Saturday, April 18, 2009

TERROR OPERATIONS CONTINUE AGAINST DTP

"Power in defense of freedom is greater than power in behalf of tyranny and oppression."
~ Malcolm X.


Amed (Diyarbakır) protests against Turkish state terror operations. Many thanks to the friend in Amed who sent them.






Turkish state terror operations against DTP continued throughout the week with a balance of arrested person reaching 245 on Friday (Source: http://www.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=nuce&nuceID=6298).

Ahmet Türk is due to arrive in the UK very soon and will speak at a round table meeting at Chatham House on the situation in Turkey after the local elections. This event will take place on Tuesday.

I bet that's going to be one hot round table.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

SOLIDARITY WITH DTP

"Solidarity is not a matter of sentiment but a fact, cold and impassive as the granite foundations of a skyscraper. If the basic elements, identity of interest, clarity of vision, honesty of intent, and oneness of purpose, or any of these is lacking, all sentimental pleas for solidarity, and all other efforts to achieve it will be barren of results."
~ Eugene V. Debs, American Socialist.


First of all, go over to Hevallo's place and read his post on how "Barack Obama Gives Green Light for Suppression of Kurdish Civil Rights".

The next item is from email:


Declaration by Francis Wurtz, President of the GUE/NGL group



On the situation in Turkey after recent local elections: Yes to political struggle - No to political oppression!

Brussels, 15/04/09

According to recent information, the Turkish police have undertaken a large-scale raid against the leaders, activists and offices of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) in Turkey, particularly in the south-eastern part of the country. More than 70 people, including three of the party's Vice-Presidents have been arrested. The police action was also directed against a TV station and the headquarters of the Union of South-East municipalities, which were searched.

This political move by the Turkish police follows the impressive results of the DTP in the local elections on 29 March 2009, in which the party almost doubled the number of municipalities it won (from 56 to 98). In ten provinces of the East and South-East of Turkey, the DTP obtained the highest popular support, meaning it has developed into the strongest political force there.

Immediately after these results were made public, a number of problematic statements were made by representatives of the Turkish government and the security forces, for example regarding the success of the DTP, which they considered a matter of concern and even a threat to the national security!

Against this background, the police action can only be seen as politically motivated. We therefore call on the Turkish authorities to respect the will of the people, expressed in the recent local elections, and to guarantee citizens their rights, especially freedom of activity for political parties in Turkey, in this instance the DTP, of other regional organisations, such as the Union of South-East municipalities, and of the media.

The European United Left/Nordic Green Left Group in the European Parliament calls for the immediate release of all those who have been arrested as well as the re-opening of the TV station.

GUE/NGL press officer - Gianfranco Battistini + 32 475 646628 gbattistini@europarl.eu.int


The European Peace Parliament stands in support of DTP:


In it's statement, the European Peace Parliament condemned the operation against DTP and said, "We ask those people who are responsible for the operation against DTP, primarily the AKP government, for the immediate release of the DTP administrators."


Turkish ESP (Platform for the Socialist Oppressed) stands in support of DTP:


The Platform for the Socialist Oppressed (ESP) has issued a statement in support of DTP:

"The Kurdish people's strong declaration of the recognition of DTP in the 29 March local elections, especially in Kurdish provinces, becoming the only party position in the region, discomforts the dominant powers and AKP government. Thus they brought their intolerance to the election results and their attack policies into play.

"As a result of the protest regarding the election results in Ağrı, tens of people were wounded and many were arrested as a result of the brutal attacks of the police. Two people were murdered by state forces at the celebration for Abdullah Öcalan's birthday in Amara. With today's ongoing detention terrorism, DTP's policy-making as a just, democratic, and honorable peace demand for the Kurdish question is being hindered. The attacks against DTP, after the US President Barack Obama's visit to Turkey, is a dirty bargain of bourgeois solution-seeking which excludes DTP in the Kurdish question.

"We call all revolutionaries, pioneers, and all of society's opposition segments to have solidarity with the Kurdish people and their political representative, DTP, to raise the motto of the brotherhood of the Turkish and Kurdish people."


The Turkish Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP) stands in support of DTP:


ÖDP: A Lynch Attempt Against DTP Is Being Implemented

ÖDP's Deputy General Chairman Haydar İlker reacted to the operation against DTP and said that a lynch attempt against DTP is being implemented with the detentions.

The Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP) Deputy General Chairman Haydar İlker, made a statement about the detention of DTP Deputy General Chairmen, parliamentary executive committee members (MYK), lawyers, and deputy mayors. Evaluating the operations that occured a short time after local elections as "a lynch attempt against a political party which has a group in parliament and won municipality elections in several provinces with the votes of the people," İlker said: "The Freedom and Solidarity Party, which supports a democratic solution to the Kurdish question, condemns this anti-democratic implementation and declares that we are on the side of the Democratic Society Party. Those detained must be immediately released."


The Turkish Democratic Socialist Party (SDP) stands in support of DTP:


"SDP, either because of our belief in the internationalist struggle and the prerequisite of our strategic alliance with the Kurdish freedom movement, today we defend a democratic solution to the Kurdish question as we defended yesterday. We repeat one more time that we will stand against all forms of annihilation and denial against the Kurdish people. We will continue to stand in complete alliance and solidarity with DTP."


The Turkish Labor Party (EMEP) stands in support of DTP:


EMEP: There is nothing acceptable

EMEP Deputy General Chairman Kamil Tekin Sürek, said that there is nothing acceptable about the operations. Related to the subject, Sürek released a written statement, "Such an operation against DTP is not acceptable in a time when PKK declared a ceasefire and a Kurdish conference assembly was announced, and an era when peaceful methods and approaches are discussed instead of armed clashes." Sürek announced, "The AKP government does not hesitate to apply fascist methods," and demanded an immediate end to the operation.


Do you see a pattern here?

Needless to say, Rastî always stands in support of DTP.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

THE RESULTS OF ELECTORAL SUCCESS

"A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine."
~ Thomas Jefferson.


DTP has issued a statement on the arrests today in Turkey, via our comrades at KurdishInfo (http://www.kurdish-info.net/News-sid-DEMOCRATIC-SOCIETY-PARTY-TO-PUBLIC-OPINION-12953.html):


Democratic Society Party's (DTP) central executive committee members and provincial administrators have been arrested by concurrent police swoops. This ominous situation has been realized while discussing process about the peaceful solution of Kurdish Question. So far, nearly 80 people have taken into custody and three of them are vice co-chairs of DTP. Our arrested members were exposed to violence by Turkish security forces. There is not any healthy information about our members' situation still. We are carrying deep worries through unlimited pressure on our party. Turkish government knows that wave of arrest on Kurdish politicians is going to create an aggression period in Turkey.

After the local elections, DTP has proven own legality and effects on Kurdish People and Turkey's political arena. Therefore, Turkish government planned to isolate DTP members for blocking communication with the people. Turkish law system still allows blaming politicians by a speech. For this reason, peaceful solution opportunities about Kurdish Issue are almost eliminated. Every political action which includes political demands and peaceful region has been accepted as “supporting terrorism” by the Turkish law system. Currently, thousands of DTP members and supporters are under arrest and convicted due to “supporting terrorism”. This is a political chaos.

Turkish Government's aggressive manner is the source of “Turkish nationalist mentality”. Regrettably, European Governments' supports on Turkish Government revealed one-sided political behaviors. So, Turkish Government has not feel any need of dialogue with DTP. Hence, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan tried to restrict of political ways to solution of Kurdish Issue. The clearest examples such as tricks on electoral lists have been spotted in the Kurdish regions.

We especially like to explain that DTP aims to provide an honorable peace process. We believe that violence can be ended by dialogue ambiance. But Turkish Government wants to solve Kurdish issue without the Kurds. So, we believe that European Union has important responsibilities about Kurdish Issue on instability in Turkey. European Union has not abided by own basic principles. We demand that The Union must determine own attitudes about the Turkey's Kurdish Issue.

We hope that European Governments should take incumbent responsibilities for supporting peaceful solutions in Turkey.

Respectfully announced to public opinion
DTP 14.04.2009


A list of those arrested can be found at Fırat News (http://www.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=nuce&nuceID=6120) under the heading "GÖZALTINA ALINANLAR". Among the arrested are Gün TV's general broadcast manager Ahmet Birsin, former DEHAP general chairman Mehmet Abasoğlu, Yüksekova city council member Zübeyde Çoğaç, Kızıltepe deputy mayor Senanik Öner, DTP general center manager Kudbettin Kurt, and DTP parliamentary party members Selma Irmak and Erdal Güler. There are indications that other DTP politicians have been picked up in other parts of Turkey so let's not consider Fırat's list complete yet. Turkish media claims only some 50 people have been arrested.

Apparently Gün TV has been shut down for at least a month, which is odd because it's news is not live. However, this would be consistent with the regime's policy of Kurdish being legal for use by the state and not by Kurds. Azadiya Welat has also been shut down.

Ahmet Türk speaks, again from the comrades at KurdishInfo (http://www.kurdish-info.net/News-sid-Ahmet-Turk-Operation-triggered-by-PMund-8217-s-statement-12943.html):


“This operation is outlawed, anti-democratic and hostile act since we are the fourth party according to the election consequences. We have condemned the government and asked all democratic organizations, associations, opposite powers and NGOs to focus this very case.”

Referring two casualties during the police attack on Amara marchers and government speaker Cemil Çiçek’s saying “DTP is pounding at the border of Armenia” he said; those are show the approach of AKP and AKP administration about Kurds and Kurdish issue. Government didn’t let it go at that and added new suppression and attack pounces. All of those are part of the plan which tries to keep us out of the democratic policy. We are not going to compromise our democratic principles by courage and determination no matter what the cost we have to pay.

Türk evaluated Turkey’s economic and social conditions rest of his speech in which there was a call for unity, solidarity, peace, democracy and dialog reminding tense oppressions performed by security forces as a part of total plan after election on Kurds and Kurdish institutions, parties, newspapers, associations etc.

"Lately 2 marchers had been killed. Kurdish news paper daily Azadiya Welat has been closed down. We have said Kurdish is legal for government but Kurds. This saying has been proved by last act which showed that AKP has two faces. Where is your Kurdish opening out? Was it until election? Are you going to gain Kurds with that? It works for nothing but fool yourself. People are going to protect their own news paper even though your censorship or act to close it down since language is the honor for nation.”


Emine Ayna weighs in (http://www.kurdish-info.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=12941):


Emine Ayna co-chair of DTP has held a press release to evaluate last operations on DTP. She stated that there is not enough information about spontaneous operations directed by Diyarbakır Chief Prosecutor of the Republic against DTP’s branches neither about what these operations’ reasons.

In addition she said that; mentioned operation’s reason just for make DTP out of the political environment since there is no legal reason for this operation. DTP’s success during the pass local election is considerable and over the limit of government tolerance. We believe they are trying to prevent DTP from political race which is very dangerous process. No one can take the responsibility of these operations which are needed serious evaluation about its consequences. Current operations can succeed nothing but pushing people to use anti-democratic methods.

Ayna also emphasized that doesn’t matter what kind of suppression government implements on DTP, they are going to keep pointing out all mistakes along Turkish Republic’s 80 years policy against Kurds. Active persons, politicians from DTP during the local election process have been taken into custody which we found that is very significant point explains government goals for these operations.


The socialist Turkish party ÖDP claims that the police operation was a "lynching campaign" against DTP and demands the immediate release of the arrested persons. The socialist Turkish organization ESP has also protested the operation.


Selahattin Demirtaş was quoted by Reuters:


Selahattin Demirtas, deputy chair of the DTP parliamentary group, said the arrests were a politically motivated reaction to the DTP's success in the local elections.

"This is an illegal operation against the DTP and an attempt to manipulate the DTP's political support and break its will," Demirtas told Reuters in a telephone interview. "It's no coincidence the operation comes so soon after the election."


I have a lot of articles about this situation bookmarked and will be going over them in detail in the next day or so and will post more on the Ankara regime's campaign against DTP. A quick look at HaberTürk's live broadcast had a little something about this operation squeezed in between Başbuğ's hot air fest, yet more Ergenekon bullshit, and the murder of Engin Çeber by Turkish police. To it's credit, HaberTürk did manage to air some quality time on the Obama's new dog.

Monday, April 13, 2009

THE NEWS FROM TRT 6

"In politics, an organized minority is a political majority."
~ Jesse Jackson.


Rojin has left TRT6. From Hürriyet:


Kurdish singer Rojin has resigned as host of her program broadcast on the recently launched Kurdish-language television station TRT-6, saying she was "treated as a potential criminal," daily Radikal reported yesterday on its Web site.

"The reason of my resignation is not economic, [nor due to] threats toward me or my caprice; this is a decision I made with my free will," Rojin said.

[ . . . ]

"Imagine a program where the host does not know who is invited and cannot decide on her own guests," she said, adding that many of her statements during the program were censored. "The program is treated as a potential crime and the host as a potential criminal," she said.


See also Turkish Hürriyet.

In the Radikal piece, Rojin calls TRT management "oppressive" and says that she was treated like a "potential criminal" and her program a potential "crime". Rojin says, regarding her program on TRT 6, "I came, I saw, I left". Apparently, tensions developed especially during the last 4 to 5 programs.

For all the jackass know-nothings out there, make sure you check all the articles, particularly the Radikal article and see that PKK was not named once as a reason for Rojin's kicking the dust of TRT 6 off her feet. And for all those who claimed, at TRT 6's beginning, that the big, bad apocular were threatening anyone who dared to go on TRT 6, now you can see how wrong you were. There was never any need for threats because everyone knew the Turkish state would screw up sooner or later. It has always screwed up, it continues to screw up and, unless there is a radical change within the regime and society, it will continue to screw up.

Besides, all of us know that TRT 6 was merely a campaign tactic. Since DTP was so successful in the local elections in March, there's no more need for the very expensive AKP campaign tactic known as TRT 6.

Güle güle! Sayonara! Auf Wiedersehen! Au revoir! Adios! Ciao!

In the meantime, if you're interested in supporting the TV channel that has Kurdish interests at heart, you can register your support for Roj TV here.

For the record, let me add that information about the recent Turkish state brutality in Ağrı and Amara has made it's way to Cryptome.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

EX-CONGRESSMAN TURNED LOBBYIST TO SERVE TURKEY

"Get yourself a few ‘Dime a Dozen Generals,’ bid high in the ‘former statesmen lobby auction’, and put in your pocket one or two ‘ex-congressmen turned lobbyists’ who know the ropes when it comes to pocketing a few dozen who still serve."
~ Sibel Edmonds.


As an update to yesterday's post, let me point out an item that was left in yesterday's comments:


The Turkish government has signed another prominent former congressional leader to join its K Street team.

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and others at his firm, Dickstein Shapiro, are working on a $35,000-per-month contract for Turkey, according to records on file with the Justice Department.

Hastert was the longest-serving Republican House Speaker until he retired from his seat after the 2006 midterm elections. He joined Dickstein in June 2008.

The agreement is a subcontract between Hastert’s firm and the Gephardt Group, founded by Richard Gephardt, the ex-Missouri congressman who was the Democratic House leader for several years. Gephardt and others at DLA Piper replaced the Livingston Group, longtime lobbyists for Turkey, as its Washington representatives last year.


Source.

Let me also point out that DLA Piper has a "strategic alliance" with The Cohen Group. Joseph Ralston, Lockheed Martin lobbyist and former "special envoy" to counter the PKK for Turkey is a vice-chairman at The Cohen Group. The other vice chairman is Marc Grossman, the man who gave Pakistan The Bomb, among other things. Ralston also served as Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, which is the senior officer in charge of NATO.

DLA Piper and The Cohen Group were implicated in the Australian Wheat Board's oil-for-food scandal, in which AWB Limited accepted kickbacks from Saddam Hussein back in the day.

What the article about Dennis Hastert's new job fails to mention, however, is that Hastert was taking some kickbacks of his own--from the Ankara regime. At least, that's what FBI wiretaps say, according to David Rose at Vanity Fair:


Edmonds has given confidential testimony inside a secure Sensitive Compartmented Information facility on several occasions: to congressional staffers, to investigators from the O.I.G., and to the staff from the 9/11 commission. Sources familiar with this testimony say that, in addition to her allegations about the Dickersons, she reported hearing Turkish wiretap targets boast that they had a covert relationship with a very senior politician indeed—Dennis Hastert, Republican congressman from Illinois and Speaker of the House since 1999. The targets reportedly discussed giving Hastert tens of thousands of dollars in surreptitious payments in exchange for political favors and information. “The Dickersons,” says one official familiar with the case, “are only the tip of the iceberg.”

[ . . . ]

In her secure testimony, Edmonds disclosed some of what she recalled hearing. In all, says a source who was present, she managed to listen to more than 40 of the Chicago recordings supplied by Robertz. Many involved an F.B.I. target at the city’s large Turkish Consulate, as well as members of the American-Turkish Consulate, as well as members of the American-Turkish Council and the Assembly of Turkish American Associates.

Some of the calls reportedly contained what sounded like references to large scale drug shipments and other crimes. To a person who knew nothing about their context, the details were confusing and it wasn’t always clear what might be significant. One name, however, apparently stood out – a man the Turkish callers often referred to by the nickname “Denny boy.” It was the Republican congressman from Illinois and Speaker of the House, Dennis Hastert. According to some of the wiretaps, the F.B.I.’s targets had arranged for tens of thousands of dollars to be paid to Hastert’s campaign funds in small checks. Under Federal Election Commission rules, donations of less than $200 are not required to be itemized in public filings.

Hastert himself was never heard in the recordings, Edmonds told investigators, and it is possible that the claims of covert payments were hollow boasts. Nevertheless, an examination of Hastert’s federal filings shows that the level of un-itemized payments his campaigns received over many years was relatively high. Between April 1996 and December 2002, un-itemized personal donations to the Hastert for Congress Committee amounted to $483,000. In contrast, un-itemized contributions in the same period to the committee run on behalf of the House majority leader, Tom Delay, Republican of Texas, were only $99,000. An analysis of the filings of four other senior Republicans shows that only one, Clay Shaw of Florida, declared a higher total in un-itemized donations than Hastert over the same period: $552,000. The other three declared far less. Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Joe Barton, of Texas, claimed $265,000; Armed Services Committee chairman Duncan Hunter, of California, got $212,000; and Ways and Means Committee chairman Bill Thomas, of California, recorded $110,000.

Edmonds reportedly added that the recordings also contained repeated references to Hastert’s flip-flop, in the fall of 2000, over an issue which remains of intense concern to the Turkish government – the continuing campaign to have Congress designate the killings of Armenians in Turkey between 1915 and 1923 a genocide. For many years, attempts had been made to get the house to pass a genocide resolution, but they never got anywhere until August 2000, when Hastert, as Speaker, announced that he would give it his backing and see that it received a full house vote. He had a clear political reason, as analysts noted at the time: a California Republican incumbent, locked in a tight congressional race, was looking to win over his district’s large Armenian community. Thanks to Hastert, the resolution, vehemently opposed by the Turks, passed the International Relations Committee by a large majority. Then, on October 19, minutes before the full House vote, Hastert withdrew it.


From Kill The Messenger:





I wonder what Hastert's spokesman would say now that he's a lobbyist for the Turkish Republic? Coincidence? Right. Coincidences exist just like the tooth fairy, Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny.

Sibel's rebuttal to Hastert's claims of innocence can be found at The Brad Blog.

Maybe it's also just a coincidence that Sibel predicted almost two years ago that Hastert would land a juicy lobbying job "for services rendered".


Zafere!

Friday, April 10, 2009

THE DEEP STATE AND CHANGE YOU CAN BELIEVE IN

"It is puzzling to observe that in reporting this major artery (Turkey) of terrorists’ funding, the U.S. mainstream media and political machine do not dare to go beyond the poppy fields of Afghanistan and the fairly insignificant low level Afghan warlords overseeing the crops."
~ Sibel Edmonds.


Sibel Edmonds has a new interview at Electric Politics (Run time 1 hour, 16 mins.) in which she talks about Turkey's involvement in the drug industry. The interview ranges into other issues, too, including the Deep State in the US. A few notes that I picked up while listening:


1. At the end of the 1990s, 40% of Turkey's GDP was based on heroin.

2. First Merchant Bank has been involved in laundering heroin money for Turkey, among others. Süleyman Demirel's brother, Murat, was involved among the higher-ups at First Merchant. Everyone should remember that Süleyman Demirel was Turkey's president during the Susurluk days.

3. AIPAC set up the ATC and convicted spy for Israel Larry Franklin was very much involved in the ATC's early meetings.

4. The Turkish Deep State lobby in the US uses smaller organizations, like ATAA and TACA to spread its interests.

5. The president of one of those "cultural" associations donated $100,000 to Secretary of State Clinton's failed presidential campaign.

6. The FBI has tried to take action against the American criminals/spies/foreign agents involved in the Deep State but have been prevented from doing so by both the Pentagon and the State Department. Remember the neocons and other Israeli agents, like Grossman, Feith, Perle, Larry Franklin, etc., who used to be directing policy at both of those agencies.

7. Prior to the November 2006 midterm elections, Congressman Waxman and his office wanted a public investigation into Sibel's case and those of other whistleblowers but claimed the big, bad Republicans were tying their hands on the matter. After the Democrats took a congressional majority in November 2006, Waxman and his office blew off Sibel.

8. It's quite possible that Nancy Pelosi and the Israeli lobby (AIPAC) "persuaded" Waxman to not insist on a public hearing for Sibel.

9. The Democrats dumped Sibel after she spoke to them in a SCIF because, through her information, at least three Democratic politicians could be further investigated, leading to prosecutions, for Deep State criminal activity.

10. Certain members of the current US administration could be further investigated, leading to prosecutions, for Deep State criminal activity.

11. Sibel was asked if there would ever be a time when her story could be told fully. She answers that maybe when everyone involved in her story is dead, it might be possible to tell it. Mizgîn adds that she hopes this happens very soon.


In connection with Sibel's case, let me point out that the current administration, the Obama administration, is not only supporting the Bush administration's hyper-application of the bullshit state secrets privilege, but it's surpassing the Bush administration's hyper-application of the privilege that is used to protect those involved in Deep State criminal activity, espionage, and treason. Not only that, the Obama administration is going above and beyond the call of duty by introducing a new blanket of protection called "sovereign immunity". More from Glenn Greenwald at Salon:


But late Friday afternoon, the Obama DOJ filed the government's first response to EFF's lawsuit (.pdf), the first of its kind to seek damages against government officials under FISA, the Wiretap Act and other statutes, arising out of Bush's NSA program. But the Obama DOJ demanded dismissal of the entire lawsuit based on (1) its Bush-mimicking claim that the "state secrets" privilege bars any lawsuits against the Bush administration for illegal spying, and (2) a brand new "sovereign immunity" claim of breathtaking scope -- never before advanced even by the Bush administration -- that the Patriot Act bars any lawsuits of any kind for illegal government surveillance unless there is "willful disclosure" of the illegally intercepted communications.

In other words, beyond even the outrageously broad "state secrets" privilege invented by the Bush administration and now embraced fully by the Obama administration, the Obama DOJ has now invented a brand new claim of government immunity, one which literally asserts that the U.S. Government is free to intercept all of your communications (calls, emails and the like) and -- even if what they're doing is blatantly illegal and they know it's illegal -- you are barred from suing them unless they "willfully disclose" to the public what they have learned.


For more on the continuation of Deep State fascism, see the more recent posts by Greenwald, here and here.

Change you can believe in!

Not mentioned in the interview, but relevant, is the fact that in order to win Turkish support for Danish PM Rasmussen's appointment as Secretary General of NATO, NATO will appoint a special envoy for Afghanistan from the ranks of Turkish diplomats. This was one of the conditions Katil Erdoğan insisted on. How very, very convenient for the Turkish heroin industry. I'm sure this will help boost Turkey's economy, and continue to bail out the banker vermin, during the global economic crisis.

Let me also point out that neither Sibel nor her interviewer at Electric Politics, who had purposely searched for information on Turkey's heroin industry, mention the PKK once. And that's because there is nothing to mention, contrary to a long-standing and massive propaganda effort on the part of the Ankara regime.

Tuesday, April 07, 2009

VIDEO OF TURKISH STATE TERROR IN AMARA

"I don’t think that a point of view that considers the Kurds as zero will be able to provide peace in the Middle East."
~ Osman Baydemir.


Here is the Turkish state terror, the state-sponsored violence, so heartily supported by the new American president:



That was Mustafa Dağ's blood spilling out on the ground after he had been hit in the head by a tear gas canister fired by brutal Turkish security forces. Let me add that Turkish security forces learned everything they know from the Americans, from NATO. This is their so-called War on Terror.

As is obvious from the video, they themselves are the agents of terror. So Obama did speak the truth when he said that the US and Turkey can build a "model partnership" based on ideals and values. Truer words were never spoken! The same ideals and values form the basis for both nations: Murder, repression, terror.

And so the values are spread. DTP parliamentarian Ayla Akat Ata was beat by nightstick-weilding AKP police as she attempted to gather information about the murders of Mustafa Dağ and Dicle University student Mahsum Karaoğlan at Birecik state hospital. Source: http://www.kurdish-info.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=12894

Now, this is an elected parliamentarian, a woman who stands for her people, represents them in the parliament, and who went to seek information about the murders of two of her people. And she is beaten by the ruling party's police forces? Ah, well, there's democracy in action, for you, coming straight from America's "Model of Democracy" for the Middle East.

Certainly Obama is working to "transform the US-Turkish relationship into a well-oiled machine"--a machine well-oiled by Kurdish blood is what they mean.

Yet Obama--who himself does not have the courage of Ayla Akat Ata, or Leyla Zana, or Emine Ayna, or DTP's women mayors, or PKK's women guerrillas--has the balls to lecture Ahmet Türk about violence or armed stuggle not being the means to solve the Kurdish situation? Well it's clear that a political solution does not exist, nor does an avenue toward a political solution exist. America's boy, Katil Erdoğan, still refuses to meet with DTP officials, much less will he sit down with them to lay the groundwork for a political solution. The US was the one to refuse PKK's most recent (2006) ceasefire so that it could sell more Lockheed product to Turkey. The US is providing targets for TSK to bomb Kurdish villages in Northern Iraq.

Change you can believe in!

Even the recent elections have suffered the same, old corrupt electoral practices that the Ankara regime has used since Day 1. A German delegation of election observers in Ağrı are lending their support to the people of Ağrı, based on the "irregularities" that they witnessed in that town:


As an observer delegation, we agree with the claim of the residents of Agri after elections. We urge the international press, to pursue the events in Agri and publicize them. International public opinion is the best protection for their democratic rights to citizens struggling in Agri.


Another item that no one in Obama's press entourage bothered to cover . . . 88 vehicles have been burned in two days throughout throughout Turkey in protest against Turkish state terror in Amara and Ağrı. Eighty-five of those vehicles were in Istanbul in the following areas: Sultangazi, Maltepe, Sancaktepe, Sultanbeyli, Ümraniye, Küçükçekmece, Ataşehir, Çekmeköy, Yeşilpınar and Kadıköy. Vehicles were also burned in Diyarbakır and Silvan. The vehicle burned in Diyarbakır was associated with a Fethullahcı business, while the two burned in Silvan belonged to professional soldiers and not conscripts. In addition, ten Fethullahçı-affiliated stores in Istanbul were burned. A Sabançı İş Bank office was burned in Diyarbakır.


What do you expect when every political avenue has a road block?


Addendum: For those who wish to help spread the video, particularly by embedding it in your own blog, check this link. You'll need a Youtube account to access the video and its embed script, since the video is restricted to 18 years or older on Youtube. Spread it far and wide, comrades!

Monday, April 06, 2009

I TOLD YOU SO

"We have made the Reich by propaganda."
~ Joesph Goebbels.


Same shit. Different day.

Sunday, April 05, 2009

CHALLENGING DEMOCRACY

"Democracy is on trial in the world, on a more colossal scale than ever before."
~ Charles Fletcher Dole.


Roj TV's Sunday evening news showed scenes of anger at Turkish state terror that was directed against those holding birthday celebrations in Öcalan's hometown of Amara as well as video footage of Turkish state terror directed against DTP supporters in Ağır, where the democratic Ankara regime voided 3,000 DTP ballots so that AKP could insert itself as the winner of the election.

Sounds like Florida in 2000.

Roj TV aired disturbing video footage of Mustafa Dağ, who was targeted by the jandarma and deliberately shot in the head with a riot control gas canister. Dağ later died of this wound at a local state hospital. Last month, an American was severely wounded by the IDF when he was shot in the head by a high-velocity tear gas canister initially deployed by the IDF in December 2008. So far, the American remains in better condition than Mustafa Dağ. Roj TV stated that the other young Kurd murdered by the jandarma, Mahsum Karaoğlan, was in his third year at Dicle University and would have graduated next year.

People did not gather at Amara in protest but in celebration and had been planting trees, which is what Öcalan requested as a fitting celebration for his sixtieth birthday. Those gathered at Amara had been there for two days when the jandarma forces of the fascist Ankara regime intervened violently. This fact was brought up in a press conference held by DTP's Urfa provincial chairman İbrahim Ayhan, DTP's Urfa parliamentarian İbrahim Binici, and DTP's Batman parliamentarian, Ayla Akat Ata. The bottom line? AKP is now expressing its intolerance of DTP's success.

What struck me as I listened to the DTP politicians during the press conference was that their remarks would never be covered in Turkish media, not even on that highly-vaunted, regime-controlled TRT 6. The only broadcast media organization to freely air the remarks of DTP or KCK on these matters is Roj TV. And that's the only reason that the Ankara regime is currently pressuring NATO to close the channel.

Protests against state terrorism in both Ağır and Amara broke out in İstanbul, Mersin, Adana and İzmir. Masked demonstrators threw stones and molotov cocktails.

On a happier note, there were birthday celebrations for the Kurdish people's leader in Qendil, Maxmur, and Aleppo. The Kurds of Aleppo even had proper birthday cakes at their celebrations which were cut by children.

In the meantime, Obama has arrived in Turkey for his visit, and since it is already the morning of 6 April as I write this, the show should be getting on the road at any time now. Obama is scheduled to address the TBMM Monday afternoon and most of the Turkish media early last week announced that he would speak for approximately 45 minutes--in an "unknown language", of course. Naturally, Turkish media didn't say that he would speak in the TBMM in an "unknown language", but since the guy doesn't speak a lick of Turkish, I know he's going to speak in an "unknown language". I wonder if Meclis TV is going to cut him off? I'll be waiting to see Ankara's chief prosecutor initiate an investigation.

Obama is scheduled to begin his tour of Turkey with a moment of worship at Anıtkabir, the temple of modern Islamist Turkey's founder. Obama is also scheduled to meet with opposition party leaders, but since there is only one opposition party in Turkey, the only meeting that will really count will be Obama's meeting with Ahmet Türk.

By tomorrow morning, US time, we should have some indication of the contents of the meeting with Türk and his sense of how it went. I hope Türk brings up the subject of Ağrı, which should be an intro to the wider issue of democracy--or the lack thereof--in Turkey, and that he brings up the matter of the "Kurdish" summit.

I don't hold out much hope for change we can believe in because Obama's administration is heavily Clintonite and the previous Clinton administration murdered at least as many Kurds as the Turks did at Dersim. AKP are America's "boys", and the Americans--along with the Israelis--are giving the Turks the targets for their bombing campaign against Kurdish villages in South Kurdistan.

And so it goes.

Until then, make sure to check out a couple of timely posts at Zerkesorg, the first being an argument against Abdullah Gül and the second being a discussion of how Kurds have no right to protest against election corruption. Azadixwaz has a long-awaited post in which he helps to spread the DTP joy. And Hevallo wonders if hope is melting with the snow.

Saturday, April 04, 2009

STATE TERROR IN AMARA AND AĞRI

"Today, the democratization of politics is one of the most urgent challenges. However, democratic politics need democratic parties. As long as there are no parties and party-affiliated institutions committed to the interests of the society instead of fulfilling state orders, a democratization of politics will be hardly possible."
~ Abdullah Öcalan.




Today is the birthday of the Kurdish people's leader, Abdullah Öcalan, and people gathered at his hometown to celebrate. As usual, however, the jandarma got involved in something else that wasn't any of their business. Of course, they most likely did so out of fear. From Özgür Gündem:


The number who lost their lives in Amara increased to two

The number of dead increased to two due to the jandarma attack at the celebration of the Kurdish people's leader Abdullah Öcalan's birthplace Halfeti's Amara village.

Citizens from all over Turkey, who came to Amara to celebrate Öcalan's sixtieth birthday, were stopped by soldiers. More than sixty people were wounded by the [jandarma] intervention with nightsticks, wooden boards, gaz bombs, and plastic bullets. Mustafa Dağ (27) lost his life at Birecik state hospital, where he was taken, due to a gas bomb hitting him in the head and crushing his skull. Mahsum Karaoğlan (21), who was wounded during the intervention and was taken to Birecik state hospital, lost his life as well. The wounded citizens were taken for treatment to Urfa and Birecik state hospitals. Intensive precautions were taken around Urfa and Birecik state hospitals, where the citizens who lost their lives were taken.

Meanwhile after the [jandarma] intervention, 15 thousand people returned by vehicle, whereas some others flocked to the hospitals where the wounded were taken.


Meanwhile, there's something more on the uprising in Agirî (Ağrı) at MidEast Youth, with video. There are three videos of AKP police brutality for at least one intervention:








Remember how the AKP's police beat women in Wan last Newroz?

It would be a good idea to spread these videos as widely as possible to illustrate to the ignorant just exactly what the AKP's Kurdish Policy is, and what a great example of democracy Turkey is. In Colemêrg (Hakkâri) last Newroz , widespread internet dissemination of AKP police breaking a Kurdish boy's arm was the only way that the state was forced to release Cuneyt Ertuş.

During the 1990's, Kurdistan didn't have a global voice. Now it does. It's called the Internet. Use it.

Thursday, April 02, 2009

TALABANÎ BACKTRACKS AND AKP TERRORIZES

"If liberty and equality, as is thought by some are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in the government to the utmost."
~ Aristotle.


Oh, the power of DTP's victory!

The AKP's representative in Baghdad, Celal Talabanî, suddenly claims that he never said PKK must lay down arms or get the hell out of Dodge. Talabanî suddenly claims his remarks were taken out of context.

Well this is a fat lie because he made his statement on 23 March when Gül stopped by for a visit. In fact, Talabanî went even further; instead of simply saying that PKK had to lay down its arms or get out of Iraq, he clearly implied that PKK fighters were "terrorists". See Radikal.


The about-face of this two-faced so-and-so is a result of two things. The first is the criticism of Talabanî's remarks during his visit to Ankara by DTP politicians, as well as continuing criticism afterward in the week leading up to the elections. Among those voices of criticism, the most powerful was Leyla Zana's. The second is DTP's electoral overthrow of AKP in the Kurdish region.

In Agirî (Ağrı) there have been some developments that are worth watching. Apparently a de facto OHAL has been called for the province as protestors in Agirî city clashed with AKP's security forces (the police) after it was announced that 3,000 votes for DTP were voided. Twenty people have been arrested although 100 people that were held in custody were beaten by police in the street.

Once upon a time, it was enough for the Ankara regime to imprison Kurdish parliamentarians. Now it terrorizes them. DTP Wan (Van) parliamentarian Özdal Üçer was attacked by AKP police in the street while he was trying to talk to the AKP-appointed governor. Other DTP parliamentarians were with Üçer when the attack took place, including Pervin Buldan (Îdir/Iğdır), Hamit Geylani(Colemêrg/Hakkari), and Nezir Karabaş (Bidlîs/Bitlis). The AKP-appointed governor Halil İbrahim Akpınar threatened the deputies, saying, "From now on you will see what we're going to do then."

Events in Agirî beg the question: If the people had voted for AKP, would they be protesting the cancellation of 3,000 DTP votes? It is also clear that as long as there are pigs like Halil İbrahim Akpınar, there will be a need for HPG.

Oh, yeah . . . remember this? Then check out this on financial terrorists:





Source.

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

JOY IN VICTORY

"A joy shared is a joy doubled."
~ Unknown.


I'm posting photos for a second day in a row because these are the ones I've been waiting for. These are photos of post-election celebrations for DTP's victory from all around North Kurdistan and beyond. There are just a few posted here because Özgür Gündem has well over 250 photos from the celebrations and you can begin browsing through all of them here.

In the meantime, you can join me and bask in the joy:
















Gever (Yüksekova) 90% PKK, 0% Destruction [and] Denial.






Tuesday, March 31, 2009

PHOTOS FROM THE MOUNTAINS 3

"The question is not what you look at but what you see!"
~ Henry David Thoreau

Here are some recent photos of the comrades and you'll find more at Fırat News (See: http://www.firatnews.com/gallery/index.php?rupel=galeri&gid=148&rupel2=1 ). Enjoy!




























Monday, March 30, 2009

ELECTION UPDATE AND MORE

"The truth will set you free. But first, it will piss you off."
~ Gloria Steinem.


The only Southern Kurdish politician who has consistently spoken the truth, speaks again, from KurdishAspect:


Kurdish Aspect: One of the other issues in the region is Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) which seems that eventually KRG has been dragged to get involved in it. What do you think the problems are?

Dr. Osman: The solution for PKK problem is in Ankara. Where did PKK come from? The solution is in Ankara and when Turkey changes its policy then gradually this issue will be resolved very easily and Kurdistan Region would help it. But the problem is PKK is the result of state-terrorism policy of Turkey against Kurds which doesn’t recognize Kurdish identity and rights and it has resulted in armed conflict. When the government fights Kurds, then it is a fact that Kurds or PPK will fight back.Turkey insists on its aggressive policy and insists that Kurdistan Region is involved in the issue and expel PKK from Kurdistan Region. This might result in Kurdish infighting. This is a huge problem. What is important to us is that there are 20 million Kurds in Turkey which are entitled to rights. Read the Turkish Constitution and you will see that it says anyone who lives on this land (Turkey) is considered a Turk. There are many suppressive acts. There is no solution for PKK neither in Hawler nor in Baghdad. The solutions are in Ankara. But Turkey doesn’t want to resolve it peacefully and this is the core of the problem. Turkey, Americans, and Maliki’s government all are putting pressure on KRG to expel PKK in its areas. Expelling PKK would result in fighting. It is complicated.

Kurdish Aspect: Do you think that all the sides that you mentioned have been successful in dragging KRG into the PKK issue? As you know it seems that KRG is getting more and more involved in this issue, for example some leaders even call PKK a terrorist group.

Dr. Osman: Yes that is right. But PKK is not a terrorist group and whoever says that is making a mistake. I believe that Turkish state-terrorism and PKK is a reaction to that. Even if PKK is considered a terrorist group, then the big terrorist is Ankara and PKK is just a small one. I believe that this is a political issue, but the problem is Turkey considers it a security issue. If Turkey decides that it will deal with it as a political issue then it can be resolved. But as long as it considers it a security issue and believes that fighting it on the both sides of the border (inside Turkey and inside Iraq) then I don’t see any solution ever. We should ask why PKK is in Iraqi Kurdistan. The answer is that people have been fleeing the Turkish government led fights. If Turkey decides not to fight and grants a general amnesty, I believe that majority of these people (PKK) would return to their country. But the problem is Turkey doesn’t even want to grant a general amnesty. Unfortunately because of the support from the U.S. and the Iraqi government Turkey has been encouraged to continue its policy. The solution is not just by labeling (PKK) a terrorist group and call for expulsion. But I think we have right which is we can demand PKK not to use Iraqi Kurdistan as a base to attack Turkey. That is our right. There is a problem inside Turkey and they have to solve it, because fighting is not the answer for these problems. They (Turkey and PKK) have been fighting each other for a quarter of a century without any decisive results.


On a related note, Heval Cemal recently released a statement over the weekend:


"Our weapons are necessary because we are not dealing with a state that believes in democracy," Karayilan said in the tape. "We are dealing with a state ruled by military generals. To abandon our arms without a political solution to our issues means suicide."

Karayilan spoke in response to written questions submitted by the journalists, who are familiar with the Kurdish rebel leader's voice.

He urged the Turkish government to begin a dialogue with the PKK to resolve Kurdish issues.

"If the Turkish government wants to solve our issue seriously, they should release 4,000 of our leaders who are in the Turkish custody," he said. "They should be freed as a goodwill gesture, then a cease-fire, sit down for negotiations to spell out our national rights within the Turkish state."


This is a brief reiteration of the Declaration for a Democratic Resolution of the Kurdish Question (see: http://www.kurdish-info.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3467 ) from 2006, which the great democratic states of Turkey and the US refused during the Ralston-Lockheed Martin conflict of interest.

There's a little more from Heval Cemal, via AFP:


"Talabani wants to please the Turkish generals, and we have lost all hope of seeing him play a positive role in a solution to the Kurdish problem . . . No one can eject us from our mountain stronghold here, and recent battles are proof of this. We recommend rapprochement between Kurds instead of submitting to pressure exerted by neighbouring countries. . . . What is strange, to say the least, is that Ankara arms 90,000 Kurdish mercenaries and at the same time wants to disarm us. We will never accept talks if preconditional on us disarming."


Of course, whoever wants to go up there and try to remove PKK from the mountains . . . Turkey's tried this how many times now? It was the American general Patton who said, "You don't win a war by dying for your country. You win a war by making the other son-of-a-bitch die for his." Amin.

With respect to the upcoming "Kurdish" summit, it will be more difficult now for the Southern leadership to follow the AKP's lead--like cows with rings in their noses--and propagandize AKP's claim to represent everyone in Turkey, including the Kurdish people. DTP should be able to go into the conference, if invited, with confidence that it is the representative of the Kurdish people in North Kurdistan and then we'll see what all the "democrats" will do.

Most likely AKP will attempt to claim that it's the representative of the Kurdish people but it has very little on which to base this claim. Even the pundits on Turkish TV overwhelmingly say that this election was a major setback for AKP throughout Turkey. If the economic crisis continues, the next general election in Turkey, slated for 2011, will see AKP continue to hemorrhage votes.

DTP now holds 99 cities in The Southeast (complete list here with DTP and AKP voting percentages given at the bottom according to province. DTP's women mayors have increased since yesterday by one, coming to a grand total of 14 women mayors in North Kurdistan and if they're all like Doğubeyazit's Mukaddes Kubilay, they have harder head than the men and can run circles around them all day and all night. And this gender equality has been brought to you courtesy of Abdullah Öcalan and the big, bad PKK.

Finally, unofficial results are in for HAK=PAR (See: http://www.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=nuce&nuceID=5315 ), which received 1,331 votes in Amed (Diyarbakır); 756 in Adana; 546 in Mersin; 467 in Agirî (Ağrı); 447 in Nisêbîn (Nusaybin); 209 in Êlih (Batman); 66 in Çewlik (Bingöl); 66 in Tetwan (Tatvan); 62 in Dersim (Tunceli); 50 in Riha (Urfa); and 2 in Şirnex (Sırnak).

Bijî DTP!

Sunday, March 29, 2009

TURKISH ELECTIONS 2009

"If you cry tomorrow, it will be in vain."
~ R. Tayyip Erdoğan.


Leyla Zana votes for the first time in 18 years, 29 March 2009. Photo: Fırat News.


Most of the counting is done in the local Turkish elections and AKP has lost ground. Literally.

DTP took Sêrt (Siirt--49% DTP; 46% AKP; 2% CHP) and Wan (Van--52% DTP; 41% AKP; 3.6% SP) from DTP; it also took Îdir (Iğdır--40% DTP; 31% AKP; 27% MHP) from MHP. In spite of bribes of washing machines, refrigerators, and the like, DTP took Dersim (Tunceli--30% DTP; 25% Independent; 22% AKP).

"The Castle", aka Amed aka Diyarbakır, broke Katil Erdoğan's heart by handing DTP a 65% win, compared to AKP's 32%. I would guess that much of the support DTP has in the Kurdish capital is as much a result of Osman Baydemir's wild popularity as it is DTP's campaigning. In Colemêrg (Hakkari), DTP won by an overwhelming 79% over AKP's 16%. For more details on numbers, check Milliyet's interactive map. Hürriyet also has lots of election data.

Other significant wins for DTP include Êlih (Batman), Sîlopî (Silopi), Tetwan (Tatvan) and many others. DTP now has 13 women mayors and Fırat news reports that unofficial results show DTP owning eight provinces and 50 districts as a result of the 29 March election.

There have been some problems in connection with the elections. For example, as DTP supporters celebrated the DTP win in Elkê (Beytuşşebap), police attacked the DTP office with tear gas bombs while village guards threw stones. There are problems with election results in Erzîrom's (Erzurum) Tekman town, where AKP won by four votes while 30 votes were purposely cancelled. Apparently fingerprint voting for AKP was accepted but not for DTP. DTP filed objections and the election judge is currently being held by the TSK (local brigade commander) and the governor (qeymeqem/kaymakam) of the town. For what purpose the election judge is being held is unclear but I suspect it may be that he's being held until he okays the shady goings-on.

Here's some analysis on DTP's Amed victory from Hürriyet:


This is a very strong comeback for the DTP, which some observers see as the political wing of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK. In the general elections of July 2007, in it was overshadowed by AKP’s phenomenal success in Kurdish areas.

At least 10,000 people gathered in front the DTP headquarters last night to celebrate this victory. There were men and women, the young and the old, the modern and the conservative. Women in headscarves were chanting around fires along with girls in blue jeans.

There was a notably high number of youth who were all cheerful about not just the DTP, but also the PKK. Its leader, Abdullah Öcalan, who has been in a Turkish jail since 1999, was frequently praised. When his posters were shown, enthusiastic supporters chanted his nickname, “Apo, Apo, Apo.” At some point a slogan filled the air: “The PKK is the people! And the people are here!” It was followed by another one: “Hey Turko, go home, Amed is not yours.” Amed is the ancient name given to Diyarbakir in the Kurdish language.


No mention was made in the article about AKP-sponsored violence against the people of Amed, particularly during the Amed Serhildan exactly three years ago, in which Katil Erdoğan gave a green light to security forces to murder Kurdish women and children if they got in the way. Security forces did, indeed, murder a number of Kurdish children throughout the region at the time. No mention was made of Kurdish opposition to TSK's cross-border invasion of South Kurdistan last year, which was a massive failure and embarrassment for the TSK, as well as the government. Nor was there any mention of last year's Newroz violence.

Hürriyet also offered some analysis on why AKP lost ground throughout Turkey, including:


* Since 2002, only two major political parties, the AKP and the CHP, were competing in the political arena. The AKP was leading the polls, increasing its votes in the last three consecutive elections. In the fourth, CHP managed to curb this trend and started to close the gap, thanks to its reputable candidates in many cities.

* MHP has increased its votes in many Anatolian cities, becoming a more visible contender appealing to center-right voters.

* In the southeast Anatolia, where the AKP was pushing hard to get the municipalities from DTP, it failed to succeed. On the contrary, the DTP seems to have increased its political visibility in the region where the AKP distributed social aid to the poor just before the elections. In addition, neither the government’s initiative of the start of Kurdish broadcasting on state TV (TRT-6) nor its recent attempts to extend an olive branch to Iraqi Kurds for cooperation produced sufficient results for the AKP.

* Support for the AKP in leading industrial cities, like Kayseri, Denizli and Bursa, decreased mostly because of the economic crisis. Although the AKP is less likely to lose the municipalities in these towns, the decrease in the votes would have tangible results over the general outlook on the results.


Now let's see how bold the paşas become. Let's see if AKP will cut the budgets for those provinces that are in DTP's hands. Let's see if AKP intensifies repression in those provinces. In the meantime, hearty congratulations to DTP for its victories!

Bijî DTP û Serkeftin!



DTP's Women Mayors: http://www.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=nuce&nuceID=5302
DTP has 50 districts: http://www.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=nuce&nuceID=5308
DTP attacked in Beytuşşebap: http://www.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=nuce&nuceID=5292
Controversy in Tekman, Erzurum: http://www.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=nuce&nuceID=5304