IN THE GLASSHOUSE, by Norman Paech

NATO-member Turkey supports the rebels in Syria – yet persecutes the opposition movement in its own country

Norman Paech

 

Turkey is in a complex situation, which the Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and his AKP government, seem to want to cover up. The incontestable economic successes – whereby the completely under-developed rights of the working population have been accepted – make the country a power factor between East and West. The strategic location of Turkey for the transportation of oil and gas from the Caspian region and the Middle East into Europe provides the ever-assertive government with a comfortable negotiating position with the Europeans. This clearly allows Ankara to bring EU-membership into play without having to compromise on the biggest obstacle to its membership so far – the unresolved Cyprus question. Greece is weak and is having its sovereignty rapidly taken away, almost degraded to a protectorate. Why back down against the EU and the UN, when, evidently, a politics of “banging one’s fist on the table” is the only one honoured? This is also apparent in the fact that Erdogan can afford to pick a fight with a state, with which it not so long ago had a distinguished relationship – Israel, the EU’s most controversial protegé.

Diversion of Tigris river completed, construction of actual dam starting

A new construction phase was celebrated at the Ilisu dam site with a big ceremony last week: The Tigris river has been diverted at the construction site now flowing through three big tunnels. This diversion will be maintained for several years. Now the construction of the actual dam in the dry river bed begins.

Construction of the Ilisu Dam begins

The Turkish Minister of the Environment Veysel Eroglu called the Ilisu dam an “important strategic and economic project”.  He stated that the project will be finished in summer 2014. After that it will take one more year to flood the reservoir.

It remains unclear, whether by “strategic” he is addressing the national Turkish-Kurdish conflict or the international consequences (mainly for Iraq). Once the Ilisu dam operates, Iraq will be even more dependent Turkish water policies. The livelihoods of about 6 Million people in Iraq depend on the Tigris river by using the water for irrigation or fishing. By cutting down the water flow, Ilisu will also put an end to the Mesopotamian Marshes, culturally and ecologically one of the most important areas worldwide.

PUBLIC EVENT: Turkey, the Kurdish Struggle and the New Middle East

PUBLIC MEETING AT MARXISM 2012, 5-9 JULY 2012

Turkey, the Kurdish Struggle and the New Middle East

Saturday, 7 July, 5.15-6.45pm
Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre University College London, Gower Street, WC1E 6BT* How to find us.

Speakers: Akif Wan, Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) UK
Dr Felix Padel,  Social Anthropologist, Author and Political Activist

Chaired by: David Morgan, Peace in Kurdistan Campaign

Discussion organised by Peace in Kurdistan: campaign for a political solution to the Kurdish Question

The historic struggle of the Kurds in Turkey has reached a new intensity at a time when popular uprisings in the Middle East are overturning anti-democratic regimes in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, in a social ferment that has left no state untouched.

Turkey 2011 Progress Report debated in EP

The European Parliament recently published the Resolution on Turkey’s 2011 Progress Report regarding Turkey’s bid for EU membership. The draft report, written by the EP’s Turkey rapporteur, Ria Oomen-Ruijten, was discussed at a plenary on the 28-29 March, and a summary of that debate has been released. We reproduce it here for you to read comments from representative from round Europe on the issue:

FAC publishes UK-Turkey relations report

The Foreign Affairs Committee (FAC) has just published its twelfth report into UK-Turkey Relations and Turkey’s Regional Role. The full report is available to order in print from the Parliamentary website or you can read the report online.

EU publishes draft 2011 Progress Report on Turkey

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 for you to look at.

Syrian Kurdish opposition groups hold public meeting in parliament

PEACE IN KURDISTAN PRESS RELEASE

16 February 2012

Members of Syrian Kurdish opposition groups involved in the struggle against the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad gathered on Wednesday at the House of Lords for a public meeting, to discuss the current political and humanitarian crisis in the country, and the role of Kurdish groups in both the ongoing struggle and in a post-Assad future.

Kurds: The Muslim World’s “Unworthy” Victims

by Ayesha Kazmi

Ayesha Kazmi is a specialist in UK anti-terrorism policy at London-based Cageprisoners. She has written for The Guardian and for the American Civil Liberties Union Privacy Matters site. She blogs at AmericanPaki. Follow her on Twitter @AyeshaKazmi.

2011 marked the shift manyMiddle Eastobservers had been anticipating. Since their formation, nations stretching between the Maghreb and beyond theLevanthave endured decades of authoritarian rule. Mohamed Bouazizi’s self immolation within the last year in Tunisia was the ground breaking spark producing an unprecedented defiance to the status quo and has since made revolutionary language requisite to discourse all over the Muslim world – a much needed air of refreshing change.

Noam Chomsky Discusses Turkey with David Barsamian

The Armenian Weekly has posted the transcript of a recent interview with Noam Chomsky, in which he discusses current human rights issues in Turkey, Turkey’s international role and Turkish-Israeli relations with founder of Alternative Radio and author David Barsamian:

Chomsky is the internationally renowned Institute Professor Emeritus at MIT. In addition to his pioneering work in linguistics, he has been a leading voice for peace and social justice for many decades. “The New Statesman” calls him “the conscience of the American people.” Howard Zinn described him as “the nation’s most distinguished intellectual rebel.” He’s the author of scores of books including Failed States, What We Say Goes, and Hopes and Prospects.

PJAK calls upon Obama to reassess policy toward the Kurds

Originally published in Roj Helat:

In a letter to Barak Obama, the General Assembly of Kurdistan’s Free Life Party (PJAK) calls upon the United States to reassess their policies in the Middle East particularly in relation to the Kurdish people. The letter reads as follow:

Your Excellency the President of the United States of America

Dear Barak Hussein Obama

On 28 December 2011, in Qilaban region of Sirnak province in Northern Kurdistan (Turkey), 35 civilian Kurds were massacred by Turkish aircrafts in a heinous way.