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Kurds in Europe protest against Turkish state aggression

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450x360xKurds-in-Europe-stand-up-against-Turkish-state-aggression-sep-18-2015-photo-anf.jpg.pagespeed.ic._nqglOg26eBERLIN,— Kurdish people living in Europe continue their actions in protest at the Turkish state aggression within the scope of the war policies implemented by the ruling AKP party against the Kurds in Turkish Kurdistan in the country’s southeast. Kurds took to the streets in Cologne and Berlin in Germany and Torino in Italy on Friday.

COLOGNE

Members of the Peace Mother’s Initiative and Viyan Women’s Assembly held a joint press conference in Cologne under the slogan with the participation of some a hundred women on Friday.

The participants first visited the tent set up for protest action going on since Monday and then held a press conference in front of the main entrance of the Dom Church, where they also opened a banner reading “We women say no to war”.

Women stressed that the pain did not have any particular language, religion or race and added that the women demanded the ending of deaths of both soldiers or guerrillas without making any difference. Women also underlined that no one must be a part of the AKP’s war.

BERLIN

Kurdish people held a three-day action, starting on Wednesday and ending on Friday, at Brandenburger Tor in the German city of Berlin in protest at the state terror in Cizre and the racist attacks launched against HDP buildings in Turkey and North Kurdistan. The activists distributed leaflets in German and English during the action.

TORINO

Kurdish people in Italian city of Torino protested the isolation of the Turkey’s jailed Kurdish Leader Abdullah Ocalan and the attacks on the Kurdish people.

The action at Castello Square was supported by Torino Kurdish Culture Centre, Apini Liberi group and many other NGOs and political friends of Kurds. Torches in yellow, red and green colors were lit in the action while demonstrators also carried posters of Ocalan and flags of PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party), PYD (Democratic Union Party) and KCD-E (European Kurdish Democratic Societies Congress).

Kani Miran on behalf of KCD-E made a short speech following one minute’s silence for all those who fell for Kurdistan and world revolution.

Kurds in Turkey demands to establish an autonomous Kurdish region and more cultural rights for ethnic Kurds, who make up around 22.5 million of the country’s 75-million population but have long been denied basic political and cultural rights, their goal to political autonomy. A large Turkey’s Kurdish community openly sympathise with PKK rebels.

Source: eKurd.net

Kurdish #PKK rules out any unilateral ceasefire in Turkey

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pkk-rules-out-any-unilateral-ceasefire-in-turkey_9505_720_400A commander of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) ruled out a unilateral ceasefire on Thursday and accused the Turkish government of pursuing war to gain more votes.

Hundreds have been killed in almost daily bloody clashes between the PKK and security forces in the largely Kurdish southeast since a long-standing ceasefire and peace overtures fell apart in July.

With an election looming in six weeks, Ankara says the militants must put down their weapons and return to their camps in northern Iraq before it will halt operations and restart peace talks.

“A ceasefire can only be mutual,” PKK field commander Murat Karayılan told the Fırat news agency, which is close to the group, in an interview. “Our experience teaches us that positive outcomes cannot be achieved through unilateral ceasefires.”

On Wednesday, a Kurdish militant umbrella group said it was ready for talks supervised by a third party. Karayılan is based in the remote mountains of northern Iraq, from where he directs the PKK insurgency against Turkey.

The PKK launched a separatist armed struggle in 1984 before moderating its goal to improving the rights of Turkey’s roughly 12 million Kurds.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who has boosted Kurdish cultural rights during more than a decade in power, began peace talks with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan in 2012, risking nationalist wrath.

In a June general election, the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) passed the 10 percent election threshold for the first time and gained 80 seats in Turkey’s 550-seat parliament, depriving the ruling AK Party of its overall majority for the first time since it came to power in 2002.

“Even if we stop, AK Party will not,” Karayılan said. “They will continue war as long as the war conditions are in their benefit. The conditions for a mutual ceasefire don’t seem possible before Nov. 1.”

The Union of Kurdistan Communities (KCK), the Kurdish militants’ umbrella political group, had said on Wednesday it appreciated calls made by democratic groups in Turkey, the European Union and European Parliament for a mutual ceasefire and a return to negotiations.

“We emphasize once again that we are ready for a mutual and arbitrated ceasefire through negotiations, and support the efforts and struggle of peoples and pro-peace circles for a democratic political resolution and lasting peace,” it said.

The group blamed Erdoğan and the AK Party he founded for the collapse of the peace process.

“This is the war of the palace,” KCK said, referring to Erdoğan. “This war makes the (Kurdish and Turkish) people confront each other and causes a de facto division of the land.”

Source: Reuters

Turkish PM Davutoğlu crime against humanity, “Who did the state fight against in Cizre”?

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By CAFER SOLGUN,

Cizre is a district of Şırnak province with a population of 140,000.

It is situated at the epicenter of the geographical area Kurds call Botan, a region where Kurdish identity has always been strong. It has a long history of resistance that can be traced back to the 19th century. A number of Kurdish uprisings began there. For this reason, many operations have been conducted in this area. Cizre is a residential area at the skirts of Mount Cudi. It is also the crossing to Iraqi Kurdistan. For this reason, it has served as a venue where Kurdish rioters were based. Mount Cudi is also currently one of the places where PKK guerrillas are located. It is not easy to maintain military control there. State pressure and military operations have not brought Cizre closer to the state. On the contrary, these measures have pushed the district away.

The interim government, in which the Justice and Development Party (AKP) is dominant, imposed a blockade upon Cizre for eight consecutive days. The state shut down all channels of communication, and thousands of members of security forces were deployed to the city. No information about what was happening in the district was transmitted during this period lasting over a week, and even delegations from civil society groups, and from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and the Republican People’s Party (CHP) were denied entry. Also prohibited from entering were HDP ministers serving in the interim government; they were harassed by security forces who upheld the blockade.

And this operation was called an operation to purge Cizre of terrorists. The state invaded this town by deploying 5,000 military and security officers to “purge” 100-150 “terrorists.”

However, terrible news has been reported, in spite of the strong blockade. Children were killed. They were kept in freezers because their parents were not allowed to bury them. A number of civilians died. Sick patients were not taken to the hospital and people were unable to maintain adequate food supplies because of the curfew.

But according to Ahmet Davutoğlu, the prime minister of the interim government, not a single civilian was harmed during this huge military operation. Davutoğlu made such statements, which were quickly proven wrong. It is not possible to understand why he does so.

EU Minister Ali Haydar Konca (an HDP deputy) made this statement, which refuted Davutoğlu’s claim: “It is evident that there is wide-scale destruction in Cizre, where more than 20 people have died and 50 are wounded. Even in times of war, the dead are buried and the wounded are taken to hospitals. We could not do this in Cizre. It saddens me deeply to see those images. The bodies of children were kept in freezers for days. This is not something we would like to see in this country.”

The news reports and photos from Cizre taken after the blockade reveal the sad truth. In the days to come, hidden truths will be further revealed when the stories of human beings are told. The truth will be revealed, despite efforts by the pro-government media and the AKP. In Cizre, the state fought against the people, not “terrorists.”

It is not possible to establish domination in Cizre, Botan and Kurdistan by relying on the logic and practice of war. Please read the first paragraph of this column to better understand this.

Cizre has gained a symbolic meaning in reference to the strategy of inciting chaos that the AKP calls the fight against terror. By reliance on this logic, it is not possible to take Cizre into the framework of unity and solidarity. You may approach Cizre and the Kurds by offering a real peace to them. But the AKP is devastating the basis of this peace.

Turkey Curfew re-declared in tense Cizre, where numerous civilians were killed in clashes

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228732A curfew, which was lifted as of Saturday morning after it had been in place for eight days in the restive district of Cizre in the southeastern Şırnak province, has been re-declared on Sunday.

According to media reports, the Şırnak Governor’s Office declared a new curfew in Cizre, the district where the prolonged curfew has left behind a scene resembling a battlefield due to days-long clashes between Turkish security forces and terrorists of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The curfew reportedly began at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) reported on Saturday that 22 civilians were killed in clashes in the district with a population of more than 100,000.

On Saturday, Interim Minister of European Union Affairs Ali Haydar Konca also reported the deaths of more than 20 civilians, adding that approximately 50 had been injured while the curfew was in place.

BBC Report Turkey lifts week-long curfew on Kurdish city of Cizre

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_85499194_85499193Turkey has lifted a week-long curfew imposed on the predominantly Kurdish south-eastern city of Cizre, media reports say.

Cizre was sealed off since last Friday after the Turkish army launched an operation against Kurdish militants there.

Civilian casualties have been reported and there are concerns about food shortages.

The Council of Europe has asked Turkey to allow access to observers.

Amid the operation against the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party), Cizre locals have also complained of shortages of water and electricity. People have also been unable to bury their dead.

Grim reports from Turkey’s Cizre

Turkey-PKK conflict: Why are clashes escalating?

A statement from the local authorities thanked Cizre residents for their patience during the “successful operation against the terror organisation”.

Twenty civilians have died since Friday, eyewitnesses said, although the government has said only one civilian died and that the rest were militants.

Turkey has described Cizre as a hotbed of PKK activity, with one official saying they believed 80 professional PKK fighters were operating there and around 200 young people had taken up arms.

But Selahattin Demirtas, the leader of Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish party, has described the curfew as a “death sentence” for Kurds in the Kurdish-majority city of 100,000 people.

One doctor, who is responsible for more than 4,000 patients but cannot leave his home, told the BBC that the emergency department at the state hospital was closed and pharmacies were not opening.

Violence has surged between the Turkish government and the PKK since a ceasefire collapsed in July.

On Friday, an attack on a cafe in the mainly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir left a waiter dead and three policemen injured.

More than 40,000 people have died since the PKK launched an armed campaign in 1984, calling for an independent Kurdish state within Turkey.

 

Baghdad condemns Turkish incursion into Iraqi Kurdistan

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Iraqs-Foreign-minister-Ibrahim-Al-Jaafar-2015-photo-mofa-gov-iq.jpg.pagespeed.ce.6ijunycDNeBAGHDAD,— Iraq on Thursday condemned Turkey for sending ground troops onto its territory in Kurdistan Region in pursuit of Kurdish rebels, calling it a “clear violation” of its sovereignty.
“The foreign ministry expresses its condemnation of the incursion of a number of Turkish military units inside Iraqi territory,” spokesman Ahmed Jamal said in a statement.
“It represents a clear violation of Iraqi sovereignty and a clear offence to bilateral relations between the two countries,” he said.

Turkish special forces entered Iraq on Tuesday in what officials termed a “short-term” incursion in pursuit of fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) allegedly involved in attacks that killed more than two dozen soldiers and police.

Since it was established in 1984 the PKK has been fighting the Turkish state, which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, with the aim of creating an independent Kurdish state.

In the 1990s, the PKK limited its demands to establish an autonomous Kurdish region and more cultural rights for ethnic Kurds,who make up around 22.5 million of the country’s 75-million population but have long been denied basic political and cultural rights, its goal to political autonomy. A large Turkey’s Kurdish community openly sympathise with PKK rebels.

The PKK and Turkish forces are again trading attacks on the ground and from the air, upending a 2013 ceasefire between the two sides.

Source: ekurd.net

WATCH: Migrant Turks AND Kurds Battle on Frankfort Streets, German army called in

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turks-kurd-battleAt least five arrests were made in Frankfurt on Thursday night after a march by supporters of Turkish nationalism descended into bloody violence when they clashed with rival Kurd separatists.

Video of the riot has emerged on the same day Germany announced it will place 4,000 soldiers on standby over the weekend to help with a new wave of up to 40,000 refugees arriving in the country.

Police said The Thursday event was billed as a “solidarity march commemorating fallen Turkish soldiers”. According to  FR Online to it was organised by the “Federation of Turkish young people” which campaigns on behalf of Turkey. The fracas involved a group of around 380 participant and started at the city’s main railway station at 18.30.

Soon after the Turkish supporters set off there were attacks by immigrant Kurd counter-demonstrators who used sticks, bottles and stones to attack marchers. One taxi driver reportedly had his car damaged in the brawl.

Police confirmed the counter-demonstrators were of Kurdish origin and quickly withdrew.

More than 40,000 people have died since the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) launched its armed campaign in 1984 calling for an independent Kurdish state within Turkey.
Now immigrants from both sides of that battle are carrying their fight onto the streets of Frankfurt.

Meanwhile, Germany will mobilise 4,000 soldiers in the next 48-hours to help with the entry of up to 40,000 refugees in the country, Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.

She told Der Spiegel that she was placing the troops on alert with the expectation they could be asked to do more than just welcome the immigrant arrivals.

“The country can be sure that the Bundeswehr [German army] will be supporting” efforts to care for refugees, Von der Leyen said, adding that the army could do yet more if called upon.

“We are spreading these 4,000 soldiers across the country and they will intervene if the federal states [which are responsible for the initial uptake of refugees] request it,” a Defence Ministry spokesman told The Local.

“They will provide a helping hand, for example to set up a refugee camp, to help with organization, provide buses and drivers, other types of transport, medical services and equipment, anything of that kind.”

Record numbers of people from the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa continue to pour into Europe, with around 7,600 entering Macedonia in the last 12 hours.

Source: breitbart.com

New Twist in Syrian Kurdish boy Alan Kurdi’s father story worked with human smuggler allegation

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PHOTO/ AHMAD AL-RUBAYEAHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images

PHOTO/ AHMAD AL-RUBAYEAHMAD AL-RUBAYE/AFP/Getty Images

By The Canadian Press,

The father of a three-year-old Syrian boy whose body washed up on a Turkish beach is denying allegations that he was the captain of the vessel that capsized killing at least 12 people, including his family.

An Iraqi couple who lost two of their three children in the tragedy have alleged that after the accident, Abdullah Kurdi begged them not to tell Turkish police that he was operating the boat.

Zainab Abbas and Ahmad Hadi shared their story with reporters at Baghdad’s airport, where they arrived earlier this week carrying the small coffins of their dead children, aged 10 and 11.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the family had travelled to the Turkish coastal city of Bodrum from Iraq hoping to find smugglers who could take them into Europe.

They told the newspaper they almost changed their minds about the voyage when they looked at the 4.5-metre rubber boat, but a smuggler reassured them the vessel was safe. The smuggler also introduced them to Kurdi, who was described to them as the boat’s captain.

Kurdi’s wife and children would also be aboard, the smuggler told them.

Only minutes after departing the coast, the boat began to take on water, the couple told the newspaper. One of Kurdi’s sons started to cry, distracting his father just before the boat smashed into a wave, they said.

Kurdi, who lost his two sons — Alan, 3, and five-year-old Ghalib — and his wife Rehanna in the tragedy, has maintained that he paid smugglers 4,000 euros for the deadly voyage.

I lost my family, I lost my life, I lost everything, so let them say whatever they want

In a telephone interview with the Wall Street Journal from Syria, where he returned to bury his family, Kurdi disputed the Iraqi family’s account of events. He said the boat had a Turkish captain who jumped into the water and abandoned the vessel shortly after the engine stalled.

“I lost my family, I lost my life, I lost everything, so let them say whatever they want,” he told the newspaper.

Kurdi’s brother-in-law, who lives in Coquitlam, B.C., with Kurdi’s sister, Tima, called the Iraqi family’s claims “simply untrue and made up.”

“My wife spoke to Abdullah earlier this morning and can’t understand why anyone would make up such a story,” Rocco Logozzo told The Canadian Press in an email.

“We certainly feel for the woman on the boat, who also lost her children. We hope people help her with her plight and help her leave Iraq. She and her family did not deserve this tragedy.”

Abdullah Kurdi has blamed the Canadian government for the tragedy, saying authorities had denied his application for asylum, although Citizenship and Immigration Canada has said they received no such application.

Tima Kurdi has said that she only submitted an application for her other brother, Mohammed. She intended to sponsor him first, and subsequently to apply to sponsor Abdullah and his young family as well.

In the meantime, she said, she also sent Abdullah Kurdi money to pay for the perilous maritime journey from Turkey to Greece.

Although no official application was made for Abdullah, Tima Kurdi said his plight was brought to the attention of Immigration Minister Chris Alexander when her local NDP MP handed over a letter to him in the House of Commons earlier this year.

The photo of a drowned Alan — wearing a bright-red T-shirt and blue shorts — has put a heartbreaking human face to the humanitarian crisis, both globally and in Canada.

see videos of remebering Alan Kurdi in Vancouver

Turkish Kurdistan Cizre will not surrender

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arton116020-480x251In Cizre, Turkish Kurdistan city has been placed under martial law for almost two weeks. In this city, where, however, the state does not confront the PKK guerrillas, but the population that defends, it is a war that is being waged. The city, its population, means of communications are cut off from the outside. Cizre was attacked by the army. A massacre took place in Cizre. In Turkey more than 308 attacks were carried out in the last 48 hours by the extreme right, against the Kurds and against the offices of the HDP.

In Cizre, Şırnak province, the people resisted against the war waged by the palace. 5000 policemen and soldiers were sent to help in Cizre where martial law continues. During the blockage continues, homes and civilians were targeted yesterday armored vehicles doing the rounds in the city, threatening to shoot all that moved. Despite the attacks and blockade, the people continue to resist, the HDP elected said, “Be attached to Cizre which is under the threat of a massacre, break the blockade.” Since last Friday, nine people lost their lives in organized attacks.


Friday, September 11, 2015,
Jean Eckian © armenews.com
Other information available: on New Turkey