"Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria."
~ Article 3, Geneva Convention of 1949.
~ Article 3, Geneva Convention of 1949.
From Özgür Gündem:
KCK Executive Council Chairman Murat Karayılan remarked that the Turkish military shelled the region where 8 Turkish prisoners of war, captured by HPG, were located.
Karayılan also noted that,thus far,the Turkish government did not have any demand for the prisoners to be returned.
Regarding the situation of the prisoners, Karayilan said, "May the prisoners' families not worry. If the prisoners are in the hands of HPG, which they are, they are in good hands."
Saying that they will treat the prisoners in a proper way, according to international laws, Karayılan said, "They will not receive any mistreatment. Our people know how the Turkish government treats captive guerrillas. The situation of a guerrilla captured alive is never known." Mentioning that Turkey does not currently have any demand for the release of the prisoners, Karayılan said, "The Turkish army takes the issue of its soldiers' captivity very seriously, but even now it does not admit that they are captives."
However, stating that they are receiving calls from other organizations for the release of the soldiers, Karayılan stated the following: "As you know, several calls are being made for the release of the soldiers from different quarters, including DTP. Now we are evaluating these demands."
"I believe this problem will be solved and will not last long. For this end, the proper methods and channels must be formed. Besides, we cannot just release them right away, because they were on the battlefield. We have to think about everything through this perspective. We are open to talks for any delegation that may come. We also agree that the issue is supposed to be considered as a humanitarian situation. Therefore, we are calling the prisoners' families, civil society institutions, and people who value peace and brotherhood to take a stand against the Turkish government's so-called rescue operation, which directly targets the prisoners themselves. They are shelling the places where the prisoners are located. If an effort is made to stop this shelling, the pre-conditions for release would be well established."
2 comments:
Turkey: A Tale of Two Professors
Noam Chomsky: from NPR: Linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky says the PKK does commit terrorist acts, but he charges that the United States helped make it possible for Turkey to carry on a "horrendous counter-insurgency campaign" that victimized innocent civilians. "To our shame, Turkey could do that thanks to the huge flow of military aid from the U.S., which escalated as atrocities peaked, and the failure of the press to report it," Chomsky says.
Juan Cole: “Turkey has been the strongest ally that the United States has had in the Middle East since the end of WW II. The Marshall Plan started with Northern tier states like Turkey and Greece. Turkey joined NATO and was a key player in the American victory in the Cold War. As a secular government, Turkey stood against the rising tide of Muslim radicalism. To the extent that Turkey is moderating its long-term secular militancy, and moving toward fair elections, it may be providing a model for a moderate, democratic Middle East. Its economy is growing rapidly, foreign investment is in the billions. Turkey is in short, almost everything the US could have asked for in the Middle East.”
Question: Is Juan Cole in a dream world or is he getting paid off?
Anonymous, Chomsky also told the people of Amed: "'[Y]ou do not preach non-violence unless you are willing to stand alongside to the people who are suffering the repression.' Otherwise, you can’t give that advice. I’m not in a position to stand next to the people who are suffering repression, so I can only express my opinion, but not give advice."
He also told them that repression always elicits resistance.
If Juan Cole is being paid off (and I wouldn't be surprised about that), the Iranians are doing the paying. For the moment, the Iranians are cosy with the Turks and they've been jointly bombing Kurdish civilians in South Kurdistan.
But I guess Cole was paid by Iran to overlook that war crime.
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