17-year old S.T

A Kurdish teenager with a severe kidney condition has been jailed four times in 2011, on grounds of suspicious activities in association with Union of Communities in Kurdistan (KCK). She is identified by her initials as S.T, and is the daughter of Aziz Tekin, who is Mardin’s correspondent for Azadiya Welat — Turkey’s only Kurdish newspaper.

Aziz Tekin himself and his son Vedat Tekin are also jailed in Mardin. Aziz Tekin is the 105th journalist to be arrested in Turkey over his writing. The nation-wide arbitrary arrest of journalists has been met with outrage all over the world. Recently, one U.S author Paul Auster said in a statement:

I refuse to come to Turkey because of imprisoned journalists and writers. How many are jailed now? Over 100?

Civilians killed in an airstrike near Şırnak province were buried in an Ortasu village cemetery on Dec. 30, 2011. (Photo: Today's Zaman)

A military source has told Today’s Zaman the purpose behind the deadly airstrike in Uludere district of Sirnak was done purposely to put the Chief of General Staff Gen. Ozel in a “difficult position”. The airstrike which resulted in the killing of 34 civilian food-smugglers was done with knowledge that they were not rebels or even associated with them.

Necdet Ozel was appointed as Chief General of Staff in 2011 after the commanders of air, navy and land forces resigned due to controversy over appointments of generals. The resignation of top commanders was a deep blow to the government, who had resigned because the Turkish court charged 22 people with intent to undermine the government, among them generals and officers.

The controversy around the victims of Uludere is becoming more perplexing and confusing as the story develops, why would Necdet Ozel be misled over an operation which he was in charge of, and more importantly, who would want to put him in a difficult position since he was appointed by the current government. The government has suspected high-ranking officials of plotting to overthrow the government, but this fiasco is becoming a theatrical show of incompetency.

Related Posts:

Relative of Uludere massacre victim detained [1]
Mass-protests against Turkish brutality towards Kurds [2]
Kurdish civilians killed by Turkish warplanes [3]
Early report on Uludere incident.[4]

BDP Chairman Selahattin Demirtaş

BDP Chairman Selahattin Demirtaş delivered a passionate speech in London. He addressed the Kurdish community, and highlighted Kurdish grievances. His speech was live-streamed, and tweeted. We were unable to receive a transcript of his speech, but the highlights of it were tweeted by numerous Kurdish activists.

The Kurdish Community Centre (KCC) was overcrowded, people were ushered into a second hall. The conference started with one minute silence been observed in memory of Kurds killed by the Turkish state.

@Zurdosh tweeted this picture.

Feisal Bani tweeted highlights from Selahattin Demirtaş:

No one can choose whether or not the Kurds can be educated in their own language, apart from Kurdish people [1]

Despite receiving 2.5 Million votes, we are still called terrorists. [2]

The way to peace can only be built by recognising the rights and demands of the people, whether in Turkey or anywhere else. [3]

Turkey is building a private army, why would they create one if they are sincere? [4]

In the 1990s Kurdish people were randomly murdered to strike fear in the hearts of people, and this is now repeated through arbitrarily arrests of Kurdish people. [5]

They feel it is an achievement to arrest innocent people through night raids since they are incapable of silencing the people. [6]

Those who sell their leaders can never achieve anything, we are not those people. [7]

They have arrested more than 6000 of us, that leaves 15 Million to go. Let us see which is large, their prisons or the people. [8]

If Southern Kurdistan wants to declare freedom as an answer to the demands of their people, then we can only respect that. [9]

They have been associated with KCK on grounds of holding commemorations for Kurds killed by Turkish police, among those killed include Şerzan Kurt and Aydın Erdem. Singing in Kurdish and Kurdish folk dancing has amounted to suspicious activities in this case. These absurd allegations and wide-scale arrests are a means of scaring Kurdish activists and campaigners.

The first hearing will take place on the 7th of February in the 16th High Criminal Court.

President Masoud Barzani

In the past year, Syrians have protested against President Al-Assad’s tyrannical rule. As a result, the Syrian government has responded by killing, torturing, detaining and imprisoning protesters. In the past two days alone, more than 128 people have been killed by the Syrian regime. The United Nations has been unable to track the deaths of protesters since August 2011, and has said the death toll exceeds 5000. The number of activists detained, injured and forced into exile is unknown.

The president of the autonomous region of Kurdistan has voiced his support for Kurds protesting in Syria. He said:

We do not want to interfere in the affairs of Kurds in Syria, but we will help and support your decisions [...] But on the condition that you remain united during this sensitive period, and that you avoid internal conflicts [...] The situation is important to us because it (Syria) is a neighbouring country, we have a long border with it, and more than two million Kurds live there. It is important to know their future.

Despite enjoying wide-spread popular support in Kurdistan, Kurdistan’s politicians have been slow to throw their support behind Syria’s 11 month long popular uprising. Controversy surrounded President Barzani and his KDP government when Kurdistan’s own protests were violently suppressed back in February and March.

Kurds protesting against Turkish military raid

The Pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) has applied to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate the Uludere massacre, which led to the killing of 35 Kurdish civilians.

Turkey has not ratified the Rome statute, which means it does not accept the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, and as such the prosecutors can only ask Turkey to accept the jurisdiction of ICC to conduct an objective investigation. In October 2004, the Turkish Prime Minister said Turkey would soon ratify the Rome Statute, but this was later reversed because senior commanders within the Turkish armed forces feared they would be prosecuted for Genocide, Crimes against Humanity and Human Rights violations.

Some of the pictures are dated back to 2006, while others remain unknown. We are currently unable to identify the bodies of the Kurdish people killed, we know they are Kurdish because of their traditional Kurdish garments, and it is likely that they were Kurdish rebels. Further, some of the pictures include bodies buried by the Soldiers, without the familial knowledge of such events occurring. We are in the process of identifying both the victims and Turkish soldiers, and will try our best to pursue this case in a court of law.

WARNING: Due to the graphic nature of the pictures, the pictures have been uploaded on a separate page. Please be warned, some of the pictures are quite graphic and stomach-turning, that shows victims bodies completely naked, and in many instances covered in blood. This is the first step of pictures which we are publishing, there are more pictures of equal gruesome nature.

Berivan Sayaca was arrested in 2010, and sentenced to 8 years in prison for protesting, her sentence was later revoked after she served 9 months in prison. The 15-year-old attended a local demonstration, and was arrested by Turkish security forces. 14-year-old Hatip Kurt was assaulted by Turkish police for attending a demonstration, and dragged to the police station in front of his mother.

There are many similar cases of assault and arrests of Kurdish children in Kurdish-populated areas. The Turkish government has failed to pass legislation which effectively protects children, but instead it has allowed minors to be prosecuted under anti-terror legislation which puts the well-being of children at risk.

Hatip Kurt

Hatip Kurt

Hatip Kurt

Further reading: Amnesty International, Turkey urged to stop unfair prosecution of children under anti-terror laws.

When an entire people are systematically oppressed and marginalized, small actions to make their story heard can have dramatic consequences. Similarly, small actions to silence their voice can have dramatic and tragic consequences.

RojTV is one of the only international Kurdish language channels available to Kurds. It broadcasted everything from children’s programmes to Kurdish music and film. But most importantly, it filled the large gap of Kurdish news and politics, information that is ignored or censored from mainstream media. For over a year, RojTV had been embroiled in a long legal battle after being accused of violating Danish anti-terrorism laws. Perhaps you’ve read an article related to the case over the last year, or had been following it avidly. Or maybe the first time you ever heard of RojTV and its legal battle was when the case was closed. Kurds celebrated when RojTV kept its license, despite being found guilty of “terrorism” and charged a hefty fine.

Kurdish celebration was short lived, however. On January 19, Eutelsat Communications decided to stop broadcasting RojTV, effectively shutting down one of the biggest sources of Kurdish news in the world.

With the closing of RojTV, Kurds lose a powerful voice, one that frequently was the only one on their side. With the closing of RojTV, Turkey will no longer be held accountable for the arrest of hundreds of journalists, activists, academics, and even children. Iran can continue to hide the murder of Kurdish migrant workers on the Iranian border, and the arbitrary detention and execution of Kurdish activists. Images of Turkish massacres, like the most recent in Roboski, will no longer flicker across the screens of thousands of people, who can then mobilize to demand justice for their dead.

To you, perhaps, the only emotion you felt was “good riddance”. RojTV was provocative, some say. Or worse, an incitement to terrorism. Its messages had no place in anyone’s living room, you claim.

Dear reader, we’re here to tell you your claims are wrong.

Differences in political opinions should flourish. We’re not telling you to think exactly like us. But the dangers in silencing any political opinion are always more dangerous than any political opinion itself. The censorship of RojTV by the Danish courts, Eutelsat Communications, and by the pressures of Turkey itself extend far beyond the closure of this one Kurdish station. With the closing of RojTV, the voice of the Kurds has been silenced, and because Kurds are humans, who proudly claim their basic human rights, a voice of humanity has been silenced.

For you see, the Kurdish struggle isn’t just the Kurdish struggle, just like the Palestinian struggle isn’t just the Palestinian struggle, and the Egyptian struggle and Bahraini and Syrian. Wherever people sacrifice their time, and their lives, for greater freedom for their people, all of us who are invested in human rights and social justice gain. We, the authors of this letter, aren’t Kurds. One of us is Bahraini, the other Syrian. We’re from two countries run by dictatorships. Our people understand very sharply how valuable freedom is. It is only because we value freedom in our own countries that we feel a duty to stand with the Kurds. We cannot advocate for our own voices while we accept the silencing of others.

This is what motivates us. This is our cause. We are not terrorists, nor advocates of terrorists. Odds are, the word doesn’t mean what you think it means anyway. But either way, there is no political agenda behind our efforts. We merely speak up against violations of human rights, something the Kurds suffer far too often.

And because we speak up, we, as Arabs, are the target of some of the same attacks that Kurds face themselves. We receive hate mail and threatening comments, usually in the name of extremist Turkish nationalists. Our site has faced numerous hacking attempts. All because we stand up for Kurds. If we, as non-Kurds, face this abuse, then what do our Kurdish brothers and sisters have to put up with, simply for claiming their right to their rich historical and cultural background? For asking to live with dignity?

We realize we are reaching out to an unfamiliar audience. You may have never met a Kurd, or have your own opinions regarding the Kurdish struggle. Regardless of anything else, everyone has a basic human right to a voice, and a voice that is heard. Despite centuries of abuse, despite their very language being banned, the Kurdish voice has never been louder. At the very least, you have an obligation to hear them out. Banning TV stations and imprisoning journalists won’t silence the Kurds, but it will lay the foundations for a dangerous world where we all surrender our basic human rights to the people in power, where surveillance and censorship are valued more highly than dignity and liberty.

The Kurds are facing a painful battle for their freedom, one they’ve paid for with their lives. With your support, crimes against the Kurdish people will no longer weigh on humanity’s conscience. Speak up for a world where everyone can be heard regardless of ethnicity or faith. Freedom is non-negotiable. If these crimes are allowed to go unnoticed and unpunished, you could be next.

In solidarity,
S. Boulad
E. Al Shafei
The Alliance for Kurdish Rights

Mass-grave found in Kurdish city of Wan in 2011.

Turkish authorities have reported finding another mass-grave with the remains of 23 people in the Kurdish populated area of Anatolia. Earlier this month, another mass-grave was found in Diyarbakir. So far, the remains of 190 bodies have been found in more than 10 provinces.

The Diyarbakir Human Rights Association (IHD) have filed a criminal complaint on behalf of 36 families with relatives who went missing in the 1990s. The Chairman Ozturk Turkdogan of Turkey’s Human Rights Association has said there are at least 3,000 bodies buried in mass-graves.

Activists have claimed these remains are of the extrajudicial killings carried out by Turkish security forces in the 1990s. Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Co-chairman Selahattin Demirtaş has said thousands of Kurds in the Southeast disappeared in the 90s. The Turkish government has not responded by initiating a nation-wide investigation into these mass-graves being found in several Kurdish populated provinces.

We urge an immediate investigation into the finding of these graves, and those responsible within the Turkish armed forces to be held accountable. More than 45,000 Kurdish people have been killed since the 1990s by the Turkish armed forces and the Turkish State continues to ignore Kurdish grievances.