Kurdistan Archives

All the Animals are equal

August 1, 2015 By administrator

By Awat Mawlood,

The above title derived from George Orwell’s “Animal Farm”
First, this novel is about a political though in the mid-years of the previous century and it talks about having Dictatorship and Revolution and the differences among these two ideas.

Further, this Farm consists of a Farmer (Human) and some Animals. The cruelty of Human power made the animals to think about revolution which means that the farmer is a dictator. So, the animals did the revolution and the leader of the revolution states this statement “All the animals are Equal”. Here, I have capitalized the word “Equal” to give emphasis and show how this word is neglected after the process. At first, all the animals are happy because they have a good leader (Snowball) which makes a better life for them. But, later on the situation changes because of a coup which is done by some of the cruel pigs (another dictator). The leader of this coup is (Napoleon) and he made life of the animals more difficult and put some dictatorial rules and imitates the human power as before exist in the farm. The new power starts to accuse those who are against them, and they made new rules for the sake of the safety of their power. These entire things made the animals (people) to do another revolution to change the power in the farm (society) and they get succeed and created a new power which respects animals. As mentioned that the word Equal is being neglected by the dictatorial power in the farm and they do everything to safe their power even they are ready to destroy their homes (nations) to maintain in power.

George Orwell makes an image of a farm and some animal and Human being to show how the dictatorial systems could destroy the world.

In other words if we compare this novel to the system of power in Iraqi-Kurdistan we see that there are some similarities among them, in case of having a dictatorial system and having no Equality among the people in power and outside the power and in terms having enemy to safe their power.

We all know that Kurds faced many difficulties, such as Dictatorship (Baath) and then they were live in a bad life and they think about a revolution and did. Then the new power which is Kurd is doing the same acts of the previous dictatorial system. Also, the word equality is neglected and here people think about having another revolution. The new power does not have mercy for people even for a small gathering they have questions and they may not allow people to have freedom of speaking and political freedom. We may face another difficulty which is about creating a good power.

There are some similarities between Napoleon the coup leader and Mas’ud Barzani the Iraqi-Kurdistan president in terms of having power. Napoleon makes trade with humans and the rest of the animal do not have right to ask about the benefit of that trade, while Barzani’s sold the oil of Kurdistan and there is no one could say where do u put the benefit of that trade. Another point is about having military power to safe the dictatorial system, Napoleon grew some dogs up to use them in future and did, again Barzani has a special military power which is “Zeravni” that according some sources they are about 5,000 soldier that are ready to sacrifice their life for Barzani in terms of war.

That is why I have compared this novel with the power system in Kurdistan

Turkish bombardment in Barazani Kurdistan injures many Kurdish civilians

July 25, 2015 By administrator

Injured civilians being carried to Duhok State Hospital. Photo : Rudaw

DUHOK, Kurdistan Region — Two injured citizens carried to hospital in the aftermath of Turkish artillery bombardment of Amediye region in Duhok province last night.

Two villagers from Koker village in Duhok’s Berwari region were injured with Turkish artillery shells, said Rudaw’s reporter. One of the victims was 12 years old, and was carried to the State Hospital of Duhok.

The second victim lost his leg in the strikes and was taken into operation room.

Hakurk Mountain near Sidekan town of Duhok was bombarded three times from air and the ground with Turkish artillery last night, 25th July.

Four members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) were killed in the strikes and several others were injured, said Rudaw’s reporter.

A resident of Sergil village told Rudaw that their lives were in danger. Many of residents of this village are members of the Peshmerga forces and are fighting the Islamic State (ISIS), “How could they fight in battle while worrying about their families,” said one villager.

Around 400 villagers have been isolated in a remote area in that region due to the shelling, said Rudaw’s reporter.

Source: Rudaw

White House won’t support independent Kurdish state: spokesman

May 6, 2015 By administrator

WASHINGTON,— The White House said Tuesday that it still backs a “unified” Iraq even with the president of the Kurdish Regional Government set to ask for U.S. support for his government during his current visit to Washington.

“It continues to be the view of the United States that a unified Iraq that’s governed in an inclusive way is clearly in the best interest of Iraq’s diverse population,” said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

Iraqi news agencies said self-determination of Iraqi Kurds in Kurdistan Region will be one of the main topics to be discussed during Massoud Barzani’s visit, citing his Chief of Staff Fuad Hussein.

The White House released a readout saying President Barack Obama on Tuesday met Barzani at the White House, along with Vice President Joe Biden.

Though Kurdish leaders were expected to raise the possibility of a “self-determined” Kurdish government during the meeting, the White House readout said fighting against Islamic State IS was the main topic of discussion.

The leaders “discussed a range of issues, including the campaign to degrade and ultimately destroy IS and the status of ongoing political initiatives to address the needs of the Iraqi people and foster cooperation across all communities,” the readout said.

Iraqi troops and Kurdish peshmerga forces are fighting against IS, supported by a U.S.-led coalition that has been conducting airstrikes against the extremist group.

Obama reaffirmed Washington’s support for the Iraqi Kurdistan Region and the Kurdish people and also “reaffirmed the United States’ enduring commitment under the Strategic Framework Agreement to a united, federal, and democratic Iraq, as defined in the Iraqi constitution,” according to the readout.

Armenian Genocide bill discussed at Iraqi Kurdistan parliament

April 29, 2015 By administrator

A bill on the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and which an Armenian MP had introduced to the parliament of the Iraqi Kurdistan autonomous region, has caused debates among the local political forces.

The parliament’s Armenian member, Yervant Nisan, informed that he collected signatures from all parties in the parliament, and in favor of the draft law he introduced, reported the Rudaw website.

Although the parliament’s Kurdistan Patriots Union (KYB) openly supported this bill, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Movement for Change (Gorran) platform preferred to remain silent on this matter.

KYB MP Rewas Fayik noted that he signed for this bill and its passing in the Iraqi Kurdistan parliament will be something ordinary.

Several KDP MPs likewise signed in favor of the passing of this proposed law.

KDP member Muhammad Amir Dershewi, for his part, said everyone knows that genocide was committed against the Armenians, and stressed that the parliament of the Kurdistan autonomous region must take the initiative.

Forty Iraqi Kurdistan MP’s signed under this bill, which calls for the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and it was submitted to the presidency of the parliamen

Iraqi Kurdistan: The KRG Economy: Booming or Dooming? oligarchy & Money laundering

March 8, 2015 By administrator

By Harem Karem and Kamal Chomani:

he Ibrahim Khalil and other border points have generated huge revenues – for whom?

‘Kurdistan is booming’ was the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) oligarchy’s catchphrase – often echoed by short-sighted foreign businessmen – over the past decade. Undoubtedly, there has been development: hundreds of hotels and skyscrapers have mushroomed in the region, the standard of living has improved in comparison with the civil war era, and public services have improved to some extent.

However, this ‘booming economy’’ – or, as we call it ‘capitalism on steroids’ – hasn’t been due to the smart strategic planning of astute visionary members of the oligarchy. Instead, it has been primarily due to the billions of dollars poured into the region following the invasion of Iraq, mainly through international development programs, large-scale international money laundering and natural resources exporting – smuggling through the backdoor or by official routes.

Since 1992, for example, tens of millions of dollars per day have been generated at the border points with Turkey and Iran such as Ibrahim Khalil, Hajyomaran, Bashmakh and Khanaqeen. Until recently this income was not officially recorded and it was often appropriated by the dominant political parties, the KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party) and PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan). Even now there is a lack of transparency surrounding these funds.

As a result of the lack of long-term planning, mismanagement and the oligarchy’s attempt to thwart progress and divert projects for its own gain, most developments have benefited a tiny gang of greedy, money-munching monsters at the heart of government, while the majority of ordinary citizens have struggled to make ends meet.

By implementing half-baked populist policies to keep the populace submissive and prolong their exclusive grip of power, the oligarchy has deliberately promoted complacency and low productivity by creating a deformed welfare state – assigning nearly 80% of the national budget to a dole scheme and rewarding their hordes of lackeys by distributing public lands, luxurious cars and lucrative salaries at the national expense.

Such schemes have paved the way for thousands of villages to become deserted, the countryside abandoned and agriculture for internal consumption neglected throughout the region. Take the example of Sakran, one of 400-plus villages in the Choman area, situated in Eastern Choman (120 km North-East of Erbil). Until the nineties, it was self-sufficient and, what’s more, selling its products in the market. Sakran was a well-known agricultural brand in the Erbil province. All the people of this village were farmers. But, as a direct result of the KRG’s failed policies, the village is now deserted, with all its people living in the city and most receiving hand-outs from the KRG. Furthermore, local crafts have disappeared at an alarming rate: local products are fast becoming extinct, despite the fact that, historically, the region was self-sufficient through the centuries, resisting many calamities.

The ruling parties deliberately ignored the real needs of the countryside, putting farmers on the dole because they wanted to buy votes and strengthen their private militias. Sadly these local despots have managed to inflict a huge damage on society in two decades which the enemies couldn’t achieve in nearly a century. There is a saying among Kurds: “An axe cannot cut down a mighty oak-tree if the handle isn’t made of itself”.

The clientelist and kleptocratic practices of the oligarchy have paved the way for monumental failures politically, economically and in terms of government performance as well as the burgeoning grievances of the populace. The oligarchy has been wielding its axe to tear apart the society (‘divide and conquer’), running a patronage system to maintain a disproportionate hold on every aspect of power and business, together with multi-million-dollar, state-of-the-art propaganda machines to launch mass deception campaigns. How many millions, for example, are being allocated from the KRG budget to the Rudaw media empire owned by the prime minister?

In the words of the current finance minister, who took office less than a year ago as part of the coalition agreement, “out of almost 30,000 employees in the ministry, half of them do not exist”. Corrupt officials have registered their associates and party supporters to receive salaries without doing any work. It can be suspected that essentially the same is true for the rest of the ministries and local authorities.

Our quarrel here is not with those suffering from the KRG’s fraud and deception but with the oligarchy and those propagating its failed policies and corruption. Blinded by their own self-interest, and to feed the populist welfare state they have created, the oligarchy has pursued a myopic oil policy since 2007 without any due regard to existing oil and gas laws and ignoring national interests and experts’ warnings about the recklessness of putting all the eggs into one basket. Today, with the oil price at a record low, the total oil revenue at its best wouldn’t exceed $500 million each month, while the welfare state they have created requires $711 million. Additionally, the KRG needs $334 million to provide electricity every month and more than $200 million to protect its borders with IS and support the internally displaced people.

The oligarchy blames the budget dispute with Baghdad for all these problems, diverting attention from its own greed and lack of a viable economic strategy. Furthermore, the Kurdish oligarchy has been deeply involved with Baghdad since 2005, holding the positions of Iraqi presidency, deputy prime minister, deputy parliament speaker and several ministries including finance and foreign ministries.

The fact is that, over the past decade, more than $100 billion (and this is just the declared income) has poured into the KRG’s coffers and, not only has it failed to invest this wisely, but today the KRG owes nearly $18 billion – mainly to the oligarchy-owned giant companies and banks! We can safely say that the hundreds of luxurious hotels and skyscrapers are no substitute for what the region’s people urgently need: thousands of school buildings, hospitals, roads, dams and social wellbeing programs to look after the large numbers of people living below the poverty line.

There is a lack of official statistics but tens of thousands of the elderly have not received their pensions for the past three months. They turn up to their local bank each month only to be told it hasn’t got any money. Hundreds of thousands of teachers and other civil servants haven’t received wages for December, January and February. We know that most are struggling with their food and heating bills and those who live in rented accommodation or have a sick family member can often survive only through charity.

In conclusion, the booming economy has mainly benefited the corrupt political elite (oligarchy): many of them rapidly became millionaires and billionaires, while a majority of citizens are now seeing a dooming economy with increasing calamities

Source: kurdistantribune.com

Canadian commandos gunned down by Kurdish soldiers despite prearranged code words: official

March 8, 2015 By administrator

Sgt. Andrew Joseph Doiron was killed in action in Iraq.

Canadian commandos who were gunned down by Kurdish soldiers at a checkpoint in northern Iraq on Friday night had visited the same location earlier and arranged a series of code words to pave the way for their return that evening, a senior Canadian government official confirmed Sunday night.

The Canadians had already passed by a number of Kurdish locations using the codes without any problems. But when they came upon one checkpoint in the village of Bashiq, a Kurdish soldier instead opened fire on the group.

Sgt. Andrew Joseph Doiron, 31, was killed. Three other Canadian special forces members from Petawawa were injured in what is being described as a friendly fire incident. Report ottawa citizen

The details emerging Sunday night are in contrast to the version being told by the Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, who have laid blame on the Canadians for the incident.

The Kurds claim the Canadians arrived unannounced at the checkpoint in an area that has seen heavy fighting the previous day with members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

“When (the Canadians) returned, the Peshmerga asked them to identify themselves,” Peshmerga spokesman Halgurd Hekmat told The Associated Press. “They answered in Arabic. That’s when Peshmerga started shooting. It was their fault.”

Hekmat added that he doesn’t know why the Canadians were there. “I consider it an improper action by the Canadians and illogical,” he said.

Defence Minister Jason Kenney has disputed that account but has not provided many other details.

However, a senior government official said the visit was indeed co-ordinated with Kurdish forces in advance and had proceeded smoothly until the Canadians reached one specific area where they were attacked. “Only when they got to a specific area did one fellow open (fire) and that caused other (Kurds) to engage.”

Canadian special forces troops held a ramp ceremony Sunday in Erbil as Dorion’s body was loaded onto a plane for transport to Canada. His remains will be flown to the military base at Trenton, Ont., arriving sometime mid-week, then taken along Highway 401 — the Highway of Heroes — to the coroner’s office in Toronto. The highway was named in honour of the soldiers killed in Afghanistan whose bodies were also transported along that route.

On Sunday, Doiron’s family issued the following statement: “Our son gave all and through his loss, we gave all. We’ve lost our beloved son and we kindly ask the media to give our family space and privacy to grieve.”

Kurdish militia accusations that Canadian soldiers are to blame for the Kurds’ fatal “friendly-fire” shooting of a Canadian commando and the wounding of three others were speculative and not helpful, Kenny said.

“We would ask our allies in the Peshmerga militia to wait until there is an investigation and we can sit down and compare notes and see exactly what happened,” he said. “We’re going to wait for the inquiry. My understanding is the Canadian troops conducted themselves professionally (and) did what they were supposed to do in such a circumstance.

“This has nothing to do with accompaniment or combat,” Kenney added. “The Canadian troops were behind the forward line of our troops. They were not at what we would describe as the front.”

Kenney said the Canadians arrived at the observation post, about 200 metres from the front lines.

“It’s a tragic incident, at nighttime, of friendly fire. Regrettably, such incidents occur in all military deployments. It’s part of the inherent risk, unfortunately.”

Canada has around 600 military personnel committed to Operation Impact. Most are part of the air contingent based in Kuwait. But 69 special forces troops are in northern Iraq to help train and advise Kurdish forces.

Doiron’s death is the first in the mission.

In February, the Canadian Forces revealed that soldiers had exchanged fire with ISIL fighters in self-defence.

NDP defence critic Jack Harris has called for an independent investigation into Friday’s incident, noting that the circumstances raise questions about the Conservative government’s claims that Canadian troops are fulfilling a non-combat role and are only involved in training Iraqi forces.

Kenney, who told the Manning Networking Conference in Ottawa on Saturday that Canada has made a positive difference with its military mission in Iraq and that ISIL is “on its heels”, called Doiron a “true Canadian patriot” and said the incident will not affect the work of Canadian special forces on the ground in Iraq.

He also said it will not have any impact on any government decision on whether to extend the Iraq military mission in Iraq.

“We believe that Canada has an important role to play in international security, including confronting the very serious threat of ISIL, which has explicitly declared war on Canada, encouraged terrorist attacks against Canadian civilians and which we believe was at least partly responsible for inspiring terrorist attacks against this country last year.”

Kurdistan and Armenia to Strengthen Ties

February 4, 2015 By administrator

Armenia’s Ambassador to Iraq Karin Gregorian (left) meets with Kurdistan Region’s Foreign Minister Falah Mustafa

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region, Iraq—The Kurdistan Regional Government’s (KRG) Foreign Minister Falah Mustafa on Tuesday received Armenia’s Ambassador to Iraq Karin Gregorian to discuss bilateral ties.

In his first visit to the Kurdistan Region, Ambassador Gregorian commended Southern Kurdistan for its political and economic developments as well as its culture of peaceful coexistence and religious tolerance.

He briefed Minister Mustafa on the opening of Armenia’s consulate general in Erbil and stated that “the approval to open Armenia’s consulate general in Erbil has been granted. The President and the government of Armenia are committed to establishing and strengthening ties with the Kurdistan Region.”

The Ambassador announced that starting from next week; Armenia will conduct direct flights from Yerevan to Erbil twice per week. He hoped that this will lead to more economic and cultural exchanges between Kurdistan and Armenia.

Minister Mustafa welcomed the Ambassador to Kurdistan and thanked him for his efforts to establish institutional ties between Kurdistan and Armenia. He commended the commitment of the government of Armenia to strengthening ties with Kurdistan and welcomed the commencement of flights between Erbil and Yerevan.

The Minister stressed that the opening of the consulate general will bring about more economic, political, and cultural cooperation between both sides. He expressed the readiness of the Department of Foreign Relations to fully support the Armenian mission in Kurdistan.

Mustafa and Ambassador Gregorian also discussed the security and humanitarian challenges facing the Kurdistan Region. The Ambassador expressed the support and solidarity of the government and people of Armenia with the government and people of Kurdistan and pledged that soon Armenia will provide Kurdistan with assistance.

Erdogan does not want a Kurdistan in Syria

January 27, 2015 By administrator

Turkey does not want to Syria of an autonomous Kurdish zone like Iraq, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted Tuesday by the press, while the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobané (north) have announced hunting jihadists. “We do not want a (repeat) the situation in Iraq (…) it was the north of Iraq. We can not accept birth now northern Syria, “he told a group of reporters on the plane the

Turkey’s Internal Islamist Dangerous Tensions

January 23, 2015 By administrator

By Rebwar Rashed:

The birth of the state of Turkey from the ruins of the Ottoman Empire in 1923 meant major changes. Mustafa Kemal, the Ataturk, as a president had the opportunity to put his ultra-nationalistic project into practice by forcing large political changes on the people of the area; for example, by waging a fanatical war against the others such as Armenians, Assyrians and Kurds to the point of extermination and assimilation: the demographic changes of the area, changing the names of the people, villages, towns, cities, mountains, valleys, songs, literature, music and folklore of the people of the area, was just the beginning of a long assimilation process.

Ataturk’s aim was to build a Turkish nation of “new” Turks. Thus, everything after 29th October 1923 was Turkish and belonged to the “New” Turks.

In order to realize his dream he knew that there had to be other changes which would transform the Turks into new beings. The Turks started to have a new look, with new clothes which almost copied Europeans. Many Turks inherited enormous wealth after a successful subjugation of other nationalities; they simply took over the wealth of those people they killed. It was a national political thievery that was justified by the state and its leaders. Taking over Assyrians, Armenians and Kurdish wealth was an organized and conscious political crime.

The new-made Turkey started to belong to the “new” Turks, but there were still obstacles.

Ataturk started to force secularism harshly and mercilessly on a very religious Turkish people. The only identity the Turks had and were proud of was Islam. Ataturk took it from them and locked it behind thick walls of political power.

He changed the Ottoman script from Arabic to Latin and soon a new Turkish Qur’an took over from the Arabic version. This helped to change the language of Islamic worship into a Turkish version.

By 10th November 1938, the day Ataturk died, there were millions of “new” Turks. Happy or not, was not the issue. The issue was that they lacked collective guilt then, as they still do.

Answering Ataturk’s racial extermination is the picture behind the Kurds revolt for national and democratic rights. It´s also the picture behind the Armenians’ and the Assyrians’ plea to get an apology, an understanding and a fair compensation for the pain and suffering they have faced.

It is also the picture behind today´s nostalgia for Islam in Turkey. The Turkish Islamists crave to see the great days of Islam again as they see themselves as victims. Ataturk reminds them of everything evil.

They had to wait many years to have the power to rise up.

It took almost half of a century for the Turks to regain Islam. The Milli Nizam Partisi, MNP (National Order Party) was an Islamist political party founded in 1970 by Necmettin Erbakan. But it lasted only a year and a few months. It was dismantled as it violated the articles of secularism, as it was said. The Moslem Turks didn´t give up their Islamist ambitions. They established Millî Selâmet Partisi, MSP (National Salvation Party) in October 1972. This was again led by Necmettin Erbakan. It soon became a popular party but again it was closed down in the military coup of 1980.

The 1980s were bad years for many “new” Turks who did not want to be so “new” in the way Ataturk had dreamed. By 1980, there were terrible devastation in the Kurdistan area from the killing, deportation and assimilation of Kurds. At the same time there was also a psychological and political war, albeit an undeclared one, against the Islamists.

But, in 1983, Turks announced a Refah Partisi (Welfare Party/ RP) which became the largest party in the parliament and was banned in 1998 by the military.[1] The Fazilet Partisi (Virtue Party) was established soon after in December 1998 and it was also banned in June 2001.[2]

The Turkish Islamists were now immune to the punitive measures and kept on trying.

The Virtue party’s reformist wing formed the Justice and Development Party (AKP). History witnessed the AKP was not at all so moderate and reformist-minded as it sounded then. The hardliners among the Islamists founded the Saadet Partisi (Felicity Party) in 2001, which was mainly supported by conservative Muslims in Turkey. It was the Felicity Party that mobilized thousands of protesters in demonstrations against Israeli- and American “intervention”. (Examples include the bitterness against the US army in 2003 after Saddam Hussein’s. fall, the aggressive and angry protests in 2004 against the US attack on Fallujah in Iraq, protests against the naming and drawing of Muhammad, the Islam Prophet, in newspapers around the world, responses to Israel-Palestine war in Gaza in 2008–2009, etc.)

It is worth mentioning that there is an outlawed Islamic party, namely “The Hizb ut-Tahrir”[3] which claims to have been established in 1953. It is a pan-Islamic party which calls for establishing a Caliphate in every Islamic country and has a project then to make a union by collecting everyone in an Islam nation. The name is Arabic and means “The Liberation Party” [4] which is outlawed in Turkey and other countries. The party´s name is the same no matter the country and haven´t been translated to other languages.

Strange enough, The Hizb ut-Tahrir reminds people a lot of today´s AKP party. The similarity of ideological beliefs are plentiful, i.e. liberating Palestine, calling Jerusalem by its Arabic name “Al-Quds” and seeing it as an occupied place which must be liberated, spreading Islam and uniting Islam as a Nation, etc. The party also reminds one of ISIS/ IS in an almost detailed manner, both ideologically and polemically: for instance, the banner of the party is the same as the IS/ ISIS banner as it´s black and there is the Islam confession of faith (Shahada) [5] on it, though in a different script style. (Saudi Arabia has the same flag but with a green background and a sword beneath the confession of faith).

It has come to public knowledge that many members of the Turkish Ergenekon were indeed members of other fascistic and Islamic organizations [6] such as Hizb ut-Tahrir [7] and there were hundreds of arrests in Turkey in 2008 and 2009.[8]

In the ‘90s the Turkish ultra-nationalists and fascists had established a “Kurdish” Hezbollah so they could use it against Kurdish liberation movement. The same Turkish people were against every kind of Islamism in Turkish Anatolia. This move was a new tactic to fight Kurdish progressive groups under the name of “Kurdish” Hezbollah. It seems that the Turkish establishment is well aware of the politics behind it because the Turkish media always emphasizes specifically the word “Kurdish” Hezbollah. The Turks have a history of using Islam against Kurds, so it is not so problematic for the Kurdish liberation movement to tackle this even though it costs Kurds lives and pain. The “Kurdish Hezbollah” is part of the paramilitary, linked to Village Guards and MIT officials.

In 2003, when the PKK became stronger, the Turks all of a sudden made a new move by founding an association called “Solidarity with the Oppressed (Mustazaflar ile Dayanışma Derneği or Mustazaflar Hareketi), the “Menzil group”, which also calls itself “Kurdish”. The group worked and still works as death squads against Kurdish people. The state was enjoying itself by referring to “internal Kurdish dispute”.

It is not a secret that the AKP and the Islamist establishment in Turkey have spent and are still spending enormous amounts of money in order to make it easy to the group to enter the Kurdish public sphere. On 18th April 2010 the group organized a mass meeting in Diyarbakir (Amed in Kurdish) to celebrate the anniversary of the Muhammad’s birthday which is known as Mawlud (the Birth of the Prophet), in Arabic. The state officials of Turkey marketed the event as one of the biggest “celebrations” of Muhammad’s birthday which, according to the official sources, gathered crowds of 120,000 people.

Following some up and downs of smearing campaigns among various Islamic scholars in Turkey, it seems that the AKP was behind organizing the Association for the Oppressed (Mustazaf-Der) to gain a platform and money. The AKP have lent grassroots support to them too. This was behind the head of the Association´s announcement on 17th December 2012 of the founding of a new party, the “Free Cause Party” (Hür Dava Partisi) which has its own general headquarters located in Ankara, the heart of Turkishness. Just after this, the party started to open its branches in the Kurdistan area.

Almost everybody in Turkey knows that Hezbollah is indeed a Turkish Hezbollah, not a “Kurdish” one. This party has no enmity towards the Turkish state and doesn’t bother to enquire into Turkish oppression of the Kurds and is not at all critical about the political, social and economic situation of Kurdish people. As a matter of fact, it only scares Kurds, threatens them and murders them. The “Kurdish” Hezbollah shows itself only during Kurdish mass protests against the state and acts exactly as extra police and paramilitary forces. The mission of “Kurdish” Hezbollah is to fight the Kurdish liberation and Kurdish secularist movement.

The Turkish Islamists, especially the AKP, which has money and resources, do everything to organize Kurdish Muslims. For instance, another organization by the name Peygamber Sevdalıları (Turkish)/ Evindarên Pêyxamber (Kurdish)/ Lovers of Prophet Mohammad is an organization which is affiliated to “Hezbollah”/ Huda-Par. The organization uses religious songs and music for Muhammad’s birthday (Arabic: Milad an-Nabi), knowing that the Kurds love music and song and have a tradition of religious music.

Back in October 2014, when Kurdish people in Turkey started to go on mass protests against Turkish support to the Islamist terrorist group ISIS/IS, the Turkish Special Forces – which are usually described by state officials as the “local police force” – killed at least 60 Kurdish people and wounded some 300. The killing of Kurdish protesters has continued through the last days of 2014 and the beginning of 2015. Turkey has begun a war against Kurdish people in Turkey in order to prevent them from having time to support their sisters and brothers in Rojava.

On 27th December, there were armed incidents in the Kurdish town of Cizre. Three Kurdish individuals were killed and bullets were fired almost blindly in the neighborhood. Not one single actor in the Turkish establishment hesitated to announce with the speed of light that the PKK and “Kurdish” Hezbollah were fighting and blaming each other for the attack. The Turkish media was using “Islamist Kurds” systematically. Their joy expressed the satisfaction.

It’s obvious that Turkey is doing everything it can to find an alternative to the Kurdish liberation movement. The Islamic alternative seems favorable to the Turks. The narrative of showing the PKK as a communist and anti-Islam force is still a part of Turkish psychological warfare. In much of the political literature of the ISIS/ IS and other Arabic Islamist groups in Syria, such as Jabhat al-Nusra, one can read that the PKK is a communist anti-Islam force, a force made by the West World to wage a proxy war against Turkey and Islam in the Middle East.

The bitter fight between the Fethullah Gülen movement and the Erdoğan wing requires a separate chapter. In short, the Gulinists, the Erdoğanists and other Islamic sorts are in a great disagreement and therefore in a bitter war against each other. And almost all of them dislike the Alawites. This is deepening every passing day and it could lead to a civil war among Turks. Turkey is never safer than Iraq, Libya, Syria or Lebanon. Turkey is a Middle East Moslem country.

Turkish people and Anatolian Turkey (without Kurdistan) are dangerously divided and polarized. There is no doubt that the AKP and many of its grassroots still constitute the dominant movement among Turks, but there are other sorts of Islamist Turks who are numerous and very unhappy with everything that happens; there seems to be a fermentation that is happening slowly but surely.

Today´s Turkish society, which is a result of Ataturk’s model of “new” Turks, has a very fragile composition and many questions to answer. It cannot withstand the harsh tests of history.

References:

[1] http://www.theguardian.com/world/1998/jan/17/turkey

[2] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1402927.stm

[3] http://www.hilafet.com/html/bynlr/2012/0288.html

[4] http://www.hizb-ut-tahrir.org/arabic/

[5] http://www.questionsonislam.com/article/1-confession-faith-shahada

(“La ilah illa Allah, Muhammad rasoolu Allah.”). The Party has an official Face book page too: https://tr-tr.facebook.com/TurkiyeMedyaOfisi

[6] http://www.todayszaman.com/national_close-relation-between-hizb-ut-tahrir-ergenekon-exposed_182248.html

[7] http://www.milliyet.com.tr/hizb-ut-tahrir/

[8] http://www.haber7.com/guncel/haber/611527-ergenekon-sanigi-tegmenden-hizb-ut-tahrir-itirafi

Rebwar Rashed has a Ph.D. degree in Political Science. He has translated several books into Kurdish and also written many articles in Kurdish and English about the Kurdistan National Liberation Movement, human rights, anti-Semitism, equality between the sexes and ethnicities, and the need for a democratic and peaceful struggle.

Erbil: $1 Million a day smuggling trade between Kurdistan officials and ISIS A committee investigating

January 21, 2015 By administrator

A masked gunman guards an ISIS checkpoint in Iraq. AP file photo.

by Saeed Sahen Mufti

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A committee investigating Kurdish officials smuggling cars, food and fuel across territories held by the Islamic State (ISIS) said that the illegal trade amounted to $1 million a day. Report Rudaw.

According to a final report by the committee on the smuggling, a number of officials from the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Peshmerga have been involved in the illegal trade.

Firsat Sofi, a KDP member of the Kurdish parliament said the identities of people arrested for involvement in the smuggling had not been disclosed by the committee.

“We asked about the identity of those detainees. Some of them were tanker drivers, senior political members and merchants. Even if we knew the names we would not reveal them since that would be illegal, since the judiciary must deal with this issue and we will see the verdicts soon.”

Fakhraddin Qadir, another Kurdish MP who is from the Kurdistan Islamic Group (Komal) said: “We believe that any kind of relationship with ISIS is treachery, and we will hold a meeting in the parliament concerning the smuggling cases if we are asked.”

The investigative committee includes the KRG’s interior minister and natural resources minister.

KRG Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani has warned that anyone caught smuggling with ISIS would be punished.

“Anyone caught smuggling with ISIS should be considered a traitor and the government must punish them,” he has said.

The autonomous Kurdistan Region in northern Iraq sits on a border with ISIS that is more than 1,000 kilometers long. The insurgent group blazed across Iraq’s mainly Sunni territories in June, capturing a third of the country.

According to US-based Foreign Policy magazine, ISIS has become the world’s richest terrorist group through oil smuggling, theft, human trafficking and hostage-taking.

Intelligence officials and private experts say the group has become a self sustaining financial force and is said to be earning more than $3 million from these activities.