WHY THE OUTRAGE?

Heaven
I'm in heaven
And my heart beats
So that I can hardly speak
And I seem to find
That happiness I seek
"Cheek to Cheek"

Why the angst? Why the agony? Why the shock and turmoil and foreboding?

Of course I'm talking about the news of the PKK attacks that have left a reported 24 TSK types dead. Others report 26 dead and some 20 wounded.

I'll let you in on something, though . . . friends in Hakkâri say that the death tally is quite a bit higher. Not surprising since the Ankara regime historically distorts the numbers, usually deflating it's KIAs and inflating PKK KIAs.

HPG itself reports that there were approximately 100 kills and wounded from this operation and that this number includes TSK personnel and Özel Harekât (police) team members. Five comrades lost their lives in the operation and HPG will publish the details of those comrades as soon as it is able.

Firat News has reported that a survivor of the Çukurca operation had called his mother and told her that there were many more deaths than Turkish media had reported. The mother, in turn, reported this information via telephone to Kanal 7 TV (Istanbul).

But let's get back to my original questions. Why the shock and agony? Why the promises of revenge from Ankara?

Turkey is a country ruled by a religious party. They refer to their dead as martyrs. So why aren't the ultra-fanatic AKP holy men and women rejoicing that paradise is bulging at its borders with more happy martyrs? I mean, this is what they believe, right, so why the long faces and mean words? The AKP should be asses and elbows on the road Kandil to kiss Murat Karayılan's feet for having overseen the creation of more martyrs.

I find the AKP's lack of faith extremely disturbing. They're worse than infidels because at least infidels aren't expected to have the proper belief system. But the holy men of the AKP? They should declare a holiday of national rejoicing at the mere thought of more Turkish martyrs. They should make Apo Prime Minister of Turkey for life!

Gee, Mr. Gül and Mr. Erdoğan, maybe you're not praying hard enough. Maybe your lack of sincerity in your prayers, your lack of good intentions and your sins have driven your faith away? Perhaps you could purify yourselves of your sins by sending your own children to fight the PKK instead of sending only the children of the poor to be ground into blood meal. You'd be following in the steps of Ibrahim, who was more than willing to sacrifice his son to show his rock-solid faith.

Somehow, I don't think that's going to happen, though. These religious hypocrites are just way too cowardly to put their own kids on the line for their ideology.

On the other hand, maybe the faithless Erdoğan could take some advice from The Baltimore Sun:

But while Erdogan has become a hero for millions of Muslims abroad by urging Arab leaders to embrace freedom and democracy and by championing Palestinian rights, Turkey's Kurds say Erdogan should first focus on problems at home.

Do ya think??

But we've waited over thirty years for the Ankara regime to allow anything like an Arab spring in The Southeast so it's time for the wait to end. It's time for the Kurdish people to create their own Kurdish spring. In fact, since the Ankara regime has placed military and police checkpoints at every meter of the political road in Turkey, there is no other choice but serhildan.

BDP is also falling into the trap of faithlessness. There's absolutely no need to apologize for sending worthy souls to paradise.

As for the hyenas of the international community and their absurd cries of solidarity with the infidel AKP, they want Turkey to continue to act for them in Syria and, ultimately, in Iran. After all, so much of the bombing has been cut back in Libya that the hyenas need to smell fresh blood. And Syria's convenient, too, what with İncirlik in the neighborhood.

In the meantime, I think I'm going to sit back and continue to enjoy a little schadenfreude.




Hevallere Not: Daha birkaç gün önce askeri üniformasıyla askerlere moral ziyaretinde bulunan Abdullah Gül'ün mesajına en kısa ve en anlamlı mesajınızdan dolayı sizleri kutluyorum.

THE FALCONS OF KURDISTAN

"Don't worry. Such things happen. We are doing all that we can."
~ General Gürbüz Kaya, TSK.

The falcons of Kurdistan are tearing the flesh of the wolves of the Turkish Republic.

On its website, Teyrêbazên Azadîya Kurdistan (TAK) has claimed responsibility for yesterday's bombing of a military bus in Istanbul. TAK states that the bombing was in retaliation for "an unjust war in Kurdistan" and it also warns TSK about using civilians as shields and warns all civilians to stay away from military areas and vehicles for their own security. It would appear that TAK's intention is to continue its attacks. There's a little more on TAK's statement at Bianet.

The Independent remarks that this bombing marks the end of HPG's ceasefire. However, the end of the ceasefire occurred on 1 June and HPG has no relationship to TAK. If urban operations continue, it may be possible that TAK will operate in some coordinated manner with HPG since TAK has always remained open to such a possibility. At this point, of course, it's too early to tell.

Still, it would be a good idea to avoid Turkey as a travel destination this year.

HPG's policy of active defense has resulted in numerous TSK deaths in the last few weeks. The responsibility for these deaths lies with TSK as the natural result of its recent heavy operations in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan. Heavy TSK losses are also a result of a combination of hubris and incompetence in the Turkish officer corps--a fact that Turkish families are suddenly recognizing.

Not that this would be the first instance of such hubris and incompetence. Remember the Dağlıca (Oremar) commander, Onur Dirik? Well, so does Zaman:

Dağlıca Battalion Commander Lt. Col. Onur Dirik had left his battalion at the time of the attack to attend a wedding. His pictures, dancing at the wedding at the time of the attack, were published in national newspapers.

Now the families are blaming the deaths of their beloved this last weekend on the paşa in charge of the garrison in Şemdinli, General Gürbüz Kaya. It would appear that not only is this particular paşa filled with hubris and incompetence, but he's a big, fat liar, too:

Kaya was previously in the press for his remarks in a recorded phone conversation last year after it became evident that mines that killed seven soldiers in an explosion two years ago had been planted by the Turkish military rather than the PKK. The tragic background of the incident was revealed by Van prosecutors who launched an investigation into the mine explosion after a telephone conversation between Brig. Gen. Zeki Es and Maj. Gen. Kaya indicating that the mines were planted by the people who were responsible for the soldiers' security came to light. In the recording, Kaya -- speaking about the blast that killed seven soldiers -- can be heard telling Es: “Don't worry. Such things happen. We are doing all that we can.”

OOPS!!

But, then, we know for a fact that Turkish officers don't give a shit. Remember this, from last year:

Four soldiers were killed in the eastern province of Elazığ on Aug. 17 after a lieutenant gave one of the privates a hand grenade whose pin he had pulled out to punish him for sleeping during his night watch, the Taraf daily claimed yesterday.

The testimony of members of the army obtained by the daily reveal that the four soldiers died when an activated grenade given to them by Lt. Mehmet Tümer exploded. According to the records, Tümer wanted to punish Pvt. İbrahim Öztürk for falling asleep during his night watch. It had previously been claimed that the soldiers were killed when a hand grenade carried by one of the soldiers exploded accidentally as they were patrolling the rural area against the prospect of a terrorist attack by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Four other soldiers were injured in the blast. However, soldiers' testimonies point to a totally different cause behind the deaths.

So, this criminally feckless attitude is rife among the officer corps of NATO's second largest army. How appropriate for such a pack of hyenas. Bengi Yıldız is right: "Don't send your children to military service".

On a related matter, Israeli UAV technicians and instructors were recalled to Israel in the first half of June, after the Mavi Marmara incident. CNN reported this:

After the May 31 [Mavi Marmara] incident, Turkey's prime minister ominously warned "nothing would ever be the same again," between the two once-close Middle Eastern allies. Recep Tayyip Erdogan has demanded that Israel apologize for what he has repeatedly labeled an act of "state terrorism" and "piracy" in the eastern Mediterranean.

Turkey withdrew its ambassador from Tel Aviv, Israel, in protest and cancelled joint military exercises with Israel. But Ankara has been careful not to sever ties with the Israeli defense industry.

Further down in that article, İlker Paşa had this to say:

When asked on Monday whether Israeli technicians and engineers had to cut short training on the new drones due to the recent rift in relations, Basbug insisted Turkish operators were adequately prepared to pilot the Herons.

"Now our own personnel, our air force, is using the Heron systems that we bought," Basbug said. "They got the training, it is over. We are capable, we have started using them."

But I think İlker Paşa prevaricates; yesterday, Zaman reported that a Turkish military delegation arrived in Israel on Tuesday to complete some testing on the Heron systems. They'll be there for two weeks.

So much for all of Katil Erdoğan's anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian solidarity shit.

In conclusion, let me express my best wishes to our dear Kurdish falcons and let's all lift a glass to happy hunting!

SUSPICION OF CHEMICAL WEAPONS IN TURKISH BOMBARDMENT

"One important question that needs to be resolved concerns the status of an alleged secret directive of the Turkish Army permitting the use of chemical and biological measures in counter-terrorist activities."
~ The Sunshine Project Country Study No. 3.

From yesterday's Özgür Gündem:

Suspicion of chemical weapons in TSK bombardment


In the Levce village of Qendil, hundreds of goats died in the area where Turkish aircraft bombed. As a result of the bombardment, 186 baby goats died and, according to the investigation, poisonous material has been found in the goats' milk.

Mam Hasan, who makes his living through animal husbandry in Levce village, said that he made his goats graze in the area where Turkish aircraft bombed on 16 December. After a while, he said, all the baby goats died, one after the other.

We made an analysis, medication did not cure.

Hasan Mecid said the ongoing events after the bombardment, as follows: "When Turkish aircraft bombed this region, nothing happened to my animals. However, when I grazed my animals in the region that had been bombed, almost 200 of my animals died. Some other animals also died in the village. But after my animals died altogether, we went to Dîyana, Hewlêr, and Silêmanî veterinarians, bought medication, and made the laboratory analysis. None of the medication given had cured them. The animals continued to be sick and die."

Poison found in goats' milk

For a more detailed laboratory analysis, we took samples of goat meat and milk. As a result, poison was found in the milk. However, Hasan Mecid said the doctors did not mention anything about the reason for the poison. Mecid continued: "Nothing like this has happened before in our village. There is only one reason, and that is the Turkish aircraft bombed the region where the goats were grazed, and those weapons spread poison. The expert veterinarians also asked where I grazed my animals, and I said the region where the airplanes bombed. They, too, mentioned that it might be the reason for the poison in the milk."

We cannot give goat milk to the children

Hasan Mecid's daughter, Şuno Mecid, said that the newborn goats became ill very soon after they started nursing, and later they died while they were convulsing. Because the baby goats died, they do not use goat milk and they do not give it to their children. Şuno Mecid said: "Now we milk the goats and we pour out the milk. Since the baby goats died, we are worried that this milk will harm people, too. We are also concerned about the occurence of any disease in children."

Earlier the KRG environment minister Dara Muhammed Emin had also mentioned that they have evidence that the Turkish state was using weapons that violate laws of war. This incident that occured in Levce village reminds us one more time of the suspicion of Turkey's use of chemical weapons. For that reason, the villagers called international institutions for a delegation of independent experts to investigate the matter.

The Levce villagers said that if their claim is corroborated, they will sue Turkey.

Gordon Taylor has an update on Cüneyt Ertuş. Surprise, surprise, surprise!! The police lied!

Yesterday the Emniyet of Hakkari province posted a press release on their website. [The Emniyet is the "Public Safety" or, rather, "State Security" office of the Turkish government. They're the police, in other words. Turkey is a rigidly centralized state; thus the Emniyet is everywhere. If you know the novels of Eric Ambler ("A Coffin for Dimitrios", "Journey into Fear", or "The Light of Day", from which the movie "Topkapi" was drawn), then you should know the word Emniyet.] Yesterday's press release dealt with Cuneyt, who was identified only by his initials, C.E.

The heading reads, "Release concerning the person whose arm was allegedly broken." This is in Turkish, of course, and I am very loosely translating. "Having been taken twice to the doctor," it says, "C.E. has no serious damage to his arm, according to their reports." C.E.'s arm, the report continues, has been X-rayed at the Hakkari State Hospital, and these have found no breaks. He remains in custody, etc., and the claims which have been made about his condition are untrue.

[ . . . ]

Hakkari, the remotest of Turkey's provincial capitals, is now, incredibly, a part of the global village. When I was there in 1977, I was astounded to find oranges from the Mediterranean coast on sale in the market. From the miracle of oranges, we now have digital video of a Hakkari kid's arm being broken, video that's flashed to Denmark, beamed up to a satellite, and then beamed back to the TV sets of the boy's relatives, who in the past would have known nothing about it. Thus a press release about a 15-year-old boy from police-state apparatchiks who formerly would never have bothered.

There is, moreover, new information. This morning I heard from a contact in Germany. He had just talked to Cuneyt's father. Cuneyt is still in jail, but lawyers from the Hakkari Bar Association have been allowed to visit him. The lawyers confirmed that Cuneyt's arm had indeed been broken. It is in a sling, swathed in bandages. In other words, the Emniyet's press release was a lie. My point is this: At least they were forced to say something. Once again, the digital revolution has made history.

Now, Hevallo has an interesting commentary on Gordon's post:

It also forcibly reminded me, like nothing else could, of all of the innocent Kurds, rounded up during Newroz and facing serious charges, not to mention torture, languishing in Turkish prisons, snatched from their loved ones and now suffering torture and a nightmarish future.

For what? Because they are Kurdish!

Nothing more, nothing less, many of the Kurdish people detained during Newroz will of set out on the day they ended up being detained, in their best clothes, hair made up, looking forward to a day of celebration, hoping to see some of the friends and listen to some nice music. A special day out.

But now, having been attacked by police, grabbed off the street and find themselves now locked in a cell, labelled as terrorists and facing a long prison sentence. A horrendous nightmare!

By the way, there's a fascinating backgrounder on Tibet that is a must-read. Did you know the Dalai Lama was on the CIA's payroll? That Indian intelligence also financed him? Isn't that just like a cleric?

Did you know what life was like under the rule of the religious and the secular Tibetan elites? If not, open your eyes.

GOOD KURDS/BAD KURDS V.2

"The "Bad Kurds" are those who harbor freedom notions for their long-suffering people and show signs of doing something to realize Kurdish dreams of freedom and independence. In the front ranks of the Kurds who have refused to become stepínífetchits for the imperial elite is the heroic PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), a genuine national liberation movement which has been taking on Turkey and its sponsors on the Potomac in an all-out popular guerrilla war for over 16 years."
~ Huseyin al-Kurdi.

There's an interview with Michael Totten's sidekick at sidekick's site. Aside from the usual propaganda we've come to expect from Totten, there was something very interesting that I noticed from sidekick, who goes by the name of Patrick Lasswell. To set this up, check out the following:

Have you also been in other parts of Kurdistan then Iraqi-Kurdistan? And what do you think about it?

Iran and Syria are blocked to me. They are distinctly unkind to sailors in Iran, despite what the British hostages said with guns to their heads. Syria is also a problem because I have a military security clearance I'd like to keep intact and they might hand me over to Iran. Is it hubris to think of yourself as worth at least a truckload of Katyusha's? Eastern Turkey is arguably less attractive than Kirkuk in a variety of dimensions, and the time to go there hasn't been available in the trips I've taken. I have talked extensively with Iranian Kurds and found them to be charming.

The guy is American military. The guy hasn't been to Rojhelat or Rojava. The guy hasn't spent any time to speak of in Bakûr, so he doesn't have a clue about Bakûrî. He doesn't know the people; he doesn't know the situation--or at least as an American military type, pretends to not know about the situation--and he doesn't know the history. Yet, in spite of all this ignorance, he's an expert on PKK. Read on:

I do not consider the PKK a political party. I see it as a criminal conspiracy to extort funds from Kurds in Europe and anyone else who will pay for violence. Their influence in Iraqi Kurdistan is pernicious, but not dominant. I much prefer the social democrat Iranian Komala to the Turkish PKK. There is a reason that the dissident Iranian Komala is easy to reach, with a sign out front, from Suliamaniya and the PKK hides in some of the most rugged and inaccessible terrain in Central Asia. The PKK works to oppress and control decent people. The Iranian Komala works to liberate decent people.

Odd, isn't it, considering that PKK is not Turkish? Sure, there are Turks in PKK; there always have been. But it's a Kurdish organization, hence the name: Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan. Oh, and PKK doesn't consider itself a party either, at least not in its official expression, which is Koma Komalên Kurdistan.

Odd, too, that Lasswell doesn't like the fact that PKK doesn't post huge signs on the roads to give directions to PKK's Qendîl location . . . even though hundreds of other journalists have easily found their way to that location. Remember when the ceasefire was called? There were oodles of foreign journalists at Qendîl for that. Everyone goes up and down Qendîl to talk to PKK, even the CIA, but Lasswell can't seem to find Qendîl nor does he seem to know anyone who does know the way to Qendîl.

It's also odd that this American military type is singing the praises of a Rojhelatî organization (he wrongly calls Komala "Iranian") from Iran, yet cannot dis Bakûrî or PKK enough. I wonder if that has anything to do with the fact that the US is still pissed off at Iran for taking over the US embassy in Teheran way back in 1979? I wonder if that's because the American Deep Staters who run the American government are still itching to nuke Iran? I wonder if that's because the American Deep Staters are so closely allied with the Turkish Deep Staters? I wonder if it's because Turkey is America's second ally in the region, second only after Israel (which is also deep into the deep shit of the Deep State).

I guess KOMALA has agreed to work for the Americans and PKK hasn't. What a shock.

But there's more:

There is no need to crater the runway at Erbil International Airport in order to control the PKK. If Turkey is serious about controlling the PKK, they'd be better off interdicting the Frankfurt airport, Dubai banks, or just shooting heroin dealers in Paris. The PKK is a persistent problem because they are exceptionally well funded through extortion and other criminal activities taking place in Europe. There are also indications that other Central Asian powers are providing the PKK with support as a distraction for Turkey.

Our smart American military boy really displays his ignorance here. If Turkey is serious about anything, especially its internal stability and wider, regional stability, as it always claims, then Turkey needs to sit down and go over the political solution that PKK has offered. And if it does, it will also sit down with DTP, while ending the persecution of this legal Kurdish political party. In addition, we'd all be interested to see the hard evidence of the other claims made here by the guy who's never talked to PKK or never spent any time among the Bakûrî--the very same people our American military boy has helped Turkey to genocide.

(As a reminder, it was years ago that Ocalan himself said that it was not necessary that he sit down personally and negotiate a peace with the TC. For him, it is enough that a peace be negotiated.)

But, of course, such hard evidence will never be forthcoming because it's all a Turkish pipedream. I mean, it has been over twenty years that Turkey and its American ally have been making these claims and they've never produced a shred of hard evidence for them. Just as Turkey has been making similar claims of RojTV, yet the Danish government has yet to receive any hard evidence of any Turkish claims.

Finally:

I have no love of the PKK. Their supporters sound just like Hezbollah stooges and they have lied about my friends. I suspect the PKK of all kinds of villainy and vice and know that they have used terror on a regular basis. I also understand why my Iraqi Kurdish friends are sympathetic to the oppressed Kurds of Turkey. What most of my Iraqi Kurdish friends don't know is the reason why their sympathies are not divided is that the PKK attacks rival and divergent groups with much greater vigor than they ever attack the Turkish state. The PKK has a monopoly on Kurdish insurrection in Turkey and they murderously suppress anyone who tries to compete with them. What kind of government do you think they will make if they are ever put in charge...or even allowed a seat at the table?

Now we come to the heart of the matter. Military boy is upset because he alleges that PKK has lied about his friends. He suspects everything evil of PKK for this reason and for the reason that he's well-versed in Deep State propaganda. You can forget that part about his understanding why his Başûrî friends "are sympathetic to the oppressed Kurds of Turkey," because this is your typical American who really doesn't give a damn about any kind of Kurd. He's looking out for the interests of his American bosses and Kurds are just pawns in their games.

By the way, if PKK is so ruthless, why has DTP been around for so long? After all, we all know DTP's had previous incarnations. If HPG can kill JITEM scum at will in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan, wouldn't it be that much easier to pick off, oh, say 54 DTP mayors at will? But that hasn't happend, has it? The only threats to DTP is the Ankara regime and its allies. They're the only ones who've been charging, investigating, prosecuting, detaining, arresting, imprisoning, and threatening DTP.

And military boy's claim that PKK enforces Bakûrî unity is pure bullshit. Which gerîla was holding a gun to Leyla Zana's head during her Newroz speech? Which gerîlas were holding guns to the heads of 54 DTP mayors to enforce their support for RojTV or to call for an independent medical examination of Ocalan? Which gerîlas hold guns to the heads of ordinary Bakûrî, other Kurds, and other non-Kurds who do find their ways to Qendîl?

Our American military boy refuses to admit that it is, in fact, the Ankara regime that is ruthless in its brutality against the Bakûrî, and not PKK. What we have here is a rehash of McKiernan's "good" Kurd/"bad" Kurd dichotomy, a dichotomy which even extends into Kurdish society and manifests as intra-Kurdish racism.

But, stirring all this up, perpetuating the dichotomy, and conquest by division, well, that's how a propagandist works. Just like Michael Rubin.

For more on American designs on Iraq and South Kurdistan, check out a fabulous article on "The Prize of Iraqi Oil," from TomDispatch.com. After you've read that, you might be interested to read about the "Soft Bigotry of the NYTimes" and how anxious these lapdogs are to ram the oil law down the throats of Iraqis and Başûrî, thus effectively robbing them of their most valuable resource.

Who said it wasn't about the control of oil?

For a pretty good analysis of what's going on politically in the Turkish elections, check out Shiraz Socialist. There are a lot of little details in that post that I'm certain a lot of people have forgotten about or never knew, especially if they read only Western media.

KERKUK AND CONVENIENT INSTABILITY

"Some officials believed that the Turkish security remained incapable of eliminating the PKK supporters as long as [the security forces] functioned within legal means. Thus, they arrived at the conclusion that the PKK could have been fought only through extra-legal methods."
~ Hanefi Avci, deputy intelligence department chief of Turkish Security, in testimony before the TBMM.

Bianet reports on this year's Press Freedom Day in Turkey. They have a Press Freedom Day? That's hilarious! I guess, though, that you would expect a fascist state to have something called "Press Freedom Day." Totally Orwellian.

Naturally, Press Freedom Day in Turkey followed the indiscriminate beatings of journalists during the May Day events in Istanbul last week. That'll teach them to go out an attempt to report on stuff that actually happens, instead of sitting around in their offices and rewriting the bullshit the state gives them for publication. Does anyone think that this would give American journalists a clue?

Goran from Zanetî has a great article on Kerkuk which got picked up by ZNet. The article does an excellent job of summing up the situation of Kerkuk, including mentions of arabization, the recent efforts to de-arabize the city, and the influence of foreign provocateurs who have increasingly exerted themselves to make life in the city as unbearable as life in Baghdad:

Until now, violence in Kirkuk has been blamed primarily on Sunni and Shiite insurgents. Several Shiite armed groups such as the Mehdi Army, loyal to Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, began moving into the Kirkuk province mid-last year. U.S. officials declared such Shiite armed groups, reportedly backed by Iran, as the deadliest threats to the security in the region. Local residents say their presence is marked by bomb explosions and murders.

However much the threat of these armed groups as well as Iran’s alleged influence in the region, Iraqi officials recently claimed to have found links between the ongoing violence in Kirkuk and other foreign forces. Recently, an Iraqi Kurdish official in Kirkuk, Nejat Hassan, asserted that Iraqi Security Forces obtained enough evidence to prove that Turkey’s Intelligence Agency has been carefully conducting much of the terrorist activity in Kirkuk, targeting both Iraqi government officials as well as civilians.

Goran also notes the unilateral nature of Kurdish attempts to discuss Kerkuk with the Turkish state, with Turkey's rejection-by-silence. Is this a reflection of Turkey's unstated official policy toward the Kurdish people? I think so, especially in light of the Ankara regime's rejection of a democratic solution to the untenable situation of the Kurdish people under Turkish occupation in North Kurdistan, which was offered by PKK last August, as well as the regime's rejection of PKK's fifth unilateral ceasefire from the beginning of last October.

While "[M]any Kurds feel uncomfortable with the Americans’ silent stance on this issue and believe their reasons are in order to avoid embarrassment with their Turkish ally," this may simply be a matter of vastly misplaced politeness (aka diplomacy) on the part of the KRG. The fact is that the US war industry makes a lot of money for their executives and members of their boards of directors, such as Lockheed Martin's Joseph Ralston who, coincidentally or not, is the American "special envoy" to "coordinate" the PKK for the Ankara regime. On behalf of the Washington regime, Ralston has rejected PKK's ceasefire, has completely ignored PKK's democratic solution, and has lied to Congress about the nature of Kurdish refugees from Turkish-occupied Kurdistan. There most recent long-term residence has been the Maxmur refugee camp, just outside and to the west of Hewlêr Governorate.

It's not in the interests of the US to see a stable Turkey in the region, just as it may not be in the interests of the US to see a stable Iraq. As long as the Washington and Ankara regimes collaborate in the maintenance of a low-intensity conflict in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan, their Deep Staters will continue to maintain control of the region and its highly coveted energy resources, as well as to turn a few billion bucks through Deep State corporations . . . like Lockheed Martin.

The Washington/Ankara collaboration would appear to be working, given the instability that began with the November, 2005, Semdinli bombing; the provocations that led to the Amed Serhildan; the Amed bombing of September 12 (a significant date since it is the anniversary of the 1980 coup as well as the day of the first arrival in Ankara of the US "special envoy"); the persecution of Turkey's only Kurdish party, DTP; and the poisoning, and recent severe isolation punishment, of the Kurdish people's leader, Abdullah Ocalan.

The instability has also severely affected other ethnic or religious minority groups within Turkey, such as was highlighted with the Ankara regime's murder of Armenian activist and editor, Hrant Dink, and the recent murders of Christians in Trabzon and Malatya.

Then, too, we have the fact of Turkish mercenaries, based in the US, and operating in Kerkuk. Funny thing . . . that mercenary company is run by people who were involved with the 2003 assassination plot of the Kerkuk governor.

It's a small world, isn't it?

While the Washington regime presents a united front when the subject is the genocide of the Kurdish people (or the Armenian people, for that matter), it talks out of both sides of its mouth when it comes to other areas of political instability, thereby helping to maintain instability. For instance, US propagandists from the State Department feign concern for the non-existent democratic process in Turkey while at the same time cultivate the deep and abiding "friendship" of the Deep State, controlled by the Turkish military. Witness the US response to the recent "e-coup" of the Paşas.

Other, non-official propagandists, such as Michael Rubin and the AEI, continue to deny that any US-backed atrocities have been inflicted on the Kurdish people by America's Ankara allies. American lies about the Turkish genocide of Kurds can be found most recently, and in such inocuous pieces of writing as book reviews, like Rubin's latest:

Such balance, however, does not extend to the Turkish Kurds. McKiernan's account oozes with antipathy toward Turkey. He wrongly calls Kurds "second class citizens" in Turkey, ignoring that presidents, foreign ministers, and scores of parliamentarians have been Kurdish. Lack of education and urban-rural divide better explain the social differences in Turkey than ethnicity. Too often McKiernan uncritically accepts the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) narrative, though many Kurds consider it a terrorist group.

Maybe "many Kurds" consider PKK a "terrorist group," but those "many" would not be found in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan; they would be found outside of Turkish-occupied Kurdistan and, therefore, are not familiar with the real terrorist group of The Region--the TSK. It would also be more credible if an "expert" like Rubin would bother to provide statistics to help us define what he considers "many" to mean.

Rubin is clearly also pushing the lie that "presidents, foreign ministers, and scores of parliamentarians" have been Kurdish. Nothing could be further from the truth and the "presidents, foreign ministers, and scores of parliamentarians" would no doubt have Rubin detained and tortured, if not extrajudicially murdered, for suggesting that they were "Kurd," since those "Kurds" had long abandoned and denied any Kurdish roots they may have had. The only Kurdish parliamentarians that ever truly earned the title, were charged, prosecuted, and imprisoned for years for their temerity in having spoken their mother language inside the venerable halls of the Turkish Grand National Assembly. Those parliamentarians were Leyla Zana, Hatip Dicle, Orhan Dogan and Selim Sadak.

There have been no other Kurdish parliamentarians in the history of the TC. None.

The "expert," Rubin, fails to explain how the "[L]ack of education and urban-rural divide" were forced, official policies of the Ankara regime that date back to the very foundation of the regime. It's also interesting to note that Rubin denies the second-class citizen status of the Kurdish people under Turkish occupation, even though this status has been proven and documented time and time again by such PKK-sponsored organizations as IHD, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Kurdish Human Rights Project, among others.

Then again, it is the Deep State which has pushed the lie that human rights organizations are PKK-sponsored, and that is one of the reasons why the Ankara regime began a campaign of hate against a former IHD head, Akin Birdal. Turkish media's collusion in that campaign very nearly cost Birdal his life, when a state assassin pumped six bullets into him while he was in the Istanbul IHD office in 1998. Remember, too, that a similar media hatred campaign was attempted last year against another former IHD head, Eren Keskin.

Too bad Rubin the "expert" is thoroughly unacquainted with the facts of the Kurdish struggle. Of course, the Kurdish struggle simply does not serve the script continually written by the US-Turkey-Israel war triangle of the neocon-Deep State playwrights like Rubin.

For more "analysis" on the Ankara regime's insistence on invasion of South Kurdistan for control of Kerkuk's oil, check out the Turkish propagandist at World Politics Watch. Notice how in the first couple of paragraphs we're supposed to feel sorry for the families of TSK terrorists that are killed by HPG gerîlas, but there's no mention whatsoever for families like the Kaymaz family, whose father and 12-year-old son were gunned down in cold blood by Ankara state terrorists in front of their home in November, 2004. The state murderers were acquitted by the regime last month.

That's business as usual in a state-sponsor of terror like Turkey, and I should be concerned with their dead? BOO-EFFING-HOOOOO.

You should also notice how the propagandist of that piece engages in the usual Turkish BS. Turkey just wants to "move on," maybe even "find closure," but the US won't go take care of PKK for Turkey, like it did with the help of its Israeli friends in Kenya. But that conspiracy didn't end PKK at all, did it? Yet that's what the Ankara regime thought back then.

For the Turkish propagandist, the Kurdish "problem" is all the fault of the Americans. The official policy is to blame everyone else, just like adolescents do. There is no acceptance by the Ankara regime for having pushed the Kurdish people into legitimate armed resistance against 80 years of atrocities and no acceptance of the fact that a military solution will never solve the situation.

Then again, I doubt whether the regime really wants to solve the situation. It would be so much more lucrative to simply invade South Kurdistan in order to control energy resources in Mûsil and Kerkuk.

Remember, it's better to die on your feet than to die on your knees.

IRANIANS, IRAQ, ILISU, AND A UN REPORT

"I am deeply concerned about the devastating impact the controversial Ilisu dam would have on the lives of tens of thousands of people and about the irreversible loss of an invaluable cultural heritage in the Tigris valley. Allowing the Ilisu dam to go ahead will be a crime against the fundamental human rights of the people in this region and against our common cultural heritage."
~ Bianca Jagger.

Last Monday, I mentioned the following:

Hey, do you think if the US coughed up those Iranians it kidnapped in Hewlêr that Iran might cough up the American ex-FBI guy that went missing from Kish Island?

Surprise, surprise, surprise! There was an interesting development today, from McClatchy Newspapers:

The United States has quietly increased its back-channel diplomatic contacts with Iran, a sign that those who favor engagement have strengthened their hand in the administration, U.S. officials say.

Using Switzerland as an intermediary, American and Iranian officials have exchanged diplomatic messages on a variety of nuts-and-bolts subjects, including the fate of an American citizen missing in Iran, the future of five Iranian operatives whom American forces seized in Iraq, and old financial and property disputes.

I wonder . . . given the administration's rhetoric, could this exchange of diplomatic messages be construed as negotiating with terrorists? As we all know, the US never negotiates with terrorists, right?

I don't suppose that point about "property disputes" has anything to do with offshore boundaries that the UK may have been in violation of?

There was something else on this, on Tuesday:

Diplomats fear the case could mark a new twist in apparent tit-for-tat detentions involving the US, Britain and Iran, which began with the detention by US forces in Iraq of five Iranians in January and the capture of 15 British sailors by Iran who were freed earlier this month.

The US had to realize that when it seized those Iranians in Hewlêr in January, that it was provoking a reaction because there was no other purpose for the seizure. Additionally, the seizure created a difficult climate between Iraq and Iran, as if Iraq had no other problems to deal with right now. Bottom line? It was a stupid thing to do.

Speaking of Iraq, there's a new press release on Ilisu from KHRP:

Iraq's Minister of Water, Dr Latif Rashid, has strenuously denied giving Iraq's blessing to the controversial Ilisu Dam, which Turkey plans to build on the Tigris River [1].

The Minister's denial contradicts previous assurances by Turkey and the Governments of Germany, Switzerland and Austria, whose Export Credit Agencies (ECAs) approved funding for the dam in March 2007 [2], on the basis that Iraq had no objections to the dam.

If built, the dam could severely impact on downstream flows of the Tigris, which could be reduced to a trickle in summer months [3]. Turkey has failed to guarantee a minimum downstream flow to Iraq and Syria [4].

Although the ECAs made funding conditional on Turkey first supplying Iraq with the information it sought on the project, the Minister told a joint Kurdish Human Rights Project - Corner House fact-finding mission [5] that key information had still to be provided.

"The ECAs have breached their own conditions", says Nicholas Hildyard, who interviewed Iraq's Minister of Water. "Iraq made known its objections at the highest level. The ECAs appear to have ignored them."

How typical of greedmongers.

Turkey, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria have lied about the conditions required to move forward on the Ilisu Dam project, which is nothing more than an exploitation scheme that will result in further state-sponsored destruction of Turkish-occupied Kurdistan and the indigenous culture of the region. Moreover, this is another indication of the regard with which the EU holds the Kurdish people, Kurdish culture, and Kurdish rights, as well as those of the other ethnic groups of the area and those in Iraq.

The entire KHRP-Corner House report on this latest development and its downstream impact on Iraq can be accessed in this .pdf document.

More backgrounder on the Ilisu issue can be read on Rastî from last August and October.

In other news, the UN has released a report today which criticizes the KRG for lack of public services, government corruption, honor murders, detention of prisoners, and arrests and harassment against journalists.

I have no idea what Dindar Zebarî means when he says that "legal procedures are followed against some who overstep the standards of the journalism profession." How did the journalists in question "overstep the standards of the journalism profession?" Did they publish "state secrets?" Or is Zebarî more likely referring to the fact that the journalists simply wrote articles critical of the problems in South Kurdistan? Or maybe the KRG subscribes to the argument that since journalists are not elected, they have no business speaking at all, such as what happened in Sweden recently:

A Kurdistan Democratic Party official attacked a speaker of CHAK in the Swedish city of The Gothenburg, reported Awene, a Kurdish online Monday.

While Rafat Halabajayy, according to Awene, was giving his speech on behalf of the organisation on the anniversary of gassing Kurdish population of Halaja, the representative of KDP, led by Massud Barzani, interfered and disturbed the meeting, telling Mr Halabjayy that he does not represent the people; hence he has no right to talk.

Attacks on Kurdish intellectuals and scholars aboard by the PUK and KDP are not unusual. Two years ago Dr Burhan Yasin, a Kurdish scholar and thinker, was verbally abused by a number of KDP representatives in Germany while he was giving his assessment of the situation of Kurdistan. He was told by the KDP members that he is not allowed to talk. Dr Yasin is a well-respected scholar and he was invited by the organiser to give a paper in the conference.

CHAK is very critical of the corruption of the Kurdish administration of the PUK and KDP. CHAK is an international Kurdish organisation pursing the rights of victims of Anfal and fights corruption in Kurdistan.

While the KDP and PUK can control independent organisations in Kurdistan, diaspora organisations have become a challenged for them.

It's time for the KRG to grow up and get over the fascist inclination. Otherwise, the only thing we'll have in South Kurdistan is Turkey v.2.

CENSORSHIP, PROPAGANDA, AND KURDS

"We do not need U.S. presidents to tell us where our homeland is. And even if they try to do so, we should not subordinate our better judgement to their economic, strategic or political agenda."
~ Monte Melkonian, Armenian freedom-fighter.

Okay, there's a lot of ground to cover today, so let's get to it.

First, there's a post at DozaMe about the US Treasury Deparment, Office of Foreign Asset Control's (OFAC) expansion into the censorship business.

What is interesting is the fact that the US Treasury Department's OFAC is supposed to do just that--control assets, i.e. money, finances, trade sanctions. Here's their mission statement (Note: I'm not going to link to the site, but whoever wants to, can google "OFAC" and it should come up as the first return, then check their mission statement):

Our Mission

The Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") of the US Department of the Treasury administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on US foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign countries, terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, and those engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. OFAC acts under Presidential wartime and national emergency powers, as well as authority granted by specific legislation, to impose controls on transactions and freeze foreign assets under US jurisdiction. Many of the sanctions are based on United Nations and other international mandates, are multilateral in scope, and involve close cooperation with allied governments.

I don't see anything in that mission statement that has anything whatsoever to do with First Amendment rights meddling. For those who don't know, here's the First Amendment to the US Constitution:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Specifically, free speech and free press rights are central to the mission of the sites listed at DozaMe as targeted by the OFAC. OFAC is, therefore, going outside of its mandate by meddling in questions of First Amendment rights, but I guess that acting "under Presidential wartime and national emergency powers," i.e. DICTATORIAL powers is consistent with the problem of rising global fascism.

Since Yahoo is now being sued by a court in San Francisco for handing over information to China that led to the arrest, torture, and imprisonment of cyber-dissidents there, it looks like the civil rights types are the only ones left to mount a defense of free expression. The organization bringing that suit is The World Organization for Human Rights USA. Then there is the Center for Consitutional Rights which brought the lawsuit against the PATRIOT Act on behalf of LTTE and PKK.

Until the legal machinery can get a handle on these violations of civil rights, I would expect more of the same from the fascist elites, particularly in the US and in Turkey, as well as from their wimpy, limp-wristed, panty-waisted proxy, the EU.

Then, there were several articles in American media this last week that focused on Kurds, the first of which is Justin Raimondo's critique of Christopher Hitchins' recent propaganda. Who would have thought that Raimondo would take the ultra-neoconservative point of view, aligning himself with the swill from the AEI's uberfascist, Michael Rubin? But this is what Raimondo does, in between hand-wringing over the "horrific persecution of Kamal Said Qadir" and the recent KDP attacks against journalist Nabaz Goran.

Now, I personally know of very few Kurds who supported KDP in its stupidity over the Qadir Affair, but was it "horrific persecution?" Yesterday I posted a number of examples from Peace in Kurdistan Campaign on the situation of Ragip Zarakoglu, Belge Publishing House, and Ozgur Gundem, and as we all know, these examples are a miniscule drop in the bucket compared to the truly horrific attacks against free expression rights for which America's ally, Turkey, is extremely well-known for. And on this score, I rush to point out that Michael Rubin has never, in his entire career as a professional propagandist, ever pointed out even the slightest minutiae of the slightest repression of Kurds by the Ankara regime. And that's a characteristic that Raimondo shares.

Aside from the fact that Raimondo ignores the plight of the ordinary Kurd in South Kurdistan who is struggling simply to survive, the lack of basic services in the face of "Dream Cities" and the construction of shopping malls for the elites, the huge number of Arab families that have fled the violence of Arab Iraq and have found a relative haven in South Kurdistan, or the numbers of Kurdish youth that are attempting to flee South Kurdistan because they feel they have no future there . . . aside from the fact that Raimondo ignores these examples and others, he conveniently leaves out the fact that there is great discontent among the general population and, because he prefers to view Kurds as two-dimensional, non-human, extras in a Hollywood-style fiasco manufactured by the American war industry, he overlooks one central fact of Kurdish history--Serhildan.

As an aside, but only because it's such bullshit--Raimondo sheds crocodile tears for Arabs leaving Kerkuk as Kurds "swarm" into the city, but he conveniently ignores the fact that thousands of Kurdish families were forced out by America's former best ally in the region, Saddam Hussein. By the way, if you'd like to hear a fabulous discussion of Donald Rumsfeld and how well he got along with Saddam and the Ba'athi regime, check out the two-part interview with Andrew Cockburn at Stress. Part 1 is almost an hour and Part 2 is slightly over 40 minutes.

Keeping in character with his apparent doppelganger at AEI, Raimondo characterizes PKK and the legitimate Kurdish armed struggle in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan as "terrorism." Let's cut to the chase, shall we? If Americans had to suffer forced evacuations of their small towns and the destruction of their homes; if they had to suffer real violations of their freedom of expression or freedom of association; if they had to suffer routine torture and impunity at the hands of security forces; if their mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts, nieces, and other female relatives were routinely raped and otherwise sexually assaulted, do you think they'd fight back? Or do you think they'd "acquiesce" in their treatment like their good sidekick Tony Blair would counsel?

If Americans armed themselves and conducted a legitimate armed resistance against such state-sponsored atrocities, then Americans themselves would be classified as terrorists, by their own definition, just as PKK is classified as "terrorist." Oh, did I forget to mention that all of the atrocities perpetrated against the so-called terrorists of Turkish-occupied Kurdistan were backed by the US?

So that brings me to Raimondo's claim that "One of Kurdistan's chief exports is terrorism." Wrong. This is America's chief export. The US has exported terrorism to Indonesia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Cuba, Vietnam, Colombia, Afghanistan, now Iraq, and, of course, Kurdistan, as brilliantly documented by Desmond Fernandes as far back as 2001 and more recently. This is on top of the tons of documents on Turkey's brutal repression of Kurds by human rights organizations, or Ismet Imset's analysis of PKK's legitimacy vis-a-vis armed struggle, or even John Tirman's book Spoils of War, to mention a few sources.

Should I even mention Raimondo's reference to Seymour Hersh's unsubstantiated claims about US support for PJAK? Whoever wants more on that can search Rastî for "PJAK."

At the end of Raimondo's self-serving rant is the mention of "romanticization" of Kurds (from Hitchens), which goes back to the whole two-dimensional, non-human view of Kurds and what is ironic about that characterization is that when a Kurd steps out of Western-imposed two-dimensionality and faces the enemies of Kurdistan on his or her feet with AK-47 in hand, that real-life, warm-blooded, very human Kurd becomes a "terrorist."

The second article from last week comes from David Ignatius on Lebanon's Daily Star. Bearing in mind that all the previous argument for legitimate armed resistance applies here, too, at least Ignatius makes the statement that Turkey "denounce[s] the PKK as a terrorist group . . . "

But . . . then he goes on to mention the role of that great humanitarian of our time, Lockheed Martin's Joseph Ralston, and how he's struggling to "defuse the crisis, clear[ing] a Kurdish refugee camp of suspected PKK members and talk[ing] regularly with both sides."

If Lockheed Martin's director was really so hot to "defuse the crisis," why didn't he take advantage of the PKK's offer of a democratic solution last August (when Ralston was appointed) or why did he reject PKK's fifth unilateral ceasefire out of hand and remove any kind of political negotiation from the solution table? Why? Well, because Ralston has been too busy reinforcing the business agenda of Lockheed Martin to keep all that blood money rolling in to Lockheed's management. This is Ralston's real job, since he is a vice-chairman of The Cohen Group, a lobbyist for Lockheed Martin, and Ralston himself was registered with the US Senate last year as a lobbyist for The Cohen Group to specifically export tactical fighter aircraft, something which Turkey has since agreed to, to the tune of $13 billion.

What about this reference to Maxmur Camp as needing to be cleared of "PKK members?" I guess Ignatius missed the fact that the US military and the UN established the civilian nature of the camp, not even finding weapons suitable for PKK's legitimate armed resistance against the US-backed terrorist regime in Ankara. I guess Ignatius also missed that Ralston presented himself to Congress and proceeded to lie out of his ass to Congress. I guess Ignatius further missed the fact that the Turkish media wondered why Ralston was lying out of his ass.

Ignatius must subscribe to the American saying: If you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with bullshit.

Finally, there was an article by Hersh-wannabe, Reese Erlich, on PJAK. Erlich was mentioned here earlier this month, but now he tries to be amusing by pointing out the fact that PJAK's armed female gerîlas like American actors like girly-faced Brad Pitt and Mr. Alcoholics Anonymous himself, Mel Gibson. While I cannot account for the personal tastes of the gerîlas, I do wonder why this is an issue? Then my mind goes back to the two-dimensionality that gets applied to the Kurdish people and the extreme parochialism of Westerners. If movies are stories translated to the big screen, then why should Kurds not be familiar with movies or watch them? Why shouldn't Kurdish gerîlas watch them? After all, Kurds love a good story and story-telling done well.

By the way, Erlich acknowledges that the Washington regime permits Komala and KDPI "to operate openly in northern Iraq," while admitting of no American influence in PKK's/PJAK's camps. He also mentions that both Komala and KDPI have been to Washington last year for meetings. Neither PKK, nor its sister organization, PJAK, has done so.

In addition, the Erlich article brings up another subject that all the enemies of Kurdistan love to talk about, and that's the celibacy of PKK's gerîlas. What do all these enemies prefer, that PKK's gerîlas behave in the barbarous manner of American forces? Would they prefer that the crime of rape be a usual feature of gerîla life as it is for the lives of American soldiers? That fact of American military life was noted here on Rastî last Monday.

In this case, I will presume to speak for the gerîlas and say "No, thank you." The enemies of Kurdistan and their allies can behave in despicable ways with their own, in their own militaries; I prefer the honor of the gerîlas--Brad Pitt and all.

In contrast, if you'd prefer to read a much more thoughtful discussion of the Kurdish situation than you can find anywhere in American media, check out this post at the Shiraz Socialist blog.

RISING VIOLENCE IN INDIA AND THE KURDISH SITUATION

"I’ve always felt that it’s ironic that hunger strikes are used as a political weapon in a land where most people go hungry anyway."
~ Arundhati Roy.

Kurdish Aspect is carrying Serdar Sengul's remarks from the KNCNA conference last month. While I agree with him that the subject of education is a critical one for the Kurdish people, and that the history of the destruction of the Kurdish educational system by the Turkish state is a subject worthy of study, and that the creation of a new Kurdish educational system is absolutely necessary, what intrigued me was the fact that Heval Serdar's master's degree study was on "the changing perceptions of security in India in the post-Cold War Era."


The reason that this intrigued me was that last week, some nice person sent me a link to an interview with famed Indian writer Arundhati Roy, suggesting that her remarks might be fruitful for Kurds to reflect upon. Having read through the interview several times now, and keeping in mind the recent history of repression--at least from Semdinli, through the Amed Serhildan, to the Koma Komalên Kurdistan's offer of a democratic resolution and the rejected unilateral ceasefire, to the attacks against the Kurdish leadership in Europe in February, the poisoning of Ocalan, and the crackdown on DTP--I feel that Arundhati Roy's comments on the current situation in India are compelling for the Kurdish people as well as for the Indian people.

What does a people do, when playing the democracy "game" by the West's chameleon rules only results in more repression, more imprisonment, more torture, more offensive military operations? What does a people do, when faced with repeated, gross injustices and the hypocrisy of servile, corporate-controlled democracies?

The interview with Ms. Roy focuses on the rising violence in India, a subject about which not much is heard at all in the American media. There have been articles about the Maoist/government peace process in India, and the articles in the American media on that subject have had a bitter flavor to them, for two reasons I suspect: because "Maoists" have actually entered a dialog with a government and have worked out a solution and because peace means a loss of revenue for the American war industry. However, the rise of "Maoists" and other dissenters willing to use violence in India is completely off the mainstream American radar. Why is that?

Upon being asked about her reluctance to condemn violence, Ms. Roy replies:

What I feel is this: non-violent movements have knocked at the door of every democratic institution in this country for decades, and have been spurned and humiliated. Look at the Bhopal gas victims, the Narmada Bachao Andolan. The nba had a lot going for it — high-profile leadership, media coverage, more resources than any other mass movement. What went wrong? People are bound to want to rethink strategy. When Sonia Gandhi begins to promote satyagraha at the World Economic Forum in Davos, it’s time for us to sit up and think. For example, is mass civil disobedience possible within the structure of a democratic nation state? Is it possible in the age of disinformation and corporate-controlled mass media?

[ . . . ]

There was a time when mass movements looked to the courts for justice. The courts have rained down a series of judgments that are so unjust, so insulting to the poor in the language they use, they take your breath away. A recent Supreme Court judgment, allowing the Vasant Kunj Mall to resume construction though it didn’t have the requisite clearances, said in so many words that the questions of corporations indulging in malpractice does not arise! In the era of corporate globalization, corporate land-grab, in the era of Enron and Monsanto, Halliburton and Bechtel, that’s a loaded thing to say. It exposes the ideological heart of the most powerful institution in this country. The judiciary, along with the corporate press, is now seen as the lynchpin of the neo-liberal project.

In a climate like this, when people feel that they are being worn down, exhausted by these interminable ‘democratic’ processes, only to be eventually humiliated, what are they supposed to do? Of course it isn’t as though the only options are binary — violence versus non-violence. There are political parties that believe in armed struggle but only as one part of their overall political strategy. Political workers in these struggles have been dealt with brutally, killed, beaten, imprisoned under false charges. People are fully aware that to take to arms is to call down upon yourself the myriad forms of the violence of the Indian State. The minute armed struggle becomes a strategy, your whole world shrinks and the colors fade to black and white. But when people decide to take that step because every other option has ended in despair, should we condemn them? Does anyone believe that if the people of Nandigram had held a dharna and sung songs, the West Bengal government would have backed down? We are living in times when to be ineffective is to support the status quo (which no doubt suits some of us). And being effective comes at a terrible price. I find it hard to condemn people who are prepared to pay that price.

When asked if "rebels are only the flip side of the State:"

How can the rebels be the flip side of the State? Would anybody say that those who fought against apartheid — however brutal their methods — were the flip side of the State? What about those who fought the French in Algeria? Or those who fought the Nazis? Or those who fought colonial regimes? Or those who are fighting the US occupation of Iraq? Are they the flip side of the State? This facile new report-driven ‘human rights’ discourse, this meaningless condemnation game that we are all forced to play, makes politicians of us all and leaches the real politics out of everything. However pristine we would like to be, however hard we polish our halos, the tragedy is that we have run out of pristine choices. There is a civil war in Chhattisgarh sponsored, created by the Chhattisgarh government, which is publicly pursing the Bush doctrine: if you’re not with us, you are with the terrorists. The lynchpin of this war, apart from the formal security forces, is the Salva Judum — a government-backed militia of ordinary people forced to take up arms, forced to become SPOs (special police officers). The Indian State has tried this in Kashmir, in Manipur, in Nagaland. Tens of thousands have been killed, hundreds of thousands tortured, thousands have disappeared. Any banana republic would be proud of this record. Now the government wants to import these failed strategies into the heartland.

[ . . . ]

But to equate a resistance movement fighting against enormous injustice with the government which enforces that injustice is absurd. The government has slammed the door in the face of every attempt at non-violent resistance. When people take to arms, there is going to be all kinds of violence — revolutionary, lumpen and outright criminal. The government is responsible for the monstrous situations it creates.

When asked if the Maoists might also usher in an "exploitive, autocratic, violent" regime:

. . . the Maoists in Nepal have waged a brave and successful struggle against the monarchy. Right now, in India, the Maoists and the various Marxist-Leninist groups are leading the fight against immense injustice here. They are fighting not just the State, but feudal landlords and their armed militias. They are the only people who are making a dent. And I admire that. It may well be that when they come to power, they will, as you say, be brutal, unjust and autocratic, or even worse than the present government. Maybe, but I’m not prepared to assume that in advance. If they are, we’ll have to fight them too. And most likely someone like myself will be the first person they’ll string up from the nearest tree — but right now, it is important to acknowledge that they are bearing the brunt of being at the forefront of resistance. Many of us are in a position where we are beginning to align ourselves on the side of those who we know have no place for us in their religious or ideological imagination.

Ominous words, those last. How well do they apply to the Kurdish situation?

The entire interview is available at ZNet and it's worth at least one read; maybe more. Ms. Roy's comments on globalization are also compelling for Kurds under Turkish occupation, particularly as regards the Ilisu Dam exploitation project, as well as for South Kurdistan with its free-for-all investment law and the mad scramble for control of wider Iraqi oil resources by Western corporations.

NEGLECTING THE PRINCIPLES OF DEMOCRATIZATION

"Those wanting to improve democracy in their countries should not wait for permission."
~ Bulent Ecevit

More on the attempt to dismiss Abdullah Demirbas and dissolve the Sur Municipality by the Ankara regime, from Peace in Kurdistan Campaign. Keep in mind the usual PR that sells the lie of Turkey easing cultural restrictions on Kurds:


Intense legal and administrative pressure on Sur Municipality and Mayor Abdullah Demirbas!


On January 5, 2007, the Turkish Ministry of the Interior appealed to the State Council for the dismissal of Mayor Demirbas and the dissolution of the Sur Municipal Council due to the municipal council’s decision to provide multilingual municipal services for the local public.

On October 6, 2006, the Sur Municipal council approved a decision to provide multilingual municipal services for the local public.1 The proposal on multilingual municipal services had been referred to the Municipal Council Presidency on September 29, 2006 by the Municipal Directorate of Cultural and Social Affairs,2 upon the evaluation of the public survey results3 which stated that 24% of the local residents spoke Turkish in daily life, 72% spoke Kurdish, 1% spoke Arabic and 3% spoke Syriac and Armenian languages. The proposal was first evaluated at the Municipal Commission on Education, Culture, Sports and Tourism. In the commission’s report dated 06.10.20064, “the need for a more participatory understanding of municipal service provision” was emphasized. It was stated that “Surici, our municipal service area, covers the neighborhood wherein majority of the traces belonging to the multireligious and multi-linguistic civilizational heritage in the historic city of Diyarbakir are located…in the light of the scientific data provided [survey results]…in order to provide healthier and better municipal services for the local people and to render educational, cultural and artistic activities locally more accessible…additionally, regarding that the municipal service area is also a touristic site frequently visited by foreign tourists…the proposal for the provision of municipal services in multiple languages hereinafter is determined to be appropriate”. The report was then referred to the Municipal Council, where both the directorate’s proposal and the commission’s report were read, discussed and then approved through a council decision by 17 votes in favor, 7 against and 1 abstention.

According to the registered minutes of the relevant council meeting,5 Mayor of Sur Mr. Abdullah Demirbas stated the following on the aforementioned proposal and the report during the meeting:

“My friends, as you all know, our Municipality is on its way to becoming a touristic city, one of the nominee locations in that sense. Our city, with its 7000 years of history, has hosted many great civilizations in the past. In the current conjuncture, the importance of knowing and speaking multiple languages grows more everyday; and especially for us, the local governments whose duty is to provide services directly to the public, the understanding of multilingual service delivery is even more important. When we look through this perspective, of course our official language is Turkish, nevertheless, I believe that we should not discriminate between our services; and I think that initiating an understanding of multilingual municipal service provision will be beneficial.”

Mayor Demirbas, a teacher himself, is furthermore widely known among the local public for his sensitivity towards educational and cultural issues and for his sincere efforts in the protection and promotion of the rights and lives of children and of the historical, cultural and linguistic richness in his municipal service area. While there are currently two ongoing large-scale EU projects and many small-scale municipal projects towards the renovation and promotion of the multi-ethnic historic and cultural heritage of the Surici district, the Sur Municipality has already pioneered the publication of children’s books and municipal services in multiple languages during the Mayor’s term in office. 6 Furthermore, all these services were met with great public interest and appreciation.

The local, legal and administrative context in which the Ministry of Interior’s action for the dismissal of the Mayor and the dissolution of the Council was taken is very alarming for the local dynamics putting forth effort to promote democracy and cultural freedoms in the region and in Turkey. First of all, to put into practice a form of law enforcement that is fair and impartial and respectful to basic human rights, and one that observes the prevalent values of a society—in short, a form that promotes the rule of law—is one of the basic tenets of good local governance. A very important issue for local democracy is the “principle of proportionality for any administrative regulation or act imposing a limit on self-government”, stipulated in the Article 8 of Charter.7 As noted previously by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, it is very important to make sure “that a proper procedure exists, including the rights of the defense, and that careful provision is made in legislation concerning ancillary or principal penalties affecting the actual exercise of elected office”.

According to the existing legislative framework, Ministry of Interior does have the legal right to take an action towards dismissing a locally elected mayor and dissolving the municipal council in certain circumstances. Yet, in a normally or properly working democracy, in the case of a suspected municipal council activity, it is always possible to first initiate a preliminary investigation into the action and proceed through legal and legislative means and ways (e.g. court proceedings), and then consequently to take the action necessitated by the due process. In this case, however, Ministry of Interior directly appealed to the State Council with the inspector’s report, without recourse to the prior legal and legislative process. It should be reminded that in the municipal council’s decision, in accordance with and in limits of the existing law, there is no provision stipulating use of any language other than Turkish in official correspondence.8 Therefore, this issue should be strictly framed through the use and limits of supervisionary powers on the actual exercise of elected office within the context of cultural freedoms.

Overall, the situation facing Mayor Demirbas points to the neglect of the principles of democratization as well as respect for human rights and cultural freedoms that are promoted not only by the European Council but also officially approved by the Turkish government through the European documents such as the Charter of Local Self Government.9 Cases like Mayor Demirbas’ are particularly effective in creating an impression of the arbitrary and unproportionate use of supervisionary powers over elected mayors in the region. The most problematic aspect of these files is not simply the existence of a legal basis for such cases or actions, but the lack of constructive and positive reference to the existing laws.

Especially after the enactment of the new Anti-Terror Law in June 2006, the criminalization of the DTP Mayors’ legal and democratic demands and actions by associating them with the PKK and separatist tendencies has almost become a regular legal and administrative practice. As clearly seen in the sheer number of investigations and court cases launched against DTP mayors,10 the centralist point of view gradually exerts a greater legal, administrative and psychological pressure over the provision of municipal public service in the region. This situation furthermore contradicts Turkey’s ongoing process of democratization and modernization in the context of negotiations with the EU, rendering the much-touted promotion of local democracy dynamics in the region ineffective and non-existent. Within this context, it should also be kept in mind that these perceptions are grounded in a regional history of previously abolished political parties and dismissed mayors and in the context of the current political tension which has led to the detention and/or arrest of almost 70 high level DTP administrators solely within the last two months.

We call upon the international community to recognize the present legal, administrative and psychological pressure exerted over the DTP mayors and the rising political tension in the region. Strongly believing that this situation can be overcome with proper, effective, efficient and immediate implementation of local democracy and local good governance concepts on the ground, we invite the international community to take immediate and effective action to this end.


1 Municipal Council decision no. 61, dated 06.10.2006.
2 File no. M.21.7.Sur.804/307, dated 29.09.2006.
3 In 2006, in order to analyse and evaluate the needs and the life conditions of the local residents of Surici district, a widely representative public survey was conducted by the Sur Municipality. Survey results were later turned into a book published in 3 languages (Turkish, Kurdish and English).
4 Commission Report dated 06.10.2006, undersigned by the head of the commission and 4 other members.
5 Official Records of the Council Meeting, dated 06.10.2006, undersigned by the Mayor and the two clerks.
6 See Appendix 1 for a list of the activities of the Press Unit of the Sur Municipality.
7 Congress Report on Monitoring the Implementation of the European Charter of Local Self-Government, By Alain DELCAMP, European Local Government Association For Research (ELGAR) Paris
8 Sur Mayor and the Municipal Council are indicted on charges of exceeding the bounds and limits of their duties and authorities, and violating the 3rd and the 42nd Articles of the Constitution, which are respectively on the unity of state, on its official language, flag, national anthem and capital city, and on the rights and duties to education.
9 See Appendix 2 for an exemplary list of investigations and court cases launched against the DTP Mayors related to promotion or use of Kurdish on various occasions. Turkey has neither signed the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages of the European Council, of which she is a member, neither the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
10 For example, while Sur Mayor Demirbas has 12 investigations, Diyarbakir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Osman Baydemir has more than 60 investigations and 7 courts cases launched against him during his 3 years term in office (2004-2007)



Appendix 1: Media and Press Activities of the Sur Municipality

1. Publication of a tri-monthly children’s magazine titled “Semamok”, which has contents both in Turkish and Kurdish. 5000 copies are made and distributed for each issue.

2. Publication and distribution of 8000 copies of a fable in Kurdish.

3. Publication of a book titled ‘’Games and Handicrafts for Children’’ in Turkish and Kurdish, especially regarding the related lack of publications for school age children. Distributed primarily to teachers and parents on the occasion of October 5th Teachers’ Day.

4. Publication of 15.000 promotional brochures on the Surici district in 6 languages, still ongoing distribution in Turkey and abroad.

5. Preparation of a promotional movie on Surici district, titled “A Door of Peoples’’ in three languages (Turkish, Kurdish and English), and its ongoing distribution to local, national and international institutions.

6. Preparation, publication and distribution of the municipal activity and service report for two years in Kurdish and Turkish (2000 copies).

7. Preparation, publication and distribution of a CD on the municipal activity and service report for the two years in Turkish, Kurdish and English (2000 copies).

8. Preparation of the municipal public survey on needs and life conditions of the local residents for publication into a book in 3 languages (Turkish, Kurdish and English); distribution of the 2000 published copies to relevant institutions.

9. Organization of the reception held to launch the first computer operation system in Kurdish, Linux Ubuntu; distribution of 1000 Ubuntu software CDs free of charge; publication of 2000 more copies due to strong public demand.

10. With the project to publish 12 tales book in Kurdish, under the title “One tale for each night”, every month 5000 copies of one tales book will be published and distributed to children and parents. The first of these books will be published this month.


Appendix 2: Some of investigations and court cases launched against the DTP Mayors related to promotion or use of Kurdish on various occasions


* On March 20, 2006, a case was filed against Mayor Demirbas on the grounds of “making propaganda to promote the aims of the terrorist organization PKK” due to his speech titled, “Municipal Services and Local Governments in the light of Multilingualism”, which was delivered at the European Social Forum in January 2006. Although the content of the speech, very well summarized by its title, did not include any single direct or indirect reference to the PKK, as was also later affirmed by the court; the very fact that the speech aimed to explore the relations between multilingualism and local democracy and that it was delivered by a DTP Mayor was enough to render it as a form of ‘PKK propaganda’ in the eyes of central government authorities. Mayor Demirbas was acquitted from all charges on September 19, 2006. Public prosecutor’s consequent appeal to the Supreme Court is still in process.

* On February 7, 2007, following the release of the Kurdish translation of Ubuntu, a free software program available in 167 languages, with the support of Sur Municipality, an investigation was launched against Mayor Demirbas and three municipal administrators on charges of “misuse of municipal resources”.

* On October 10, 2006, Ministry of Interior launched an investigation against Mayor Demirbas due to the children’s games and handicrafts book published by the Sur Municipality. The children’s book, which was written in both Turkish and Kurdish, was published on the occasion of Teacher’s Day.

* In March 2006 an investigation was launched against Mayor Demirbas due to his use Kurdish in his speeches during a wedding ceremony in Diyarbakir.

* On April 19, 2007, Osman Baydemir, Mayor of Diyarbakir Metropolitan Municipality, will appear before the court on charges of violating the law that obliges state agencies, civic groups and private institutions to use Turkish letters. Mayor Baydemir risks 6 to 12 months of imprisonment for using the Kurdish letter “w” in his greetings cards of New Year’s Day. The letter “w”, which exists in the Kurdish alphabet, does not exist in Turkish.

* On April 2, 2007, 56 DTP mayors will appear before court on charges of “abetting and aiding an armed organization” due to their joint letter sent to the Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen concerning the possible closing of Roj TV. Mayors face the risk of 7.5 to 15 years of imprisonment. Currently, local TV stations are permitted to broadcast in Kurdish at most for 45 minutes a day and 5 hours a week in total. In terms of the content, programs are restricted to address only the audience group of adults, and broadcast of language training programs is strictly banned. In terms of the actual broadcast process, TV stations are stipulated to undertake such programming only with the condition of either providing a simultaneous Turkish translation or subtitling during the broadcast or broadcasting the same program in Turkish language immediately after the original broadcast.

* On March 5, 2007, Ministry of Interior sent inspectors to Diyarbakir for a preliminary investigation against Democratic Society Party mayors due to the Newroz invitation cards published in Kurdish and sent to the officials in Turkey.

* In March 2007, a preliminary investigation was launched against Mayor Baydemir due to the publication of public brochures on health and cleanliness in Kurdish and Turkish for local people.

* In March 2007, a preliminary investigation was launched against Mayor Baydemir due to the baby names’ book published in Kurdish.

* On January 17, 2007, an investigation was launched against Mayor Osman Baydemir due to the invitation cards sent to the officials in Turkey. The invitation cards, which were written in both Turkish and Kurdish, were sent on the occasion of the 6th Culture and Arts Festival in Diyarbakir.

* On January 12, 2007, a preliminary investigation was launched against Mayor Osman Baydemir due to the website of Diyarbakir Metropolitan Municipality, which is in Turkish, Kurdish and English.

* With an investigation filed on July 8, 2006, Viransehir Mayor Emrullah Cin was indicted on charges of “misuse of municipal resources” due to publication of bulletins about municipal services both in Turkish and Kurdish. Mayor Cin stated that Kurdish was the mother tongue of the majority of the Viransehir’s population (app. 120.000), thus, in publishing bulletins also in Kurdish, the municipality aimed to better communicate municipal services to the public. Mayor Cin further noted that publication of municipal bulletins was not considered a crime anywhere in Turkey, and that the decision for publication was made by the municipal council and in accordance with the municipal law, and, furthermore, that the RTUK (Radio and Television Supreme Council of Turkey) laws also did not consider publication of such bulletins as a criminal activity, thus municipality acted fully in accordance with and in the limits of existing laws.

* On October 20, 2006, a preliminary investigation was launched against Kayapinar Mayor Zulkuf Karatekin due to the provision 'Municipalities take the necessary precautions to teach their personnel Kurdish in order for them to better communicate with the public” stated in the collective agreement between the municipalities and the Union of Municipal and Local Governments Services Workers.

* Kayapinar Municipal Council’s efforts to give culturally significant Kurdish names to the parks and streets of Diyarbakir were obstructed by the Diyarbakir Governorship because these names were said to either include letters that did not exist in the Turkish alphabet (e.g. ‘w’) or showed parallelism with socially discriminating, separatist discourses. The court case filed by the Kayapinar City Council against the Diyarbakir Governorship is still in process.

* There are investigations against Diyarbakir Metropolitan, Kiziltepe, Sur and Silvan Municipalities opened solely for the use of Kurdish language in public speeches.