ZEYNEP TOZDUMAN: CAUTION PARK TRAVEL WANTED OFFENDERS resistance (DİKKAT GEZİ PARKI DİRENİŞİNİN SUÇLUSU ARANIYOR)

June 21, 2013 By administrator

ZEYNEP TOZDUMAN Reporting from Turkey:

—————————English Version ————- See bellow Turkish version ————————

Within the past few days, the news media reported that the so-called art teacher functioning of racism and hate crimes, Yildiz Technical University, Faculty of Art and Design, Head of the Department of Art. Dr. Ahmet on Twitter for the participants of the actions of Atan’ın Travel Park, one tipçiliğin / racism / hatred is still dominant in this

country is an indication that. The so-called beating of professor, Twitter “Jewish, Armenian, and to take an active role in acts of Rum’sanız Travel sympathize. Please search for your descendants, “he has shared photos.
We condemn this professor and art, in such form as long as the hands of racist minds come to this country, nor democracy nor peace.

Also in this country, I’d be a racist fascist, Jewish, Greek, Armenian, I’d rather be with honor. Those who think this person is going to be an academic, such as the so-called acts of resistance behind the person before the Kurdish people as terrorists attacked the Kurdish movement. Had enough of these blood suckers. And now the so-called university professor with official openings, Armenians, Greeks, Jews, shameless attacking. Ola ancient peoples that get behind the actions mentioned above. I ask;
1 – Armenians, Greeks, Jews, that they are not a citizen of this country, to join the resistance. Did baskılanmıyor minorities in this country for many years that the passing of resistance?.
2 – One of every four people in the informal müslimken 1915 Turkey these days, 1% does not even. These people need to ask what happened to the so-called professor? TC. According to the official description of the number of non-Muslim origin 70 thousand. I’m going to ask, the resistance of a single night of 15 June 2013 there were 70 thousand Uskudar district. Eagle, Taksim, Bosphorus Bridge, Gazi district, Maltepe, Yenikoy, Şişli, Beşiktaş, Istanbul’s Kadikoy other districts do not even need to write. Armenians, Jews, Rum, Turkey Taksim, this number even if they come from all over the integer result of the work yakalayamayacaklarken criminal / leader of these people do you see. How many did you sell your conscience salary?. This kind of description is to defend a kind of psychology of guilt.
3 – Travel Park” in” and vicinity which are subject to the resistance, was once the Armenian cemetery. Is this place for real owners learned that the Armenians? The functioning of such hate crimes. Comes to find the legal cover to these places, not enough we have usurped by manipulating the facts now appeared, to find a jacket Is fascism attack from these ancient peoples?. This emerging locations, facts, lies ördüğünüz your date of professor supposedly upset.
4 – Please search for your descendants, your words, your so-called eleveriyor of professor. Without realizing that you have accepted the idea of denying the genocide 98 years, actually. How? It’s simple. Ancestors of the Armenians, Greeks, Jews, Assyrians, EZiD first, it is sticking to the Turkish and Kurdish identity is the result of this so-called professor notions of racist and fascist like you.

Of professor who also need to know that you’re, TC., UN Genocide Convention in 1948, the first to accept one of the countries with the USSR. Even the United States from Turkey in 1986 after the parliament approved the contract. TCY signed in 1948 by signing this Convention, adopted and punish the crime of genocide during According to the essence of the de facto Armenian genocide of 1915 is adopted.

Turkey denies the genocide 98 years, how well it does to try to endüstürisi a day will come when international agreements bind Turkey. As the genocide by denying the past in front of the world do not live in the dark and dirty, loud and civil history of mankind to ask for an apology to the rank of professor dear. The only way to prevent new genocides of the past genocides is to ensure that people convicted of conscience. After the first person finishes his hatred and his society, Zoom, Zoom will not. Do not hate people, people go, people to love people as much as we can kutsallaştırdığımız dear professor.

——————————– Turkish Version ————————————-

Geçtiğimiz Birkaç gün içersinde basında yer alan bir haberle sözde Sanat hocası olan ırkçılık ve nefret suçu işleyen Yıldız Teknik Üniversitesi Sanat ve Tasarım Fakültesi Sanat Bölüm Başkanı Prof. Dr. Ahmet Atan’ın Gezi Parkı eylemlerine katılanlar için Twitter’da yaptığı yorum, tek tipçiliğin/ ırkçılığın / nefretin hala bu ülkede egemen olduğunun bir göstergesidir. Sözde profosör Atan, Twitter’da “Yahudi, Ermeni ve Rum’sanız Gezi eylemlerinde aktif rol almanızı anlayışla karşılıyorum. Lütfen soyunuzu araştırın” diyerek fotoğraf paylaşımında bulunmuştur.

Bu profösörü kınıyor ve sanat; böylesi ırkçı beyinlerin ellerinde şekil verdiği sürece bu ülkeye ne barış gelir ne de demokrasi.

Ayrıca bu ülkede ırkçı bir faşist olacağıma, Yahudi, Rum, Ermeni olmayı onurla tercih ederim. Sözde üniversite hocası olacak bu zat gibi düşünenler direniş eylemlerinin arkasında önce terörist diye kürt halkı şahsında kürt hareketine saldırdılar. Yetmedi bu kan emicilere. Şimdide üniversitedeki resmi ağızları olan sözde profosörleri; Ermenilere, Rumlara, Yahudilere hayasızca saldırıyor. Ola ki bu eylemlerin arkasında yukarıda adı geçen kadim halklar olsun. Soruyorum;

1- Ermeniler, Rumlar, Yahudiler bu ülkenin vatandaşı değiller mi ki, direnişe katılmasın. Azınlıklar yıllardır baskılanmıyor mu bu ülkede ki, direnişe geçmesin ?.

2- Türkiye’de 1915’li yıllarda her dört kişiden biri gayri müslimken, bu gün % 1 ‘i bile bulmuyor. Ne oldu bu insanlara sormak gerek sözde profosöre? TC’. nin resmi açıklamalarına göre orjin gayri müslim sayısı 70 bindir. Sormaya devam ediyorum; 15 Haziran 2013 gecesi direnişte bir tek Ümraniye ilçesinde 70 bin insan vardı. Kartal, Taksim, Boğaz köprüsü, Gazi mahallesi, Maltepe, Yeniköy, Şişli, Beşiktaş, Kadıköy gibi İstanbul’un diğer ilçelerini yazmaya gerek bile yok. Ermeniler, Yahudiler, Rum’lar ,Türkiye’nin her yerinden tam sayı gelseler bile taksim’de bu sayıyı yakalayamayacaklarken neden işin suçlusu/elebaşısı olarak bu halkları görüyorsunuz?. Kaç maaşa sattınız vicdanınızı?. Bu, çeşit açıklamalar suçluluk psikolojisiyle bir çeşit savunmaya geçmektir.

3- Direnişe konu olan ”Gezi Parkı” yer ve civarı, bir zamanlar Ermeni mezarlığı idi. Buranın asıl sahiplerinin Ermeniler olduğunu öğrendiğiniz için midir? Böylesi nefret suçu işleyişiniz. Söz konusu olan bu yerleri yasal kılıf bulup, hileyle gasp ettiğimiz yetmedi de şimdi gerçekler ortaya çıkınca, faşizme kılıf bulmak için midir bu kadim halklara saldırılarınız?. Bu yerle ortaya çıkan gerçekler, sizin yalanlarla ördüğünüz tarihi, altüst etti sözde profosör.

4- Lütfen soyunuzu araştırın sözleriniz, sizi eleveriyor sözde profosör. 98 yıldır inkar ettiğiniz soykırım düşüncesini farkında olmadan kabul ettiniz aslında. Nasıl mı? Çok basit. Ataları Ermeni, Rum, Yahudi, Süryani, Ezidi olanlar, bu gün Türk ve Kürt kimliğini taşıyorsa bu sizin gibi ırkçı faşist anlayışlarınızın sonucudur sözde profösör.

Ayrıca profosör olduğunuza göre şunu da bilmeniz gerek; TC., BM Soykırım Konvansiyonunu 1948’de, SSCB ile birlikte ilk kabul eden ülkeler arasındadır. ABD bile Türkiye’den çok sonra bu sözleşmeyi 1986 yılında parlementosunda onaylamıştır. 1948 yılında imzalan bu konvansiyona imza atmakla TCY, sında soykırım suç kabul edilip cezalandırdığına göre ; de facto 1915 Ermeni soykırımını kabul etmiş oluyor özünde.

Türkiye’de 98 yıldır soykırım inkar endüstürisi ne kadar iyi çalışırsa çalışsın uluslarası sözleşmeler bir gün gelecek Türkiye’yi bağlayacaktır. As olan, soykırımı inkar ederek dünyanın gözü önünde karanlık ve kirli geçmişimizle yaşamak değil, tarihimizi yüksek ve medeni insanlık mertebesine getirmek için özür dilemektir sayın profosör. Yeni soykırımları önlemenin tek yolu ise, geçmişteki soykırımların halk vicdanında mahkum olmasının sağlanmasıdır. Kin ve nefret önce insanın kendisini bitirir sonra yaşadığı toplumu küçülte, küçülte yok eder. İnsana nefreti değil , insana gitmeyi, insanı sevmeyi kutsallaştırdığımız kadar insan oluruz sayın profösör.

Bulgarian Court Pospones Rule in US Extradition Case

June 21, 2013 By administrator

Gergana Chervenkova, photo by OffNews

An impressive group of about 500 people gathered Friday morning in front of the main Courthouse in the Bulgarian capital Sofia to protest in support Gergana Chervenkova, who is facing extradition to the US.

The United States authorities requested her extradition to try her legal case there.

The demonstrators gathered as another extradition hearing of the case took place.

The rule of the Court of Appeals, however, was delayed for a second time until Bulgaria‘s Main Directorate for “Combating Organized Crime” (GDBOP) provides more evidence.

Chervenkova will stay in prison, separated from her family, until the next hearing on July 19. The Bulgarian Court will then have to decide whether to pass Chervenkova to American justice. In the US she may face up to 68 years in prison.

The defenders of the young woman and mother of two children wore T-shirts reading “We will not give up Gergana” and “You are next.” Many of them entered the court building, planning to attend the hearing.

The protest was organized on Facebook where 3 300 people have joined in support of Chervenkova. Her husband has also created a petition against her extradition.

Chervenkova is accused of being part of a group for unauthorized online drug trade in her capacity of financial manager for the British company “Euromedonline Ltd.”

The US authorities have sent statements, according to which Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents have solid evidence the Bulgarian was involved in the unlawful sale of drugs.

Chervenkova worked in the commercial agency “BG Global Services”, which is a service company of “Euromedonline Ltd.” Her role was to process weekly reports from the sales system and to calculate the accumulated fees and commissions for doctors and pharmacies based on sales realized through the site. Cherevenkova’s responsibilities did not involve selling drugs.

The former Interior Minister from Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party, Tsvetan Tsvetanov, however, stated Chervenkova was the head of the organized criminal group. He also said that her arrest happened due to good cooperation between Bulgarian and US authorities.

Turkey Sees another Night of Violent Protests

June 21, 2013 By administrator

The protests in Turkey began on May 28 spread quickly, engulfing a number of major cities. Photo by EPA/BGNES

The protests in the Turkish capital Ankara continued on Thursday evening with police using water cannons and teargas to disperse the participants.

Demonstrators continued to raise slogans for the resignation of the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party. Police acted with force after the protesters did not respond to calls to end the rally.

The current assessment of the mass protests in Turkey in the last three weeks is 4 dead people and 7822 injured. Suleyman Celebi, a deputy from the main opposition Republican People’s Party (NRP,) disclosed the data.

59 people are severely injured, 6 of them are people with immediate threat to life (4 people in Istanbul, one person in Ankara and one in Eskisehir.). There are 100 people with head injuries, 11 people who have lost their eyesight, and a person with removed spleen.

Celebi submitted a draft law to erect a monument of the victims of the mass demonstrations. The memorial will be built on the place of the tent camp in “Gezi” Park on “Taksim” Square in Istanbul.

The trade unions in Turkey have decided to create a task force to fully investigate the brutal police actions in the destruction of the camps in “Gezi” Park. The group includes representatives of the academia and prominent lawyers. The Confederation of Revolutionary Trade Unions of Workers in Turkey (DISK), the Confederation of Trade Unions of Public Sector Employees (KESK), the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects (TMMOB), Turkish Medical Association (TTB,) and the Turkish Dental Association (TDB) are behind the group.

Meanwhile the “standing” protest initiated by performance artist Erdem Gunduz has been taken up by hundreds of anti-government demonstrators and spread to several Turkish cities.

Gunduz appeared in Istanbul‘s Taksim Square on Monday evening and stood there silent for several hours until when police moved in.

His protest quickly captured the imagination of the protest movement. Hundreds of people in Istanbul and Ankara took up the protest on Tuesday.

The protests began on May 28 spread quickly, engulfing a number of major cities.
The rallies eventually turned into demonstrations against the authoritarian and Islamic-leaning policy of the Turkish government of Erdogan.

The police crackdown on protesters in Istanbul, Ankara, and other towns and cities has drawn international concern, especially from Europe.

Turkey: No media freedom, no democracy write YAVUZ BAYDAR

June 21, 2013 By administrator

By: YAVUZ BAYDAR

“As the blackout or utterly timid reporting of the recent protests undeniably proved, the conglomerate media of Turkey, which controls over 70 percent

of the sector, has now become an extension of the government and bureaucracy, an organic part of power politics.

Inevitably, the Turkish media was in the spotlight on Thursday during a largely attended conference, titled “Speak-Up!2,” in Brussels, organized by the European Commission.

I was one of the speakers. Here, I would like to share with you excerpts from my speech.

“The way the media deliberately failed to do its job before, during and after the protests has become a final litmus test for the miserable state of journalism in Turkey.

“Despite an impressive scope of pluralism, Turkey’s media, as of now, is in the midst of editorial paralysis — bruised and abused, threatened and intimidated at best, discouraged by various means to do its job on behalf of the public.

“Its main bulk, the so-called mainstream media — controlled by greedy, powerful moguls — is breaking apart under intense pressure for censorship and internalized self-censorship.

“On another level, partisanship in Turkey now displays signs of a witch-hunt, with informant activities comparable to the McCarthy era.

“The people’s outrage, on the other hand, on the streets and social media, has exposed another all-time low for trust in the profession. My colleagues are now deeply torn between submission, denial and intensive soul-searching.

“On freedom, what we have seen is the phenomenon of a negotiating partner with the EU continuing to defiantly implement punitive measures — in terms of legal investigations, a high number of prosecutions, detentions and jail sentences — with the aim of limiting the domain of free speech, public debate and dissent.

“The main problem remains the Counterterrorism Law [TMK], followed by the Turkish Penal Code [TCK] and the Internet Law. Despite the passing of the fourth judicial reform package, we have not noted any progress in favor of freedoms: People still remain in jail and detentions that long surpass the limits marked by the European Court have now, in many cases, turned into actual, de facto jail sentences. Needless to say, these issues of freedom are the most urgent of matters.

“Freedom and independence of the media are inseparable twins, and as I have long argued, if we only focus on freedom, we miss the big picture. Punitive measures and legal restrictions — mainly a product of a culture of intolerance encompassing the majority of Parliament — are only the tip of the media misery iceberg.

“As the blackout or utterly timid reporting of the recent protests undeniably proved, the conglomerate media of Turkey, which controls over 70 percent of the sector, has now become an extension of the government and bureaucracy, an organic part of power politics.

“Nowhere else in the world but in Turkey has the ruthless intervention and control of editorial content, as well as the submission of media proprietors, been so arrogant and out in the open. Turkey’s flourishing economy has caused such greed that money-blind proprietors not only ignore but oppose media professionals who do try to do their jobs in the name of the public. Often on a daily basis, without any government direction, they impose censorship, demand total submission to the employer and silence colleagues — one after another, knocking out those who defend our professional values.

“I am asked why the conglomerate media acted like an ostrich during the recent protests. My response is always simple: Follow the money. A quick study would show how many of those big media moguls have been given favors through public tenders in these huge projects of İstanbul, as well as other means. One of them recently won the $700 million Galataport deal. Another is a partner of the huge third airport deal for İstanbul, etc., etc.

“It is impossible to conduct critical journalism in such a polluted system, which has, in practice, turned Turkey’s big media newsrooms into open-air prisons. Coverage on economic corruption today is almost zero.

“It’s not surprising that not a single one of the media owners has shown any civilian courage to come out and defend what we all are fighting for: freedom and independence. As long as they take the side of the government that feeds them with carrots and more carrots, we have no chance of winning back the dignity of our profession.”

‘Grandma’s Tattoos’ screened in European Parliament

June 21, 2013 By administrator

On Monday June 17, the European Armenian Federation for Justice and Democracy (EAFJD) co-organized the screening of the documentary, “Grandma’s Tattoos” with Swedish – Armenian director Suzanne Khardalian in the European Parliament, Asbarez.com reported.

The screening was co-hosted by two Swedish Members of the Euroepan Parliament, Carl Schlyter (Group of the Greens/European Free Alliance) and Cecilia Wikström (Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe).

A very diverse audience of more than 120 people attended the screening. Following welcoming remarks and introduction by EAFJD President Kaspar Karampetian, “Grandma’s Tattoos” was screened. The audience was electrified, and emotionally touched by the film, which chronicles the plight of Armenian girls and women abducted and enslaved during the Armenian Genocide, and marked by tattoos as the properties of their captors.

After the screening, European Parliament member Cecilia Wikström, and director Suzanne Khardalian responded to the questions of the audience. Questions ranged from the violation of women in wartime to the shame and humiliation carried with it. Wikström said that “a woman’s body is a battleship” and expressed her concerns about violated women, and that the EU Parliament should send a strong message against it.

Khardalian told the audience that her aunt Lucia –the main character in the documentary – did not have the chance to see the movie, since she passed away before the completion of the movie. However, the director said she is “fortunate,” only because a significant number of Armenian women had already been interviewed by her, as if they were “waiting to tell their stories before leaving this world.”

Khardalian mentioned that like her grandmother, “I also feel violated and ashamed because the stigma of rape passed on from generation to generation.”

Co-host of the screening, European Parliament member Carl Schlyter, in his closing remarks said that the fate of women during both World Wars, and even before and after must be told to the coming generations, and stressed the need for vigilance against such acts, so they are not repeated.

Iraq’s new ambassador hands copy of credentials to Armenia’s FM

June 21, 2013 By administrator

June 20, 2013 | 13:38

YEREVAN. – Iraq’s newly appointed Ambassador to Armenia, Ghazi Taher Khaled, on Thursday presented the copy of his credentials to Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian.

Congratulating the ambassador on his appointment, Nalbandian wished him success and expressed a hope that the ambassador will contribute to the further strengthening of relations between Armenia and Iraq, the Armenian MFA press service informs. The FM also stressed that the high-level mutual visits and the reopening of one another’s embassies have given new impetus to Armenian-Iraqi ties.

In his turn, Ambassador Khaled assured that he will do his utmost to develop bilateral cooperation. He added that Iraq underscores the need to deepen interaction with Armenia, and pointed to the Iraqi-Armenian community’s contribution to prosperity in the country.

Edward Nalbandian and Ghazi Taher Khaled reflected on the developments taking place in the Middle East, and the steps toward ensuring stability and security in Iraq.

Can a Turkish, Armenian and Kurdish picture be taken together?

June 20, 2013 By administrator

I read Article by Solin Hacador published on the Kurdish Tribune June 18, 2013, here is my short comment:

The problem with Turkish society is that they do not have the concept of coexisting with other people that’s why they infiltrated the Islamic empire hijack the Islam and used as a tools and went on concurred three contents, and created Ottoman Empire. Therefore the only solution is to divide Anatolia to four countries Western Armenian, Kurdistan in the south, Turkey in the middle and Greek in the west. Otherwise all the suggestions are wishful thinking and the Turkish rolling elites through out of there history have always been the most manipulative.

Wally Sarkeesian

Read complete Solin Hacador Article:

Today, I have seen a picture of three women from different ethnicity – Kurdish, Armenian and Turkish – taken in the Ottoman times of Turkey. I wonder whether the same kind of photo could be taken in the current Turkish society.

Unfortunately, people’s understanding of friendship between different ethnicities in Turkish society is very thin. Moreover, it is at its racist-provocative stage.

Non-Turkish people cannot openly state their ethnicity, and they often hide their origin from each other. This unpleasant situation is worrying. Through this picture we can see that different ethnicities could set up friendship easily in the past but now it is quite hard to bring these people together. This situation did not happen overnight; it happened as a result of Turkish long-term racist educational system and massacres, genocide against Armenians and massacres against Kurdish people.

Kids from an early age are being taught Atatürk’s theories. They are taught how to be proud of being Turk. Children from different ethnicities are being kept under the same educational system.

This issue is supported by Turkish media. The media usually follows a biased approach towards other ethnicities and independent journalists are mostly scared to criticize any governmental mistakes.

If we go back to the Ottoman Empire, in the sixteen century it was the most powerful state but, by the nineteenth century, its power was reduced and it had lost most of its land in Africa and Europe. This created economic and political losses too and the Empire started to pressurise internal ethnicities enormously. Armenian people within the government were treated suspiciously. Non-Muslim people were put under immense pressure. A series of massacres against Armenians took place during Sultan Abdulhamid II (1876-1909)’s administration. The same Sultan also used some Kurdish people by setting up the Hamidiye corps (literally meaning “belonging to Hamid”, with the full official name of Hamidiye Hafif Süvari alayları, Hamidiye Light Cavalry Regiments) in 1890.

These were well armed, irregular Sunni Kurdish, Turkish, Turkmen, Yörük and also Arab cavalry formations that operated in the eastern provinces of the Ottoman Empire. The intention of Sultan Abdul Hamid II was to use this corps against Russia. However, the Hamidiye were more often used by the Ottoman authorities to harass and assault Armenians living in Western Armenia.

We Kurds need to accept what has happened in history and the fact that some Kurds under the Hamidiye Alaylari took part in massacring Armenian. This shameful crime against Armenians was ordered as explained above. However, we should not generalise this crime and must not blame all Kurds for it. We all know that this is a tactic of the Ottoman-Turkish state, and so the state from time to time applies an armed group against Kurdish armed revolutionists. We know that the village guard (Kurdish armed group) was set up by the Turkish state in order to fight against the PKK (Kurdish Workers Party) but they were usually used against innocent civilians.

Finally, the Armenian Genocide (1915) hugely damaged Turkish, Armenian and Kurdish friendship.

Some people become alarmed because they are not very aware of their friend’s customs, likes and dislikes. They may unwittingly say or do something that is offensive, without ever knowing the reason. Having this awareness does not mean that you have ever been a person who has harboured prejudice or racist thoughts about people from other ethnic, national or cultural backgrounds.

Many contemporary writers in the west tend to present friendship as private, voluntary, and happening between autonomous individuals. According to this view ‘friendship becomes a special relationship between two equal individuals involved in a uniquely constituted dyad’ (Bell and Coleman 1999). This contrasts in key respects with the classical view. Furthermore, as Graham Allan (1989) has argued, relationships that are often presented as voluntary, informal and personal, still operate within the constraints of class, gender, age, ethnicity and geography and this places a considerable question against the idea that friendship is a matter of choice.

Aristotle provides us with one of the great discussions of friendship. He distinguishes between what he believes to be genuine friendships and two other forms: one based on mutual usefulness, the other on pleasure. These two forms only last for as long as there is utility and pleasure involved, whereas genuine friendship does not dissolve.

I personally believe that we need to work on this and do our bit to get rid of any errors or unpleasant issues from our society in order to set up Turkish, Armenian and Kurdish friendship. This issue is very important for the peace process which we need to start from scratch. The Turkish state should also get rid of its racist educational system and bring its citizens together through social, economic and cultural reforms and respect for the rights of individuals. I assume a new picture of three ethnicities can be taken by then.

Kurdish top PKK commander warns Turkish state sabotaging peace process

June 20, 2013 By administrator

June 20, 2013

QANDIL MOUNTAINS,— A top Kurdish militant commander warned on Wednesday a fragile peace process had been jeopardized by increased military activity and a lack of concrete steps by the government, including the continued detention of Kurdish politicians.

Members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) began a withdrawal from Turkish Kurdish territory to bases in Iraq’s Kurdistan region last month, part of a deal brokered between the state and the group’s jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan earlier this year aimed at ending a conflict that has claimed 40,000 lives since 1984.

“The state is doing what it can to sabotage this process. It is preparing for war. This is creating serious problems for us,” Murat Karayilan,www.ekurd.net the PKK commander based in Kurdistan region of Iraq, told the Firat news agency.

He pointed to increased military surveillance and the construction of new army posts in the mainly Kurdish southeast as undermining the rebels’ withdrawal, which is expected to take months.

There was no immediate comment from the military General Staff, although in April, the military issued a statement that it would continue to fight against “terrorism”.

Karayilan added that the PKK had not engaged in armed action since January.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has overseen the initiative to end one of world’s longest-running insurgencies after fighting escalated sharply in 2011 and 2012.

But opposition parties have criticized Erdogan for not revealing the measures his side agreed to in exchange for the rebels’ ceasefire and withdrawal.

Karayilan said the peace process had now reached a “critical stage” at which the government must take its own steps as the PKK withdrew. He added his comments could be taken as a “warning”.

“For the democratic resolution process to develop, the PKK has fulfilled its obligations … and we will continue to do so. But the state and the government have responsibilities and in the past three months they have done nothing,” he said.

“To resolve the Kurdish issue, the government … must take steps. If it doesn’t, the process will be blocked,” he said.

Among measures the PKK expects is an end to Ocalan’s isolation at his island prison where he is serving a life sentence for treason, and releasing thousands of Kurdish activists and politicians in jail for up to four years during their trials, mostly on charges related Turkeys’ anti-terrorism law.

“Doesn’t the government and state need to open up political channels and make Kurdish politics freer? What we see instead is a large majority of Kurdish politicians are still in jail, that (they) are to stay in jail and guerrillas will withdraw.”

Since it was established in 1984, the PKK has been fighting the Turkish state, which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, to establish a Kurdish state in the south east of the country. By 2012, more than 45,000 people have since been killed.

But now its aim is the creation an autonomous region and more cultural rights for ethnic Kurds who constitute the greatest minority in Turkey, its goal to political autonomy. A large Turkey’s Kurdish community, numbering to 22.5 million, openly sympathise with PKK rebels.

The PKK wants constitutional recognition for the Kurds, regional self-governance and Kurdish-language education in schools.

PKK’s demands included releasing PKK detainees, lifting the ban on education in Kurdish, paving the way for an autonomous democrat Kurdish system within Turkey, reducing pressure on the detained PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan, stopping military action against the Kurdish party and recomposing the Turkish constitution.

Turkey refuses to recognize its Kurdish population as a distinct minority. It has allowed some cultural rights such as limited broadcasts in the Kurdish language and private Kurdish language courses with the prodding of the European Union, but Kurdish politicians say the measures fall short of their expectations.

Souce Ekurd.net

Chevron Secures Iraqi Kurdish Oil Deal

June 20, 2013 By administrator

Bulgaria removes the ethnic Turkish MRF state security boss after protests

June 20, 2013 By administrator

By Tsvetelia Tsolova

SOFIA | Wed Jun 19, 2013 8:11am EDT

(Reuters) – Bulgaria’s parliament dismissed a powerful media figure from his post as head of national security on Wednesday, hoping the move will put an end to protest rallies against the country’s fragile three-week-old government.

Thousands of Bulgarians have been demonstrating in Sofia and other cities since last Friday demanding that the Socialist-led coalition quit after it hurt its credibility by naming lawmaker Delyan Peevski to head the security service without any debate.

Peevski, 32, has no experience in the security field and Bulgarian media say he stands behind a powerful network of national newspapers and television channels owned by his mother.

Political analysts say Peevski’s appointment to a highly sensitive post was another example of how shadowy private interests dominate state institutions in Bulgaria, the European Union’s poorest member state and one of its most corrupt.

“(Removing Peevski) is a clear political act showing that lessons were learnt,” Socialist leader Sergei Stanishev said. “This decision is a clear sign we are taking into account the people’s voice.”

The Socialists have launched public consultations to pick Peevski’s replacement and have also agreed to reform an outdated electoral system to soothe concerns over the rule of law.

In a further conciliatory move, the parliament on Wednesday backed government plans to help the poor by raising the minimum wage from October and state pensions in line with inflation from next year.

Average monthly salaries in Bulgaria are only around 400 euros and pensions are half of that. The monthly minimum wage is currently around the equivalent of 155 euros.

FRUSTRATION

The Socialists and their junior coalition partner, the ethnic Turkish MRF party, have said they will ask Bulgaria’s constitutional court to rule whether Peevski can take back his seat in parliament – an option that protesters strongly oppose.

MRF leader Lyutvi Mestan said Peevski, an MRF lawmaker, would not return to parliament before the court ruling.

Bulgaria joined the EU in 2007 but Bulgarians remain deeply frustrated with their politicians’ failure to tackle corruption and organized crime, which deter badly needed investment and keep living standards low.

“We are here not because of poverty or money. This protest is a moral one, it is for democratic values and for our future. We are tired of lies and behind-the-scenes arrangements,” said writer Milena Fuchedzhieva, protesting in Sofia.

Bulgaria’s previous center-right GERB government was forced to resign in February after mass protests over low living standards and a failure to tackle graft.

GERB returned to parliament as the biggest political grouping after May’s election but failed to secure a working majority, leaving the second-placed Socialists to cobble together a minority government that has to rely on the passive support of a small nationalist party.

(Writing by Radu Marinas, editing by Gareth Jones)