks Afrin to regain influence in Syria
13 July/ARA News
A senior Kurdish official said on Wednesday that Turkey wants to attack the Kurdish district of Afrin (Efrîn) northwest of Aleppo, “fearing it has no longer a role in Syria.”
http://aranews.net/2017/07/kurdish-official-turkey-attacks-afrin-to-regain-influence-in-syria/
3. WATCH: Russia asks Kurds to hand Afrin to Syrian regime to stop Turkish attacks
13 July/Kurdistan 24
A top Syrian Kurdish official in the country’s north-west district of Afrin said on Thursday that Russian forces asked them to allow the Syrian army enter Afrin in order to stop the Turkish attacks on the region.
http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/b6158a99-dce6-493e-9a54-bf6dda696fac
4. Syrian Kurds must be given role in drafting new constitution: UN envoy
11 July/ Press TV
Staffan de Mistura told Russia’s RIA news agency in an interview published on Tuesday that the Kurds should not be ignored and their representatives must be allowed to take part in producing the initial version of such a document.
http://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2017/07/11/528115/UN-Syria-Kurds-role-drafting-constitution
5. SDF to attend the meeting of anti-ISIS Coalition in Washington
10 July/ANF News
According to information ANF obtained from SDF sources, a representative of the YPG-led Syrian Democratic Forces will attend the anti-ISIS Coalition meeting to be held in Washington on 11-13 July with the participation of representatives from 70 countries.
https://anfenglish.com/news/sdf-to-attend-the-meeting-of-anti-isis-coalition-in-washington-20908
6. Yüksekdağ: “We return Erdoğan’s comments in full”
13 July/ANF News
“The AKP Chairperson thought he could smother the will of the peoples through prison when he failed to defeat it by legitimate political methods, but he was wrong. Now he is trying to save the day with cheap makeshift labelling and insults, humiliating himself and his country in front of the whole world in the process. But, as is apparent, he only sinks lower.
https://anfenglish.com/news/yueksekdag-we-return-erdogan-s-comments-in-full-20951
7. Swedish politicians accuse Erdogan of genocide against Kurds
11 July/Al Masdar News
The five Scandinavian lawmakers, all from the Left and Green parties, came together on Tuesday morning to file the complaint, the first of its kind in the Swedish nation. Turkey stands accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes due to its counter-insurgency efforts in southeast Turkey.
https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/swedish-politicians-accuse-erdogan-genocide-kurds/
8. Germany sentences Kurdish politician to 3 years and 3 months
13 July/ANF English
The trial of Kurdish politician Muhlis Kaya at Stuttgart’s High State Court in accordance with the 129b article of German Criminal Code has been concluded today. Kaya, who is already jailed since 16 February 2016, has been sentenced to 3 years and 3 months in prison. Kaya has been denied abatement due to the act he stands trial for, and he will be released short before June, 2019.
https://anfenglish.com/news/germany-sentences-kurdish-politician-to-3-years-and-3-months-20957
9. Co-Chair Demirtaş is nominated for the Václav Havel Human Rights Prize
12 July/HDP
The Group of the Unified European Left at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has announced the nomination of Selahattin Demirtaş for the 2017 Václav Havel Human Rights Prize.
http://www.hdp.org.tr/en/news/news-from-hdp/co-chair-demirtas-is-nominated-for-the-václav-havel-human-rights-prize/10619
10. OPEN CALL to The Chair Of The AKP
10 July/HDP
First of all, I will return your insult that targeted the will of millions in my name. However, from another point of view I would like to ‘thank you’ because of your confession.
http://www.hdp.org.tr/en/english/news/news-from-hdp/open-call-to-the-chair-of-the-akp/10609
11. #WeareDemirtaş
8 July/HDP
AKP’s chair Erdogan, who speaks as the President of the Republic of Turkey, managed to utter the words “He is a terrorist” referring to our Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş in a statement he made in Hamburg.
http://www.hdp.org.tr/en/english/statements/wearedemirtas/10602
12. British man and two Americans killed fighting Isis in Syria
11 July/The Guardian
Luke Rutter, 22, from Birkenhead, was fighting with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) when he died last Wednesday evening during an ambush in a suburb of the Isis stronghold of Raqqa, his Kurdish commanders said.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jul/11/british-man-luke-rutter-killed-fighting-isis-in-syria
13. A symbol of solidarity – Two more Turks honoured with Leipzig’s freedom of the press award
6 July/European Centre for Press and Media Freedom
The awarding of our prize to Deniz Yücel and Asli Erdoğan is linked to a promise to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan who is taking part in the G20 Summit in Germany. He and his government can no more get rid of the demand for a return to press freedom and the release of arbitrarily arrested journalists than they can escape the responsibility for their political actions, for which they will some day be accountable”,
https://ecpmf.eu/news/awards/deniz-yuecel-and-asli-erdoan-win-the-prize-for-the-freedom-and-future-of-the-media-2017
14. EU Parliament urges Turkey to release arrested journalists immediately
7 July/European Federation of Journalists
The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) welcomes the resolution of the European Parliament calling for the immediate release of arrested journalists in Turkey. The European Parliament called on Thursday for Turkey’s European Union accession talks to be suspended if Ankara fully implements plans to expand President Erdogan‘s powers.
http://europeanjournalists.org/blog/2017/07/07/eu-parliament-urges-turkey-to-release-arrested-journalists-immediately/
OPINION, COMMENTARY, ANALYSIS
1. Torture, Brutality and Police Crime in Erdogan’s Turkey
by ROBERT FISK
14 July/Counter Punch
Fethullah Gulen says he has no intention of fleeing America if Donald Trump is going to extradite him to Turkey. But the Muslim cleric might like to read a new book before he obliges the Turkish President by climbing aboard a plane for Ankara or Istanbul. Accused of fomenting the attempted coup almost exactly a year ago, he has a touching faith in Turkish justice, which has organised the arrest of 50,000 Turks for involvement in the “terrorist” crime.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/07/14/torture-brutality-and-police-crime-in-erdogans-turkey/
2. The Intercept – TO SYRIA AND BACK
Josh Walker Fought Against ISIS. He Almost Got Killed. Now He’s Charged With Terrorism
10 July/The Intercept
IT WAS A quiet night until the bombs began crashing out of the sky. Only a few minutes earlier, on the roof of a gray, single-story building not far from the city of Manbij in northern Syria, Josh Walker had been peacefully sleeping. Now the walls were collapsing beneath him, he was surrounded by fire, and his friends were dead.
https://theintercept.com/2017/07/10/josh-walker-isis-uk-terrorism-charge-ypg-syria/
3. Iraq War veterans warn: Mosul ‘victory’ is prelude to Iraqi state-failure
13 July/Insurge Intelligence
ISIS has been routed from the Iraqi city of Mosul. Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has declared that this signals “the end and the failure and the collapse” of ISIS.
https://medium.com/insurge-intelligence/iraq-war-veterans-mosul-victory-is-prelude-to-iraqi-state-failure-533f5bcda665
4. No time for rest as Turkey’s Justice March reaches Istanbul
10 July/Al Monitor
Turkey’s Justice March, led by the main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, crescendoed on its 25th day in the Istanbul suburb of Maltepe with a mass rally that drew well over a million people protesting authoritarian rule in the country.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/07/turkey-justice-march-ends.html#ixzz4mf6a0q75
5. As ISIS Loses Ground the Trump Administration Should Extend Political Support to the Syrian Kurds: Analyst
10 July/ARA News
Syrian Kurds and their Arab allies, under the banner of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), are in the process of capturing Raqqa, the de-facto capital of ISIS in Syria. In Iraq, the coalition of Kurdish Peshmerga, Iraqi Army, and various Shiite and Sunni militias have now liberated Mosul, the most populous city held by ISIS.
http://aranews.net/2017/07/isis-loses-ground-trump-administration-extend-political-support-syrian-kurds-analyst/
6. Ankara may be counting on US-Russian rivalry in Syria
11 July/Al Monitor
The Syrian crisis has taken many unexpected turns since 2011. The involvement of local and global powers has not only complicated matters but also produced unwanted results for neighboring countries such as Turkey and Iraq.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/07/turkey-counting-on-russia-united-states-rivalry.html#ixzz4mf1G9YJp
7. Cozy Tillerson-Erdogan meeting in Turkey raises hope for warming ties
11 July/Al Monitor
The Syrian crisis has taken many unexpected turns since 2011. The involvement of local and global powers has not only complicated matters but also produced unwanted results for neighboring countries such as Turkey and Iraq.
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2017/07/us-turkey-relations-warm.html#ixzz4mf4WmTCm
8. The Next Battle: State Department, US Military Divided Over Kurdish Fighters In Syria (And Russia)
11 July/Defense One
The end game has arrived. In Syria, the U.S.-backed campaign to retake Raqqa from the Islamic State is nearing its final chapter. And yet the rifts inside the United States government about what to do next, as ISIS falls, are as evident in President Donald Trump’s administration as they were many months ago in Obama’s. The questions about the long-term have yet to be answered.
http://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2017/07/next-battle-state-department-us-military-divides-over-kurdish-fighters-syria-and-russia/139358/
EVENTS
Kurdish Cultural Festival 30 July Quorn
A great FREE event for all the family, with children’s activities, organised by the General Federation of Trade Unions, Freedom for Ocalan Campaign, Peace in Kurdistan, Kurdish People’s Assembly UK, Kurdish Youth Movement and KNK (Kurdish National Congress) UK.
https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/kurdish-festival-programme-1-337784-1.pdf
Register through: http://kurdishfestival.getforge.io
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 Fax: 020 7263 0596
Patrons: Lord Rea, Lord Dholakia, Baroness Sarah Ludford, Jill Evans MEP, Jean Lambert MEP,Julie Ward MEP, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Hywel Williams MP, Kate Osamor MP, Elfyn Llwyd, Dafydd Iwan, Former President Plaid Cymru, Sinn Fein MLA Conor Murphy, John Austin, Christine Blower, NUT International Secretary, Simon Dubbins, UNITE International Director, Doug Nicholls, General Secretary, General Federations of Trade Unions, Bruce Kent, Gareth Peirce, Julie Christie, Noam Chomsky, James Kelman, Margaret Owen OBE, Prof Mary Davis, Dr Thomas Jeffrey Miley, Mark Thomas, Nick Hildyard, Stephen Smellie, Derek Wall, Melanie Gingell, Steve Sweeney