KURDISH NEWS BRIEFING, 10 JANUARY – 10 FEBRUARY 2020

For all of the latest Kurdish news, see these sources:

ANF English: https://anfenglishmobile.com/

Hawar News: https://www.hawarnews.com/en/

Rojava Information Center: https://rojavainformationcenter.com

https://twitter.com/RojavaIC

Women Defend Rojava: http://womendefendrojava.net/en/

Rojhelat: http://rojhelat.info/en/

Rojava Centre for Strategic Studies

http://nrlsrojava.com/en/

 

 NEWS

1. Pentagon slashes funding for Islamic State fight
2. KODAR and PJAK announce a boycott of elections
3. Ilham Ahmed to Asharq Al-Awsat: Damascus Agreed to Political Dialogue with Guarantee from Moscow
4. Closure of Iranian border crossing crushes Kurdish village economy
5. Turkey: Kurdish Mayors’ Removal Violates Voters’ Rights, Says HRW
6. Police charge a British father with ‘terrorism’ for sending money to his son – who’s been fighting AGAINST Daesh
7. Final Resolution of the 16th EUTCC Conference in EP
8. DC Court: Turkey must face charges in Sheridan Circle assault on Kurdish protesters
9. HRW: Turkey intensifying attack on pro-Kurdish party by removing mayors
10. British Islamic State suspects to be tried in Syria by Kurdish authorities
11. Autonomous administration in Syria to put Isis fighters on trial after international snub
12. Exclusive: U.S. halts secretive drone program with Turkey over Syria incursion
13. Kurdish-led forces in Syria say they will keep conscription system 
14. UN: Northwest Syria fighting displaces over 500,000 in 2 months
15. Syrian Kurdish party reopens office as part of Kurdish unity initiative
16. Syrian Kurdish center sets out to defang ‘cubs of the caliphate’
17. Turkey denies it, Swiss laboratory proves it used phosphorous
18. Kurdish-led authorities in northeast Syria plan local tribunal for IS fighters
19. Belgian government defies ruling of its supreme court on PKK
20. Kurdish leaders celebrate Belgian court’s ruling that the PKK is not a terrorist organisation
21. Belgium Court of Cassation: PKK is not a terrorist organization
22. General: US committed to Syria fight; Missions up against IS
23. Turkey earthquake: death toll rises as search for survivors continues
24. ‘We have no alternative’: Syrian Kurds predict cooperation with Assad on aid deliveries
25. Priti Patel’s proposed new terrorism offence was worrying. Her new plans are frankly terrifying.
26. Almost 27,000 flee Syria’s Idlib to Turkey in three days – report
27. Priti Patel is proposing a new terrorism offence that should worry us all
28. EU cuts pre-accession aid to Turkey by 75%
29. UN says around 350,000 people have fled Syria’s Idlib since 1 December
30. More than 500 people, mainly children, died in Syria’s al-Hol camp in 2019: Medics
31. Turkey’s Wikipedia ban ends after almost three years
32. Final declaration of the SDF Military Council meeting published
33. UK’s attempt to repatriate British children from Syria to be rejected
34. Norway repatriates Daesh-linked woman, children from Syria
35. Report: Syria Kurdish politician executed by Turkey-backed militia
36. Turkish, Syrian top spies meet in first official contact in years
37. Syrian Kurds criticize UN decision limiting humanitarian aid to Syria
38. Russia scores victory for ally Syria in UN vote cutting aid
39. Thousands march in Paris for Sakine, Fidan and Leyla
40. Turkey, Russia agree to ceasefire in war-torn Idlib, Syria

Court of Last Resort in Brussels: Belgian Anti-Terror Law Not Applicable in PKK Proceedings PKK Is Party to a Conflict According to International Law

On March 8, proceedings ended before the Court of Last Resort in Brussels whose result is of great importance well beyond the borders of Belgium, particularly with regard to international law.

A look back: In 2010, a large squad of police was used to search legal Kurdish organizations and production sites of Kurdish television in Belgium and to arrest several representatives of the Kurdish National Congress (KNC). The investigations led to the levelling of charges by the prosecution against some 40 persons who were accused of collecting donations, propaganda, and recruitment for the PKK. In a second case, a Syrian Kurd was charged with having exported communication equipment to Erbil in Northern Iraq, equipment that the prosecution claimed was transferred further to the Kurdish HPG guerrilla.

Solidarity Greetings on the PKK’s 40th Anniversary

PEACE IN KURDISTAN

Peace in Kurdistan declares its solidarity with the Kurdish people on the 40th anniversary of the foundation of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. Over the past four decades the party has totally transformed the political landscape of Kurdistan and the Middle East region. The Kurds are now a political force that cannot be ignored. This is true in Turkey, in Rojava and everywhere where the Kurds exist.

The European Union Court of Justice rules that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was wrongly on the list of terrorist organisations. Interview with Civaka Azad.

Mahmut Şakar, Co-Chairman of MAF-DAD e.V., in an interview with Civaka Azad on the decision of the EU Court in Luxembourg

 

The European Union Court of Justice ruled on Thursday that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was wrongly on the list of terrorist organisations between 2014 and 2017. The court in Luxembourg declared the underlying decisions of the EU states null and void due to procedural errors. How do you assess this decision and the reasons for it?

I consider the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union announced on 15 November 2018 to be extremely important and historic.

Revolutionary Youth Movement of Kurdistan – Internationalist Relations Committee on efforts to lift the ban on the PKK.

     Call: The wish for freedom cannot be banned

    Deutsche Übersetzung: “Der Wunsch nach Freiheit lässt sich nicht verbieten“

    After 25 years of failure – to snuff out the dream of democracy, freedom

    and peace – the German and Turkish governments are still among the

    leading countries fighting globally against democratic protests and

    emancipatory struggles. 25 years ago, the PKK was banned in Germany, yet

    throughout this time the PKK and its project of Democratic Confederalism

    have only grown in significance and appeal. It is no wonder that the Taz

    in September 2014 headlined ‘the PKK belongs to Germany’. On December

    1st we will take to the streets of the German capital to affirm the

    strength of this freedom struggle and the failure of the German-Turkish

    front against democracy – together, as democratic activists, feminists,

    anti-fascists and internationalists.

A Conference marking 25 years of PKK ban, 20 October, Berlin.

It is time for analyses and discussions to fight for an end to the ban.

This November marks the 25^th anniversary of the ban of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)  initiated in 1993 by Chancellor Dr. Manfred Kanther. Since then thousands of criminal procedures have been taken against Kurdish activists and supportive left activists, who publicly displayed the allegedly forbidden PKK symbols. Due to the Vereinigungsdelikte (Association Offences) of the criminal law paragraph 129, 129a and 129b (membership in a criminal/terrorist organisation), we have seen hundreds of indictments, arrests and sentences of people who did nothing more than engage in a political struggle for the Kurdish Freedom Movement.

Public Forum: The PKK is not a terrorist organisation. Analysis of the Belgian Court Decision.

Belgium Court of Appeal sets an important precedent
The PKK is ‘party to an armed conflict’ and so is not a ‘terrorist organisation’

De-list the PKK

 Organised by CAMPACC, Peace in Kurdistan and The Centre for Kurdish Progress
Monday 20 November, 7 – 9pm, Committee Room 4, Houses of Lords, Westminster

This event will be kindly hosted by Lord Glasman and chaired by Melanie Gingell barrister and associate tenant at Doughty Street Chambers

Speakers include Jan Fermon, Belgium lawyer and Acting Secretary General of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers; Alastair Lyon, BirnbergPeirce Solicitors and Les Levidow, Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC).

For more than two decades, Western governments have been persecuting Kurdish communities, attempting to silence their support for the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).  Key instruments in this persecution have been anti-terror powers which authorise various executive punishments without trial, as well as prosecution for vague crimes of association.  This legislative ban on the PKK operates at both national and international levels, e.g. the EU and UN.

Belgium’s Court of Appeal rules that the PKK is not a terrorist organisation

PEACE IN KURDISTAN

In a significant ruling made on 14 September 2017, the Belgium Court of Appeal ruled that the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) is not a terrorist organisation as defined by Belgian law. Rather, the PKK is ‘a party to an armed conflict as defined by and subject to international humanitarian law’. The government of the United Kingdom classified the PKK as terrorists in 2001 and the European Union did so the following year. It is testimony to the determination of the Kurds to fight for justice and the legitimacy of their cause that the Belgium Court of Appeal has now reversed the previous definition. It is to be hoped that the Belgium Court’s decision will set a precedent that other judicial bodies will follow.

PiK Trade Union Officer makes call to UK unions after Ankara bombing

Peace in Kurdistan
Campaign for a political solution of the Kurdish Question
Email: estella24@tiscali.co.uk
http://www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.com
Contacts Estella Schmid 020 7586 5892 & Melanie  Sirinathsingh – Tel: 020 7272 7890

Stephen Smellie – Trade Union Liaison Officer Peace in Kurdistan
(Deputy Convenor UNISON Scotland)

Colleagues

The trade union confederations in Turkey, KESK and DISK, along with the Engineers and Architects Association and the Medical Association organised the demonstration and rally in Ankara on Saturday which was attacked by 2 bomb blasts which have resulted in the death of over 100 people with many hundreds more being injured. The demonstration was called under the slogan of ‘Labour for Peace.’

Shilan Ozcelik trial begins at the Old Bailey*) in first PKK trial in over a decade

PRESS RELEASE

7 September 2015

 

The trial against Kurdish woman Shilan Ozcelik, who was arrested in January for allegedly attempting to join the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), will appear in court on Monday 7 September, 2pm, for the first day of her trial.

The 18 year old was charged with ‘engaging in conduct in preparation to for giving an effect to an intention to commit acts of terrorism’ under section 5 (10) (a) of the Terrorism Act 2006 and has been held on remand in Holloway prison since early March.