A LITTLE TASTE OF REALITY

"We have never accepted the accusation that we are terrorists. As an organization, we have never resorted to military warfare for arbitrary reasons or personal pleasures. Yes, we are fighting with weapons, but this is due to the state terror inflicted upon our people. Our identity, political culture, and linguistic heritage have been brutally suppressed by state terrorism."
~ Abdullah Öcalan.

Photos from Amed (Diyarbakır), from various news services at YahooNews and Hürriyet:



















And by the way Sayın Başbakan, the only trash on the streets of Amed is TSK and the police forces.

From Doğubeyazıt, again at Hürriyet:








For more photos of the serhildan in Amed, check Hevallo's place. Don't forget to read his memorial for Lice and browse the photos of that genocidal attack. It's truly excellent.

For photos of the serhildan in Batman and Şırnak, check here.

It looks like a lot of cars have gone up in flames all around Istanbul yesterday--38 cars in total:





And there have been arson attacks against the Turkish embassies in Finland and Austria.

All in all, it's just a little taste of what will happen if something happens to Öcalan. You have been warned.

Oh, yeah, what Ahmet Türk said:

The military coup in 1980 conducted "political, social and cultural genocide" on Kurds and paved the way for the establishment of the [ ] organization, PKK, the leader of the pro-Kurdish party said on Tuesday.

Turk's remarks came after tensions rose in the region over the DTP's claims that Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the [ ] organization PKK, had been mistreated in Imrali prison where he is serving a life sentence. The claims sparked huge protests in the mainly-Kurdish southeastern regions, leaving one person dead.

BIJÎ SEROK APO!

15 TEBAX 2008 PÎROZ BE!

"Realistically speaking, Turkey's only alternative is to resolve the issue through political dialogue. There has never been any political dialogue in order to bring about a solution to the Kurdish issue, and this is the sole reason why the problems Turkey faces today are weightier than ever."
~ Abdullah Öcalan.

In honor of 15 August, be sure to check out the new Gerila TV at http://www.gerila.tv/ . Now also included in the right margin under the CENSORED SITES label.


Note: If you see a blank space above, this is a video from a site censored by Blogger.com. This is the same kind of view seen from Turkey when something censored, like YouTube videos, are blocked by the regime. The video may be viewed at http://www.gerila.tv/index.php?option=com_seyret&Itemid=26&task=videodirectlink&id=39

24 years and stronger than ever!


BIJÎ RÊBER APO

BIJIN GERÎLA

BIJÎ KURDISTAN

Hevaller, 15 Ağustos vesilesi ile sizlere en içten duygularımla selamlarımı gönderiyorum. Gerillalarımız düşüncelerimizden hiçbir zaman uzak değildir. Kayıplarınız kayıplarımız, zaferleriniz zaferlerimizdir.

THE AKP'S KURDISH POLICY

"Security forces will intervene with every possible means indiscriminately, including against women and children."
~ R. Tayyip Erdoğan, during the Amed Serhildan.

Watch Turkish police break a 15-year-old Kurd's arm during the recent Newroz violence in Culemêrg (Hakkâri), Turkish-occupied Kurdistan, from Özgür Gündem:

Here are some photos of the same, to remember the faces of the security forces for identification purposes:







Gordon Taylor's description of the scene, at Progressive Historians:

But of course, you're not looking at the mountain, you're looking at a plainclothesman from the Turkish secret police giving us a demonstration of how to break a 15-year-old boy's arm. Let's not dwell on it. Every once in a while historians must confront everyday reality, and this is it. I am not one to use red-flag words idly; in fact, I despise the debasement of language that results when pejorative labels are endlessly purveyed in contexts that do not warrant them. This, however, is a case where the "F" word is fully justified. This is fascist thuggery, pure and simple.

It's always "fascist thuggery" with them.

Now, if that kid were a Palestinian Arab or a Tibetan instead of a Kurd in Turkey, or if those security forces were Israelis or Chinese instead of Turks, I can guarantee you that these photos and videos would be all over the international media, including the bullshit American media.

But because there's absolutely nothing here to excite the antisemite or the Hollywood Buddhist, and because these atrocities are taking place inside America's Model of Democracy for the Middle East, you haven't seen a damned thing of any of this anywhere on CNN, Fox News, ABC, NBC, CBS, or in America's newspaper of record (the NYTimes), on Democracy Now!--so misnamed--or NPR.

Where's that AKP-Fethullacı bastard, Mustafa Akyol, to speak for his Muslim "brothers" in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan? Where is he to explain AKP's policy of crushing the arms of Kurdish 15-year-olds?

These photos and videos are the best explanation yet of AKP's Kurdish policy. And let's not forget, either, that it was the US who put AKP into power way back in 2002. AKP is America's gang.

But America is not the only one to support AKP:

A few weeks ago Iraqi president Jalal Talabani via the Turkish media had stated that AKP was a democratically elected party and it should be respected by Kurds. Similarly, Nechirvan Barzani, the Prime Minister of Kurdistan Regional Government, stated in an interview that Turkey was Kurds’ elder brother.

Also last week a Kurdish journalist from Turkey, Mehmet Metiner in his interview with the southern Kurdistan based Kurdish Globe stated that “the AKP government, at least in discourse, differs from the militarist/bureaucratic elite in Turkey”.

Really, Mehmet??! Maybe you could explain exactly how the AKP fascists differ from the military fascists, especially after the May 2007 Dolmabahçe Palace Deal between Erdoğan and Büyükanıt. On the other hand, maybe Mehmet can't explain, since he's writing propaganda for the Southern Kurdish leadership.

According to the Özgür Gündem article at the beginning of the post, so far 900 people have been detained in the wake of Newroz, and at least 126 people have been arrested. Many of those detained and arrested are children. So this is exactly what happened during the Amed Serhildan exactly two years ago, at the end of March 2006. At the time, Erdoğan outlined AKP's Kurdish policy:

"Security forces will intervene with every possible means indiscriminately, including against women and children."

And:

"The security forces will intervene against the pawns of terrorism, no matter if they are children or women. Everybody should realise that."

His government has praised the security forces for their handling of the situation, saying they have acted with restraint.

During and immediately after the Amed Serhildan, children were detained and tortured. There was no investigation of deaths caused by security forces and, to my knowledge, there has not been any investigation to this day.

All of this is the AKP's Kurdish policy.

Let me point out, too, that all of those responsible for "security" in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan--all the governors, the security chiefs, and the kaymakams--are all appointed by the AKP. They are AKP "men"; they are all responsible for the current brutality. They carry out the AKP's Kurdish policy at the frontline. These are the AKP officials who refused to allow DTP to conduct Newroz celebrations.

But, as Ahmet Türk said earlier this week, DTP has more video footage of the AKP government's atrocities in Wan, Gever, and Culemêrg (Van, Yüksekova, Hakkâri).

Remember the AKP's Kurdish policy, clearly inaugurated two years ago during the Amed Serhildan:

WE DON'T FORGET

“If I could be anything in the world I would want to be a teardrop because I would be born in your eyes, live on your cheeks, and die on your lips.”
~ Unknown.

Enes Ata, age 8, murdered by the Turkish state on March 30, 2006 as he walked to his aunt's home in Amed.

From the Turkish Human Rights Association report:

Mehmet Akbulut (18): "He was heavily wounded as result of injury by firearm when security forces opened fire in the centre of the province on 28 March 2006. He lost his life on 31.03.2006 at the Dicle University Faculty of Medicine where he was being treated. According to the autopsy report, his death was result of liver damage, internal haemorrhage and shock due to haemorrhage, related to injury by firearm bullet."

Halit Sogut (78): "Halit Sogut, who was heavily injured due to a blow delivered to his head by security forces with a hard object at around 14.30 on 28 March 2006, lost his life on 2 April 2006 at the State Hospital where he was placed under treatment."

Tarik Ataykaya (22): "Furniture worker. On 29 March 2006 between 13:30 and 14:00 he was wounded when security forces opened fire near Hayat 2 apartment on Baglar Medine Boulevard (beside the Metin Furniture facility behind the Rice Factory) and died the same day at the State hospital. According to the autopsy report, he died as result of brain damage and haemorrhage related to injury by firearm bullet (gas cartridge).

A section of what witnesses told IHD: " Security forces wearing Special Team uniforms and carrying firearms appeared across us. They numbered about 6-7. They were haphazardly shooting. They were kneeling on the ground and aiming at the crowd; they were not firing into the air. At that moment there was a big commotion. Everyone started to run away. While we ran off scared, I heard a gunshot behind me. When I turned to look, I saw Tarik on the ground and went to him. Tarik had lost consciousness at that point. (...) We took Tarik into the building right beside us. We rang the door of one of the flats there and told them to phone for an ambulance. While we were inside the building we washed his face and at that time we realised he had received a blow to his head.

Mehmet Isikci (19): "Furniture builder. He was taken to the State Hospital after receiving a concussion from a blow with a hard object used by security forces on Emek High Street at around 17:30-18.00 on 29.03.2006 and died there shortly after. Those who witnessed the incident were relatives living in the building opposite to where the incident took place. According to the autopsy report, he died as result of head, chest and inner trauma, fracture of skull, brain hemorrhage, internal hemorrhage due to right lung and liver rupture and shock from hemorrhage."

Abdullah Duran (9): "Elementary school student. Abdullah Duran lost his life as result of security forces opening fire at around 17:30 on 29.03.2006 while, together with his family, he was watching the incidents in the streets from the balcony of the house they lived in. His uncle Mehmet Duran has stated that bullets had also passed through the jacket his other nephew Eyup Duran was wearing while on the balcony. According to the autopsy report, he died as result of internal hemorrhage and hemorrhage shock related to injuries of the heart and both lungs by firearm bullet."

Enez Ata (8): "Elementary school student. He lost his life as result of being hit by a bullet when security forces opened fire again in Kurucesme district during the incidents that erupted on 30 March 2006 while the funeral ceremony of 3 civilian citizens whose rights to life was violated by security forces on 28 and 29 March was being held."

From Enez Ata's father's account: "At around mid-day on 30 March 2006, my son Enez Ata came home earlier than usual saying they did not allow them entry into the school. It was around 13:20. After taking off his uniform apron, he said he would go to his aunt who lives very close to our house and left the house. As I thought he had gone to his aunt, I was initially at ease. Later, at about 15.00, I phoned his aunt. But she told me Enez had not gone there. Upon this our family started to look for him, we went to our relatives, we went to the school. But the school was totally empty. After looking for him for several hours I returned home where I received a phone call from my aunt who said some people had seen Enez wounded and in someone's lap on the television. Whereon I went to the Children's Hospital Emergency Service but he was not there. After that I went to the State Hospital. When I saw the dead body of my son at the Emergency Service, I lost myself. The prosecutor who arrived for the autopsy showed me the bullet that had lodged in his body (between his heart and stomach). I recall they forced me into a car; the police sent us to the Cinar district Asagikonak Village where our birth registry is held; they did not allow us to bury my son in the cemetery in Diyarbakir."

Mahsun Mizrak (17):"PVC foreman, glazier. Although witnesses have seen him being detained on 30.03.2006 by the 10 Nisan Police Station, his family received no result from applications made to the police stations, bar association, IHD, Security Directorates and hospitals. Finally, on 03.04.2006 at 18:00 the family went to the State Hospital and learned that his body had been held at the morgue since 30.03.2006 as an unidentified corpse. According to the autopsy report, he died as result of brain damage and haemorrhage caused by firearm bullet (gas cartridge)."

Emrah Fidan (17): "High school 3rd grade student. As result of injury due to security forces opening fire in the provincial center on the afternoon of 29.03.2006, he was placed under treatment at the intensive care unit of the Dicle University Faculty of Medicine and lost his life at around 08:00 on 03.04.2006. According to the autopsy report, he died as result of firearm pellets and brain hemorrhage."

From Emrah Fidan's father's account: "My son Emrah Fidan left the house at around 15:00 on 29.03.2006 and when he did not come back home towards the evening we got concerned. Because of this we went to the hospitals and asked. At the State Hospital Emergency Service they showed me a document in which the name 'Emrah Fidan' was written. We looked into the rooms with the nurses but could not find him. Upon this we went to the police stations and asked. I went to the Security Directorate to ask and a policeman there shouted at me saying '.... off and ask Osman Baydemir about your son!.." and threw me out. That night I couldn't find a trace of my son anywhere. The next day I went back to the State Hospital. The police there told me that my son had been lightly injured in the foot. On 30.03.2006 we went to the D.U. Faculty of Medicine and asked. They first showed us his clothes.; he had his identification document in the back pocket of his trousers; despite this he was entered in hospital records as Nursin Dogansahin. He remained in intensive care and at about 08:00 on the morning of 03.04.2006 he lost his life.

Ismail Erkek (8): "Elementary school student. He lost his life as result of being hit by a bullet when security forces opened fire again in Kurucesme district during the incidents that erupted on 30 March 2006 while the funeral ceremony of 3 civilian citizens whose rights to life was violated by security forces on 28 and 29 March was being held."

Mustafa Eryilmaz (26): "As result of security forces using disproportionate and excessive force and using firearms on 29 March 2006 he was heavily wounded after which on 31 March 2006 he lost his life. Because his family was not allowed to bury the body in Diyarbakir, it was buried in Silvan."

From YEK-KOM (scroll down):

Responding to the recent events, Erdogan issued a statement in which there was not a single word lost about the murdered children and adolescents. The police and military forces responsible for the murders do not have to fear any legal or disciplinary consequences. On the contrary, the Turkish minister president said the following: "Our security forces will use the necessary force and intervene against anybody who agrees to be a tool of terror, including children and women. I want this to be clearly understood.‚ This statement amounts to a licence to kill, the green light for more massacres on the Kurdish civilian population. According to Erdogan's reasoning, murdering children is part of necessary intervention by the state in agreement with Turkish political authorities. With his words and actions Erdogan makes himself personally and politically fully responsible for the massacres of Kurdish civilians.

To date, no prosecutions have been brought against any official of the Turkish state for the crimes committed against the Kurdish people during the Amed Serhildan.

We don't forget.

ONE YEAR AGO

"One faces the future with one's past."
~ Pearl S. Buck.

One year ago, at the end of March 2006, began the Amed Serhildan. After attending the funerals of four HPG gerîlas buried in Amed--out of 14 killed by chemical weapons utilized by the Turkish state--the state began provocations against the crowd of mourners. The serhildan quickly spread throughout Turkish-occupied Kurdistan, "including Batman, Siirt, Mardin, Kiziltepe, Nusaybin, Hakkari, Agri, Van, Ergani, Kars," and even to the large Kurdish population of Istanbul.

Fatih Tas reported the events:

The clashes started with the killing of 14 HPG (People’s Defensive Forces of Kurdish Liberation Movement (KLM)) guerrilla fighters. The HPG claimed that chemical weapons had been used against the guerrillas and demanded that NGOs should investigate the incidence. The families of the guerrillas said that they saw burns and other signs of chemical weapons on their corpses. This information triggered large-scale demonstrations in Diyarbakir during the funeral. The police attacked the funeral using firearms. The demonstrations to protest the attack and the use of chemical weapons spread to other cities. During the demonstrations 13 people, including three children aged three to six, were killed by bullets and several people were hospitalised. Hundreds were arrested and tortured.

[ . . . ]

The mainstream media were in harmony with the government and gave full support to the state policy of demonising the Kurdish people. The broken glass of some shops was the main issue on mainstream TV channels while people were losing their lives to the bullets fired by security forces. The mainstream media was actually provoking an ethnic civil war.

By 12th of Apri, 18 guerrillas, 34 soldiers and 1 policeman had lost their lives. The Turkish state tried every possible means to “solve” the Kurdish problem, the origins of which can be dated back to 1978: dirty war, paramilitary forces, death squads, forced evictions, torture, economic sanctions, summary executions, chemical weapons etc. There is only one approach which has not yet been tried: peaceful dialog. The key to peaceful dialog is the model tried in South Africa: “Truth and Reconciliation Commissions”. That model is proposed by the leader of the KLM, Abdullah Öcalan and it seems to be the only possible way to uncover the human rights violations for which both parties are responsible and to heal the suffering from the prolonged civil war.

As of 20th April 250,000 Turkish troops are said will be deployed in southeastern Kurdish region of Turkey to organize operations against Kurdish guerillas and according to mainstream media the operation could include a cross-border attack to the Northern Iraq where there are guerilla bases.

Those forces are still deployed in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan and the Ankara regime still threatens an invasion of South Kurdistan.

What follows are the fourth and fifth appendices to the "Report on Local Government and Local Democracy Dynamics concerning the DTP Municipalities in Turkey," specifically in reference to the Amed Serhildan. All emphasis is in the original translation.

**********

The original speech transcriptions submitted as evidence by the Public Prosecutor in the Indictment (literally transcribed)


Transcription of the CD of the Kurdish and Turkish speeches of the mayor of Diyarbakir Metropolitan Municipality Osman Baydemir to the Crowd in the Baglar District on the 29th and 30th of March, 2006

02: 28 minute of the CD-- BAYDEMIR (Speaking in Turkish): Friends! The pain that our city went through is very big. We are aware of this. The mayors, our province organization (meaning the Democratic Society Party-DTP), our province chair (of the DTP), our executives, friends, all of us! We share your pain deep in heart. From now on, from this minute on, the continuation of tension will harm our people, our city. That is why we demand you please disperse and go back to your home from now on. Please you all go back to your homes. All security forces will retreat to their stations. And all our people will go back to their homes easily and safely. Any activity you will involve in from now on will harm our city, your demands for democracy and freedom.

03: 26 minute of the CD—A person who is not seen on the screen is speaking in Turkish: My Mayor, everybody wants them to retreat, driving the panzers fast towards the citizens…

03: 31 minute of the CD--BAYDEMIR (Speaking in Turkish): We had the necessary meetings. We had the necessary meetings. We talked with the Governorship, with other institutions, we talked with the Vice Governor, there will be no intervention in any sense, we received guarantee. No intervention will happen. My request from you is that please go back to your homes in a peaceful way, thank you.

03: 31 minute of the CD—BAYDEMIR (Speaking in Kurdish): Friends, friends, kids do not come with us; go back to your homes. Listen to me, our heart pain was 14, today it became 17. No more, let not it be 18. Let not it be 18. I beg you please go back to your homes, go back, go back.

04: 42 minute of the CD—Slogan Shouted by the Crowd: Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo, Revenge, revenge, revenge, revenge, revenge, revenge, revenge, revenge, Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo.

05: 49 minute of the CD--BAYDEMIR (Speaking in Kurdish): Friends, please be quiet. Please be quiet and listen to me, friends please listen to me, I beg from you. I beg from you, please sit down, please sit down and be quiet, be quiet, be quiet, be quiet, be quiet, friends.

06: 27 minute of the CD—The mayor of Diyarbakir Metropolitan Municipality Osman Baydemir is talking to the crowd under a piece of garment named as the flag of the so-called confederalism, the flag being tied to the edge of a wooden stick, as seen on the upper-left corner of the screen.

06: 30 minute of the CD –Slogan Shouted by the Crowd: Teeth to Teeth, Blood to Blood, We are with you OCALAN!

06: 38 minute of the CD-- BAYDEMIR (Speaking in Kurdish): Friends, please listen to me for two minutes, please listen for two minutes. If we do not listen to each other, we will not have progress. Please…Today we had a meeting with all our civil society organizations, our party, our mayors. We very much thank you for your demands and courage so far.

07: 20 minute of the CD—Slogan Shouted by the Crowd: Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo.

07: 26 minute of the CD-- BAYDEMIR (Speaking in Kurdish): You claimed your identity; you claimed your people with burnt hearts, and your pain. We are also with you. Be sure of this. For the priority of peace, for the priority of your success, we have to listen to each other under the leadership of the Party. We fear that this mobilization from now on will harm our nation and our people. From now on, we all will go back to our home quietly. We had a meeting with them. According to our talks, nobody will intervene into the people. Nobody will intervene.

08: 42 minute of the CD—Slogan Shouted by the Crowd: Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo, Revenge, revenge, revenge, revenge, revenge, revenge, revenge, revenge, revenge, revenge. Regards, regards, A thousand Regards to Imrali, Regards, Regards, A thousand Regards to Imrali, Regards, Regards, A thousand Regards to Imrali, Regards, Regards, A thousand Regards to Imrali, Regards, Regards, A thousand Regards to Imrali.


Transcription of the Turkish-Kurdish Speech of Osman Baydemir to the Crowd who Gathered in the Yenikoy Cemetery on 30th March, 2006.

00: 02 minute of the CD-- Slogan Shouted by the Crowd: Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo.

00: 17 minute of the CD—Slogan Shouted by the Crown in Turkish: Each and every Kurd is born as a guerilla, Each and every Kurd is born as a guerilla, Each and every Kurd is born as a guerilla, Each and every Kurd is born as a guerilla, Each and every Kurd is born as a guerilla, Each and every Kurd is born as a guerilla.

01: 01 minute of the CD-- Slogan Shouted by the Crowd: Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo, long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo.

02: 02 minute of the CD— The bus owned by the DTP is moving with the crowd. The 10 Nisan Police Station is attacked heavily with stones,

02: 15 minute of the CD-- Shouted by the Crowd: Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo, Long Live President Apo.

02: 25 minute of the CD—Slogan Shouted by the Crowd: Martyrs do not die, Martyrs do not die, Martyrs do not die, Martyrs do not die,

02: 32 minute of the CD—Osman BAYDEMIR (Speaking in Kurdish): Please wait for a moment. First of all, I bend respectfully in front of my friends. The night is evident to the owner of the daytime. My people have gone through great suffering for the last 3 days. We have to take this problem to the very end. Because of this we have to listen to our friends with avidity, with reason, with brain. We have to know each other’s thoughts. You should know well, all the world should know well, the people of Diyarbakir should know well. The wish of my heart, the wish in my heart is: “IF ONLY I WOULD BE IN THEIR PLACE. IF ONLY THEY HAD NOT DIED TODAY”. Friends, my dear people, my honorable people, we have to listen to each other. The wish of my heart, of the friends and allies around me, is only if the poison in the bomb would come into my eyes, not into those of my people. I wish no stone would touch your nails, but they come to my head.

04: 28 minute of the CD: Slogan shouted by the Crowd: Revenge, revenge, revenge, revenge, revenge, revenge,

That is why friends, brothers and sisters, my brothers and sisters. We are with you in all hardships. We are with you with all my friends and allies. We know that you, we know that you no matter… (not understood). The pain of our people, of our city is very big from this day on… (not understood). According to our beliefs, our point of view, in our religion there is mourning for 3 days. (A short interruption happened here.) Let’s share the pain of our families in this three-day mourning. They should also know that this pain is not their pain alone; this pain belongs to all the people.



29.03. 2006—Press Release by Mr. Osman Baydemir

Dear Press Members,

Dear People of Diyarbakir,

The incidents that has taken place in the region during the last week and in our city for the last two days reached to a point that would seriously harm both the future of democracy and the will and demand of our people to live together. The city is tense, and worries are high. In the current situation, a democratic and prudent approach is what we need urgently more than ever before.

We believe that all of these stem from the inability to find a sustainable and peaceful solution for the Kurdish problem. Unfortunately, the current oppressive approaches heavily marked with a security perspective are drawing the chance for democratization and peaceful solution of the Kurdish problem into a big politics of solution-less-ness. Many people were injured by fire-arms, and, as of now, two people lost their lives because of the intervention of security forces into the protests. There are some injured who still have death risk. Again, many offices, shops and public areas were destroyed. First and foremost the government, all should approach to the problem in a civilian and prudent manner, and take responsibility urgently in this regard.

It is necessary to carry out an inclusive, widespread and civilian democratic struggle against this politics of solution-less-ness that we are exposed to. However, the methods to be used in raising demands for democratic rights and freedoms and in struggling to frustrate the increasing oppressive wave should also be democratic. Each and every activity to be carried out in this regard should have the quality to contribute to the democratic and peaceful solution of the problems.

As the city our pain is big, and we are face in face with risks that may increase this pain every passing second. We understand the worries of our people and share their pain and suffering. In the current situation, we invite once again everybody to act with prudence and steadiness and contribute to the normalization of life in order to prevent further pain and destruction.

**********

One year later and the repression has only intensified while those who feed the monster of Turkish fascism continue to do so with impunity. The only democracy in Turkey--perhaps the only democracy in the Middle East--exists among those like the DTP politicians and the individuals at the local level who work with them and stand fast with them, and with those who are real Turkish heroes, as Vahe Balabanian has posted at Hyelog.

The Ankara regime itself, all of its institutions, and all of its foreign backers are the enemies of democratization in the Middle East. I've said it before and I'll say it again: No more cooperation.