From nyxfer at panix.com Thu Apr 2 07:03:54 1992 From: nyxfer at panix.com (nyxfer at panix.com) Date: 02 Apr 1992 07:03:54 Subject: US Govt backs Turkey's War on Kurds Message-ID: From: nyxfer at panix.com (N.Y. Transfer) Subject: US Govt backs Turkey's War on Kurds Via The NY Transfer News Service ~ All the News that Doesn't Fit U.S. GOVERNMENT BACKS TURKEY'S MASSACRE OF KURDS By Ali Azad (Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if source is cited.) The Turkish government, armed to the teeth by the Pentagon to the tune of $1 billion each year, has opened a total military onslaught against the 15 million Kurds who live in the southeastern part of Turkey. The Kurdish people celebrate the beginning of spring as a new year, Newroz. This holiday is very significant for the Kurds. It is a symbol of their national identity. This year, the Turkish government turned the Newroz celebrations into a bloodbath, opening fire on crowds demonstrating in Kurdish cities. Reports from Turkey indicate that despite the repression, the Kurdish resistance struggle for democratic rights and self-determination in Turkey is ever more strong and defiant. Since 1984 the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) has led an armed struggle inside Turkey for the liberation of Kurdistan. In the past few years mass support for the PKK-led guerrilla struggle has grown tremendously. This year International Women's Day demonstrations turned into shows of support for the PKK. Newroz celebrations became mass demonstrations for Kurdish independence. Crowds raised banners of the PKK and of the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan. And the Turkish government troops opened fire. Then on March 28, the Kurdish masses stayed inside their homes and covered their windows with black cloth to protest the Newroz massacres. Washington backs Turkish military 100 percent The U.S. military intensified its presence in this very sensitive region in Turkey during and after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Today the Pentagon runs 17 military bases there. Pentagon cohorts in southeastern Turkey directly orchestrated the Newroz massacre of Kurds. Since Newroz the Turkish occupation army's fascist thugs have killed hundreds of innocent people. They have occupied scores of towns and destroyed many homes in Turkish Kurdistan, including Sirnak, Cizre, Nusaybin, Mardin and Batman. In a recent interview, Turkish Prime Minister Suleyman Demirel, who just a few weeks ago visited his masters in Washington, said, "If the press supports us for three days we will save this issue." The Bush administration has given complete backing to the Turkish government's repression in Kurdistan. In a news conference on March 25 State Department spokesperson Margaret Tutwiler said, "Turkey has our support 100 percent." This very strong backing has emboldened the fascist ruling group in Ankara to continue the carnage in Kurdistan. The media, both in the U.S. and inside Turkey, have blocked out news of the massacre of the Kurds. This is an effort to isolate the Kurdish struggle. News reports here have all presented the Ankara government's position favorably. In Turkey, except for progressive and working-class newspapers, the media have totally ignored the carnage in Kurdistan. Demonstrations support Kurds In Germany, on the other hand, massive opposition forced the government to stop shipping arms to the Turkish government. In several cities pro-liberation Kurds attacked Turkish banks and offices, destroying everything quickly before the German police could respond. In the U.S., anti-war coalitions have called demonstrations for April 2 in New York, Washington and San Francisco. In a leaflet, the National Coalition to Stop U.S. Intervention in the Middle East demands an immediate end to U.S. support for the Turkish government and a cut-off of military aid. It also demands the U.S. military withdraw from Turkey and the Turkish military end its military occupation of Kurdistan. The U.S. government--either under Democratic or Republican administrations--has never been a friend of the Kurdish people's struggle for self-determination. As early as 1946, the U.S. army helped Washington's puppet government in Iran topple the first expression of Kurdish self-rule, the democratically elected government of the Republic of Mahabad. The Iranian puppets drenched Mahabad in blood and hanged its leader, Qazi Mohammed. Pentagon support for the fascist government in Turkey is not in the interests of the working class and oppressed in the U.S. Rather, the Kurdish people's struggle for democratic and human rights has much in common with the struggle of the U.S. workers and oppressed against racism, sexism, lesbian/gay oppression, unemployment and massive poverty--all of which Wall Street, the Pentagon and the White House bring. This article is based in part on reports from Germany and from the newspaper Yeni Ulke in Turkey. ### This article originally appeared in Workers World newspaper. A 10-week trial subscription is available for $2. A year's subscription costs $15. Makes checks payable to Workers World, and send to 46 W. 21 St., New York, NY 10010.Phone (212) 255-0352. You may contact Workers World editors on NY Transfer or PeaceNet at "workers." ----- from the MIDDLE EAST Newsfeed - NY Transfer News Service Modem: 718-448-2358 nytransfer at igc.org nyxfer at panix.com From nyxfer at panix.com Thu Apr 9 01:06:36 1992 From: nyxfer at panix.com (nyxfer at panix.com) Date: 09 Apr 1992 01:06:36 Subject: NEWS:US Govt,Media Support Turkish Message-ID: From: nyxfer at panix.com (N.Y. Transfer) Subject: NEWS:US Govt,Media Support Turkish Repression Via The NY Transfer News Service ~ All the News that Doesn't Fit US continues support for Turkey's massacre of Kurds By Ali Azad (Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if source is cited.) Turkish Prime Minister Suleyman Demirel recently said, "If the press supports us for three days we will save this issue." Well, the U.S. media have been more than compliant with this request. While the airwaves are filled with a racist and psychological propaganda campaign against Libya, the U.S. news media have been silent on the massacre of the Kurdish masses in the southeastern Turkey. In a statement to the United Nations, the progressive pro-Kurdish weekly newspaper Yeni-Ulke, which is published in Turkey, wrote: "The target of the Turkish army and security forces is the Kurdish civilian population... They have opened fire on unarmed and defenseless people... and on ambulances carrying the wounded and health centers. "The civilian population is being openly slaughtered. Houses in villages, towns and cities are being burnt and possessions inside destroyed. Sirnak is in a worse situation than Erzincan that suffered an earthquake." At the same time the Turkish military campaign against the Kurdish people is completely coordinated with the Pentagon. An April 1 UPI report quotes an "anonymous Defense Department official" as saying: "We share intelligence on this matter [the massacre of the Kurds] and others, I mean they were an ally in Desert Storm and continue to be one in NATO.... It is the normal course of events given the commonality of interests over there." U.S. support for the Ankara government does not stop there. According to an April 1 New York Times article, U.S. Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney went to Germany to put pressure on that government to change its decision to cancel a shipment of arms to Turkey. The German government, one of the main suppliers of weapons to the Turkish military, stopped the shipment of arms to Turkey because of popular outrage throughout Germany over the massacres by the Turkish military. Despite the brutal attacks by the Turkish military, the movement for self-determination by the Kurdish masses in Turkey is strong and gaining the support of more and more anti-imperialist allies both inside and outside Turkey. On April 2, 14 Kurdish deputies in the Turkish parliament resigned their posts to protest the government's fascist policies. The Kurdish struggle has the strong and determined support of the Turkish working class and its revolutionary mass organizations. In a letter of solidarity to the April 2 demonstrations in the U.S. called by the National Coalition to Stop U.S. Intervention in the Middle East, Dogu Perincek, chairperson of the Socialist Party of Turkey, wrote: "The Turkish government has accepted its role in the new world order, which is given to it by U.S. imperialism and capitalism. The last `Spring Operation' of the Turkish government against the Kurdish people is a part of this new world order project.... The Socialist Party is in the front rows of the uprising of the workers' movement and on the side of the oppressed Kurdish people. Today our hearts and revolutionary feelings are with you. We are shoulder to shoulder in the struggle for the oppressed peoples of the world." In another message to the demonstrations, Iktidar, the newspaper of the Workers Party of Turkey, wrote: "The state terror exercised by the Turkish army and the special security forces against the Kurdish people and Kurdish national liberation movement is both a racist act and also a move towards pumping up a conflict between Turk and Kurd working class people. The solidarity with the Kurds now is not only a matter of human rights, but a struggle against U.S. imperialism. And this struggle cannot be fruitful unless it is tied with the struggle for socialism in Turkey. Down with the bourgeoisie. Long live proletarian internationalism." ### This article originally appeared in Workers World newspaper. A 10-week trial subscription is available for $2. A year's subscription costs $15. Makes checks payable to Workers World, and send to 46 W. 21 St., New York, NY 10010.Phone (212) 255-0352. You may contact Workers World editors on New York Transfer or PeaceNet at "workers." ----- from the MIDDLE EAST Newsfeed - NY Transfer News Service Modem: 718-448-2358 nytransfer at igc.org nyxfer at panix.com From aps at igc.apc.org Sun Apr 12 13:35:26 1992 From: aps at igc.apc.org (aps at igc.apc.org) Date: Sun, 12 Apr 1992 05:35:26 -0700 (PDT) Subject: inforequest: NF5 bombers against K Message-ID: Turkish NF-5 bombers against Kurds? MRM is a Dutch monthly magazine dedicated to human rights and supported by a.o. the Dutch section of Amnesty International. We have repeatedly received indications that Turkish Northrop F-5 fighter-bombers have been deployed against the Kurdish Meer [J/n/=]? population. These planes were supplied some years ago by the Dutch government as part of a NATO assistance program. The Dutch government could be forced to put pressure on Turkey if there was clear evidence of a violation of the conditions under which the planes were originally supplied. So far however nobody has been able to get any solid verification of actual NF-5 deployment over Kurdistan. We therefore ask anyone who has authentic photo or video material or other relevant information on this matter to contact MRM by answering this E-mail message or by telephone (++31 20 638 3826), fax (++31 20 625 4991) or regular mail (P.O. Box 17157, 1001 JD Amsterdam, the Netherlands). Thank you very much for your help, Peter Klerks, editor Mensenrechtenmagazine MRM From pnmideast at igc.apc.org Sun Apr 12 19:11:00 1992 From: pnmideast at igc.apc.org (PeaceNet Middle East Team) Date: Sun, 12 Apr 1992 11:11:00 -0700 (PDT) Subject: IRAQ: PLIGHT OF REFUGEES INCREASING Message-ID: From: Subject: IRAQ: PLIGHT OF REFUGEES INCREASING /* Written 9:04 pm Apr 11, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */ /* ---------- "IRAQ: PLIGHT OF REFUGEES INCREASING" ---------- */ Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved. Permission to re- print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'. Reference: Population; North America; Human Rights Title: IRAQ: PLIGHT OF REFUGEES INCREASINGLY TENUOUS washington, apr 8 (ips/jim lobe) -- the safety of thousands of kurds who last year fled to iran and turkey and are now living in the security zone in northern iraq is increasingly tenuous, according to a major u.s. human rights organisation. the international community should prepare now for a new outflow of refugees whose rights to asylum in neighbouring countries must be guaranteed, said arthur helton, director of the refugee project of the lawyers committee for human rights (lchr). that is because two key agreements which have helped protect the mostly kurdish inhabitants of the area north of the 36th parallel are to expire at the end of june, and already iraqi forces are taking actions that are heightening insecurity in the region, according to helton. the lchr, which wednesday released a 79-page report on last year's refugee crisis and its aftermath, said some 40,000 people have left their homes in the area over the past few days as a result of shelling along the front-line. in an interview with ips wednesday, hilton described as ''very disturbing'', reports from london and washington that iraq had moved surface-to-air missiles into the security zone in recent days. ''we view their presence with considerable concern,'' deputy chairman of the u.s. joint chiefs of staff adm. david jeremiah told foreign journalists here wednesday. he said that the iraqi radar had ''locked onto'' u.s.-led coalition aircraft that have been patrolling the security zone since the end of the gulf war 13 months ago. his boss, gen. colin powell, reportedly raised the issue of a possible western response with british prime minister john major in london wednesday. continued patrols by western warplanes are considered critical to the viability of the security zone, helton said. he added that the situation in northern iraq had rested on a ''fragile equilibrium which is now in danger of tipping.'' if it does, a major new outflow involving hundreds of thousands of refugees could be the result. (more/ips) iraq: plight of refugees increasingly tenuous(2-e) iraq: plight (2) the agreements establishing that equilibrium were one reached between the government of iraqi president saddam hussein and the united nations, and another reached between western governments and turkey which agreed to permit the warplanes to be based on its territory. both agreements run out at the end of june. baghdad's recent behaviour suggests it will not feel bound by the accord even if it agrees to renew it, helton said. meanwhile, turkey's escalating war against its own kurdish insurgency based in northern iraq also raises questions about its willingness to permit the west the use of its air bases. helton argues that the international community bears a special responsibility for the current situation. the security zone was itself set up -- largely at turkey's behest -- to persuade the hundreds of thousands of refugees who had fled to iran and turkey to return home. ''the assumption was that this would only be temporary and that there would political changes or settlements that would permit the situation to normalise,'' he told ips. the most important consideration now is that all neighbouring countries respect the principles of asylum. ''if another flight is inspired by the end of the arrangements or by iraqi aggression, (the bordering countries) must respect asylum,'' helton said. the lchr's report, entitled 'asylum under attack,' also found that 600,000 iraqis are currently displaced in northern iraq, including 100,000 people who originated in kirkuk. the report also criticised turkish authorities for providing insufficient shelter and access by non-governmental organisations to those refugees who have remained on turkish territory and for occasionally ''forcibly'' returning refugees to iraq. the report praised iran, which is still sheltering about 50,000 iraqis, for absorbing tens of thousands of refugees in a very short period. it also called for saudi arabia to undertake a full and independent investigation of claims of forced repatriations and mistreatment of asylum seekers over the past year, and urged the u.n. high commissioner for refugees to be involved in any future repatrations from saudi territory. (end/ips/ip/jl/yjc/92) From pnmideast at igc.apc.org Fri Apr 17 17:13:58 1992 From: pnmideast at igc.apc.org (PeaceNet Middle East Team) Date: Fri, 17 Apr 1992 09:13:58 -0700 (PDT) Subject: TURKEY: Mitterrand's visit raises K Message-ID: From: Subject: TURKEY: Mitterrand's visit raises K /* Written 12:08 am Apr 17, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */ /* ---------- "TURKEY: Mitterrand's visit raises K" ---------- */ Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved. Permission to re- print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'. Title: TURKEY: Mitterrand's visit raises Kurdish question anew istanbul, apr 14 (ips) -- french president francois mitterrand's state visit to turkey, which ended tuesday, has once again highlighted the need to resolve the kurdish problem, which has plagued the nation for years. ''france denounces terrorism, and the kurdish problem may only be solved by respecting the rights of individuals, international law and cultural identities,'' mitterrand said during a meeting with turkish president turgut ozal. the turkish government came under heavy fire from the international community last month after security forces opened fire on kurds celebrating the newroz spring festival, killing around 95 persons, including 10 children. french foreign minister roland dumas, who accompanied mitterrand, urged turkey to grant minority rights to the kurds to prevent further bloodshed. but his turkish counterpart, hikmet cetin, rejected the proposal, saying: ''in turkey, kurds are considered first-class citizens. granting them minority status would only lower their present position.'' in an interview with turkish media sunday, mitterrand rejected kurdish demands for a separate state, saying this could create ''immense difficulties'' in the region. but he stressed the need to respect the ''most basic rights'' of the kurdish people, including freedom of expression and the right to exist and speak their own language. he fell short of yielding to turkey's calls to denounce the kurdish workers' party (pkk) as a ''terrorist organisation'', describing it instead as ''an extension of the kurdish people, a political group that resorts to violence''. in paris, a spokesman for the kurdish institute denounced the continuing repression of the kurdish population. despite promises to address the problem, the turkish government has even ''hardened its stance against the kurds'', he told ips. ''instead of searching for peaceful solutions to the kurdish problem, the government has done the exact opposite,'' said the spokesman, who only identified himself as shewki. ''it has been 14 years now that the kurds have been under a state of siege.'' he said not all kurds may want a separate state, but they should at least be granted such rights as the right to form political parties. (more/ips) turkey: mitterrand's visit raises kurdish question anew(2-e) turkey: mitterrand's visit (2) media reports in paris noted certain difficulties in mitterrand's visit to turkey. while seeking to establish links with the growing regional power, they said the president would find himself restrained by the well-known support given to the kurds by french personalities, including his wife, danielle. as head of the france-libertes foundation, danielle mitterrand has extended humanitarian aid to the kurds, particularly during their persecution by iraqi president saddam hussein as the gulf war ended early last year. mitterrand's visit to turkey, the first by a french president since charles de gaulle's trip in 1968, came after seven years of efforts to normalise ties strained by the turkish invasion of cyprus in 1974 and reported violations of human rights. with about a hundred french enterprises in turkey -- compared to around 12 in 1986 -- france has become the country's biggest foreign investor. (end/ips/ip/nm/ao/ln/92) From pnmideast at igc.apc.org Sun Apr 19 19:39:40 1992 From: pnmideast at igc.apc.org (PeaceNet Middle East Team) Date: Sun, 19 Apr 1992 11:39:40 -0700 (PDT) Subject: SYRIA: Talks with Turkey on Kurdish Message-ID: From: Subject: SYRIA: Talks with Turkey on Kurdish /* Written 12:07 am Apr 19, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */ /* ---------- "SYRIA: Talks with Turkey on Kurdish" ---------- */ Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved. Permission to re- print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'. Title: SYRIA: Talks with Turkey on Kurdish rebel hideouts in the Bekaa istanbul, apr 16 (ips/nadire mater) -- turkish and syrian officials met in damascus on thursday for the third day of high level talks on cross border guerrilla activity. both sides have accused the other of harbouring guerrilla groups. prior to the talks, turkey had demanded that syria act against guerrillas from the kurdish workers party (pkk) in the bekaa valley, while syria had criticised ankara for its reported support of the dissident 'muslim brothers group'. on thursday turkey's minister of the interior, ismet sezgin said syria had finally recognised that the pkk was a terrorist and illegal organisation. he said it was the first time syria had acknowledged the presence of pkk guerrillas in the bekaa valley. ''they accept that the pkk is illegal and a terrorist organisation, and they claim they will act accordingly'', said sezgin. he went on to say that syria was trying to involve lebanon in the talks. ''the syrians are offering to give us a list of pkk terrorists if we were interested'', he said. ''but the bekaa is under lebanese control''. turkey believes that the pkk based in the bekaa valley receives syrian support and that pkk guerrillas penetrate turkish territory via syria and iraq borders. the pkk set up in the bekaa in 1982 backed by the palestine liberation organisation (plo). on tuesday turkish prime minister suleyman demirel had accused syria of ''exporting terrorism'' to its neighbours. ''the border between turkey, syria and iraq will be reinforced like a solid wall,'' demirel said. in a statement to the anatolian agency, the syrian minister for the interior mohammed marbi emphasised that syria intended to continue to exercise friendly relations with turkey. ''we have decided to continue with the meetings, talks and negotiations'', he said. ''the continuing dialogue will further the relationship between the two countries''. a turkish official told the agency the talks were proceeding in the expected manner. but he said there could be some rough debating, especially with regard to the bekaa valley. turkey's demands for stronger border control along syria's 700 kilometre border with turkey was reported to have been backed by threats of an air raid by the turkish air force, but turkey has played down the idea during the current meetings. (more/ips) syria: talks with turkey on kurdish rebel hideouts in the bekaa(2-e) syria: talks with turkey (2) according to reports received here from syria, just before the turkish delegation arrived in damascus, syrian domestic security forces closed the bekaa valley training camps of the dev-sol revolutionary guerrillas. a senior dev-sol leader, aslan tayfun ozkok, was arrested and the rest of the militants given 15 days to leave the country. along with the pkk and dev-sol, there is also a reported training camp belonging to the ultra-leftist revolutionary workers and peasants' party (tirko) in the valley. an armenian group is also reported in the area, according to turkish reports, backed with government produced photographs. about 35 syrian kurds have been killed and 25 others wounded in gun battles with turkish security forces inside turkey, ankara claims. the turkish delegation is using this as evidence that the one million kurds in syria threaten turkey's security. according to the turkish intelligence agency (mit) and the pkk itself, every month 350 kurdish youths cross the border for guerrilla warfare training in the bekaa. (end/ips/rp/nm/rp/92) From pnmideast at igc.apc.org Sun Apr 19 19:44:42 1992 From: pnmideast at igc.apc.org (PeaceNet Middle East Team) Date: Sun, 19 Apr 1992 11:44:42 -0700 (PDT) Subject: For a Kurdish Perspective on the Ne Message-ID: From: Subject: For a Kurdish Perspective on the Ne /* Written 11:09 pm Apr 18, 1992 by madjdsad at aludra.usc.edu in cdp:soc.culture.tu */ /* ---------- "For a Kurdish Perspective on the Ne" ---------- */ But coming solely from WESTERN SOURCES (admittedly selected by Kurds to reflect our beliefs, but hey that's what Mutlu is doing when he is SELECTIVELY sourcing history -- and our sources are more reputable and more recent than Mutlu's!) :) please write to the following address and ask for a subscription to the journal KURDISTAN IN THE MEDIA: Kurdish National Congress of North America (K.N.C.) California Chapter P.O. Box 26703 Santa Ana, California 92799 USA This journal is published 12 times a year and contains articles which have appeared in Western (predominently American) newspapers and magazines (a sample issue -- December 1990 -- contained articles from such obvious fronts for the P.K.K. as Humanitas (published by the International Human Rights Committee), the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, The Orange County Register, The Washington Times, The Dallas Morning News, The New York Times, The Santa Barbara News-Press, The Christian Science Monitor, The Los Angeles Times, the San Jose Mercury News, Newsweek, and Middle East International. All articles are completely uncut and unedited appearing as direct photostatic reproductions of the original articles so that NO ONE can claim that there has been any creative liberalization of the wordings. Thus some articles are not entirely favourable to the Kurdish cause (one said "Some of his [Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the P.K.K] statements (from his base in the Bekaa Valley) seemed semi-conciliatory, others semi-bloodthirsty." I believe that it costs $18.00 for a full years subscription but the pricing might have changed by now. Zagros Madjd-Sadjadi (yes, I support K.N.C.) Political Economy and Public Policy University of Southern California "Turkey is not a democracy [and] it should not be receiving American foreign aid." -- K.N.C. editorial AZADI KURDISTAN!! Oh, I also DON'T support the P.K.K. I support the K.D.P. (Kurdish Democratic Party).