NEWS IN BRIEF Update – Turkish invasion of Rojava/North East Syria – No 8
No 8 18 – 27 Nov 2019
For all of the latest developments, see these sources:
Rojava Information Center:
https://rojavainformationcenter.com
ANF English:
Hawar News:
Women Defend Rojava:
http://womendefendrojava.net/en/ Continue reading “NEWS IN BRIEF Update –Turkish invasion of Rojava/North East Syria – No 8 | 18 – 27 Nov 2019”
The call below was issued by the Free Women’s Assembly. They also put together a factsheet about the blockades, which you will find below:
To Women’s Organizations;
Urgent Call for Action
Women’s Freedom Assembly (KÖM) is calling on your solidarity against the war and massacres that we have been living through for the past eight months. The AKP government and President Tayyip Erdoğan are repressing, through violence, all opposition forces who have been resisting the authoritarian regime that they have been trying to establish in Turkey and destroying all channels of political struggle. They have brought the Parliament to disfunction and suspended the rule of law by taking the judiciary system under their control. Continue reading “Urgent call to feminists and women’s organisations for solidarity”
The Free Women’s Congress (KJA) has released the report below about the impact of the current war against Kurds on the peace process. Also available here are two documents, one giving the names and details of some of the children who have been killed since July last year, and another that gives evidence of the deliberate targeting of Kurdish graveyards by security forces.
REPORT ON THE CONFLICT PROCESS, POLITICAL SITUATION, AND WOMEN IN KURDISTAN
FREE WOMEN’S CONGRESS / KJA
10 January 2016
Peace Negotiations Launched
The dialog and negotiations process for the resolution of the Kurdish Issue, launched at İmralı Island on January 2013, entered a new phase on February 28, 2015 following its announcement in the Dolmabahçe Palace before the press by a mixed delegation of HDP and AKP deputies. The Dolmabahçe Agreement, which pronounced a 10-article roadmap for the negotiations process, has enhanced the hope and commitment for peace among the peoples of Turkey, and Kurds in particular. Continue reading “Free Women’s Congress releases report on the war”
The President of the Law Society, Jonathan Smithers, has written an official letter to the Justice Minister of Turkey, Kenan Ipek, with his concerns about the investigation into Tahir Elci’s assassination in November 2015.
The well-known human rights lawyer was shot dead in broad daylight, soon after having made a statement calling for an end to the curfews and state sanctioned violence in Kurdish cities at a press conference. The Law Society president raises concerns about lost evidence, witness statements and possible interferences in the investigations.
To read the letter download it here
The appeal below, signed by 5 MEPs of the Kurdish Friendship Group in the European Parliament, was circulated on the weekend:
The crackdown against the Kurdish people must stop
Call of the EP-Kurdish Friendship Group
For a month now, the Turkish army has been running jointly with the special police forces an operation of unprecedented violence against the towns located in the Kurdish region of Turkey.
10,000 men supported by tanks and helicopters are mobilized for this offensive which virtually turned the country’s Southeast into a war zone.
Continue reading “Kurdish Friendship Group in European Parliament calls for end to violence”
We received this press release from our friends in Ottawa, Canada, who gathered today in Parliament Hill to protest the atrocities taking place in the Kurdish regions of Turkey:
To the Canadian Press and General Public:
Ottawa –
The Kurdish Community will gather in Parliament Hill at 11:00 am on Monday January 18th, 2016 to demonstrate against the Turkish State atrocities in North Kurdistan (Turkey). Continue reading “Ottawa protests atrocities in Kurdistan”
Yesterday, Peace in Kurdistan Campaign sent this letter to Prime Minister David Cameron. It was drafted in response to the Ankara bombing and the UK government’s continued support for President Erdogan, despite all evidence of his divisive and dangerous politics that has threatened the very stability of Turkey – and Syria. We call on him to urge Turkey to heed the PKK’s ceasefire and return to the peace process immediately.
In just a few days, the letter was signed by 95 of our campaign’s long-time supporters, as well as friends of the Kurdish movement from across the world. We have published the letter and signatories below in full.
Rt Hon David Cameron MP
Prime Minister
21 October 2015
Open letter to David Cameron on UK policy towards Turkey
Continue reading “PiK sends open letter to Cameron: “End your silence on Erdogan’s abuse of power””
The YPG has released a response to a controversial Amnesty International report published last week which accused the Kurdish forces of forcibly displacing Arab civilians from villages. The report was apparently the result of a ‘fact-finding mission’ to Rojava, but its findings have been heavily disputed by solidarity activists, Kurdish political organisations and now the YPG itself, which says: “The report contains fallacies since the testimonies of the individuals interviewed by Amnesty International were incorrect and contradictory to the facts and evidence, widely available and easily accessible to everyone. In this official statement, we will mention some of these flagrant fallacies that put the credibility of the report and Amnesty International at stake.”
The introduction to the report is here. To read the full report, which unpicks the evidence, or lack thereof, of war crimes committed by Kurdish forces, here.
Continue reading “YPG responds to controversial Amnesty report”
This statement was published by REPAK Kurdish Women’s Relation Office:
14 October 2015
The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) announced a unilateral ceasefire on Saturday, 10 October 2015, underlining that with this announcement they react to the calls of a number of civil society organizations, international organizations and forces. The Turkish government immediately rejected the ceasefire.
Turkey is going to hold re-elections on 1 November 2015. The AKP government tried to misuse the clashes between Kurdish guerilla forces and the Turkish army for the prevention of democratic elections in Kurdish towns. The PKK declared that with this unilateral ceasefire it aims to give the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) the necessary support for elections. Continue reading “REPAK women’s organisation questions Turkish attacks after PKK announce ceasefire”
At 21.39 on December 28, 2011, disaster struck and in an instant the village lost its youth when they became victim to the Turkish government’s ‘war on terror’.
‘Başınız sağolsun’ we say to everyone we meet in the Kurdish village of Roboski/Uludere. We are offering our condolences to the families of victims of one of Turkey’s most appalling recent crimes – the Roboski Massacre. One after one we offer our sympathy – no-one here is exempt from grief.
Visiting Roboski, a small isolated mountain village on the Turkish Iraqi border, is a sobering experience. For over two years Roboski has been a village in mourning. At 21.39 on December 28, 2011, disaster struck and in an instant the village lost its youth when they became victim to the Turkish government’s ‘war on terror’. Thirty-four of a party of 38 – most of them children – were slaughtered in an aerial bombardment by a Turkish F-16 fighter jet. Those killed were engaging in traditional cross border trade. Roboski is a poor village where there is little or no work. Cross border trade provides a small and welcome income for the older men and pocket money for the purchase of notebooks, stationary and pens for the teenagers.
Peace in Kurdistan 