MORE ON US-TURKISH BOMBING OF KURDISTAN

"You know, that might be the answer - to act boastfully about something we ought to be ashamed of. That's a trick that never seems to fail."
~ LTC Korn, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller.

First, a little gerîla music from Rotinda:

While I have the chance (and remember to do it) there are a couple of posts on the recent US-Turkish bombings of Kurdistan by Gordon Taylor at Progressive Historians--the Merry Christmas and While Shepherds Watched--with the second providing a bit of satire for your consideration:

[Scene: Ops HQ, Diyarbakir Air Base, Turkey. The phone rings. Capt. Mehmet Fubar, Turkish Air Forces, picks up.]

Fubar: Hello!
Col. Bart Guanaco, USAF[on other end]: That you M'met?
Fubar: Yes, Bart'ciğim! How does scope look?
Guanaco: Looks like a real bingo party down there, M'met.
Fubar: Binko? What is?
Guanaco: Bandits all over the screen: one o'clock, three o'clock, you name it.
Fubar: Please speaking English, dearest Bart.
Guanaco: M'met, I think we got a big PKK meetin' goin' on down there.
Fubar: Really! Tell me!
Guanaco: It's amazing. They think they can go underground and hide, but these dudes are giving off so much heat they must be having an orgy. Listen, here's the coordinates...

And the rest is history.

Read the rest to get the full import of the stupidity illustrated in the dialog.

More later. Stay tuned.

SUNDAY'S ŞEHÎDS

"If they come over the Iraqi border we will survive. These mountains are Kurdish mountains and they don't know the terrain."
~ PKK fighter.

HPG has identified the five gerîlas martyred during the Ankara regime's air attacks on Sunday:

Enver Umyanus (Abdülmenaf Tekin), born 1973 in Umyanus-Şırnak. Joined PKK in 1995.

Kendal Arap (Anter Muhammed Hamid), born 1977 in Rakka. Joined PKK in 2000.

Bawer Batman (Fuat Özekinci), born 1982 in Batman. Joined PKK in 2006.

Rohat Rıhani (Fatih Bordoğan), born 1986 in Silopi-Şırnak. Joined PKK in 2004.

Eşref Cizre.

Rest in peace, comrades. Şehîd namirin!

HPG also reports that the gerîlas made contact three times with the Turkish ground troops that entered the Medya Defense Zones in the Xakurkê region, Gelıyê Reş, and that eight Turkish troops were killed and four wounded in the clashes.

No HPG fighters were killed or wounded in the clashes.

I haven't been able to get over to VineyardSaker's blog to make many comments so far this week, however I noticed that he does have a pretty good analysis of mountain warfare today. So, if you want to learn something, go read. Highly recommended.

US: WE GAVE TURKEY THE TARGETS

"The feeling on the street is that we must not just sit back idly while this is taking place. There is anger towards US forces. People feel they gave the green light to the Turks to bomb."
~ Nawzad Bolous, Hewlêr.

While US spokesmen in Ankara spent all yesterday denying any knowledge of Turkey's intentions to bomb Kurdish civilians in South Kurdistan, today we are told that the US is picking and choosing targets for Turkey:

U.S. military personnel have set up a center for sharing intelligence in Ankara, the Turkish capital, providing imagery and other immediate information gathered from U.S. aircraft and unmanned drones flying over the separatists' mountain redoubts, the officials said. A senior administration official said the goal of the U.S. program is to identify the movements and activities of the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), which is fighting to create an autonomous enclave in Turkey.

The United States is "essentially handing them their targets," one U.S. military official said. The Turkish military then decides whether to act on the information and notifies the United States, the official said.

"They said, 'We want to do something.' We said, 'Okay, it's your decision,' " the official said yesterday, although he denied that the United States had explicitly approved the strikes.

Well, the American military lies as well as the State Department. By opening the air space over Iraq, the US explicitly did approve of Turkish strikes against Kurdish civilians--the very targets that the US handed over to Turkey. Let's review:

The official U.S. line is that Washington did not approve Turkey's Sunday air strike on Kurdish targets in northern Iraq. But the U.S. does control the skies over Iraq and the Pentagon did open airspace over Iraq for at least three hours to Turkish warplanes. It was also informed of the raids beforehand, according to an American spokesperson in Ankara. "By opening its airspace, America gave its approval to the operation," Turkish General Yasar Buyukanit said.

Not satisfied with bombing civilians and destroying the property that gives them shelter and livelihood, the monsters who command both the American and Turkish military (and their corporate masters in the MIC) want to come up with a "comprehensive strategy" for genocide:

The intelligence cooperation comes as senior U.S. military and Pentagon officials have engaged in talks with their Turkish counterparts to produce a more comprehensive strategy for combating the PKK, according to a senior military official familiar with the discussions. In addition to providing targets, U.S. military officials said they have encouraged the Turks to employ nonmilitary measures against the PKK and to hold a dialogue with the Iraqi government.

None of these not-so-bright boys has considered taking up the points outlined by the KCK in its offer of a democratic solution because then the Americans couldn't turn a few blood bucks on military gifts to Turkey, such as the recent purchase of upgrade packages for Lockheed Martin's F-16s or the purchase of Lockheed's new albatross, the F-35. The F-35 purchase was the reason Lockheed Martin director, Joseph Ralston was appointed by the State Deparment as the "PKK coordinator" for Turkey last year.

There is only one way to solve the injustices that the Ankara regime has perpetrated against the Kurdish people, and it's not the military way:

After more than two decades of war against the rebels, Turkey’s generals and politicians concede that military measures alone cannot fix its festering Kurdish problem.

The corporate bloodsuckers behind American foreign policy are certainly not going to permit any solution that's going to undercut their bottom line--no matter who offers them--or rule of law, as William Arkin opines at the Washington Post's blog:

The rule of law took another hit this week. Not because of questionable interrogation tactics or warrantless wiretapping. But because one sovereign country, a member of the United Nations and NATO in good standing, bombed the territory of another sovereign country and member of the United Nations.

And, in large part because we are in the midst of an over-stated war against terrorism, where exaggerated threats distort our standards and encourage military solutions, the United States didn't protest; it assisted in the attack.

[ . . . ]

The historical twists and turns here, the overlapping Kurdish relationships inside Iraqi Kurdistan and across the border, the shifting Kurdish agenda - in regard to Iraq and Turkey and internally -- could be the stuff of an HBO suspense. I won't pretend to explain it here.

The Bush administration, of course, doesn't pretend either. Turkey and the U.S. reduce the problem to PKK terrorism - which, of course, then justifies a military response and preemption, even in the face of official protest in Baghdad.

What Turkey should do about the PKK, and what the U.S. and the international community should do to pressure the Iraqi Kurds to stop supporting terrorism, is difficult to prescribe.

Well, it's only "difficult to prescribe" when you are a citizen of a nation that has spent decades--long before the official, War on Terror, Inc.--contributing to the Turkish genocide of the Kurdish people. In other words, when you are guilty of having created the situation on the ground that forced Kurds to engage in this most recent legitimate armed resistance. The seven points have been offered twice in a little over a year, and they are the only means to end the conflict.

All these facts of life make Condoleezza "Chevron" Rice a big, fat liar:

“We have made clear to the Turkish Government that we continue to be concerned about anything that could lead to innocent civilian casualties or to the destabilisation of the north,” Dr Rice told a joint news conference in Baghdad with Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi Foreign Minister, who is a Kurd.

And you had better believe that whenever this little hobgoblin, Rice, comes to town, everyone rushes to roll out the red carpet for her so that no one will notice all the blood dripping from her hands. That's why Mesûd Barzanî refused to meet with the creature:

"Turkish troops committed an atrocious crime against innocent civilians and violated Iraq's sovereignty," said KRG President Massoud Barzani, whom Turkish generals accuse of harboring the PKK. Mr. Barzani, who refused to meet Rice on her visit to Iraq, said the US should fulfill its "moral and legal commitment to protect the country's sovereignty and defend the Iraqi people."

Okay, well, anyone who still believes the US is in Iraq to "protect the country's sovereignty and defend the Iraqi people" has not been paying attention.

It looks like they'll always have to roll out the red carpet for Hoshyar Zebarî in the future, too, and for the same reason as Rice:

The statement of the Kurdish-Iraqi minister Hoshiyar Zebari is an example of the Kurds selling out due to fear. According to Reuter, Zebari had stated "We fully understand Turkish legitimate security concerns over PKK terrorism across the border". PKK might not be the savior of Kurdistan, but it is embarrassing for any Kurds at this stage to call the fighters from other parts of Kurdistan terrorists. The patriot of any other nation would have said we have suffered enough and are willing to defend ourselves and our brothers and sister in other parts of Kurdistan against state terrorism. Zebari's statement regardless of diplomatic reasoning is disappointing and most likely forced by some of the corrupt NATO members.

To classify Zebarî's statement as "disappointing," is a vast understatement and is better described as absolute shamelessness, or as a first rate example of unblushing obsequiousness. Meanwhile, those Kurds who would call PKK fighters "terrorists" are worse than shameless; they are cowardly traitors.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

"We have not approved any decision, it is not for us to approve. However, we were informed before the event."
~ US Embassy official, Ankara.

Some of you may remember Ken Silverstein at Harper's as one of the journalists who questioned the conflict of interest that Lockheed Martin's Joseph Ralston brought to his appointment as "PKK coordinator" for Turkey.

Now, Silverstein has something significant to add to this weekend's bombing of Kurdish civilians by the Ankara regime--an email from a "insightful and well-connected former US government official working in Kurdistan":

The blowback here in Kurdistan is building against the U.S. government because of its help with the Turkish air strikes. The theme is shock and betrayal. The Kurds see themselves as the only true friend of the Americans in the region, and the only part of Iraq that is working, and are especially hurt by the attack.

The Turks are of course emphasizing that the U.S. Air Force was heavily involved in the attack. They are reveling in this turn of events. They have tried since the first Gulf War to impede or rupture the U.S. relationship with the Kurds. Since March of 2003, they have redoubled their efforts. The key factor in the air strike is what they hit–it wasn’t a collection of PKK fighters, it was a series of small mountain villages, widely disbursed, some as far as 70 kilometers inside of Kurdistan. The people killed and wounded were villagers, not PKK fighters or support people.

The initial explanation from Washington that the United States did not authorize the Turkish strike is bullshit, and every Kurd here knows it. The U.S. Air Force controls and authorizes the movement of every aircraft in, through, or around here. For Washington to say they didn’t authorize the strike, or to use some other doublespeak bullshit Washington term, just makes people here more angry.

Aside from the fact that there were PKK casualties, here's the doublespeak bullshit the guy's talking about:

A U.S. embassy official said: "We have not approved any decision, it is not for us to approve. However, we were informed before the event."

More doublespeak bullshit, this time in Turkish:

"I can categorically state that not a single civilian target, not a single village was hit. Previously identified PKK camps were hit. There is no question of any accident," Anatolian news agency quoted Buyukanit as saying.

From the IHT, more doublespeak bullshit:

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Monday that the Iraqi government had expected Turkey to coordinate with it before striking the rebels inside Iraq. He also indicated that the fact Iraqi civilians were killed showed Turkey had not hit the right target.

"What happened yesterday was based maybe on misinformation," he said.

Jamal Abdullah, a spokesman for the regional government of Iraqi Kurdistan, told AP Television News: "We call on the Turkish army to differentiate between the PKK and the ordinary people. We don't want the conflict between the Turkish troops and the PKK to turn into a conflict between the Turkish forces and the people of Kurdistan."

[ . . . ]

"This operation, which was carried out under night conditions, was a success," Erdogan said Sunday. "Our struggle (against the PKK) will continue inside and outside Turkey with the same determination."

And more on the doublespeak bullshit of the fascists from the BBC.

So Erdoğan contradicts Jamal Abdullah, and confirms that this is, in fact, "a conflict between the Turkish forces and the people of Kurdistan."

Check out more doublespeak bullshit and denial, from Al-Jazeera:

Ankara denied that civilian areas had been hit in the attacks.

"Warplanes of the Turkish air force conducted a comprehensive air campaign against targets belonging to the terrorist PKK-Kongra Gel organisation in the Qandil mountains from 0100 this morning," a Turkish military statement said.

"The operations solely target the ... terrorist movement. They are not conducted against people living in northern Iraq or local groups not engaged in enemy activity."

[ . . . ]

Buyukanit said that Sunday's attacks had been successful and all targets destroyed.

"No civilian targets or villages were hit even accidentally," he said.

Let's hear that doublespeak bullshit again:

Dismissing reports the raids hit villages, Turkey's General Staff said its targets were fixed "after it was established that they were definitely not civilian residential areas."

[ . . ]

"According to initial valuations, all the planned targets were hit accurately," the General Staff said on its Web site.

There you have it. The Paşas admit that their attack was planned to target the Kurdish people--civilians. Therefore, no matter the doublespeak bullshit of KRG spokesman, there is a war between the Turkish military and the Kurdish people. And the Pentagon wants a piece of this war, too:

A Pentagon spokesman also said Washington had given Turkey intelligence to track Kurdish fighters hiding in Iraq, but would not say whether it gave precise targets used in the raids.

Really? But the Americans have lied about the fact that they opened Iraqi airspace to the Turks, so they must be lying about providing specific targets, too. Maybe now is the right time to give them a piece of what they long for, and that was one of the topics mentioned on NPR's report on the bombing this morning. Bearing in mind, of course, that not even the southern peşmêrge want to fight PKK gerîlas. Listen to it here.

The same conclusion is starting to be drawn in the blogosphere:

The risk, of course, is that the PKK has a wide base of support among the Kurds. If the Kurds conclude that the TAF wouldn't have bombed without the permission, whether overt or tacit, of the Americans, then you have to wonder if the PKK will decide that Americans are now legitimate targets.

Even Mesûd Barzanî recognizes doublespeak bullshit when he hears it:

Massoud Barzani, leader of the autonomous Kurdish region in the north, condemned the assaults as a violation of Iraqi sovereignty that had undermined months of diplomacy. “These attacks hinder the political efforts exerted to find a peaceful solution based on mutual respect,” he said in a statement.

At a news conference in Najaf, he went further, declaring that “the Americans are responsible because the Iraqi sky is under their full control.”

In contrast to the all the doublespeak bullshit of the fascists, here are some of the words from the ground:

Mukhlis Khadar, 44, said he and his family were woken by the raids and fled their home as soon as the school was hit.

"We left an unbelievable scene behind us," Khadar said. "When we climbed the rocks of the nearby mountain ... we saw flames of fire burning our village. ... Our house disappeared."

Saoqo Mohammad, a 30-year-old woman said: "We are civilians, with no arms or any relation to the PKK, why do they allow such horrible acts against civilians?"

More words from the ground, from The Boston Globe:

The targeted towns included Suradeh, a hamlet of about 30 homes nestled in the Qandil Mountains more than 50 miles from the Turkish border. Yesterday afternoon, residents who had sought shelter in frigid mountain caves during the overnight bombardment returned to a scene of damaged homes and dead livestock. Many were packing up and leaving in fear of additional attacks. As they bundled blankets, dishes, food, and clothes in vehicles or on the backs of mules, they spoke of the overnight terror.

"My youngest daughter is still crying and saying, 'Mama, I'm scared,' " said Muneera Khalid, who sought shelter in a cave with her husband and three children, ages 7, 10, and 14. It took them a half-hour to reach the cave, going by foot in the dark after the first air strikes began at about 2 a.m.

"Why is the Turkish Army bombing our village?" she said, breaking down in tears.

[ . . . ]

. . . [L]ocal residents insisted that civilians bore the brunt of the attacks. Musheer Ahmed said his daughter lost a leg in the bombing and his home was destroyed. Nashneel Bayz, a schoolteacher, said she was sleeping in her bedroom when the windows were shattered by bombs.

"I ran like a crazy person. I saw the others running in panic and terror. It was chaos," said Bayz. "We are non-armed people, we have nothing, and they send modern airplanes to bomb us."

She said those who suffered were civilians, not PKK fighters.

"The PKK positions are still intact," she said. "We even had some PKK fighters with us in the cave, in addition to women, children."

This is the operation that Erdoğan is celebrating as a success.

Meanwhile, Aleksu at Eusko Blog opines on the situation of all oppressed peoples:

When will the nations without statehood get some respect?

When will the colonialist powers evolve and leave behind their blood lust and greed?

When will the mega-nations understand that they need a more organic approach towards their view of the world?

When will the occupying armies stop labeling resistance fighters as "terrorists"?

When will humankind put the crimes committed by the colonialist powers into the correct perspective?

Well said, heval. Read the rest.

By the way, another, similar email--perhaps from the same "former US official"--made it's way to David Corn at the MoJo Blog. Go on over and have a read, bearing in mind that the first news from HPG-BIM clearly stated there were seven şehîds as a result of the attacks, five of whom were gerîlas. The contradiction on this point in the email may mean that the censored South Kurdistani media is not mentioning HPG casualties. There is also the detail of initial aerial attacks, a deliberate break in the attacks, and then, when the villagers returned to their villages, the Turks attacked again. This is clearly an attempt by the Turks to kill as many civilians as possible.

Yessiree, Yaşar! Mission accomplished!

Note also that the email claims the US supported Turkish F-16 with AWACS, which means that there was a lot more American military assistance in targeting Kurdish civilians than merely "opening Iraqi air space." American troops should start watching their backs as they walk around in Hewlêr.

TURKEY AND US BOMB KURDISH CIVILIANS

"America gave intelligence. But more importantly, America last night opened [the Iraqi] airspace to us. By opening the airspace, America gave its approval to this operation."
~ Yaşar Büyükanıt.

Two villagers walk through a rubble at the Qlatooka village near Iraq's border with Turkey on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2007. Turkish war planes bombed Kurdish rebel targets as far as 100 kilometers (60 miles) inside northern Iraq for three hours early Sunday, in the largest aerial attack against the outlawed separatist group in recent years. An Iraqi official said the planes attacked several villages, killing one woman. (AP Photo/Yahya Ahmed)

A villager looks through a rubble at the Qlatooka village near Iraq's border with Turkey on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2007. (AP Photo/Yahya Ahmed)

Villager walks through a rubble at the Qlatooka village near Iraq's border with Turkey on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2007. (AP Photo/Yahya Ahmed)

A villager carries a desk through a rubble at the Qlatooka village near Iraq's border with Turkey on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2007. (AP Photo/Yahya Ahmed)

Two villagers clean their house at the Qlatooka village near Iraq's border with Turkey on Sunday, Dec. 16, 2007. (AP Photo/Yahya Ahmed)


Iraqis inspect the damage following air strikes by Turkish warplanes in Qandil, northern Iraq, December 16. Turkey's bombardment of suspected PKK rebel rear-bases inside northern Iraq has drawn a furious response from the Iraqi government and villagers hit by the air strikes. (AFP/Shwan Mohamed)


Iraqis inspect the damage following air strikes by Turkish warplanes in Qandil, December 16. (AFP/Shwan Mohammed)

Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan denied that civilian areas had been hit.

ONLY ONE PROPER RESPONSE

"Has the fight with the 5,000 terrorists finished domestically, that we should now be talking about Iraq?"
~ Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Overnight the Ankara regime engaged in aerial and ground bombardment of South Kurdistan. According to an early ANF report on Özgür Gündem, fifteen civilian villages in the Zab, Avaşin, and Xakurk regions of South Kurdistan were bombed along with Qendil. Bombed villages include Nawdeşt and Dola Baleyan, Bokirîkan, Ênze, Lêwje, Kutel, Zargelî, Qelatûkan, Rezge, Maredû Silêyiyan, Balekayetî, Xinêrew, Qebirî, Zahîriyan, and Sîdeka

Two elementary schools were destroyed. Fortunately, since the bombings began at 0100 hours, the schools were empty. Representatives of the International Red Cross have already visited the bombed areas and removed 140 families from the Qendil area to Sangasar

One hospital in Lêwje was also destroyed. Dr. Andok Pola said that the hospital had been warned of the possibility of attacks, so it had been emptied before the aerial bombardment began. Medical personnel did treat a number of local villagers who had been wounded in Turkey's attack.

HPG confirms that five gerîlas and two civilians were martyred in the attacks and that three gerîlas were lightly wounded. After the initial aerial bombardment, howitzer fire began at 0800 hours. HPG's air defense batteries responded to the attack.

HPG states that the attacks were carried out by Turkey with the approval and support of the US, and that the US must stop the attacks immediately or it will receive the anger and reaction of our people. HPG notes that the attacks are not only against PKK, but against all the Kurdish people and, therefore, all Kurds must raise their voices against the attacks. Just as everyone raised their voices against the cross-border operation vote in the TBMM, they should do so again and especially the people of South Kurdistan.

Gerîlas had observed US reconnaisance flights in the area for the last month.

Kurds in London took these words to heart and staged a protest in front of 10 Downing Street, against Turkey's cross-border attacks. A number of pieces of information were included in a file given to the prime minister's office, including KCK's recent statement with its seven points for a democratic solution and the final resolutions of the EUTCC conference on the Kurdish situation.

DTP deputy co-chairman Kamuran Yüksek said Turkey's cross-border bombing showed the hypocrisy of the AKP through Erdoğan's talk about democracy and calls for everyone to join the political process. Yet Erdoğan's government chooses a military solution.

I should remind everyone at this point that there is no difference between the Turkish ruling military elite and any Turkish party, including the Islamists in AKP, when it comes to the Kurdish people. Military "solutions" and genocide is the only answer the Turks know. Of course, the US is an old facilitator of genocide, at least when it's not actively engaged in its own genocides.

Back to Kamuran Yüksek, who says about Turkey's policy:

Although claiming to bomb PKK camps, civilian villages have been bombed and civilians injured. In order to create a "buffer zone" in the region, they are trying to make the villages uninhabitable. These villages are under the authority of the KRG, but until this time, there is no statement from the KRG. A foreign country's aircraft come and bomb your villages and kill your people, and still you keep silent."

Good point. So where is Barzanî now? Oh, but he didn't have anything to say about Turkey and Iran bombing civilians all summer long. And we know that the Americans have spent the entire last five years bombing civilians and their villages in both Afghanistan and Iraq--with impunity. After all, the Americans don't care about human rights because it doesn't have anything to do with the one thing all Americans worship: the once-upon-a-time almighty dollar. Hell, Americans can't even figure out what torture is.

No, boys and girls, there is only one proper response to this current situation.

TURKISH MILITARY: "GOOD BOYS" GO FREE

"I know that officer, we worked in the region together. He is not a kind to commit crime."
~ Yaşar Büyükanıt.

The Şemdinli murderers have been freed.

The two JIT officers and the "confessor" who were convicted to 39 years, 10 months and 27 days by Van's 3rd Heavy Penalty Court for manslaughter, forming a gang, and attempting manslaughter, have been released by the military court that was retrying their case. Apparently the military court does not believe that that the perpetrators of the Semdinli bombing will attempt to escape or that they have the ability to destroy evidence. The state's perpetrators were released during the first session of the military court. The court also decided to re-examine the evidence of the Şemdinli bombing until the court's next session. It also kindly invited the perpetrators to attend the second session.

Thus, those state organs which were trying to release the suspects from the very beginning, have achieved their end.

The lawyers for the victims left the court, saying they would not be a part of the game, since the military court is under the authority of Büyükanıt, who said of perpetrator Ali Kaya, "I know him; he's a good boy." With this statement, Büyükanıt intervened in the court's decision-making process--a violation of Article 288 of the Turkish Penal Code (attempting to influence the judiciary). Because Büyükanıt is at the top of the military hierarchy under which the court falls, the court will not come to a decision that contradicts Büyükanıt's statement.

Mark my words.

Basically, Büyükanıt's statement, which came immediately following the bombing, is a warning to everyone concerned in the case--including the courts--to keep out of the military's business. The example of Büyükanıt's interference with the judiciary should dispel any fears of democracy breaking out in Turkey and should confirm who it is that holds real power in Turkey.

Interference with judicial proceedings of the Şemdinli bombing case were two of the five concerns Amnesty International had regarding the handling of the case:

Interference in the investigation: After the 9 November bombing, a number of senior government and military officials made comments which Amnesty International regards as constituting direct interference in the course of the investigation of the incident. Among them, the Prime Minister made negative remarks regarding the credibility of witnesses to the incidents in Semdinli testifying on the events, and the Head of the Army publicly gave a positive character reference for one of the suspects. Amnesty International considers that judgements about the reliability of witnesses must be a matter for the court alone, and that discussions of the character of the accused must not be allowed to prejudice the course of the trial.

Amnesty International also notes that the General Chief of Staff [Hilmi Özkök] made laudatory comments about the Head of the Army [Yaşar Büyükanıt], while at the same time being responsible for a decision on whether or not the latter would be subject to an investigation by the military prosecutor on the basis of the information forwarded by the Van prosecutor (see the third concern). The Ministers of Justice and the Interior also commented publicly on the content of statements made by individuals interviewed by the Parliamentary Investigative Commission into the Semdinli incidents. One public official interviewed by the commission was subsequently removed from his position as Head of the Intelligence Bureau of the Security Directorate. Amnesty International is concerned that the Ministers’ comments may have discouraged public officials from sharing information with the Commission and may have contributed to prejudicing the final – and inconclusive – results of the commission’s investigation.

And:

Interference in the prosecution and independence of the judiciary: Shortly after the 92-page indictment had been submitted to the panel of judges at the Van Heavy Penal Court for their approval in early March 2006, the content of the indictment became a subject of intense discussion between the government and the military, with the General Chief of Staff seeking extraordinary meetings with the Prime Minister and the President. Amnesty International considers that on the basis of these actions and public statements made by different parties, the content of the indictment was deemed unacceptable to some senior authorities even before the court – invested with the authority to accept or reject it – had made its decision. Amnesty International considers that the merits or defiencies of an indictment prepared by a prosecutor should be a matter for the court alone to decide, and that the actions of the General Chief of Staff constituted a direct interference in the proper role of the prosecution as well as in the independence of the judiciary.

This should be a cut-and-dried case since the perpetrators were captured by local residents of Şemdinli as they fled the scene of the crime. The vehicle which the perpetrators drove was found to have been registered to Jandarma forces. Among the contents of the trunk were three Kalishnikovs, magazines for the Kalishnikovs, hand grenades, drawings of the bookstore and of Seferi Yılmaz's home. Additionally, an assassination list and ID cards of Pakistani citizens and receipts of the Iraqi Turkmen Front were found in the vehicle. Furthermore, the Şemdinli bombing was only one out of twenty that were carried out in Şemdinli and Yüksekova between July 2005 and 9 November 2005, the day of the Şemdinli bombing--a fact which was ignored in all the reporting about Şemdinli.

Remember the "confessions" of retired Turkish military officers such as Erdal Sarızeybek, and his book I Saw the Betrayal, or Altay Tokat. Both have admitted to committing acts of terror in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan against Kurdish civilians or civil servants.

We also need to recall the words of Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the wake of the Şemdinli bombing: "We will follow up on this incident, no matter where it leads, and whoever has to pay the price will pay it." The release of the Şemdinli murderers today is another indicator of the close cooperation between the Islamists and the Paşas which was part of the deal reached by both that resulted in an Islamist resident of Çankaya Köşkü. In return, Büyükanıt's threat regarding the status of his "good boys" is heeded by all and the Paşas are allowed to continue their Dirty War in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan.

Meanwhile, back at Qendil, Murat Karayılan says that AKP Kurds are not Kurds, but you heard it here first. By now AKP's position vis-a-vis the Kurdish people should be clear from the track record it has in dealing with serious issues in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan . . . issues like Şemdinli.

BÜYÜKANIT: I'M STILL A VICTIM OF HUMAN RIGHTS!

"Dementia is not exclusively a problem of the developed world."
~ Julie Bishop.

So the OHAL has been extended from December to March 2008, thanks to the news from the hevals at KurdishInfo. The OHAL was originally called from June to September 2007, then extended until December. This was done in order for the Ankara regime to pretend that the new OHAL wasn't really an OHAL but no one should have been fooled by this nonsense. OHAL is OHAL. Period.

Surprise, surprise, surprise! Or not . . . From Der Spiegel, via KurdishInfo, Germany has released two of the murderers of Dr. Mohammed Sadegh Sharafkandi and companions. Both murderers were conveniently deported to Iran, whose regime sanctioned the murder of the Kurdish activists.

In other news, Yaşar Paşa continues to suffer from severe dementia as illustrated by his statements at a recent symmposium on PKK (That's right, folks, TSK attends symposia on PKK). Among other things, Yaşar Paşa claimed that "terrorists" (read: DTP) "are in parliament," and that human rights have become "terrorist" weapons that have been turned against all those poor, helpless victims that are the members of TSK. You can read more of the statements of Turkey's top nutcase, at Bianet.

The best response to Yaşar Paşa's ravings came from Ufuk Uras of the ÖDP:

"If civil servants have the right to interfere in politics, then this should be the right not only of the civil servant with the gun at his hip, but also the right of the civil servant working in the register office. Let no civil servant consider themselves more privileged than others. The same right should then apply to the civil servants holding pens, watering hoses and broomsticks."

Touché, Ufuk!

Hevallo also has some relevant comments on this nonsense.

In another shocking piece of news--NOT--the Minority Rights Group International (MRG) reports that there is growing, violent nationalism in Turkey, with "a ban on minority languages in political life and public services and that school books reinforce stereotypes about minorities." The head of MRG's Policy and Communication says, "[T]o bring real change to Turkey's minorities there has to be radical transformation of the prevalent mentality towards minorities of both the state and society."

Good luck with that. At the rate things are going, there really is no hope of significant change until the system dedicates itself to changing itself. Read more about that, with a timeline of significant events against minorities, at InfoTurk.

Dr. Kristiina has made good on her promise to report on the recent EUTCC conference on the Kurds, and she has a lot of great photos, so go over to her place and take a look and have a read.

Finally, there is a list of the recent HPG and YJA-STAR şehîds:

Selma Kaya, code name Gülbahar Gülhat, born 1978 Batman.

Ceyda Yetkin, code name Rozerin Fırat Roj, born 1975 İstanbul.

Niyazi Akgül, code name Harun Tori, born 1981 Midyat.

Medeni Gül, code name Xwinda Faraşin, born 1984 Çukurça.

Mercan Kara, code name Beritan Hilal, born 1983 Uludere.

Hasan Kaya, code name Serdem Şahin, born 1986 Şırnak.

Abdullah Karataş, code name Osman Çevik, born 1975 Bozova-Urfa.

Mehmet Reşit Erdoğan, code name Gabar Rızgar, born 1972 Bitlis.

Rest in peace, comrades. Şehîd namirin!

KURDS AND JEWS: RENEWING AN OLD RELATIONSHIP

"The history of Judaism in Kurdistan dates back nearly three millenia. According to the Talmud, Jewish deportees were settled in Kurdistan 2,800 years ago by the Assyrian king Shalmaneser Ill (r. 858-824 BC). Soon they integrated with the Kurds, and they were exceptionally successful in their endeavor."
~ Halwest Omer Qadir.

Oh, here's something that's going to drive all the Kurd-hating conspiracy theorists absolutely nuts:

Lana was a teenager when her family made a clandestine journey from Kurdistan to Israel.

It was 1994, and Saddam Hussein had recently lost control of northern Iraq. Rival Kurdish militias were battling each other to fill the power vacuum. In a closely guarded emigration, Lana's family — and a dozen other Kurdish families of Jewish origin — traveled over land to neighboring Turkey in a trip organized and financed by Israel.

[ . . . ]

Now Lana, 28, is a citizen of Israel who speaks Hebrew and Kurdish fluently. Last year, she returned for the first time since her emigration to live in Kurdistan with her new husband, Hano, an Iraqi Muslim Kurd. The couple asked that their full names not be used for fear of reprisal.

"I didn't think twice about marrying a Jewish woman," Hano said. "My parents always told me stories about how much they liked their old Jewish neighbors."

Unlike the Arab majority in central and southern Iraq, the Kurds of northern Iraq don't see Jews or Israel as enemies. In the 1960s and 70s, Israel's Mossad intelligence agency provided equipment and training to Kurdish rebels who were battling the government in Baghdad. To this day, locals call a neighborhood of old sagging brick houses in the Kurdish city of Suleymaniyah, Jewlakan.

[ . . . ]

Despite the difficult history for Kurdish Jews, Lana says she's proud of her mixed heritage. "Above all, I consider myself a Kurd," she says. "An Israeli Kurd."

Read the rest of the transcript, or listen to NPR's report and view some photos, here.

I know at least one old Kurdish warrior in Silêmanî, originally from Xanaqîn, who, on my last trip to the city, expressed to me his longing to see his old Jewish boyhood friends once more before he died. They left Kurdistan in 1948, and the venerable peşmêrge that I met still spoke of them fondly. Perhaps that Kurdish lion's wish will be granted him soon.

It's also interesting to note that Lana considers herself first and foremost a Kurd and that she and her husband are Kurds of differing religions, thus illustrating how ethnicity tends to trump religion among Kurds. Whoever doesn't like that, whether Turk, Arab, Persian, or Western anti-Kurd anti-semite, is just going to have to get over it.

In related news, Israeli archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a mansion in Jerusalem, believed to have belonged to Kurdish-Jewish Queen Helene of Adiabene:

The building, which includes storerooms, living quarters and ritual baths, is by far the largest and most elaborate structure discovered by archaeologists in the City of David area, which was home 2,000 years ago almost exclusively to the city's poor.

Jewish historian Josephus Flavius mentions just one wealthy family living there — the family of Queen Helene.

There is a "high probability'' the mansion belonged to Helene's family, Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist Doron Ben-Ami told reporters Wednesday.

"This amazing structure was destroyed with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.,'' Ben-Ami said.

Read more at Live Science. For more on the history of Kurdish Jews, the historical blending of Jews and Kurds in Kurdistan, and Queen Helene, check out an article from Soma.

Like I said, get over it.

TURKS TAKE ON HOLLYWOOD . . . AGAIN

"In those days Turks had paid Armenians the most charming compliments, declaring their love."
~ The Forty Days of Musa Dagh, Franz Werfel.

In a continuing display of paranoia, Fethullahcı ragsheet, Zaman, featured an article the other day about an email campaign to dissuade actor Mel Gibson from starring in a film about the Armenian genocide.

Unfortunately for the lunatics at Zaman, Mel Gibson has no idea what Zaman is talking about:

D.U.I. darling Mel Gibson is back in the hot seat -- just in time for Hanukkah.

According to the Turkish newspaper Zaman, something called The Foundation for the Struggle Against Baseless Allegations of Genocide (ASİMED) has launched an e-mail campaign to try and dissuade the tequila-swilling star from taking part in an upcoming film about the genocide of Armenians during World War I.

Mel probably won't put up much of a fight. His rep tells TMZ: "We don't know where that started. He doesn't know anything about the project. Never heard of it." Oops!

We can probably say "Oops" about Zaman's allegations of Sylvester Stallone quashing his desire to create an epic film based on Franz Werfel's historical novel about the Armenian Genocide, The Forty Days at Musa Dagh:

For years Stallone's wanted to create an epic, and the book that intrigues him is Franz Werfel's "The Forty Days of Musa Dagh," detailing the Turkish genocide of its Armenian community in 1915. (After futile attempts to turn the novel into a movie, filmmakers finally succeeded in 1982, but it was a low-profile production.)

[ . . . ]

The movie would be "an epic about the complete destruction of a civilization," Stallone said. Then he laughed at the ambition. "Talk about a political hot potato. The Turks have been killing that subject for 85 years."

Well, the Turks have been killing the film version of that book for 63 years anyway, when Turkey pressured the US State Department to prevent a Hollywood's work on such a film in the 1930s.

It may be that the movie is underway, if we believe an item that appeared at the end of last month on Public Radio of Armenia, quoting Akşam:

Turkish Akşam reported that the Armenian Diaspora in Hollywood Is completing the preparations for shooting a film based on Franz Werfel's "The Forty Days of Musa Dagh," one of the most remarkable works on the Armenian Genocide.

According to the same source, authorities in South Kurdistan have invited Hollywood to South Kurdistan to shoot a film about Mustafa Barzanî. But the source being what it is, we probably shouldn't hold our breath.

If the Stallone film about Musa Dagh really is in the works, it'll be more than just a conversation piece when it opens at the local theater.

FINAL RESOLUTION OF THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE EU, TURKEY, AND THE KURDS

The Fourth International Conference on the EU, Turkey and the Kurds

Monday 3rd -Tuesday 4th December 2007, European Parliament, Brussels

Organised by the EU-Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC)


INTRODUCTION TO FINAL RESOLUTIONS

FINAL RESOLUTIONS

Pursuant to the presentation of Conference papers and interventions made by delegates, this Conference adopted the following declarations and calls for action to be undertaken by relevant parties to the conflict in the Kurdish Regions of Turkey.

Turkey and the EU are at this moment at a critical juncture. The accession process is widely regarded as having stalled, or at the very least, significantly slowed down. Reform implemented in the first stages of accession is now a distant memory, and there appears to be regression in progress. Geopolitical pressures on Turkey over incursions into Iraq are growing, while Turkey’s domestic politics are becoming more polarised. How Turkey and the EU respond to the turbulence of the past year will be of crucial importance for the future of the accession process, and the stability of the entire region.

The Conference resolves to periodically make recommendations of measures for the Turkish accession process, the protection of human rights and the situation of the Kurds

The Conference issues the following declarations:


1) Recalling the resolutions from the International Conferences on Turkey, EU & the Kurds of the preceding three years, the Conference continues to give its qualified support to Turkey’s EU accession process, contingent on demonstrable commitment from both parties to the human rights and fundamental freedoms;

2) The Conference calls upon the European Union to act as a unified body publicly expressing support for the EU accession process it began, including support of all EU requirements concerning democratic and legal reform within Turkey;

3) The Conference notes that the 2007 European Commission progress report on Turkish accession found that “no major issue has been addressed and significant problems persist”, and joins with the Commission in urging Turkey to confront these problems;

4) The Conference notes with alarm the failure of certain institutions within the Turkish State apparatus to adhere to its obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights and humanitarian law in accordance with the spirit and terms of its own recent reform packages and commitments given under the accession process; in particular, it is dismayed that institutions of the State have continued its military activities;

5) The Conference regrets that the unilateral ceasefire declared by the PKK in October 2006, for all practical purposes has come to an end and calls now upon both Turkey and the PKK to forthwith stop all hostile military operations in the region to provide political space to address the Kurdish questions through dialogue.

6) The Conference notes that it has become clear to everyone, including Turkey and the Turkish army, and the whole of the international community, that there is no military solution to the ongoing conflict; we call upon the Turkish government to cease all hostile military operations both within Turkey and Kurdistan, Iraq;

7) In particular, the Conference urges Turkey and the Member States of the EU to take practical and visible steps to demonstrate their full support for the establishment of a democratic platform for dialogue between Turks, Kurds, and other constituent peoples and minorities who are resident in Turkey;

Human Rights and Accession

8) The Conference supports the undertakings by the EU that reform in the area of Turkey’s fundamental rights, democracy and the rule of law must be strengthened in the course of accession negotiations and welcomes the commitment by the EU Commission to continue to monitor the reform process. These reforms should include a complete overhaul of the justice system including how judges are recruited and trained, promoting full independence of law enforcement officers and public prosecutors in order prevent the law being used to achieve political and ideological objectives.

9) The Conference reiterates the view expressed in the three preceding Conferences, that Turkey has not yet fulfilled the political elements of the Copenhagen Criteria, and reiterates that its support for the accession process is dependent upon the institutions of the EU robustly enforcing accession standards. It further underlines that there can be no further compromises on membership criteria akin to the EU decision to allow Turkey access to the negotiating table for ‘sufficiently’ fulfilling the Copenhagen Criteria;

10) Recalling last year's conference resolution number 10, the Conference calls upon Turkey to ratify the European Framework Convention on the Protection of Minorities as well as other UN Instruments concerning minorities and to respect the existing cultural and minority rights of all groups; and calls on the EU to apply pressure on the Government of Turkey as a potential member of the EU to ratify said Framework;

11) Recalling Articles 10, and 14, and Article 2 of the first Protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights and Article 8 of the European Charter for Regional or Minority languages, and the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly’s resolution 1519 of October 2006 on the cultural situation of the Kurds, the Conference reiterates its call to the State of Turkey and the European Union to develop and promote a strategic plan for mother tongue education;

12) With specific reference to the 2007 European Commission progress report, the European Parliament report on the increasing suicide of women in the Kurdish regions, as well as recalling the 2005 CEDAW response to Turkish Report to the Committee,) the Conference calls on the EU to ensure that Turkey address the status of all women and girls in the context of international standards, particularly considering the high rates of illiteracy, domestic violence, honor killing, suicide and forced and early marriages in Turkey, for which the lack of requisite services and judicial training fail to guarantee legal protections (and in particular notes need to address the regional disparity in the position of women through education, literacy, access to meaningful employment, political representation and access to justice); furthermore it requests the European Union to use all it powers to ensure that the Turkish Government develops, in consultation and co-operation with Kurdish women a National Action Plan to implement UNSCR 1325.

13) This Conference expresses regret the Turkish government’s initiation of work on the ill-planned Ilısu Dam in August 2006, and the start of the expropriation of land by the Turkish state which threatens mass displacement and loss of livelihood of the area’s inhabitants, the majority of whom are Kurds; endangers the historically important city of Hasankeyf, in an apparent attempt to further disassociate Kurds from their rich heritage and culture; and will, according to several environmental assessment reports, jeopardize access to water for Turkey’s neighbours and cause irreversible environmental harm;

14) In reference to the above, the Conference calls upon the Turkish government to reassess its position vis-à-vis this project, as well as the bodies of the EU monitoring the impact of internal displacement and what the potential effects of this project are on the already overpopulated urban centres of the Kurdish regions, as well as calling on member governments to put pressure on foreign capital companies to withdraw their investments in the project;

15) The Conference expresses its deep concern over Turkey’s employment of articles of the criminal code to prosecute writers, journalists, intellectuals, lawyers and many other defenders of free speech, including articles 215, 216 (incitement to hatred), 217, 220 (making propaganda for a criminal organization) 288 (attempt to influence a fair trial) and 301 (insulting ‘Turkishness’) of the Turkish Penal Code; the Conference calls on the EU to ensure that Turkey remove restrictions on freedom of expression from their legal framework entirely.

16) We call upon Turkey to fulfill its positive obligations under article 10 of the ECHR to promote a positive climate in which freedom of expression to flourish, and to protect writers, journalists, intellectuals, lawyers and many other defenders of free speech from unlawful interference by state and non-state actors.

The Centrality of the Kurdish Question

17) The Conference asserts that the resolution of the Kurdish conflict is essential to the establishment of a stable, democratic and peaceful Turkey capable of entering the European Union. True democratic reform can only occur if Turkey undertakes new political reform to its state institutions and banishes adherence to ethnic nationalism which is the root cause of the conflict and Turkey’s endemic instability;

18) This Conference therefore asserts that the Kurdish people and their representatives should be given a genuine participatory role in the accession process and in any debate over Turkey’s democratic constitutional future;

19) However, the Conference further asserts that more must and can be done on both sides and calls for the following confidence building measures to be adopted;

Confidence Building Measures

20) This conference notes the resolution of the conflict and the constitutional recognition of Kurds in Turkey is central to regional stability.

21) In this respect, the Conference calls upon the Turkish Government to begin a public debate about the constitutional recognition of the existence of the Kurdish people within Turkey;

22) The Conference calls upon all political parties in Turkey to help foster the conditions within Turkey for a democratic platform for dialogue;

23) The Conference calls upon the EU actively to support efforts for dialogue on minorities and specifically on Kurds in Turkey;

24) The Conference urges Turkey to recognize that for democracy to function, it is imperative that local government structures enjoy the full support of national government.

25) At this critical juncture at this time all actors involved (the EU, Turkey and the Kurds) must take heed of lessons from their past, and act in accordance with international law and humanitarian norms.

26) In particular, the Conference calls upon the Turkish Government to ensure that all legally constituted Kurdish democratic parties are allowed to engage in peaceful political activity without interference or constant threat of closure, with particular reference to the Democratic Society Party (DTP) and its current democratically elected members of parliament; in accordance with Articles 10 and 11 of the European Convention of Human Rights; further to immediately cease the harassment and politically-motivated investigations of Kurdish politicians.

27) The Conference notes that the recommendations of the ECtHR in several cases, but in particular regarding the case of Abdullah Ocalan vs Turkey, regarding conditions of detention in Turkey. The Conference further calls on the Turkish government to implement CPT (Committee on Prevention of Torture) recommendations on conditions of detention and specifically the health of Mr. Ocalan, and close —with immediate effect— Imrali island.

28) The Conference also urges each member state of the European Union to assist —including by earmarking funds— in the creation of a democratic platform for dialogue between Turkey and the Kurds and fully comply with their own freedom of expression obligations in respect of those Kurdish organisations and individuals who are concerned to promote the same;

29) The Conference reiterates that the Governments of the EU should not criminalise peaceful dissent of Turkey echoed by Kurdish organisations situated in Europe and to review its proscription of certain Kurdish organisations, especially in the light of public commitments to the search for a peaceful solution of the Kurdish question within the present territorial integrity of a democratically reformed Turkey;

30) Finally, the Conference renews its mandate for its Directors, Advisors and Committees, to engage and campaign on both a political and civic level across Europe in support of Turkey’s accession bid to join the European Union on the basis of this resolution.

EXTRAORDINARY CLAIMS, LACK OF EXTRAORDINARY EVIDENCE

"The patriotic people of Kurdistan, be it women, children, young or old must demonstrate awareness and compassion towards maintaining a national-democratic line of unity throughout this period. Furthermore, they must stand firm against all attitudes attempting to frustrate this."
~ KCK Statement, 30 November, 2007.

Well, well, well . . . Zaman is spewing a lot of gû today. The most amusing spew has to do with alleged rivalries within the leadership of KCK, and Zaman seems to be specifically conjuring up an imaginary "ethnic" rivalry between Rojavayî and Bakûrî--"Syrian" Kurds and "Turkish" Kurds.

First of all, I suppose I need someone out there to explain to me how there can be "ethnic" rivalry among a group of people, the majority of whom are Kurds. No matter which part of Kurdistan a gerîla comes from, that gerîla is still a Kurd because Kurdistan is still Kurdistan. Just because racist regimes have divided Kurdistan or have supported the division of Kurdistan, a Kurd is still a Kurd.

Note that Zaman doesn't mention the fact that there are non-Kurdish gerîlas. Or perhaps I should clarify that by saying that there are gerîlas who were not born in Kurdistan or of Kurdish parents. Zaman doesn't mention that there are ethnic Britons Russians, Germans, Greeks, Iranians, and Arabs in HPG. Zaman doesn't mention that there is at least one ethnic Swiss in HPG. Neither does Zaman mention that there have always been ethnic Turks in, first PKK, and, now, in HPG.

Of course, these people are like Heval Tolhildan in that they do not speak of the Kurdish people, but of "our people." They have become Kurds.

Zaman claims that there is a rivalry between Bahoz Erdal, on one hand, and Cemil Bayık and Murat Karayılan on the other. All three men are in command of specific, necessary components of KCK which means that there is no need for rivalry. Just as there is no rivalry among different parts of the body, for each has its specific function, so there is no rivalry among these three leaders. Since Zaman makes the claim, it must provide the evidence; and extraordinary claims, like this one, require extraordinary evidence.

Zaman presents no evidence for its claim of Karayılan and Bayık's "discomfort at Abdullah Öcalan’s inclusion of Kurds of Syrian decent into the senior leadership of the PKK’s armed wing, the People’s Defense Units (HPG)." Zaman presents no evidence for it's claim of "[n]ames known to be close to Hüseyin [Bahoz Erdal] have either been killed or sacked from the significant positions they held inside the PKK." Zaman presents no evidence for its claim of accusations of "passivity" or of the US using Heval Bahoz for its own purposes in Syria. Nor is there evidence presented for the claims of PKK being fractured, of difficulty in finding new recruits, of gerîlas trying to get to Armenia (no mention of PKK's wholesale move to a new residence in Karabakh--another recent wild rumor of the oh, so reliable Turkish media), or of those long-standing bogeymen of the Turkish psyche--"International Forces"--manipulating everything.

In Hersh-ian fashion, Zaman appears to rely on Turkish intelligence reports to lend an aura of credibility to its absurd claims. But such reports must come from a Turkish version of the Pentagon's Office of Special Plans--you remember, the ones who manufactured "intelligence" evidence of Iraq's WMDs and wrote the script for the Bush administration's performance at the UN, complete with Colin Powell's "anthrax" vial.

Zaman must have relied on the American neocon pattern of fantasy manufacture because it must not have been able to dig up any ex-PKK "confessors," with exotic-sounding code names, to lend a luster of credibility to the article.

All of this is not to say that Zaman lacks a sense of humor, at least on the darker side. Zaman includes a claim of Bahoz Erdal's "command" of TAK and of the "ethnic" rivalries erupting to the point of committing the Beytuşşebap massacre or of the killing of at least 12 Turkish soldiers at Dağlıca, in the same battle that yielded 8 Turkish POWs. These are laughable because TAK always operated in Western Turkey and the Turkish state itself committed the Beytuşşebap massacre, Guçlukonak style.

Read the whole thing here.

Over at Hevallo's place, he's got a post on the confessions of old Turkish generals, also from Zaman. When you read that one, ask yourself "Why?" Are these just a bunch of old secularists who now worried about getting into paradise, or is there something else behind their admissions of guilt?

Inquiring minds wanna know.

A CONFERENCE, A BOOK, AND A BODY COUNT

"If the PKK and Abdullah Ocalan are not seen as part of the problem and are not incorporated into the process of a solution, then we cannot be sure of a solution, because it is not possible."
~ Ahmet Türk.

Hevallo has been doing a great job keeping up with speeches and statements coming from the EU conference on Kurds, so I urge everyone to go over there and browse through the information he's posted. I'm not putting a specific link here, because he has several posts, so you'll just have to browse.

However, I will post a link to one specific post that makes me absolutely boiling with envy, and that's Hevallo's post on Ahmet Kahraman's new book, in English. It's called Uprising, Suppression, Retribution: The Kurdish Struggle in Turkey in the Twentieth Century and it covers, in detail, the long history of the Turkish state's genocide of the Kurdish people. This book will be an absolute must read for anyone interested in the Kurdish people under Turkish occupation. It isn't available through US Amazon, so it must be ordered from Amazon UK for £17.00, which should set you back $35.00, give or take, depending on the exchange rate of the day. However, this price is a minor investment for spreading the true history of the Kurdish people, and I will have to order a copy immediately, if not sooner. I strongly urge others to do the same.

Meanwhile, Dr. Kristiina Koivunen has posted a little note on her presence at the EU conference, and she's included a photo of her with Ahmet Türk and Nurettin Demirtaş. She promises us that she will write something more extensive on her adventures and impressions of the conference, so we will have to hold her to that promise.

At the conference itself, Leyla Zana spoke of the need to end taboos:

"It is time we started talking about our problems by doing away with our taboos. Regarding that the sensitivities of people are noteworthy makes a lasting peace possible. What is expected of the world is to respect this will and exclude it from bargaining issues in international relationships. Unless the issue is approached from a human perspective and from a perspective of conscience, it will continue to be a potential risk threatening regional and world peace. It is for this reason that the policy of “good Kurds-bad Kurds” that has been tried for some time has gone bankrupt. What befits a modern country is to hand over a tradition of tolerance that will strengthen diplomatic, cultural, economic and social relations to the future rather than escalating tensions across borders and countries."

Unsurprisingly, Joost Lagendijk, the AKP representative in the EU Parliament, did his best to present the fascist argument.

And we have war stats for the month of November from the hevals:

Number of operations: 24
Number of operations that made contact: 23
Number of enemy soldiers killed: 42
Number of enemy soldiers wounded: 12
Number of military vehicles destroyed: 1
Number of helicopters hit: 1
Number of gerîla şehîds for Kurdistan: 7

Şehîd namirin!

ANOTHER CALL FOR A DEMOCRATIC SOLUTION

"The PKK is a terrorist organisation. They’re an enemy of Turkey, they’re an enemy of Iraq and they’re an enemy of the United States."
~ George W. Bush.

KCK Executive Council and Kongra-Gel Governing Council

30th November 2007

DECLARATION CALLING FOR A DEMOCRATIC SOLUTION

The Kurdistan issue is one of the most deeply rooted issues in the Middle East. Although this problem has social, political and national roots, it is yet to be afforded an accurate and just approach by all concerned powers. This deficient situation is not bringing peace and stability. Instead, despite the Kurdish people’s wishes, the problem is being treated as a mere security and terrorism issue among two or three powers within the global arena, and is also being made a tool for political gains.

On the 5th of November during G. W. Bush’s meeting with R. T. Erdogan in the USA, the representatives of the Kurdish people’s struggle for freedom, the PKK, were declared a joint enemy and an organization that needed to be quashed, and yet no reference was made about how to resolve the actual problem which resulted in the founding of the PKK. As for the EU, its recent approval of the annihilation operations that the Turkish state wants to carry out has done nothing but encourage more Kurdish massacres. This kind of approach has been adopted for a long time and yet it is extremely clear and evident that it has not yielded a potential solution or even hinted towards a solution.

In this atmosphere there have been calls, especially from the Turkish side, for our movement to declare a unilateral ceasefire. On the one hand there are rigorous efforts to demolish the achievements of the Kurdish people’s thirty-year struggle for freedom, which has given them an organized and institutionalized movement. On the other hand however, there are messages conveyed through certain channels that the state is trying to resolve this problem peacefully. The Turkish Prime Minister R.T. Erdogan makes ambiguous and therefore unreliable statements to the public that there is a project regarding this matter. As a reply to certain statements made by the Prime Minister in August 2005 and October 2006, our organisation declared unlimited ceasefires, which in both cases were answered by military attacks, giving rise to serious doubts as to the sincerity of the Turkish state. In the present circumstances it should be accepted that the Kurdish people cannot have trust without seeing practical steps taken. Primarily there should be clarity regarding which forces support a real solution and which forces are merely using this rhetoric to pacify the Kurdish people and our movement with a view to complete nullification.

Even with all of this, instead of efforts to deescalate the situation, plans on how to attack, isolate and nullify our organisation are constantly being drawn up and presented to the public. The Turkish state is, with increasing intensity, attacking the Kurdish people’s military, political and social cohesion and principles.

It is increasingly evident that the Kurdish problem is going through a critical and sensitive period. As a movement struggling for freedom, we see it as our duty, at a time like this, and as a reply to the calls from the Turkish side, to propose a project for a peaceful solution to this problem. It is well known that for the past 15 years our leader and our movement have aimed to solve this problem peacefully. Since 1993 our movement has declared 5 ceasefires on different occasions as a signal for the start of a democratic process in which this problem can be solved peacefully. However, we regret to say that on each of these occasions the Turkish state has replied by increasing military activity against our movement. As the Kurdish side we showed our integrity in our enthusiasm for a peaceful and democratic solution by sending peace envoys on two occasions. One of these envoys consisted of a group of guerrillas and the other of political representatives. During the same period, in spite of heavy losses, our movement had pulled back its forces from the battlefields. Each of these one sided concessions, granted by our movement in order to pave the way towards a peaceful solution, was interpreted by the Turkish state as a sign of weakness and thus all possible means of dialogue were closed.

As the public is aware, the USA, EU and other international organisations, along with the People’s Democratic Party and other political bodies in Turkey, some intellectuals and writers, the Iraqi government and Southern Kurdistan’s regional government made a call to our organisation a year ago regarding a unilateral ceasefire. As a result of our leader’s calls we announced an unlimited ceasefire on the 1st of October 2006. The Turkish state however, rather than attaching any positive significance to this action, instead claimed it was an action taken to divide Turkey. For this reason the Turkish state doubled its military operations on a force which was on ceasefire. Thus since 1 October 2006 the Turkish army has carried out no fewer than 579 operations against our forces; 460 of these resulted in some sort of clash as a result of which both sides have suffered losses of more than a thousand each.

In this period, the Turkish army generals have not hidden from the public their strategy of fighting until not one single guerrilla remains. Of course there are significant negative consequences arising from this ranging from the economic to the moral. Together with all of this, the Turkish state is using every strategy, including psychological warfare, to hinder the development of a Kurdish political platform. These attacks are not only limited to the Kurdish people and the guerrillas but are also directed at the democratically elected representatives of the Kurdish people. Alongside the increase in the intensity of the solitary confinement to which the Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Ocalan is being subjected, there has also been a direct attempt at ending his life.

After a continuous but unsuccessful campaign attacking every single Kurdish dynamic within Turkey, Turkey has adopted the idea that the roots of the problem are external and therefore has placed a cross border attack into Iraq onto the agenda. With this aim, a bill was passed in the Turkish parliament creating the potential for instability and war. The AKP government is using this bill as a tool for negotiating with the USA and Southern Kurdistan. This holds similarities with the kind of military and diplomatic pressure applied by Turkey to the Syrian government in 1998. The thinking behind it is to provoke the USA and the Southern Kurdish forces to attack our movement and by doing this to cause the Kurds to turn against each other. Although initially this plan is aimed at nullifying our movement, the second phase of the plan aims to weaken the Kurdish dynamics of all other parts of Kurdistan.

Although it is the Turkish side that is planning all the attacks, they are portraying themselves as being under attack and hence the victims. All diplomatic efforts are channelled to this end. It is upsetting however, that certain global powers are allowing themselves to be manipulated in this way for economic and political interests. The unethical nature of such an approach is self-evident.

In fact the situation is completely the opposite. The real victims are the Kurdish people and their legitimate and rightful representatives. The number and scope of the operations, together with the speeches of the generals, are a clear indication of this. The guerrilla forces are not in attack mode, rather they are in a mode of self-defence. The force in attack mode is without a doubt the Turkish Armed Forces and the losses it has suffered are due to this.

The quarters who were calling upon us to declare a ceasefire have remained largely indifferent to the continuous attacks of the Turkish military and have not shown a great deal of effort in redirecting this violent tendency towards a path for a peaceful solution. At present, these very quarters are once again calling upon us to declare another ceasefire. We in all integrity respect all calls for a peaceful and democratic platform for the solution of this problem. We would like to announce that we are willing to take responsibility for playing our part in ensuring the guns remain silent in order to pave the way for a peaceful solution. Our declaration of a ceasefire in October 2006 still stands in theory although it should be noted that the increased intensity of the attacks from the Turkish military have all but made it impossible for the ceasefire to prevail. If the Turkish state ceases its attacks on our forces, our leader, our people, our values and our democratic institutions then we can confidently say that the current violent atmosphere will vanish and a peaceful atmosphere will ensue. This will mean the practical silence of the guns.

To this end, the quarters who are calling for us to declare a ceasefire will do more good by ensuring that the Turkish state accept the terms of the ceasefire our movement declared back in October 2006. If the Turkish state accepts the ceasefire of October 2006 then no guns will be firing and the sought-after atmosphere will be achieved. As a result of this a project by which the use of guns can be completely nullified can be easily achieved. We believe that this political project can be introduced through the democratic autonomy which the DTP also recently suggested. A permanent voluntary unity can be achieved through the acceptance of a democratically autonomous Kurdistan within a unified democratic Turkey.

The details of this proposal can be found within the following articles:


1. The recognition of Kurdish identity, and the constitutional protection of all identities under the citizenship of Turkey as a super-ordinate identity.
2. The removal of all obstacles constraining the development of the Kurdish language and culture; the recognition of the right to an education in the mother tongue; the acceptance of Kurdish as the joint official language of the Kurdistan area; respect for the cultural rights of ethnic minorities.
3. The recognition of the right to free association based around freedom of thought and expression, and the removal of all inequalities not least of gender.
4. The development of a social project for compromise between the two peoples, through forgiveness, to achieve peace and freedom by freeing all political prisoners including Abdullah Ocalan and ensuring the swift assimilation of political prisoners into legitimate social status.
5. The retreat of all forces of the war from Kurdistan; the abolishment of the village guard system; the development of an economic and social project to facilitate Kurds’ return to their villages.
6. A rearrangement of the law to strengthen and widen the powers of local government.
7. And parallel to the above-mentioned articles, a timetable agreed by both sides for the inclusion of guerrillas into a democratic social set-up through the abandonment of arms.



Resolving the Kurdish problem without altering the borders would be possible on this basis. Creating a democratic environment in which the Kurdish people are able to live freely is what is important. This project will in effect lay the foundations for the most sustainable resolution which will not only reinforce the basis for free alliance but also merge both sides’ gains. The freedom and existence of the Kurdish people is not a threat to the development of any people or state. Our people want only the natural rights they, as a people, are entitled to; this is possible solely through the democratization of the sovereign forces over Kurdistan. Therefore, the resolution of the Kurdish problem will also serve to build consistency and democracy in the region.

We call upon all democratic forces in Turkey, all quarters who want peace and support the brotherhood of the people, democratic intellectuals and writers to take ownership of their responsibilities towards a resolution to the Kurdish problem through peaceful democratic means. Standing up against the terrorizing and race-orientated policies of the Turkish state against the Kurds is currently a fundamental duty of being democratic. The AKP Party’s false, deceptive and religiously motivated approach and their manipulation of the Kurds through this is not a solution to the problem and is also a line of policy that could lead to bloodshed. We call on all democratic quarters to stand before the AKP party’s dangerous policies and strive towards the development of a solution to the problem through the brotherhood of the people.

We call upon the Turkish state and the AKP government to abandon the denial and eradication policy, which, despite being implemented for the past 84 years, has not produced any solutions. We invite them to discuss our presented project so as to resolve the problem through free alliance based on recognition of the will of the Kurdish people. The government of the Turkish Republic must not search outside for the solution but inside of Turkey and through peaceful dialogue with the legitimate representatives of the Kurdish people. The state must accept this as a problem of Turkey and assess it on this basis.

Kurdistan may have been divided into four parts against its will but the latest developments have demonstrated once again that the fate of the Kurds is very much tied. In light of this, therefore, all Kurdistan powers, especially the Kurdistan Regional Government, must take ownership of their responsibilities by working towards a peaceful solution. It must be known that the futures of all parts of Kurdistan are connected to a peaceful resolution to the Kurdish problem.

International forces, primarily the U.S, declaring the Kurdish freedom movement as an enemy is not going to solve the problem.

The source of the problem, contrary to the Turkish state’s claims, is not our movement but the state’s denial policy. A democratic solution to the Kurdish problem is an important contribution to security, peace and stability in the region and to world peace. From this perspective we wish to state that we are open and willing to discuss a fair solution with international and regional powers in the event of their presenting such plans. The revival of the hopes for a solution without Mr. Ocalan and the PKK will only waste valuable time and cause to deepen the issue; the dismissal of powers that represent the will of the Kurdish people will not be deemed acceptable by the Kurdish people.

As representation of the Kurdish side we have developed and provided all necessary propositions and comparable suggestions for resolution but have been answered with a persistently driven concept of eradication through armed force; we will naturally resist this with great will and determination. The people of Kurdistan, irrelevant of which part they are from, want to resolve the issue through peaceful dialogue, not violence. We value the efforts of all powers in the region who support democracy, peace and consistency in working towards a solution to this problem. The governing states and international forces in Kurdistan must relinquish the view of the Kurdish problem being a factor of instability, a view which leads to their develop of strategies to suppress it through two/three-party alliances. They must develop a conference platform wherein all parties are represented, based on objectives of regional collaboration, brotherhood between people, stability, trust and a general aim for resolution. The realization of the above objectives will strengthen the foundation for a sustainable solution.

Instead of steps that would serve to create stability and resolution, the creation of tension and contradiction between Kurdish political forces and the development of policies which cause internal fighting is most certainly an ill-intentioned approach. No friend of the Kurdish people supports this line of politics. The period of Kurds fighting amongst each other has passed; Kurdish political forces must now not give that period a chance of revival. All Kurdistan powers should adopt an attitude of national-democratic unity and accept patriotism as their minimum prerequisite for success. At this juncture in history, taking optimum advantage of opportunities for the success of our people’s struggle for freedom depends on the materialization of this political stance. Therefore it is vital that no Kurdish power leads a policy which would entertain the denial and eradication policy. They must focus their priorities on the unity and solidarity of the Kurds.

The patriotic people of Kurdistan, be it women, children, young or old must demonstrate awareness and compassion towards maintaining a national-democratic line of unity throughout this period. Furthermore, they must stand firm against all attitudes attempting to frustrate this.

This Kurdish problem is nearer to a resolution than ever before. Sovereign states that identify a resolution as a threat to their interests are in a state of anxiety and panic. They are attempting every manner of tactic to contain the situation. The denial and eradication policy being implemented within the concept of weakening and eliminating the Kurdish people and their will is destined to fail. Any attempt aiming at elimination will bring about not resolution, peace and stability but impasse, fighting and instability.

It should be well noted that the national-democratic dynamics and rich experience in resistance the Kurds have attained through the rationalization of the PKK leadership is strong enough to continue to demonstrate a desire and will for struggle for many years to come. Our people, friends and powers concerned should have no doubts regarding this. Therefore the sole true method for a conclusive solution is through dialogue, not elimination through violence. The alternative is that a catastrophic period of fighting and chaos will ensue from which everyone will lose.

We, as a movement, do not wish for such a phase to develop and with this declaration, as a reply to calls made to us by concerned powers and so that a period of peaceful democratic solution may develop, henceforth officially declare and state that we are open to discussion for a resolution. We call upon all powers to take ownership of their responsibilities and make efforts towards a democratic-peaceful solution to the Kurdish problem.

This recent statement should be compared to the Declaration for the Democratic Resolution of the Kurdish Question of August 2006. The principles are the same. There is no change from the Kurdish side.

These are the same principles that were rejected outright by the US through Lockheed Martin salesman, Joseph Ralston.