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German court cites Turkey’s support for terrorism in Kurdish militant case

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court-germany-turkey-kurdA German court has taken into account Turkey’s persecution of Kurds and support for the so-called ‘Islamic State’ (IS) and al-Qaeda in a case against a PKK member. The court opinion is sure to rile Turkey.

A German court on Friday issued a suspended sentence to a member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), citing in the decision to grant a mild punishment Turkey’s persecution of Kurds and support for terror groups in Syria and Iraq, “Die Welt” newspaper reported.

The court ruling is likely to further strain ties between Germany and Turkey at a time when Ankara has accused Berlin of not clamping down on the PKK and of being a center of terrorism in Europe.The court’s ruling also comes amid a broader crackdown in Turkey that has drawn sharp criticism in the EU.

The Hamburg court gave the 60-year-old man a one year and nine month suspended sentence for being a member of a foreign terrorist organization and heading PKK activities in the northern city of Bremen. His arrest warrant was also lifted.

The verdict led to some 70 PKK supporters in the room erupting in applause as it became clear the man would be set free.

Between August 2014 and March 2015, the man collected money for the PKK, organized propaganda and took part in membership meetings, the judge said. His name was not provided in line with German privacy laws.

Court cites Turkish support for ‘Islamic State’

The PKK, a recognized EU terrorist group, carries out murder and attacks in Turkey, the judge said.

But in issuing the mild verdict, the judge took into account the man’s admission to being a PKK member and his Yezidi origin, which the judge said meant that he was subject to persecution.

The judge recognized the role of the PKK in fighting against the so-called “Islamic State” in both Syria and Iraq as the Sunni extremist group tried to commit genocide against the Yezidi ethno-religious minority. In 2014, for example, PKK fighters came to the rescue of Yezidis in Sinjar in Iraq.

The PKK’s Syrian affiliate, the YPG, is backed by the United States in Syria in the fight against IS.

The court assumed that Turkey supported al-Qaeda and IS between 2011 to 2014 by providing health treatment to wounded fighters in Turkey and allowing jihadist fighters to cross into Syria. Kurds in Syria and Turkey have repeatedly accused Turkey of supporting terrorist groups in Syria in order to fight against Syrian Kurds, which Ankara considers a threat.

The renewal of fighting between the PKK and the Turkish state since the breakdown of peace talks last year has led to security forces destroying Kurdish towns and a deterioration in human rights, including extra-judicial killings. All this was taken into account in the court’s decision to issue the suspended sentence, the judge said.

Acquittal on other charge

The court acquitted the man on allegations of forced coercion. The charges stemmed from an argument between the accused man and the father of a 21-year-old girl who joined the PKK as a fighter against the wishes of her parents.

The father originally accused the man of threatening him with a gun if he went to the police about the matter. In court, the father denied the statement and therefore there was insufficient evidence to proceed with the charge against the PKK member.

Source: http://www.dw.com/en/german-court-cites-turkeys-support-for-terrorism-in-kurdish-militant-case/a-36532293

Terrorist State of Turkey issues warrant for Kurdish PYD leader Salih Muslim over Ankara bombing

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arrest-warningANKARA, Turkey – Turkey has issued an arrest warrant for Salih Muslim, co-leader of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), for alleged connections to an Ankara bombing last year which killed 28 people.

The state-run Anadolu Agency reported on Tuesday that arrest warrants had been issued for Muslim and 47 others, including some top leaders of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), including Murat Karayilan and Cemil Bayik, both founding members of the group.
Turkey regards PYD as the Syrian wing of the PKK.
February’s bombing targeted military busses during the evening rush hour. The PYD denied involvement after it was accused of the bombing following the attack.

Just days after the attack, another Kurdish group,  the Kurdistan Freedom Hawks (TAK) claimed responsibility, saying it carried out the attack to show its opposition to policies of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The perpetrator, according to TAK, was a 26-year-old Turkish national from the eastern Turkish city of Van.

The then Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, however, named the Ankara bomber as Salih Necar, a Syrian national and member of the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), the military wing of the PYD.

Turkey stops European MPs from visiting pro-Kurdish HDP head

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A delegation from the Party of European Socialists (PES) speaks to media after being denied visit to the leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) party Selahattin Demirtas, imprisoned in Edirne, on November 21, 2016, in front of the Erdine Prison. (Photo by AFP)

A delegation from the Party of European Socialists (PES) speaks to media after being denied visit to the leader of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) party Selahattin Demirtas, imprisoned in Edirne, on November 21, 2016, in front of the Erdine Prison. (Photo by AFP)

Turkish authorities have not allowed a group of national European legislators and members of the European Parliament to visit the chairman of the left-wing and pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), who has been held in prison for nearly a month.

Dozen members of the Party of European Socialists (PES) together with national lawmakers from Sweden, France and Austria sought to visit Selahattin Demirtas at the maximum security prison in northwestern Turkish city of Edirne on Monday, but Turkish gendarmes blocked the approach road to the detention facility and did not let them move forward.

The European parliamentarians subsequently decided to convene an unplanned press conference in the street.

“He is not abandoned. He is not alone. Our political family is in solidarity with him,” PES President and former Bulgarian prime minister, Sergei Stanishev, said.

He added that there can be “no compromise” on political standards as Turkey tries to join the European Union.

The Turkish government’s has been pursuing its EU membership bid since the 1960s. The formal negotiations started in 2005. But the process has been mired in problems, and only 16 chapters of the 35-chapter accession procedure have been opened for Ankara so far.

Meanwhile, vice co-chairman of HDP responsible for foreign affairs, Hisyar Ozsoy, has denounced the Turkish officials’ procrastination to consent to visits to Demirtas.

“There is a serious policy of isolation… They have reduced relations with the outside world to the lowest level,” he said.

Earlier this month, 13 HDP legislators were arrested over alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group.

Party leaders Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag remain in custody along with eight others, waiting to stand trial on terrorism-related charges.

A shaky ceasefire between the PKK, which has been calling for an autonomous Kurdish region since 1984, and the Turkish government collapsed in July 2015. Attacks on Turkish security forces have soared ever since.

Over the past few months, Turkish ground and air forces have been carrying out operations against PKK positions in the country’s troubled southeastern border region as well as Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and northern Syria.

Turkey HDP Kurdish co-chair Demirtaş skips court hearing after not receiving indictment

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HDP co-chair Demirtaş

HDP co-chair Demirtaş

An arrested co-chair of Turkey’s third largest party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), did not participate in the first hearing of his “terrorism” case after prosecutors refused to share the indictment.

The first hearing of the case, in which Selahattin Demirtaş is charged with making terror propaganda and faces up to five years in prison, took place in the southern province of Adana on Nov. 17.

The guardian in the prison in which Demirtaş is being held captive in the northwestern province of Edirne told the courtroom that he would not be participating the hearing through the voice and video informatics system (SEGBİS). The guardian also said the necessary explanation for the decision would be given by his lawyers.

A number of lawyers participated in the hearing, which was held at the 2nd Adana Court of Serious Crimes. The hearing in the case was postponed until Jan. 10, 2017.

Ten HDP lawmakers, including co-chairs Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ, were arrested in a probe launched against 14 of the party’s deputies over alleged links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Meanwhile, a HDP deputy from the southeastern province of Urfa criticized Parliamentary Speaker İsmail Kahraman “for remaining silent in the face of the operations.”

“What kind of parliamentary speaker are you? Your members are in jail and in solitary confinement and you say nothing,” Osman Baydemir said in parliament, adding that no charter or law could be legitimate when a party’s co-chairs are in jail.

“No one can say that the parliament is functioning when our co-chairs are in jail. No law or charter that’s going to be prepared will be legitimate,” he said.

Source: http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/hdp-co-chair-demirtasskips-courthearing-afternot-receiving-indictment.aspx?pageID=238&nID=106237&NewsCatID=509

November/17/2016

US-Backed Kurdish Forces Peshmerga in Iraq Accused of War Crimes

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Peshmerga forces in northern Iraq, trained and equipped by the United States, are allegedly razing Arab towns liberated from the Islamic State group.

A human rights group is accusing the armed forces of the Kurdistan Regional Government of carrying out a deliberate campaign to prevent the return of Arabs to towns in Iraq once occupied by the Islamic State group, a practice it says may amount to war crimes.

Armed and equipped by the United States and other major powers – and backed by U.S. airstrikes – Peshmerga forces and allied militias have played a key role in reclaiming territory captured by the Islamic State group.

However, Amnesty International is accusing those forces of razing the predominantly Arab villages they have liberated from the extremist group as part of an apparent attempt to expand the autonomous region’s territory.

More than 3 million people have been refugees by the latest conflict in Iraq, with the country experiencing “the highest and fastest rate of people displaced in the world in 2015,” according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The U.S. government has pledged to help rebuild those towns and villages its allied forces have retaken from the Islamic State group. However, some Arab Iraqis are discovering that their former homes no longer exist, having been bulldozed to the ground soon after liberation. “These villages were terrorists,” one KRG security official told Amnesty International, according to the report. “They didn’t just support IS, they were part of it.”

That the largely Sunni residents of razed towns either sympathized with or actively supported the extremist Islamic State is a frequent charge, but other KRG officials offered different explanations, including that areas freed from the Islamic State’s control were not yet safe enough for refugees to return to — or that Kurdish forces were merely correcting past wrongs.

“We are just taking back some of what was ours,” one official reportedly told Amnesty International, referring to former Baathist dictator Saddam Hussein’s efforts to “Arabise” formerly Kurdish parts of Iraq.

Whatever the motivation, Maher Nubul, a father of 11, told Amnesty International, “All I know is that when the Peshmerga retook the village the houses were standing.”

“We could not go back but could see it clearly from the distance. And later they bulldozed the village, I don’t know why. There is nothing left. They destroyed everything for no reason.”

According to Amnesty’s International’s Donatella Rovera, that destruction could be grounds for a criminal prosecution.

“The forced displacement of civilians and the deliberate destruction of homes and property without military justification may amount to war crimes,” said Rovera, part of a team that carried out field research in 13 towns and villages and interviewed 120 witnesses.

What researchers saw and heard on the ground was also backed by satellite imagery — and it was not isolated. “Rather,” the report states, the alleged crimes “are examples of a wider pattern across the disputed areas of northern Iraq, where parties which had long vied for exclusive control of these areas are now intent on consolidating territorial gains they have made as a result of battlefield successes against IS.”

WATCH: Amnesty International’s Donatella Rovera on the Ground in Northern Iraq

Source: http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/US-Backed-Kurdish-Forces-in-Iraq-Accused-of-War-Crimes-20160120-0005.html

https://youtu.be/WeU7FUoDZnk

Raffi Hovhannisyan: Arrests of opposition MPs in Turkey resemble the #ArmenianGenocide of 1915

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Raffi Hovhannisyan: Arrests of opposition MPs in Turkey resemble the Armenian Genocide of 1915

Raffi Hovhannisyan: Arrests of opposition MPs in Turkey resemble the Armenian Genocide of 1915

On November 6, Heritage Party Chairman Raffi K. Hovannisian attended and addressed a special conference on Migration and Refugees organized by the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP).

The meeting, which brought together 40 political parties from more than 25 countries, was co-sponsored by the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party of Turkey.

Following inflammatory interventions by Azerbaijani and Turkish delegates, Raffi Hovannisian took the floor to present an Armenian perspective on historical and current developments in the region. He referred in particular to the unacceptability of the recent arrest of opposition MPs in Turkey and the crackdown on civil liberties which triggered flashbacks to 1915; the reality and legacy of the Armenian Genocide and Great National Dispossession of the Armenian and other peoples (Assyrians, Greeks, Kurds, Yezidis, and Alevis) as an unprecedented watershed in refugee creation; the Turkish official policy of denial and the untold story of thousands of righteous Turks who saved Armenian lives.

He underscored the tendency of states like Turkey and Azerbaijan to launch military activities in neighboring countries and then be compelled to manage refugee crises, seeking  international support for their solution; Armenia’s experience with Syrian-Armenian refugees; Azerbaijan’s failed war of aggression against the Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) Republic and the 500,000 Armenians who were displaced from Azerbaijan, Nakhichevan and other occupied Armenian lands; the imperative  to secure for all refugees and internally displaced persons a guaranteed  and equitable right of return to their places of origin, including the return of Armenians to and the establishment of communal life in Azerbaijan, Nakhichevan, and the western Armenian heartland in current-day eastern Turkey; and the need to be
self-critical in Turkey, Armenia, and all other countries and to take responsibility for developing just, democratic societies which are the only avenue to prevent non-conflict-driven emigration.

Upon completion of Hovannisian’s address, the vice chairman of the AK Party repeated Turkey’s denialist line and asked the reference to the word Genocide be deleted from the record.   Hovannisian condemned this approach as an unacceptable, characteristic attempt at official censorship.

Source: http://www.armradio.am/en/2016/11/07/raffi-hovhannisyan-arrests-of-opposition-mps-in-turkey-resemble-the-armenian-genocide-of-1915/

Kurds Armenian in France against “Erdogan barbarism” with the support of Jean-Luc Mélenchon

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kurd-armenian-protes-parisPending the condemnation by Europe of the dictatorial regime of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and as a result of security measures taken by the Turkish power under the complacent gaze of the West losing values and at the spoliation of fatal memory, which struck the deputies of the pro-Kurdish opposition party HDP, including its leader Selahattin Demirtas, demonstrations of support for the Kurdish people were held in several French cities which have joined the Franco-Armenian Movement and also Charjoum Nor the Seround, Place de la Republique in Paris.

In front of thousands of demonstrators gathered Republic Square, as Berivan Firat, host of the Democratic Council of Kurds in France, called on organizations and citizens concerned about the respect of human rights, to condemn Turkey to Erdogan drifts for which he is responsible in his country in the grip of terror and destabilization by undemocratic actions, inspired by the worst dictatorships.

Chanting “Erdogan assassin! “” Erdogan out! “The demonstrators headed to the Place du Chatelet to attend the intervention of the leader of the Left Front Jean-Luc Mélenchon who gave his full support to the struggle of the Kurdish people (see video).

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry wrote: “France and Turkey are linked by common values that underpin their relationship and result in particular in the accession of our country to the European Convention on Human Rights.

Also, the arrest of several members of HDP party raises serious concern. France calls on Turkey to respect the rule of law and fundamental freedoms, including democratic pluralism and freedom of expression and of the press. “

For information, November 3, the Belgian courts rejected the terrorism allegations of the Turkish state against the Kurds.

Turkey: Garo Paylan says “It’s April 24, 1915,” all over again

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garo-it-is-1915After leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (Turkish: Halkların Demokratik Partisi, Kurdish: Partiya Demokratik has Gelan, HDP) of Turkey were arrested and jailed Friday morning Garo Paylan, Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament of that party, issued a warning on his Twitter account saying that the events in Turkey recalled April 24, 1915.

“We live in 1915, is April 24!” Tweeted Garo Paylan after the leaders of the main pro-Kurdish party in Turkey have been remanded in custody, hours after their arrest by the authorities, who seem to take a new step in the purges carried out in all directions from the aborted putsch of July

The arrest of the co-chairs of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtaş and Mrs Figen Yüksekdag, and eleven other members of that party, provoked indignant reactions in the West, whose relations with Turkey are already strained due alleged violations of freedoms to power of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ..

“The Turkish police raided the house in Ankara Selahattin Demirtaş and home Figen Yüksekdağ in Diyarbakir said the party’s lawyers.

The decision to place the two party leaders, and three others arrested elected in custody was taken in the afternoon by a court in Diyarbakir, in the context of “terrorism” investigation related to the PKK, according to the pro-government agency Anadolu.

The HDP second opposition party in Turkey, said in a statement that the arrests marked “the end of democracy” in the country.

The head of European diplomacy, Federica Mogherini, was known for its hand “extremely worried” and said it would convene a meeting of EU ambassadors in Ankara. Berlin said it had summoned the Turkish charge d’affaires and the spokesman of Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled the arrests “highly alarming”.

Among the arrested members included, besides the two leaders, party heavyweights like Baluken Idris, president of the parliamentary group HDP, also formally remanded in custody.

“This is a coup against the HDP is a coup against pluralism, against diversity, against equality,” said Garo Paylan, a member of HDP, at a conference Press the Istanbul headquarters of the party.

“It slams the door of Parliament to the nose, it means ignoring the vote of six million people, ignore the democratic demand of the people, their hope for a peaceful future,” added his colleague Huda Kaya.

“The HDP calls on the international community to react against the coup Erdogan,” the party said on Twitter, referring to President Tayyip Erdogan.

In the wake of government repression against the HDP, the Armenian National Committee of America has launched a campaign asking supporters to write letters urging the US secretary of state to act decisively against the attempt to Erdogan to silence the last remaining democratic forces in Turkey.

“The United States should publicly and forcefully protest against the undemocratic repression of Turkey and demand the release of officials HDP illegally imprisoned by the Erdogan regime. We must break with the policy of appeasement that has failed for too long in US policy against Turkey, allowing the Ankara lobbyists army compromise the interests of our country and the values of our country, “said the general director of ANCA Aram Hamparian.

The United States is “deeply troubled” by the detention in Turkey of pro-Kurdish politicians and elected officials, said for his part Friday on Twitter, Tom Malinowski, in charge of human rights at the State Department.

“When democracies are attacking elected officials, they have a duty to justify their actions and to maintain confidence in the judicial system,” wrote Malinowski, on the social network.

In France the Communists senators have called for a parliamentary debate “soon” next week on the situation in Turkey after the arrest on the night of leaders and members of the main pro-Kurdish party in this country, the Peoples Democratic Party (HDP).

“It is urgent that a debate be held next week in Parliament on the worrying situation in Turkey,” write the senators of the Communist group, Republican and Citizen (CRC), adding that “respect for human rights not not be violated in the name of geopolitical interests. “

CRC group “supports seamless to all parliamentarians arrested and requires that France so his silence over the repeated attacks of the Turkish government towards democratic and civic forces,” the statement said.

He also asked the hearing by the High Assembly of Selahattin Demirtaş, co-chairman of the HDP and Istanbul deputy, arrested with another party leader, Ms Figen Yüksekdag, and at least nine other MPs.

This “slippage continues from Turkey to an authoritarian state after lifting the arbitrary and unfounded the parliamentary immunity of fifty of the fifty-nine members of HDP in May, the organization of a purge following the attempted coup of 15 July and the administrative closure of 160 Turkish media, “the statement said.

The national secretary of the PCF Pierre Laurent then expressed his “anger” and its “strong indignation” saying that with these arrests, “Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan takes another step in the establishment of the dictatorship” . He called for “amplify the campaign StopErdogan + #! +”.

For the Socialist Party, the arrest of two of HDP co-chairs, “two democratically elected and respected personalities in Turkey,” “is a shock.”

“The fight against terrorism and against the attempts of political destabilization can not justify any violations of freedoms,” the party said in a statement, noting that “this escalation” raises its “deep concern”.

The party calls on the Turkish authorities to “precisely justify their accusations” against those responsible for the HDP and called “European and international authorities to step up their pressure on Turkey to remain faithful to the principles and values of the European Convention on Human of Man “.

Berlin said it had summoned the Turkish charge d’affaires, and the spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel ruled the arrests “highly alarming”.

In Paris, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry Romain Nadal said that the arrest of HDP elected aroused “great concern.”

In a text written by hand read by one of his lawyers, Mr Demirtas said he was the victim of a “civil blow by the government and the palace.”

The words “We will certainly win,” he launched in Turkey at the time of his arrest were widely on Twitter under the hasthtag #MutlakaKazanacagiz.

Sunday, November 6, 2016,
Stéphane © armenews.co

The pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) withdraws from Turkish  parliament “VIDEO”

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kurdish-mp-arrestEuropean envoys summoned as Turkey’s political crisis deepens

The pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) has said it would boycott parliament after its senior members were arrested. A leaked European Commission report warns Turkey’s democracy is seriously backsliding.

The HDP said on Sunday it was “halting its legislative efforts” after its leaders and other lawmakers were detained and said it would no longer take part in general assembly sittings. “After discussions with our parliamentary group and our central executive board, we have decided to halt our legislative efforts in light of everything that has happened,” party spokesman Ayhan Bilgen said in a statement read out in front of its offices in Diyarbakir, the de facto capital of Turkey’s predominately Kurdish southeast.

Bilgen later clarified that the party, Turkey’s second-largest opposition bloc, was not fully withdrawing from parliament and its deputies would remain members, but they would not take part in general assembly sittings or parliamentary commission meetings.

The co-leaders of the HDP and seven others were detained Friday after refusing to submit to questioning by prosecutors in a counterterrorism investigation. The Turkish government accuses the HDP of links to the armed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which it denies.

The crackdown on the HDP, which made history last year by becoming the first Kurdish party to cross the 10 percent electoral threshold and enter parliament, has been roundly criticized by Western governments and rights groups.

“The kind of detentions of democratically elected members of parliament we are seeing in Turkey today is an assault on the right to political representation and participation for millions of voters and defies fundamental principles of any country that claims to be democratic and based on rule of law and human rights,” Human Rights Watch’s Turkey researcher Emma Sinclair-Webb said in a statement to reporters.

Meanwhile, a radical faction of the PKK, the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), claimed on its website responsibility for a bomb blast on a police station on Friday morning in Diyarbakir that killed 11 people and wounded another 100. The government had previously blamed the PKK, but that claim was questioned on Saturday after the “Islamic State” claimed credit, according to the IS-linked Amaq news agency.

Ankara answers EU critics in roundtable meeting with ambassadors

Responding to criticism from European Union countries, including Germany and Denmark, Turkey’s EU Affairs Minister Omer Celik summoned EU ambassadors to an unusual meeting Sunday where he will give an address “on the latest developments in our country,” the ministry said in a statement.

Turkey’s recent crackdown on political opposition and critical media outlets has triggered a damning progress report by the European Commission on its progress toward EU membership, the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung” reported on Sunday.

The German newspaper said that the report, to be published on Wednesday, described “a significant relapse” in press freedom and said legal decisions over national security and the fight against terrorism were applied “selectively and randomly.”

European officials have been increasingly critical of Turkey’s crackdown on those it suspects of involvement in the attempted coup on July 15-16. More than 110,000 judges, teachers, police and civil servants have been detained or suspended. Add the 170 newspapers, magazines, television stations and news agencies that have been closed, leaving 2,500 journalists unemployed, and there are concerns that Turkey is seriously backsliding in its commitment to parliamentary democracy.

Street demonstrations against the crackdown on pro-Kurdish politicians and critical media outlets have been met with heavy-handed force by riot police.

jar/jlw (AFP, Reuters)

Source: http://www.dw.com/en/european-envoys-summoned-as-turkeys-political-crisis-deepens/a-36281438

Armenian National Committee of America ANCA Calls for Forceful U.S. Response to Turkey’s HDP Arrests

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anc-protest-hdp-arrest

ANCA leads community effort calling on U.S. to forcefully condemn the Turkish Government’s latest crackdown on the HDP party.

ANCA Launches Online Action Portal – anca.org/hdp – calling on Secretary Kerry Condemn Erdogan’s Crackdown

WASHINGTON—In the wake of the November 3rd Turkish government crackdown on the pro-democracy HDP party, the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) has registered protests with the U.S. government and launched a nationwide grassroots advocacy campaign calling Secretary of State John Kerry to respond forcefully against Turkish President Recep Erdogan’s attempt to silence the last remaining major pro-democracy voice left in Turkey.

An ANCA action alert – www.anca.org/HDP – provides supporters of a democratic Turkey with the opportunity to ask Secretary Kerry to condemn Ankara’s crackdown and demand the immediate release of imprisoned HDP leaders.  The letter reads, in part: “My request is as simple as it is straightforward: The United States must publicly and forcefully protest Turkey’s crackdown and demand the immediate release of all those imprisoned by the Erdogan regime.”

Commenting on the campaign, ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian stressed that “We must break with the failed policies of appeasement that have, for far too long, misguided American policy toward Turkey, allowing Turkish leader and their army of lobbyists to compromise both our country’s interests and our nation’s values.”

Earlier on Friday, ANCA leaders and activists joined with Kurdish Americans and other committed to democracy within Turkey in a protest outside the Turkish Embassy. The demonstration was covered by Armenian, Kurdish, and Turkish media.