Continue reading “‘Mandela struggled for freedom and democracy all over the world’ – KCK”
Seminar Notice: The long road to peace and reconciliation in Turkey
SOAS Kurdish Society in association with Peace in Kurdistan Campaign
The long road to peace and reconciliation in Turkey: Opportunities for genuine dialogue between Ankara and the Kurds
Seminar on Saturday, 16 November 4-6pm
SOAS, University of London, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square, London WC1H OXG, Room L67, Main Building
Speakers: Judge Essa Moosa, International Peace and Reconciliation Initiative, South Africa
Akif Wan, Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) UK Representative
Chair: Birgul Yilmaz, PhD Candidate in Linguistics & Teaching Fellow, SOAS, Faculty of Languages and Cultures
The key speaker at this seminar will be Judge Essa Moosa, a distinguished human rights advocate from South Africa, who is making a brief visit to London and will bring his considerable experience of involvement in the successful anti-apartheid struggle to contribute towards a peaceful democratic resolution of the Kurdish question, in this case in Turkey. Mr Moosa will discuss his work with the new International Peace and Reconciliation Initiative, established a year ago in response to a call from Archbishop Desmond Tutu for the Turkish government to begin negotiations with the Kurdish movement.
Continue reading “Seminar Notice: The long road to peace and reconciliation in Turkey”
KHRAG send open letter to US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton
The Kurdish Human Rights Action Group have sent an open letter to the US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton calling for the US to demand the freedom of Abdullah Ocalan:
We are writing to you this open letter regarding the Kurds, a people of over 40 million, and its incarcerated leader, Abdullah Öcalan. 
In 1999, your government, through the CIA, abducted the revered and popular Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, who was on his way to South Africa to seek political asylum. He was abducted in Kenya and handed over to the Turkish authorities. This was supposed to bring an end to the uprising of the Kurds in Turkey who have been fighting for their basic democratic rights for decades. But the Kurds cannot be expected to relinquish their most basic human rights like full citizenship rights, freedom of expression, freedom of association or the use of the Kurdish language as their mother-tongue in public schools. Continue reading “KHRAG send open letter to US Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton”
Call for release of Ocalan and human rights for Kurds at KHRAG AGM
Kurdish Human Rights Action Group (KHRAG) Media Release:
Thursday 24 May 2012
KHRAG held its AGM at the District Six Museum in Cape Town on Wednesday 23 May, during which participants reiterated the call for the release Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan and the extension of basic human rights to millions of Kurds in the Middle East.
About 70 people, many from a range of civil society organisations, attended the meeting, which was addressed by High Court Judge Vincent Saldanha.
Saldanha reflected on the oppressed status of the Kurds, the repression they faced and the complexities which a negotiated solution would present. He stressed the importance of South Africans expressing solidarity with the Kurds, given our own history of oppression and struggle.
Marcus Solomon, former Robben Island prisoner, spoke on behalf of the Solidarity Forum which included groups such as Friends of Cuba Society and the Palestine Solidarity Group. He urged collaboration between advocacy groups in order to strengthen their respective causes.
Messages of support were delivered by Dr Joey Moses of the National Association of Democratic Lawyers (Nadel) and Mandisi Mjoli of the Struggle Veterans Actions Committee. Continue reading “Call for release of Ocalan and human rights for Kurds at KHRAG AGM”