NEWS
1. Health of hunger strikers deteriorates
2. Turkish warplanes hit Northern Iraq
3. Swoboda calls on Turkey to negotiate with PKK
4. Turkish intelligence, police join to deny rift allegations
5. Ten Kurdish politicians jailed in Adana
6. Lawyers want Ocalan to be heard in KCK case
7. Riot police prevent Kurdish women’s celebration in Mersim
8. Istanbul governor forbids early Nevruz celebrations
9. Kurdish language conference held in Diyarbakir
10. Turkey’s Ilisu Dam Threatens Ancient Town
11. Milestone Decision for Conscientious Objection in Turkey
12. Kurds hold demonstrations in Yerevan for Kurdish women arrested in Turkey
13. Chemical weapons allegations on European Union’s table
14. Stop the War Coalition Motion takes a stand in support of the Kurds
15. Halabja conference in European Parliament discusses Kurdish genocides
16. REPORT: GUE/NGL groups releases report into sexual abuse at Pozanti Prison
17. REPORT: EU publishes draft 2011 Progress Report on Turkey
18. Syrian police open fire on Kurdish memorial rally
19. REPORT: The Decisive Minority – The Critical Role of Syria’s Kurds in the Anti-Assad Revolution
COMMENT, OPINION AND ANALYSIS
20. Financial and human costs of terrorism are unbearable
21. The Hunger Strike
22. This row is likely to go on for some time!
23. Nothing but justice
24. Kurdish intellectuals warn of provocations ahead of Nevruz
25. The Kurdish quiet spring
26. Syrian Kurds Flee Into Iraqi Refugee Limbo
27. The Assyrian Genocide, Armenia and Turkey
STATEMENTS, ACTIONS AND PETITIONS
28. Kurdish Federation Press release: Kurdish political activists begin hunger strike in London
29. Kurdish Federation Statement: Kurdish political activists on hunger strike in London 13 – 17 March 2012
30. Come to Trafalgar Square and show your support for the Kurdish hunger strikers!
31. Society for Threatened Peoples writes an open letter to the Mayor of Bochum
32. GegenStrömung – CounterCurrent Press Release and Petition: Heritage before Hydropower: Petition to UNESCO on Ilisu Dam launched
33. KRG UK Representation and parliamentarians mark Halabja anniversary and launch e-petition on recognition of Kurdish genocide
NEWS
1. Health of hunger strikers deteriorates
15 March 2012 / ANF
The hunger strikes carried out to demand better health, safe and freedom conditions for Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan continue in Diyarbakır, İzmir, Mersin, Istanbul and Nusaybin. It has been reported that hunger strikers’ health is deterioring every passing day in Diyarbakır. Members of the Association of Solidarity with Families of Prisoners (TUHAD-DER) in Diyarbakır have begun the fast nine days ago. On Monday a hunger striker fainted while on Tuesday two other hunger strikers were said to be in bad health by doctors.
2. Turkish warplanes hit Northern Iraq
14 March 2012 / Reuters
Turkish warplanes launched a wave of air strikes on northern Iraq late yesterday, where they often target bases of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), but there were no reports of casualties, witnesses and border guards said today. “After 10:00 last night, the Turkish warplanes hit some areas near the border in three locations,” said Col. Hussein Tamr, commander of border guards in Dahuk province, part of Iraq’s northern autonomous Kurdish region.
3. Swoboda calls on Turkey to negotiate with PKK
13 March 2012 / ANF
Socialist group leader Hannes Swoboda called on Turkish authorities to start negotiations with the PKK again. – In a press statement at the European Parliament, Socialist group leader Hannes Swoboda called on Turkish authorities to re-launch negotiations with the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) to overcome the problem of the Kurdish people.
4. Turkish intelligence, police join to deny rift allegations
14 March 2012 / Hürriyet Daily News
National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and the Police Headquarters denied allegations of a rift between the two institutions in a joint press statement released in an unprecedented show of solidarity yesterday. “Special care needs to be taken to observe the principle of informing the public truthfully, and to avoid wearing [the police and MİT] down in news stories about these two institutions, which jointly execute critical tasks in the struggle against terrorism,” the statement read, reported the Doğan news agency.
5. Ten Kurdish politicians jailed in Adana
10 March 2012 / ANF
Ten Kurdish politicians who were taken into custody in raids in Adana on 6 March were reminded in custody on Friday accused of bin members of an illegal organization.The jailed politicians are Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) central executive board member Mihdi Aslan, BDP Adana City Council member Şefik Özbey, BDP Ceyhan branch chair Hüseyin Oğaç and deputy chair Refik Bayav, BDP Adana branch bookkeeper Zülküf Tezkorkmaz and deputy bookkeeper Sadreddin Argın, BDP Adana branch executive Fatma Çatıkaş, Gülbahçesi Association of Democratic Culture and Solidarity chair Mahmut Aslan, deputy chair Adil Yalçın and executive Mehmet Dündar.
6. Lawyers want Ocalan to be heard in KCK case
15 March 2012 / Hurriyet
Lawyers under arrest in the ongoing Kurdish Communities’ Union (KCK) case have applied to the prosecutor’s office to have Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), heard as a witness in the trial. “[We] lawyers under arrest are accused of ‘getting orders from Öcalan, transmitting the orders to the alleged [KCK] organization, leading to actions as a result of such orders and informing Öcalan about the results,’” the lawyers said in a petition to the Istanbul Public Prosecutor’s Office for the PKK leader to be heard in the trial. “As such, Abdullah Öcalan is the focus of the probe, and his testimony on the accusations will be crucial.”
7. Riot police prevent Kurdish women’s celebration in Mersim
11 March 2012 / Alliance for Kurdish Rights
Kurdish women were restricted from a social celebratory gathering in Akdeniz district of Mersin Saturday. The Square where the celebration was supposed to take place was sealed off by riot police despite pleas from Aynur Asan, BDP’s co-chair in Mersin, the event was cancelled. In London, Kurdish women held a social gathering where they celebrated the advancement of women rights in Kurdish regions through poetry, folklore dancing and short speeches by prominent members within the Kurdish community.
8. Istanbul governor forbids early Nevruz celebrations
15 March 2012 / Hurriyet
The Istanbul Governor yesterday announced as unlawful a planned meeting of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) on March 18 to celebrate Nevruz, a festival marking the beginning of spring, prompting a fierce reaction from the opposition party. “The date of Nevruz is clear, it is on March 21, we only allow people to celebrate it on its correct date, we will not allow any illegal act,” Gov. Hüseyin Avni Mutlu told reporters. Mutlu said celebrations on March 21, the actual day of Nevruz, would be allowed.
9. Kurdish language conference held in Diyarbakir
13 March 2012 / Kurdish Globe
Under the motto “Kurdish is a language of democratic civilization” and under the supervision of the Democratic Society Congress (DTK) and the Kurdish Language and Education Movement (TZP-Kurdi), the National Kurdish Language Conference opened in Diyarbakir, Turkey, on March 2. The conference motto is a reaction against a recent statement by Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc who said: “Kurdish is a language without civilization.” The three-day conference, which was a platform to discuss problems of the Kurdish language, assembled 300 Kurdish academics, intellectuals, writers and linguists from all parts of Kurdistan, the Caucasus, Europe and Canada.
10. Turkey’s Ilisu Dam Threatens Ancient Town
9 March 2012 / Worldpress
Hasankeyf, one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited settlements, has outlived the comings and goings of multiple civilizations in southeastern Turkey. The Ilisu Dam, a government project designed to revitalize the region’s economy, threatens to flood the town, drowning its 10,000 year-old historical legacy in the hope of bringing future prosperity to a changing modern nation. Located along the Tigris River, Hasankeyf is a town rich with ancient history. Early days saw Romans, the Byzantine Empire, the Artukid dynasty and the Kurdish Ayyubids, followed later by the Mongols and the Ottoman Empire.
11. Milestone Decision for Conscientious Objection in Turkey
12 March 2012 / Bianet
In the decision of the trial about conscientious objector Muhammad Serdar Delice, the Malatya Military Court relied on the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) as the basis for evaluating conscientious objection in the scope of religious freedom and freedom of expression. Delice’s lawyer Tayfun Çakır appreciated the inclusion of Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights on “freedom of thought, conscience and religion” in the reasoned decision of the military court as a very positive development.”This decision is a precedent for all trials related to conscientious objection”, Çakır commented.
12. Kurds hold demonstrations in Yerevan for Kurdish women arrested in Turkey
8 March 2012 / Yekir Media
Kurdish women living in Armenia organized a protest action today in Yerevan. They spoke out about the violated rights of the Kurdish women arrested and subjected to violence in Turkey. Kurdish women gathered in Shahumyan Square with the demand to protect the most important right of their compatriots living in Turkey: to put an end to violations against and arrests of Turkish women. Like all women, they would also receive congratulations and flowers on March. Instead, they hear calls of support and protection.
13. Chemical weapons allegations on European Union’s table
15 March 2012 / ANF
Mr Stefan Füle, EU commissioner for enlargement, has replied to the parliamentary question presented by several EP members concerning the alleged chemical weapon use against Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) guerrillas. In an answer given on behalf of the EU Commission, Füle remarked that the Commission will follow the subject which it brought to the agenda before Turkish authorities. The parliamentary question presented by European parliamentarians had been signed by Jurgen Klutte, Nikolaos Chountis (GUE/NGL), Cornelis de Jong (GUE/NGL), Cornelia Ernst (GUE/NGL), Jean Lambert (Verts/ALE), Baroness Sarah Ludford (ALDE), Katarína Neveďalová (S&D)and Helmut Scholz (GUE/NGL).
14. Stop the War Coalition Motion takes a stand in support of the Kurds
12 March 2012 / Peace in Kurdistan Campaign
By a near unanimous vote the Stop the War Coalition, the leading anti-war movement in the UK, has adopted a clear and unambiguous position in support of the right of the Kurdish people to self-determination. At its annual general meeting held in central London on 3 March, delegates from STWC branches and affiliated groups from all over the country, including trade unions, overwhelmingly backed the detailed motion moved by Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC) and the Kurdish Federation UK, which contains all the main demands of the Kurds for a peaceful resolution of the conflict
15. Halabja conference in European Parliament discusses Kurdish genocides
8 March 2012 / AK News
The Halabja genocide and the use of chemical weapons against Kurds were discussed today in the European Parliament by politicians, academics and Kurdish organizations. In addition to covering the history and political background, the event also focused on responsibility and on the role of the international community for the recognition of the Kurdish massacres as genocide.The conference was opened this morning by Jürgen Klute, German Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the European United Left/Nordic Green Left.
You can read the final declarations of the conference here: https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/final-declarations-from-the-halabja-conference-in-european-parliament/
16. REPORT: GUE/NGL groups releases report into sexual abuse at Pozanti Prison
12 March 2012 /Peace in Kurdistan Campaign
The GUE/NGL group at the European Parliament has released a report investigating allegations of sexual, physical and mental abuse suffered by child prisoners in Pozanti M-Type Juvenile Prison in Andana, Turkey.
17. REPORT: EU publishes draft 2011 Progress Report on Turkey
12 March 2012 / Peace in Kurdistan Campaign
The European Parliament has published a draft of the 2011 Progress report on Turkey, prepared by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the E.P. The report will be discussed in a plenary on 28 March, and then finally adopted on Thursday 29 March, but we have made the draft available for download on our website for you to look at. The EU Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC) has already responded to the report in a short statement.
18. Syrian police open fire on Kurdish memorial rally
14 March 2012 / The News International
Syrian police opened fire Monday on tens of thousands of Kurds who flooded the northeastern city of Qamishli on the eighth anniversary of deadly clashes with security forces, a watchdog said. Three people were wounded when police opened fire to disperse the demonstrators, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said in a statement. “Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the city to mark the eighth anniversary of the Qamishli uprising,” the Britain-based group said.
19. REPORT: The Decisive Minority – The Critical Role of Syria’s Kurds in the Anti-Assad Revolution
9 March 2012 / Henry Jackson Society
Almost a year after the outbreak of the Syrian uprising in March, the Syrian opposition is still very much fragmented and lacking an inclusive vision which will satisfy various minority groups. One major part of this equation has been the Kurds which make up the largest ethnic minority in Syria, constituting somewhere between 10% and 15% of the population, or about 2 million people.
COMMENT, OPINION AND ANALYSIS
20. Financial and human costs of terrorism are unbearable
12 March 2012 / Today’s Zaman
Spring has always seen an escalation of violence between Turkish security forces and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), since the melting of the winter snow opens the roads, making it easier for the terrorists to infiltrate Turkey from its bases in neighboring northern Iraq. With the hope that a repetition of the deadly clashes between the PKK and the security forces will be prevented this time, Turkish and Kurdish intellectuals have urged for the resumption of peace talks between the PKK and the state.
21. The Hunger Strike
9 March 2012 / The New Yorker
Just before the midday clouds broke with snow on the first day of March, a large crowd, including nearly eighty mayors with the pro-Kurdish B.D.P. (Peace and Democracy Party), gathered in the backyard of the B.D.P. offices in the Kayapinar neighborhood of Diyarbakir, the second-largest city in southeastern Turkey. The office, a two-story house painted red, yellow, and green, the colors of the Kurdish flag, is set back from Diyabakir’s new wide highways by white metal fences whose barbed wire and spindly tree branches seemed to be the day’s only security. Along the path to the yard, someone had built a wood fire inside of a metal drum, and men huddled around it, smoking cigarettes and rubbing their hands together for warmth.
22. This row is likely to go on for some time!
9 March 2012 / Today’s Zaman
I am not referring to a row among members of the parliamentary Education Commission. Instead, I am talking about a row between the judiciary and the executive branch. The judiciary had so far been respectful to the state and the executive branch, but it seems determined to fully use the self-confidence it earned through the last referendum. This is well evidenced by the fact that a specially authorized prosecutor has requested the prime minister’s permission to summon National Intelligence Organization (MİT) Undersecretary Hakan Fidan and several other MİT officials to testify as part of an ongoing probe.
23. Nothing but justice
13 March 2012 / Todays Zaman
The release of two colleagues, Nedim Şener and Ahmet Şık, is the strongest signal yet that Turkey’s chronically ill justice system is acknowledging one of its gravest flaws. I was not surprised by the sudden decision. It came as a great relief, not only for the two men and their families, but also for all the civilian forces who still hope a better Turkey will emerge. I had shared my guess that this would happen with my domestic and international colleagues for about three weeks. It was based upon some clear hints from Ankara that “where things have come to” had become unbearable, given the pressure from all possible directions.
24. Kurdish intellectuals warn of provocations ahead of Nevruz
15 March 2012 / Todays Zaman
With Nevruz, a day heralding the arrival of spring commonly observed by Kurds in Turkey, drawing near, Turkish and Kurdish intellectuals are concerned about potential violent attacks and have warned people to be aware of provocations. The intellectuals agreed that Turkey is going through an important phase because of the preparations for a new and democratic constitution. In an interview with Today’s Zaman, Kurdish writer Orhan Miroğlu underscored that the biggest obstacle to democratization is violence, saying acts of terrorism have an immediate impact on the political climate.
25. The Kurdish quiet spring
12 March 2012 / The Jerusalem Post
With the tectonic changes taking place in the heart of the Middle East little attention is given to developments in the periphery, one of the most important of which is the quiet revolution taking place in Greater Kurdistan, namely among the Kurds of Iraq, Turkey, Iran and Syria. The best illustration of the new Kurdish dynamism was the congress held on February 19, 2012, in Irbil, Iraq, to commemorate the 66th anniversary of Kurdistan Republic, better known as the Mahabad Republic. This short-lived Republic was established in northwest Iran on January, 22, 1946, with Soviet support but it crumbled 11 months later on December 10, 1946, and its president, Qazi Muhammad, was hanged on March 30, 1947.
26. Syrian Kurds Flee Into Iraqi Refugee Limbo
8 March 2012 / New York Times
Inside a muddy village named for a failed revolt against Syrian authorities, a history of flight and exile is repeating itself. Over the past few months, scores of Kurds have begun fleeing into Iraqi Kurdistan, escaping security forces and the violence that is threatening to sweep Kurds from the sidelines of Syria’s uprising into its main currents. Though the numbers have so far been small, the new arrivals speak to a possible shift in thinking among Syria’s largest ethic minority that could potentially shift the momentum against President Bashar al-Assad just as his military forces have gained an upper hand.
27. The Assyrian Genocide, Armenia and Turkey
9 March 2012 / AINA
On February 29, 2012 Hürriyet Daily News published an article on the erection of an Assyrian Genocide monument in Armenia. The article was based on interview questions answered by Sabri Atman, Chairman of the Assyrian Genocide Research Center. Hurriyet did not publish the full interview. The following is the complete interview. The interview was translated from Turkish to English by Abdulmesih BarAbraham.
STATEMENTS, ACTIONS AND PETITIONS
28. Kurdish Federation Press release: Kurdish political activists begin hunger strike in London, 12 March 2012. https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/kurdish-political-activists-begin-hunger-strike-in-london/
29. Kurdish Federation Statement: Kurdish political activists on hunger strike in London 13 – 17 March 2012, 13 March 2012.
https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/resources/kurdish-national-congress-knk/london-hunger-strike-activists-state-their-demands/
30. Come to Trafalgar Square and show your support for the Kurdish hunger strikers! 15 March 2012.
https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/come-to-trafalgar-square-and-show-your-support-for-the-kurdish-hunger-strikers/
31. Society for Threatened Peoples writes an open letter to the Mayor of Bochum, 15 March 2012.
https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/erdogan-runs-roughshod-over-human-rights-he-does-not-deserve-the-steiger-award/
32. GegenStrömung – CounterCurrent Press Release and Petition: Heritage before Hydropower: Petition to UNESCO on Ilisu Dam launched, 14 March 2012.
https://peaceinkurdistancampaign.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/heritage-before-hydropower-petition-to-unesco-on-ilisu-dam-launched/
Sign the petition here: http://www.change.org/petitions/unesco-world-heritage-committee-save-world-heritage-on-the-tigris-river-in-mesopotamia
33. KRG UK Representation and parliamentarians mark Halabja anniversary and launch e-petition on recognition of Kurdish genocide, 14 March 2012.
http://www.kurdishaspect.com/doc031412KRG.html
Sign the petition here: http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/31014
Peace in Kurdistan 