Kurdish Party to fundamentally change Turkey’s relations with Armenia, expert says

November 1, 2015 By administrator

The appearance of Kurdish Party has dramatically changed the traditional structure of Turkey’s parliament, the director of Euphrates Center, expert on Turkey Gevorg Petrosyan told reporters during a press conference in Yerevan today.

“As a political force, Kurdish Party will change fundamentally Turkey’s relations with Armenia because its programs attach importance to the Armenians and Armenia,” G. Petrosyan said.

When commenting on the snap parliamentary elections due in Turkey on November 1 and the Armenian candidates’ chances to get into the parliament, he said the Armenian candidates can collect enough votes to enter the parlaiment, while the situation now is the same as ahead of the June elections.

Source: Panorama.am

Terrorist State of Turkey threatens ‘whatever necessary’ to combat Kurdish autonomy ‘mindset’ in Syria

October 29, 2015 By administrator

Threatening continued assaults on the Kurdish militia in Syria, the Turkish president has warned he will not request anyone’s permission to do whatever is necessary to prevent the spread of support for Kurdish autonomy, even if it requires bombing US-allied rebels.

In a clear message to dissuade Kurds from supporting the self-declared autonomous town of Tel Abyad near the Turkish border, President Tayyip Erdogan said that he will “do what is necessary,” including using force, to eradicate the potential source of separatism along its borders.

Tel Abyad, on the border with Turkey, was captured in June from Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) by Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) fighters with the help of American-led air strikes. Last week, a local council led by the Democratic Union Party (PYD) declared it part of the system of autonomous self-government established by the Kurds. Since the conflict in Syria broke out in 2011, Syrian Kurds have declared three autonomous zones, called “cantons,” across northern Syria, but deny that they are aiming to establish their own state.

Alarmed by Kurdish territorial gains, Turkey fears that the latest creation of autonomous Tel Abyad canton could stir separatism among its own Kurdish minority. YPG has been a key ally of the US in the fight against Islamic State in Syria, but Erdogan’s message sends out a clear sign that Turkey’s national interests supersedes those of the United States and NATO.

“We are determined to [combat] anything that threatens us along the Syrian border, inside or out,” Turkish President told Kanal 24 television station on Wednesday.

“If the Kurds withdraw and don’t form a canton, there’s no problem. But if the mindset continues, then what is necessary will be done or we face serious problems,” Erdogan said.

The Turkish President also accused Washington of double standards and claimed that the PYD allegedly carried out ethnic cleansing of Arabs and Turkmen in Northern Syria, equating US support for the Kurdish militias to aiding terrorism.

“They don’t even accept the PYD as a terrorist organization. What kind of nonsense is this?” he said. “The West still has the mentality of ‘my terrorist is good, yours is bad,’” Erdogan said.

Turkey has for the past three decades been trying to end an insurgency by Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) fighters. PKK is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union. Erdogan said 1,400 PKK militants were fighting alongside the YPG in Syria.

Ankara confirmed on Monday that it had already conducted two strikes on Kurdish forces in Syria as a “warning.”

“This was a warning. Pull yourself together,” Erdogan said. “If you try to do this elsewhere – Turkey doesn’t need permission from anyone – we will do what is necessary.”

HDP Leader Meets with Armenian Community Leaders in Istanbul

October 29, 2015 By administrator

ISTANBUL—Ahead of Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Turkey, the co-chairman of the Pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) Salahettin Demirtas met Wednesday with members of the Armenian, Greek, Assyrian and Jewish community representatives.

The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the challenges inherent in the November 1 elections, especially recent attacks on various targets, which have become commonplace ahead of the vote, reported Agos.

According to Demirtas, these aggravated attacks usually have a greater impact on minority circles.

“We, who represent minorities, become the first victims of the created chaos,” said Demirtas who warned that many are leaving Turkey as a result of the attacks.

To drive the imperative of the situation home, Demirtas quoted Armenian editor Hrant Dink who had said: “We are reliving the pain of the doves. In order for our children to not relive it, we must begin to take action.”

According to Agos, present at the meeting were, representative of the National Minorities Foundation Toros Aljan, St. Mary’s Assyrian Church board president Sait Susin, the chairman of the board of the Greek Orthodox Church in Panya, Laki Vingas, executive editor of Agos, Yervant Tanzikian, Agos Armenian editors Pakrad Estukian and Baruyr Kouyoumdjian, writer Jaqueline Celin, attorney Sebouh Aslanci and others.

Demirtas was accompanied by the party’s Armenian representative Garo Paylan and other HDP members Mihtar Sancaran and Erkan Metin.

Prominent genocide researchers: What is your next step? Are you going to kill 15-20 million Kurds now?

October 25, 2015 By administrator

Ronald Grigor Suny, prominent genocide researchers
Photo: Berge Arabian

By Fatih Gökhan Diler

One of the most prominent genocide researchers in the world, Ronald Grigor Suny was in İstanbul for “Critical Approaches to the Armenian Genocide Conference” that is organized by Sabanci University. We made an interview with Suny; he shared his evaluations on the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and his views on the events in Kurdistan from the perspective of the Armenian Genocide.

What were your expectations concerning 2015 and were they met?

Generally, I am an optimistic and positive person and I can say that I feel quite content with the developments that happened this year. We made progress, it was important to hold this conference in İstanbul. Also, the reference books on the genocide are translated into Turkish and this is also important for me. Two of my books will be published by Aras Publishing. “A Question of Genocide” which was prepared by me, Fatma Müge Göçek and Norman Naimark, translated into Turkish by The Turkish Historical Society. These are very big steps. If someone who lives in Turkey or who can read Turkish want to learn what happened in 1915, if they want to do some serious reading about the deep and dark periods of the foundation of Turkish Republic, they can find the material they need now. You have to deal with this issue honestly and you have to spare a lot of time, but now you have the material. 15 years ago, this was out of question. In the last 15 years, there has been an intense interaction among Turkish, Kurdish and Armenian scholars. The history of the western Armenians is being integrated into late Ottoman history and early Turkish Republic history, though those people were wiped away from the country. This is a part of the history… Without discussing the WW I and the Armenian question, you cannot understand Ottoman frontier. These are the parts that cannot be separated.

What did 100th anniversary change in the world, in Armenia and in Armenian Diaspora?

I think it was like going public. There were TV shows and interviews on the radio; some articles were published in the newspapers. Today, there is more awareness compared to the times when I was young like you. This is progress. However, as I was observing from outside, Turkey went to the opposite direction. Last year, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s letter of condolence was a step forward, but now look at the things that is happening in Kurdistan this year; the Kurds are “accused” of being “Armenian”. Being Armenian is considered like a curse. Prime Minister Davutoğlu says that they should be careful about the Armenian Diaspora again. The country goes through bad times now. Maybe the country will overcome these bad times and begin to move forward again, but for now, I cannot be very optimistic.

Many people say that the Kurds have replaced the Armenians. What do you think about this?

Do you know what is really interesting? 100 or 150 years ago, the most rebellious society in the Ottoman Empire was Kurds. Kurds were rebelling constantly and the Ottoman Empire was trying to oppress them. Russian and British armies were also trying to influence them. Compared to the other problems, Armenians were a minor issue. Armenian self-defense teams might have revolted in some places, but most of the time they were objections against high taxes and exaggerated as “rebellion”. The Armenian question was “solved” by genocide; this is the most horrible way to do it. This solution created another problem: the Kurdish question. In Turkey, millions of people don’t live as equal citizens. They cannot offer education in their mother tongue. They don’t have the right of autonomy. This is interesting: while some Kurds prefer armed struggle, HDP tries to solve this issue in a legal and peaceful way. This situation is parallel to II. Tanzimat Era after 1908; at that time, most of the Armenian political activists abandoned their revolutionary objectives and demanded reforms in order to be recognized in the constitutional system. They demanded their rights and wanted autonomy to some extent and protection from the assaults of the Kurds. In short, they wanted their own canton in the Ottoman Empire. Of course, there were some Armenians who didn’t abandon armed struggle, but they were the minority. On the other hand, Ottoman government claimed that all the Armenians are rebels and separatists, especially after 1913. They told that all Armenians demand an independent state and this led to the genocide. And today, it is much harder, because millions of Kurds live there. The society in Kurdistan is organized and united. There are a lot of Kurds in the west too. Istanbul became the city with the highest Kurdish population. Today, Kurds are allies of the US in Syria and they are the only force that we can count on in terms of fighting against ISIS in Iraq; as you can see, this is an issue with many different aspects. The government tries to make people believe that all Kurds are PKK guerillas and to start a war, instead of solving this issue with HDP by making a credible and reasonable organization; this is a really wrong decision.

You have probably heard the police announcement during Cizre blockade; they were saying, “Armenians love you, you are all Armenians.”

Interestingly, the most horrible thing they can say is “Armenian”. For those people, being Armenian is below being Kurdish. For many years, they have been trying to solve the problems not by reconciliation, but by resorting to violence and this is the heritage they have now. But you know what? This cannot work. What is your next step? Are you going to kill 15-20 million Kurds now? Turkey and Turks will be damaged because of what is happening now, because an oppressive and authoritarian state emerges and they are losing their chance to constitute a modern democracy.

“I think there is link between the Kurdish question and the Armenian Genocide. The police who shouted, ‘Armenians love you. You are all Armenians’ obviously draws this parallelism.”

Do you think that the current insight would be different, if Turkey were ready to confront 1915 like HDP?

Absolutely. Hrant Dink was always saying that if Turkey could manage to become democratic, there wouldn’t be any problems left about the Armenian Genocide. A democratic Turkey would recognize the Armenian Genocide anyway. The struggle that is carried by a part of the Turkish society, which consists of people supporting progress and libertarianism, for a pluralist and democratic Turkey is same with the struggle for making the Armenian Genocide recognized. In this sense, though the Armenian Genocide is only an item on the list, it is at the center of the struggle for democracy. There is another issue with Kurdistan now and it is related to the Armenian Genocide. Of course, some people don’t want these two to be related. They say, “No, the Armenian Genocide is about the past and we are dealing with it. But the Kurdish question is an issue concerning the present. Don’t make them intermixed.” I think there is link between the Kurdish question and the Armenian Genocide. The police who shouted, ‘Armenians love you. You are all Armenians’ obviously draws this parallelism.

What will happen after the 100th anniversary?

We are almost at the end of 2015 and we can say that the Armenian Genocide is broadly discussed this year. But time passes. What will happen after the 100th anniversary?

Of course, we are losing the momentum. This is inevitable. But I think that we achieved many things. Now, there is sufficient amount of books, films and documentaries on the genocide. Many countries recognized the genocide. We now have a solid foundation that we didn’t have 15-20 years ago. For instance, New York Times uses the word “genocide” without hesitating. There are still some states that hesitate to do it, but some big steps were taken. All these production will continue, though not with the same speed. The Armenian Genocide will continue to be a part of the history of those lands.

Popular figures like Kardashian family, Kanye West, George Clooney and System of a Down were active in 2015. What do you think about that?

Kardashians’ visit to Armenia created a major effect. In those days, the Pope also put out a declaration. The impact of the popular figures is beyond argument. When SOAD writes a song about the genocide, it creates a bigger effect than the works of the scholars. In fact, this is also good for us. We began to offer classes not only on Holocaust, but also on the Armenian Genocide.

Source: Agos

Turkey’s Kurdish singer killed on stage in Istanbul

October 25, 2015 By administrator

ISTANBUL,— Selim Serhed, thirty-three-year-old Kurdish singer from Turkey, was stabbed to death at a night club in Istanbul.

According to a statement from Avcilar Police Department, Abdulselam Atamaca known as Serhed was killed during a fight Friday night at club in Istanbul.

Turkish police also reported the arrest of the killer.

Came from the Twitter account of Onur Akay, one of deceased singer’s friends

“Our young friend and singer Selim Serhed was killed in a knife attack. Even worse, he was killed because he was singing Kurdish songs on stage,” Akay tweeted.

Turkish police refused Akay’s claim which also was published by a number of media outlets.

“The incident occurred because of girl issue. Other claims about the subject do not represent the truth of the matter,” Turkish police stated.

Serhed was father of three children. He was best known for his “Brina Baris – Pain of Peace” song.

Report eKurd

Japan: 12 injured as Turks, Kurds scuffle outside Ankara mission in Japan

October 25, 2015 By administrator

At least 12 people have been wounded in clashes that erupted among Turkish nationals outside Ankara’s embassy in Japan, where they were standing in line to vote in snap parliamentary elections.

Footage of the incident showed police interrupting the scuffles between Turks and Kurds in front of the diplomatic mission in the Japanese capital city of Tokyo on Sunday.

Two police officers were among those injured in the confrontations, Tokyo Broadcasting System Television reported, adding that the cause of Sunday’s clashes was unclear.

“I was attacked by Turks all of a sudden while I was in a car with my friends,” said a Kurdish man, whose shirt had been torn off.

Quoting a Turkish voter, Japan’s Jiji Press also said that the scuffles broke out after Kurds tried to display the flag of a pro-Kurdish party.

Some 3,600 Turkish citizens are reportedly residing in Japan.

The snap parliamentary elections in Turkey are scheduled to be held on November 1, but the overseas voting began on October 8 in different countries.

All overseas ballot papers will be counted alongside domestic votes after polls close across Turkey in the evening of November 1.

Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) won three general elections in 2002, 2007 and 2011. However, the AKP was stripped of its overall majority in the June 7 elections and failed in coalition talks with main opposition factions.

The snap polls come amid the Turkish army’s military campaign against members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which voided a shaky 2013 ceasefire between the two sides.

The PKK has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s. The conflict has left tens of thousands of people dead.

Turkey: Cities under curfew, youths on the barricades the South-eastern Turkey again in the spiral of violence

October 24, 2015 By administrator

Cities under curfew, youths on the barricades and armed police everywhere. Southeastern Kurdish majority of Turkey plunged into a state of undeclared war that threatens the successful holding of parliamentary November 1.

On the borders of Syria and Iraq, the city of Cizre became a symbol of the recovery of the Kurdish conflict. Last month, Turkish security forces are confronted the young guard of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) for eight days amid 120,000 beleaguered subjected to a total blockade.

The fighting has been particularly deadly. The government claims to have removed as “terrorists”. But, according to NGOs defending human rights, 21 civilians were killed and traumatized population of the city.

Of these victims, Edin family. Stepdaughter, Zeynep Taskin, 18, was killed by a sniper outside the door of his house, his 9 month old baby in the arms Berxwedan. Moments later, her stepmother Masallah was shot by the same gun as she was assisting him.

“That’s the only weapon that his mother was on her,” is unworthy the head of the family, Ahmet, showing his nephew.

“They were firing on all doors (…) they have made no distinction,” the truck driver chokes front facade riddled with bullets, “I did not see the shooter with my own eyes but we know the state forces controlled the area. Those who were shooting were those of the state (…) they are the terrorists. “

Young people who have taken up arms for the shot against special units of Turkish riot police in the streets of Cizre are on the same line. The government is the sole responsibility of the violence.

“We have only defend ourselves,” says Siphan to anyone who will listen.

The face concealed by a hood, T-shirt and camouflage pants lattice, that great lout of 28 years proudly displays his membership of the Movement of the Revolutionary Patriotic Youth (YDG-H), a “subsidiary” urban PKK.

Pressures –

As soon lifted the curfew, his group, he said strong a hundred young people, has replaced the barricades and trenches at the entrance of Nur district, with the firm intention to continue to prohibit entry into the security forces.

“At every opportunity, we are arrested, our homes are raided, I do not want this cruelty. We are ready to do whatever it takes to prevent this, “Siphan loose,” we just want the Turkish Republic respects our rights as citizens and recognize that we are Kurds. “

The Turkish government has swept a backhand and these claims justified the use of force by the need to suppress an attempt to “uplift” in Cizre, as in many other cities in the southeast of Turkey, mainly Kurdish.

“We face an operation aimed at extending the war by armed groups (Kurds) from rural areas to the cities,” said the Turkish Islamic-conservative Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

“Of course, no State can accept that whole districts of several towns are freed of his authority,” Coskun Vahap slice, a law professor at Dicle University in Diyarbakir, “but the measures taken by the State to react demonstrations and provocations by the PKK are largely contrary to human rights. “

On the eve of the poll from November 1, both sides accuse each other of resorting to arms to put pressure on the voters.

“Those who appear before the polling stations to terrorize, to lobby saying + vote one party or + will be brought to justice”, launched on Tuesday the head of government to his supporters in Van (East).

The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (HDP, pro-Kurdish) cries too, the scandal and denounces electoral ulterior power. “His goal is to make the HDP is not represented in Parliament,” MP accuses Caglar Demiralp.

The President of the Bar of the city is also convinced. “The power is trying to scare people into not voting. It could even annul elections here under false pretenses safe, “warns Nusirevan Elci. “It is easy to kill, it’s much harder to make peace.”

Terrorist State of Turkey: Schools in crisis in south-east as conflict with Kurds flares up

October 24, 2015 By administrator

The renewed conflict in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast has wreaked havoc on the schooling system in the region, Al Monitor reports.

Many teachers from western Turkey, appointed to schools in the region after a long wait, have refused to go to their places of duty, while those who did are working in a state of edginess.

In mid-September, the government made 35,563 new appointments to 37,000 teaching vacancies, and 67% of them were to schools in the southeast.

A survey by the Education and Science Laborers Union (Egitim-Sen), conducted early September among 1,087 teachers in 10 eastern and southeastern provinces, found that 32% of them consider quitting the profession. One in every three teachers in Hakkari and Sirnak, two of the provinces worst affected by the unrest, have already requested reappointment this year, according to Sakine Esen Yilmaz, secretary-general of Egitim-Sen, which has 127,000 members across Turkey.

The trade union’s report made available to Al-Monitor says 89% of teachers in the southeast believe the schooling process cannot function properly under the current conditions. A total of 83% are unhappy in the region, including 42% who are seeking reappointment to other provinces and 41% who say they are unwilling to work in the region.

Yilmaz told Al-Monitor that 38% of the respondents worried for their safety and that there was a quick turnover of teachers in the southeast.

“We tried to measure how the conflict has affected education practitioners and to show what consequences the crisis has had and can have in the coming days. This year, some 36,000 new teachers were appointed. Yet, these education workers, who had waited for years to be appointed, are now in the grips of anxiety. Many are unwilling to go to the region, while those who did want to leave,” Yilmaz said.

Egitim-Sen’s survey asked teachers seeking reappointment why they wanted to leave. The question generated some striking answers such as, “I don’t like the place,” “I don’t like the local people” and “I don’t want to work with the local people.”

Turkish scholar to speak on ‘A Kurdish Schindler: Story of a ‘Savior’’

October 23, 2015 By administrator

On November 6, doctoral candidate Umit Kurt from Clark University will give a talk on ‘A Kurdish Schindler: Story of a ‘Savior’’ at the University Business Center, Fresno, according to Massis Post. The lecture is part of the Armenian Studies Program Fall 2015 Lecture Series, supported by the Leon S. Peters Foundation.

According to the book, Cemil Kunneh was a lieutenant in the Ottoman Army and was assigned to be the director of the Birecik shipyard mill under the supervision of the Ottoman Fifth Army, commanded by Cemal Pasha, during the 1915 Armenian deportation and Genocide. In the shipyard mill, rafts and ferries were constructed for use by Ottoman soldiers to cross over the Euphrates River.

What historically makes Cemil Kunneh important is his relentless efforts to save Armenians, especially Protestants in Aintab, from being deported to Der Zor in 1915-1917. During the deportation, Cemil Kunneh married Dikranuhi (1893-1986), the daughter of Father Garabed Guleuzian, and saved her life by stopping her deportation to Der Zor. Kunneh met Dikranuhi during the deportation and married her. This lecture will focus on the efforts of this righteous person to save Armenians during the Genocide and also focus on his life-story with his wife Dikranuhi after the Genocide.

Umit Kurt is a PhD. Candidate at Holocaust and Genocide Studies Program in the History Department of Clark University and completing his dissertation. He has written extensive works on confiscation of Armenian properties, Armenian Genocide, early modern Turkish nationalism, and Aintab Armenians. He is the author of ‘The Great, hopeless Turkish race: fundamentals of Turkish nationalism in the Turkish homeland 1911-1916′ and editor of ‘The Revolt and Destruction: Construction of the state from Ottoman Empire to Turkish Republic and collective violence’. He teaches history at Sabanci University in Istanbul and with Taner Akcam is the co-author of ‘The spirit of the laws: the plunder of wealth in the Armenian Genocide’.

Turkey: Warrant issued for Turkish lawyer on propaganda charges

October 20, 2015 By administrator

Turkish news agencies say a court has issued an arrest warrant for a prominent lawyer in the Kurdish southeast on terrorist propaganda charges, The Associated Press reported.

Tahir Elci is the head of the bar association in Diyarbakir. He was criticized last week for saying on a news program that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, is not a terrorist organization, bucking its listing as such by Turkey and Western countries. The comments came amid renewed fighting between the PKK and Turkish authorities following the collapse of peace talks.

Elci is the lawyer for Mohammed Rasool, a journalist who has worked for The Associated Press as a fixer. Rasool was arrested in August in Diyarbakir while reporting for Vice News. There is no indication that the Elci order against is related to Rasool’s case.

Source: Panorama.am