TURKISH ARMY CONTINUES TO MUTILATE CORPSES

"We are deeply rooted in the mountains and hearts of the people of Kurdistan. We are able to live another 50 years like this."
~ Murat Karayılan.

I remember that last spring and summer two Turkish journalists pushed for a dialog on the Kurdish situation. Hasan Cemal wrote a series of articles from Kandil which were published in Milliyet. Later, both Hasan Cemal and Cengiz Çandar hosted a discussion live on Turkish TV from Diyarbakır, in which they spoke to Kurdish leaders and--surprisingly--actually seemed to listen. Until I find out otherwise, at this point I have to give them credit for trying to open a public dialog on the situation.

Of course, at the time, DTP members were being rounded up by the AKP government for two simple reasons: 1. They were Kurds; 2. The DTP had badly beaten the AKP in the March 2009 local elections . . . in spite of all the bribes AKP had dispensed to villagers in the preceeding months and in spite of Katil Erdoğan's hypocritical show at Davos.

Now Cengiz Çandar has called out Beşir Atalay, the Interior Minister (the ministry responsible for Turkey's domestic "security" affairs), on this whole "democratic initiative" farce, stating correctly that "[t]he democratic initiative is not going anywhere." I would add the fact that the "democratic initiative" was stillborn.


Çandar describes the signs of the times:

First of all, the military concentration continues at the Şemdinli border line. The Kurdish administration in Iraq is pressurized. Fighter jets bomb northern Iraq. In the presence of the United States and Arbil, efforts are being made for the handing over of 248 outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, militants over to Turkey. The pre-1990 conditions settle in the Southeast again. We are going back to a state in which people are fed up with check points and barricades.

If these are called “efforts,” there were more of them in the 1980s and the 1990s. The point we have reached is crystal-clear.

Yes, indeed, I agree. The point that we are at is excruciatingly crystalline.

And then Çandar quotes a recent editorial by Radikal's Oral Çalışlar:

“Here is a letter for you: ‘I am sending photos and information. They belong to guerillas who died in the clashes that took place in Şemdinli. They were handed over to the Şemdinli Municipality as they were. People are washing the bodies in the river.’ I couldn’t look at the photos, burned young bodies in pieces… the Günlük daily has been publishing the photos for a few days. In another letter, an article published in Günlük daily was sent. It is on the same topic. ‘…The images the cameraman recorded are detailed. The cameramen who recorded every single detail of the corpses of the guerillas will leave their mark in the history. That’s for sure. Or rather, the cameramen record acts of violence the state is involved in against Kurds, Kurdish bodies, corpses in the 21st century… I cannot look at the photos. My eyes are shut. Yes, we are at the end… where humanity ends. In the 21st century such acts are flat violence. Their goal is to destroy the willpower of the Kurdish people, scare away Kurdish women and the Kurdish youth.’ For days, funeral ceremonies are being held for the PKK members in Hakkâri, Şemdinli, Diyarbakır, Van and in many other southeastern cities. Groups to pick up the bodies are waving placards writing ‘Welcome our martyrs’ on them. The corpses are not being returned to the families. They are buried at the scenes of encounters. For this reasons, demonstrations are held, people fight against police officers. The PKK members who are killed in the regions mostly driven by a political trend advocating the Kurdish identity are welcomed not as ‘terrorists’ but as ‘martyrs.’ They are treated like martyrs. This is the latest picture in the Southeast… In other words, a completely different psychology and public opinion is settling in the region…”

Indeed.

The daily Günlük has a photo of one of our guerrillas who's body was mutilated and had something to say about the situation:

HPG member Özgür Dağhan's family was shocked when they went to the morgue to identify their son, who was killed in a clash in Gümüşhane. Özgür Dağhan's head had been completely deformed. The things remaining from his head were some hair and his teeth.

[ . . . ]

The family saw that inhumane act not only against their son but in two more HPG members' bodies. There weren't any deformations on the other parts of Dağhan's body, which indicates he was caught alive and was tortured after he was killed.

The article goes on to say that the bodies of Hamit Ulaş and Bayram Dün, HPG fighters who were killed in Karadeniz and Diyarbakır Silvan on 23 June, had also been tortured. Their heads were also smashed and the bodies tortured.

At Dağhan's funeral, which saw a turnout of thousands of mourners, BDP Diyarbakır Provincial Chairman Nijad Yaruk asked, "What kind of fire is that in your heart to make you attack the bodies of dead people?"


In addition to these recent mutilations, Selahattin Demirtaş also forwarded information to Katil Erdoğan on the TSK's mutilation of Rojhelati guerrilla, Abbas Emani, from Zaman:

BDP leader Nurettin Demirtaş [sic. Note: It's not Nurettin Demirtaş but Selahattın Demirtaş who is the BDP co-chair referred to here--Mizgîn] earlier this week sent a CD to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan filled with images of Özgür Dağhan, who was recently killed in Gümüşhane, and Abbas Emani, an Iranian militant who was allegedly killed when he was captured in Batman five years ago. According to the BDP’s claims, PKK member Emani was captured by the Special Forces. He was interrogated and then executed near a vehicle parked in front of a gendarmerie post. Later, his body was dragged to the site of a clash between the military and PKK terrorists, where it was mutilated by Turkish soldiers.

Demirtaş also enclosed a note to the prime minister that said: “These incidents [corpse defilement] are common, to our knowledge. Are you thinking of apologizing to the people and the families and punishing those responsible?” He said many witnesses in the area had confirmed the truth of these acts of disrespect for the dead.

I might add that I personally know people who can confirm similar behavior from the 1990s. There's more at Zaman from Mehmet Dağhan, the father of Şehîd Özgür Dağhan, via Taraf:

The Taraf daily spoke to Mehmet Dağhan, father of Özgür Dağhan, who said: “When my son was killed I went to Trabzon to identify him. They showed me about 10 pictures. There was blood on his face in the picture, his hair had been neatly combed and he was vaguely smiling. I said it was my son. Then I went to the Council of Forensic Medicine’s (ATK) morgue to identify the corpse. They brought my son’s body. His skull had been smashed and burnt. His body was completely black. I said I was not able to identify him. I talked to the prosecutor who was following up on the autopsy. He was about the same age as my son, and he was very nice to me. He was very respectful. He showed me pictures. There was not a blemish on his body in those pictures. He was dead, but his body was intact. It is natural for him to die in a clash. But later, I don’t know if they charred his body with gasoline, chemicals or some kind of acid. You wouldn’t even do this to an animal.”

Of course, none of this is new behavior on the part of NATO's second largest army, nor of Turkish state officials charged with the remains of guerrillas. As Heval Selahattin said, "These incidents [corpse defilement] are common, to our knowledge." Earlier photos of atrocities carried out against guerrilla corpses were posted on Rastî in March 2008 and in August of the same year, I posted information that appeared in the daily Taraf on the same subject:

Terrifying confession of a sergeant


"They threw a PKK member from a helicopter . . . A police special operations member raped the dead body of a female PKK member . . ." Former sergeant Çakan wrote this, including the name, date, and place, in his book; however, he was the one prosecuted.

Former Sergeant Kasım Çakan assembled information in his book on murders he witnessed which were committed by unknown perpetrators while he was on duty in The Southeast. Demanding that Çakan's book be accepted as an informant's document, Çakan's publisher, Mehdi Tanrıkulu, made a criminal complaint against the soldiers and police named in the document.

Being a Soldier While a Sergeant

Kasım Çakan, who used to work in the East and Southeast as a sergeant, compiled information about incidents that happened to him just after he was discharged from the army, in a book called Being a Soldier While a Sergeant. While Cakan wanted the incidents mentioned in his book to be considered as an informant documentation, Istanbul's chief prosecutor charged Çakan and his publisher with the charge of "making terror propaganda" [Article 7/2 of the new and improved Anti-Terror Law]. The trial of Çakan and Tevn Publications owner, Mehdi Tanrıkulu, is still ongoing.

A criminal complaint

Publisher Mehdi Tanrıkulu made a complaint to the Istanbul chief prosecutor's office based on the writing in the book. Tanrıkulu did so with the rationale that starting an investigation about such incidents would reveal several murders by unknown perpetrators.

More on that is available here. Other photos documenting TSK atrocities can be found at this page at Yeni Özgür Politika. Atrocities committed by TSK have also been disclosed by TSK conscripts in Nadire Mater's book, Voices from the Front (Turkish title: Mehmedin Kitabı).

While Katil Erdoğan was, no doubt, crying his eyes out in Bosnia and Herzegovina over the victims of the Srebrenica massacre:

I remember all the martyrs of Srebrenica with great respect and hope that they are all in heaven, Erdogan said.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Sunday that the massacre of 1995 in Srebrenica dealt a heavy blow to human dignity.

[ . . . ]

The victims of the Srebrenica massacre lost lives for their homeland, honor and humanity. They were massacred in a bloody, ruthless, lawless, and wild war, Erdogan stressed.

[ . . . ]

Erdogan referred to the International Court of Justice in The Hague which ruled that what took place in Srebrenica was a genocide.

Now, this is the same son-of-a-bitch who has never bothered to shed a tear for Kurds but, in fact, was the one to authorize the murder of Kurdish women, children and elderly during the Amed Serhildan in 2006. This is the same son-of-a-bitch who refuses to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide. This is the same son-of-a-bitch who replied to Heval Selahattin's letter and CD thusly:

"They have sent me a letter on [BDP] letterhead with a CD attached, stating that the situation of these corpses was a crime against humanity and asking what are we going to do about this. Is it left to you, BDP, to advocate for an organization that has been declared a terrorist organization by a majority of the world's countries? . . . Where are we going to put the armless, legless veterans in GATA [Gülhane Askeri Tıp Akademisi--TSK's hospital in Ankara] then?"

So this murdering son-of-a-bitch continues to ignore the incidents which are endemic to NATO's second largest army. He lies about PKK being a "terrorist" organization according to "a majority of the world's countries"--only state-sponsors of terror like the United States and Turkey and their little f***ing lapdogs in the EU think that PKK is a "terrorist" organization and these bottom-feeders are hardly "a majority of the world's countries". And then this son-of-a-bitch, Recep Tayyip Katil Erdoğan goes on to deflect any accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity by referring to some "armless, legless veterans in GATA". Oh, and I can guarantee you that the sons of Katil Erdoğan are never going to be found among those GATA unfortunates, nor will they ever be quoted in any future Mehmedin Kitabı, and you, dear reader, can easily guess the reason why.


Here's how Heval Selahattin responded to the Murderer's idiotic statement:

"This is an unfortunate statement. If a PM is thinking this way then he has lost his legitimacy. It is a confession that he is not the PM of a certain part of the country. . . . We do not distinguish the dead bodies, the pain. There is not your pain or my pain. There is our pain. Guerrillas are also the sons and daughters of this country. They are all our people. The parents of guerrillas are also citizens of this country. But if a PM is doing this then he will pass into history as the PM defending brutal treatment on dead bodies."

Well, all I can say is that Heval Selahattin is a much better man than I. As far as I'm concerned, what this comrade said.

THE ATAA: DEEP STATE AND PSYCHOSIS

"Psychosis, with adjective psychotic, literally means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality". People suffering from psychosis are said to be psychotic."
~ Wikipedia.

Last week someone kindly brought to my attention the fact that Günay Hakkı Övünç (Evinch, according to his Americanized spelling) had become the president of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA). Rastî readers will remember Övünç in connection with an American-based Turkish mercenary company that has a training facility in Silopi. More on that from Yeni Özgür Politika:

On some 1,000 acres of land between Silopi and the Habur Border Crossing the Black Hawk Security Company is working feverishly using up to 20 trucks carrying sand, five heavy plant and various other vehicles to get the base finished. The company was reportedly structured according to a model used by the Special Forces. The Washington-based company is shaping its organizations in Turkey and Iraq in order to meet the requirements of a low intensity war. With a cadre comprised of retired soldiers and intelligence operatives taken from special units the company provides a broad spectrum of activities including armored convoy security, defense tactics, low intensity combat, counter-terrorism and intelligence, air operations and hostage rescue.

The company, which has named its site in Habur "Black Hawk 1 Headquarters," will also have three other HQs in Zakho, Kirkuk and Baghdad.

The company will also have over 1,000 "retired" military personnel from the Turkish army attached to it. They will undergo a short refresher training course at the HQ in Silopi. At the Habur HQ, where some 300 service personnel will also be on duty, there will be a mobile hospital, a helipad, one casevac helicopter, one escort helicopter, and 300 vehicles including armed Hummers, and a truck park for 8,000 vehicles.

[ . . . ]

Günay Hakkı Övünç: Company partner and legal architect Günay Hakkı Övünç owns a law practice in Washington. Övünç, who for years has pursued law suits in the United States filed by the Turkish Embassy and the General Staff, is also the American-Turkısh Assembly's deputy chairman in charge of Washington.

Also involved in Black Hawk Security, Inc. is the TSK's retired Lieutenant General Köksal Karabay, who was in charge of Turkish special forces when American marines "bagged" them on 4 July, 2003.

YÖP asks some pertinent questions about the purpose of "Black Hawk 1 HQ" at the Habur border crossing:

The company will also have over 1,000 "retired" military personnel from the Turkish army attached to it. They will undergo a short refresher training course at the HQ in Silopi. At the Habur HQ, where some 300 service personnel will also be on duty, there will be a mobile hospital, a helipad, one casevac [medevac] helicopter, one escort helicopter, and 300 vehicles including armed Hummers, and a truck park for 8,000 vehicles.

[ . . . ]

There are many unanswered questions such as how did the partners meet one another, why did they take on this job, how did they get permission, what kind of relationship do they have with the US authorities, with whom do they share the intelligence they obtain, when the day comes how are they going to use "Turkish-Kurdish-Arab" and perhaps even American personnel, and are they simply going to be escorting trucks and nothing more? As part of an agreement made with this company the Koc Group and Milangaz Company send 1,600 tankers of LPG into Iraq every month. They send 200 tankers of aviation fuel ever day. They provide 70 percent of the United States requirement for diesel fuel via this crossing. When they talk about "security for Turkish trucks" they mean these tankers. However, this much military hardware and these names beg other questions.

Indeed.

Another interesting fact about Övünç is that he's from Chicago. According to the Sibel Edmonds case, Turkish nationals were apparently deeply engaged in covert activity in two major American cities and one of those was Chicago:

It may be more than another embarrassing security scandal. One counter-intelligence official familiar with Edmonds’s case has told Vanity Fair that the F.B.I. opened an investigation into covert activities by Turkish nationals in the late 1990’s. That inquiry found evidence, mainly via wiretaps, of attempts to corrupt senior American politicians in at least two major cities—Washington and Chicago. Toward the end of 2001, Edmonds was asked to translate some of the thousands of calls that had been recorded by this operation, some dating back to 1997.

[ . . . ]

. . . in December 2001, Joel Robertz, an F.B.I. special agent in Chicago, contacted Sibel and asked her to review some wiretaps. Some were several years old, others more recent; all had been generated by a counter-intelligence that had its start in 1997. “It began in D.C.,” says an F.B.I. counter-intelligence official who is familiar with the case file. “It became apparent that Chicago was actually the center of what was going on.”

I wonder how close a relationship there is between Övünç and another Turkish Chicagoan, Mehmet Çelebi, whose fundraising for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign was eventually dropped faster than a hot potato.

We know that sometime in 2005 or, perhaps, very early 2006, Övünç was "summoned" to Iraq, in Övünç's own words:

I was summoned to Baghdad. As I did not want to worry my wife, I told her I was going to Turkey for a conference on the Armenian matter – which was true. But, the complete truth was that after the conference I would continue to Iraq via Istanbul Atatürk International Airport, one of the safest routes to Baghdad for civilians. Passengers go through four levels of security checks, and the pretty woman sitting next to you in the plane might be a Turkish sky marshal who can break your neck faster than you can say, “Turkish Delight.”

So who "summoned" him and for what purpose? Inquiring minds want to know.

What may be even more scary is the ATAA's president-elect, Ergün Kirlikovalı (Check the ATAA's board of directors page for verification). He should be Övünç's successor as president of the ATAA in the not-too-distant future. You can get an idea of some of the things Kirlikovalı believes in these comments to a Forbes opinion piece asking, "Should Turkey Apologize to the Armenians".

Or check out a blog entry at the Orange County Weekly, which has a lot of interesting links to comments Kirlikovali is making all over the Internet . . . Like his psychotic babbling here or his anti-Mexican rant here.

And there's more raving at the Huffington Post. Or check out comment #168 here:

Turks are the new Jews. Genocide crowds are the new KKK.

Although there has been no due process or a jury verdict by any competent tribunal, these genocide crowds have already made up their minds about the characterization of the Turkish-Armenian conflict during WWI. Facts, figures no longer matter to them as they are all classified under the heading denials.

These genocide lynch mobs burn crosses not on Turkish lawns (yet,) but in public conscience. They claim, scream, and attack… They insult, intimidate, and terrorize… They already have their chosen verdict in their minds which comforts their anti-Turkish bias: Turks are guilty and there is no need to discuss this lay verdict; it is execution time… get the rope!

Or how about comment #173:

If Turks wanted to kill all Armenians why did they let one go? If Turks were afraid of foreign political pressure, why did they go ahead with the tereset (temporary resettlement?) What is wrong with defending your home when certain elements are trying to destroy your home from within, in total callusion [sic] with forced from outside? If Turks wanted to kill all Armenians, why would they save the ones in Istanbul? and Izmir? and Edirne? and Aleppo? and many other city centers (Urfa, Marasah, Anteb, and more?) Why would they exclude Catholic or Protestant Armenians? Why would they exclude many other Armenians like those dwelling in city centers, and clerks, etc.? And then why would Turks allow Armenians to use the trains where there were railroads (Konya, Adana, etc.?) Why would they allocate ox, horse, donkey carts where available? Why would they assign soldiers to protect them? Why would they allow American aid to help Arenians [sic]? Why would Turks invite an investigation of the charges by an international committee, other than those who started the tragedy in the first place, like Russia, Britain and France?

Can someone explain to me how Kirlikovalı's ranting squares with Övünç's vision for the ATAA in a statement last month, in which he says, "ATAA is a proud interlocutor, as the voice of reason and credibility in Washington DC for nearly 500,000 Turkish and Turkic Americans nationwide"? And why is it that we should believe the psychotic ravings of the future president of the ATAA on his word alone?

HERD INSTINCT AND RACISM IN THE US MILITARY

"Collective fear stimulates herd instinct, and tends to produce ferocity toward those who are not regarded as members of the herd."
~ Bertrand Russell.

More good news from the US military. Along with Christian jihadis taking over the officer corps, the neo-Nazis seem to be growing in numbers in the US military, too. From Salon:

Today a complete ban on membership in racist organizations appears to have been lifted — though the proliferation of white supremacists in the military is difficult to gauge. The military does not track them as a discrete category, coupling them with gang members. But one indication of the scope comes from the FBI.

Following an investigation of white supremacist groups, a 2008 FBI report declared: "Military experience — ranging from failure at basic training to success in special operations forces — is found throughout the white supremacist extremist movement." In white supremacist incidents from 2001 to 2008, the FBI identified 203 veterans. Most of them were associated with the National Alliance and the National Socialist Movement, which promote anti-Semitism and the overthrow of the U.S. government, and assorted skinhead groups.

Because the FBI focused only on reported cases, its numbers don't include the many extremist soldiers who have managed to stay off the radar. But its report does pinpoint why the white supremacist movements seek to recruit veterans — they "may exploit their accesses to restricted areas and intelligence or apply specialized training in weapons, tactics, and organizational skills to benefit the extremist movement."

In fact, since the movement's inception, its leaders have encouraged members to enlist in the U.S. military as a way to receive state-of-the-art combat training, courtesy of the U.S. taxpayer, in preparation for a domestic race war. The concept of a race war is central to extremist groups, whose adherents imagine an eruption of violence that pits races against each other and the government.

And it goes all the way up the chain of command:

"Racism was rampant," recalls vet Michael Prysner, who served in Iraq in 2003 and 2004 as part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade. "All of command, everywhere, it was completely ingrained in the consciousness of every soldier. I've heard top generals refer to the Iraq people as 'hajjis.' The anti-Arab racism came from the brass. It came from the top. And everything was justified because they weren't considered people."

[ . . . ]

Geoffrey Millard, an organizer for Iraq Veterans Against the War, served in Iraq for 13 months, beginning in 2004, as part of the 42nd Infantry Division. He recalls Gen. George Casey, who served as the commander in Iraq from 2004 to 2007, addressing a briefing he attended in the summer of 2005 at Forward Operating Base, outside Tikrit. "As he walked past, he was talking about some incident that had just happened, and he was talking about how 'these stupid fucking hajjis couldn't figure shit out.' And I'm just like, Are you kidding me? This is Gen. Casey, the highest-ranking guy in Iraq, referring to the Iraqi people as 'fucking hajjis.'" (A spokesperson for Casey, now the Army Chief of Staff, said the general "did not make this statement.")

"The military is attractive to white supremacists," Millard says, "because the war itself is racist."

Surprise, surprise, surprise! Congress is going to sweep it all under the rug:

The U.S. Senate Committee on the Armed Forces has long been considered one of Congress' most powerful groups. It governs legislation affecting the Pentagon, defense budget, military strategies and operations. Today it is led by the influential Sens. Carl Levin and John McCain. An investigation by the committee into how white supremacists permeate the military in plain violation of U.S. law could result in substantive changes. I contacted the committee but staffers would not agree to be interviewed. Instead, a spokesperson responded that white supremacy in the military has never arisen as a concern. In an e-mail, the spokesperson said, "The Committee doesn't have any information that would indicate this is a particular problem."

Now you know why the Pentagon is so anxious to repress the publication of torture photos and it should be nothing to wonder about that the Pentagon is now thinking about backtracking on its promise to release a report on an air attack in Afghanistan that killed 140 civilians.

ALIVE AND WELL IN TURKEY

"Everything we shut our eyes to, everything we run away from, everything we deny, denigrate or despise, serves to defeat us in the end. What seems nasty, painful, evil, can become a source of beauty, joy, and strength, if faced with an open mind."
~ Henry Miller.

Oh, well, wouldn't you know it? Those great experts on the Armenian Genocide, the Turkish general staff, has produced a documentary video on the Armenian Genocide that is being distributed and shown to school children in Turkey. Bianet has some information on it:

The General Staff of the Turkish Army has prepared a six-part “documentary”, which was sent to all primary schools through the province authorities of the Ministry of Education. The DVDs are to be shown to children “at a convenient time”, and schools are to report back on the effects of the film by 2 March, so a letter sent to schools by the Ministry in January.

[ . . . ]

The education trade union Eğitim-Sen has demanded that schools immediately stop showing this film. Trade union leader Zübeyde Kılıç told bianet that their report on the film would be published within a week, and that they may go to court in order to prevent further screenings at schools.

According to Kılıç, the film would teach 12 million children, aged 6-14, to hate Armenians and anyone who is different. It would “create a generation fed on hatred.”

She added, “These children are at an age when they accept information without interpreting it, when they accept what they are told as the truth, and when things are stored in their memory. It will be impossible for a child watching this film not to feel hatred for Armenians.”

“As for the Armenian children (i.e. citizens of Turkey who will also be exposed to this film), they may be marginalised or discriminated against afterwards. This worry may lead to them hiding their identities.”

Kılıç has called on an education which would teach the events of 1915, as well as other controversial parts of Turkey’s history, in a way that would heal wounds. “But this film encourages conflict.”

Jeez, what a shock.

Among those who collaborated on the documentary are Samuel A. Weems, who is closely associated with the website "Tall Armenian Tale" and Dr. Justin McCarthy, who published teaching materials to spread Turkish propaganda in the US. McCarthy also wrote a manual on the Armenian Genocide for the Education Committee of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations (ATAA), another branch of the Deep State that's active in the US.

It goes without saying that Turks like Taner Akçam, Halil Berktay, Elif Şafak, Fatma Müge Göçek, and Orhan Pamuk were not consulted for the documentary by the Turkish general staff.

No doubt, I thought, the documentary will be outrageous, but I didn't realize how outrageous it would be until I saw a recent opinion piece by Hasan Cemal at Milliyet. This is really way over the top:

The idea of the Armenian who eats human flesh is being promoted in the video tapes that are delivered by the Turkish National Education Ministry to schools to be watched.

Are we going to learn our history like this? Are we going to teach our kids by brainwashing with hatred and revenge? Or by pouring the poison of racism into their minds?

Please, Mr. Prime Minister, tell me, do you really care about societal peace? Are we going to raise our children with an understanding that derives hatred from history?

Well, I dunno . . . do ya think maybe the idea of cannibalism would traumatize kids or make them hate . . . all based on the lies of the assholes on the Turkish general staff and the disgusting little "expert" toadies they rounded up to glorify their crap? But, hey, at least they're all consistent. The theme of officially sanctioned racism and hatred is one we've heard not too long ago. Reference Mithat Sancar:

In terms of political culture and daily life, Turkey is becoming a society that has a powerful racist vein. Daily racism has increased a lot in Turkey. I mean racism became normal. The disasters which are created by the normalization of racism can be understood by looking at world examples and the pains that result [from racism]. This racism destroys the base of democracies and it makes it easier in Turkey to polarize society and then drag people to the point that they can slaughter each other. In fact, in the last year, torture incidents in Turkey, deaths in prison and in detention, and shooting on the streets have increased. All these incidents are related to each other.

Obviously Katil Erdoğan's "Love It or Leave It" policy applies not only to Kurds.

And for an example of the "Love It or Leave It" policy in action, make sure to stop by Hevallo's place where he has a link to a BBC item on the latest regarding JITEM's acid wells.

PUSHING THE LIMIT

"The policy of denial, assimilation and eradication has affected people. Only the Kurds resisted. They still resist."
~ Ahmet Türk.

Mmmm . . . It looks like there was yet another altercation in the TBMM between Turkey's only opposition party, the DTP, and everyone else, from the Armenian paper, Asbarez (Thanks to the heval who sent the link!):

A Turkish parliament member's request Sunday that the legislature apologize to Armenians for the “events of 1915” has caused an uproar in parliament, with members hurling personal insults at one another.

Democratic Society Party (DTP) member Osman Euzcelik (Osman Özcelik) brought the matter up during parliament's discussion of the education ministry budget and went on to recall the Armenian massacres by using the Kurdish word that describes Genocide.

He also said that he had heard stories about the Armenian killings as child growing up in Turkey and added that the killings were planned by the sultan of the Ottoman Empire and were carried out by groups called Hamiddiye, which also had Kurdish members.

Euzcelik likened the campaign to kill Armenians to the current campaign waged against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

“These groups killed a large number of Armenians. A lot of times they would line up the Armenians and shoot them in the chest. All Armenians of Martin were killed and some fled to Syria,” said Euzcelik, who added that his grandfather's family provided refuge for Genocide survivors.

Nevzad Pakdil, who was presiding over the parliament session, interrupted Euzcelik, blasting him for “insulting the society in which you live.”

Euzcelik said that he was apologizing to Armenians on his own behalf.

Pakdil intervened again attempting to stifle the parliament member. Members of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) applauded the Pakdil while another DTP member, Surru Saken (Sırrı Sakık) directed his anger to Paktdil by saying, “Mr. Chairman, you represent the Marash district and you know full well the extent of the tragedy that unfolded there.”

This comment prompted a member of the AKP to walk toward DTP members and begin screaming at his fellow parliamentarians. Another parliament member intervened to stop what could have become a physical altercation.

“Should we not talk about the facts? There is not one Assyrian left,” screamed another DTP member during the commotion, which was followed by several DTP members leaving the parliament.

The unprecedented demonstration in Parliament came less one a week after 200 Turkish intellectuals launched an internet petition apologizing to the Armenians for what they called the "injustice" of the "Great Catastrophe" of 1915. The petition, which sparked controversy in Turkey, had garnered over 20,000 signatures by Monday, stirring a media storm on the topic and challenging long-held taboos on the Armenian Genocide. It has drawn the ire of Turkey's ultra nationalists, provoking also Turkey's powerful generals, former diplomats, the Foreign Minister, and the Prime Minister to denounce the campaign.

Asbarez also provides a link to a recent ANCA statement on the attempts to confront the Armenian Genocide in the TBMM.

And while we're on the subject, another non-event that has been going around Turkish media is the alleged scandal against AKP's Abdullah Gül by İzmir's CHP parliamentarian, Canan Arıtman. Apparently, she implied that Gül's mother was Armenian and the press has taken the news and run with it. This has cause considerable mental anguish for Gül, who is now suing Arıtman for 1YTL. From Bianet:

President Abdullah Gül filed a mental anguish lawsuit against Canan Arıtman, Izmir deputy for the People’s Republican Party (CHP), in the amount of 1 YTL (about 0.5 euro).

CHP deputy Arıtman had implied that President Gül’s mother was Armenian, when the President had made the comment about the campaign to apologize to the Armenians that ability to discuss every opinion is the policy of the state.

Arıtman had continued her comments after the reactions to her initial comments: “When some people agree with or support the claim that we committed the crime of genocide against the Armenians, the others would ask them if they were Armenians. They would ask this question even if that person is a president.”

President Gül claims that his identity as a statesman, which he has been trying to maintain with utmost responsibility and meticulousness, was defamed.

Oh, right. As if the worst thing that could be said about anyone is, "Your momma's an Armenian"? Well, this is the AKP, the party of "Love it or leave it!", the party that has done more than any other to encourage the normalization of racism in Turkish society. Naturally, I could say something about Gül's mom that would cause him considerably more "mental anguish" and it wouldn't have anything to do with her being an Armenian.

The increase in racism within Turkey is just one of the subjects DTP parliamentarian Sebahat Tuncel recently discussed with Jake Hess at ZNet (again, thanks to the heval who sent the link):

Sebahat Tuncel is a prominent Turkish Kurdish human rights activist, member of parliament and foreign affairs representative for the Democratic Society Party (DTP), one of Turkey's largest and most important leftist and pro-Kurdish formations. On the streets of Diyarbakır - the center of the Kurdish movement in Turkey - she's known as an especially tenacious and courageous advocate for freedom and human rights.

Although she calls for a peaceful, negotiated solution to the Kurdish issue within Turkey's existing borders, the Turkish state is evidently intimidated by Tuncel. Young and articulate, she was elected to parliament from a prison cell in July 2007 - having been incarcerated for supporting the armed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a charge commonly used to suppress dissent in Turkey - and has been targeted for assassination by the Ergenekon organization, a shadowy paramilitary group with links to the Turkish military. Although she was released from prison upon being elected, the proceedings against her continue.

The Turkish constitutional court is currently considering shutting down the DTP on the basis of its alleged connections to ‘terrorism' and ‘separatism.' You can DTP's proposed solution to the Kurdish question here.

The following interview, which took place in November 2008, focuses on the DTP's struggle for a peaceful and democratic solution to the Kurdish issue in Turkey. In it, Tuncel critiques the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), discusses recent events in the region, the rise of what she calls ‘fascism' in Turkey, and the many challenges facing the DTP, including the closure case. It's presented here in the interest of increasing international public awareness of the DTP, which is usually marginalized in Western commentary on Turkish affairs.

The DTP has been in parliament working for a democratic solution for more than a year now. Reflect on the experience so far. What do you consider to be the party's greatest achievement? Are you more or less optimistic now than you were in July 2007 [when the last elections took place] that the Kurdish issue can be settled in a peaceful, negotiated way?

Before the elections of 2007, the atmosphere was more relaxed and optimistic in terms of a solution to the Kurdish problem than it is now. The AKP and Erdoğan were claiming that the Kurdish problem was their problem, that they would take some steps toward a peaceful solution to the issue. As you know, the AKP was challenging the military over the headscarf issue, and because of this challenge, people were thinking that it would be the first government to try to challenge the military's role in politics. Because of this, the AKP was powerful all around Turkey, including in the Kurdish region. But when the AKP announced its sixteenth government program, it became obvious that they wouldn't be confronting the military over the Kurdish issue.

Seventy-five Kurdish AKP deputies were elected in July 2007, and they created the impression that after the DTP came to the parliament the two parties could work together to solve the Kurdish problem. But then, afterwards, as I said before, they announced the government program, and in this program they supported the war against the PKK in northern Iraq. The first thing they said to the DTP was, ‘you should first call the PKK a terrorist organization, and then we can sit at the table and talk about this issue.' And then they authorized cross-border operations in northern Iraq. As a result, they showed that they're a party of war. The AKP has surrendered to the military more than any other Turkish government.

There was a bargain over the headscarf issue. Since AKP wasn't closed down, they decided to go along with the military politically, and during this period AKP became the first party to ask the general commander of the Turkish army to parliament and talk with a ministerial council. This means that the military is managing and administering the [government's approach to the Kurdish issue] and giving orders to the ministries.

While the AKP and Erdoğan are saying that the biggest problem in Turkey in terrorism and telling Europe and the US that he supports democracy and freedom, the AKP is actually the one that is terrorizing people in the Kurdish region of Turkey. They have given greater authority and leeway to the security forces, to ‘resolve' this issue through terrorizing people.

In light of recent developments we can say that the AKP government is really the government of war. In his recent [November 2008] visit to the US, Mr. Erdoğan stated that ‘I am proud of my people' - meaning nationalist demonstrators who go into the streets, meaning those people who were throwing stones at DTP buildings and harassing Kurdish artists or attempting to lynch Kurdish students at schools.

And this political chaos is still going on. For instance, in his recent speech in Hakkari, Mr. Erdoğan said ‘love Turkey or leave it. The concept of one state, one nation and one flag is essential for us, if you accept it accept it. If not, you must leave.' This simple statement shows how fascistic the AKP is in its core.

In his latest statement - saying that [normal people] can ‘defend' themselves and use weapons [against demonstrators] -- could bring Turks and Kurds against each other, and that would be the result of AKP policies.

All this unrest was caused by the mistreatment of Mr. Ocalan, who is held [in solitary confinement] in a high-security prison on Imralı island. He has been tortured, confined to progressively smaller cells, his head was shaved and there was an incident with poisoning.

Three and a half million Kurds who live in Turkey have said that Mr. Ocalan is their political representative. The maltreatment of the people's representative resulted in such an organized reaction by Kurds. The mistreatment of Ocalan was a provocation of the AKP government.

Now, violence is everywhere, organized by everybody. We now know that one-hundred children were arrested in the first few days after the November 1-2 sit-down protest in Diyarbakır. The police are treating Kurds violently not only in the streets, but in the prisons as well. Right now Kurdish political prisoners are being attacked by ordinary prisoners in the prison - the guards see this going on but they don't prevent it. Another face of the violence is the violence against the DTP, such as the closure trial and the attempts to marginalize us politically. All this shows that fascism is rising in Turkey.

A few years ago, it was only ultra-nationalist people who were saying that you should either ‘love or leave' your country. But now, if you look at Turkey in general, you can see that most people are saying that. So, in the public, there's a general tendency to isolate Kurdish people and rally people under the idea of a unitary Turkish state, without recognizing other cultural identities.

The DTP and PKK have both called for a peaceful, democratic solution to the Kurdish issue within Turkey's existing borders. Why has the state refused to negotiate with the DTP? Who benefits from the continuation of the conflict?

The PKK is not insisting on the continuation of this war. They've announced ceasefires five times. The last time they did so was when the DTP asked them to do so. However, these efforts were not welcomed by the state, and the reason they don't want to solve the issue is the state's interests in the Middle East. They have interests in Iraq and its petroleum resources, and they want to have a pretext for intervening there. The continuation of the war with the PKK provides the state with such a pretext. The problem of PKK ‘terrorism' wins Turkey sympathy in the international arena, as well. It helps Ankara resist pressure to expand freedoms, democratization and recognition of human rights.

The PKK is saying that it is prepared to accept a solution within Turkey's borders, that Kurds and Turks can live together. The war could end easily, according to the PKK, if its efforts at negotiation were recognized. But since there are still some interest groups who want the war to continue, the war is continuing. So, paradoxically, it could be easy to end the war, but at the same time it is not easy.

Do you think the DTP is going to be closed? What are you going to do if it is?

The outcome of the closure trial will be a political decision, not a legal one. In the current environment it seems likely that we will be shut down. But a significant group of people are against the closure, so we'll see what happens. We're prepared for the closure; we have a replacement party established already.

Procedurally, it's not important for DTP if we're closed down, but it will be important in that there will be a rupture if that happens. The anger of the Kurdish people is increasing intensely now, and this anger will be heightened. The slogans in demonstrations have changed incrementally over the last year, because of the policy of war by the AKP. Last year, Kurdish people were speaking out, saying ‘long live peace'. Now, they're shouting, ‘the rebels are shooting and Kurdistan is being established' and ‘Erdoğan is a murderer.'

After the last election, Mr. Erdoğan said that 55% of people in Diyarbakır supported him. But when he came here a few weeks ago, people shut down their shops. People are changing their minds.

During the 1990s, scores of politicians connected to pro-Kurdish parties were murdered, tortured, and harassed in every way. What kind of conditions do you work under now? Is the DTP able to go about its business in a normal way? Do you feel safe?

In terms of human rights violence and torture even normal people in the street do not feel safe from violence, it's common everywhere in Turkey. You can be shot and killed at any moment. As you can see on the news, Ahmet Ozcan, a youngster at the age of 20 was shot and killed by the police during a recent demonstration in Ağrı; also, in Antalya a boy named Çağdaş traveling on his motorcycle was shot by the police.

Violence and threats against Kurdish politicians and parties are still common. Because the DTP is equalized with terrorism and because of the rise of fascism, there is always a risk that we'll be assassinated. Even though there are risks, we are not giving up. We know that there are risks, and we're always threatened with e-mails and trials. The DTP is mission is a democratic and peaceful solution of the Kurdish question and it has always stood by the Kurdish people and struggled for the rights of the Kurds. Whatever the consequences may be - death, re -imprisonment - it is our mission to achieve these goals.

For every word we utter they open a new case against us. Although under law an MP cannot normally be tried, there are cases against us still going on. Although there are those risks we believe in peace, freedom and democracy and we will not give up on our struggle. We are stronger than these threats, and we will struggle for freedom, for democracy and for peace.

I don't feel safe. It has been revealed that the Ergenekon organization was targeting [DTP co-chairperson and MP] Ahmet Turk, [DTP member and Mayor of Diyarbakır] Osman Baydemir and myself for assassination. At any moment, someone from Ergenekon could come and kill.

Last time we spoke you told me the DTP was trying to open a political bureau in Washington. What's the status of that project?

We're planning on opening the bureau within a few months, but it will depend on the outcome of the closure trial, for sure.

Go, Sebahat, you go, girlfriend!

If you liked the interview with Heval Sebahat, go on over to ZNet and let Jake know.

THE WEIGHT OF RACISM

"I look at an ant and I see myself: a native South African, endowed by nature with a strength much greater than my size so I might cope with the weight of a racism that crushes my spirit."
~ Miriam Makeba.

It looks like there was a war of words in the TBMM recently:

Under the roof of this parliament some people, who do not want the prime minister to visit some cities in the country, have emerged, Erdogan said in his speech to parliament.

"While we were implementing our democratic right and I, as the prime minister of Turkey, was attending some ceremonies (in the southeastern provinces), it was very interesting to see some people, who couldn’t accept this, setting cars on fire and breaking the windows of my party's building. Is this democracy? Is this freedom? Is this human rights? You can't attain freedom or democracy like this, the path of democracy is the polls," Erdogan added. His words incited reaction from DTP deputies.

Of course it's not a democracy! Of course it's not freedom! Of course it's not human rights! That's the whole point, bonehead! One thing is for certain, Mr. Başbakan, the response you received to your little visit to the Southeast is a classic example of "what goes around, comes around."

Hasip Kaplan, DTP parliamentarian from Şırnak, hit the bullseye:

A deputy from the DTP, Hasip Kaplan, referred to Erdogan as "Le Pen", in reference to the far-right French politician. "You are the Le Pen. You raised Nazism in this country," Erdogan replied to Kaplan.

"You are the Nazi and you represent Nazism. We have democratic rights. You cannot address us like this," Kaplan said in response to Erdogan's criticism.

OUCH!!

DTP leader Turk slammed Erdogan in his speech, rejecting the claims that they want to divide the country and urged for official recognition of the Kurdish identity.

"We defend the brotherhood of nations. We believe this could only be ensured by showing respect to citizens' identities and cultures. The one who is disrespectful and raises the chauvinism is you (Erdogan)," Turk added.

We know that Ahmet Türk is correct; Erdoğan the Bonehead is the one who goes around telling everyone, "Love it or leave it!" and supporting those who would take shotguns after DTP . . . and this is the same guy who had the nerve to go to Germany and talk about how "assimilation is a crime against humanity".

But Kurds are not the only ethnicity Erdoğan has a problem with. Here's something on the Armenians and the "Apology Campaign":

Around 200 Turkish academics, writers and journalists launched a website issuing an apology to the Armenians regarding the 1915 incidents and calling for people to sign on in support.

The efforts of the intellectuals drew fierce reaction in Turkey.

"I neither accept nor support this campaign. We did not commit a crime, therefore we do not need to apologize," Erdogan said, adding the issue is still being discussed by historians.

More on the campaign here. The Armenian view is at PanARMENIAN. Make note of the irony at the end of the piece:

The only «oddity» in all this story is that the petition has not been signed by Orhan Pamuk, Taner Akcam, Elif Safak, Ragip Zarakolu – those who for publicly mentioning the Armenian Genocide were brought to trial under Article 301 and were forced to leave Turkey.

An item over at Info-Turk carries quotes from some of the intellectuals who have signed the campaign, as they respond to Kerdoğan's remarks. Here are a couple those replies:

Writer Adalet Ağaoğlu: “What is expressed here is our shame. Erdoğan should tell us why Hrant Dink was killed, instead of this.”

“Racism and Turkism still continue. Since Dink was killed for the same reason and while everyone was aware about the murder plan, these are not the sentences to be uttered. The campaign is the expression of the shame we feel about the mentality that has been alive since the Ottomans.”

Musician Aylin Aslım: “When it suits him he claims the 800 year old heritage, and when it does not suit him he says he did not do it. This is how an adolescent would act and his words about the campaign make as much sense as this kind of behavior does.”

Why is this important for Kurds?

Lawyer Tahir Elçi: “Neither the Kurdish problem nor the other existing problems can be solved before Turkey faces the Armenian problem. The state has so far not taken any steps in connection with this problem.”

Since PanARMENIAN brought up the subject of Article 301, let me point you to an article at Bianet that discusses the criminal charges filed against Osman Baydemir and Nejdet Atalay--both DTP--for using the expression "PKK guerrillas" to describe PKK guerrillas.

Stupidity!

Don't forget to check Hevallo, who's got his opinion posted about the EU's attempts to criminalize the Kurdish people and recent raids on Kurdish homes in London (emphasis Hevallo's):

The latest and most damaging example of this is a report released by the European Security and Defence Assembly swallowing wholesale the 'terrorist' label pinned on the PKK by the Turkish State.

There are parts of the report which are almost verbatim of the regular psychological warfare briefs of the Turkish Army's psychological warfare department that even many Turkish journalists and intellectuals are challenging and rejecting.

The report was put together by the now President elect of the European Security and Defence Assembly, UK's Robert Walter. Put aside the fact that this Robert Walter has been lobbying in the UK Parliament for an arms company with direct links to Turkish security forces that are responsible for the most horrendous crimes against humanity.

Although there are serious contradictions in this report, like the fact that at one point in the report the author states that the conflict between Turkey and the Kurdish people is a CIVIL WAR, the main thrust of the report is that the PKK are terrorists and that the European countries must start to help the Turkish Security Forces and crack down on Kurdish people who support the Kurdish resistance in European countries!

Could it be a coincidence then, that recently, only days ago, some members of the Kurdish community in London had their homes raided and their houses ransacked under some spurious warrant of 'anti terrorist' legislation. Kurdish mothers fainting at the shock of UK police supporting the Turkish Security Forces in criminalising the Kurdish people.

Go boyfriend. You go!

THE TURKISH CONSTITUTION AND THE FACADE OF DEMOCRACY, PART 3

"And the closer the elections get, the following messages will be delivered secretly: "If we can weaken DTP and militarily control PKK, we will recognize your rights without facing any clashes by convincing the general staff."
~ Mithat Sancar, Ankara University.

Below is the third and final part of the interview Taraf's Neşe Düzel conducted with Ankara University's Mithat Sancar. Part 1 can be found here and Part 2 is here.

ND: Why did AKP become so hawkish on the Kurdish question and see that military operations is the only solution? Can it be the only party with this way?

MS: Someone had convinced AKP that with such hawkish strategies it could finish DTP and weaken PKK. AKP thinks that the more it becomes hawkish, the more powerful it would become in the Southeast. And the closer the elections get, the following messages will be delivered secretly: "If we can weaken DTP and militarily control PKK, we will recognize your rights without facing any clashes by convincing the general staff." In the election, they will show the candidates who will give the messages that they have not given up the policies they had promised. In this way, AKP is planning to annihilate the Kurdish political movement. There is a thesis that if AKP loses the Southeast, the only bridge between the Turkish east and west will collapse.

ND: What kind of thesis is this?

MS: This is very dangerous because with this thesis is the understanding that ignores the importance of political representation with one's own identity. However, the demand for representation with one's own identity is very important for a democratic solution in ethnic conflict. DTP, or a party like that, their existence will reinforce Kurdish unity with Turkey because it will make Kurds feel they are represented. If DTP is annihilated, the possibility of speaking out [with] Kurdish identity and the feeling of political representation will weaken. And it will be that point that the dissolution of Kurds from the country and from the state will begin. DTP's loss will not facilitate the problem. On the contrary, it will make the solution difficult.

ND: In AKP's cadres, it's as if there's a chauvinistic discourse. The national defense minister said that if the Rom and Armenians didn't go, we could not be a nation-state the way that we are today. How do you comment on this speech?

MS: With one word. I read his speech with great fear. The mentality which approves of the Armenian Genocide and confesses it wants to base its problem-solving on homogeneity. This mentality cannot solve all of its Kurdish and non-Muslim problems. On the contrary, it will make more violence occur and make more pains felt on the Kurdish question.

ND: Does the minister advocate Armenian forced immigration?

MS: Clearly, he says forced migration was necessary, it had to be. My main concern is this: there wasn't any criticism from either the government or the prime minister about Vecdi Gönül's words.

ND: Where does he find this courage?

MS: This is the problem. AKP is facing tides since 2005. The more it gets away from its democratization goal, the more deeply nationalistic AKP is revealed [to be]. Today the nationalistic vein in AKP is greater than ever because, to date, there were three main traits that kept AKP from being a statist, right-wing party. These are the EU, the democrats in AKP and outside AKP. Today the AKP administration excludes these three elements.

ND: Is Turkey sliding into racism?

MS: In terms of political culture and daily life, Turkey is becoming a society that has a powerful racist vein. Daily racism has increased a lot in Turkey. I mean racism became normal. The disasters which are created by the normalization of racism can be understood by looking at world examples and the pains that result [from racism]. This racism destroys the base of democracies and it makes it easier in Turkey to polarize society and then drag people to the point that they can slaughter each other. In fact, in the last year, torture incidents in Turkey, deaths in prison and in detention, and shooting on the streets have increased. All these incidents are related to each other.

ND: Has Turkey become militarized?

MS: The pace of the last five months is not a civilian pace, but it is a militarized pace. The things that we live today are the signs that we are being dragged into militarism, nationalism, authoritarianism. If the prime minister maintains hawkish discourses, Turkey will have deeper polarizations and will move farther away from democracy. Nationalism, authoritarianism, racism will wrap up all parts of Turkey. Turkey will become a ghetto. However, we must not forget that in Turkey, there exists democrats whose power is not proportional to their numbers.

ND: How can they be effective.

MS: They are effective because Turkey has a powerful conscience. I trust in Turkey's conscience. And let's not forget that there are also democratic people in AKP.

By the way, there was a little something a few days ago on Southern Kurdish reaction to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) in Iraq. From IPS via Alternet:

"Kurdish leaders have very fervently talked about approving the agreement and have appeared to be like the number one attorneys for this deal," Nawshirwan Mustafa, a former deputy to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, wrote in Sbeiy, a Kurdish news website he founded. Mustafa resigned from Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan after disagreements over the party management style. "They [Kurdish leaders] have thought they should unconditionally support whatever America does and consider it as good."

Ooooh . . . Bad idea. Very bad idea.

Now, the extent of fears are such that senior Kurdish lawmakers broke their silence in the past few days demanding amendments to the deal in a way that would curb the central government's hand in using the country's military to "settle scores" with its political opponents.

What makes it even more worrying for Kurds is that the deal commits the U.S. military to back the Iraqi army in its operations. But Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has firmly rejected any changes, saying that parliamentarians should either accept the deal in its entirety or reject it altogether.

I guess these guys have already forgotten the betrayals of the past. Shame, shame, shame.