Sur under curfew – images

PiK sends congratulations message to the SNP

Peace in Kurdistan Campaign today sent this message to the SNP congratulating them on their landslide victory in Scotland in last week’s election:

Nicola Sturgeon MSP
Leader of the Scottish National Party
First Minister of Scotland

10 May 2015

Dear Nicola Sturgeon,

We send our congratulations to your party and the Scottish people on the news of your historic victory in the British general election.

Message of support to Plaid Cymru

On Election Day today, Peace in Kurdistan Campaign wishes Plaid Cymru, the Party of Wales, great success. Over the last few weeks, Plaid has put the country and people of Wales centre stage in British politics, demonstrating that only they have the belief and determination to bring the concerns of the Welsh people to the heart of British politics.

Plaid presents an excellent alternative to the failed policies of austerity that have only served to entrench inequality across the country. They have taken a principled stand on key issues of the day, for example confronting the power of corporations and opposing the TTIP agreement, while also standing firm on key issues affecting the Kurdish people, such as calling for freedom for Abdullah Ocalan and the delisting of the PKK.

CAMPACC reports on the first of their innovative workshops series on self-determination

CAMPACC has initiated a research and outreach project which aims to critically examine the contradictions between national struggles for self-determination and the global ‘counter -terror’ regime, which has begun with a series of workshops focusing on key case studies – the Kurdish question; the Tamil struggle and the Somali struggle. Below is the report from their first workshop, which includes videos of each of the presentations.

On the 21st February 2015 CAMPACC, in association with SOAS Kurdish Society, hosted the first workshop in a series on Self-determination against the global ‘counter-terror’ regime. This was on the Kurdish liberation struggle.

CAMPACC initiates public outreach project on global self-determination struggles

There has been growing conflict between struggles for national self-determination (SD) versus the global ‘counter-terror” regime’ and its effects on diasporic communities.  ‘Anti-terror’ legislation has been used to advance the imperialist agendas of governments and a wider military-industrial-securitisation complex. Their agenda has attacked political organisations (as well as others such as lawyers, investigative journalists, publishers) that are perceived to be linked with SD struggles.

CAMPACC is initiating a research and public outreach project critically examining those issues, especially in relation to UK migrant communities.  An initial outcome will be briefing papers drawing upon discussions at workshops that we will organise.  These will involve active engagement from various diaspora community groups, researchers, lawyers and academics involved in these issues.  The first three workshops will focus on specific migrant communities (Kurds, Tamils and Somalis) with additional participation of representatives from other migrant communities.

A key aim will be to facilitate cross-community learning to develop strategies for self-determination in the current global context.

The first workshop will take place on 21st February,  focusing on learnings from the Kurdish liberation struggle.

You can find out more about the project on the CAMPACC website

‘Terrorism’, self-determination and the PKK ban on programme at Bonn Conference

Next weekend an international conference will tackle anti-terrorism legislation, international law and the impact of this framing on the Kurdish struggle. Taking place in Bonn, Germany, the conference will bring together lawyers, barristers and academics around a series of discussion that will include such topics as the right to self-determination; concepts of ‘terrorism’; legal challenges to the PKK ban and the impact of the ban on the Kurdish people; as well as quests for a legal and political solution.

The conference has been organised by MAF-DAD and Azadi Freiheit, which are both on the forefront of leading appeals agains the prohibition of the PKK, in association with European Association of Democratic Lawyers (ELDH), Internationale Liga fur Menschrechte and VDJ.

You can download a full programme here. We will bring you papers and the final resolution of the conference once we receive hem.

Heyva Sor: Emergency Appeal for Kobane

Heyva Sor a Kurdistanê (Kurdish Red Moon) has issued a new appeal for donations and humanitarian aid for the people of Kobane and refugees across the region. International humanitarian relief in this region has been virtually non-existent and the Turkish government has made inadequate provision for refugees fleeing violence in Sinjar and Kobane to Suruc and the surrounding areas inside the Turkish border. Thousands of people are being hosted in self-made camps and are being fed, clothed and cared for by volunteers.

A recent report by the Union of Southeastern Anatolia Region Municipalities (GABB) gives a useful breakdown of the needs of the refugees in the region, including the numbers of families forced to flee from different regions of Rojava and Sinjar, as well as lists of needed supplies. You can download the report here (pdf). Further information about people’s medical needs and other urgently needed supplies also give you can idea of where the donations are going. 

Now that winter is fast approaching and temperatures potentially reaching below freezing, adequate shelter, heating, clothing and food are desperately needed. There is no time to wait – please donate what you can today.

Kurdish activist speaks at Tri-continental Anti-imperialist Platform event

The Tricontinental Anti-imperialist Platform held an event at Housemans in central London recently entitled Global Resistance: From Ferguson to People’s Korea. Activist and member of the Kurdish Student Union and People’s Assembly, Elif Sarican, took part in the event, which connected resistance struggles from across the world, on the place of the Kurdish struggle in the borader movement against colonialism and imperialism. You can watch the video of her presentation below, and you can find the full playlist of all speakers from the evening here.

Kurds for an independent Scotland

JOINT STATEMENT BY THE KURDISH COMMUNITY OF THE UK

30 May 2014

 

KURDS FOR AN INDEPENDENT SCOTLAND

 

On 18 September 2014, the Scottish people have an opportunity to determine their own future as an independent country in a free vote. The choice that they make in this independence referendum will influence the lives of future generations. Furthermore, the result will have a profound impact on the fortunes of peoples throughout the world – the Kurds included – who hold similar aspirations to take greater control of their own lives and who are seeking to determine their own futures.

 

At stake are not borders, national flags or emblems, but whether free people have the right to decide their own futures in a democratic state. It is for this reason that the Kurds will be watching closely the vitally important developments unfolding in Scotland over the next few months.

 

The Kurds, involved in their own historic national struggle for respect and recognition as a people, see democratic autonomy as forming the basis of a new relationship between themselves and their neighbours whereby all peoples in their region are treated as equals.

 

The Kurds in Kurdistan have been expressing a resounding ‘Yes’ in increasing numbers to the strategy of deepening democratisation. In Southeast Turkey and in Rojava in Syria in particular the Kurds have been taking greater control of their destinies in a democratic process that they regard as ultimately unstoppable.

The Scottish people have the right to choose independence and build a strong, new relationship between Scotland and the rest of the UK. This is what a ‘Yes’ vote essentially means; the alternative is to remain within the old structure of the centralised British state where all key decisions influencing their lives and livelihoods are taken in the Westminster Parliament. If the Scottish people have the courage to vote ‘Yes’ they will start to construct a new partnership of equals with the rest of the British Isles.

 

The Kurdish community in Britain, through their representative civil society organisations across the UK, recognise the historic significance of the coming referendum in Scotland. As such, we would like to express support for ‘Yes’ vote and believe that an independent Scotland will improve the lives of the people considerably.

Latest news briefing from the PYD information office

News Briefing Regarding The News and Events in West Kurdistan

Head Lines

• Geneva Conference 2
• Demonstrations in Europe to demand participation of Kurds in Geneva 2
• The dossier of three assassinated Kurdish activists
• The Declaration of the Transitional Self-Administration government in the Jazeera region
• Clashes and the displacement of people from Manbej to Kobanî
• Educational and cultural events

Details:

Geneva Conference  2

News center : The representatives of the Kurdish people and Syriac who have not been invited to participate in the Geneva 2, held a press conference, pointing out that the conference does not represent all people of Syria, saying, “The solution lies in the self-management model in western Kurdistan, which includes all components of the Syrian fabric”.