MORE ON TURKISH MEDDLING

"Compared to Iran, which has had a long relationship with Iraq's largest community, the Sh'ia, Turkey cannot claim any influence over any of the groups in Iraq except for a segment of the Turkmen, specifically the ITF."
~ Henri Barkey.

There's another blog by a Kurd in the US that I came across today. It appears to be written by a Bakûrî, and can be checked out at Kurdistan.

NPR has report today on the situation between the Ankara regime and the Southern Kurds. Runtime almost 5 minutes.

The height of absurdity is that the Ankara regime is complaining about the deaths of 10 Mehmetciks in the last few days and the absurdity is that if the Ankara regime stopped its operations against the HPG, no one would die. Naturally, the continued sacrifice of Turkish youth is the least of Buyukanit's concerns and we know for a fact it's the least of Erdogan's concerns, as reported last September here and here. Specifically, Buyukanit responded, before the fact, to protests by mothers of dead Mehmetciks by insisting "that there would be no change to the system of military service."

Erdogan's attitude is summed up thusly:

Turkish media on Tuesday attacked the prime minister for comments he made about soldiers killed in battle with Kurdish rebels that commentators considered flippant.

"It's not okay, Mr. Tayyip," the daily Vatan said.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan made the comments Monday during a speech in the western town of Balikesir, during which he was interrupted by a member of the audience who screamed "We don't want any more martyrs!"

Erdogan heard the shout and stopped his speech to respond. "Military service isn't the place to lay down and unwind," he said. "Military service has risks. It is not a touristic place."

Prior to Turkish frustration reaching critical mass, PKK offered a democratic, political solution to end the fighting, including the following points:

The framework for the steps that need to be developed mutually in the second phase for a permanent solution:

1- The acknowledgement of the Kurdish identity and the constitutional guarantee of all identities under the identity of a Citizen of Turkey as the main identity,

2- The lifting of obstacles on the development of the Kurdish language and culture, the acknowledgement of education in the mother tongue and Kurdish acknowledged as the official second language alongside Turkish in the Kurdistan region, and with this to show respect to other minority cultures,

3- The acknowledgement, on the basis of freely practicing politics and organizing, of the right to thought, belief and freedom of expression, the lifting of all social inequalities in the constitution and laws, firstly being those of gender discrimination,

4- A social reconciliation project with the aim of mutual forgiveness of both people’s for the development of a peace and freedom union, on this basis the release of political prisoners including the PKK Leadership, and no obstacles to them participating in politics and social life,

5- The removal of forces in Kurdistan there for the purposes of special war, the abolition of the village guard system and the necessary social and political projects to be developed for the return of displaced villagers,

6- In parallel to the realization of the above articles, the initiation, with a timetable determined by both parties, of the gradual disarmament and legal participation into the democratic social life.

Note also that any continued talk of "separatism" is a function of Turkish propaganda, as the statement concludes with the following:

We would like as a movement to emphasize once again that the right solution is a democratic autonomy within the borders of Turkey. We believe that a solution in the unity of Turkey will be for the benefit of firstly the Kurdish people and all the people of the region.

Emphasizing "once again," meaning that this statement is a repetition of PKK's position. How does a search for a political solution "in the unity of Turkey" equate to separatism? Unless you're a Turkish fascist or you're stupid enough to believe Turkish propaganda. This is the solution that both the Ankara and Washington regimes rejected, along with the fifth unilateral PKK ceasefire, and all this for one very cynical reason: to continue to make money off a very long-running low-intensity conflict, as the appointment of Lockheed Martin's Joseph Ralston proved.

If the Southern Kurdish leadership were serious about the situation of Kurds under Turkish occupation, if they were truly concerned about the genocide that the Ankara regime, with the assistance of the Washington regime, has carried out against the Kurdish people in the North, they would have taken every opportunity to press both issues--that of the democratic resolution and that of the ceasefire. They would have demanded the resignation of Lockheed's Ralston and they would have clamored for an honest broker to be appointed as "special envoy" to coordinate a peace process, instead of coordinating Turkish procurement of more Lockheed Martin hardware.

On the other hand, it might be bit difficult, not to mention embarrassing, to cut Lockheed Martin out of the loop, since it is the corporation that is involved in the US foreign policy decision-making process.

Even Qubad Talabanî is busily trying to usurp the leadership of Northern Kurds by ignoring and bypassing them while speaking of his "Turkish brothers" and pledging his undying love for them:

Kubad Talabani, who is Iraqi President Jelal Talabani's son, also noted the importance of economic relations between Turkey and Iraqi Kurds: “All we seek is a reciprocation of our affection, reciprocation of that brotherly relationship where Turkey continues to help Kurdistan's economic development. Hundreds of Turkish companies have been party to Kurdistan's development. We have seen what a good and solid relationship can do for your economy and for ours.”

He sounds exactly like every other ulusalci on the planet and it is despicable. Throughout that entire article, there is not one mention of the PKK's democratic resolution, no pointing out the fact of total rejection of the ceasefire, not a hint that Qubad knows anything of the recent severe repression of the only legal Kurdish party in Turkey--the DTP.

Yet another opportunity to press the reality of the Kurdish situation under Turkish repression wasted--and all for filthy lucre.

More absurdity lies in the fact that the Ankara regime has been meddling in Kerkuk since their first opportunity to do so, in April, 2003. They meddled again, in July, 2003. Turkish meddling in Kerkuk began during the period of the so-called safe haven, when the Southern Kurds began to govern themselves, from Henri Barkey:

As part of its campaign to contain the contagion effects of the Iraqi Kurds, Ankara increasingly came to rely on Iraq's Turkmen minority. The Turkmen issue is relatively new to Turkey; it was not until the 1990s that Ankara began to articulate demands for Turkmen minority rights in Iraq. Arguing that the Turkmen represent the third largest ethnic group in Iraq, Ankara has taken up the banner for their defense, especially their claims to control the city of Kirkuk.8 As part of this effort, Turkey has been instrumental in the creation of the Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF), an organization it wants the Turkmen to rally around. Yet the Turkmen are divided: Not only are there those who oppose Ankara's interference and the ITF's heavy hand, but there are also sectarian Sunni-Shiite differences that divide the community.9 Perhaps as many as half of the Iraqi Turkmen are Shiite.

[ . . . ]

Previous governments in Ankara were the primary instigators behind the creation of the Iraqi Turkmen Front, but it is unclear how much influence the government now has over the ITF. Two developments have contributed to the current uncertainty.

First, the ITF and its leaders have succeeded in capturing the imagination of many Turks; they are increasingly perceived in Turkey as an Iraqi Turkish minority deserving of official help, and by making claims similar to those of the Turkish Cypriots, ITF leaders are insinuating themselves into the Turkish mainstream. For the ITF leaders, the current chaos in Iraq is the best possible opportunity to stake their claims and try to improve their status as a separate and important ethnic minority; the ITF is no different than any other ethnopolitical entrepreneur. Hence, when the U.S. assault on the mostly Turkmen city of Tel Afer occurred in September 2004, the ITF launched an information campaign in Turkey that accused the U.S. of committing "massacres and ethnic cleansing" against the Turkmen in the city. Accounts of massive civilian casualties were widely reported in Turkish media outlets and forced the Turkish government to adopt a hard stance against Washington.14 Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Abdullah Gul even cautioned that, should the U.S. military operation continue, Turkey's relations with Washington would have to be reviewed.15

[ . . . ]

Whereas the government was on solid ground with the country's political mainstream when it pursued the EU accession negotiations, the war in Iraq and the Turkmen question have revealed the deep nationalistic bent of the party. The Erdogan government has been forced to cater to hard-line elements by increasing the level of the rhetoric over Kirkuk, the Turkmen' demands, and Iraq's January 30 elections.18 The ITF fared poorly in the elections, however, thereby diminishing both its influence and Turkey's room to maneuver in Iraq. The ITF garnered 0.87 percent of the 8.5 million votes cast, managing to get only three of its members elected into the 275-person National Assembly. The ITF's poor showing sparked severe criticism in Turkey, and both Erdogan and Gul criticized the ITF leadership for failing to bring its voters to the polls.19

[ . . . ]


The second reason for the uncertainty surrounding the Turkish government's influence over Iraq's Turkmen is the relationship between the Turkish military and the ITF, which is ambiguous. As a result, the extent to which the Turkish government can exercise operational control over the ITF is unclear. The ITF operates in tandem with Turkish Special Forces in Iraq, which are there with U.S. cognizance.20 The Turkish Special Forces have been operating under a 1996 National Security Council Special Political Document that gives the chief of the Turkish General Staff (TGS) the authority to coordinate all of Turkey's activities relating to Iraq and northern Iraq, including the Special Forces. Accordingly, the Turkish Foreign Minsitry also has its representatives assigned to the TGS headquarters in Silopi, southeastern Turkey.

[ . . . ]

Compared to Iran, which has had a long relationship with Iraq's largest community, the Sh'ia, Turkey cannot claim any influence over any of the groups in Iraq except for a segment of the Turkmen, specifically the ITF.

These are the two points that should be brought up by the Southern Kurdish leadership at every opportunity, including media opportunities: First, the Ankara regime's repression of its internal colony Kurdistan, its rejection of PKK's democratic solution and ceasefire, and its continued repression and refusal to engage in dialog with DTP; second, the specifics of the Ankara regime's meddling in Iraqi internal affairs--something Turkey would never tolerate for itself--especially over the Kerkuk issue, since it is the real issue.

By the way, if the former Turkish ambassador speaking in the NPR report thinks that his claim to invade "Iraq" to pursue "terrorists" at will would be an imitation of US policy and, therefore, legitimate, he should consider that the rest of the world views Operation Iraqi Freedom as illegal according to international law.

Hell, even Richard Perle, the Darth Vadar of the neocon movement, admitted as much way back in November, 2003.

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.

ANKARA REACTS

“Any attack on Kirkuk would be considered an attack on Diyarbakir."
~ Hilmi Aydogdu, DTP Amed Provincial Chairman.

It would appear that the main players in the Ankara regime have their panties in knots over Masûd Barzanî's remarks over the weekend that Turkish intervention in Kerkuk would lead to Southern Kurdish intervention in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan.

Here's a list of the more hysterical reactions . . .

Zaman's headline reads: "Ankara tells Barzani to 'know his place:'"

The Turkish capital’s anger was obvious early on Sunday, with diplomatic sources immediately responding to Barzani’s remarks, although to date Turkish diplomats have refrained from accepting Barzani as a counterpart and responding to similar remarks.

[ . . . ]

“Turkey has never assumed a policy or even a wording that would harm brotherhood of Turks and Kurds. Now the sole reason for Barzani to make such an inappropriate statement is his panic due to the rising awareness of the international community of what is going on in Kirkuk, of the fact that there is a fait accompli that is desired to take place. But we have always said that Kirkuk is an Iraqi city,” diplomatic sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Today’s Zaman.

Newsflash: There is no brotherhood between Turks and Kurds.

Second Newsflash: The international community can't even find Kerkuk on a map let alone know what's going on there. The only thing they may vaguely remember was when Ozel Timler were caught and bagged by the US Marines way back in 2003, thanks to Kurtler Vadisi Irak, that is.

By the way, the Ankara regime has so far refrained from accepting the Iraqi president, Celal Talabanî, as a counterpart as well. Notice any similarity with the Ankara regime's refusal to accept Barzanî as a counterpart? Hint: Both are Kurds.

The AP, from USAToday:

The Turkish prime minister on Monday warned Iraqi Kurds against interfering in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeast, saying "the price for them will be very high."

Recep Tayyip Erdogan was reacting to comments by Massoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdish autonomous region in Iraq, who said Iraqi Kurds would retaliate to any Turkish interference in northern Iraq by stirring up trouble in Turkey's southeast.

"He's out of place. He'll be crushed under his words," Erdogan said of Barzani Monday.

Yes, that's how an Islamofascist Turkish Fuhrer deals with every problem that arises from Turkish repression of Kurds--They'll be crushed! Just like during the Amed Serhildan, eh Tayyip old boy, when you confirmed the Turkish state's will to massacre Kurdish women, children, elderly? Oh, my mistake! The Kurdish elderly were tortured to death by Turkish state security forces slightly before the Amed Serhildan, weren't they? Take that, all you Bakûrî Kurd activists in Diaspora!

But wait! The Fuhrer speaks again, from Sabah:

Turkish Prime Minster Erdoğan has commented on Kurdish leader Barzani's statements during opening ceremonies of 84 education centers in Ankara. Stating that Barzani has gone too far with his last statements, the PM said Barzani would soon pay for such behavior.

Erdoğan has answered the questions of the press as he was leaving the ceremony area.
"I suggest Mr. Barzani not to utter words which he would not carry out successfully," said PM.

"North Iraq is making serious mistakes which it will soon pay for. We are a 'state' with a history of thousands of years. Barzani should watch his words carefully," he added.

Sieg Heil, Herr Fuhrer! Meanwhile, why don't you brush up on your history? Selcuks arrived in the region permanently in 1071 CE, making them an even bigger group of latecomers than the Arabs and meaning that Turks haven't been a permanent fixture for even a thousand years yet, much less "thousands of years." Geez . . . I mean, the Persians are closer to being indigenous than the Turks.

More on the Turkish Fuhrer's stupidity at VOA and from Reuters, although you can read mini-Fuhrer Gul's comments, along with murderer Mehmet Agar's remarks, at Sabah.

The funniest thing is that the Turkish regime is true to form. Every time those damned Kurds get too uppity, Turkish political hacks like mini-Fuhrer Gul run to the US for help, and that's exactly what happened in this case. Little Abdullah had to phone home to Mama Condi because he's afraid the big, bad pêşmerge are going to kick his ass for being the biggest bully in the neighborhood, from AFP, via AINA:

Turkey has complained to the United States over Iraqi Kurdish leader Massud Barzani after he reportedly threatened to interfere in Ankara's affairs if it continued to oppose Kurdish claims on the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, officials said Monday.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul "conveyed our sensitivities" to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a telephone conversation at the weekend, a senior diplomat told AFP.

Cry me a freakin' river, Abdullah, baby.

What's Condi gonna do anyway? Pat Gul on his fat butt, buy him an ice cream cone, and send him on his way? I guess the lobbing of artillery into South Kurdistan near Zaxo by Turkish Terrorist Forces was also part of the reaction to Barzanî's comments. I betcha Baby Gul didn't bother to mention that to Mama Condi.

Of course, all of this over-the-top overreaction on the part of a pack of thin-skinned genociders is nonsense. The Southern pêşmerge aren't going to intervene in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan because there's no need for them to intervene. The Ankara regime has a much bigger worry which was expressed by DTP's Amed provincial chief, Hilmi Aydogdu, at the end of February:

“The two sides in this war would be Turkey and the Kurds in Iraq. There are some 20 million Kurds in Turkey, and the 20 million Kurds would regard such a war as an attack against them,” newspapers quoted Aydogdu as saying.

“Any attack on Kirkuk would be considered an attack on Diyarbakir."

By extension, since Amed (Diyarbakir) is the capital of all of Kurdistan, any attack on it is an attack on the entire Kurdish people. Not only does Ankara need to worry about HPG attacks--or even TAK attacks in Western Turkey--it also needs to worry about a serhildan of 20 million Kurds in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan . . . or 30 million if you want to go with Barzanî's number. Remember, those 20 million are the relatives of the few thousand HPG gerîlas, who most likely be ending their ceasefire ( rejected by Ankara and Washington even before it became a formal order from Murat Karayilan) soon.

No, Barzanî doesn't need to intervene in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan. He just needs to make sure his pêşmerge aren't fighting alongside Turkish Terrorist Forces this time around, against Kurdish gerîlas and against a Northern Kurdish serhildan.

Buyukanit and Basbug know this very well, too.

By the way, I have proof that Turkish agent Seymour Hersh is: 1. A hardcore drunkard; 2. A serious drug addict; 3. A total suck-up; 4. All of the previous. Check out an interview he did with an Iranian, in particular this incredible piece garbage:

Nobody knows what is in the president mind and Mr. Cheney. We don't know what they think. He attacked Iraq in 2003 in response to the Sunni Al- Qaeda in America. Why he would attack Iraq have never been clear because Saddam Hussein was secular. He was a Sunni but he did not like Jihadists. So it is unclear to me what Bush was doing. You could argue that the neo-cons want to get rid of any threat. They never liked Saddam. He was a threat to the other countries in the Middle East, to Israel. Perhaps what we are doing is for Israel and oil but I don’t think this president believes that he really thinks his mission is to spread democracy in the Middle East, even though, you could argue that Iran is probably the most democratic country. The elections there certainly indicate people vote what the way they believe but he believes to spreading democracy and right now we are working with some of the most undemocratic countries in the Middle East, you know Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia that do so. It is very strange.

That should resolve any questions in anyone's mind about the credibility of the vastly overrated moron from The New Yorker.

Last, but not least, Bilal Wahab on NPR. Runtime a little over 5 minutes.

JOURNALISTS, DTP, HPG, AND MAXMUR KIDS

"The mission of the Gestapo expanded steadily as, from 1933 onward, “political criminality” was given a much broader definition than ever before and most forms of dissent and criticism were gradually criminalized. The result was that more “laws” or lawlike measures were put on the books than ever."
~ Sheila Fitzpatrick.

Now here's something you'll never read from Michael Totten: the abduction and beating of a Kurdish journalist in Hewler, from RSF:

Reporters Without Borders today joined the Kurdistan Journalists Union in condemning the abduction yesterday of Nabaz Goran in the northern city of Erbil and the beating he received for several hours before being set free. Goran contributes to several media in Iraq’s Kurdish region.

[ . . . ]

A freelance contributor to the Media and Halati newspapers and the kurdistanpost.com website, Goran was kidnapped outside the Hotel Dam Dam in Erbil at about 10 p.m. yesterday. His abductors, five men in military uniforms, drove him out of the city, beat him with clubs and hose-pipes and told him to “hold his tongue” before setting him free a few hours later.

Goran is known for being outspoken in his criticism of the authorities. Two lawsuits were brought against, but were withdrawn after mediation by the Kurdistan Journalists Union.

Photos at the link.

Nabaz Goran's experience is not the only report of intimidation and beating of Kurdish journalists in South Kurdistan. There was another, reported by KurdishAspect, which also took place in Hewlêr . . . And we know who owns Hewlêr, don't we? In the second case, it seems Asayish are targeting Rojhelatî activists as well as journalists.

From whom do the security forces in Hewlêr pick up these tricks, from the Turks, the mullahs, the Americans, or the Israelis? Why isn't everyone howling about this like they did with Kemal Seîd Qadir?

A round-up of news about DTP politicians from last week includes the arrest of Aydin Budak, mayor of Cizîr, for remarks he made during a Newroz speech. He'll be tried in a Turkish kangaroo court for "praising crime and criminals" and for "inciting hatred and emnity amongst the populace." Actually, most of the Turkish population should be arrested on the same charges. Notice, too, that the news at the link mentions another DTP politician, Medeni Kirici, who's been charged with "praising crime and criminals" for referring to Ocalan as "Sayin." Recently Ahmet Turk had been convicted of the same charge and for the same reason. However, last week also saw the exact same charges dropped against Erdogan. The charges were dropped in Erdogan's case because Erdogan is a Turk, while Kurds are found guilty.

See? It really pays to be a Turk in Turkey. You can get away with murder. Literally.

Anyway, Aydin Budak apparently sent greetings to Imrali during his Newroz speech and that appears to be the source of the arrest. Hurriyet reports thousands gathered in protest against the arrest, including Osman Baydemir, Osman Ozcelik, Orhan Dogan, and Selim Sadak.

The 56 DTP mayors in the Roj TV letter trial are being recommended to receive 15 years of imprisonment each. The letter to Danish PM Rasmussen can be read here, along with the names of the signatories, and the mayors' statement to the court can be read here, just so everyone can get an idea of what a bad bunch of dudes and dudettes these mayors are.

A number of DTP members in Dersim, including the party's provincial chief Hidir Aytac were convicted for "supporting a terrorist group." Funny . . . I didn't think they supported the Ankara regime. A number of DTP officials in Ankara have also been arrested for "organizing a demonstration for the PKK." Translation: they organized a Newroz celebration. A similar series of arrests took place in Izmir, but this time the DTP politicians were arrested for supporting Hilmi Aydogdu in his remarks about how the shit will hit the fan in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan if the Ankara regime sends its terrorist army to Kerkuk.

Eurasianet is carrying a decent article on the recent crackdown on DTP politicians as well as speculation on whether or not DTP will run as independents. There's a small discussion of the 10% threshold and the current "Kurds" in parliament:

But critics say that the Kurds currently in parliament are little more than window dressing, unable to promote Kurdish interests once they get to Ankara. "The Kurds want to have a party that will bring their needs to the national agenda," says Dilek Kurban, a researcher with the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation, an Istanbul-based think tank. "The current system allows those who get very few votes to go to Ankara and ‘represent’ the Kurds, and that only widens the gulf between Ankara and the Kurds."

Adds Kurban: "It has a cost for Turkey’s democratization and pluralism and it serves to alienate a large segment of the population."

In the meantime, today, the hevals iced five Mehmetciks and one cehş in the Çewlik and Şirnex regions while a couple of Mehmetciks blew themselves up with landmines.

Everyone remembers when Turkey banned Youtube, right? A few days afterwards, the ban was revoked, most likely because the ban caused a global stir and wasn't good for Turkey's image. Meanwhile, working behind the scenes, a Turkish parliamentary commission is planning to block "insulting" websites:

A parliamentary commission approved a proposal Thursday allowing Turkey to block Web sites that are deemed insulting to the founder of modern Turkey, weeks after a Turkish court temporarily barred access to YouTube.

Parliament plans to vote on the proposal, though a date was not announced. The proposal indicates the discomfort that many Turks feel about Western-style freedom of expression, even though Turkey has been implementing widespread reforms in its bid to join the European Union.

On Thursday, lawmakers in the commission also debated whether the proposal should be widened to allow the Turkish Telecommunications Board to block access to any sites that question the principles of the Turkish secular system or the unity of the Turkish state -- a reference to Web sites with information on Kurdish rebels in Turkey.

How very Chinese of the Turkish regime and such a good example for Bush's "Model of Democracy" to follow. And that line referencing "widespread reforms" is pure BS. Good luck on the block, though; there are a lot of ways around that. But the reason the Turkish government is trying to do it quietly now is because it knows that it's fascist methods look bad. After all, image isn't everything; it's the only thing.

To round out your Sunday evening reading, I'd like to point out a blog written by a non-Kurd who's working in South Kurdistan for the time being. The most recent post is on the Maxmur Camp. There are some really nice photos there, too, so take a look. Here's a teaser with caption:

This is the guerilla Turkey is afraid of!

I really like the photo of the Maxmur kids learning Tae Kwon Do, too, but check out Kurdishwaves for all the photos. Count this witness as another one to verify the civilian nature of the camp and the reasons that the refugees fled their homes: Genocide and Turkish state terrorism.

No amount of propaganda from the Washington and Ankara regimes, nor the bold-faced lies of Lockheed Martin's Joseph Ralston, can change those facts.

STANDING TOGETHER OR HANGING SEPARATELY?

"We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."
~ Benjamin Franklin.

Miguel is one of those who's been minding the store for Lukery over at Wot Is It Good 4, and he's posted a new article by John Stanton on Turkey and related Sibel Edmonds' matters. The piece is titled, aptly enough, "Turkey's Con Game":

“Turkey is not as politically stable or as secular domestically as they would have you believe,” said one long time observer of US-Turkish relations in Washington, DC. “The Turks do not have a large community across the United States like, say, the Armenians and the Greeks who have been here a long time. Because of this you see a very large Turkish presence inside Washington, DC.”

Lacking a legitimate national grassroots organization, Turkey has built a notable presence inside the corridors of power in Washington, by spreading cash around and buying direct access to key US decision makers in and out of the US government. It all seems legitimate enough: campaign donations and junkets for members & staff of the US Congress (FMOCs); consulting fees to former FMOCs, US military generals, US State Department employees; and promises of billions of dollars in contracts to US corporate representatives operating in Washington. With so much money chasing politicians, consultants and contractors of all stripes, there’s bound to be some corrupt and even criminal activity. No seasoned observer of politics anywhere is completely surprised at the occasional and well-timed conviction of a white collar criminal.

[ . . . ]

. . . if it is true that Turkey is not as secular or as politically stable as its proponents in Washington and Ankara say, then the whole Turkey-as-US strategic partner and would-be European Union partner would be one of the better smoke and mirrors acts sold to the US public, and the world, in recent memory.

Stanton notes something that is rarely noted: the fact of Turkish brutality of its own Kurdish population. He also mentions the fact of Turkish threats against South Kurdistan if there should be a declaration of Kurdish independence there, or if the outcome of a Kerkuk referendum is favorable to Kurds. Speaking of which, Masûd Barzanî had something to say about Kerkuk today, from the AP via the IHT:

Turkey must not interfere in the Kurds' bid to attach Iraq's oil-rich city of Kirkuk to the Kurdish semiautonomous zone, the top official in Iraqi Kurdistan said in remarks broadcast Saturday.

Otherwise, Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani said, Iraq's Kurds will retaliate by intervening in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast, where insurgents have battled for decades to establish their own autonomy.

[ . . . ]

"Turkey is not allowed to intervene in the Kirkuk issue and if it does, we will interfere in Diyarbakir's issues and other cities in Turkey," Barzani said. Diyarbakir is the largest city in Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast.

[ . . . ]

When asked about the Turkmen minority in Kirkuk and Turkey's concern for its ethnic brethren, Barzani shot back:

"There are 30 million Kurds in Turkey and we don't interfere there. If they (the Turks) interfere in Kirkuk over just thousands of Turkmen then we will take action for the 30 million Kurds in Turkey."

"I hope we don't reach this point, but if the Turks insist on intervening in Kirkuk matter I am ready to take responsible for our response," Barzani said.

What a shame that "30 million Kurds in Turkey" are only viewed by the Southern Kurdish leadership as bargaining chips against Ankara, much in the same way the Israelis viewed the same Kurds when Ankara invited the Hamas leader for a visit. Nationhood transcends the phony boundaries drawn by colonialist oppressors, therefore the question that begs an answer is this: What is the responsibility of South Kurdistan to the rest of Kurdistan, bearing in mind that the rest of Kurdistan contains the vast majority of the world's Kurds? Perhaps one of the oldest questions in literature is apropos to this situation, that being, "Am I my brother's keeper?"

I have one word for the pêşmerge (Warning: Link to American propaganda)who want the US to stay: Montagnards . . . or as they call themselves, the Degar people. The Degar are a little piece of US military history that I'm willing to bet no one has mentioned to the pêşmerge, although the Degar are an appropriate subject for Kurdish reflection. The US abandoned these "allies" at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975 and now, 32 years later, the Degar still suffer gross human rights abuses from the Vietnamese government, while their population numbers have fallen from 3 million during French colonial rule to a few hundred thousand today.

Is that where you want to be in 30 years' time?

It would be far more prudent for the Southern Kurds to strengthen their ties with the rest of Kurdistan, while the pêşmerge work and train with PKK's gerîlas, than to rely on the backstabbing Americans for Kurdistan's future. After all, has Lockheed Martin's Joseph Ralston sold the KRG any tactical fighter aircraft--a job he's registered with the Senate to do--or has the US Air Force begun training Kurdish pilots on the use of the F-16? If not, you should ask yourself why not.

Whom is Kurdistan going to trust? An American pilot--given the attack against KDP pêşmerge that left a number of them dead and Wajee Barzanî in a permanent vegetative state, or the more recent American bombing of PUK pêşmerge . . . but only because they "looked" like al-Qaeda? Or perhaps American pilots will stand aside again in the future in order to allow Turkey to freely drop ordnance on Southern Kurdish villages just exactly as they did during Operation Northern Watch? As John Pilger reminded us in 2001:

While British government ministers have repeatedly described the no-fly-zones as "humanitarian cover" for the Kurds, the pilots' unease has become an open secret in the United States. Last October, the Washington Post reported: "On more than one occasion [US pilots who fly in tandem with the British] have received a radio message that 'there is a TSM inbound' - that is, a 'Turkish Special Mission' heading into Iraq.

Following standard orders, the Americans turned their planes around and flew back to Turkey. 'You'd see Turkish F-14s and F-16s inbound, loaded to the gills with munitions,'[pilot Mike Horn] said. 'Then they'd come out half an hour later with their munitions expended.' When the Americans flew back into Iraqi air space, he recalled, they would see 'burning villages, lots of smoke and fire'."

That was what the PR people dubbed the "safe haven" and that's why it would be much better to have no American "protection." It's time to grow up, Kurdistan; end dependency on patronage and let Kurds protect Kurds. Besides, the whining is "traumatizing" my nerves.

Or maybe everyone needs another reminder of American priorities, from the AEI's Michael Rubin? Then again it's always possible to continue to depend on patronage and end up fighting for American interests in places farther away from Kurdistan than Baghdad . . . like maybe Ethiopia or Somalia.

THE DEADLIEST ENEMY OF TYRANNY

“The Framers [of the Constitution] knew that free speech is the friend of change and revolution. But they also knew that it is always the deadliest enemy of tyranny.”
~ Hugo Black.

Last September I posted what has become Appendix 2 of the "Report on Local Government and Local Democracy Dynamics concerning the DTP Municipalities in Turkey," which was the DTP mayors' letter to Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen on behalf of Roj TV.

What follows is Appendix 3 of the same report--the statement of the DTP mayors to the Diyarbakir court in defense of their letter (All emphasis in the original).

**********

26.09.2006

Dear President, Honorable Members of the Court:

The indictment submitted to the court by the Prosecutor is worth considering on many grounds. At the outset, we expect the honorable Court to evaluate our words within the framework of the inviolability of the right to defense. The indictment is far from being a document of law. It is a sensational product of the socio-political process in which it was prepared and carries rather the quality of a report of complaint concluded by Inspectors of the Ministry of Interior. Furthermore, it is full of internal contradictions. In brief, the indictment constitutes an unfortunate error.

Dear President, the demands for the closing-off of the Roj TV station, the necessity felt by 56 Mayors to write a letter to the Danish Prime Minister Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen and the tragicomic trial today of over 50 Mayors with the demand of fifteen-year-long imprisonment sentence for each is one consequence of the anti-democratic attitudes towards the Kurdish question. However, unlike what the office of the Prosecutor has done, we shall not raise details of the Kurdish question before the Court today.

The Prosecutor asks for a total of 840 year-long imprisonment sentence for crimes we allegedly have committed in our 405-word-long letter. With a rough calculation, each word corresponds to over two years of imprisonment sentence. The indictment associates our letter with the overall political process that has evolved since the foundation of the PKK Kongra-Gel, and claims that our act of writing the latter constitutes a “conscious and intentional support for the "Organization”. With such features, the indictment provides a fertile ground for political polemics. Without entering into any polemics, we reject the indictment and disclaim the accusations raised against us.

We, however, claim hereby each of the 405 words of our famous letter and repeat the opinions we thereby expressed. Serious consideration of our letter shows that rather than simply claiming a certain TV station, it advocates respect towards freedom of thought and expression for the institution of a democratic life and a matured tolerance towards voices of dissent. That opinions expressed within such a letter have been made the subject of a trial process is but tragicomic.

The Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Abdullah Gul had stated the following on 25 December 2006: “Those who claim that prohibitions by law still exist shall see when the verdicts are released that this is not true. Journalists used to be imprisoned for what they would write, and mayors for their poems. These are now a thing of the past” (The Daily Radikal). We did not chant any poems, but penned a letter that expressed the demands of the people whom we represent. Therefore, we are brought before the Court today.

Dear President, Honorable Members of the Court,

We would like to draw your attention to the last months of the year 2005. We decided to appeal to the Danish Prime Minister Mr. Rasmussen by a letter at a critical juncture of the Turkish-European Union relations. On the one hand, those who oppose Turkey’s entry into the European Union had intensified their corresponding endeavors, on the other hand, the positive atmosphere that followed the speech the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan gave in Diyarbakir on the Kurdish question in August 2005 had completely dissipated. The Semdinli Events of November 2005 and the new Alti-Terror Bill had created intense contentions. In December, the Orhan Pamuk case intensified discussions within both the government ranks and between the government and the opposition parties over Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code (TPC). The National Security Council was expected to convene on 29 December within this context.

In addition, discussions over supra-identity/sub-identity put forward by Prime Minister Erdogan were heavily criticized by both the General Staff and the President of the Republic. All these processes increased and intensified concerns over a democratic and peaceful resolution of the Kurdish Question. Debates over the closing-off of the Roj TV station entered into the agenda amidst such tension and as a much discussed element of the cultural rights of Kurds. While the political atmosphere was getting ever tense countrywide, people in the region whom we represent as local governors were expressing their deep concerns and worries about the possible closing-off of the Roj TV. In response to such demands of our citizens to make use of their cultural and democratic rights and relying on the civic principles of freedom of expression and freedom, we decided to write a letter as local representatives.
Driving our action was to help Turkey to overcome the narrow-minded and prohibitive attitudes towards the issue of cultural rights in its progress towards universal principles of the democratic civilization, and to achieve responsiveness to the demands and expectations of the people whom we represent. As you may know, the Roj TV station has an extensive audience in our region.

The Roj TV trial process started when the central government chose to dismiss democratic demands and authorize the Ministry of Interior for investigation. The indictment is based on reports prepared by Inspectors with the Ministry of Interior beyond the powers and duties conferred onto them by law. That is why this trial lacks a legal ground. Moreover, the issues that we raised in the letter had been conveyed both to the government and to other relevant political and administrative authorities in written reports that we prepared in the recent past. The views that had not constituted any crime then are now evidenced as reasons for the indictment of dozens of mayors.

We deem this trial to be an unfortunate result of the political process that required us to pen it in the first place. As the indictment also concedes, our letter has a squarely democratic content and is free of any elements of crime. During the same week that we sent our letter, 169 intellectuals of Turkey issued a declaration in demand for the abolishment of Article 301 of the TPC. In the same days, the Public Prosecutor of Beyoglu initiated an investigation against Joost Lagendijk concerning articles 301 and 288 of the TPC. We would like to suggest that the tense political atmosphere that we briefly mentioned above forms the contextual background of demands for the closing-off of the Roj TV, our letter regarding the issue, and its criminalization through a trial process. We believe that our letter should have opened the way for the furthering of democratic debates and openings instead of being made the subject of a trial process. It should have facilitated a process of hope, trust and mutual understanding that our society needs urgently.

Dear President, Honorable Members of the Court,

Since the Prosecutor refers to cultural rights in the indictment, we find it necessary to briefly express our opinions on the issue of cultural rights in Turkey. Bans on the right to exercise one’s cultural rights for Turkish citizens of non-Turkish ethnicity are coeval with the foundation of the Republic. A review of the 1982 Constitution alone shows that the Kurdish citizens of the Turkish Republic have been constitutionally barred from exercising their many basic human and cultural rights during the last 25 years. The recognition of the “Kurdish reality” in 1991 by the then President Suleyman Demirel had relatively eased obstacles in front of the use of Kurdish language in daily interactions and in arts and cultural production. The Sixth and Seventh Harmonization Packages passed by the Parliament as part of Turkey’s accession to the EU facilitated broadcasting in two Kurdish dialects for the first time in the Republican history. We declared on several occasions our deep regard for and appreciation of such democratic openings within the realm of cultural rights, and emphasized that these efforts should be supported by further reforms that would make it possible for all citizens of the Turkish Republic to fully enjoy their cultural rights. Such reforms should have been realized in response to the sincere demands and expectations raised by Turkish citizens of Kurdish origin and not due to pressures from the EU. We believe that the path for the achievement of social peace and sustainable development in Turkey and the institution of a dignified Turkish foreign policy would be possible if only Turkish citizens of different ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds who have heretofore been barred from enjoying their basic rights are guaranteed their rights and conditions are provided to facilitate their effective participation in the process of democratic governance.

In very recent past people were sued for having Kurdish names. Some were tried in these courtrooms for using the letter “W”. As the Prime Minister had also acknowledged in his Diyarbakir speech of August 2005, the state had committed errors due to certain taboo issues. Looking at the past, we can easily say that some taboos have been breached for good. We hope that this trial contributes to the overcoming of other taboos and fears.

Reforms passed within the framework of Turkey-EU relations are of partial nature. Yet the rights that they guarantee are circumscribed to an even narrower scope with administrative statues and in practice. Within the realm of cultural rights, democratic campaigns run and petitions signed in demand for elective Kurdish language classes and for the making of Kurdish an instruction language at primary schools were met with harsh reactions by the state and government bodies. Serious limits to radio and television broadcasting are still in force. Both the applications for broadcasting licenses and conditions of broadcasting are subject to seriously narrow conditionalities. While the limits on duration of programs in the cultural field such as music and cinema were abolished, those imposed on duration of news and discussion programs are still in force. Radio programs are limited to 5 hours per week with no more than one-hour-long daily broadcast, and television programs are limited to 4 hours per week with at most 45 minutes-long broadcasting per day. Serious limits are imposed on program contents. For example, only those programs that address adult audience are permitted, while programs that might contribute to language training, including cartoons, are administratively sanctioned. The general broadcasting statue requires that the programs should be broadcasted either with simultaneous Turkish subtitles or be followed immediately by Turkish versions. This arrangement makes live broadcasting in languages other than Turkish impossible and necessitates at least two days of preparation for a 45 minutes-long program. We hold that such practices that openly contravene the universal principles of democratic civilization and that may at best be described a tragicomic are illsuited for a Turkey in the 21st century.

Dear President, Honorable Members of the Court,

The indictment, using within the say of a contradiction between our letter and the initiatives of Mr.Prime Minister and government policies, violate legal terminology and the conventions of courtesy. The letter in question was penned so as to express the demands and opinions of our people and giving no base for any extremity. It was framed with a full consciousness of democratic responsibility, and, hence, has the quality to offer a framework for the solution of the problems related to the issue of cultural rights. In fact, within a democratic state of law, Mayors have the right, just like any other citizen or group of citizens, to deviate from the government policies. Where there is any such requirement that citizens have to submit to government policies, than that regime can be called anything but democracy. We do not have any aim other than expressing the thoughts that we deem right and fair. As responsible citizens and administrators, we shall continue to express our thoughts and share our opinions on matters that would facilitate the democratic and peaceful solution of the problems of the people whom we represent. We exercised our right to freedom of expression that has been expressed in universal human rights documents and the Turkish national Acquis. We are before the court for having exercised this right. While we intended by way of this letter to draw attention to the inviolability of the freedom of expression, to the impending necessity of promoting a culture of tolerance towards difference, in brief to the value of freedom of thought and democratic participation, we found ourselves criminals of expression. It is impossible in this regard to make sense of the confusions the indictment presents itself with. The indictment both states that the content of the text does not constitute a crime, and it wants 840-year-long imprisonment sentence for us, the defendants. As such the document pushes the limits of law to an extreme. We shall not ask the claimants be suspended or barred from duty, as it is sometimes the case with other trials. Yet we do ask this case be dropped. This case unfortunately shows that we have yet a lot to achieve for bringing our country to the consciousness of the rights and freedoms of the democratic civilization. Within this larger context, we see this indictment that raises unfair and baseless accusations against us as an instance of intolerance towards democratic rights and freedoms. We firmly believe that this honorable court shall restore justice by bringing this infringement on our rights to an end and protect the freedom of thought which forms the basis of all other rights and freedoms in a democratic country.

4. In conclusion;

As stated in our letter, we hold that the prohibitive and restrictive view towards cultural rights in general, and the Kurdish written and visual media in particular, should be superseded and that a more embracing and inclusive approach that listens to popular demands and claims fundamental rights and freedoms should prevail in our country.

The problem cannot be solved by the closing-off of the Roj TV station. As the indictment also mentions, other Kurdish broadcasting stations that operated abroad had been closed-off before the Roj TV was established. This means that darkening the screens is no solution. On the contrary, the solution of our problems requires that Kurdish-language programs be produced and disseminated within this ancient land that we inhabit without being hindered by law or by administrative measures. The solution of our problems would be enabled by the airing of such broadcasts from Istanbul, Ankara or Diyarbakir.

Our people sincerely demand that Kurdish language and culture which have long-been neglected and subjected to discriminatory practices be supported and encouraged by the State institutions. As the Prime Minister himself stated, this is the only way to redress the historical wrongs done to the Kurdish language and culture.

No television or radio station should be banned or shut down. No letters, no books, no poems, no cartoons, no movies should be punished. The punishment of peaceful products of humanity is the heaviest blow against democratic values.

Legal bans and administrative limits imposed upon the length and content of radio and television broadcasts should be abolished. One does not need to agree with the content of the programs. Yet the closing-off of an entire broadcasting station is something that we need to stand against according to the principles of democratic culture.

Enjoying the right to freely express one’s thoughts is a sine qua non of democratic deliberation. What we call democratic culture flourishes upon mutual understanding and tolerance. Bans on the freedom of expression constitute the biggest obstacles before establishing a culture of democracy and devising means for a peaceful solution of our problems. We have but to overcome this obstacle.

The labeling of our most democratic demands as “terrorism” and the criminalization of our democratic and peaceful demands and actions with purely political decisions deepens the crisis of trust between the State and citizens of Kurdish origin. The restoration of a bridge of trust between the two shall be possible only insofar as the State responds to people’s demands and takes necessary steps for their realization.

Albeit limited, the State institutions and Government authorities have so far realized significant reforms. Our endeavor is to integrate the demands of citizens for rights and freedoms into the ongoing process of democratization in our country, to complete the democratic reform process altogether and powerfully, and to take Turkey to the level of democratic civilization which it deserves.

We hope that the result of this trial that convened us here today beyond the limits of law and as a byproduct of the political atmosphere and the rising nationalist climate that surrounds our country shall in effect contribute to the democratic reform process.

Respectfully yours,

RALSTON, IRAN, PJAK

"The PJAK has proved to the people that it can successfully organize itself and fight for its rights based on its own strength."
~ Abdul Rahman Haji Ahmadi, President of PJAK.

First of all, I want to point out an excellent new article on the Ralston-Lockheed Martin conflict of interest vis-a-vis the PKK. First carried at Voices of Tomorrow, I noticed that the hevals at KurdishInfo have also picked it up. After noting Turkey's atrocious human rights record against the population of its internal Kurdish colony, and mentioning the assistance (military and otherwise) that the Southern Kurds have given the US in Iraq, Heval Goran comes to the point:

Despite these facts, the U.S. Administration remains curiously quiet in regards to their Turkish NATO ally and is only further arming an ever-growing conflict. The threats coming from Turkey have become a major cause of concern for Iraqi Kurds who have more to lose when considering their political achievements in Iraq.

With the PKK ceasefire, a chance for a political settlement between Turkey and the Kurds has never been so close. The U.S. could play a pivotal role in finding a peaceful solution. However, with current U.S. foreign policy, Iraqi Kurds may soon be forced to abandon the significant help they are providing the U.S. and the Iraqi army to engage in a long conflict of their own.

Very well done, so I urge a careful perusal of the entire article.

Britain's Independent had an article this morning citing the US raid on Hewlêr as the reason for Iran's seizing of some British sailors. Later in the day, the NYTimes reports that one of the Iranians, that "persons unknown" had seized, has suddenly been freed. Will the Americans now have to cough up the Iranians they took in Hewlêr, after totally disregarding their Kurdish "allies" and trespassing in Kurdish territory?

The NYTimes explains that the American activity in Iraq with regard to Iranian officials, who are in the country with the knowledge and permission of either the Kurds or the Baghdad government, has made life even more difficult for Baghdad in its dealings with the neighbors. The US is purposely making the situation worse for the Iraqis.

About those "persons unknown," the NYTimes reports that those involved with the investigation believe the "persons unknown" to be affiliated with the CIA:

The Iraqi police stopped a car with four passengers that was following the car in which the kidnappers had placed Mr. Sharafi. The four men were taken to the police station. They said they worked for an Iraqi security service, but when pressed, the security services denied that the men worked for them in any official capacity, Mr. Zebari said.

“We went to our security services and said, ‘Do they work for you, do you have him?’ They denied it,” Mr. Zebari said. “We went to the American military, the intelligence services — they all denied they had him. But my advice to my government was to keep the four in detention, until the diplomat was released,” Mr. Zebari said.

The four men remain detained in a Ministry of Interior facility, Mr. Zebari said. Although Mr. Zebari was uncertain who kidnapped the man, others familiar with the case said they believe those responsible work for the Iraqi Intelligence Service, which is affiliated with the Central Intelligence Agency.

IraqSlogger reports that Kurdish pêşmerge have clashed with the Mahdi Army in Baghdad:

On Saturday, Kurdish forces clashed with member of the Mahdi Army, in the al-Amin area of Baghdad, Slogger sources report. The clashes reportedly resulted in a number of civilian deaths.

Kurdish forces, known as the Pesh Merga, operating under the aegis of the security plan, captured captured a hig-ranking Sadrist, and three of his assistants in the area near Baghdad al-Jadida, eyewitnesses say. In response, Mahdi Army forces attacked the Pesh Merga, sources relate, and the Pesh Merga responded harshly.

Eyewitnesses report that the Pesh Merga are also reported to be deploying in the Western areas of Baghdad (Karkh) within Sunni areas like Ghazaliya and Saidiya.

The Pesh Merga are operating under orders to act only on two conditions: if they are ordered to raid certain houses, or if they were attacked. Eyewitnesses report that when Iraqis approach them with a tip about militant activity, the Kurdish forces decline to act, saying that they do not have any orders to do so.

With little experience in the kind of warfare practiced under the security plan, and orders not to act unless attacked, another source reports that the Pesh Merga are the brunt of many jokes in the capital, and that some residents taunt them directly. A month ago, Slogger sources reported that residents of the Karrada district pelted Kurdish forces with rocks.

Here's something I've been wanting to get to . . . Last week, Democracy Now interviewed another Seymour Hersh-wannabe about PJAK. Although this wannabe, Reese Erlich, admits that PJAK and PKK are parts of the same organization. Anyone who knows anything about PKK already knows that. In fact HRK, the armed wing of PJAK, is commanded by many Kurds from Turkish-occupied Kurdistan who are long-time veterans of the liberation struggle. However, Erlich is at a loss to explain the US relationship with PJAK. The reason for that would be that there isn't one, much less is there any relationship between PJAK and Israel, as Erlich asserts. Remember what Heval Cuma said late last year:

American authorities want to have contact with PJAK, and as a matter of fact they do have contact with PJAK. But to say that the United States is supporting the PJAK is not right. PJAK is until now continuing their struggle just with the support of the Kurdish people and the PKK. If the US is interested in PJAK, then it has to be interested in the PKK as well. The PKK is the one who formed PJAK, who established PJAK and supports PJAK.

Translation: If the US is interested in supporting PJAK, it must be interested in supporting PKK. If the US is interested in assisting the Kurdish cause under Iranian occupation, it must be interested in assisting the Kurdish cause under Turkish occupation. The fact is, the US does neither.

It's interesting that Erlich notes, after a discussion of PKK/PJAK, that KDP-I and Komala "have Peshmurga guerrilla groups, but they are not engaged in armed activity against the United States." The implication that Mr. Wannabe makes is that PKK/PJAK are engaged in armed activity against the US. I challenge anyone to find an incident in which either PKK or PJAK has ever "engaged in armed activity against the US." There is no such incident, unlike other organizations such as, oh, I don't know. . . . MEK?

Of course, we can never forget who it is that has armed and trained the fascist Turkish regime in its genocide against the Kurdish people, can we?

Erlich tries to gloss over the support for PKK by Kurds under Turkish occupation:

There have been horrendous crimes committed by the Turkish government against the Kurdish population and for some, the P.K.K. is seen as a legitimate resistance organization.

Some? Try "most," pal. Nice try too, with the "cult" accusation plucked straight out of Turkish and American propaganda.

Basically, what Erlich, Hersh, and every other American "progressive" is trying to do is use the Kurdish people and their legitimate political and armed resistance for their own anti-Bush, anti-American agenda. These so-called people care as much for the Kurdish people as the US-backed fascist Turkish regime, the fascist mullah regime, the formerly US-backed Iraqi Ba'athist regime, or the current Syrian Ba'athist regime.

(Speaking of the Syrian Ba'athi, Erlich sounds more like a Ba'athi Syrian apologist on the Paşas' payroll--sort of like Sami Moubayed--than anything else.)

The bottom line is, for those who are too dense to figure it out, that these "progressives" don't give a damn at all about the Kurdish people. The same goes for right-winger propagandist Michael Totten and his ilk, who consistently push the KDC and DC view of South Kurdistan with never a mention of the very serious problems the ordinary people of South Kurdistan face. Serious problems like severely limited basic services, corruption, nepotism, destruction of the agricultural sector, lack of housing, lack of jobs--and all of this in the face of "Dream Cities," malls that no one but the elites can afford to shop in, and predatory foreign "investment" that is more accurately described by the term "exploitation."

Erlich's propaganda totally disregards the statement of PJAK's President, Abdul Rahman Haji Ahmadi, published one week before the Democracy Now interview:

The people of Kurdistan deserve a fair settlement, which allows all of them to live together on a basis of freedom and equality. As it seems now, however, there is a contradiction in the policies of the USA and its allies towards Kurdish movements in the respective parts of Kurdistan; the Kurds in Iraqi Kurdistan are regarded as allies in the war on terror, whereas the political demands of the Kurds in Iranian Kurdistan are being ignored. And there is, furthermore, the attempt to de-legitimize the Kurdish movement in Turkey.

Nowhere in the world is peace more necessary than in our region. In particular, the Kurds in Turkey, Syria and Iran want, finally, a basic resolution of the Kurdish conflict. Democratic rights for the Kurds could positively effect the peace process in the Middle East. Military aggression against the Kurds however would intensify the already unstable political and social situation.

There you have it from Heval Abdul Rahman Haji: US policies are opposed to legitimate political demands of the Kurdish people still under occupation. Note that he mentions that not all Kurds "want the intervention of outside powers." This brings us back to Goran Sadjadi's article, the point of which also highlights US opposition to a political solution for the Kurdish people--at least those under Turkish occupation--through the Ralston/Lockheed Martin conflict of interest and the continued rejection of the PKK's democratic solution and its fifth unilateral ceasefire by the US and its regional lapdog, Turkey.

Good try, but not good enough.

PLOT AGAINST TURKISH GENERAL STAFF IN UTAH, AND OTHER ITEMS OF NOTE

"The root of the conflict unquestionably lies in Turkey's insistent refusal to give ear to Kurdish demands for equal political, social and cultural representation as well as an end to economic disparity between the Kurdish regions of Turkey and more prosperous areas of western Turkey."
~ Ismet Imset.

Ah, about those British sailors the mullahs are holding . . . I think the UK simply needs to acquiesce in the treatment it's getting from Iran.

Al-Maliki is not cooperating with the two big bullies of the region--Turkey and the US--when it comes to holding a meeting about Iraq in Istanbul. I have to agree with al-Maliki's position, from the Washington Post:

Washington has focused intense pressure on Maliki, who may yet agree to send Zebari to Istanbul rather than see the conference aborted. The reasons for his resistance were explained in these terms by an Iraqi official who requested anonymity in order to speak frankly:

"Why should we go to a meeting to be ganged up on by European and Arab countries that were against the liberation of Iraq to begin with? Why should it be held on the soil of a country that threatens and slights Iraqis instead of helping them?"

Turkey's military stands prepared to invade northern Iraq to destroy Kurdish guerrilla camps or to take control of the disputed city of Kirkuk, if circumstances warrant. Ankara has also pointedly refused to deal with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, an ethnic Kurd who asserts that his home town of Kirkuk is Kurdish, or with the regional Kurdish government of Massoud Barzani. Ankara's non-dialogue policy has led to interruptions of the movement of petroleum supplies across the Turkish border in recent weeks.

Turkey is merely an instigator. Remember, it was Turkey that had sent JITEM into South Kurdistan in 2003, to instigate the Turkmen population of Kerkuk. It appears that a US-based Turkish mercenary company will be taking over in that department so that the Ankara regime can claim plausible deniability in the event of any more "bagging" incidents.

NEWSFLASH: Kurdish politician delivers political speech in Kurdish! How long before he faces charges? Don't hold your breath; it's only Serafettin Elci. They'll never charge him for violating the law.

Let's see . . . who was it last week who was shooting off his big mouth about "financing terrorism?" Oh, yeah, it was Joseph Ralston's bosom buddy, Edip Baser! What exactly did he say?

Underlining that terrorism should not be considered only in terms of armed actions, Baser said that it has also financial and political dimensions. Thus, he said, cooperation with other countries is essential in the fight against terrorism.

"We cannot manage to eliminate financial sources of terrorism such as illicit drug trafficking and human smuggling without cooperating with the other countries since those sources are most present in Western Europe and NATO-allied countries," he said. "We cannot fight terrorism by rendering armed militants ineffective unless we drain financial resources."

Hmm. . . in light of the US State Department's recent report on drug-trafficking, it seems to me that Baser needs to take his own advice:

Turkey is an important regional financial center, particularly for Central Asia and the Caucasus, as well as for the Middle East and Eastern Europe. It continues to be a major transit route for Southwest Asian opiates moving to Europe. However, local narcotics trafficking organizations are reportedly responsible for only a small portion of the total funds laundered in Turkey.

[ . . . ]

Money laundering takes place in both banks and non-bank financial institutions. Money laundering methods in Turkey include: the cross-border smuggling of currency; bank transfers into and out of the country; and the purchase of high value items such as real estate, gold, and luxury automobiles. It is believed that Turkish-based traffickers transfer money to pay narcotics suppliers in Pakistan and Afghanistan, reportedly through alternative remittance systems. The funds are transferred to accounts in the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan, and other Middle Eastern countries. The money is then paid to the Pakistani and Afghan traffickers.

[ . . . ]

With the passage of several new pieces of legislation, the Government of Turkey took positive steps in 2005 to strengthen its anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing regime. It now faces the challenge of decisively implementing these laws and of securing final passage of the MASAK law that will, among other provisions, specifically criminalize terrorist financing in support of international terrorist groups. Turkey should improve its coordination among the various entities charged with responsibility in its anti-money laundering and counterterrorist financing regime, including the various courts with responsibilities for these issues, in order to increase the number of successful investigations and prosecutions. Turkey should also regulate and investigate alternative remittance networks to thwart their potential misuse by terrorist organizations or their supporters. It should also strengthen its oversight of charities.

I wonder how much OYAK makes off of all that money laundering? Say, what a stroke of luck it is that TSK is getting ready to take over the NATO command in Kabul. They'll be able to use military transports to transfer all those funds around. How convenient!

Shame, shame, Edip Paşa. Seems that you're cut from the same cloth as Ralston. Or at least, Edip Paşa is the same kind of liar as Ralston, again from TNA:

Baser said the closure of the [Maxmur] camp was a long process, stating that it has turned into a PKK camp rather than a refugee camp.

But let's reiterate what the UN says about Maxmur:

Çorabatır explained that a census conducted in the camp revealed that of the 12,000 people living there, 51 percent were women and 49 percent were children. Arguing that the inhabitants of the camp have no connections with the terrorist organization, he said, "The people living in the camp are civilians; they are not terrorists."

Noting that this was the first comprehensive study undertaken by the UN pertaining to the camp, he revealed that despite remarks by the US military to the contrary, no weapons were being kept in the camp and that measures had been taken to this end.

"In all our searches, we found no weapons," said Çorabatır, who maintained that almost all the inhabitants of the camp had gone there from Turkey and that a significant number of them were eager to return.

When he stated that the inhabitants of the camp had no connections with terrorist organizations, the deputies asked him about contradictory statements made by US commanders. In a speech delivered at the Turkish Parliament, Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül claimed that a significant portion of the camp had begun to support the PKK due to propaganda disseminated by the group's members.

Of course, Abdullah Gul's claim is ridiculous. The best possible pro-PKK "propaganda" comes directly from Ankara itself, through its policy of genocide and its twenty military "pacification operations" against the Kurdish people. I mean, you can't buy "propaganda" like that. I also like how Baser claims that "Turkey has 'undeniable' information that some Kurdish groups and Kurdish leaders in Iraq are involved in efforts to support the PKK." Baser should be more worried about the fact that 20 million Kurds in Turkey's colony Kurdistan definitely support the PKK.

But it certainly looks like the entire US military is nothing more than a pack of dirty liars. Kinda makes you wonder what else they're lying about.

Yusuf Kanli has a pretty funny opinion piece today about Fethullah Gulen. It's hilarious how he describes Gulen bawling about not being able to return to Turkey--which may be an indication that Gulen is off his meds. What's even more interesting about Kanli's piece is his suspicion that an Islamist "mole" in the Turkish General Staff is leaking worse than a puppy with a small bladder:

Interesting enough, we are learning that despite all the expulsions from the Turkish Armed Forces over the past decades in a bid to prevent infiltration by Islamists into the senior ranks of the military there might still be some loyal deep-throat messengers loyal to political Islam who are e-mailing top secret military documents to Utah, where the Gülen brotherhood is active. Why Utah and to which address in Utah? A military statement on the recent sensitive electronic leakage to Utah unfortunately did not elaborate on such questions except underlining that investigations have shown that a draft prepared to be used in renewal of media accreditation to military events was illegally e-mailed to an address in the United States and was then made available excluding the section on Islamist media from that source to various news people in the country.

Lawyers of the Gülen brotherhood organization immediately issued a statement stressing that Fethullah Gülen was not related at all with any such thing and efforts by some quarters in Turkey to implicate Gülen with the electronic theft of the military document lacked any legal basis and were the product of some ulterior motives and legally constituted denigration.

Who said Gülen was involved in that electronic theft? Gülen is not living in Utah anyhow. Or, did anyone try to implicate the Gülen brotherhood with the so-called memoirs of the former Navy commander, Özden Örnek, which are being distributed electronically from a Utah-registered Web domain? Or, is there a Utah-based campaign to harm the prestige of the Turkish military. If so, of course, the Gülen brotherhood is not involved in any way with such dirty games...

Oddly enough, in a discussion with a friend from Amed yesterday, we came to the same conclusion. The coup plans of the Turkish General Staff was the big news all through the weekend, and some general idea of that scoop can be read at Zaman, or in Turkish at Radikal, if you're so inclined.

Yusuf Kanli opined about this leakage on Saturday, as well. However, if anyone thinks it's time to "re-affirm our commitment to democracy," then they'd better understand that it's long past time to boot out the ruling elites at the Turkish General Staff.

RESISTANCE TO THE "MODEL OF DEMOCRACY"

“Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God.”
~ Thomas Jefferson.

What follows are a press release from Osman Baydemir during the Amed Serhildan (March 29, 2006) and a transcript of the press conference Osman Baydemir gave during the serhildan (March 31, 2006). In the press conference, Heval Osman recounts the attack on his convoy by Turkish special teams (Ozel Timler) during the height of the serhildan.

These two items comprise Appendix 5 and 6 of the "Report on Local Government and Local Democracy Dynamics concerning the DTP Municipalities in Turkey."

**********

29.03. 2006—Press Release by Mr. Osman Baydemir

Dear Press Members,

Dear People of Diyarbakir,

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

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

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

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


Transcript of Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Osman Baydemir’s Press Conference

Diyarbakir, 03-31-2006

Our city, Diyarbakir, has gone through great pain and suffering. On March 28th, our city had 70 injured persons. On March 29th, the number of persons injured rose up to more than a hundred, and 3 persons’ right to live was taken away. On March 30th, 20 more persons were wounded—mostly by gunfire— and two more persons’ right to live was violated. As of March 31st, we have lost another of our injured. Looking at the general picture, there are more than 200 injured persons, and we have lost 6 lives. It is maybe easier for many of us to talk and count in numbers only; however, seeing through our hearts, understanding and feeling empathy with and putting ourselves in place of those persons’ mothers and fathers is not only a matter of responsibility but of conscience as well.

Dear Press Representatives,

All tradesmen in our city, our citizens of all ages, from infants to our elderly citizens, have been wounded deeply, we all suffered deeply. Had I shared with you the troubles that I have been through, only those, maybe then imagining an understanding the suffering of the civilians could be a little easier for you. Yet, we kept silent; we refrained from sharing and publicizing all those details for the city to calm down, for the tension not to further flare up. I can say, based on my strong belief in the bright future lying ahead of this country, that this pain should be regarded as belonging to all of us. We should wait no longer; from this day on, we should claim all of this as our shared, common suffering. (Our city needs to move forward with prudence and steadiness now.) Prudence and steadiness are what our city needs at the moment. Everyone should claim responsibility, along with an equally strong conscience, to prevent this deep trauma, this great suffering, from getting deeper and more painful. Events should come to an end. I invite all civilian citizens to stop protests and to retreat to their homes. I invite all public officers, especially the security forces, to stop gunfire, not to recourse to firearms under any condition. I invite everyone to move forward with prudence and steadiness. I believe we cannot endure to lose yet another human being, we should not be in such a position.

I will gladly answer any of your questions.

Q: Is it true that your car was attacked, sir?

BAYDEMIR: Yes, it is true that my official car was attacked; it is true that I was threatened with death; it is true that my bodyguard was attacked and injured in his eye, but I did not share these with the public. I was always under pressure, anxious not to provoke rise in tension. Given my situation, can you imagine how the civilians in the streets might have felt, the emotional turmoil they were experiencing? We were exposed to gas bombs yesterday, but we did not share these with the people in our city. However, there should not be a single more incident. We should not suffer any more deaths.

Q: How would you interpret the Prime Minister’s comments?

BAYDEMIR: From the first day of the events till this hour, together with my colleagues at the district municipalities, my Mayor friends, we have paid great efforts trying not to lose a single life; we have acted with utmost prudence, taking great risks. Carrying the future of each and every of my fellow citizens on my shoulders, feeling great respect for my fellow citizens, for democracy and for the right to live, I acted with utmost responsibility. Yet, along with carrying out my responsibility, I also tried to act conscientiously. All of us have responsibilities. We have to act in accordance with our responsibilities. Yet, our actions should also bear on our conscience. I invite everyone to be conscientious.

Q: How would you interpret the Prime Minister’s comments on your conversation with the protestors?

BAYDEMIR: Dear press representatives, looking at the picture as a whole, I am thinking, if for the democratization process to be effective, for the social peace and stability to take place, for the 6 and 7 year old children not to die any more, if for all those, Osman Baydemir needs to be sacrificed, if that would be a means, I am ready, let me be sacrificed. I do not care at all for losing my seat, but I am concerned about my people, about the future of this country, about hurting the will of these two peoples trying to live together. Bearing these concerns on mind and in my heart, together with the Chair of the Diyarbakir DPT Center and with my Mayor colleagues, I visited many locations where incidents have occurred. I tried to convince them to retreat to their homes. Maybe this was my mistake, convincing the civilians to retreat to their homes in case of danger and protecting their lives is indeed primarily the state security forces’ responsibility. Yet, amidst a very complex social situation in which the civilians found themselves faced violently by the state security forces, amidst a social situation in which the lines have blurred, we, the local authorities in the city, tried to do all that we can to reinstate social stability.) Vice-Governor was also with me at many occasions. Now, isolate a sentence out of all those that said in front of the public, and try to trace for a sacrifice. No, the social situation is different; this problem cannot solely be regarded as a matter of provocation. We are bearing the results of a 70 years long historical period, last 20 years of which were especially crucial as regards the subject. The young people I talked to at the locations of incident, the generation we have to face now is a completely new generation. We do not know them well, they are different. Now, we have to think very carefully about Turkey’s future, our common future; we are wounded deeply and we need to heal ourselves. According to our cultural traditions, condolences, pain and suffering do not allow any other protests to take place. No more stones can be thrown, no more shutters can be pulled down in a social environment in which people share their pain with their families, wish strength to each other and feel for each others’ suffering. I wish and desire that every one of us can share and feel for this pain. I am expecting that Mr. Prime Minister will also say that he shares and feels for this pain.

Q: You talked to the protestors and made a call for prudence, but it seems that this call was not effective, incidents continued to occur, what do you think about this situation?

BAYDEMIR: As I have just tried to explain, we have witnessed a social upheaval. This was a scenery unknown to us, a completely new one. This city has never gone through such an extended and continuous period of upheaval before. This is where we stand in the end of those recent 20 years. We are facing a social situation caused by a political strategy aiming at no solution. I am afraid that this strategy of no solution, accompanied by the perspective of security, will bury our wounds deeper, will make them even harder to heal. I am repeating once again, together will all my friends, I will keep on paying the utmost effort, I will do all that I can, for my people not to be hurt at all, not to bleed a single drop of blood. I will keep on acting with all my responsibility, and with all my conscience.

Thank you.

**********

We do not forget.