From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Aug 6 01:55:02 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 06 Aug 1995 01:55:02 Subject: TRKNWS-L NEWS from Vic McDonald References: Message-ID: id VT12534; Sun, 06 Aug 1995 00:30:06 -0800 YENI POLITIKA -- Kurds in Germany attend the funeral of woman hunger striker who died last week. ZAMAN -- Kurdistan Workers party (PKK) rebel group has become headache for Europe with drug-smuggling activities. PKK "Parliament" Holds Secret Meeting in Vienna ANKARA, Aug 2 (Reuter) - A parliament-in-exile set up by Turkish Kurds met in secret in Vienna last weekend, organisers said on Wednesday. The parliament, which Turkey says is controlled by armed Kurdish extremists, met in the Austrian capital for one day on Sunday, its chairman Yasar Kaya said in a statement released in Brussels. Turkey said it had received assurances from Vienna that Austrian authorities had refused permission for such a meeting and did not recognise the weekend's session. ``If a few people want to meet unofficially in a dark room behind closed doors, well, what can we do?'' foreign ministry spokesman Nurettin Nurkan told a news briefing. Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels fighting a separatist campaign in southeast Turkey are represented in the parliament. The first session of the parliament in The Hague three months ago caused a brief diplomatic row between Turkey and the Netherlands. Ankara suspended Dutch military purchases. Turkish and European diplomats say the parliament's organisers plan to hold sessions every three months in a different European Union member country to spoil Turkey's treasured relations with the EU. Delegates at Sunday's session agreed to support a hunger strike began on July 14 by thousands of PKK prisoners in Turkish jails and their supporters, the statement said. Two people, including a Kurdish mother of five resident in Germany, have so far died in the strike. The hunger strikers are demanding that the Turkish government begin talks with the PKK to end the rebels' 11-year-old campaign for independence or autonomy. More than 17,500 people have died in the insurgency. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Thu Aug 17 23:27:45 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 17 Aug 1995 23:27:45 Subject: No Subject Given References: Message-ID: reindex kurdeng From kurdeng at aps.nl Mon Aug 7 21:43:23 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 07 Aug 1995 21:43:23 Subject: Turkey's Killing Machine: The Contr References: Message-ID: Subject: Turkey's Killing Machine: The Contra-Guerrilla Force (part A) Turkey's Killing Machine: The Contra-Guerrilla Force (part A) By Serdar Celik How The Force Was Set Up Turkey joined NATO on April 4, 1952. In the same year, the organisation known as "Gladio", or officially as "Super NATO", whose arm in Turkey is the contra-guerrilla force called Seferberlik Taktik Kurulu (STK - Tactical Mobilisation Group), started its activities in the building of the CIA organisation American Yardim Heyeti (American Aid Delegation - JUSMATT) in the Bahcelievler district of the Turkish capital Ankara. (*1) During the 1960s, following on from the experience of Korea and Vietnam, the American-dominated armies of NATO began to set up their own special guerrilla warfare units. The 1959 military accord between the Turkish and US governments envisaged the use of the contra-guerrillas "also in the case of an internal rebellion against the regime". (*2) The STK was restructured in 1965 and was renamed Ozel Harp Dairesi (OHD - Special Warfare Department). It comes under the authority of the President of General Staff and is also known by other titles such as Ozel Kuvvetler Komutanlik (Special Forces Command) or Harekat Dairesi (Operations Department). Although it was revealed through the "Gladio" affair in Italy in 1990 that such secret organisations also existed in other member states of NATO, and that they maintained close contacts with these countries' secret services and had been involved in a series of murders and bomb plots, the Turkish military and state authorities continued to deny the existence of any such organisation in Turkey. Only after ex-CIA chief William Colby had revealed that "there is also such an organisation in Turkey" did the Turkish authorities withdraw their false pretentions that there was no Turkish Gladio. On December 3, 1990, General Dogan Beyazit, President of the Harekat Dairesi (Operation Department) of Turkey's General Staff and General Kemal Yilmaz, commander of the Ozel Kuvvetler (Special Forces), issued a press statement. In this statement they revealed that the title of the special NATO organisation in Turkey was Ozel Harp Dairesi (Special Warfare Department) and that its task was "to organise rewsistence in the case of a communist occupation". They further explained that this organisation had fought in Cyprus in 1974 and against the PKK in Kurdistan in 1980, but that its secret members, whom they called "patriots", had "no connection with the contra-guerrilla forces" (1). This latter claim is a blatant lie. The bloody dictator of the September 12, 1980 coup, Kenan Evren, wrote in his memoirs that Prime Minister Suleyman Demiriel had in the 1970s written to him of his wish to engage the Special Warfare Department to deal with civil unrest (2). This was denied by Demuriel. Bulent Ecevit, another Prime Minister of the 1970s, revealed that: "As Prime Minister I first became aware of its existence in 1974 through requests from Semih Sancar, chief of the General Staff, for money for secret payments to the Special Warfare Department. I was shocked". (3) How and why was the Special Warfare Department set up? The founding aim of the Department is: "In the case of a communist occupation or of a rebellion, to use guerrilla methods and all possible underground activities to bring an end to the occupation." (4) The special war methods which are taught supposedly for the prevention of a communist occupation include among others "assasinations, bombings, armed robbery, torture, attacks, kidnap, threats, provocation, militia training, hostage- taking, arson, sabotage, propaganda, disinformation, violence and extortion." (5) Textbooks by American contra-guerrilla experts were translated into Turkish, and these special war methods were thus introduced into Turkey. Some of the textbooks written by American experts are: "U.S. Army FM 31/16" (contra-guerrilla operations), "U.S. Army Special Warfare School" (contra-guerrilla tactics and techniques), "FM 31/20" (special forces operational techniques), "FM 31/21 Special Forces Operations" (ST urban assignments, 31/21 guerrilla warfare and special forces operations ), "FM 31/21 A. Special Forces Operations (U)" (special forces secret operations). (6) The Turkish contra-guerrilla force developed the most complex and sophisticated methods for its war against the PKK. Since 1985 a series of new textbooks and instructions for the contra- guerrillas have been published. Just one example is the book "Ic Guvenlik Konsepti" (The Concept of Internal Security), which was published by the Special Warfare Command of the General Staff in 1985, and which is used as a textbook in the contra-guerrilla camps. The underground elements of the Special Warfare Department - that is, the elements which carry out actions - are called contra- guerrillas. The Special Warfare Department can be identified with the contra-guerrillas, since it is the latter who put the Department's work into practise. The Turkish contra-guerrillas have many schools in Turkey, in which they receive their training - in Ankara, Bolu, Kayseri, Buca near Izmir, Canakkale and since 1974 in Cyprus. "In the mountain commando school in Bolu, green berets (Delta Forces) who fought in Vietnam also got their training". (7) The contra-guerrilla teams, who are implanted with a fanatical hatred of the "peril" of "communism" and "separatism", whose heads are full of chauvanism, are unleashed against anyone who stands in opposition to the regime. For their goal, which they pursue with the support of the USA, is "the establishment of a competent military and semi-military force which will, jointly with the security forces, maintain internal security". (9) In their eyes not only the "communists", but each and every democratic movement is a danger which they aim to counter using guerrilla methods. The American military doctrine as presented in the textbooks holds that "our security is threatened not only by open attacks, but also by other types of threats which are even more dangerous than open attacks but which do not look like open attacks. These dangers consist of the attampts to bring about transformations and changes from the inside." (10) Selected elements of the Turkish contra-guerrillas together with the generals were all trained in contra-guerrilla schools in the USA. The aims of this training are defined as follows: "The goal of military aid is to educate soldiers from underdeveloped countries in accordance with U.S. ideology and then to install them advantageously in the leadership of their countries". (11) During their training in the USA the contra-guerrilla forces "are taught about social problems in their countries, and shown films which demonstrate the aggression and subversion of the communists. They learn how to handle explosives under the supervision of green berets in Matamoros near the Mexican border, and they are taught how to kill, stab or strangle somebody silently, etc". (12). Other places where Turkish officials are trained are the Escuela de los Americas in Panama, which is attached to the U.S. base Southern Comfort, the Police Academy near Washington and the Schongau and Oberammergau bases in Germany. (*3) Part of the Special Warfare Department is made up of officers from official units known as A-units or Special Operations Units. As the war became more intense, B-units were formed within the Special Warfare Department, made up of professional volunteer commando forces. Both types of units employ contra-guerrilla tactics. The forces built by the Special Warfare Department have everywhere formed organisations in the form of cells. These elements, known as "patriots", are placed in front-line duties by being infiltrated as agents-provocateurs into political parties, administrative departments and opposition groups. The strongest pillar of the Special Warfare Department is the Secret Service. In Turkey the Secret Service is subordinate to the General Staff and so also to the Special Warfare Department. The civilian government has no control whatsoever over the Secret Service. In Turkey there are various secret services: the MIT (National Secret Service Organisation) and the Secret Services of the Gendarmerie, the General Staff, the Foreign Ministry, the Director of Security (the political police) and the Presidential Office. These secret services hold quarterly meetings under the umbrella of the National Secret Service Coordinating Committee. The MIT has the greatest influence of all these organisations. This Turkish secret service organisation was originally called MAH and was restructured and renamed MIT in 1965. The MIT is a branch of the CIA and collaborates with the Israeli secret service MOSSAD, the German BND and earlier (up to 1975) with the Iranian SAVAK. Many operations of the Special Warfare Department are carried out in collaboration with the MIT. A third of the MIT's functionaries are members of the armed forces and the rest are mostly retired military personnel. It is a legal requirement that the chief of the MIT must be a member of the armed forces. Since the founding of the MIT, all the heads have been generals. They are appointed by the General Staff or by the Special Warfare Department. The 1989 budget of the MIT amounted to 42,745 million Turkish lira. (*4) Another organisation coming under the Special Warfare Department is the Psychological Warfare Department. On November 9, 1983 this department became the TIB (Ministry for Social Relations). Its headquarters are in Ankara. Its first chief was Dogan Beyazit, who was at the same time also head of the Special Warfare Department. He was in charge of propaganda operations which the CIA program divided into "white, "grey" and "black" propaganda. Many professors were employed within the TIB. (*5) The TIB has brought out numerous journals and pamphlets and even comics. It formed satellite organisations under such names as "The Institute for Research into Turkish Culture", "Turkish World Research Institute", etc. The main aim of the TIB since the '80s has been to develop the psychological front in the war against the PKK. With this aim in mind, pamphlets are printed which try to blame the PKK for massacres committed by the contra-guerrillas. Such pamphlets are distributed in various languages in Europe, purporting to originate from such ficticious publishers as "the Union of Anatolian Women". Or else bogus leaflets attacking the PKK are distributed under the names of existing or ficticious political organisations. Posters and leaflets are put about which are full of ridiculous propaganda such as those claiming that the PKK is an Armenian organisation. Or television programmes and books are produced which slander the PKK. In the towns of Kurdistan professors hold seminars about how "Kurds are really Turks" etc. The most effective institution from the point of view of the TIB - that is the Psychological Warfare Department of the Special Warfare Department - is the press. Turkish daily newspapers such as "Hurriyet", "Milliyet", "Tercumann", "Turkiye" and "Sabah", which have become semi-official organs of the state, are pressured into carrying out systematic propaganda against the PKK. Another area where the Special Warfare Department wields its influence is of course the political parties. All state politicians and all bourgeois parties in Turkey are under the control of the Special Warfare Department. Here are just two examples: Turkish President Suleyman Demirel was the first Turk to get a scholarship from the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowship, which is controlled by the CIA. Later he held for many years the agency rights for the firm of Morrison, which built the death cells in Vietnam. (*6) When Demirel was in the USA in 1963, he was sent into the Adalet Partisi (Justice Party). In 1965 he became the chairman of this party and is now State President. Turgut Ozal, who was Prime Minister from 1983 to 1990 and President from 1990 until his death in 1993, was an official of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). (From Kurdistan Report #17 - February/March 1994) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Aug 6 01:48:07 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 06 Aug 1995 01:48:07 Subject: Turkish Press Review References: Message-ID: TURKISH PRESS REVIEW AUGUST 01, 1995 CILLER ASSESSES CONSTITUTIONAL PACKAGE IN DER SPIEGEL Prime Minister Tansu Ciller said in a interview with Der Spiegel that it is the first time in Turkey for nearly a century that civilians have achieved constitutional amendments. Thus, Ciller said, the democratization process had been triggered. In reply to a question that some deputies at the European Parliament found the constitutional changes insufficient and that Turkey's entrance to the Customs Union depended on the realization of other reforms, Ciller said she had found such a debate wrong, noting that she and her colleagues would continue reforms with determination. PKK A GROWING PROBLEM FOR GERMANY According to reports from security units in Germany, the illegal Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorist organization plans to target German police officials in a new terror campaign. The reports add that PKK terrorists will not hesitate to use weapons in confrontations with the police. In the meantime PKK violence against the Turkish community in Germany continues unabated with an increasing number of cases involving arson and attacks against individuals. German officials have now said openly that the matter has gone far enough. Having come to realize that the PKK is nothing more than a terrorist organization, the government is going to step up measures against PKK activity in Germany. Already Germany's famous GSG-9 unit of specially trained sharpshooters has been brought into action against possible PKK threats. Condemning the violence, German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel said that the full weight of the German legal system would be brought to bear against the PKK. "We can no longer tolerate this degree of violence in Germany" stressed Kinkel. Other German officials note that Germany is in a state of alarm over PKK terrorism, with politicians demanding that more action against the PKK must be taken. Turkish officials have reinforced the attitude of the Germans: Turkish Ambassador to Bonn, Volkan Vural, has also said that the Germans must exert every effort to bring down the PKK. This especially as Turkey has no conflict of interest with the Kurds. The PKK issue has grown to such proportions in Germany that every day the German press is full of news and commentary about the PKK menace. Leading national dailies and weeklies are full of reports about the problem and condemnation of the violence, describing it as "remote control terror" from origins beyond the German borders. /Milliyet-Cumhuriyet-Hurriyet/ PRIME MINISTER: "OUR TARGET IS ARTICLE 8" In a statement to the Belgian daily newpaper 'La Libre Belgique', Prime Minister Tansu Ciller said that democratization reforms would be continued and that the government was determined to change Article 8 of the Terrorism Law. Ciller's statement was reported on the front page of the newspaper under the headline "Democratization will continue in Autumn in Turkey". In her statement, Ciller noted that it was the first time that a Turkish civilian government had made changes in the constitution since 1876, and added that democratization was being strengthened in Turkey. Prime Minister Ciller said: "Article 8 of the Anti-terrorism Law is preventing freedom of expression. The article causes journalists and writers to be punished - something which cannot be tolarated in democracy." /Hurriyet/ ITALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: "I APPRECIATE CILLER" Italian Foreign Minister Susanna Agnelli said that she "admired" Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller. Agnelli, who attended the Mediterranean Forum Meeting in Tunisia, evaluted constitutional amendments in Turkey as a "success" for Ciller. Italian Foreign Minister Susanna Agnelli said: "I believe that Ciller can be successful in clinching customs union. She is very determined. Turkey is very lucky to have a woman prime minister." /Hurriyet/ TWO CHILDREN DIE IN TERRORIST ASSAULT A group of terrorists launched an attack on the Uzumkiran settlement camp near the southeastern province of Hakkari on Sunday night, killing two children and wounding one. Security officials said that the clashes between the terrorists and the village guards lasted almost an hour. Meanwhile, eleven terrorists were killed in a security operation in five Eastern cities -Hakkari, Bitlis, Bingol, Batman and Tunceli. In a separate operation, two terrorists were captured alive in the cities of Siirt and Van. Another 11 terrorists who were captured in Bitlis and Mus were detained by the authorities. /Hurriyet/ TOURISM UP 59 % IN ANTALYA Saim Cotur, governor of the Mediterranean city of Antalya, has said that the city is having a very successful tourist season. He said that 886,000 tourists had arrived at Antalya airport since the start of 1995, a 59 % increase over 1994. Russians tourists make up the majority of the newcomers, according to Cotur. /All papers/ --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Aug 6 01:50:20 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 06 Aug 1995 01:50:20 Subject: Turkish Press Review References: Message-ID: WEDNESDAY AUGUST 2, 1995 Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning MEETING OF SUPREME MILITARY COUNCIL Under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Ciller, the Supreme Military Council met yesterday in Ankara. The meeting will continue until August 4 and is being attended by top level military leaders including Chief of General Staff, Ismail Hakki Karadayi, Land Forces Commander Hikmet Bayar, Admiral Vural Beyazit, Air Force Commander Halis Burhan, Gendarmery commanders and other officers responsible for security, equipment, military education and training and Security Council Secretary General Dogan Beyazit, together with Defence Minister Mehmet Golhan. Among the major issues on the agenda, retirements and promotions are taking first places, followed by assessments of the military- political situation in the region and Turkey. /Cumhuriyet-Milliyet/ A FRIENDLY VOICE IN CONGRESS Republican Party representative for Indiana, Dan Burton, has been speaking up on behalf of Turkey, saying that there are misunderstandings about relations between Turkey and its Kurdish population. Speaking during sessions of the US Congress, Burton said that Ankara deserved more support as Turkey moved towards a more democratic structure. Burton also condemned the PKK terrorism in Turkey and elsewhere. He noted that a number of leading Turkish figures, including former president Turgut Ozal and Deputy Prime Minister Hikmet Cetin have Kurdish origins. Noting these points in Turkey's favour, Burton stressed that military aid to Turkey should not be cut. Adding that in Iraq, while the Saddam regime tried to exterminate the Kurds, Turkey had opened its doors to victims of Iraqi poisonous gas attacks, Burton drew attention to the fact that Turkey need financial and other support in its fight against Marxist-Leninist PKK terror supported by Syria, Iraq and Iran. /Cumhuriyet-Milliyet/ IRAN, TURKEY HOLD SECURITY MEETING Turkey and Iran discussed their security concerns at a high- level meeting in Ankara yesterday. Ali Rezak Berati, Iranian Security Forces Chief, and Bekir Aksoy, Undersecretary of the Interior Ministry, jointly chaired the 11th joint security committee meeting, which focused on activities of the PKK terrorist organization along the common Turkish-Iranian border. The Iranian delegation was given a formal reception by Interior Minister Nahit Mentese after the first round of talks. In his speech, the minister said that there was no problem between Turkey and Iran, "but we will remain sensitive against terrorism because these terrorist activities in Turkey are also harmful for Iran" he concluded. Mentese pointed out that there were some infiltrations over the Iranian border, but, he said: "We will discuss this issue with Iranian officials. The Turkish-Iranian border, which was drawn in the Kasr-i Sirin agreement (1639), will remain as the border of peace and friendship". Iranian Security Chief Berati said that his country was among those countries most damaged by terror activities in the last 10 years. He promised that the two countries would work together to end the threat of terrorism, and announced that Iran was ready to share its field experience in combatting terror. "We captured three terrorists in the last couple of days. Iran handed over a number of terrorists to Turkey in the past" he said. The Iranian official is expected to leave Ankara for Tehran on August 4. /Hurriyet-Cumhuriyet/ ARSON ATTACKS CONTINUE IN GERMANY A Turkish home was firebombed on Monday night in the Bochum province of Germany. After a molotov cocktail was thrown through the window, the family immediately evacuated the house. No serious casualties were reported, but two members of family slightly injured and suffering from smoke inhalation were rushed to hospital. The Bochum Prosecutors Office said an investigation had been launched. /Hurriyet-Sabah/ PKK TERRORIST ORGANIZATION BURNS TURKISH FLAG Some 7,000 PKK supporters gathered in Berlin yesterday to mourn the death of a hunger-striker who died last week after fasting for eight days in solidarity with jailed PKK militants in Turkey. At the funeral ceremony where there were pictures of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and the PKK flag, a Turkish flag was burned. Many PKK supporters shouted slogans such as "Kanther is a terrorist" -a reference to Interior Minister Manfred Kanther, who has banned the PKK in Germany. /Sabah/ PKK ADMITS TIES WITH IRAN Halil Atac, member of the Presidency Council of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), has admitted that the PKK has good relations with Iran and can easily move in and out of Iran. Atac said that they were not much effected by Turkish military operations in northern Iraq. He added: "The PKK has activities in every region where there are Kurds. That is to say we have activities from Europe to the Middle East. We have also a dialogue with Iran." /Milliyet/ --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Aug 6 01:52:51 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 06 Aug 1995 01:52:51 Subject: Turkish Press Review References: Message-ID: AUGUST 4, 1995 Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning REPORT: TURKEY'S KURDS OPPOSE SEPARATE STATE A report entitled "The Eastern Question -Diagnosis and Observations" was published yesterday by the Turkish Chambers of Commerce and Commodity Exchanges (TOBB). The field work was carried out in the cities among the people who are defined as "Kurdish". Permanent residents in the southeastern provinces of Diyarbakir, Batman and Mardin were chosen as interviewees. Three cities on the Mediterranean: Adana, Mersin and Antalya were selected as the cities which attract immigrants from the southeast. The number of people interviewed for the research was 1,267 in these six cities. 90.3 % were male; 9.7 % were female. The report stated that among those who propose an independent Kurdish state, only 9.4 % support talks with the PKK. This was interpreted as a sign that even the most radical do not want the PKK to be seen as the representative of the people of the area. "This information confirms that if the question is well understood, and a healthy approach taken, it can be solved without the involvement of the PKK" the report claimed. In conclusion, the report said: "As a primary objective, the region should be developed and the living standards of the local people should be raised. This will also prevent any further damage to the urban environment by immigration. Social, cultural and educational reforms should be carried out so that the individual is free of traditional control mechanisms. The base of politics should be enlarged and all kinds of political programs and organizational movements should be encouraged with the exception of separatism". /Milliyet/ REFORMS TO BE CONTINUED The "European" newspaper, circulated throughout Europe has reported that Prime Minister Tansu Ciller said Turkey was in a period of reform process, and that studies on reforms would continue after constitutional amendments were completed. The newspaper reported Ciller as saying: "I am determined to continue the process of reforms. We are living in a rapidly changing society. Thus, reforms must be continued." /Hurriyet/ PKK RUNS RIOT IN EUROPE Early yesterday morning, a Turkish restaurant in Germany was attacked by unidentified persons. According to a police statement, the attackers tried to start a fire in the restaurant in Koenigswinter near Bonn. Happily, nobody was killed or injured in the incident. The number of attacks against houses and working places in the regions inhabited by Turks throughout Germany has exceeded 20 in the last ten days. German police officials note that the attacks were possibly organized by the outlawed terrorist PKK organization. PKK supporters have also organized demonstrations in various German cities. The PKK is also running riot in France where the Association of Turkish Federations was attacked yesterday. The atmosphere among the Turks living in France is strained. /Hurriyet-Milliyet/ GERMANY CONDEMNS PKK Interior Minister of Bavaria, Gunther Beckstein, said that the separatist PKK terrorist organization had started a fight against Germany. In a press conference in Munich yesterday Beckstein said that attacks against Turkish homes and property in Germany were organized by the PKK, and added that every legal means would be applied in the struggle against the terrorists. /Cumhuriyet/ OPERATION IN SOUTHEAST According to the State of Emergency Governership Office, during operations conducted by Turkish security forces in the southeast, eight terrorists from the PKK terrorist organization were killed and seven terrorists surrendered. /Cumhuriyet/ --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Aug 6 01:56:19 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 06 Aug 1995 01:56:19 Subject: Turkish Press Review References: Message-ID: THURSDAY AUGUST 3, 1995 ----------------------- Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning TURKEY URGES PROTECTION OF TURKS IN GERMANY Turkey said yesterday it had asked Germany to step up efforts to protect the Turks living in that country and their property. After a week-long series of firebomb attacks against Turkish targets in Germany, Foreign Ministry Acting Undersecretary Gunduz Aktan summoned the German charge d'affaires in Ankara on Tuesday to ask that measures be increased to end the attacks by supporters of the PKK terrorist organization. He also urged Germany to immediately begin deporting those involved in the attacks to Turkey in line with a March accord. "Aktan pointed out that most of those responsible for previous attacks had not been caught, and that this may have been an encouragement for new attacks" Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nurettin Nurkan told journalists in a weekly news briefing. Turkey and Bonn agreed in March that Germany would expel militants, but Nurkan said that to his knowledge none had been deported since then. /Milliyet/ TURKEY DENIES ALLEGATIONS OF PRESSURE ON FOREIGN MEDIA The Foreign Ministry yesterday denied a press report that foreign media members working in Turkey were being pressurized by the government not to write anti-Turkish news stories. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nurettin Nurkan told a weekly press briefing that the report was unfounded. "The press is completely free in Turkey" Nurkan said. "Those foreign media members who report objectively and without prejudice are received well in Turkey and enjoy full cooperation and assistance from relevant Turkish authorities" he said. "But it is only natural that we will not behave in the same way and will not cooperate with journalists who are mouthpieces of terrorism and who deliberately release untrue and misleading reports against Turkey" Nurkan said. But he emphasized that measures to be taken by the authorities in such cases would be confined to "no cooperation" and nothing else. "Moves to issue untrue news reports, to act as tools of terrorism and likewise to exploit the freedom of the press are unacceptable" he added. /Hurriyet/ PKK CAMPS IN GERMANY It is reported that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has ten training camps in Lower Saxony Germany and that youths trained in these camps are being sent to eastern Mediterranean countries. The Department for the Protection of the Constitution in the Province of Lower Saxony is aware of the location of these camps. According to this Department, the PKK is the most dangerous terrorist organization in Germany. Daniel Cohn Bendit, a member of the European Parliament and Chairman of the Frankfurt Multicultural Department, also said that he was against the PKK and added: "We have to protect the twelve thousand Kurdish civilians living in Germany from the violance of the PKK." /Hurriyet/ PKK COLLAPSING Inan Aslan Durgun, 21, son of the top level PKK terrorist responsible for the Tunceli region Muslum Durgun, who was killed last year by the PKK terrorist organization, has surrendered himself to the local Turkish security forces. Under questioning, Inan Aslan Durgun said that he had started working for the PKK oganization two years ago, but after the murder of his father, he had many times tried unsuccessfully to escape. "Many PKK members also want to leave the organization. The PKK is collapsing. All of its members are suspicious of each other," Durgun noted. /Milliyet/ PEACE MEETING IN NORTHERN IRAQ Due to the fact that Ankara has voiced concern over a meeting of northern Iraqi Kurds organized by the US, Washington officials have reassured the Turkish government that the aim was to establish peace in the region, not to hold a new Paris Conference. Upon the request of Ankara for information about the subject of the meeting, US representatives stressed that at the meeting, peace in northern Iraq would be discussed, and that no room would be given to threats against the territorial integrity of Iraq. /Hurriyet/ --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Aug 12 11:19:54 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 12 Aug 1995 11:19:54 Subject: Turkish Press Review References: Message-ID: ilServer 2.20) id VT14051; Sat, 12 Aug 1995 10:40:28 -0800 "PKK USED BY SYRIA AS A WEAPON AGAINST TURKEY" The book "Water in the Middle East", published with contributions from the School of African and Eastern Studies at the London University, claims that a secret struggle for the distribution of water resources is going on in the Middle East, and that the terrorist PKK organization was being used as a weapon in this struggle. The book comments on the usage of the rivers in the Middle East within the light of international law. It is pointed out that Syria was implementing the policy of "supporting divisive and destructive elements" regarding the Euphrates river waters. "Syria has been using the PKK organization as a trump card against Turkey in the struggle for the Euphrates waters", said foreign policy specialist Greg Shapland, who is a representative of the British delegation in the Multinational Water Working Group contributing to the Middle East peace process meetings. /Sabah/ GERMAN MAGAZINE SAYS GREENS SUPPORT PKK Focus, a German political weekly, claims in this week's issue that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is being supported by the German Greens, some deputies from the Democratic Socialist Party (PDS), and some religious groups. The article alleged that some deputies from PDS, for example, Siegfried Martsch, have been organizing demonstration marches and meetings for the PKK to make anti-Turkish propaganda, and have been organizing talks between PKK leaders and reporters. The article also said that Priest Hans Stoodt has hidden PKK sympathizers from police in his Frankfurt church. Some of these people went on hunger strikes, and others attacked the police. /Milliyet/ GERMAN DEPUTY DENIES BEING PKK SYMPATHIZER Stefen Tippach, a deputy of the Democratic Socialist Party (PDS), has made the impolitic but interesting move of giving a speech about an imaginary Kurdish state as part of his statement to the DPA German news agency, the Anatolia news agency reported. Tippach's remarks seem to contradict his claim that he has never had any connection with the PKK. Although Tippach defended himself by saying he never had any contact with the PKK, and that he and his party are only interested in the human rights element of the Kurdish issue, his statement to the DPA news agency nevertheless gave the impression that he was one of the PKK. 15 PKK MILITANTS KILLED Fifteen militants of the PKK terrorist organization were killed, one captured and seven surrendered in the Southeast. The Office of the State of Emergency Governor reported that three security guards were killed in action during the clashes. Meanwhile, terrorists killed one person and kidnapped eight others during surprise attacks in the hamlet of Bataklik in Hakkari's Yuksekova district. /Hurriyet/ PKK REPORT TO GERMANY Turkey has presented information about the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) to Germany to be presented to Prime Minister Helmut Kohl. The "PKK report" has three important aspects: the first one is about how the PKK brings its supporters to Germany through illegal ways; the second one is about drug smuggling which is the organization's most important source of revenue; the third aspect is how the PKK collects money by force. /Hurriyet/ --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Wed Aug 16 17:17:46 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 16 Aug 1995 17:17:46 Subject: Turkish Press Review References: Message-ID: TUESDAY AUGUST 15, 1995 ----------------------- Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning PKK MILITANTS KIDNAP TWO SHEPHERDS IN HATAY Two shepherds were kidnapped by militants of the PKK terrorist organization yesterday in Hatay's Hassa district. The two brothers were kidnapped yesterday morning. Military operations are continuing to find the kidnappers and their captives. NEW GENDARMERIE COMMANDER STARTS WORK A ceremony was held in the commander's office of the gendarmerie security forces to appoint the new commanders in Diyarbakir yesterday. Gen.Altay Tokat is the new commander of gendarmerie security forces in Diyarbakir. Gen.Hasan Kundakci, the former commander in Diyarbakir, has been appointed commander of Peace Forces in Cyprus. Speaking at the ceremony, Unal Erkan, governor of the emergency rule region, said that the PKK was weakened by factionalism and that it would soon be defeated. Gen.Kundakci said that he had been working in Diyarbakir for two years and a great part of the PKK had been rendered ineffective in that time. Gen.Tokat said that the PKK had no chance against the Turkish government. /Sabah/ PKK RAKES IN MILLIONS IN GERMANY SAYS DER SPIEGEL Turkey's separatist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) rakes in 30 million marks (21 million dollars) a year in Germany, according to a security service report cited by the latest edition of Der Spiegel out on Monday. The PKK cash floods in from the sale of publications and donations -voluntary or forced- from Kurds living in Germany, said a report by the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, cited by the weekly magazine. As well as Iran, Iraq and Syria, the office suspects Greece and the countries of the former Soviet Union of helping "financially or at least logistically" the PKK, which is banned as a terrorist organization in Germany. Moreover, the German security service suspect PKK sympathizers of passing on identity papers reported as lost so injured fighters or other PKK contacts can use them. Of the 50 or so leaders of the PKK in Germany, 26 have still not been identified by the German authorities, the report said. The German authorities estimate the PKK has 7,500 members and more than 50,000 sympathizers in Germany, which itself is home to 1.85 million Turks, 400,000 of whom are Kurds. /Hurriyet-Cumhuriyet/ MENTESE BLAMES GREECE ON TERRORISM Interior Minister Nahit Mentese said that members of the PKK terrorist organization, who want to carry out terrorist activities in holiday resorts, were trained in Greece and then entered Turkey from the Aegean islands. Mentese stated that Germany desired to extradite some two thousand Turkish citizens for whom the PKK had obtained refugee status in return of money. Replying to questions of the journalists at Ankara-Esenboga Airport yesterday, Mentese noted that the PKK received DM 6,000 from Turkish citizens who wanted to take refuge in European countries especially in Germany. Mentese said: "We have begun many initiatives to prevent this. Many European countries know this trick of the PKK. We are continuing to work on this issue". Mentese indicated that the connection between the PKK and Greece became certain with the confessions of members of the terrorist organization. /Cumhuriyet/ SOUTHERN CYPRUS COOPERATING WITH THE PKK The Kurdistan National Liberation Front, the military wing of the PKK terrorist organization, said it was fighting for the liberation of both Kurdistan and Cyprus. A group of Kurdish terrorists, coming to Southern Cyprus, visited the grave of Theofilos Georgiades, Chairman of the Committee for Solidarity with Kurdistan, killed last year. Wreaths were also placed at the graves of members of the Greek EOKA terrorist organization and those of Greek soldiers. In a speech at the grave of Geogiades, Kurdistan Representative in Cyprus, Roshaz Laser, said that Kurdistan and Cyprus had very much in common in their struggles for liberation. A bulletin published by the Committee for Solidarity with Kurdistan noted that the liberation of Cyprus led through the mountains of Kurdistan. /Hurriyet/ SADDAM RESPONSIBLE FOR UNREST IN THE MIDDLE EAST Republican People's Party (CHP) Chairman and Deputy Prime Minister Hikmet Cetin said that the Iraqi government carried the primary responsibility for spreading domestic unrest in Iraq throughout the region. He stressed that because of the embargo imposed against Iraq by the UN after the Gulf War, the country was estranged from the world, which opened the way to a gradually increasing domestic unrest. One way of overcoming the problems was strict obedience to UN decisions -this would open the way for Iraqi integration with the world, Cetin noted. /Cumhuriyet/ --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Thu Aug 17 23:23:12 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 17 Aug 1995 23:23:12 Subject: Turkish Press Review References: Message-ID: lServer 2.20) id VT14590; Thu, 17 Aug 1995 22:59:36 -0800 Summary of the political and economic news in the Turkish press this morning ANOTHER REPORT ON TURKEY-EU CUSTOMS UNION Spanish parliamentarian Carlos Carnero will be coming to Turkey on September 13-17 to prepare the ground- work for another report on Turkey's future customs union with European Union (EU) member countries. During his visit-which is seen as crucial to Turkey's success in this area- Carnero will have talks with President Demirel, Speaker Husamettin Cindoruk, Prime Minister Ciller and Deputy Prime Minister Hikmet Cetin among other leading officials. Carnero will write a report on Turkey's political and economic development as well the ramifications of full customs union with the EU. /Hurriyet/ LOCAL GENDARMERIE COMMANDER KILLED BY PKK Two soldiers and Colonel Ridvan Ozden, commander of gendarmerie forces in Mardin's Savur district, were killed in a clash in Savur during which 13 militants of the PKK terrorist organization also died. Military officials said that 17 militants were captured in Van, three in Mersin and two PKK militants surrendered to authorities in Hakkari's Semdinli and Siirt's Eruh districts. Three PKK militants were killed in Semdinli and one in Bingol's Genc district. President Suleyman Demirel sent a letter of condolence expressing his sorrow for the death of Ozden. /Hurriyet-Milliyet/ ARSON ATTACKS ON TURKISH TRAVEL AGENCIES IN SWITZERLAND A fire-bomb was thrown by an unidentified attacker at a Turkish travel agency in Basel on Monday night. No one was injured, but material damage was reported. A fire-bomb was also thrown at another Turkish travel agency early on Tuesday morning in Windish and some damage was reported. NEW BAN ON PKK IN HANNOVER A spokesman for the Hannover Administrative Court said that the court had banned the carrying of the flag, and pictures of the leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The spokesman pointed out that the PKK had been banned in Hannover since November 22, 1993 and said that the court was and always would be on the side of the police who refused to permit a march by separatists carrying PKK flags on October 22, 1994. /Hurriyet/ US GRANTS $370,000 TO TURKEY TO ASSIST FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS Turkey and the US yesterday signed an agreement which foresees a $370,000 grant by Washington to assist Ankara's fight against drugs. It was signed by US Charge d'Affaires in Ankara, James Holmes and Gun Gur, director general for the Middle East and Africa affairs and international political organizations at the Foreign Ministry. The US narcotic assistance funds will be used to provide training and equipment to the Turkish police and customs guards and to support drug rehabilitation programmes, officials said. Turkey and the US have been cooperating in the fight against drug production and trafficking since the late 1970s. Since 1980, US assistance in this field has totalled nearly $10 million, officials said. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Tue Aug 8 17:17:15 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 08 Aug 1995 17:17:15 Subject: TRKNWS-L NEWS References: Message-ID: Received: by aps.nl (V-MailServer 2.20) id VT13988; Tue, 08 Aug 1995 13:22:46 -0800 Turkey Warns Workers That Strikes Are Illegal By Aliza Marcus ISTANBUL, Aug 7 (Reuter) - A Turkish state minister said on Monday a planned strike by public sector workers was illegal, but the trade union confederation promised to go ahead with the stoppage. ``As has been stated in appeals court decisions, the August 8 planned event is clearly an illegal strike,'' Bekir Sami Dace, in charge of public sector pay talks, told a news conference in Ankara. About 850,000 public sector workers in the trade union confederation Turk-Is are expected to stop work on Tuesday, disrupting communications, transport and power generation. Turk-Is is irate over the government's offer of a 5.4 percent annual wage increase for the 682,000 workers whose contracts are up for negotiation. With inflation running at about 80 percent, union officials said they would settle for nothing less than inflation-indexed increases. Contracts up for negotiation started expiring at the end of last December. ``We don't even consider this to be an offer. All we want is wage increases equal to the previous six months inflation rate so we don't lose purchasing power,'' Yildirim Koc, adviser to the president of Turk-Is, told Reuters. The inflation target for 1995 has been set at 40 percent by the end of the year, but economists say this is unreachable. The average monthly salary among workers whose contracts are up for negotiation is $407. Koc said despite Dace's claim, the strike was legal under article 87 of the International Labour Organisation convention, which Turkey has ratified. In Turkey general strikes are essentially illegal. ``We have also taken the decision to peacefully occupy workplaces until Wednesday. This is all justified under conventions Turkey has ratified,'' said Koc. Turk-Is, which has about 1.2 million members, also wants to push the government to introduce an agreed-upon increase in the minimum wage, now about $59 after taxes. The minimum wage is supposed to be increased to $99 after taxes but the two sides are fighting over the date it should go into effect. Highlights From the Turkish Press For August 7th ANKARA, Aug 7 (Reuter) - These are the leading stories in the Turkish press on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. MILLIYET -- Opposition leader Mesut Yilmaz says report on the Kurdish problem sponsored by Turkish business group strongly resembles a previous report on the same topic by the CIA. HURRIYET -- Kurdish guerrilla leader Abdullah Ocalan encourages his followers to practise Islam. CUMHURIYET -- Government warns that workers' protests planned for Tuesday are illegal. -- A report sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme shows many social and economic injustices in Turkey. YENI YUZYIL -- Yilmaz criticises business group report on Kurdish issue. -- Far-right leader Alparslan Turkes asks why the fuss about claims that police special forces in the southeast are linked to his party. YENI POLITIKA -- Two PKK prisoners on hunger strike to end conflict in southeast have internal bleeding. DUNYA -- Businesswoman who invests in southeast urges Turkey's two leading industrialists to do the same. ZAMAN -- Claims that police special teams are treating civilians badly in eastern province of Tunceli are exaggerated. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Thu Aug 17 23:26:01 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 17 Aug 1995 23:26:01 Subject: TRKNWS-L NEWS References: Message-ID: u, 17 Aug 1995 22:59:41 -0800 PKK ACTIVITY IN KAZAKHSTAN. The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has been waging a bloody campaign against the Turkish state in the name of Kurdish rights if not independence, is ensconced in Kazakhstan, according to a 16 August report in Yeni Yuzyil. The paper noted that "PKK militants" appeared in the republic in 1992 and "divided" the local Kurdish population; reportedly the PKK has its own publishing organ and is heavily involved in certain markets, notably for fruit, vegetables, and automobiles. The Kurdish population in Kazakhstan, originally exiled to the republic by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, is also said to have strong connections with local Meshketian Turks. The paper speculated that the prospects of bringing an end to PKK activity in Kazakhstan are nil. -- Lowell Bezanis, OMRI, Inc. FSB CLAIMS TURKISH INTELLIGENCE SUPPORTS DUDAYEV. Monitor 16 08 95 -- The spokesman of the Federal Security Service (FSB) Administration in Daghestan claimed to the August 15 Kommersant-Daily that Turkey's Intelligence Service (MIT) is using the territory of Azerbaijan to infiltrate Daghestan, and to make it into a base for its operations in Chechnya. The spokesman claimed that the MIT has set up a liaison office with satellite communications equipment at Dzhokhar Dudayev's headquarters. But as evidence he was able to cite only the case of the hapless Turk, Izhak Kasap, whom the FSB recently expelled to Turkey, as evidence. FSB believes that the MIT seeks to turn North Caucasus into an "Islamic sanitary cordon" against Russia, the spokesman said. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Aug 5 14:41:15 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 05 Aug 1995 14:41:15 Subject: Kurdish Hungerstriker Dies In Berli References: Message-ID: Subject: Re: Kurdish Hungerstriker Dies In Berlin ------------------------ Forwarded from : ats at etext.org ------------------------ Hunger Strike Claims Kurd, 41 Activists in Germany press for end of war Bonn, Germany (Toronto Star via Reuter - July 28, 1995) A woman on a hunger strike died in Berlin yesterday amid a wave of protests and attacks on Turkish properties in Germany that police have linked to Kurdish activists. Police said the dead woman was among a group of several hundred Kurds in Germany showing solidarity with imprisoned members of the separtist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in Turkey. A Belgian-based Kurdish organization, in a statement distributed in Germany, named the dead woman as Gulnaz Bagiztani, 41, and said she had been on the hunger strike for eight days. Imprisoned PKK members, who are fighting an 11-year battle for independence or autonomy in southeast Turkey, started the hunger strike on July 14 to demand Anakara open talks to end the war. Ankara has not yet responded to the hunger strike. The pro-Kurdish newspaper Yeni Politika said hundreds of Kurds in Europe were also on sympathy hungerstrikes or had occupied buildings in support. Between 8,000 and 10,000 people in 22 Turkish jails joined the hungerstrike, the Human Rights Association of Turkey said. Turkish Kurds in Germany and Britain have protested over various Kurdish issues this week. Police detained about 80 Kurds in Frankfurt as they broke up a week-long vigil for displaying the symbols of the PKK, which is banned in Germany for extremism. Eight Turkish properties were firebombed during the night in Germany. It was the third consecutive night of such attacks, and police said some of the incidents were the work of the PKK. Prosecutors in the south-western city of Stuttgart said police had detained five suspects after a firebombing in the town of Villingen-Schweningen took the total of such attacks in the area in the last three days to 12. Two Kurds made confessions that indicated "the majority or all of the attacks were probably masterminded by the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party", a police spokesperson said. Interior Minister Manfred Kanther called on Kurds living in Germany not to support political extremists. "We must proceed against PKK terror with resolve and determination", he said in a statement. Stuttgart investigators have linked some of the attacks to the planned extradition to Germany from Britain of PKK member Kani Yilmaz, who has been given 14 days to return to Germany. Bonn is seeking Yilmaz on suspicion of helping to organize, as European head of the PKK, the series of Europe-wide attacks on Turkish properties in 1993 and 1994 that led to the banning of the PKK in Germany. ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++ ++++ see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++ +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist collective based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of material, including political prisoners, national liberation struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings, research, and translation materials in our magazine and bulletins called Arm The Spirit. For more information, contact: Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P7 Canada E-mail: ats at etext.org WWW: gopher://locust.cic.net:70/11/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Aug 5 14:48:37 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 05 Aug 1995 14:48:37 Subject: Victory To The Kurds! References: Message-ID: ------------------------ Forwarded from : ats at etext.org ------------------------ The Kurdish People Will Have Victory With Dignity And Pride On July 25, 1995 Kani Yilmaz, European representative of the ERNK appeared in court for the fourth and final extradition hearing at Belmarsh Magistrates Court. Kani has been confined to Belmarsh Prison in South East London as a 'Category A' prisoner since January, following his October 26, 1994, arrest outside Westminster tube station by Special Branch. Initially on his way to address MPs and peers on a political solution to the Kurdish question, and having previously entered Britain numerous times unhindered, Kani soon found himself facing deportation on supposed 'national security' grounds. On November 10 an extradition request was made by the German government for offences connected with Kani's membership of the PKK and related activities. Having committed no crime, Kani, like many Kurds before him, has faced torture and persecution at the hands of the Turkish state for simply advocating civil and human rights for the Kurdish peoples. Now, he languishes in a British prison under a justice system and security service which has aligned itself with Turkish state fascism. Since the arrest of Kani Yilmaz, the campaign for his release and for a halt to the criminalisation of the Kurds in Britain and Europe has gathered momentum. On July 14, 10,000 prisoners of war from Kurdistan went on indefinite hungerstrikes in Turkish prisons in resistance to Turkey's escalation of the war in Kurdistan and have demanded a negotiated political solution to the Kurdish question. Solidarity hungerstrikes were started on July 20 in cities all over the world including Berlin, Frankfurt, Paris, Geneva, Stockholm, The Hague, Athens and Washington DC. In London, Kurdish people are presently on hungerstrike outside Westminster Cathedral in Victoria Street. On July 25 Kani himself commenced a hungerstrike in solidarity with the Kurdish people. On the day of July 25 a picket and demonstration was held in London at Kani Yilmaz's committal hearing to bring the Kurdish question into the public eye and continue the campaign for Kani's release. 2,000 Kurds and their supporters, including the hungerstrikers, were present on the day. At noon, an overwhelmingly heavy riot police presence were on the scene as protesters participated in traditional Kurdish dances and listened to a variety of speeches. A few hours later an announcement was made that Kani Yilmaz was to be deported. This was returned by strong silence and an atmosphere of disbelief, then the protest returned to Westminster Cathedral to bring the situation of the Kurds in Turkey into focus. At this point a sit-down protest took place, followed by a continuation of the march which would have continued if not for the riot police who formed a line against the confused demonstrators and Kurdish families, lashing out against them with truncheons. Following this sustained attack, enraged marchers fought back with sticks and bottles. Running battles continued until police effectively fenced-in the entire demonstration. Close to midnight, the protesters dispersed themselves into the underground subway. The press later claimed that twelve police were injured in the melee, while downplaying the casualties on the demonstrator's side which included a young woman and hungerstriker who had her leg broken in several places by police batons. Considering the nature of the demonstrators, who by and large restrained themselves against police forces which from the outset sought to menace any display of Kurdish protest, it seems quite hard to believe statements from the police who claim that the Kurds had planned the violence. One officer claimed his partner had been "stabbed in the chest", while another claims to have caught demonstrators in the possession of petrol bombs. None of these claims actually came to ground. For the Kurds, Turkish state fascism has again shown its interests met by the hands of the British authorities. An extract from Abdullah Ocalan, PKK chairman, to the people of Britain reads: "Our British friends must raise their voice to stop the killings which are ten times worse than Saddam's atrocities across the border. There was only one Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan but in Turkey, the whole southeast is becoming one enormous Halabja. This war is worse than Chechnya, yet it is being ignored. Can you possibly justify these double standards?" Yesterday Vietnam, Today Kurdistan! - Yesterday Hitler, Today Ciller! Release Kani Yilmaz - Victory to the Honourable Kurdish Struggle! London, England - July 28, 1995 (Written by a comrade at Arm The Spirit) ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++ ++++ see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++ +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist collective based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of material, including political prisoners, national liberation struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings, research, and translation materials in our magazine and bulletins called Arm The Spirit. For more information, contact: Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P7 Canada E-mail: ats at etext.org WWW: gopher://locust.cic.net:70/11/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Aug 5 22:00:08 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 05 Aug 1995 22:00:08 Subject: Gulnaz Baghistani: Killed By Be Message-ID: Subject: Re: Gulnaz Baghistani: Killed By Berlin Police 2.20) id VT12303; Sat, 05 Aug 1995 21:31:18 -0800 ---- Forwarded from : kcc at infoweb.magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) ----- Hungerstrike Committee Berlin Zossener Straae 41 10961 Berlin, Germany Tel: +49-30-69002696 Fax: +49-30-69002600 Press Release July 29, 1995 The following is a documentation of the flight of Glnaz Baghistani and her family to Germany: Glnaz was born in 1954 in Dahok, South Kurdistan. Sixteen years ago, she married Hadi Baghistani, and together they had five daughters. In 1988, Glnaz and her children had to flee from Dahok to escape the terror of the Saddam regime. Glnaz was forced to leave behind her 6-year-old daughter Derya with relatives in Derkar Acem near Zaxo. After the Iraqi army's destruction of Derkar Acem in 1989, after which all the men in the village were killed, Derya came to Germany with the other surviving relatives. After a short stay in Zaxo, the rest of the family, without Glnaz's husband, travelled to Silopi, Cizre, Kiziltepe, Bismil, and other parts of North-West Kurdistan. The history of the Baghistani family is the history of the expulsion and dispossession of the Kurdish people. They could not find any peace and safety from Turkish state terror. The villages where they were able to stay with relatives were burned down by the Turkish military and depopulated. With the consciousness that their situation was the same as that of their people, Glnaz participated in acts of resistance against Turkish state terror. The flight to safety separated Glnaz from Hadi. They did not hear from one another for three years. In 1991, Hadi Baghistani came to Germany as a political refugee and then was able to locate his family. Hadi was able to save his daughter Derya from being deported and he then asked the authorities to allow his wife and his other four daughters to enter Germany as well. This request was denied. In August 1994, the four daughters came to Germany without their mother. But the family were still separated. Glnaz had to stay behind in Kurdistan because she did not have enough money to leave. She finally made it to Germany in March 1995. For the first time in more than six years, the whole family was reunited. Glnaz Baghistani had survived Saddam's poison gas attacks and Turkish state terror with German weapons. But Glnaz Baghistani was killed by a German police attack on Kurdish people living in exile on July 27, 1995 in Berlin. Hungerstrike Committee Berlin July 29, 1995 ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Aug 5 22:01:21 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 05 Aug 1995 22:01:21 Subject: One death in hunger strike Message-ID: id VT12310; Sat, 05 Aug 1995 21:31:23 -0800 ------------------ Forwarded from : EUGENE at zodiac.rutgers.edu ------------------ from An Phoblacht/Republican News July 27, 1995 news and views of the Irish Republican movement--Sinn Fein Kurdish hunger striker dies AS A KURDISH prisoner died on hunger strike in a Turkish jail this week, the British government was being accused of collaboration with the Turkish genocidal campaign in Kurdistan. Fesih Beyazcicek died on Monday, 24 July, ten days after commencing an indefinite hunger strike along with 10,000 Kurdish POWs. He had been denied medical treatment. Sinn Fein Councillor Mary Nelis of Derry is appealling for international and media focus on the Kudistan struggle. And she's backing the demands of the hunger strikers for political dialogue to end the conflict, recognition of prisoner of war status, an end to Turkish executions and repression, acceptance of the Geneva Convention on combatants and UN and Red Cross monitoring of the war. The death of Fesih Beyazcicek occurred as Britain prepared to extradite the European representative of the PKK to face charges in Germany. A Belmarsh magistrate ruled for the extradition of Kani Yilmaz on 25 July. Yilmaz was arrested on 26 October last year as he made his way to address politicians in the British Houses of Parliament. Home Secretary Michael Howard ordered the arrest on grounds of 'national security' and the London magistrate admitted on Tuesday that ''the final decision is not with me but with the Home Secretary''. Kani Yilmaz has 15 days to appeal the decision. Councillor Mary Nelis, who met visiting Kurdish representatives in Derry on 30 June says: ''Having assisted directly in the murder of Kurdish people by arming and training the Turkish regime, the British government have stepped up their harassment and criminalisation campaign against the Kurdish community in Britain. The extradition of Kani Yilmaz is a case in point. ''I call on them to release Kani Yilmaz sand to end their collaboration with Turkey's genocidal campaign against the Kurds.'' ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sun Aug 6 22:00:19 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 06 Aug 1995 22:00:19 Subject: One death in hunger strike References: Message-ID: id VT12310; Sat, 05 Aug 1995 21:31:23 -0800 ------------------ Forwarded from : EUGENE at zodiac.rutgers.edu ------------------ from An Phoblacht/Republican News July 27, 1995 news and views of the Irish Republican movement--Sinn Fein Kurdish hunger striker dies AS A KURDISH prisoner died on hunger strike in a Turkish jail this week, the British government was being accused of collaboration with the Turkish genocidal campaign in Kurdistan. Fesih Beyazcicek died on Monday, 24 July, ten days after commencing an indefinite hunger strike along with 10,000 Kurdish POWs. He had been denied medical treatment. Sinn Fein Councillor Mary Nelis of Derry is appealling for international and media focus on the Kudistan struggle. And she's backing the demands of the hunger strikers for political dialogue to end the conflict, recognition of prisoner of war status, an end to Turkish executions and repression, acceptance of the Geneva Convention on combatants and UN and Red Cross monitoring of the war. The death of Fesih Beyazcicek occurred as Britain prepared to extradite the European representative of the PKK to face charges in Germany. A Belmarsh magistrate ruled for the extradition of Kani Yilmaz on 25 July. Yilmaz was arrested on 26 October last year as he made his way to address politicians in the British Houses of Parliament. Home Secretary Michael Howard ordered the arrest on grounds of 'national security' and the London magistrate admitted on Tuesday that ''the final decision is not with me but with the Home Secretary''. Kani Yilmaz has 15 days to appeal the decision. Councillor Mary Nelis, who met visiting Kurdish representatives in Derry on 30 June says: ''Having assisted directly in the murder of Kurdish people by arming and training the Turkish regime, the British government have stepped up their harassment and criminalisation campaign against the Kurdish community in Britain. The extradition of Kani Yilmaz is a case in point. ''I call on them to release Kani Yilmaz sand to end their collaboration with Turkey's genocidal campaign against the Kurds.'' ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Aug 5 22:02:51 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 05 Aug 1995 22:02:51 Subject: Kurds and Kurdistan (UPDATED) Message-ID: ------------ Forwarded from : kendal at nucst11.neep.wisc.edu (Kendal) ------------ The latest the International Kurdish Journal has a new updated 'Kurds and Kurdistan: Facts and Figures' section. The new version has in addition a 'history' section. Kendal ************************** OoO ************************************** KURDS AND KURDISTAN: FACTS AND FIGURES -------------------------------------- HISTORY: -------- Being the native inhabitants of their land. there are no "beginnings" for Kurdish history and people. Kurds and their history are the end products of thousands of years of continuous internal evolution and assimilation of new peoples and ideas intro- duced sporadically into their land. Genetically, Kurds are the descendants of all those who ever came to settle in Kurdistan, and not any one of them. A people such as the Guti, Kurti. Mede, Mard, Carduchi, Gordyene, Adianbene, Zila and Khaldi signify not the ancestor of the Kurds but only an ancestor. Archaeological finds continue to docu- ment that some of mankind's earliest steps towards development of agnculture. domes- tication of many common farm animals (sheep, goats, hogs and dogs). record keep- ing (the token system), development of domestic technologies (weavmg, fired pot- tery making and glazing), metallurgy and urbanization took place in Kurdistan, dating back between 12,000 and 8.000 years ago. The earliest evidence so far of a unified and distinct culture (and possibly, ethnicity) by people inhabiting the Kurdish moun- tains dates back to the Halaf culture of 8,000-7,400 years ago. This was followed by the spread of the Ubaidian culture, which was a foreign introduction from Mesopotamia. After about a millennium, its dominance was replaced by the Hurrian culture, which may or may not have been the Halafian people reasserting their domi- nance over their mountainous homeland. The Hurrian period lasted from 6,300 to about 2,600 years ago. Much more is known of the Hurrians. They spoke a language of the Northeast Caucasian family of languages (or Alarodian), kin to modern Chechen and Lezgian. The Hurrians spread far and wide, dominating much territory outside their Zagros-Taurus mountain base. Their settlement of Anatolia was complete-all the way to the Aegean coasts. Like their Kurdish descendents, they however did not expand too far from the mountains. Their intrusions into the neighboring plains of Mesopotamia and the Iranian Pteau, there- fore, were primarily military annexations with little population settlement. Their economy was surprisingly integrated and focused, along with their political bonds, mainly running parallel with the Zagros- Taurus mountains, rather than radiating out to the lowlands, as was the case during the preceding (foreign) Ubaid cultural period. The mountain-plain economic exchanges remained secondary in importance, judging by the archaeological remains of goods and their origin. The Hurrians-whose name survives now most prominently in the dialect and district of Hawraman/Awraman in Kurdistan- divided into many clans and subgroups, who set up city-states, kingdoms and empires known today after their respvi hective clan names. These included the Gutis, Kurti, Khadi, Mards, Mushku, Manna, Hatti, Mittanni, Urartu, and the Kassitis1es, to name just a few. All these were Hurrians, and together form the Hurrian phase of Kurdish history. By about 4.000 years ago, the first van- guard of the Indo-European-speaking peoples were trickling into Kurdistan in limited numbers and settling there. These formed the aristocracy of the Mittani, Kassite, and Hittite kingdoms, while the common peopies there remained solidly Hurrian. By about 3,000 years ago, the trickle had turned into a flood, and Hurrian Kurdistan was fast becoming Indo-European Kurdistan. Far from having been wiped out, the Hurrian legacy, despite its linguistic eclipse, remains the single most important element of the Kurdish culture until today. It forms the substructure for every aspects of Kurdish existence, from their native reli- gion to their art, their social organization, women's status, and even the form of their militia warfare. Medes, Scythians and Sagarthians are just the better-known clans of the Indo- European-speaking Aryans who settled in Kurdistan. By about 2,600 years ago, the Medes had already set up an empire that included all Kurdistan and vast territories far beyond. Medeans were followed by scores of other kingdoms and city-statesQall dom- inated by Aryan aristocracies and a populace that was becoming Indo-European, Kurdish speakers if not so already. By the advent of the classical era in 300 BC. Kurds were already experiencing massive population movements that resulted in settlement and domination of many neighboring regions. Important Kurdish polities of this time were all byproducts of these movements. The Zelan Kurdish clan of Commagene (Adyaman area), for example, spread to establish in addition to the Zelanid dynasty of Commagene, the Zelanid kingdom of Cappadocia and the Zelanid empire of PontusQall in Anatolia. These became Roman vassals by the end of the Ist century BC. In the east the Kurdish kingdoms of Gordyene, Cortea, Media, Kirm, and Adiabene had, by the I st century B C, become confederate members of the Parthian Federation. While all larger Kurdish Kingdoms of the west gradually lost their existence to the Romans, in the east they survived into the 3rd century A D and the advent of the Sasanian Persian empire. The last major Kurdish dynasty, the Kayosids, fell in AD 380. Smaller Kurdish principalities (called the Kotyar, "mountain administrators") however, preserved their autonomous existence into the 7th century and the coming of Islam. Several socio-economic revolutions in the garb of religious movements emerged in Kurdistan at this time, many due to the exploitation by central governments, some due to natural disasters. These continued as underground movement into the Islamic era, bursting forth periodically to demand social reforms. The Mazdakite and Khurramite movements are best-known among these. The eclipse of the Sasanian and Byzantine power by the Muslim caliphate, and its own subsequent weakening, permitted the Kurdish principalities and "mountain administrators" to set up new, independent states. The Shaddadids of the Caucasus and Armenia, the Rawadids of Azerbaijan, the Marwandis of eastern Anatolia; the Hasanwayhids, Fadhilwayhids, and Ayyarids of the central Zagros and the Shabankara of Fars and Kirman are some of the medieval Kurdish dynasties. The Ayyubids stand out from these by the vastness of their domain. From their capital at Cairo they ruled territories of eastern Libya, Egypt, Yemen, western Arabia, Syria, the Holy Lands, Armenia and much of Kurdistan. As the custodians of Islam's holy cities of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem, the Ayyubids were instrumental in the defeat and expulsion of the Crusaders from the Holy Land. With the 12th and 13th centuries the Turkic nomads arrived in the area who in time politically dominated vast segments of the Middle East. Most independent Kurdish states succumbed to various Turkic kingdoms and empires. Kurdish principalities, however, survived and continued with their autonomous existence until the 17th century. Intermittently, these would rule independently when local empires weakened or collapsed. The advent of the Safavid and Ottoman empires in the area and their division of Kurdistan into two uneven imperial dependencies was on a par with the practice of the preceding few centuries. Their introduction of artillery and scorched-earth policy into Kurdistan was a new, and devastating development. In the course of the 16th to 18th centuries, vast portions of Kurdistan were systematically devastated and large numbers of Kurds were deported to far corners of the Safavid and Ottoman empires. The magnitude of death and destruction wrought on Kurdistan unified its people in their call to rid the land of these foreign vandals. The lasting mutual suffenng awakened in Kurds a community feelingQa nationalism, that called for a unified Kurdish state and fostering of Kurdish culture and language. Thus the historian Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi wrote the first pan-Kurdish history the Sharafnama in 1597, as Ahmad Khani composed the national epic of Mem-o-Zin in 1695, which called for a Kurdish state to fend for its people. Kurdish nationalism was born. For one last time a large Kurdish kingdomQthe Zand, was born in 1750. Like the medieval Ayyubids, however, the Zands set up their capital and kingdom outside Kurdistan, and pursued no policies aimed at unification of the Kurdish nation. By 1867, the very last autonomous Kurdish principalities were being systematically eradicated by the Ottoman and Persian governments that ruled Kurdistan. They now ruled directly, via governors, all Kurdish provinces. The situation further deteriorated after the end of the WWI and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. The Treaty of Sevres (signed August 10, 1921) anticipated an independent Kurdish state to cover large portions of the former Ottoman Kurdistan. Unimpressed by the Kurds' many bloody uprisings for independence, France and Britain divided up Ottoman Kurdistan between Turkey, Syria and Iraq. The Treaty of Lausanne (signed June 24, 1923) formalized this division. Kurds of Persia/Iran, meanwhile, were kept where they were by Teheran. Drawing of well-guarded state boundaries dividing Kurdistan has, since 1921, aMicted Kurdish society with such a degree of fragmentation, that its impact is tearing apar the Kurds' unity as a nation. The 1920s saw the setting up of Kurdish Autonomous Province (the "Red Kurdistan") in Soviet Azerbaijan. It was disbanded in 1929. In 1945, Kurds set up a Kurdish republic at Mahabad in the Sovie, occupied zone in Iran. It lasted one year, until it was reoccupied by the Iranian army. Since 1970s, the Iraqi Kurds have enjoyed an official autonomous status in a portion of that state's Kurdistan. By the end of 1991, they had become all but independent from Iraq. By 1995, however, the Kurdish government in Arbil was at the verge of political suicide due to the outbreak of factional fighting between various Kurdish warlords. Since 1987 the Kurds in TurkeyQby themselves constituting a majority of all KurdsQhave waged a war of national liberation against Ankara's 70 years of heavyhanded suppression of any vestige of the Kurdish identity and its rich and ancient culture. The massive uprising had by 1995 propelled Turkey into a state of civil war. The burgeoning and youthful Kurdish population in Turkey, is now demanding absolute equality with the Turkish component in that state, and failing that, full independence. In the Caucasus, the fledgling Armenian Republic, in the course of 1992-94 wiped out the entire Kurdish community of the former "Red Kurdistan." Having ethnically "cleansed" it, Armenia has effectively annexed Red Kurdistan's temtory that forms the land bridge between the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia proper. Land and Ecology: ---------------- The vast Kurdish homeland of about 230,000 square miles is about the areas of Germany and Britain combined, or roughly equal to France or Texas. Kurdistan consists basically of the mountainous areas of the central and northern Zagros, the eastern one-third of the Taurus and Pontus, and the northern half of the Amanus ranges. The symbiosis between the Kurds and their mountains has been so strong that they have become synonymous: Kurds home ends where the mountains end. Kurds as a distinct people have survived only when living in the mountains. The highest points in the land now are respectively Mt. Alvand of southern Kurdistan in Iran at 11,745 feet, Mt. Halgurd in central Kurdistan in Iraq at 12,249 feet, Mt. Munzur at 12,600 feet in western Kurdistan and Mt. Ararat at 16,946 feet in northern Kurdistan, both in Turkey. There are also two large Kurdish enclaves in central and north central Anatolia in Turkey and in the province of Khurasan in northeast Iran. The mean annual precipitation is 60-80 inches per year in the central regions and 20-40 inches on the descent to the lower elevations. Most precipitation is in form of snow, which can fall for six months of the year, becoming the resource for many great rivers, such as the Tigris and the Euphrates in an otherwise arid Middle East. The overall mean annual temperature is 55-65 degrees Fahrenheit, getting cooler as one ascends the central massifs. The land, once almost totally forested, has been massively cleared, especially in this century, with inevitable soil erosion and parched landscape. Contrary to the heavy damage sustained by the woodlands, the pasture lands remain in reasonably good condition and continue to be a productive to a nomadic herding economy alongside the basic agriculture. Despite its mountainous nature, Kurdistan has more arable land proportionately than most Middle Eastern countries. Expansive river valleys create a fertile lattice work in Kurdistan. This may well explain the fact that the very invention of agriculture took place primarily in Kurdistan around 12,000 years ago percipitating speedy domestication of almost all basic cereals and livestoks in the region(with the notable exception of cows and rice). Race : ----- Kurds are now predominantly of Mediterranean racial stock, resembling southern Europeans and the Levantines in skin, general coloring and physiology. There is yet a persistent recurrence of two racial substrata: a darker aboriginal Palaeo- Caucasian element, and more localized occurrence of blondism of the Alpine type in the heartland of Kurdistan. The "Aryanization" of the aboriginal Palaeo- Caucasian Kurds, linguistically, culturally and racially, seems to have begun by the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, with the continuous immigration and settlement of Indio-European-speaking tribes, such as the Hittites, Mitannis, Haigs, Medes, Persian, Scythians and Alans. The process was more or less complete by the beginning of the Christian era, by which time the Kurds had absorbed enough Iranic blood and culture, particularly Median and Alan, to form the basis physical typology and cultural identity. Geopolitics: ----------- Since the end of World War I, Kurdistan has been administered by five sovereign states, with the largest portions of the land being respectively in Turkey (43%) , Iran (31%), Iraq (18%), Syria (6%) and the former Soviet Union (2%). The Iranian Kurds have lived under that state's jurisdiction since 1514 and the Battle of Chaldiran. The other three quarters of the Kurds lived in the Ottoman Empire from that date until its break-up following WWI. The French Mandate Syria received a piece, and the British incorporated central Kurdistan or the "Mosul Vilayet" and its oil fields at Kirkukn into their recently created Mandate of Iraq. Northern and western Kurdistan were to be given choice of independence by the Thearty of Sevres(August 10, 1920) which dismantled the defunc Ottoman Empire, but instead they were awarded to the newly established Republic of Turkey under the term of the Treaty of Lausanne (June 24, 1923). The Russian/Soviet Kurds had passed into their sphere in the course of the 19th century when territories were ceded by Persia/Iran. The Kurds remained the only ethnic group in the world with indigenous representatives in three world geopolitical blocs: the Arab World (in Iraq and Syria), NATO (in Turkey), the South Asian-Central Asian bloc (in Iran and Turkmenistan), and until recently the Soviet bloc (in the Caucasus, now Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia). As a matter fact, until the end of the Cold War, Kurds along with the Germans were the only people in the world with their home territories used as a front line of fire by both NATO and the Warsaw Pact forces. Society: ------ The most important single features of Kurdistan society since the end of medieval times has been its strong tribal organization, with independence or autonomy being the political status of the land. The society's process of developing the next stage of societal convergence-and the creation of a political culture of interset in a pan-Kurdish polity-was well under way in Kurdistan when it was decisively aborted with the parcelling out of the country at the end of the First World War. Tribal confederacies thus remain the highest form of social organization, while the political process and the elite remain to large degree tribal. Today, in the absence of a national Kurdish state and government, tribes serve as the highest native source of authority in which people place their allegiance. Population: ---------- Kurdish lands, rich in natural resources, have always sustained and promoted a large population. While registering modest gains since the laye 19th century, but particularly in the first decade of the 20th, Kurds lost demographic ground relative to neighboring ethnic groups. This was due as much to their less developed economy and health care system as it was to direct massacres, deportations, famines, etc. The total number of Kurds actually decreased in this period, while every other major ethnic group in the area boomed. Since the middle of the 1960s this negative demographic trend has reversed, and Kurds are steadily regaining the demographic position of importance that they traditionally held, representing 15% of the over-all population of the Middle East in Asia-a phenomenon common since at least the 4th millennium BC. Today Kurds are the fourth largest ethnic group in the Middle East, after the Arabs, Persians and Turks. Their largest concentrations are now respectively in Turkey (approx. 52% of all Kurds), Iran(25.5%), Iraq (16%), Syria (5%) and the CIS (1.5%). Barring a catastrophe, Kurds will become the third most populous ethnic group in the Middle East by the year 2000, displacing the Turks. Furthermore, if present demographic trends hold, as they are likely to, in about fifty years Kurds will also replace the Turks as the majority ethnic group in Turkey itself. There is now one Kurdish city with a population of nearly a million (Kirminshah) , two with over half a million (Diyarbekir, Kirkuk), five between a quarter and half a million (Antep, Arbil, Hamadan, Malatya, Sulaymania), and quarter of a million people (Adiyaman, Dersim[Tunceli], Dohuk, Elazig[Kharput], Haymana, Khanaqin, Mardin Qamishli, Qochan, Sanandaj, Shahabad, Siirt and Urfa). Language: -------- Kurds are speakers of Kurdish, a member of the northwestern subdivision of the Iranic branch of the Indo-Europian family of languages, which is akin to Persian, and by extension to other Europian languages. It is fundamentally different from Semetic Arabic and Altaic Turkish. Modern Kurdish divides into two major groups: 1) the Kurmanji group and, 2) the Dimili-Gurani group. These are supplemented by scores of sub-dialects as well. The most popular vernacular is that of Kurmanji(or Kirmancha), spoken by about three-quarters of the Kurds today. Kurmanji divided into North Kurmanji(also called Bahdinani, with around 15 million speakers, primarily in Turkey, Syria, and the former Soviet Union) and South Kurmanji(also called Sorani, with about 6 million speakers, primarily in Iraq and Iran). To the far north of Kurdistan along Kizil Irmak and Murat rivers in Turkey, Dimili(less accurately but more commonly known as Zaza) dialect is spoken by about 4 million Kurds. There are small pockets of this language spoken in various croners of Anatolia, northern Iraq, northern Iran and the Caucasus as well. In the far southern Kurdistan, both in Iraq and Iran, the Gurani dialect is spoken by about 3 million Kurds. Gurani along with its two major subdivisions: Laki and Awramani, merit special attention for its wealth of sacred and secular literature stretching over a millennium. In Iraq and Iran a modified version of the Perso-Arabic alphabet has been adapted to South Kurmani(Sorani). The Kurds of Turkey have recently embarked on an extensive campaign of publication in the North Kurmanji dialect of Kurmaji (Bahdinani) from their publishing houses in Europe. these employed a modified form of the Latin alphabet. The Kurds of the former Soviet Union first began writing Kurdish in the Armenian alphabet in the 1920s, followed by latin in 1927 , then Cyrillic in 1945, and now in both Cyrilic and Latin. Gurani dialects continue to employ the Persian alphabet without any change. Dimili now uses the same modified Latin alphabet as North Kurmanji for print. Religion: -------- Nearly three fifths of the Kurds, almost all Kurmanji-speakers, are today at least nominally Sunni Muslims of Shafiite rite. There are also some followers of mainstream Shiitem Islam among the Kurds, particularly in and around the cities of Kirmanshah, to Hamadan and Bijar in southern and eastern Kurdistan and the Khurasan. These Siite Kurds number around half a million. The overwhelming majority of Muslim Kurds are followers of one several mystic Sufi orders, most importantly the Bektashi order of the northwest Kurdistan, the Naqshbandi order in the west and north, Qadiri orders of east and central Kurdistan, and Nurbakhshi of the south. The rest of the Kurds are followers of several indigenous Kurdish faiths of great antiquit and originality, which are variations on and permutation of an ancient religion that can be reasonably but loosely labeled as Yardanism or the "Cult of Angels." The three surviving major divisions of this religion are Yezidism (in west and west-central Kurdistan, ca 2%of all Kurds), Yarsanism or the Ahl-i Haqq (in southern Kurdistan, ca 13% of all Kurds), and Alevism or Kizil Nash(in western Kurdistan and the Khurasan, ca 20%). Minor communities of Kurdish Jews, Christians and Baha'is are found in various croners of Kurdistan. the ancient Jewish community has progressively emigrated to Israel, while the Christian community is merging their identity with that of the Assyrians. PRESENT AND NEAR FUTURE DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS(in millions) State Turkey Iran Iraq Syria CIS 1990 Total 56.7 55.6 18.8 12.6 pop. Total 13.7 6.6 4.4 1.3 0.3 Kurds % Kurdish 24.1 12.4 23.5 9.2 Total Kurds(in all countries): 26.3 2000 Total 65.9 73.9 26.5 17.2 pop. Total 18.7 9.0 6.4 1.6 0.5 Kurds % Kurdish 28.4 12.6 24 9.2 Total Kurds(in all countries): 36.2 2020 Total 87.5 130.6 44.8 28 pop. Total 32.3 16.2 10.9 2.7 0.9 Kurds % Kurdish 36.9 12 24.5 9.8 Total Kurds(in all countries): 63.0 2050 Total 105.8 192.5 62.2 33.7 pop. Total 47.0 23.1 15.0 3.9 1.1 Kurds % Kurdish 44.4 12.1 25 11 Total Kurds(in all countries): 90.2 -- O -- Kurdish Studies, An International Journal The Kurdish Library, Vol. 8, Numbers 1 & 2 1995. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kurdish Studies published semi-annually by the Kurdish Library Subscription rates: $30 individual, $50 institutions. Overseas add $10 for air postage. The Kurdish heritage Foundation of America 345 Park Place Brooklyn NY 11238 Telephone (718) 783-7930 Telefax (718) 398-4365 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Kendal The Kurdish Information Network: http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/kurdish/htdocs/index.html ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sun Aug 6 22:00:25 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 06 Aug 1995 22:00:25 Subject: Kurds and Kurdistan (UPDATED) References: Message-ID: ------------ Forwarded from : kendal at nucst11.neep.wisc.edu (Kendal) ------------ The latest the International Kurdish Journal has a new updated 'Kurds and Kurdistan: Facts and Figures' section. The new version has in addition a 'history' section. Kendal ************************** OoO ************************************** KURDS AND KURDISTAN: FACTS AND FIGURES -------------------------------------- HISTORY: -------- Being the native inhabitants of their land. there are no "beginnings" for Kurdish history and people. Kurds and their history are the end products of thousands of years of continuous internal evolution and assimilation of new peoples and ideas intro- duced sporadically into their land. Genetically, Kurds are the descendants of all those who ever came to settle in Kurdistan, and not any one of them. A people such as the Guti, Kurti. Mede, Mard, Carduchi, Gordyene, Adianbene, Zila and Khaldi signify not the ancestor of the Kurds but only an ancestor. Archaeological finds continue to docu- ment that some of mankind's earliest steps towards development of agnculture. domes- tication of many common farm animals (sheep, goats, hogs and dogs). record keep- ing (the token system), development of domestic technologies (weavmg, fired pot- tery making and glazing), metallurgy and urbanization took place in Kurdistan, dating back between 12,000 and 8.000 years ago. The earliest evidence so far of a unified and distinct culture (and possibly, ethnicity) by people inhabiting the Kurdish moun- tains dates back to the Halaf culture of 8,000-7,400 years ago. This was followed by the spread of the Ubaidian culture, which was a foreign introduction from Mesopotamia. After about a millennium, its dominance was replaced by the Hurrian culture, which may or may not have been the Halafian people reasserting their domi- nance over their mountainous homeland. The Hurrian period lasted from 6,300 to about 2,600 years ago. Much more is known of the Hurrians. They spoke a language of the Northeast Caucasian family of languages (or Alarodian), kin to modern Chechen and Lezgian. The Hurrians spread far and wide, dominating much territory outside their Zagros-Taurus mountain base. Their settlement of Anatolia was complete-all the way to the Aegean coasts. Like their Kurdish descendents, they however did not expand too far from the mountains. Their intrusions into the neighboring plains of Mesopotamia and the Iranian Pteau, there- fore, were primarily military annexations with little population settlement. Their economy was surprisingly integrated and focused, along with their political bonds, mainly running parallel with the Zagros- Taurus mountains, rather than radiating out to the lowlands, as was the case during the preceding (foreign) Ubaid cultural period. The mountain-plain economic exchanges remained secondary in importance, judging by the archaeological remains of goods and their origin. The Hurrians-whose name survives now most prominently in the dialect and district of Hawraman/Awraman in Kurdistan- divided into many clans and subgroups, who set up city-states, kingdoms and empires known today after their respvi hective clan names. These included the Gutis, Kurti, Khadi, Mards, Mushku, Manna, Hatti, Mittanni, Urartu, and the Kassitis1es, to name just a few. All these were Hurrians, and together form the Hurrian phase of Kurdish history. By about 4.000 years ago, the first van- guard of the Indo-European-speaking peoples were trickling into Kurdistan in limited numbers and settling there. These formed the aristocracy of the Mittani, Kassite, and Hittite kingdoms, while the common peopies there remained solidly Hurrian. By about 3,000 years ago, the trickle had turned into a flood, and Hurrian Kurdistan was fast becoming Indo-European Kurdistan. Far from having been wiped out, the Hurrian legacy, despite its linguistic eclipse, remains the single most important element of the Kurdish culture until today. It forms the substructure for every aspects of Kurdish existence, from their native reli- gion to their art, their social organization, women's status, and even the form of their militia warfare. Medes, Scythians and Sagarthians are just the better-known clans of the Indo- European-speaking Aryans who settled in Kurdistan. By about 2,600 years ago, the Medes had already set up an empire that included all Kurdistan and vast territories far beyond. Medeans were followed by scores of other kingdoms and city-statesQall dom- inated by Aryan aristocracies and a populace that was becoming Indo-European, Kurdish speakers if not so already. By the advent of the classical era in 300 BC. Kurds were already experiencing massive population movements that resulted in settlement and domination of many neighboring regions. Important Kurdish polities of this time were all byproducts of these movements. The Zelan Kurdish clan of Commagene (Adyaman area), for example, spread to establish in addition to the Zelanid dynasty of Commagene, the Zelanid kingdom of Cappadocia and the Zelanid empire of PontusQall in Anatolia. These became Roman vassals by the end of the Ist century BC. In the east the Kurdish kingdoms of Gordyene, Cortea, Media, Kirm, and Adiabene had, by the I st century B C, become confederate members of the Parthian Federation. While all larger Kurdish Kingdoms of the west gradually lost their existence to the Romans, in the east they survived into the 3rd century A D and the advent of the Sasanian Persian empire. The last major Kurdish dynasty, the Kayosids, fell in AD 380. Smaller Kurdish principalities (called the Kotyar, "mountain administrators") however, preserved their autonomous existence into the 7th century and the coming of Islam. Several socio-economic revolutions in the garb of religious movements emerged in Kurdistan at this time, many due to the exploitation by central governments, some due to natural disasters. These continued as underground movement into the Islamic era, bursting forth periodically to demand social reforms. The Mazdakite and Khurramite movements are best-known among these. The eclipse of the Sasanian and Byzantine power by the Muslim caliphate, and its own subsequent weakening, permitted the Kurdish principalities and "mountain administrators" to set up new, independent states. The Shaddadids of the Caucasus and Armenia, the Rawadids of Azerbaijan, the Marwandis of eastern Anatolia; the Hasanwayhids, Fadhilwayhids, and Ayyarids of the central Zagros and the Shabankara of Fars and Kirman are some of the medieval Kurdish dynasties. The Ayyubids stand out from these by the vastness of their domain. From their capital at Cairo they ruled territories of eastern Libya, Egypt, Yemen, western Arabia, Syria, the Holy Lands, Armenia and much of Kurdistan. As the custodians of Islam's holy cities of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem, the Ayyubids were instrumental in the defeat and expulsion of the Crusaders from the Holy Land. With the 12th and 13th centuries the Turkic nomads arrived in the area who in time politically dominated vast segments of the Middle East. Most independent Kurdish states succumbed to various Turkic kingdoms and empires. Kurdish principalities, however, survived and continued with their autonomous existence until the 17th century. Intermittently, these would rule independently when local empires weakened or collapsed. The advent of the Safavid and Ottoman empires in the area and their division of Kurdistan into two uneven imperial dependencies was on a par with the practice of the preceding few centuries. Their introduction of artillery and scorched-earth policy into Kurdistan was a new, and devastating development. In the course of the 16th to 18th centuries, vast portions of Kurdistan were systematically devastated and large numbers of Kurds were deported to far corners of the Safavid and Ottoman empires. The magnitude of death and destruction wrought on Kurdistan unified its people in their call to rid the land of these foreign vandals. The lasting mutual suffenng awakened in Kurds a community feelingQa nationalism, that called for a unified Kurdish state and fostering of Kurdish culture and language. Thus the historian Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi wrote the first pan-Kurdish history the Sharafnama in 1597, as Ahmad Khani composed the national epic of Mem-o-Zin in 1695, which called for a Kurdish state to fend for its people. Kurdish nationalism was born. For one last time a large Kurdish kingdomQthe Zand, was born in 1750. Like the medieval Ayyubids, however, the Zands set up their capital and kingdom outside Kurdistan, and pursued no policies aimed at unification of the Kurdish nation. By 1867, the very last autonomous Kurdish principalities were being systematically eradicated by the Ottoman and Persian governments that ruled Kurdistan. They now ruled directly, via governors, all Kurdish provinces. The situation further deteriorated after the end of the WWI and dissolution of the Ottoman Empire. The Treaty of Sevres (signed August 10, 1921) anticipated an independent Kurdish state to cover large portions of the former Ottoman Kurdistan. Unimpressed by the Kurds' many bloody uprisings for independence, France and Britain divided up Ottoman Kurdistan between Turkey, Syria and Iraq. The Treaty of Lausanne (signed June 24, 1923) formalized this division. Kurds of Persia/Iran, meanwhile, were kept where they were by Teheran. Drawing of well-guarded state boundaries dividing Kurdistan has, since 1921, aMicted Kurdish society with such a degree of fragmentation, that its impact is tearing apar the Kurds' unity as a nation. The 1920s saw the setting up of Kurdish Autonomous Province (the "Red Kurdistan") in Soviet Azerbaijan. It was disbanded in 1929. In 1945, Kurds set up a Kurdish republic at Mahabad in the Sovie, occupied zone in Iran. It lasted one year, until it was reoccupied by the Iranian army. Since 1970s, the Iraqi Kurds have enjoyed an official autonomous status in a portion of that state's Kurdistan. By the end of 1991, they had become all but independent from Iraq. By 1995, however, the Kurdish government in Arbil was at the verge of political suicide due to the outbreak of factional fighting between various Kurdish warlords. Since 1987 the Kurds in TurkeyQby themselves constituting a majority of all KurdsQhave waged a war of national liberation against Ankara's 70 years of heavyhanded suppression of any vestige of the Kurdish identity and its rich and ancient culture. The massive uprising had by 1995 propelled Turkey into a state of civil war. The burgeoning and youthful Kurdish population in Turkey, is now demanding absolute equality with the Turkish component in that state, and failing that, full independence. In the Caucasus, the fledgling Armenian Republic, in the course of 1992-94 wiped out the entire Kurdish community of the former "Red Kurdistan." Having ethnically "cleansed" it, Armenia has effectively annexed Red Kurdistan's temtory that forms the land bridge between the Armenian enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh and Armenia proper. Land and Ecology: ---------------- The vast Kurdish homeland of about 230,000 square miles is about the areas of Germany and Britain combined, or roughly equal to France or Texas. Kurdistan consists basically of the mountainous areas of the central and northern Zagros, the eastern one-third of the Taurus and Pontus, and the northern half of the Amanus ranges. The symbiosis between the Kurds and their mountains has been so strong that they have become synonymous: Kurds home ends where the mountains end. Kurds as a distinct people have survived only when living in the mountains. The highest points in the land now are respectively Mt. Alvand of southern Kurdistan in Iran at 11,745 feet, Mt. Halgurd in central Kurdistan in Iraq at 12,249 feet, Mt. Munzur at 12,600 feet in western Kurdistan and Mt. Ararat at 16,946 feet in northern Kurdistan, both in Turkey. There are also two large Kurdish enclaves in central and north central Anatolia in Turkey and in the province of Khurasan in northeast Iran. The mean annual precipitation is 60-80 inches per year in the central regions and 20-40 inches on the descent to the lower elevations. Most precipitation is in form of snow, which can fall for six months of the year, becoming the resource for many great rivers, such as the Tigris and the Euphrates in an otherwise arid Middle East. The overall mean annual temperature is 55-65 degrees Fahrenheit, getting cooler as one ascends the central massifs. The land, once almost totally forested, has been massively cleared, especially in this century, with inevitable soil erosion and parched landscape. Contrary to the heavy damage sustained by the woodlands, the pasture lands remain in reasonably good condition and continue to be a productive to a nomadic herding economy alongside the basic agriculture. Despite its mountainous nature, Kurdistan has more arable land proportionately than most Middle Eastern countries. Expansive river valleys create a fertile lattice work in Kurdistan. This may well explain the fact that the very invention of agriculture took place primarily in Kurdistan around 12,000 years ago percipitating speedy domestication of almost all basic cereals and livestoks in the region(with the notable exception of cows and rice). Race : ----- Kurds are now predominantly of Mediterranean racial stock, resembling southern Europeans and the Levantines in skin, general coloring and physiology. There is yet a persistent recurrence of two racial substrata: a darker aboriginal Palaeo- Caucasian element, and more localized occurrence of blondism of the Alpine type in the heartland of Kurdistan. The "Aryanization" of the aboriginal Palaeo- Caucasian Kurds, linguistically, culturally and racially, seems to have begun by the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC, with the continuous immigration and settlement of Indio-European-speaking tribes, such as the Hittites, Mitannis, Haigs, Medes, Persian, Scythians and Alans. The process was more or less complete by the beginning of the Christian era, by which time the Kurds had absorbed enough Iranic blood and culture, particularly Median and Alan, to form the basis physical typology and cultural identity. Geopolitics: ----------- Since the end of World War I, Kurdistan has been administered by five sovereign states, with the largest portions of the land being respectively in Turkey (43%) , Iran (31%), Iraq (18%), Syria (6%) and the former Soviet Union (2%). The Iranian Kurds have lived under that state's jurisdiction since 1514 and the Battle of Chaldiran. The other three quarters of the Kurds lived in the Ottoman Empire from that date until its break-up following WWI. The French Mandate Syria received a piece, and the British incorporated central Kurdistan or the "Mosul Vilayet" and its oil fields at Kirkukn into their recently created Mandate of Iraq. Northern and western Kurdistan were to be given choice of independence by the Thearty of Sevres(August 10, 1920) which dismantled the defunc Ottoman Empire, but instead they were awarded to the newly established Republic of Turkey under the term of the Treaty of Lausanne (June 24, 1923). The Russian/Soviet Kurds had passed into their sphere in the course of the 19th century when territories were ceded by Persia/Iran. The Kurds remained the only ethnic group in the world with indigenous representatives in three world geopolitical blocs: the Arab World (in Iraq and Syria), NATO (in Turkey), the South Asian-Central Asian bloc (in Iran and Turkmenistan), and until recently the Soviet bloc (in the Caucasus, now Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia). As a matter fact, until the end of the Cold War, Kurds along with the Germans were the only people in the world with their home territories used as a front line of fire by both NATO and the Warsaw Pact forces. Society: ------ The most important single features of Kurdistan society since the end of medieval times has been its strong tribal organization, with independence or autonomy being the political status of the land. The society's process of developing the next stage of societal convergence-and the creation of a political culture of interset in a pan-Kurdish polity-was well under way in Kurdistan when it was decisively aborted with the parcelling out of the country at the end of the First World War. Tribal confederacies thus remain the highest form of social organization, while the political process and the elite remain to large degree tribal. Today, in the absence of a national Kurdish state and government, tribes serve as the highest native source of authority in which people place their allegiance. Population: ---------- Kurdish lands, rich in natural resources, have always sustained and promoted a large population. While registering modest gains since the laye 19th century, but particularly in the first decade of the 20th, Kurds lost demographic ground relative to neighboring ethnic groups. This was due as much to their less developed economy and health care system as it was to direct massacres, deportations, famines, etc. The total number of Kurds actually decreased in this period, while every other major ethnic group in the area boomed. Since the middle of the 1960s this negative demographic trend has reversed, and Kurds are steadily regaining the demographic position of importance that they traditionally held, representing 15% of the over-all population of the Middle East in Asia-a phenomenon common since at least the 4th millennium BC. Today Kurds are the fourth largest ethnic group in the Middle East, after the Arabs, Persians and Turks. Their largest concentrations are now respectively in Turkey (approx. 52% of all Kurds), Iran(25.5%), Iraq (16%), Syria (5%) and the CIS (1.5%). Barring a catastrophe, Kurds will become the third most populous ethnic group in the Middle East by the year 2000, displacing the Turks. Furthermore, if present demographic trends hold, as they are likely to, in about fifty years Kurds will also replace the Turks as the majority ethnic group in Turkey itself. There is now one Kurdish city with a population of nearly a million (Kirminshah) , two with over half a million (Diyarbekir, Kirkuk), five between a quarter and half a million (Antep, Arbil, Hamadan, Malatya, Sulaymania), and quarter of a million people (Adiyaman, Dersim[Tunceli], Dohuk, Elazig[Kharput], Haymana, Khanaqin, Mardin Qamishli, Qochan, Sanandaj, Shahabad, Siirt and Urfa). Language: -------- Kurds are speakers of Kurdish, a member of the northwestern subdivision of the Iranic branch of the Indo-Europian family of languages, which is akin to Persian, and by extension to other Europian languages. It is fundamentally different from Semetic Arabic and Altaic Turkish. Modern Kurdish divides into two major groups: 1) the Kurmanji group and, 2) the Dimili-Gurani group. These are supplemented by scores of sub-dialects as well. The most popular vernacular is that of Kurmanji(or Kirmancha), spoken by about three-quarters of the Kurds today. Kurmanji divided into North Kurmanji(also called Bahdinani, with around 15 million speakers, primarily in Turkey, Syria, and the former Soviet Union) and South Kurmanji(also called Sorani, with about 6 million speakers, primarily in Iraq and Iran). To the far north of Kurdistan along Kizil Irmak and Murat rivers in Turkey, Dimili(less accurately but more commonly known as Zaza) dialect is spoken by about 4 million Kurds. There are small pockets of this language spoken in various croners of Anatolia, northern Iraq, northern Iran and the Caucasus as well. In the far southern Kurdistan, both in Iraq and Iran, the Gurani dialect is spoken by about 3 million Kurds. Gurani along with its two major subdivisions: Laki and Awramani, merit special attention for its wealth of sacred and secular literature stretching over a millennium. In Iraq and Iran a modified version of the Perso-Arabic alphabet has been adapted to South Kurmani(Sorani). The Kurds of Turkey have recently embarked on an extensive campaign of publication in the North Kurmanji dialect of Kurmaji (Bahdinani) from their publishing houses in Europe. these employed a modified form of the Latin alphabet. The Kurds of the former Soviet Union first began writing Kurdish in the Armenian alphabet in the 1920s, followed by latin in 1927 , then Cyrillic in 1945, and now in both Cyrilic and Latin. Gurani dialects continue to employ the Persian alphabet without any change. Dimili now uses the same modified Latin alphabet as North Kurmanji for print. Religion: -------- Nearly three fifths of the Kurds, almost all Kurmanji-speakers, are today at least nominally Sunni Muslims of Shafiite rite. There are also some followers of mainstream Shiitem Islam among the Kurds, particularly in and around the cities of Kirmanshah, to Hamadan and Bijar in southern and eastern Kurdistan and the Khurasan. These Siite Kurds number around half a million. The overwhelming majority of Muslim Kurds are followers of one several mystic Sufi orders, most importantly the Bektashi order of the northwest Kurdistan, the Naqshbandi order in the west and north, Qadiri orders of east and central Kurdistan, and Nurbakhshi of the south. The rest of the Kurds are followers of several indigenous Kurdish faiths of great antiquit and originality, which are variations on and permutation of an ancient religion that can be reasonably but loosely labeled as Yardanism or the "Cult of Angels." The three surviving major divisions of this religion are Yezidism (in west and west-central Kurdistan, ca 2%of all Kurds), Yarsanism or the Ahl-i Haqq (in southern Kurdistan, ca 13% of all Kurds), and Alevism or Kizil Nash(in western Kurdistan and the Khurasan, ca 20%). Minor communities of Kurdish Jews, Christians and Baha'is are found in various croners of Kurdistan. the ancient Jewish community has progressively emigrated to Israel, while the Christian community is merging their identity with that of the Assyrians. PRESENT AND NEAR FUTURE DEMOGRAPHIC TRENDS(in millions) State Turkey Iran Iraq Syria CIS 1990 Total 56.7 55.6 18.8 12.6 pop. Total 13.7 6.6 4.4 1.3 0.3 Kurds % Kurdish 24.1 12.4 23.5 9.2 Total Kurds(in all countries): 26.3 2000 Total 65.9 73.9 26.5 17.2 pop. Total 18.7 9.0 6.4 1.6 0.5 Kurds % Kurdish 28.4 12.6 24 9.2 Total Kurds(in all countries): 36.2 2020 Total 87.5 130.6 44.8 28 pop. Total 32.3 16.2 10.9 2.7 0.9 Kurds % Kurdish 36.9 12 24.5 9.8 Total Kurds(in all countries): 63.0 2050 Total 105.8 192.5 62.2 33.7 pop. Total 47.0 23.1 15.0 3.9 1.1 Kurds % Kurdish 44.4 12.1 25 11 Total Kurds(in all countries): 90.2 -- O -- Kurdish Studies, An International Journal The Kurdish Library, Vol. 8, Numbers 1 & 2 1995. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Kurdish Studies published semi-annually by the Kurdish Library Subscription rates: $30 individual, $50 institutions. Overseas add $10 for air postage. The Kurdish heritage Foundation of America 345 Park Place Brooklyn NY 11238 Telephone (718) 783-7930 Telefax (718) 398-4365 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Kendal The Kurdish Information Network: http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/kurdish/htdocs/index.html ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Aug 6 01:49:16 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 06 Aug 1995 01:49:16 Subject: Highlights From the Turkish Press F Message-ID: Subject: Highlights From the Turkish Press For August 1st ; Sun, 06 Aug 1995 00:29:41 -0800 ANKARA, Aug 1 (Reuter) - These are the leading stories in the Turkish press on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. SABAH -- German police take precautions on signs that Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) may open fire on police in today's demonstration. MILLIYET -- Northern Iraq is a powder-keg that needs only a spark to explode. PKK, Saddam (Hussein) and Iran fan the insidious conflict on our border. -- Istanbul municipality seeks feasible project to clear an estimated -- Turkey is borrowing abroad at excessive cost because it lacks a medium-term stability programme. HURRIYET -- In the city of Tunceli, where specially-trained police face the PKK, food trucks are targets of the rebels, police damage civilian property and investment is at a standstill. -- German authorities are fed up with week-long PKK attacks on Turkish property and plan to take tough measures against separatist Kurdish action. -- Supreme Military Council to meet under Prime Minister Tansu Ciller to decide promotions and retirements in armed forces and name replacements for three forces' commanders. CUMURIYET -- Turkey delays legislation to protect children's rights since it signed a related U.N. convention in January. YENI YUZYIL -- The so-called Kurdish parliament-in-exile is forced to hold ``secret'' meeting in Vienna after its April inauguration in The Hague strained Turkish-Dutch ties to breaking point. YENI POLITIKA -- Air force general, next in line for commander of the force, may be sidelined after recent remarks in favour of continuing political restrictions. DUNYA From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Aug 6 01:51:50 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 06 Aug 1995 01:51:50 Subject: Top Stories In The Turkish Press Fo Message-ID: Subject: Top Stories In The Turkish Press For August 3rd VT12513; Sun, 06 Aug 1995 00:29:50 -0800 ANKARA, Aug 3 (Reuter) - These are the leading stories in the Turkish press on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. SABAH -- Row between governor of Hakkari province and head of local commando unit over fight against Kurdish rebels ends with governor being given a job in another province. HURRIYET -- The armed forces are to post the head of the gendarmerie force in the southeast to northern Cyprus. CUMHURIYET -- Istanbul police chief Necdet Menzir is to stay in his post depsite a critical outburst against the leftist Republican People's Party (CHP) government junior coalition partner. YENI POLITIKA -- Thirty of the Kurdish hunger strikers in the offices of two political parties in Diyarbakir are in a bad condition. DUNYA -- Bank interest rates fluctuate wildly, with some banks giving 34 percentage points more than others for one year accounts. -- Government lifts customs duty on imported wheat. ZAMAN -- Then premier Suleyman Demirel warned the state-run TRT television channel in 1992 that its broadcasts to Turkic republics in Central Asia were not suitable. TRT has been showing immoral films. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Aug 6 01:54:00 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 06 Aug 1995 01:54:00 Subject: Top Stories From The Press of Turke Message-ID: Subject: Top Stories From The Press of Turkey for August 4th ANKARA, Aug 4 (Reuter) - These are the leading stories in the Turkish press on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. MILLIYET -- Two teenagers forced into a car in Istanbul and later shot dead in apparent attack by left-wing militant group. HURRIYET -- Report sponsored by businessman close to Prime Minister Tansu Ciller criticises police special forces in the southeast for alienating civilians and says people in the region do not believe this government can solve their problems. CUMHURIYET -- The role of the police special teams in the southeast criticised by two party leaders. -- About 100,000 workers expected to march in Ankara on Saturday to protest at the government's labour policies. YENI YUZYIL -- Turkish Union of Chambers and Bourses (TOBB) says in a report that support for Kurdish rebels would decrease if the government gave cultural rights to Kurds. -- Turkey losing its influence over warring Kurdish groups in northern Iraq to the United States. YENI POLITIKA -- Fantasy Kurdish report. TOBB southeast report claims that million of Kurds have migrated because of unemployment when the real reason was pressure from the security forces. DUNYA -- Instability in the southeast preventing economic development. -- TOBB report says Kurds do not want an independent state. Respected Business Organization Urges More Rights For Kurds By Alistair Bell ANKARA, Aug 3 (Reuter) - A report commissioned by an influential Turkish business group on Thursday urged the government to improve its treatment of the country's more than 10 million Kurds to end an 11-year-old separatist rebellion. The report released by the Union of Chambers and Trade Bourses (TOBB) said support for Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels would weaken if the government heeded Kurds' social and economic grievances and tolerated pro-Kurdish sentiments. ``Suspending freedoms and postponing democratic rights in the fight against terrorism is imitating the terrorists,'' the report said. But TOBB chairman Yalim Erez, known to be a confidant of Prime Minister Tansu Ciller, distanced himself from the more controversial aspects of the 168-page report. ``The report is not our own opinion,'' Erez repeatedly told a news conference. ``Eighty-five percent of those who say they are of Kurdish origin say 'no' to an independent Kurdish state,'' he said, quoting a section of the report. Turkey has often been criticised in the West for denying democratic rights to the Kurds and alienating civilians in a heavy-handed struggle with the guerrillas in the southeast. Turkish establishment groups have rarely questioned the official view that the PKK rebellion is nothing but a ``terrorist'' problem. The report included an opinion poll which raises the taboo subject of Kurdish autonomy. High-profile studies in the past have largely neglected the opinions of Kurds affected by the violence. Most of the Kurds would opt for autonomy in the southeast or being part of a national federation if they had the chance to change Turkey's political make-up, according to an opinion poll included in the report. Forming separatist political parties or advocating the division of Turkey in any way are against the law. More than 17,500 people have been killed in the PKK's fight for independence or autonomy in impoverished southeast Turkey. The TOBB said its report was the first ever ``scientific study'' of its kind on the southeast. The report criticised the practice by Ciller and previous leaders of treating the Kurdish problem as solely a security issue. ``Pushing forward with economic, administrative and cultural initiatives independent of the (military's) armed campaign would have benefits,'' it said. A planned customs union with the European Union next year has been linked to Turkey improving its human rights record. The report said 34 percent of the more than 1,200 people interviewed, most of them Kurds, acknowledged having friends or relatives among the guerrillas. The vast majority of interviewees were against a separate Kurdish state. The Marxist PKK stressed independence in the first years after it took up arms in 1984 but it has often toned down its stance to demands for Kurdish autonomy recently. More than 40 percent of those asked said they favoured a federal political system in Turkey. Thirteen percent wanted a Kurdish state while another 13 percent were for autonomy. But many of them were unable to explain the meaning of ``federation,'' it said. Thousands of rebel prisoners in Turkish jails and their supporters have been on hunger strike since July 14 to demand the government holds talks with the PKK to end the conflict. Two people, including a Kurdish woman in Germany, have died. ``The solution is not in coming to agreement with the PKK but with the local people,'' the report said. PKK Blamed For Attack in Paris PARIS, Aug 3 (Reuter) - A Turkish diplomat on Thursday blamed the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) for a firebomb attack that injured 11 people at a Turkish sports and cultural centre in eastern Paris. Dogan Akdur, charge d'affaires of the Turkish embassy, told Reuters the attack showed all the signs of the PKK, which has been fighting Ankara for 11 years for independence or autonomy in south-east Turkey. Police said six of the 11 Turks hurt in the attack on Wednesday night were taken to hospital. Five were later discharged. Three men were seen by neighbours running away from the scene after the three firebombs were thrown. Over two dozen Turkish targets have been attacked in Germany in the last 10 days in what authorities believe is a campaign coordinated by the PKK. ``In light of what is happening in Germany there is good reason to presume this is the same organisation,'' Akdur said. He said he had asked the French authorities to be alert against further attacks. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Aug 6 01:57:33 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 06 Aug 1995 01:57:33 Subject: Thousands of Kurds Mourn PKK Hunger Message-ID: Subject: Thousands of Kurds Mourn PKK Hunger-Striker ; Sun, 06 Aug 1995 00:30:16 -0800 By Hans-Juergen Moritz BERLIN, Aug 1 (Reuter) - Some 10,000 Kurds gathered to pay their last respects on Tuesday to a hunger-striker who died last week after an eight-day fast in solidarity with Kurdish prisoners in Turkey. Officials had warned of possible violence at the rally, after a week of some two dozen firebomb attacks on Turkish targets in Germany which police have attributed to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). But marchers, holding pictures of the dead woman, proceeded peacefully from Kreuzberg district towards Breitscheid Platz square in the centre of west Berlin. Many shouted slogans such as ``Kanther is a terrorist'' -- referring to German Interior Minister Manfred Kanther. Turkish targets have been hit repeatedly by firebombs but police said on Tuesday a fire overnight in a Turkish house in the city of Bochum was not, as had at first been thought, arson. Mourners threw flowers onto the coffin of 41-year-old Gulnaz Bagiztani, a mother of five who died last week after fasting with hundreds of other Kurds in Germany. Draped over it was the flag of the banned PKK, fighting Ankara for independence or autonomy in southeast Turkey and banned in Germany since 1993 for staging violent protests here. Some 3,000 police were on hand, although the number of demonstrators and mourners given by police remained well below the 40,000 which organisers had said would attend. Berlin city authorities say Bagiztani was exhausted by the hunger strike and the summer heat, but Kurdish militants have claimed she died from being manhandled when police broke up the vigil in which she was taking part. The dead woman is due to be buried on Wednesday in the northern city of Osnabrueck, where she had been living since March 1995. In a statement on Monday the Kurdistan National Liberation Front (ERNK), the PKK's political wing, accused Germany of pursuing a ``fascist, chauvinist policy towards the Kurdish people's liberation struggle.'' --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Aug 6 05:31:58 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 06 Aug 1995 05:31:58 Subject: Mogultay On Prisons In Turkey Message-ID: ---- Forwarded from : kcc at infoweb.magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) ----- Excerpts From A Report By Former Justice Minister Mehmet Mogultay To Prime Minister Ciller, 1994 To the right honourable Prime Minister, As is known, the Constitutional Court declared Article 520 of the Penal Code, concerning correctional institutions, as well as Article 524, which regulates prison facilities and administration under the jurisdiction of my ministry, to be invalid. In addition to this, Articles 528 and 529 were also removed from the books after the court found them unconstitutional. A proposal is now being drafted to replace these statutes. Before I discuss the draft of this proposal, I would like to briefly sketch the situation in our justice system. Our justice officials demand immediate solutions, because they are confronted with the most serious problems. It is not possible to achieve solutions with superficial actions. Large scale terrorist attacks constitute our country's most serious problem. For the protection of our national unity and territorial integrity, it is essential that our state combat the sources of terrorism with decisive measures. We must increase our supplies of munitions, weapons, necessary materials, as well as personnel in the security forces so as to fight against terrorism while we seek to gain other needed materials as soon as possible. The cost of fighting against terrorism in 1994 will be approximately 200,000,000,000,000 Turkish lira (TL). As is known, the struggle against terrorism is not one-sided. The persecution and arrest of terrorist organizations and their members by our security forces is just one side of the fight against terrorism. A swift judicial conviction and the terms of imprisonment of arrested terrorists are the second, equally important side of this fight. At the present time, there are 8,600 persons in our prisons who were arrested and convicted of terrorist crimes. Those people arrested and convicted for terrorism took part in armed confrontations with our security forces in both rural and urban areas. They were trained to spread propaganda, to die, and to kill. In November 1991, the number of persons who had been arrested and convicted of terrorist crimes was 900. By September 1994, this number had reached 8,600. This rate of increase is 95%. By August 8, 1993, the number of convicted terrorists was 3,700, but in the last year there have been 4,900. This rate of increase is 132%. Whereas in November 1991 there were 10 prisons for arrested and convicted terrorists, there were 40 terrorist prisons as of September 1994. This rate of increase is 400%. At the present time, there are 6,213 people in custody on charges of terrorism. These trials are still in process. The first side of anti-terrorism, the persecution and arrest of terrorists, is being successfully conducted by our security forces. The number of arrested and convicted terrorists increased to 10,000 in one year, and the number of prisons for terrorists jumped to 50. (...) As of September 1, 1994 there were 42,000 convicted persons in our prisons. For transporting prisoners and convicted persons to the 602 prisons, 385 means of transport were used. But it is not possible to use 302 of these, since they are more than 10 years old. Food costs for 550g of bread per prisoner per day costs 16,000 TL. This is not sufficient for the needs of all the prisoners, and yet there is not enough money for us to pay the debts we owe the firms which supply us. Despite the coming winter, there is not enough money for us to pay for heating materials, electricity, and water. The pharmacies will not deliver medical supplies to the prisons, because our debts to them have not yet been paid. (...) ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Aug 6 05:33:50 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 06 Aug 1995 05:33:50 Subject: Disappeared Persons In Turkey Message-ID: id VT13066; Sun, 06 Aug 1995 04:44:22 -0800 ---- Forwarded from : kcc at infoweb.magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) ----- The Situation Of Disappeared Persons In Turkey Press Statement From IHD Chair Akin Birdal About The Campaign "Stop The Disappearances! Charge Those Responsible!" To the media, The problem of people disappearing while in police custody has reached frightening dimensions over the past few years, and this is a violation of most basic human rights. Methods of making people disappear were developed in Hitler's Germany to destroy the resistance and were later refined and made systematic by regimes in Latin America. In 1955 in Guatemala, and later in states such as Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, the military junta used this tactic to destroy the masses. People from mass movements numbering in the tens of thousands were targeted. In Argentina alone, more than 40,000 people disappeared. But even after a long period had passed, people still sought out those responsible for the disappearances and punished them. In Turkey, a total of 13 people disappeared while in police custody between 1980-1990. But this method became systematic in 1990. Those targeted now were human rights advocates, the Kurdish population, defenders of minority rights, students, trade unionists, journalists, socialists, and anti-war activists. The true dimension of this can be seen in the following figures: 1980-1990 13 people 1991 4 people 1992 8 people 1993 23 people 1994 (first half) 27 people 1994 (total) 328 people 1995 (Jan-March) 77 people As you can see from these figures, the number of people who disappear while in police custody rises every day. A society which allows people to disappear and then does not seek out and punish those responsible cannot be called a democratic society. A democratic society is one in which rights and freedoms are secure. Sincerely, Akin Birdal June 1995 ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Aug 6 05:35:40 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 06 Aug 1995 05:35:40 Subject: IHD: The Human Rights Associati Message-ID: Subject: Re: IHD: The Human Rights Association Of Turkey ---- Forwarded from : kcc at infoweb.magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) ----- The Human Rights Association Of Turkey (IHD) In 1994, observer delegations from various countries travelled to North-West Kurdistan (southeastern Turkey) to monitor the Newroz celebrations (March 21) and the local elections of March 27. These groups were assisted by, among others, the IHD, particularly the IHD office in Diyarbakir. For this reason, and because we wish to support the work of the IHD, we would like to give some information about this organization. The IHD was formed in 1986 by relatives of prisoners and other active persons. In its early years, the organization primarily concerned itself with the situation in prisons and it struggled for the abolition of the death penalty. In the last few years, the IHD has broadened its work. The activities of the IHD touch on subjects such as class oppression, national oppression, the oppression of women, and the oppression of individuals. The group's practical politics are carried out by various commissions, and one principle of the IHD is that all of this work is voluntary. Specific commissions deal with the situation in prisons, torture, and the struggle against the death penalty. The group does research if an individual "disappears", as often happens in Turkey. The IHD also protests against arbitrary executions carried out by the police and the army. Other commissions deal with working conditions, culture, the environment, the rights of the Kurds, the rights of minorities and refugees, the rights of women, the rights of children, and the rights of disabled persons. The IHD in Istanbul, for example, receives an average of 350 requests for help each month. Most of these deal with arrests or torture. In 1993 alone, the IHD office in Istanbul investigated 500 cases of torture. But people with many other problems also seek assistance from the IHD: Women who have been brutalized by their husbands; children with psychological needs; persons who require foreign travel visas; deportations; people fired from a job; the unemployed; and many others which would take too long to list here. Because of this situation, the work of the IHD has qualitatively changed: Requests to ministries and government officials; writing reports; press releases; doing research and accompanying observer delegations; podium discussions; rallies; and much more. Political repression and persecution in Turkey, illegal activities, torture, and murder carried out by the Turkish state are all primarily concentrated in North-West Kurdistan. This fascist politics knows no mercy. It shows itself not only in the war against the Kurdish liberation movement, but also anywhere anyone states that Kurdish people exist and that they should be granted certain rights. This means that the IHD must largely concern itself with cases of persecution and oppression, even torture and murder, in conjunction with the liberation struggle in Kurdistan, even though the organization's task is much broader than this. The IHD is constantly under police surveillance, its offices are arbitrarily raided and searched. People are followed, the telephones are tapped. The group's lawyers are continually arrested and held for up to three months, especially if they happen to be working on cases at that time. Last year, 8 members of the IHD were murdered. The IHD has 56 groups in various regions and has close to 22,000 members. The group's head office is in Ankara. There are about 1,500 members in Istanbul. Finances for the IHD are limited, as the group is wholly dependent on membership fees and donations. Additional money is raised by selling publications, posters, post cards, pins, and other items. ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sun Aug 6 21:00:41 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 06 Aug 1995 21:00:41 Subject: Disappeared Persons In Turkey Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) The Situation Of Disappeared Persons In Turkey Press Statement From IHD Chair Akin Birdal About The Campaign "Stop The Disappearances! Charge Those Responsible!" To the media, The problem of people disappearing while in police custody has reached frightening dimensions over the past few years, and this is a violation of most basic human rights. Methods of making people disappear were developed in Hitler's Germany to destroy the resistance and were later refined and made systematic by regimes in Latin America. In 1955 in Guatemala, and later in states such as Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, the military junta used this tactic to destroy the masses. People from mass movements numbering in the tens of thousands were targeted. In Argentina alone, more than 40,000 people disappeared. But even after a long period had passed, people still sought out those responsible for the disappearances and punished them. In Turkey, a total of 13 people disappeared while in police custody between 1980-1990. But this method became systematic in 1990. Those targeted now were human rights advocates, the Kurdish population, defenders of minority rights, students, trade unionists, journalists, socialists, and anti-war activists. The true dimension of this can be seen in the following figures: 1980-1990 13 people 1991 4 people 1992 8 people 1993 23 people 1994 (first half) 27 people 1994 (total) 328 people 1995 (Jan-March) 77 people As you can see from these figures, the number of people who disappear while in police custody rises every day. A society which allows people to disappear and then does not seek out and punish those responsible cannot be called a democratic society. A democratic society is one in which rights and freedoms are secure. Sincerely, Akin Birdal June 1995 ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurdeng at aps.nl Mon Aug 7 01:51:29 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 07 Aug 1995 01:51:29 Subject: Disappeared Persons In Turkey References: Message-ID: id VT13462; Mon, 07 Aug 1995 01:03:56 -0800 ------------------------ Forwarded from : kcc at magi.com ------------------------- The Situation Of Disappeared Persons In Turkey Press Statement From IHD Chair Akin Birdal About The Campaign "Stop The Disappearances! Charge Those Responsible!" To the media, The problem of people disappearing while in police custody has reached frightening dimensions over the past few years, and this is a violation of most basic human rights. Methods of making people disappear were developed in Hitler's Germany to destroy the resistance and were later refined and made systematic by regimes in Latin America. In 1955 in Guatemala, and later in states such as Argentina, Brazil, and Chile, the military junta used this tactic to destroy the masses. People from mass movements numbering in the tens of thousands were targeted. In Argentina alone, more than 40,000 people disappeared. But even after a long period had passed, people still sought out those responsible for the disappearances and punished them. In Turkey, a total of 13 people disappeared while in police custody between 1980-1990. But this method became systematic in 1990. Those targeted now were human rights advocates, the Kurdish population, defenders of minority rights, students, trade unionists, journalists, socialists, and anti-war activists. The true dimension of this can be seen in the following figures: 1980-1990 13 people 1991 4 people 1992 8 people 1993 23 people 1994 (first half) 27 people 1994 (total) 328 people 1995 (Jan-March) 77 people As you can see from these figures, the number of people who disappear while in police custody rises every day. A society which allows people to disappear and then does not seek out and punish those responsible cannot be called a democratic society. A democratic society is one in which rights and freedoms are secure. Sincerely, Akin Birdal June 1995 ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sun Aug 6 21:00:42 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 06 Aug 1995 21:00:42 Subject: IHD: The Human Rights Association O Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) Subject: IHD: The Human Rights Association Of Turkey The Human Rights Association Of Turkey (IHD) In 1994, observer delegations from various countries travelled to North-West Kurdistan (southeastern Turkey) to monitor the Newroz celebrations (March 21) and the local elections of March 27. These groups were assisted by, among others, the IHD, particularly the IHD office in Diyarbakir. For this reason, and because we wish to support the work of the IHD, we would like to give some information about this organization. The IHD was formed in 1986 by relatives of prisoners and other active persons. In its early years, the organization primarily concerned itself with the situation in prisons and it struggled for the abolition of the death penalty. In the last few years, the IHD has broadened its work. The activities of the IHD touch on subjects such as class oppression, national oppression, the oppression of women, and the oppression of individuals. The group's practical politics are carried out by various commissions, and one principle of the IHD is that all of this work is voluntary. Specific commissions deal with the situation in prisons, torture, and the struggle against the death penalty. The group does research if an individual "disappears", as often happens in Turkey. The IHD also protests against arbitrary executions carried out by the police and the army. Other commissions deal with working conditions, culture, the environment, the rights of the Kurds, the rights of minorities and refugees, the rights of women, the rights of children, and the rights of disabled persons. The IHD in Istanbul, for example, receives an average of 350 requests for help each month. Most of these deal with arrests or torture. In 1993 alone, the IHD office in Istanbul investigated 500 cases of torture. But people with many other problems also seek assistance from the IHD: Women who have been brutalized by their husbands; children with psychological needs; persons who require foreign travel visas; deportations; people fired from a job; the unemployed; and many others which would take too long to list here. Because of this situation, the work of the IHD has qualitatively changed: Requests to ministries and government officials; writing reports; press releases; doing research and accompanying observer delegations; podium discussions; rallies; and much more. Political repression and persecution in Turkey, illegal activities, torture, and murder carried out by the Turkish state are all primarily concentrated in North-West Kurdistan. This fascist politics knows no mercy. It shows itself not only in the war against the Kurdish liberation movement, but also anywhere anyone states that Kurdish people exist and that they should be granted certain rights. This means that the IHD must largely concern itself with cases of persecution and oppression, even torture and murder, in conjunction with the liberation struggle in Kurdistan, even though the organization's task is much broader than this. The IHD is constantly under police surveillance, its offices are arbitrarily raided and searched. People are followed, the telephones are tapped. The group's lawyers are continually arrested and held for up to three months, especially if they happen to be working on cases at that time. Last year, 8 members of the IHD were murdered. The IHD has 56 groups in various regions and has close to 22,000 members. The group's head office is in Ankara. There are about 1,500 members in Istanbul. Finances for the IHD are limited, as the group is wholly dependent on membership fees and donations. Additional money is raised by selling publications, posters, post cards, pins, and other items. ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurdeng at aps.nl Mon Aug 7 01:52:12 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 07 Aug 1995 01:52:12 Subject: IHD: The Human Rights Association O References: Message-ID: Subject: Re: IHD: The Human Rights Association Of Turkey ------------------------ Forwarded from : kcc at magi.com ------------------------- The Human Rights Association Of Turkey (IHD) In 1994, observer delegations from various countries travelled to North-West Kurdistan (southeastern Turkey) to monitor the Newroz celebrations (March 21) and the local elections of March 27. These groups were assisted by, among others, the IHD, particularly the IHD office in Diyarbakir. For this reason, and because we wish to support the work of the IHD, we would like to give some information about this organization. The IHD was formed in 1986 by relatives of prisoners and other active persons. In its early years, the organization primarily concerned itself with the situation in prisons and it struggled for the abolition of the death penalty. In the last few years, the IHD has broadened its work. The activities of the IHD touch on subjects such as class oppression, national oppression, the oppression of women, and the oppression of individuals. The group's practical politics are carried out by various commissions, and one principle of the IHD is that all of this work is voluntary. Specific commissions deal with the situation in prisons, torture, and the struggle against the death penalty. The group does research if an individual "disappears", as often happens in Turkey. The IHD also protests against arbitrary executions carried out by the police and the army. Other commissions deal with working conditions, culture, the environment, the rights of the Kurds, the rights of minorities and refugees, the rights of women, the rights of children, and the rights of disabled persons. The IHD in Istanbul, for example, receives an average of 350 requests for help each month. Most of these deal with arrests or torture. In 1993 alone, the IHD office in Istanbul investigated 500 cases of torture. But people with many other problems also seek assistance from the IHD: Women who have been brutalized by their husbands; children with psychological needs; persons who require foreign travel visas; deportations; people fired from a job; the unemployed; and many others which would take too long to list here. Because of this situation, the work of the IHD has qualitatively changed: Requests to ministries and government officials; writing reports; press releases; doing research and accompanying observer delegations; podium discussions; rallies; and much more. Political repression and persecution in Turkey, illegal activities, torture, and murder carried out by the Turkish state are all primarily concentrated in North-West Kurdistan. This fascist politics knows no mercy. It shows itself not only in the war against the Kurdish liberation movement, but also anywhere anyone states that Kurdish people exist and that they should be granted certain rights. This means that the IHD must largely concern itself with cases of persecution and oppression, even torture and murder, in conjunction with the liberation struggle in Kurdistan, even though the organization's task is much broader than this. The IHD is constantly under police surveillance, its offices are arbitrarily raided and searched. People are followed, the telephones are tapped. The group's lawyers are continually arrested and held for up to three months, especially if they happen to be working on cases at that time. Last year, 8 members of the IHD were murdered. The IHD has 56 groups in various regions and has close to 22,000 members. The group's head office is in Ankara. There are about 1,500 members in Istanbul. Finances for the IHD are limited, as the group is wholly dependent on membership fees and donations. Additional money is raised by selling publications, posters, post cards, pins, and other items. ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sun Aug 6 21:00:43 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 06 Aug 1995 21:00:43 Subject: Humiliation, Torture, Rape Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) Humiliation, Torture, Rape The situation of Kurdish and Turkish women who fall into the clutches of the Turkish security forces is indescribable. The human rights organization 'Terre des Femmes', based in Bochum, Germany, recently criticized a report by Foreign Minister Kinkel published in the foreign ministry's "Status Report 1995" which had next to nothing to say about the status of women in Turkey, despite documented human rights abuses. According to evidence presented by 'Terre des Femmes', women in Turkish prisons are subjected to humiliation, torture, and rape. Lawyer Eren Keskin reported the following: "One of my clients, Selma B., was arrested 20 days after a midwife operation. They tried to rape her with a baton. She started bleeding heavily. According to a report issued by Amnesty International, all women are sexually assaulted when they are tortured. Men fondle their breasts and finger their genitals. The torture of women, which entails sexually motivated violence against the female gender, means that the imprisonment of women in Turkey represents a gender-specific form of human rights violations." Germany's federal government, led by Chancellor Kohl and Foreign Minister Kinkel, likes to make an issue of human rights violations if the regime in question is not on good terms with Bonn. But in the case of Turkey, a true ally in the Bosporus, Bonn closes its eyes, "due to higher state interests" as one ministry spokesman cynically phrased it. It has been known for years that when women are captured by the Turkish security forces they are subjected to the worst forms of humiliation, torture, and rape, a systematic violation of their human rights which usually only takes place in totalitarian states far away from the public eye. The human rights organization 'Terre des Femmes' has proven in numerous reports that: "The position of women under Turkish law is completely unprotected. Women are third-class people. Without a doubt, women are doubly affected by torture. First of all, as soon as a women reaches the anti-terror police headquarters, she is insulted because of her gender and verbally abused. And secondly, women are stripped naked before being interrogated and tortured." Eren Keskin, a lawyer for the Human Rights Association (IHD) who is now in prison, learned from discussions with clients that "rapes frequently occurred in police custody". According to Keskin, "during these attacks, the woman is violated by a police officer or sometimes raped with a baton or bottle". It is always men that carry out these forms of torture. These are men who go home after work to their wives, daughters, and mothers. The next morning, these same men rape imprisoned women, usually Kurds, torture them with electric shocks, and generally humiliate and abuse female prisoners. The Bochum organization 'Terre des Femmes' has noted the following: "The families of women who are persecuted because of their political activities are harassed by state security forces during police operations in Kurdish neighbourhoods in the metropoles as well as in rural Kurdish areas. Women whose husbands have fled to seek political asylum must undergo gynaecological exams on the excuse of seeing whether or not the husband actually went to the mountains and occasionally visits the wife." The following are a few examples of human rights violations against women: - After a Newroz celebration, 16-year-old Bisenk Anik was arrested, raped, and shot. - Merice Kirtay, pregnant, was raped and murdered. - Fadime Guler, 12-years-old, was taken into custody by the security forces in Agri and raped. - Seher Yanarer, 12-years-old, was "displayed" naked by security forces in her village. - Sukran Aydin from Derik near Mardin was raped by security forces in front of her mother on July 20, 1993. - In January 1993, Turkish TV reports gave graphic accounts of Turkish soldiers raping dead female guerrillas. The Turkish President excused this by saying that the soldiers were just "22- or 23-year-old guys who can't control themselves". - The now-banned weekly magazine 'Gercek' reported a verbatim confession by a Turkish soldier in its August 13, 1993 edition: "Say a woman guerrilla dies in a raid. She is lying there, her body still warm. You understand? Now, the soldier hasn't had a woman in a long time. He see his chance. The soldier makes use of this opportunity. Then he does it." - In 1993, two dead women guerrillas were shown naked on Turkish Inter-Star TV. The results of forced gynaecological examinations were publicly reported in the Turkish media. - In March 1995, a translator accompanying a German delegation was so threatened with sexual assault by security forces in Van that a German MP had to fly her out of the country immediately. Many members of the Turkish security forces receive their training in Germany. (translated from 'Depeschen aus der Turkei und Kurdistan') ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurdeng at aps.nl Mon Aug 7 01:53:04 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 07 Aug 1995 01:53:04 Subject: Humiliation, Torture, Rape References: Message-ID: ------------------------ Forwarded from : kcc at magi.com ------------------------- Humiliation, Torture, Rape The situation of Kurdish and Turkish women who fall into the clutches of the Turkish security forces is indescribable. The human rights organization 'Terre des Femmes', based in Bochum, Germany, recently criticized a report by Foreign Minister Kinkel published in the foreign ministry's "Status Report 1995" which had next to nothing to say about the status of women in Turkey, despite documented human rights abuses. According to evidence presented by 'Terre des Femmes', women in Turkish prisons are subjected to humiliation, torture, and rape. Lawyer Eren Keskin reported the following: "One of my clients, Selma B., was arrested 20 days after a midwife operation. They tried to rape her with a baton. She started bleeding heavily. According to a report issued by Amnesty International, all women are sexually assaulted when they are tortured. Men fondle their breasts and finger their genitals. The torture of women, which entails sexually motivated violence against the female gender, means that the imprisonment of women in Turkey represents a gender-specific form of human rights violations." Germany's federal government, led by Chancellor Kohl and Foreign Minister Kinkel, likes to make an issue of human rights violations if the regime in question is not on good terms with Bonn. But in the case of Turkey, a true ally in the Bosporus, Bonn closes its eyes, "due to higher state interests" as one ministry spokesman cynically phrased it. It has been known for years that when women are captured by the Turkish security forces they are subjected to the worst forms of humiliation, torture, and rape, a systematic violation of their human rights which usually only takes place in totalitarian states far away from the public eye. The human rights organization 'Terre des Femmes' has proven in numerous reports that: "The position of women under Turkish law is completely unprotected. Women are third-class people. Without a doubt, women are doubly affected by torture. First of all, as soon as a women reaches the anti-terror police headquarters, she is insulted because of her gender and verbally abused. And secondly, women are stripped naked before being interrogated and tortured." Eren Keskin, a lawyer for the Human Rights Association (IHD) who is now in prison, learned from discussions with clients that "rapes frequently occurred in police custody". According to Keskin, "during these attacks, the woman is violated by a police officer or sometimes raped with a baton or bottle". It is always men that carry out these forms of torture. These are men who go home after work to their wives, daughters, and mothers. The next morning, these same men rape imprisoned women, usually Kurds, torture them with electric shocks, and generally humiliate and abuse female prisoners. The Bochum organization 'Terre des Femmes' has noted the following: "The families of women who are persecuted because of their political activities are harassed by state security forces during police operations in Kurdish neighbourhoods in the metropoles as well as in rural Kurdish areas. Women whose husbands have fled to seek political asylum must undergo gynaecological exams on the excuse of seeing whether or not the husband actually went to the mountains and occasionally visits the wife." The following are a few examples of human rights violations against women: - After a Newroz celebration, 16-year-old Bisenk Anik was arrested, raped, and shot. - Merice Kirtay, pregnant, was raped and murdered. - Fadime Guler, 12-years-old, was taken into custody by the security forces in Agri and raped. - Seher Yanarer, 12-years-old, was "displayed" naked by security forces in her village. - Sukran Aydin from Derik near Mardin was raped by security forces in front of her mother on July 20, 1993. - In January 1993, Turkish TV reports gave graphic accounts of Turkish soldiers raping dead female guerrillas. The Turkish President excused this by saying that the soldiers were just "22- or 23-year-old guys who can't control themselves". - The now-banned weekly magazine 'Gercek' reported a verbatim confession by a Turkish soldier in its August 13, 1993 edition: "Say a woman guerrilla dies in a raid. She is lying there, her body still warm. You understand? Now, the soldier hasn't had a woman in a long time. He see his chance. The soldier makes use of this opportunity. Then he does it." - In 1993, two dead women guerrillas were shown naked on Turkish Inter-Star TV. The results of forced gynaecological examinations were publicly reported in the Turkish media. - In March 1995, a translator accompanying a German delegation was so threatened with sexual assault by security forces in Van that a German MP had to fly her out of the country immediately. Many members of the Turkish security forces receive their training in Germany. (translated from 'Depeschen aus der Turkei und Kurdistan') ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sun Aug 6 21:00:44 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 06 Aug 1995 21:00:44 Subject: Women's Army: PKK 5th Congress Reso Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) Subject: Women's Army: PKK 5th Congress Resolution PKK 5th Congress Resolution Concerning The Women's Army And The Free Women's Movement If one examines the history of various segments of society, one can see that those societies, peoples, or classes which are marked by great inequalities are plagued with confrontations and struggles. There exists a dialectic between the struggles within one part of society and the development of subsequent social classes. This development is only possible if the people of this society accept the characteristics of their respective class structures. (The dialectical development of these various social classes was closely linked to domestic conditions, which were largely determined by the characteristics of that society in accordance with their specific class character.) Throughout history, the women's question has taken on different forms and characteristics in different societies, but the core of this question has remained unchanged to this day. History has always been the history of male domination, because regardless of what class characteristics determined the society, it was always the men who determined social development and power relations. A careful analysis of all the revolutions which have taken place up until today will show that women were never really able to achieve their full political-military strength and were not effectively included in the movement. The foundation of any revolution which seeks to create a new society and be victorious over the old society must have women playing significant roles. This reality is most clear when we look at real-existing socialism, where women took part in the revolution, but where an equal power balance between men and women was never achieved, therefore these women were not free, hence these were not free societies. The fundamentals of the PKK and the Kurdish revolution have given these facts a special importance. The potential of women, who make up half of the society, in the service of the revolution and their hidden and suppressed talents and intelligence in creating an entire society based on equality is the most humane and the most radical characteristic of our revolution. Our movement deals with this question at the ideological, political, party, and military level, and has made great steps in all of these areas thanks to the special efforts made by our general secretary. The head of the party has given special attention to this under the motto: "A step forward for the national liberation movement is also a step forward for women." Women are seeking to answer their analysis by means of this struggle. Today, this problem requires even more concerted efforts and the development of new means of solving it. The most important step which our party has taken is the creation of a women's army. This army seeks to destroy all the characteristics and modes of conduct created by the status quo of class society. Therefore, it's not only of military significance that a women's army be created, but rather it is significant for all aspects of our movement. In all sectors of the economy, all social institutions, and even in the realm of culture, organizations will be created and modelled after this army. It will be largely the responsibility of women militants in leadership positions to realize the potential of women to organize, become educated, and join the struggle. It is a necessary step, given the present situation, that there be a special organization for women within the people's liberation front. This new movement must be in a position to organize Kurdish women in all aspects of society and to involve them in the struggle. The goal of this is not simply to achieve independence for women, to make them reliant on their own strengths and not be dependent on men, and to achieve their full resistance and struggle potential, but this will also play an important role in the development of men. In this sense, work and living together will be characterized by freedom, equality, and comradery. For these reasons, the 5th Party Congress of the Kurdistan Workers Party has decided the following: 1. On the basis of the decisions of the 5th Congress, the mass organization of women will reach its peak and will culminate in a National Women's Congress. 2. The Free Women's Movement will adopt a new program and a new leadership based on the upcoming congress and will take on a special new form of organization. 3. The central leadership of the Free Women's Movement will be strengthened. The Free Women's Movement, which will be part of our party's front, will organize itself on all levels. 4. Regional military camps for women and the inclusion of women in the central military command structure will help to create militant leadership cadre in the movement. 5. On the basis of the movement, the political army will be strengthened in the fields of media work, diplomacy, art, culture, and economy. In this, women will be further trained and organized, and they will participate in both the legal and illegal activities of the movement. 6. Eventually, an independent Women's Army of women fighting in the ARGK will be created, and women's units and command structures will be developed to the point where they can operate independently. 7. The Women's Army will be increased in size without affecting its capabilities. The minimum age for female fighters will be 16. 8. The creation of a Committee for Freedom and Equality will be achieved and it will be given an effective function. 9. Under centralized leadership, an annual Women's Conference will be held every year. 10. At the appropriate time and under the appropriate circumstances, the central leadership will organize an International Women's Conference. 11. The main publications of the movement will be published and distributed. ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurdeng at aps.nl Mon Aug 7 01:53:54 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 07 Aug 1995 01:53:54 Subject: Women's Army: PKK 5th Congress Reso References: Message-ID: Subject: Re: Women's Army: PKK 5th Congress Resolution ------------------------ Forwarded from : kcc at magi.com ------------------------- PKK 5th Congress Resolution Concerning The Women's Army And The Free Women's Movement If one examines the history of various segments of society, one can see that those societies, peoples, or classes which are marked by great inequalities are plagued with confrontations and struggles. There exists a dialectic between the struggles within one part of society and the development of subsequent social classes. This development is only possible if the people of this society accept the characteristics of their respective class structures. (The dialectical development of these various social classes was closely linked to domestic conditions, which were largely determined by the characteristics of that society in accordance with their specific class character.) Throughout history, the women's question has taken on different forms and characteristics in different societies, but the core of this question has remained unchanged to this day. History has always been the history of male domination, because regardless of what class characteristics determined the society, it was always the men who determined social development and power relations. A careful analysis of all the revolutions which have taken place up until today will show that women were never really able to achieve their full political-military strength and were not effectively included in the movement. The foundation of any revolution which seeks to create a new society and be victorious over the old society must have women playing significant roles. This reality is most clear when we look at real-existing socialism, where women took part in the revolution, but where an equal power balance between men and women was never achieved, therefore these women were not free, hence these were not free societies. The fundamentals of the PKK and the Kurdish revolution have given these facts a special importance. The potential of women, who make up half of the society, in the service of the revolution and their hidden and suppressed talents and intelligence in creating an entire society based on equality is the most humane and the most radical characteristic of our revolution. Our movement deals with this question at the ideological, political, party, and military level, and has made great steps in all of these areas thanks to the special efforts made by our general secretary. The head of the party has given special attention to this under the motto: "A step forward for the national liberation movement is also a step forward for women." Women are seeking to answer their analysis by means of this struggle. Today, this problem requires even more concerted efforts and the development of new means of solving it. The most important step which our party has taken is the creation of a women's army. This army seeks to destroy all the characteristics and modes of conduct created by the status quo of class society. Therefore, it's not only of military significance that a women's army be created, but rather it is significant for all aspects of our movement. In all sectors of the economy, all social institutions, and even in the realm of culture, organizations will be created and modelled after this army. It will be largely the responsibility of women militants in leadership positions to realize the potential of women to organize, become educated, and join the struggle. It is a necessary step, given the present situation, that there be a special organization for women within the people's liberation front. This new movement must be in a position to organize Kurdish women in all aspects of society and to involve them in the struggle. The goal of this is not simply to achieve independence for women, to make them reliant on their own strengths and not be dependent on men, and to achieve their full resistance and struggle potential, but this will also play an important role in the development of men. In this sense, work and living together will be characterized by freedom, equality, and comradery. For these reasons, the 5th Party Congress of the Kurdistan Workers Party has decided the following: 1. On the basis of the decisions of the 5th Congress, the mass organization of women will reach its peak and will culminate in a National Women's Congress. 2. The Free Women's Movement will adopt a new program and a new leadership based on the upcoming congress and will take on a special new form of organization. 3. The central leadership of the Free Women's Movement will be strengthened. The Free Women's Movement, which will be part of our party's front, will organize itself on all levels. 4. Regional military camps for women and the inclusion of women in the central military command structure will help to create militant leadership cadre in the movement. 5. On the basis of the movement, the political army will be strengthened in the fields of media work, diplomacy, art, culture, and economy. In this, women will be further trained and organized, and they will participate in both the legal and illegal activities of the movement. 6. Eventually, an independent Women's Army of women fighting in the ARGK will be created, and women's units and command structures will be developed to the point where they can operate independently. 7. The Women's Army will be increased in size without affecting its capabilities. The minimum age for female fighters will be 16. 8. The creation of a Committee for Freedom and Equality will be achieved and it will be given an effective function. 9. Under centralized leadership, an annual Women's Conference will be held every year. 10. At the appropriate time and under the appropriate circumstances, the central leadership will organize an International Women's Conference. 11. The main publications of the movement will be published and distributed. ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sun Aug 6 22:00:40 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 06 Aug 1995 22:00:40 Subject: Mogultay On Prisons In Turkey Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) Excerpts From A Report By Former Justice Minister Mehmet Mogultay To Prime Minister Ciller, 1994 To the right honourable Prime Minister, As is known, the Constitutional Court declared Article 520 of the Penal Code, concerning correctional institutions, as well as Article 524, which regulates prison facilities and administration under the jurisdiction of my ministry, to be invalid. In addition to this, Articles 528 and 529 were also removed from the books after the court found them unconstitutional. A proposal is now being drafted to replace these statutes. Before I discuss the draft of this proposal, I would like to briefly sketch the situation in our justice system. Our justice officials demand immediate solutions, because they are confronted with the most serious problems. It is not possible to achieve solutions with superficial actions. Large scale terrorist attacks constitute our country's most serious problem. For the protection of our national unity and territorial integrity, it is essential that our state combat the sources of terrorism with decisive measures. We must increase our supplies of munitions, weapons, necessary materials, as well as personnel in the security forces so as to fight against terrorism while we seek to gain other needed materials as soon as possible. The cost of fighting against terrorism in 1994 will be approximately 200,000,000,000,000 Turkish lira (TL). As is known, the struggle against terrorism is not one-sided. The persecution and arrest of terrorist organizations and their members by our security forces is just one side of the fight against terrorism. A swift judicial conviction and the terms of imprisonment of arrested terrorists are the second, equally important side of this fight. At the present time, there are 8,600 persons in our prisons who were arrested and convicted of terrorist crimes. Those people arrested and convicted for terrorism took part in armed confrontations with our security forces in both rural and urban areas. They were trained to spread propaganda, to die, and to kill. In November 1991, the number of persons who had been arrested and convicted of terrorist crimes was 900. By September 1994, this number had reached 8,600. This rate of increase is 95%. By August 8, 1993, the number of convicted terrorists was 3,700, but in the last year there have been 4,900. This rate of increase is 132%. Whereas in November 1991 there were 10 prisons for arrested and convicted terrorists, there were 40 terrorist prisons as of September 1994. This rate of increase is 400%. At the present time, there are 6,213 people in custody on charges of terrorism. These trials are still in process. The first side of anti-terrorism, the persecution and arrest of terrorists, is being successfully conducted by our security forces. The number of arrested and convicted terrorists increased to 10,000 in one year, and the number of prisons for terrorists jumped to 50. (...) As of September 1, 1994 there were 42,000 convicted persons in our prisons. For transporting prisoners and convicted persons to the 602 prisons, 385 means of transport were used. But it is not possible to use 302 of these, since they are more than 10 years old. Food costs for 550g of bread per prisoner per day costs 16,000 TL. This is not sufficient for the needs of all the prisoners, and yet there is not enough money for us to pay the debts we owe the firms which supply us. Despite the coming winter, there is not enough money for us to pay for heating materials, electricity, and water. The pharmacies will not deliver medical supplies to the prisons, because our debts to them have not yet been paid. (...) ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sun Aug 6 22:00:47 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 06 Aug 1995 22:00:47 Subject: The Life Of Leyla Zana Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) >From Weakness To Resistance: A Portrait Of Leyla Zana Not long after she was sentenced to prison, Leyla Zana was honoured with several international peace prizes. She was given the Rosa Prize from Denmark, the Aachen Alternative Peace Prize, and the Rafto Association's Peace Prize from Norway, and most recently she was awarded the Bruno Kreisky Peace Prize from Austria. In addition to all of this, Norway has nominated her for the Nobel Peace Prize. Who is Leyla Zana, and why have so many people across the world given her so many prizes in such a short period of time? Leyla Zana, who is known well beyond the borders of Turkey and Kurdistan, and who has been imprisoned in Ankara since March 1994, caused quite a sensation when she was elected to the Turkish Parliament in 1991 and, along with her male colleague Hatip Dicle, added a referenced to "Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood" in her inaugural oath. For the first time since the founding of the Turkish Republic, someone dared to speak in the Kurdish language before the eyes of watching Members of Parliament and TV viewers. And in yet another first, she took hear inaugural oath wearing the Kurdish national colours, red, green, and yellow. Together with her other colleagues from the Democracy Party (DEP), Leyla Zana attempted to deal with the Kurdish problem at the political level. She made it her task to make the Kurdish question an issue in the Turkish Parliament. But she knew from day one that this would be a very difficult task. Would a Parliament that did not even allow people to wear the Kurdish national colours allow a discussion of the situation of the Kurds? It was a heavy task which this young MP took on. Where did she get so much courage? A close examination will reveal that the life and personal development of Leyla Zana closely mirrors that of the uprising of the Kurdish people; a sort of microcosm of the entire Kurdish resistance movement. The will for social and personal freedom was the basis for her activities. It was this resistance throughout her entire life that made it possible for her to fight to change the present conditions. The female gender in the village of Bahce, where Leyla Zana was born in 1961, had very little to do and was supposed to stay hidden. But Leyla was never easy to control and she rebelled even then. Before her wedding, she had never worn a head garment, and even then she only wore it for a short time. She didn't seem too concerned when everyone thought she was crazy for tossing the head garment on the ground. She was just 14 years old in 1975 when she was forced to marry her father's cousin, a man 20 years older than she. Even when she reacted angrily to the idea of this marriage and beat her father with her fists, something no other Kurdish girl would surely ever do, she still had an amazingly clear analysis of her situation: "I don't blame my family or my husband, rather I blame the social conditions. These must be changed." The possibilities for changing both personal and social conditions actually improved after her marriage to Mehdi Zana, an active Kurd. It was through him that Leyla first encountered state repression, and this was what politicized her. In 1976, Leyla went with her husband to Diyarbakir and soon the illiterate woman, still only 15, gave birth to a son. The following year, her husband was elected Mayor of Diyarbakir. After the 1980 military coup, Mehdi Zana was arrested and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Leyla Zana was now a young, single mother, her son Ronay was 5 and she was pregnant with her daughter Ruken. Whereas before she had been heavily influenced by her relatives, now she was forced "to think for myself and act for myself". During the next few years, she followed her husband from prison to prison, from Diyarbakir to Aydin, from Afyon to Askisehir. While doing so, she learned to speak Turkish so that she could be more effective outside the prisons, and she even managed to study on her own. In Diyarbakir, she became the first woman ever to get a high school diploma without ever attending school. She eventually became the spokesperson for all the women who were waiting for their husbands in prison and her personal authority continued to grow. In the 1980s, she was active in promoting women's self-organization and she founded and chaired a women's group which eventually opened offices in Istanbul and Diyarbakir. She also became active as a journalist for 'Yeni Ulke', eventually becoming editor at the Diyarbakir office. These and many other examples clearly show that her personal development was virtually synonymous with the development of the Kurdish liberation struggle, and this culminated with her candidacy for Parliament in the 1991 elections. Leyla Zana was the first Kurdish woman ever elected to the Turkish Parliament. She received 45,000 votes in her district in Diyarbakir, more than any other candidate. After her election, she moved to Ankara. Her incredible energy and courageous actions on behalf of the 16 million Kurds in Turkey made her famous throughout the entire country: hungerstrike to protest army attacks on the Kurdish New Year festival 'Newroz'; funeral march for a leading Kurdish politician, whose murdered body had been found near a beach; countless visits to families who had been victims of state violence and who had been deprived of their means for existence. Leyla Zana, who has been in prison in Ankara for more than 15 months now, has become a symbol for the Kurdish resistance. Her life and her fate are directly tied to the fate of the Kurdish people. In Leyla Zana's own words: "Freedom has its price." And she is prepared to pay it. It was predictable that she would one day end up in prison, and she was prepared for this. The important thing is that she is helping to solve the problems of the Kurdish people. Immediately after being sentenced to prison, Leyla Zana was showered with several international peace awards, and the Norwegian Parliament has nominated her for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. Her struggle, therefore, is no longer confined to the borders of Kurdistan, rather hers is an international struggle, one which is increasing in international resonance with each passing day. In a recent interview, a spokesperson for the Bruno Kreisky Association, Stefan August, answered the question as to why Leyla Zana had been awarded the association's Peace Prize that year: "We nominated Leyla Zana as a candidate to the independent jury. We clearly explained the situation in both Turkey and Kurdistan. The development of the struggle in Kurdistan has meant that not only Austria has closely followed the events, but all the countries of Europe have been able to see things unfold from very close by. The discussion about Turkey's acceptance into the Customs Union and Austria's ties to Turkey motivated our decision. The lifting of the immunity of the DEP parliamentarians and the verdict of Turkey's State Security Court, which functioned as a special court for this trial, clearly revealed Turkey's attitude with respect to the Kurdish question. We think this is a serious situation. When we look at the Kurdish question in its historical context, we think also of Africa or Russia. This is a fundamental problem. That's why we made our decision the way we did...Leyla Zana was awarded our prize for human rights achievements as a representative of all the imprisoned DEP parliamentarians." Norway gave the following reason for nominating Leyla Zana for the Nobel Peace Prize: "Leyla Zana carried out courageous politics in the interest of democratic rights for the Kurdish people and for human rights. If she were not brave then she would not have struggled to end this war and to find a peaceful solution to the problem. The Turkish government put Leyla Zana and her colleagues in prison illegally. We, as representatives of the Norwegian people, would like to see Leyla Zana awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, because in that way we could show solidarity with their struggle for peace and democracy." July 1995 Kurdistan Informations-Zentrum Cologne, Germany Translated by the Kurdistan Committee of Canada ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sun Aug 6 23:00:20 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 06 Aug 1995 23:00:20 Subject: Gulnaz Baghistani: Killed By Berlin Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) Subject: Gulnaz Baghistani: Killed By Berlin Police Hungerstrike Committee Berlin Zossener Straae 41 10961 Berlin, Germany Tel: +49-30-69002696 Fax: +49-30-69002600 Press Release July 29, 1995 The following is a documentation of the flight of Glnaz Baghistani and her family to Germany: Glnaz was born in 1954 in Dahok, South Kurdistan. Sixteen years ago, she married Hadi Baghistani, and together they had five daughters. In 1988, Glnaz and her children had to flee from Dahok to escape the terror of the Saddam regime. Glnaz was forced to leave behind her 6-year-old daughter Derya with relatives in Derkar Acem near Zaxo. After the Iraqi army's destruction of Derkar Acem in 1989, after which all the men in the village were killed, Derya came to Germany with the other surviving relatives. After a short stay in Zaxo, the rest of the family, without Glnaz's husband, travelled to Silopi, Cizre, Kiziltepe, Bismil, and other parts of North-West Kurdistan. The history of the Baghistani family is the history of the expulsion and dispossession of the Kurdish people. They could not find any peace and safety from Turkish state terror. The villages where they were able to stay with relatives were burned down by the Turkish military and depopulated. With the consciousness that their situation was the same as that of their people, Glnaz participated in acts of resistance against Turkish state terror. The flight to safety separated Glnaz from Hadi. They did not hear from one another for three years. In 1991, Hadi Baghistani came to Germany as a political refugee and then was able to locate his family. Hadi was able to save his daughter Derya from being deported and he then asked the authorities to allow his wife and his other four daughters to enter Germany as well. This request was denied. In August 1994, the four daughters came to Germany without their mother. But the family were still separated. Glnaz had to stay behind in Kurdistan because she did not have enough money to leave. She finally made it to Germany in March 1995. For the first time in more than six years, the whole family was reunited. Glnaz Baghistani had survived Saddam's poison gas attacks and Turkish state terror with German weapons. But Glnaz Baghistani was killed by a German police attack on Kurdish people living in exile on July 27, 1995 in Berlin. Hungerstrike Committee Berlin July 29, 1995 ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sun Aug 6 23:00:37 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 06 Aug 1995 23:00:37 Subject: Kurdistan Hungerstrike Updates Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) Hungerstrike Updates --- Press Release #4 - July 24, 1995 In Paris, Police Trap 300 Hungerstrikers In St. Eustache Since authorities in Paris would not grant the Kurdish hungerstrikers any appropriate location for their event, they commenced their event in the Kurdish community centre in Paris. After police attempts to disturb their action, the 300 participants headed for the centrally-located church of St. Eustache. They held a meeting there declaring the church the new location of the hungerstrike. Police forces reacted by assaulting the house of prayer and blocking all the exits. Several hundred supporters of the strike protesting against the trapping of the hungerstrikers clashed with police and a French journalist was wounded. When the police stopped trapping the hungerstrikers at 11:00 PM, the crowd held a spontaneous rally through the streets of Paris. In London, Police Provoke Hungerstrikers The London hungerstrike became a target of provocations by the British police. However, the many attempts to escalate the situation did not succeed due to the high morale of the hungerstrikers. A spokesperson for the London Hungerstrike Committee stated that the provocations must be seen in context with the trial of National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK) representative Kani Yilmaz after 9 months of detention in Belmarsh prison. In Frankfurt, Church Opens Gates While Police Attack Kurds The hungerstrike of about 250 Kurds in Frankfurt enjoys growing public response after having been outlawed initially. Representatives of the University Students Parliament, a Tamil organization, the Church of Unification, and the German Communist Party (DKP) held speeches at the location. Meanwhile, police tried to rip down flags of the ERNK and pictures of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, attacking the participants four times. In a press release, Father Dr. Stoodt of the neighboring Katharinenkirche declared that he would open the gates of his church to give shelter to the hungerstrikers. Today, Members of Parliament will have a discussion at the location on "the German state's hostile policies towards the Kurds". The Hague: Members of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile, founded in April, visited the hungerstrikers. Ali Yigit, MP and Nizamettin Toguc, MP declared that the Parliament would always approve of and support actions like this hungerstrike. Further, they stated that Turkey must immediately respect the Geneva Conventions and answer the appeals of the Kurdish side. There was no other way to go, they said. Geneva: A hungerstrike commenced by 80 persons on July 21. The local Hungerstrike Committee announced a press conference. Berlin: The hungerstrike event on the central Kurfurstendamm enjoys broad response. Except police confiscating materials on Kurdistan, the event was calm. --- Press Release #5 - July 24, 1995 The Hague: A group of Dutch supporters held a vigil at the location of the hungerstrike on the 22nd. On the 23rd, the European spokesperson for the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK), Ali Sapan, gave a speech at the location and stressed the historical importance of the 14th of July, the anniversary of the prison resistance of 1982. On that day, Kurdish political prisoners in the military prison in Diyarbakir started a hungerstrike to the death in order to protest against torture and ill-treatment in the prisons. This fast until death, which cost 4 people their lives, was a central event in the birth of the national liberation movement of Kurdistan, Sapan stated. He pointed out that this year's protest action, which began in the prisons, has spread out not only across the metropoles of Turkey and Kurdistan but all over Europe and other continents as well. Today, the Turkish government has lost in terms of economy and politics, he said. Also, several Alevi associations visited the location of the hungerstrike. Rochester: In a prison in the British town of Rochester, 69 prisoners have started a hungerstrike in solidarity with the 10,000 Prisoners of War from Kurdistan on July 20. This group consists of 31 Bosnians, 15 Rumanians, 12 Indians, 8 Pakistanis, 1 Arab, 1 person from Zaire, and 1 Turkish prisoner. Washington: Remzi Kartal, member of the Executive Council of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile, opened this hungerstrike on July 20. He stated that the 12 hungerstrikers were not alone in their convictions, but rather were together with more than 10,000 people across the world. The interest of the American public as well as the Kurdish population in exile in America in the hungerstrike and its backgrounds in growing. Geneva: A delegation of scholars attending a historical congress in Lausanne visited the location of the hungerstrike and expressed their support for the demands brought forth. The latest figures for the solidarity hungerstrikes: Stockholm 100 The Hague 150 Paris 300 London 70 Athens 50 Washington 12 Geneva 80 Moscow 70 Frankfurt 300 Berlin 200 Rochester 69 --- Press Release #6 - July 24, 1995 PKK Prisoner of War Fesih Beyazcicek Ended His Life In Yozgurt Prison Today's events in Yozgurt prison are an example of the way Turkey treats the Kurds. The Prisoner of War Fesih Beyazcicek from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), born in Bitlis-Guroymak, fell seriously ill after the hungerstrike in Yozgurt had been commenced by 170 prisoners from the PKK, DHKP-C, TKP-L, MLKP-K, and TKP-ML on July 14. However, he was transferred to a medical station much too late, fellow prisoners stated. Beyazcicek died because medical aid had been refused to him by the prison guards for too long. Beyazcicek was arrested in March 1994 when security forces accused him of "distributing propaganda for the PKK" at the Kurdish new year's celebration Newroz. He probably would have been released in 20 days. In face of these events, the Bureau for Solidarity with the Hungerstrike of the 10,000 Prisoners of War reiterates its appeal to the media, democratic organizations and institutions, and the progressive public to pay adequate attention to the dirty war in Kurdistan and to contribute to the fulfilling of the demands made by the 10,000 Prisoners of War. These demands are: 1. In order to reach a political solution, calls made by PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan for a dialogue must be supported and encouraged. 2. Geneva Convention regulations covering combatants must be observed and enforced in Kurdistan. 3. Killing of civilians, summary executions, torture in prisons, and the burning of villages must come to an end. 4. All war prisoners in jails must be classified as POWs. 5. All military operations designed to destroy our people must be stopped. 6. Under the auspices of the UN and the Red Cross, committees must be formed and sent to monitor the war in Kurdistan and prison conditions. ---- Press Release #8 - July 27, 1995 In Istanbul, Families Of Prisoners March On Galatasaray The families of Prisoners of War, who are themselves on hungerstrike in Baheieviler, rallied in Istanbul on July 23. Despite massive hindrances from the security forces, they were able to achieve their aim by having a sit-down strike until the security forces let them march to the headquarters of the United Socialist Party (BSP) in Galatasaray. The families sent petition telegrams to several Turkish ministers and to organizations and associations from the post office in Galatasaray. About 1,000 members of the "Association for Solidarity with the Families of the Prisoners" also sent telegrams from there at night to the United Nations, the Red Cross, various international human rights organizations, the Turkish National Council, and to President Demirel. In South Kurdistan, Broad Support For The Demands Of The Prisoners Awakes Meanwhile, in South Kurdistan, a number of parties have expressed their support for the hungerstrikers and their demands, among them the Kurdistan Independent Workers Party, the National Democratic Association of Kurdistan, the Kurdish Labour Party of Iraq, Kurdistan Workers Struggle, the Democratic Party of Iran, the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDP-Iran), and the KDP-Iran Revolutionary Leadership, and others. Wave Of Hungerstrikes Across Kurdistan And Turkey The hungerstrikes by relatives of the Prisoners of War in the offices of the Peoples Democracy Party (HADEP) in Adana, Seyhan, and Yuregir suffer from a lack of space. HADEP has issued an appeal calling on democratic organizations to open their premises to the hungerstrikers. As the number of hungerstrikers was growing daily, there was an acute lack of space in the offices of the party. Meanwhile, hungerstrikes have also started in the HADEP offices in Mersin and Hatay. The HADEP office in Diyarbakir must turn away new participants, since there are already 100 PKK relatives there who have been fasting since July 18. According to the latest news, the hungerstrike in Antalya which started on July 22 is being threatened by security forces. The building is surrounded and visitors are refused entry and taken to the police station. HADEP spokesperson Murat Yucel has stated that this repression is the result of the unease felt by the police because of the ongoing hungerstrike and the many visitors to the office. The party has condemned the police action. Urfa: 16 women Prisoners of War from the PKK are boycotting their court hearings. They must be brought to court by force now. In a statement, the hungerstrikers explained that prior to the boycott they hadn't been taken to court because transport costs were deemed too high. Only since the strike began have they been dragged to court by force. The boycott will continue, they said. Ankara: The detainees in Merkes Kapali prison in Ankara are also boycotting their trials. Since the beginning of the hungerstrike, paramilitary gendarmes have been deployed instead of the normal prison guards. Security measures have been increased, such as the installation of additional iron bars. Because the gendarmes are also present during visits, these are boycotted as well. Mersin: The Human Rights Association (IHD) has published a statement saying that they would like to mediate in talks between the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Turkish government in order to see the demands of the war prisoners fulfilled. As the IHD are concerned about the health of the hungerstrikers, the statement said it would conduct every possible mediating function necessary. The war is no solution, so both sides must sit down at a round table in order to avoid further bloodshed. --- Kurdish Woman Hungerstriker Killed By Police In Berlin (from the daily newspaper The Toronto Star, July 28, 1995) Hunger Strike Claims Kurd, 41 Activists in Germany press for end of war Bonn, Germany - A woman on a hungerstrike died in Berlin yesterday amid a wave of protests and attacks on Turkish properties in Germany that police have linked to Kurdish activists. Police said the dead woman was among a group of several hundred Kurds in Germany showing solidarity with imprisoned members of the separtist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey. A Belgian-based Kurdish organization, in a statement distributed in Germany, named the dead woman as Gulnaz Bagiztani, 41, and said she had been on the hungerstrike for eight days. Imprisoned PKK members, who are fighting an 11-year battle for independence or autonomy in southeast Turkey, started the hunger strike on July 14 to demand Ankara open talks to end the war. Ankara has not yet responded to the hungerstrike. The pro-Kurdish newspaper Yeni Politika said hundreds of Kurds in Europe were also on sympathy hungerstrikes or had occupied buildings in support. Between 8,000 and 10,000 people in 22 Turkish jails joined the hungerstrike, the Human Rights Association of Turkey said. Turkish Kurds in Germany and Britain have protested over various Kurdish issues this week. Police detained about 80 Kurds in Frankfurt as they broke up a week-long vigil for displaying the symbols of the PKK, which is banned in Germany for extremism. Eight Turkish properties were firebombed during the night in Germany. It was the third consecutive night of such attacks, and police said some of the incidents were the work of the PKK. Prosecutors in the south-western city of Stuttgart said police had detained five suspects after a firebombing in the town of Villingen-Schweningen took the total of such attacks in the area in the last three days to 12. Two Kurds made confessions that indicated "the majority or all of the attacks were probably masterminded by the banned Kurdistan Workers Party", a police spokesperson said. Interior Minister Manfred Kanther called on Kurds living in Germany not to support political extremists. "We must proceed against PKK terror with resolve and determination", he said in a statement. Stuttgart investigators have linked some of the attacks to the planned extradition to Germany from Britain of PKK member Kani Yilmaz, who has been given 14 days to return to Germany. Bonn is seeking Yilmaz on suspicion of helping to organize, as European head of the PKK, the series of Europe-wide attacks on Turkish properties in 1993 and 1994 that led to the banning of the PKK in Germany. --- Press Release #10 - July 28, 1995 Berlin: After the death of Gulnaz Bagiztani in Berlin, more than 1,000 Kurdish people have gathered in the Kurdistan House where the hungerstrike is continued. The husband of the fallen Gulnaz Bagiztani held a speech in front of the crowd. Police surrounded the building but did not attack because of the death. One of two arrested persons has been released in the meantime. Frankfurt: Following the police attacks and break-up of the hungerstrike, a new group of 60 hungerstrikers has formed on July 27. It increased to 300 persons in the evening and was then again subjected to police assaults resulting in serious clashes. During a demonstration in the city centre, several shops were damaged. Dusseldorf: Nine Alevi community centres in Germany have expressed their support for the hungerstrike by the Prisoners of War. Their members will go on hungerstrike on July 28 at 3:00 PM in the Alevi Pir House of Culture in Dusseldorf in order to protest against the dirty war in Turkey and to stop the bloodshed. Geneva: The strike continues with high motivation and broad support, most recently expressed by the group LIDLIP and the International Association of Democratic Youth. Paris: The hungerstrike by 103 participants including 40 women was attended to by delegations of the International Medical Association, the Red Cross, and the group New Human Rights. Furthermore, the Federation of Institutions for Human Rights (FIDH), France Liberte, the Socialist Party, and the Organization of Political Prisoners have called the strike a positive step towards a political dialogue. Stockholm: Talks with the Middle East regional officer of the International Red Cross resulted in a promise to involve the Scandanavian Red Cross committees in medical care for the hungerstrikers and to distribute the demands of the PKK Prisoners of War. A representative of the Internationalist Social Democratic Party, Conny Fredrikson, offered to mediate in talks between Ocalan and officials of the Turkish state. Breda: In a refugee camp in the Dutch town of Gilse near Breda, 20 Kurdish refugees began a hungerstrike on July 23 after the warden refused to let them participate in the central hungerstrike in The Hague. --- Huge Funeral Procession In Berlin On August 1, 1995, there was a massive funeral procession to honor Gulnaz Bagiztani, a Kurdish mother of five who was killed in a police attack on Kurdish hungerstrikers in Berlin. According to the KURD-A news agency, around 35,000 people marched through Berlin waving flags of the outlawed National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK) and pictures of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. Kurds in Germany have vowed to continue their hungerstrikes and they have called on the German police to cease their attacks on Kurdish protestors. --- ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Mon Aug 7 19:36:36 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 07 Aug 1995 19:36:36 Subject: Berlin Hungerstrike Updates Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) Berlin Hungerstrike Updates August 6, 1995 On Hungerstrike Since 18 Days For The Rights Of The Kurdish People More than one hundred Kurdish women and men have been on hungerstrike in Germany for more than 18 days now. This is to show solidarity with the 10,000 Kurdish Prisoners of War who have been on an unlimited Hungerstrike in Turkish prisons. There have also been solidarity hungerstrikes in London, Paris, The Hague, Athens, Moscow, and elsewhere. Many hungerstrikers here have been involved since the beginning on July 20, and many others have since joined in. At the moment there are 170 people on hungerstrike in Berlin. A few hungerstrikers were taken to hospital, but they have since been released and are still on hungerstrike. But they are still very weak. After the violent police attack on the vigil at Breitscheidplatz, which resulted in the death of Gulnaz Baghistani, the police and authorities spread lies and tried to create panic before her funeral procession in Berlin. The police have threatened to confiscate musical instruments and letters have been sent to the Kurdish Cultural Center calling on people to denounce others. Many of the hungerstrikers are worried about a new police attack. Because many of the hungerstrikers are very weak, any police action could result in more victims. The hungerstrikers have demanded that the police cease with their provocations and attacks. Kurdistan Parliament In Exile Will Join Hungerstrike Ali H. Cilasun and Prof. Ismet Serif Vanli, both members of the Parliament in Exile, visited the hungerstrike in Berlin. They expressed their solidarity with the hungerstrike, and stated that all 65 parliamentarians would join the hungerstrike. In Berlin, Ali H. Cilasun, Felemez Basboga, Memo Acar, and M. Emin Pencewini will take part. In a speech to the hungerstrikers, Ali H. Cilasun called on the German government to work for a peaceful solution: "We will expose the German attacks against the Kurdish people to the world. This decision was a decision made by our people and it will continue until we have reached our goals, because we gave our word and we always stick to our word. The German government must realize that banning us is the wrong approach. If they don't cease with their bans and their attacks, there will be other martyrs to join Gulnaz Baghistani. The German government will be responsible for this if they don't finally start seeking a peaceful solution in Turkey and recognize the Kurdish people." He denied claims that Kurds in Germany had lost their popular sympathy. He himself has had contact with German democrats who all expressed their understanding for the situation of the Kurds and who rejected Germany's policies of bans against Kurds and arms shipments to Turkey. He also called on all people who support humanity to support the hungerstrike. New Police Provocations Since the attack on the vigil at Breitscheidplatz, and the spreading of lies before the funeral procession, the police are trying once again to provoke the Kurdish hungerstrikers. Citing alleged complaints by neighbors, police and federal agents are again stationed outside of the Kurdish Cultural Center at Zossener Strasse 41. Police are threatening to storm the house and confiscate musical instruments if music is being played after 8:00 PM. This is an attempt to cause an escalation. For our part, we have tried to start a dialogue with the neighbors and to win their understanding and to prevent any problems. The police seem to forget that we did not want to carry out the hungerstrike in Zossener Strasse, but that the police forced us to move here. We do not want an escalation, rather we wish to carry out our hungerstrike in peace. If we are given the option, we would like to continue in a public space, something which has been denied to us until now. The hungerstrikers have called on the democratic public for their support. Injured Kurd Kept In Prison Sinan Altun, a recognized political refugee, has been in Moabit Prison for some time now. He was arrested in Berlin at a demonstration against human rights violations in Turkey, against the massacre of the Kurdish civilian population, and against the destruction of Kurdish villages by the Turkish military. As his doctor, Dr. Tiedke of Hamburg's Medico Center, has stated, Sinan Altun requires immediate brain surgery and must receive medical attention. Despite Dr. Tiedke's testimony that Sinan Altun is too sick to remain in prison, he is still in pre- trial detention. Because of his health condition, Sinan Altun must be immediately released from jail so that he can receive medical treatment. If he remains in detention, his health could get worse and he could suffer permanent damage. Hungerstrike Committee Berlin ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurdeng at aps.nl Tue Aug 8 17:15:16 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 08 Aug 1995 17:15:16 Subject: Berlin Hungerstrike Updates References: Message-ID: ------------------------ Forwarded from : kcc at magi.com ------------------------- Berlin Hungerstrike Updates August 6, 1995 On Hungerstrike Since 18 Days For The Rights Of The Kurdish People More than one hundred Kurdish women and men have been on hungerstrike in Germany for more than 18 days now. This is to show solidarity with the 10,000 Kurdish Prisoners of War who have been on an unlimited Hungerstrike in Turkish prisons. There have also been solidarity hungerstrikes in London, Paris, The Hague, Athens, Moscow, and elsewhere. Many hungerstrikers here have been involved since the beginning on July 20, and many others have since joined in. At the moment there are 170 people on hungerstrike in Berlin. A few hungerstrikers were taken to hospital, but they have since been released and are still on hungerstrike. But they are still very weak. After the violent police attack on the vigil at Breitscheidplatz, which resulted in the death of Gulnaz Baghistani, the police and authorities spread lies and tried to create panic before her funeral procession in Berlin. The police have threatened to confiscate musical instruments and letters have been sent to the Kurdish Cultural Center calling on people to denounce others. Many of the hungerstrikers are worried about a new police attack. Because many of the hungerstrikers are very weak, any police action could result in more victims. The hungerstrikers have demanded that the police cease with their provocations and attacks. Kurdistan Parliament In Exile Will Join Hungerstrike Ali H. Cilasun and Prof. Ismet Serif Vanli, both members of the Parliament in Exile, visited the hungerstrike in Berlin. They expressed their solidarity with the hungerstrike, and stated that all 65 parliamentarians would join the hungerstrike. In Berlin, Ali H. Cilasun, Felemez Basboga, Memo Acar, and M. Emin Pencewini will take part. In a speech to the hungerstrikers, Ali H. Cilasun called on the German government to work for a peaceful solution: "We will expose the German attacks against the Kurdish people to the world. This decision was a decision made by our people and it will continue until we have reached our goals, because we gave our word and we always stick to our word. The German government must realize that banning us is the wrong approach. If they don't cease with their bans and their attacks, there will be other martyrs to join Gulnaz Baghistani. The German government will be responsible for this if they don't finally start seeking a peaceful solution in Turkey and recognize the Kurdish people." He denied claims that Kurds in Germany had lost their popular sympathy. He himself has had contact with German democrats who all expressed their understanding for the situation of the Kurds and who rejected Germany's policies of bans against Kurds and arms shipments to Turkey. He also called on all people who support humanity to support the hungerstrike. New Police Provocations Since the attack on the vigil at Breitscheidplatz, and the spreading of lies before the funeral procession, the police are trying once again to provoke the Kurdish hungerstrikers. Citing alleged complaints by neighbors, police and federal agents are again stationed outside of the Kurdish Cultural Center at Zossener Strasse 41. Police are threatening to storm the house and confiscate musical instruments if music is being played after 8:00 PM. This is an attempt to cause an escalation. For our part, we have tried to start a dialogue with the neighbors and to win their understanding and to prevent any problems. The police seem to forget that we did not want to carry out the hungerstrike in Zossener Strasse, but that the police forced us to move here. We do not want an escalation, rather we wish to carry out our hungerstrike in peace. If we are given the option, we would like to continue in a public space, something which has been denied to us until now. The hungerstrikers have called on the democratic public for their support. Injured Kurd Kept In Prison Sinan Altun, a recognized political refugee, has been in Moabit Prison for some time now. He was arrested in Berlin at a demonstration against human rights violations in Turkey, against the massacre of the Kurdish civilian population, and against the destruction of Kurdish villages by the Turkish military. As his doctor, Dr. Tiedke of Hamburg's Medico Center, has stated, Sinan Altun requires immediate brain surgery and must receive medical attention. Despite Dr. Tiedke's testimony that Sinan Altun is too sick to remain in prison, he is still in pre- trial detention. Because of his health condition, Sinan Altun must be immediately released from jail so that he can receive medical treatment. If he remains in detention, his health could get worse and he could suffer permanent damage. Hungerstrike Committee Berlin ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Mon Aug 7 19:59:10 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 07 Aug 1995 19:59:10 Subject: Letter To Hiroshima's Mayor Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) Kurdistan Parliament in Exile August 7, 1995 Takashi Hiraoka Mayor, City of Hiroshima Transmission via facsimile: (81-82-242-7452) Dear Mayor Hiraoka, Our prayers and thoughts are with those who perished in the aftermath of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 210,000 individuals were condemned to death because of our inhumanity. 300,000 individuals still suffer the direct trauma of that war because our leaders failed themselves, and failed us, for marching us to the abyss of folly. The absence of acrimonious words from your message speaks of your and our enduring hopes, "to present the next generation with a beautiful and peaceful Earth". Let the record show that we stand by your aspirations. As to the visit of our children to the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we will see to it that it is sooner rather than later. A word about us is in order. We are Kurds, those of diaspora, living in Europe, America, Asia, and many other places that have accepted us as we flee the war that is unfolding in our homeland. We have been the victims, not of uranium or plutonium bombs such as yourselves, but of chemical fumes that do the same in terms of killing lives. In Halapja, Kurdistan, on March 18, 1988, 5,000 Kurds died because of cluster bombs. In Turkey, to date, a legalized form of slavery is seen fit for some 20 million of us. We are, in other words, waging a political struggle in Kurdistan and abroad for a life of liberty for our people and our country. On behalf of our Parliament in Exile, we extend to you our appreciation of your message of hope and redemption for the human family. In that still elusive world, we hope the coexistence of peoples will be the rule and the nonexistence of nuclear weapons a reality. We work for such an eventuality. Sincerely yours, Yasar Kaya Speaker, Kurdistan Parliament in Exile 129a Avenue Louise 1050 Brussels, Belgium Telephone: (322) 539-3033 Telefax: (322) 539-3887 --- Statement From Mayor Of Hiroshima Fifty years have passed since the end of World War II. This passage of time allows us to objectively consider what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9 half a century ago - and the impact these events have had on the course of human history. Our intention is neither to criticize the United States, nor to ask for an apology. We simply would like the people of the world to know what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki fifty years ago, to realize the suffering of the victims still continues, and to understand the cruel nature of nuclear weapons. We do not ask for sympathy. Rather we appeal to you - to recognize that the existence of nuclear arms will lead to the destruction of humanity. Today, more than 200,000 nuclear weapons, enough to annihilate the human race many times over, are scattered around the world. The more than 2,000 tests that led to the development of these weapons have had a destructive impact on the environment; nuclear arms intended to protect nations are themselves a threat to the Earth. In fact, nuclear arms and humanity cannot coexist. Japan's past aggressive colonial campaigns and atrocities have caused tremendous pain and suffering for the peoples of Asia and the Pacific. We regret and apologize for these acts and for the anguish they caused so many. We remember our own regrettable past as we work for peace - to present the next generation with a beautiful and peaceful Earth. The Cold War is over and the era of harmony has begun. The total elimination of nuclear arms is a realistic, attainable goal. Now is the time for all cities and all citizens, regardless of national boundaries, to come together and work toward this objective. Therefore, we ask the people of the world - especially those of you in the United States, one of the countries in possession of nuclear weapons - to do the following: Together with us, make an appeal to abolish nuclear testing and eliminate nuclear weapons. Those of you who lead us today, and the young people who will lead us tomorrow, please visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki and witness the reality of nuclear destruction. Please work with us to create a more peaceful, more prosperous world free of nuclear arms. Takashi Hiraoka, Mayor, City of Hiroshima ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurdeng at aps.nl Tue Aug 8 17:16:13 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 08 Aug 1995 17:16:13 Subject: Letter To Hiroshima's Mayor References: Message-ID: ------------------------ Forwarded from : kcc at magi.com ------------------------- Kurdistan Parliament in Exile August 7, 1995 Takashi Hiraoka Mayor, City of Hiroshima Transmission via facsimile: (81-82-242-7452) Dear Mayor Hiraoka, Our prayers and thoughts are with those who perished in the aftermath of the atomic bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 210,000 individuals were condemned to death because of our inhumanity. 300,000 individuals still suffer the direct trauma of that war because our leaders failed themselves, and failed us, for marching us to the abyss of folly. The absence of acrimonious words from your message speaks of your and our enduring hopes, "to present the next generation with a beautiful and peaceful Earth". Let the record show that we stand by your aspirations. As to the visit of our children to the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we will see to it that it is sooner rather than later. A word about us is in order. We are Kurds, those of diaspora, living in Europe, America, Asia, and many other places that have accepted us as we flee the war that is unfolding in our homeland. We have been the victims, not of uranium or plutonium bombs such as yourselves, but of chemical fumes that do the same in terms of killing lives. In Halapja, Kurdistan, on March 18, 1988, 5,000 Kurds died because of cluster bombs. In Turkey, to date, a legalized form of slavery is seen fit for some 20 million of us. We are, in other words, waging a political struggle in Kurdistan and abroad for a life of liberty for our people and our country. On behalf of our Parliament in Exile, we extend to you our appreciation of your message of hope and redemption for the human family. In that still elusive world, we hope the coexistence of peoples will be the rule and the nonexistence of nuclear weapons a reality. We work for such an eventuality. Sincerely yours, Yasar Kaya Speaker, Kurdistan Parliament in Exile 129a Avenue Louise 1050 Brussels, Belgium Telephone: (322) 539-3033 Telefax: (322) 539-3887 --- Statement From Mayor Of Hiroshima Fifty years have passed since the end of World War II. This passage of time allows us to objectively consider what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and 9 half a century ago - and the impact these events have had on the course of human history. Our intention is neither to criticize the United States, nor to ask for an apology. We simply would like the people of the world to know what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki fifty years ago, to realize the suffering of the victims still continues, and to understand the cruel nature of nuclear weapons. We do not ask for sympathy. Rather we appeal to you - to recognize that the existence of nuclear arms will lead to the destruction of humanity. Today, more than 200,000 nuclear weapons, enough to annihilate the human race many times over, are scattered around the world. The more than 2,000 tests that led to the development of these weapons have had a destructive impact on the environment; nuclear arms intended to protect nations are themselves a threat to the Earth. In fact, nuclear arms and humanity cannot coexist. Japan's past aggressive colonial campaigns and atrocities have caused tremendous pain and suffering for the peoples of Asia and the Pacific. We regret and apologize for these acts and for the anguish they caused so many. We remember our own regrettable past as we work for peace - to present the next generation with a beautiful and peaceful Earth. The Cold War is over and the era of harmony has begun. The total elimination of nuclear arms is a realistic, attainable goal. Now is the time for all cities and all citizens, regardless of national boundaries, to come together and work toward this objective. Therefore, we ask the people of the world - especially those of you in the United States, one of the countries in possession of nuclear weapons - to do the following: Together with us, make an appeal to abolish nuclear testing and eliminate nuclear weapons. Those of you who lead us today, and the young people who will lead us tomorrow, please visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki and witness the reality of nuclear destruction. Please work with us to create a more peaceful, more prosperous world free of nuclear arms. Takashi Hiraoka, Mayor, City of Hiroshima ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Mon Aug 7 21:44:34 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 07 Aug 1995 21:44:34 Subject: TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 7 AUGUST 1995 Message-ID: PKK can not 'control' itself Challenge: Human Rights Association Chairman Husnu Ondul says those who claim they are not terrorists should prove it by their actions By Sinan Yilmaz Turkish Daily News ANKARA- Despite its earlier announcement that it would abide with the Geneva Convention in order to be accepted as a "belligerent party" against Turkey, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) still continues its attacks against civilians at full swing. Among the primary demands which the PKK militants put forward during their hunger strikes in prisons which they launched on July 14 are the "observance of the Geneva Convention" and the "recognition of status of prisoner of war." However the PKK is continuing its intensive attacks against civilians uninterrupted. Since July 23, 21 people, including six children, have been killed and 21 others wounded. While the sources close to the PKK link this situation to existence of "uncontrollable" forces within the PKK, PKK members say that the fact that civilians are killed or wounded is a "normal" part of actions carried out against village guards. Last January, PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan applied to the United Nations requesting the application of the Geneva Convention. Despite Ocalan's statement that his organization would respect the convention the PKK has intensified its attacks against civilians. The PKK kills children and women in their attacks against village guards. Following the expiry of the May 31 deadline for the PKK-declared "amnesty" for village guards, it has accelerated attacks against the guards. On July 3, they opened fire against a minibus in the village of Yumrumese in Bitlis province in which one civilian lost his life. On July 23, PKK militants raided the hamlet of Atabilen in Van, killing 10 people including two village guards, two children and six women. Thirteen people were wounded in the attack. On July 30, PKK militants attacked the camp of Uzumkiran near town of Semdinli killing two children and wounding another. In the same period, they injured a village guard and his wife during a raid on his house. On Aug. 4, PKK militants killed eight civilians, including two children under 10, in an overnight attack in Hatay province. Four others were wounded in the same raid. The fact that the PKK still continues its attacks against civilians despite its intensive efforts to gain the status of a "belligerent party" is linked to the existence of "uncontrollable" forces within the PKK. According to sources close to the PKK, some "commanders" within the PKK intentionally carry out some actions such as raiding villages and killing civilians in an attempt to maintain their power in the region. In its statements, the PKK claims that women and children have been killed in the attacks against village guards and that civilian casualties are "normal" in such clashes. The PKK explains away these deaths by stating in its announcements that, ".... a village guard and his relatives have been killed." Referring to the PKK's continuing attacks against civilians despite its announcement that it would abide by the Geneva Convention, Husnu Ondul, the general secretary of the Human Rights' Association (IHD) said that anyone who says they are not a terrorist should prove it by their actions. He continued, "Any organization or state which declares it will observe the Convention should demonstrate that by its conduct." Pointing out that he and his colleagues had been calling continuously for the halt of the armed conflict, Ondul said, "Article 3 of the Geneva Convention prohibits unlawful methods of war. Therefore actions carried out against those who are not parties to the conflict are against the rules of war." Ondul added, " We are making a general call. Democratic struggles are made with democratic methods. If an armed clash is in the equation it is necessary to abide by the humane rules of law." Turkish and German interior ministers exchange letters over issue of terrorism Turkish Daily News ANKARA- Letters exchanged between Interior Minister Nahit Mentese and his German counterpart, Manfred Kanter, regarding the extradition of criminals who have committed terrorist-linked offenses, have been made public, the Anatolia news agency reported on Sunday. In his letter to Kanter on March 10, Mentese, referring to earlier talks in Bonn regarding the extradition of members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and other such terrorist organizations who commit crimes in Germany, stressed that Turkey was ready to receive such criminals. Noting that Germany was concerned with the treatment of foreign national criminals in their native countries after they were extradited i.e., whether they would be subject to inhumane treatment, Mentese said that before the deportation of such offenders from Germany, officials of both countries would provide information to each other about these criminals. In his letter, Mentese continued that if the situation of the extradited person required prosecution by legal authorities, Turkish officials would then provide necessary information about the charges and where he would be tried. He also noted that the person charged would be provided an attorney at every phase of prosecution or litigation. Minister Mentese wrote that all extradited Turkish nationals would be handled with humane treatment within the rules of the constitution and the Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Basic Freedoms to which Turkey is a signatory. In his letter of reply, carrying the same date, Kanter said he agreed with the content of Mentese's letter. The Washington Institute Praises Constitutional Changes By Ugur Akinci Turkish Daily News WASHINGTON DC-- The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a well-known think-tank in Washington, has released a Policy Watch statement on the recent passage of constitutional changes by the Turkish Parliament. The analysis penned by senior fellow Alan Makovsky praised the move and noted that the package "boosted Turkey's prospects for greater European integration, stabilized the Ciller government, raised hopes for longer-term secularist cooperation to isolate fundamentalism, and paved the way for widened political participation." Makovsky, a specialist in Turkey and the Middle East who has previously worked as a former U.S. State Department division chief and a political advisor for Operation Provide Comfort in Turkey, noted that the main import of the 17 amendments adopted by the Turkish parliament, is to allow wider political participation by permitting unions and professional associations. Even some categories of civil servants can now unionize, he noted. Recalling that the 1982 constitution was not imposed on the Turkish people forcefully as some commentators claimed, Makovsky said the "overwhelming popular approval of the restrictive constitution in 1982 reflected revulsion at the violence of the 1970s, relief at the order brought by the military takeover, and a general determination that Turkey should not again descend into chaos. Thus, Turkey's decision once again to widen political participation bears careful watching. It clearly reflects Turkish leaders' determination to demonstrate their commitment to democratization and their apparent conviction that Turkish society has matured well beyond the divisive days of the 1970s. In that regard, the cooperation that government and opposition politicians showed in passing the amendment package augurs well." Finally, Makovsky pointed out that "the final vote on the amendment package was 360 to 32, with all of the negative votes coming from the Refah Party... Refah might have joined the majority had the other parties been willing to support its bid to remove a constitutional article that affirms the secular nature of the state. Ciller and opposition leader Mesut Yilmaz showed backbone in overriding some pro-Islamist sentiment in their own parties to turn back Refah's effort," he said. "Secularist cooperation on the democratization package... inspires hope that -- even should Refah gain a plurality in the next elections -- secularist parties will coalesce to assure that Turkey is not led by a fundamentalist government. Claes says, Turkey is a key country for NATO Turkish Daily News ANKARA- NATO Secretary-General Willy Claes said that Turkey has strategic importance for NATO, as it is located at the juncture of Asia and Europe, the Anatolia news agency reported on Friday. "Turkey's role, within the framework of the Balkans, Caucasia, the Middle East and Central Asia is more important today. Turkey is the only country in the alliance in which the majority of the population is Muslim. Turkey has always played a key role in NATO," he said. Claes noted that the importance of Turkey's role was seen by its contributions to Deny Flight and Sharp Guard operations in Yugoslavia. The Ankara government's stance toward the Chechnya crisis and its role in the expansion of NATO also reflect Turkey's key position, Claes said. The secretary-general also mentioned that the easing of the tension between Greece and Turkey has vital importance for NATO. "We are concerned about this tension and its repercussions. This tension should be eased." Claes noted that he has started a string of initiatives in order to find solutions to the problems in the NATO Southern Europe Command, problems which stem from the Greece-Turkey tension, but so far there has been no resolution. "Countries, which are members of the same alliance, should make efforts to reach a mutual understanding. There is a need for flexibility. I call on our two important allies to be more reasonable." Claes affirmed that the alliance has always displayed a clear stance against international terrorism. "We condemn all international terrorist activities which are threatening the peace, security and territorial integrity of countries." "We are sure that Turkey will display the necessary respect for human rights and basic freedoms while taking anti-terrorist measures." Claes said that NATO was playing a very important role in Europe's security, and would continue to do so. "I want to repeat one more time that nobody asked NATO to repulse the Serbs in former Yugoslavia. We did not take any orders or requests from the United Nations in Srebrenica or anywhere else. NATO is supporting the U.N. within the framework of the Security Council's resolutions. I can only monitor the situation and determine the lessons which should be learned for the future." Change :Top brass military appointments characterized by some surprises Turkish Daily News ANKARA- Four days of deliberations by the Supreme Military Council ended on Friday with the announcement of the names of the officers who will represent the new top echelon of the Turkish Armed forces. Among the surprises characterizing the new appointments was that of General Teoman Koman. Formerly the commander of the Third Army, who was billed to become the Secretary General of the National Security Council Koman was appointed as commander of the Gendarmerie forces instead. According to military sources this represents a move which effectively blocks General Koman's potential path to one day becoming the Chief of the General Staff and thus Turkey's highest ranking military officer. A further surprise was the appointment of General Cevik Bir, know to the international community as the commander of the U.N. peacekeeping forces in Somalia (UNISOM), as deputy Chief of the General Staff. Prior to the announcement from the Supreme Military Council it was generally assumed that Bir would be appointed as commander of NATO Allied forces, Southeast, based in Izmir. Following the announcement of the new appointments by the Council, the current commanders of the Air Force, Navy and Gendarmerie, as well as the Secretary General of the National Security Council will retire as of August 30. In their place the Deputy Chief of the General Staff Air Force general Ahmet Corekci has been appointed as commander of the Air Force, the Admiral of the Navy Guven Erkaya has been appointed commander of the Navy, while General Koman has been appointed commander of the Gendarmerie. Meanwhile the job of Secretary General of the National Security Council, has gone to General Ilhan Kilic who has been serving as the commander of Air Force training. Among the generals attached to the land forces command who have been promoted to a higher rank are Lieutenant Generals Cevik Bir, Necati Ozgen and Dogu Aktulga. Of these general's Bir will become the deputy chief of the general staff, Ozgen commander of the Third Army, while Aktulga will remain as Chief of Staff at the land forces command. Land forces Brigadier Generals Altay Tokat, Cetin Dogan, Tuncer Kilinc, Kamuran Orhon, and Cetin Saner have been promoted to become Lieutenant Generals. As for Lieutenant Generals Rasim Betir, and Necdet Timur their term for awaiting for a promotion has been extended by one year. In the naval command, on the other hand, Vice Admiral Salim Dervisoglu has been promoted to the rank of Admiral and has been appointed as commander of the Navy. Vice Admiral Atilla Tuzman, who has been serving as head of intelligence at the Chief of General Staff's office, on the other hand, will be retiring. Rear Admiral Attila Kiyat, in the meantime, has been promoted to the rank of Vice Admiral. At the air force command, Air Force Training Commander Lieutenant General Ilhan Kilic, has been promoted to the rank of general despite some "internal controversies" surrounding his name. The waiting period for a promotion of Air Force Lieutenant Generals Ergin Celasin and Erdogan Oznal, on the other hand, has been extended by one year. Airforce Major General's Gokalp Yugnak and Yasar Mujdeci,in the meantime, were promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Generals. At the gendarmerie command, Assistant Southeast Gendarmerie Security Commander, Major General Cetin Haspisiren has been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General. The period for waiting for a promotion for Major General Turhan Bedirhan at the gendarmerie command has been extended by one year. The new command structure of the Turkish Armed forces following the decisions taken by the Supreme Military Council are as follows: Chief of the General Staff...............: Ismail Hakki Karadayi Commander of the Land Forces.............: Hikmet Bayar Commander of the Navy....................: Guven Erkaya Commander of the Air Force................: Ahmet Corekci Commander of the Gendarmerie.............: Teoman Koman Deputy Chief of the General Staff........: Cevik Bir Commander of the 1st Army................: Hikmet Koksal Commander of the 2nd Army................: Fikret Ozden Boztepe Commander of the 3rd Army................: Necati Ozgen Commander of the Aegean Army.............: Necati Ikizoglu Chief of Staff at the Land Forces Command: Dogu Aktulga Commander of the Navy....................: Salim Dervisoglu NATO Southeast Allied Land Forces Command: Huseyin Kivrikoglu Commander of the War Academies...........: Atilla Ates Secretary General of the National Security Council.........................: Ilhan Kilic --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Aug 12 11:28:28 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 12 Aug 1995 11:28:28 Subject: TURKISH DAILY NEWS / 7 AUGUST 1995 References: Message-ID: PKK can not 'control' itself Challenge: Human Rights Association Chairman Husnu Ondul says those who claim they are not terrorists should prove it by their actions By Sinan Yilmaz Turkish Daily News _ ANKARA- Despite its earlier announcement that it would abide with the Geneva Convention in order to be accepted as a "belligerent party" against Turkey, the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) still continues its attacks against civilians at full swing. Among the primary demands which the PKK militants put forward during their hunger strikes in prisons which they launched on July 14 are the "observance of the Geneva Convention" and the "recognition of status of prisoner of war." However the PKK is continuing its intensive attacks against civilians uninterrupted. Since July 23, 21 people, including six children, have been killed and 21 others wounded. While the sources close to the PKK link this situation to existence of "uncontrollable" forces within the PKK, PKK members say that the fact that civilians are killed or wounded is a "normal" part of actions carried out against village guards. Last January, PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan applied to the United Nations requesting the application of the Geneva Convention. Despite Ocalan's statement that his organization would respect the convention the PKK has intensified its attacks against civilians. The PKK kills children and women in their attacks against village guards. Following the expiry of the May 31 deadline for the PKK-declared "amnesty" for village guards, it has accelerated attacks against the guards. On July 3, they opened fire against a minibus in the village of Yumrumese in Bitlis province in which one civilian lost his life. On July 23, PKK militants raided the hamlet of Atabilen in Van, killing 10 people including two village guards, two children and six women. Thirteen people were wounded in the attack. On July 30, PKK militants attacked the camp of Uzumkiran near town of Semdinli killing two children and wounding another. In the same period, they injured a village guard and his wife during a raid on his house. On Aug. 4, PKK militants killed eight civilians, including two children under 10, in an overnight attack in Hatay province. Four others were wounded in the same raid. The fact that the PKK still continues its attacks against civilians despite its intensive efforts to gain the status of a "belligerent party" is linked to the existence of "uncontrollable" forces within the PKK. According to sources close to the PKK, some "commanders" within the PKK intentionally carry out some actions such as raiding villages and killing civilians in an attempt to maintain their power in the region. In its statements, the PKK claims that women and children have been killed in the attacks against village guards and that civilian casualties are "normal" in such clashes. The PKK explains away these deaths by stating in its announcements that, ".... a village guard and his relatives have been killed." Referring to the PKK's continuing attacks against civilians despite its announcement that it would abide by the Geneva Convention, Husnu Ondul, the general secretary of the Human Rights' Association (IHD) said that anyone who says they are not a terrorist should prove it by their actions. He continued, "Any organization or state which declares it will observe the Convention should demonstrate that by its conduct." Pointing out that he and his colleagues had been calling continuously for the halt of the armed conflict, Ondul said, "Article 3 of the Geneva Convention prohibits unlawful methods of war. Therefore actions carried out against those who are not parties to the conflict are against the rules of war." Ondul added, " We are making a general call. Democratic struggles are made with democratic methods. If an armed clash is in the equation it is necessary to abide by the humane rules of law." _ Turkish and German interior ministers exchange letters over issue of terrorism Turkish Daily News _ ANKARA- Letters exchanged between Interior Minister Nahit Mentese and his German counterpart, Manfred Kanter, regarding the extradition of criminals who have committed terrorist-linked offenses, have been made public, the Anatolia news agency reported on Sunday. In his letter to Kanter on March 10, Mentese, referring to earlier talks in Bonn regarding the extradition of members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and other such terrorist organizations who commit crimes in Germany, stressed that Turkey was ready to receive such criminals. Noting that Germany was concerned with the treatment of foreign national criminals in their native countries after they were extradited i.e., whether they would be subject to inhumane treatment, Mentese said that before the deportation of such offenders from Germany, officials of both countries would provide information to each other about these criminals. In his letter, Mentese continued that if the situation of the extradited person required prosecution by legal authorities, Turkish officials would then provide necessary information about the charges and where he would be tried. He also noted that the person charged would be provided an attorney at every phase of prosecution or litigation. Minister Mentese wrote that all extradited Turkish nationals would be handled with humane treatment within the rules of the constitution and the Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Basic Freedoms to which Turkey is a signatory. In his letter of reply, carrying the same date, Kanter said he agreed with the content of Mentese's letter. _ Ciller urges Bonn to protect Turks better PM: 'A more resolute approach by security forces to moving against the perpetrators and prosecuting them would have more of a deterrent impact' Reuter _ BONN- Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller urged Germany on Monday to give better protection to her compatriots from a wave of firebomb attacks that she blamed on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Ciller acknowledged the efforts German police have made to counter arsonists who have hit dozens of Turkish properties over the past three weeks but said they had to do more. "A more resolute approach by security forces to moving against the perpetrators and prosecuting them would have more of a deterrent impact," she told the newspaper Bild. "One may not allow Germany to become a paradise for criminals." Turkish officials have repeatedly urged Bonn to take a harder line against members or sympathizers of the PKK, which Bonn banned in 1993 after a series of violent protests. The ban has not stopped the PKK, fighting for independence or autonomy in southeastern Turkey, from exporting its violent campaign to Germany. Around two million migrants from Turkey live in Germany, about a fifth of whom are Kurds. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Aug 12 11:33:33 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 12 Aug 1995 11:33:33 Subject: Turkish Press Message-ID: Top Stories From The Press of Turkey for August 9th ANKARA, Aug 9 (Reuter) - These are the leading stories in the Turkish press on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. SABAH -- Work stoppage by public sector workers on Tuesday did not affect the public too much. MILLIYET -- True facts behind the shooting of a member of parliament and his secretary in parliament have still to come to light. -- Police special forces members deny they treat civilians in the southeast badly. CUMHURIYET -- The State Security Court is studying a controversial report on the Kurdish issue with a view to bringing charges. YENI YUZYIL -- Public workers' strike well supported but not disruptive to everyday life. YENI POLITIKA -- About 600,000 public workers take part in work stoppage. Turkish Kurds Released From Jail, Trial Continues ANKARA, Aug 8 (Reuter) - A Turkish court on Tuesday released from detention four officials of a pro-Kurdish political party standing trial for alleged membership of an illegal Kurdish guerrilla group, a party official said. The four Kurdish officials from the People's Democracy Party (HADEP) face up to 15 years in jail if convicted on charges of being members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which fights for independence or autonomy in southeast Turkey. There is no bail system under Turkish law and it is up to the courts to decide whether defendants are kept in jail or let free during their trial. The four were detained in late April and had been kept in jail since then. HADEP official Ismail Arsalan said the defendants, whose trial started on July 6, but HADEP were released after a second hearing on Tuesday. ``We think this is a case based on a political decision to try and stop our party from functioning,'' he told Reuters. The four have rejected the charges, saying the case is based on false and faulty information. One of the defendants, HADEP assistant general chairman Sehabettin Ozarslaner, has said he was tortured by police. The others on trial are assistant general chairmen Hikmet Fidan, assistant general secretary Seyhmuz Cagro and Ankara party official Farhan Turk. HADEP is the successor to the Democracy Party (DEP) which was closed by Turkey's constitutional court for separatism last year. Six DEP members of parliament were imprisoned for links with the PKK, largely on the basis of statements they made in support of broader Kurdish freedoms. Court Mulls Charges Over Kurdish Report ANKARA, Aug 9 (Reuter) - A Turkish special court is investigating an academic report on the country's Kurdish issue with an eye to prosecution under a tough anti-terror law, a court prosecutor said on Wednesday. ``(The report) throws up the concept of a federation and a second official language...There could be a crime there,'' Nuh Mete Yuksel, prosecutor at Ankara state security court, told Reuters. ``It could be liable for prosecution under article 8.'' Article 8 of Turkey's anti-terror law is a wide-ranging clause banning separatist propaganda and has sent scores of writers and intellectuals to jail for their writings and speeches. Its scrapping has both been pledged by Prime Minister Tansu Ciller and demanded by Ankara's Western allies, but has so far fallen foul of conservative opposition inside Turkey. The report, released last week by an influential Turkish business grouping, urges Ankara to improve its treatment of Turkey's more than 10 million Kurds. It included a rare canvas of more than 1,200 Kurds, most of whom said they would choose autonomy or being part of a federation if they could change Turkey's political structure. More than 17,500 people have died in a fight by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) for independence or autonomy. The report said support for the PKK would weaken if Ankara heeded Kurds' social and economic grievances and tolerated pro-Kurdish sentiments. ``We are examining the report following comments in the media,'' Yuksel said. The report was compiled by a team headed by Professor Dogu Ergil of Ankara University and was commissioned by the Union of Chambers and Trade Bourses, whose chairman, Yalim Erez, is known to be close to Ciller. The prosecutor declined to say who he might press charges against. Many conservative politicians, journalists and security officials have strongly condemned the report's findings. Most Turkish establishment figures refuse to see the PKK problem as anything but one of internal security. The opposition and much of the media have suggested the report was influenced by Ciller in a bid to pave the way for democratic reforms. Her office has denied this. Reacting to the report on Tuesday, Interior Minister Nahit Mentese said Turkey had no ethnic problem. He rejected the forming of a federation to resolve the 11-year-old PKK rebellion. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Aug 12 11:39:36 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 12 Aug 1995 11:39:36 Subject: Rights group says many Kurds on hun Message-ID: Subject: Rights group says many Kurds on hunger strike GENEVA (Reuter) - An international human rights group said Thursday that thousands of Kurdish rebel prisoners had joined a three-week-old hunger strike at some 30 prisons across Turkey. The International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) also said a Turkish journalist who was arrested while serving as interpreter for an FIDH investigative mission had been released. The Paris-based group sent a team to Turkey on July 31-Aug. 6 to check on prisoners on a hunger strike that began on July 14. FIDH said it had been denied access to jails in Istanbul and Diyarbakir. Members of the mission were, however, able to interview relatives and lawyers of detainees. Members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is fighting an 11-year-old battle for independence or autonomy in southeast Turkey, are striking to press for talks to end the conflict. They take turns refusing food for 10 days in a row. ``Currently in Turkey a hunger strike is going on in 30 prisons across the country, involving more than 10,000 political detainees,'' Etienne Jaudel, a French lawyer who headed the mission, told a news briefing in Geneva. ``There is what I would not hesitate to describe as an atmosphere of police terror which reigns over the country and particularly the southeast,'' he added. ``Finally, our interpreter was arrested in front of our eyes,'' said Jaudel, a former secretary-general of the FIDH. Jakub Karademir, a member of the Turkish Human Rights Association, was released on Aug. 8 after being held for three days by police near Diyarbakir, according to FIDH. ``It is inadmissible that a man who was an integral part of an international mission of inquiry be arrested,'' Jaudel said. ``We await his testimony which will be included in our report.'' FIDH said it was lobbying the U.N. Sub-Commission for Human Rights to put Turkey on its list of countries to be formally scrutinised next year. It will submit a resolution regarding Turkey Friday to be voted on by the 26-member body which is holding its annual meeting in Geneva. ``We would be satisfied if we succeed in getting Turkey on the agenda for next year. For us, it is an aberration that Turkey is not on it,'' a spokesman told Reuters. By Claire Springett ATHENS, Aug 10 (Reuter) - Kurdish rebels said on Thursday a Turkish report urging better treatment for the country's 10 million Kurds was probably a sop by Ankara to the European Union in its efforts to win a customs pact. A Kurdish spokesman told Reuters the report, made public last week by an influential Turkish business grouping, was unlikely to spur reforms that would end the Kurds' 11-year-old secessionist struggle. "Businessmen are saying they're proposing a reform package, which would be an argument for the government to give the EU to ease customs union," Adar Serket, a member of the political wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), told Reuters. Serket, representing the ERNK political group, was speaking after a news conference to announce the end of a hunger strike by Kurds in Athens protesting against Ankara's refusal to grant Kurds autonomy, and ERNK's illegal status in Germany. "The proposals probably aim to cover (military) operations and the genocide going on, and act as a concession," he said. The report, compiled by an academic team headed by Professor Dogu Ergil of Ankara University, was commissioned by the Union of Chambers and Trade Bourses, whose chairman, Yalim Erez, is close to Prime Minister Tansu Ciller. It said support for the PKK would weaken if Ankara heeded Kurds' social and economic grievances and tolerated pro-Kurdish sentiments. International organisations have criticised Turkey's record on human rights. "We reject this as a step towards a solution. There are some people in business, even in the government and the military, who want a political solution, but they are very weak," Serket said. "Any solution has to be discussed with the military, the only real political power in Turkey." The report included a rare canvas of more than 1,200 Kurds, most of whom said they would choose autonomy or being part of a federation if they could change Turkey's political structure. More than 17,500 people have been killed in the PKK's fight for independence or autonomy. Many conservative politicians, journalists and security officials have condemned the report's findings. The opposition has suggested it was influenced by Ciller to pave the way for democratic reforms. Her office has denied this. A Turkish special court is investigating the report with an eye to prosecution under a tough anti-terror law, a court prosecutor in Ankara told Reuters on Wednesday. ANKARA, Aug 10 (Reuter) - These were the leading stories in the Turkish press on Thursday. MILLIYET - Prime Minister Tansu Ciller compares Islamist Welfare Party (RP) to Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebel group. CUMHURIYET - Ciller compares RP to separatist PKK for trying to split Turkey into "believers" and "non-believers." YENI POLITIKA - RP hands Kurdish hunger strikers in its Istanbul provincial headquarters over to police. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Sat Aug 12 21:34:23 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 12 Aug 1995 21:34:23 Subject: Kurdish news Message-ID: Highlights of the Turkish Press For August 11th ANKARA, Aug 11 (Reuter) - These are the leading stories in the Turkish press on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. HURRIYET - Two feuding Iraqi Kurdish groups hold secret talks at a hotel near Dublin. Turkish official takes part as observer. YENI POLITIKA - About 200 supporters of the Islamist Welfare Party (RP) protest at the party's decision to allow police to detain 34 Kurdish hunger strikers at its Istanbul provincial headquarters. PKK Rejects Overture From Turkish Business By Claire Springett ATHENS, Aug 10 (Reuter) - Kurdish rebels said on Thursday a Turkish report urging better treatment for the country's 10 million Kurds was probably a sop by Ankara to the European Union in its efforts to win a customs pact. A Kurdish spokesman told Reuters the report, made public last week by an influential Turkish business grouping, was unlikely to spur reforms that would end the Kurds' 11-year-old secessionist struggle. ``Businessmen are saying they're proposing a reform package, which would be an argument for the government to give the EU to ease customs union,'' Adar Serket, a member of the political wing of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), told Reuters. Serket, representing the ERNK political group, was speaking after a news conference to announce the end of a hunger strike by Kurds in Athens protesting against Ankara's refusal to grant Kurds autonomy, and ERNK's illegal status in Germany. ``The proposals probably aim to cover (military) operations and the genocide going on, and act as a concession,'' he said. The report, compiled by an academic team headed by Professor Dogu Ergil of Ankara University, was commissioned by the Union of Chambers and Trade Bourses, whose chairman, Yalim Erez, is close to Prime Minister Tansu Ciller. It said support for the PKK would weaken if Ankara heeded Kurds' social and economic grievances and tolerated pro-Kurdish sentiments. International organisations have criticised Turkey's record on human rights. ``We reject this as a step towards a solution. There are some people in business, even in the government and the military, who want a political solution, but they are very weak,'' Serket said. ``Any solution has to be discussed with the military, the only real political power in Turkey.'' The report included a rare canvas of more than 1,200 Kurds, most of whom said they would choose autonomy or being part of a federation if they could change Turkey's political structure. More than 17,500 people have been killed in the PKK's fight for independence or autonomy. Many conservative politicians, journalists and security officials have condemned the report's findings. The opposition has suggested it was influenced by Ciller to pave the way for democratic reforms. Her office has denied this. A Turkish special court is investigating the report with an eye to prosecution under a tough anti-terror law, a court prosecutor in Ankara told Reuters on Wednesday. Rival Iraqi Kurdish Groups Reach Peace Accord DUBLIN, Aug 11 (Reuter) - Two rival Iraqi Kurdish groups meeting at U.S.-sponsored peace talks in Ireland have agreed to a temporary ceasefire following a year of bloody clashes, an Iraqi opposition group said on Friday. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) also made ground on two key issues to be discussed at further talks, the Iraqi National Congress (INC) said. About 3,000 people have been killed in fighting between the militias in northern Iraq in the last year. Much of the feud has been related to control of the main Kurdish city of Arbil and revenues from a makeshift oil trade on the Iraqi-Turkish border. ``They have agreed to specific principles for the resolution of Arbil and the revenues,'' INC leader Ahmad Chalabi told Reuters by telephone from the talks venue in Drogheda, about 25 miles (40 km) north of Dublin. The two groups are to immediately enforce a temporary ceasefire that was broken in July after three months, he said. ``The chances of a more detailed meeting or agreement are positive,'' KDP Ankara spokesman Safeen Dizayee said. In Ankara, Turkey, which says the Iraqi Kurds' infighting allows the Turkey-based separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to operate from northern Iraq, said the agreement, after three days of talks, was a ``positive step.'' The outcome of the meeting was both good for the people of northern Iraq and for security in Turkey, as well as for Iraq's territorial integrity which Turkey supports, a foreign ministry statement carried on Anatolian news agency said. The Iraqi Kurds have been protected from Baghdad by a Western allied air force based in southern Turkey since the end of the 1991 Gulf War. Washington, fearing President Saddam Hussein could use the feud to regain influence in northern Iraq, brokered the talks. The two sides will meet again soon to discuss a plan to demilitarise Arbil and then deposit their revenues in bank accounts to be monitored by a neutral commission, Chalabi said. The KDP, led by Massoud Barzani, has insisted at previous mediation talks that its rival give up control of Arbil, the seat of a regional parliament which has been paralysed by the fighting for the last eight months. Jalal Talabani's PUK has accused Barzani's group of hoarding tolls taken from lorry drivers at the border. The drivers bring food and other supplies into northern Iraq and take back small amounts of Iraqi oil. Troops and Helicopters Hunt Down PKK Terrorists TUNCELI, Turkey, Aug 11 (Reuter) - Thousands of Turkish troops backed by helicopters firing rockets tried to flush a small group of Kurdish guerrillas out of mountain hideouts in eastern Turkey on Friday, security officials said. More than 2,000 soldiers were taking part in the sweep against about 120 Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels in and around Nazimiye district in Tunceli province, they said. At least six rebels and one soldier have been killed in fighting in the area since mid-week, the officials said. Tunceli has been the scene of heavy clashes since PKK regional commander Semdin Sakik began operating in the province last year. Rebels who had surrendered to security forces told reporters this week that Sakik, also known as ``Fingerless Zeki,'' had recently left Tunceli for Bingol to the east because the rebels' food supplies in Tunceli were running low. Police and soldiers tightly control food deliveries in Tunceli to prevent villagers giving food to the guerrillas, either willingly or under PKK pressure. About 10,000 soldiers are positioned near the border between Tunceli and Bingol to flush out the guerrillas in Nazimiye and prevent Sakik and about 80 rebels accompanying him from returning to his former stronghold in the mountains of Tunceli. More than 17,500 people have been killed in the PKK's 11-year-old fight for autonomy or independence in the southeast Turkey. Security forces killed five rebels in other parts of the region on Friday, Anatolian news agency said. Two people were wounded when a bomb they were preparing in an Istanbul apartment exploded prematurely on Thursday night. Anatolian identified the three as Kurdish militants. Cyprus Welcomes Irish Initiative NICOSIA, Aug 11 (Reuter) - Cyprus said on Friday it would welcome any mediation by Irish Foreign Minister Dick Spring in the dispute over the divided island but warned that the Cyprus problem and the Irish problem are different. Cyprus government spokesman Yiannakis Cassoulides in a written statement said the government would welcome any foreign interest in settling the problem that has eluded international mediation for 21 years. Cyprus has been divided into a southern Greek-speaking state and an autonomous Turkish entity in the north since Turkey invaded the eastern Mediterranean island in 1974. Officials in Dublin told Reuters Spring may be travelling to Cyprus next month. Spring is a key player in the Anglo-Irish attempt to settle the conflict between Irish nationalists and pro-British Unionists in Northern Ireland. Irish officials speculated that he might try to explain how the British and Irish governments are trying to heal rifts between the two Northern Ireland communities with a step-by-step peace plan. Cyprus, Cassoulides said, is eager to learn and be informed by Spring on the experiences and efforts to solve the Northern Ireland conflct, but, he said, the two problems are different. ``Of course the Cyprus problem has its own peculiarities, first and foremost as a problem of invasion and occupation. Despite these parallels it is not similar to either the Irish or the Middle East problem,'' said Cassoulides. Spring is expected to hold exploratory talks with both the Greek Cypriot government and authorities in the self-styled Turkish state in northern Cyprus which is not recognised except by the Ankara government. Clumsy PKK Terrorists Bomb Themselves in Istanbul ISTANBUL, Aug 11 (Reuter) - Two people were wounded when a bomb they were preparing in an Istanbul apartment exploded prematurely, a Turkish police spokesman said on Friday. Police were searching for a third person who fled after the explosion on Thursday evening, and Anatolian news agency identified the three as Kurdish militants. The illegal Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), fighting for independence or autonomy in the mainly Kurdish southeast, has been blamed for numerous bomb blasts in Istanbul. Police also said they detained seven people from a group called the Turkish Revolution Party, allegedly behind a grenade attack on an Istanbul police bus on July 21 that wounded 12. Turkish experts say the group is linked to the PKK. Anatolian also reported 29 people kidnapped in eastern Bingol province by the PKK were released on Friday after two days of lectures about the Kurdish cause. More than 17,500 people have died since the PKK took up arms in 1984. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Thu Aug 17 23:21:55 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 17 Aug 1995 23:21:55 Subject: Kurdish news References: Message-ID: nl (V-MailServer 2.20) id VT14583; Thu, 17 Aug 1995 22:59:30 -0800 DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Aug 15 (Reuter) - Kurdish rebels have killed a top gendarmerie officer in southeast Turkey despite tight security for the 11th anniversary of their separatist campaign, security officials said on Tuesday. Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas killed Colonel Ridvan Ozden, head of the paramilitary gendarmerie forces in Mardin province, on Monday night, the officials said. The attack, in which two non-commissioned officers and a pro-government village guard also died, appeared to be an act of defiance to counter government charges the PKK is close to defeat. "He is the highest-ranking member of the security forces killed in the southeast in the last year," said an official at the regional governor's office in the city of Diyarbakir. He said security forces killed 13 guerrillas in Mardin in ensuing fighting which continued into Tuesday morning. Security measures had been stepped up in the region in case of a dramatic attack by the rebels to mark the anniversary. Police identity checks in Diyarbakir and controls of vehicles entering or leaving southeastern towns had been increased in recent days. Soldiers' leave in the region had been postponed. More than 17,500 people have died in the rebels' insurgency which was launched with the killing of two soldiers in separate attacks on August 15, 1984. The PKK was then only a few hundred strong. Turkish political and military leaders refuse to negotiate with the rebels, whom they describe as "terrorists." Prime Minister Tansu Ciller has repeatedly said this year the security forces were on the brink of ending the rebellion. The guerrillas have continued attacks despite a big Turkish incursion meant to cripple key PKK bases in northern Iraq in the spring. About 35,000 troops took part. The PKK now has thousands of guerrillas in southeast Turkey and northern Iraq, thousands of members and sympathisers among Kurds in Europe and close links to a parliament-in-exile set up by Turkish Kurds in The Hague in April. "The Kurdish revolution is now...the most serious international revolutionary movement," the Marxist PKK's leader Abdullah Ocalan said in an interview published in a pro-Kurdish daily on Tuesday to mark the anniversary. Ocalan, believed to have been based in Damascus or the Syrian-controlled Bekaa Valley in Lebanon since before 1984, compared the PKK's fight to the French and Russian revolutions. Between 8,000 and 10,000 rebel prisoners in Turkish jails have been on hunger strike since mid-July to urge the government to hold talks with the PKK to end the conflict. Security forces killed three guerrillas near the rugged Iraqi border on Tuesday, security officials said. Another rebel was killed in the southeastern province of Bingol, they said. (4) ANKARA, Aug 15 (Reuter) - These were the leading stories in the Turkish press on Tuesday. YENI YUZYIL - German federal officials believe the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrilla group extorts 30 million marks from Turks and Kurds in Germany in 1994. YENI POLITIKA - It is forbidden to teach children peace. Forty-three teachers in southeast Turkey are called upon to explain themselves for teaching human rights and democracy in class. - The action has become indefinite. A Kurdish hunger strike in prisons that began on July 14 will continue indefinitely with wider participation. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Wed Aug 16 09:12:26 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 16 Aug 1995 09:12:26 Subject: Turkey:Trial over TOBB-report? Message-ID: By Suna Erdem ANKARA, Aug 14 (Reuter) - A Turkish court is set to decide this week whether to press charges over a report on the thorny Kurdish issue, but analysts say the document has already caused so much rancour that its value may be lost whatever the verdict. The report, commissioned by the Union of Chambers and Trade Bourses (TOBB), said support for Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels would weaken if the government heeded Kurds' social and economic grievances and tolerated pro-Kurdish sentiments. Ankara's state security court is reviewing the report to see if its mention of possible federation with Kurds and the use of Kurdish as a second official language constitutes a crime. "You shall see in the next few days what we decide," court prosecutor Nuh Mete Yuksel told Reuters. "I can say no more." He said earlier that charges could be brought -- he did not say against whom -- under Article 8 of a tough anti-terror law, which bans propaganda threatening the unity of the state. Western analysts said the uproar over the report had again revealed just how hard it was to initiate serious debate on the status of Turkey's Kurds. More than 17,500 people have been killed in the PKK's 11-year insurgency. "If anyone was so stupid as to decide charges could be... brought it would possibly be the silliest thing the Turkish administration has done this year," a Western diplomat said. "It would play incredibly badly in Europe." Turkey, hoping the European Parliament will ratify a lucrative customs union deal with Ankara in October, is being monitored closely by Europe for signs of democratic progress. Scrapping or amending Article 8 has been cited as a condition for the European parliament's customs union approval. Prime Minister Tansu Ciller managed last month to bludgeon through parliament a package of reforms to Turkey's 1982 military-era constitution, and promises further progress. But diplomats say a serious debate about Turkey's problems -- necessary for serious reform -- has yet to materialise. "The usual gut instinct reaction of the Turkish ruling classes is that the issue is sacrosanct and should not be discussed," said a European diplomat. "But it is high time this discussion received a wider airing." The TOBB report came with the hope it would be taken seriously due to its mainstream patrons. Liberals and intellectuals pleaded in newspaper columns for calm and constructive discussion. But instead, the report and its author Dogu Ergil -- a respected Ankara professor -- have been lambasted by conservative politicians, journalists and security officials as biased towards the Kurds and bent on breaking up the country. "Turkey's most crucial problems have not been evaluated scientifically up to now," Ergil told Reuters. "The issue at hand is all the problems of instability, economy, democratisation and national unity. We opened this concept to discussion. But everyone panicked without reading the report." Even the ERNK, the PKK's political arm, said in a statement last week that the report "reflected the logic of the state." "If even they slam it I suggest the report is not far off the mark," one Western analyst said. "It's what (politicians) don't want to hear but what they know to be true -- what does come as a surprise is that it was ever produced, especially given TOBB's closeness to Ciller." Some people suggest that Ciller was behind the report, which she hoped would pave the way for further democratic reform. "Whatever hope there might have been of that has probably been destroyed by the adverse reaction," the analyst said. (4) ANKARA, Aug 14 (Reuter) - These were the leading stories in the Turkish press on Monday. CUMHURIYET - Security forces take extra measures to guard against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) actions on Wednesday, the 11th anniversary of the group's first attack. YENI POLITIKA - Thousands of Kurds call for talks to end PKK campaign at rally in Istanbul's Taksim Square. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Wed Aug 16 17:16:14 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 16 Aug 1995 17:16:14 Subject: Turkish police detain Kurdish h Message-ID: Subject: Re: Turkish police detain Kurdish hunger strikers , 16 Aug 1995 16:01:17 -0800 Turkish police detain Kurdish hunger strikers ISTANBUL, Aug 9 (Reuter) - Turkish police detained 34 Kurdish hunger strikers on Wednesday in a dawn raid on the Istanbul headquarters of the pro-Islamic Welfare Party (RP), Kurdish activists said. The protesters, on temporary hunger strike, had taken over the building on Sunday to draw attention to a three-week-old hunger strike by thousands of Kurdish rebel prisoners. Hayri Demirel, a member of a Kurdish prisoner solidarity committee, told Reuters that RP officials called for police help after the strikers had refused to leave the building. The semi-official Anatolian news agency said police raided the building at 5 a.m. (0200 GMT). Relatives and friends of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) prisoners on hunger strike in Turkish jails have staged sympathy strikes and occupied buildings throughout the country. More than 8,000 imprisoned members of the PKK -- fighting an 11-year-old battle for independence or autonomy in southeast Turkey -- began the strike on July 14 to press for talks to end the conflict. Two people have died in the protest. Dozens of other Kurds, mainly women and children, are on a related hunger strike at the offices of a left-wing party in Istanbul. Hunger strikes in Turkey rarely end in deaths. Recent violence against Turkish property in Germany has been linked to Kurdish militants, who have also staged sympathy hunger strikes across Europe. Reut06:27 08-09-95 Reuter N:Copyright 1995, Reuters News Service ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Thu Aug 17 23:20:42 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 17 Aug 1995 23:20:42 Subject: Kurdish rebel sniper kills Turkish Message-ID: Subject: Kurdish rebel sniper kills Turkish colonel id VT14576; Thu, 17 Aug 1995 22:59:24 -0800 Kurdish rebel sniper kills Turkish colonel MARDIN, Turkey (Reuter) - A Kurdish rebel sniper killed a top gendarmerie officer in southeast Turkey, apparently to mark the 11th anniversary of the guerrillas' separatist campaign, security officials said Tuesday. A Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) sharp-shooter killed Col. Ridvan Ozden, chief of the paramilitary gendarmerie forces in Mardin province, with a single shot to the head Monday night, the officials said. The attack was an apparent act of defiance to counter government charges the PKK was close to defeat. The sniper also killed two non-commissioned officers guarding the colonel. ``He is the highest-ranking member of the security forces killed in the southeast in the last year,'' said an official at the regional governor's office in the city of Diyarbakir. Officials said a pro-government village guard and 13 rebels died in Mardin province in ensuing fighting which continued into Tuesday afternoon. Security measures had been stepped up in the southeast in case of a dramatic attack by the rebels to mark the anniversary. Soldiers' leave in the region had been postponed. Ozden's colleagues at the Mardin gendarmerie headquarters told Reuters their commander had been lured into an ambush by the rebels and then shot by a high-powered rifle from mountains up to half a mile away. A computer print-out listing wages to be collected Tuesday lay on a table in the headquarters with only the dead colonel's salary not signed for. More than 17,500 people have died in the rebels' insurgency which was launched with the killing of two soldiers in separate attacks Aug. 15, 1984. The PKK was then only a few hundred strong. Turkish political and military leaders refuse to negotiate with the rebels, whom they describe as ``terrorists.'' Prime Minister Tansu Ciller has repeatedly said this year the security forces were on the brink of ending the rebellion. The guerrillas have continued attacks despite a big Turkish incursion meant to cripple key PKK bases in northern Iraq in the spring. About 35,000 troops took part. The PKK now has thousands of guerrillas in southeast Turkey and northern Iraq, thousands of members and sympathizers among Kurds in Europe and close links to a parliament-in-exile set up by Turkish Kurds in The Hague in April. Ocalan is believed to have been based in Damascus or the Syrian-controlled Bekaa Valley in Lebanon since before 1984. Between 8,000 and 10,000 rebel prisoners in Turkish jails have been on hunger strike since mid-July to urge the government to hold talks with the PKK to end the conflict. [First published on BosNet. Parts of article refers to Serbian relations with Ottomans. TRKNWS-L editor] --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurdeng at aps.nl Thu Aug 17 23:27:04 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 17 Aug 1995 23:27:04 Subject: ANKARA - KURD Message-ID: 59:45 -0800 FT 16 08 95 -- After four years, Turkey's security forces have almost completed their scorched earth campaign in the mainly Kurdish south-east. They have razed hundreds of villages and burned farmland and forests that could offer refuge for guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK), leaving thousands of people homeless. A human rights worker said "there are hardly any more [pro-PKK] villages left in the south-east". About half the region's 5,000 villages have been forcibly evacuated, he said. Most of the rest are garrisoned by pro-government Kurdish militia. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sat Aug 19 14:50:48 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 19 Aug 1995 14:50:48 Subject: ANKARA - KURD References: Message-ID: 59:45 -0800 FT 16 08 95 -- After four years, Turkey's security forces have almost completed their scorched earth campaign in the mainly Kurdish south-east. They have razed hundreds of villages and burned farmland and forests that could offer refuge for guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK), leaving thousands of people homeless. A human rights worker said "there are hardly any more [pro-PKK] villages left in the south-east". About half the region's 5,000 villages have been forcibly evacuated, he said. Most of the rest are garrisoned by pro-government Kurdish militia. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0) From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Fri Aug 18 07:20:29 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 18 Aug 1995 07:20:29 Subject: K.O.M.I.T.E.E. Communique - Nov. 19 Message-ID: From: Arm The Spirit Subject: K.O.M.I.T.E.E. Communique - Nov. 1994 Statement Concerning The Attack In Bad Freienwalde "I can't really hold Turkey responsible; we all know about Turkey, the whole world knows about Turkey. One Kurdish proverb states: 'Expect the worst from your enemy so that you won't be disappointed.' But the German authorities, who claim to be defenders of human rights, these people I blame. They are just as guilty of murdering Mesut as the Turkish soldiers themselves are. What have we done to them? Why do they do such things to us? The Germans also murdered my son. They must be held responsible. I call on the public to see to it that my son's death is punished. Please, tell the people there to stop them from sending weapons here, because we are being tortured and killed by these weapons." - statement from the mother of Mesut Dunder, who was killed on 23.9.92 by a German tank, to the German public On 27.10.94, we destroyed the barracks of the Verteidigungskriegskommando 852 in Bad Freienwalde in Markisch Oberland with an incendiary device. Germany Is A Partner In The Genocidal War In Kurdistan: Militarily, Economically, And Politically! "Turkey, because of its strategic position on NATO's southeastern flank, used to be the cornerstone of our security. Today, because of the developments in the southern regions of the former Soviet Union as well as in other countries in the Near and Middle East, Turkey is even more important. A democratic and stable Turkey can play an important role in this region's relationship to Europe. (...) Our military aid is the continuation of agreements made by previous German governments and is of particular importance for the Atlantic Alliance." - Helmut Kohl during the parliamentary debate on 2.4.94, where a central issue was the lifting of the limited arms embargo against Turkey The above statement clearly spells out Germany's role in the war in Kurdistan. Turkey is the power charged with keeping regional stability, after having won for itself the reputation at the international level of being the only power in the area which can be trusted. Following a NATO meeting Brussels in January 1994, at a trilateral foreign ministers conference in Ankara between Germany, Great Britain, and Turkey, Foreign Minister Kinkel proclaimed Turkey's "strategic importance" in Europe's new security structure because of its proximity to Asia (taz, 21.1.94). In other words, what had previously been a bulwark against Bolshevik expansionism would now buffer the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the Near East, while at the same time preventing Russia from exerting excess pressure on the new republics in the Caucasus and Asia. Turkey's final role has to do with the so-called "Turk states" (Azerbaijan, Kazakstan, Cirgesia, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan) which are granted to be "natural" spheres of influence for Turkey on account of the fact that they are all "brother states with common historical and cultural ties". The first step towards realizing the hegemony of this region was the agreement signed with these Turk republics in Istanbul on 19.10.94 which foresees "increasing political and cultural relations". It is this geopolitical status which Turkey enjoys which is costing Kurds their lives every day. This function which Turkey exercises in the region is the reason why genocide can be carried out with impunity with the approval and support of Western states. Higher interests must take priority. Germany is the most significant pillar of support which Ankara enjoys. Turkey's 3,000-man anti-terror unit, the "Black Beetles", known for its killer mentality, is trained by the Germany's own anti-terrorist elite, the GSG-9. Each year, Turkish "students" are educated at the Bundeswehr's officers academy and at various police training facilities. Turkey is the largest customer of the world's second largest arms exporter, Germany. Arms exports from Germany to Turkey totalled 6.3 billion DM from 1964-94. The "NATO defence aid" which Turkey receives, enough to equip an entire army, is virtually free. And this doesn't include the cheap credits for arms purchases and other "regular" deals which Turkey enters into. The "NATO defence aid" which Turkey was granted in a 1964 NATO decision will finally expire at the end of 1994. In addition to the deal for 68 million DM of arms from 1992-94, a report from the Foreign Ministry has noted that Turkey recently received an additional 1.5 billion DM in other materials from Bonn. This included the free delivery of former NVA army weapons from the former East Germany. The total amount of arms gifts given to Turkey since 1989 makes the real dimension of this transaction clear. Here are just a few examples: 30 fighter jets, 170 Leopard-1 battle tanks, 300 BTR-60PB (East German) armoured tanks, 537 M-113 armoured tanks, 1,000 air-to-air rockets, 5,000 tank shells, RPG-7s (East German) with 200,000 grenades, more than 300,000 Kalaschnikov machine pistols (East German), and 175,000 gas masks. In addition to military aid to Turkey, the German government would also like to conclude a comprehensive private business deal: In a Finance Ministry report to Parliament, it was announced that talks were underway between the Turkish Defence Ministry and various German corporations. These talks concerned the "delivery of 115 trailers for transporting tanks" and 10 multi-use helicopters. Bonn is hoping to secure a deal worth 120.7 million DM. Negotiations with the Turkish Defence Ministry concern deliveries worth a total of 1.8 billion DM (ND, 21.9.94). Just because the NATO program will expire in 1995 doesn't mean that the arms shipments will cease. On the contrary, "private" deals between German multi-national arms corporations like Siemens, the Daimler-Benz firms AEG, Dornier, MBB, MTU, and others, deals which are easier to hide from the public, will continue. Dornier delivered Stinger air defence systems, DASA sold Phantom fighter jets. The Leopard-1 tanks were specially fitted for Turkey by the Kraus-Maffai corporation. German grenades fired from Leopard-1 tanks were discovered after the destruction of the Kurdish city of Sirnak in mid-August 1992. The Kurd Mesut Dunder was dragged to death in Lice behind a German BTR-60 tank. The ca. 40,000 "village guards", lackeys in the service of the Turkish "security forces", are usually armed with G3 guns made by the firm Heckler & Koch. The 300,000 Kalaschnikov machine pistols found their way into the hands of the secret police and the "special teams" operating in Kurdistan, men who are paid per kill. The Foreign Ministry lied for a long time about the deployment of German weapons against the Kurdish civilian population. Later, when the facts could no longer be denied, the government simply stated that no agreements had been violated. Evidence of the arms deployment led to a brief arms embargo this spring. But that was just a sham. According a NATO decision arrived at in Rome in 1991, the security of a member state could also be affected by terrorism and sabotage, thereby making the domestic deployment of NATO weaponry permissible. According to this NATO doctrine: "The security of the Alliance must be viewed in a global context. The security interests of the Alliance can be affected by other risks...such as the disruption of necessary resources by means of terrorism or sabotage." That's how the Turkish government can justify its military actions in Turkish Kurdistan. The deployment of German weapons are just part of a "fight against terrorists", in full accordance with NATO guidelines. According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Hans Schumacher, the German government has "full understanding" for this argument. During his visit to Turkey in July 1993, the Bundeswehr's General Inspector Klaus Naumann, after meetings with Turkish Chief of Staff Dogan Gures and Defence Minister Nevzat Ayaz, stated that the use of German weapons in Kurdistan was "fully legitimate given the present conditions". It is the massive amount of German arms shipments to Turkey which has made it possible for the Turkish army to massacre the Kurdish people. In the past two years, 1,500 Kurdish villages have been destroyed and 4 million Kurds have become refugees. In August 1994, it also become known that Kurdish refugees were being detained in concentration camps where they were tortured and sometimes murdered. Without the political, economic, and military support of Germany, Turkey would not be able to carry out its genocide against the Kurds. Without exaggerating, it is fair to say that Germany is just as important for Turkey today as the USA used to be for Vietnam and Central America. In September, a new wave of destruction was launched by the Turkish military. In the last four weeks alone, 30 villages in the Dersim region were depopulated and destroyed. The forests in the Dersim region have been continually bombarded from the air and set on fire since August. According to the newspaper 'Ozgur Ulke', this method of burning forests and villages has been dubbed "Operation Rome" by the Turkish military in reference to Emperor Nero's destruction of Rome. As soldiers involved in the operation have told to the newspaper, this destruction is just the first phase of a plan designed to eliminate another 150 villages and settlements in the Dersim region. Germany is the long-arm of Turkey's counter-insurgency in Western Europe! Or, in the words of Klaus Kinkel, "We cannot abandon our friends in a difficult situation!" The smear campaigns against Kurds living here has reached a new level of intensity. For years, Kurds have been criminalized here, subject to persecution, arrest, and deportation. Through trials against alleged PKK members under Article 129a in the Dusseldorf PKK Trial in 1986 and the banning of the PKK and 42 other Kurdish organizations in 1993, Germany has opened up a second front against the Kurdish liberation movement in Europe. Germany is the major power in the European Union and has taken a leading role in defeating Kurdish organizations (following Germany, other EU states like France have also banned Kurdish organizations). Germany, on its own territory as well, has become an essential partner of the Turkish military and the political system dependent on it. In September 1993, during a state visit by Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller to Bonn, definite plans were made to ban the PKK in Germany. The armed actions by the PKK in Germany just a few weeks later were just an excuse for the ban, not its actual reason. Germany thereby took up Turkey's call to "fight against terrorism". Following the PKK ban, "Thank you, Helmut!" was the main headline in the Turkish press. On 19.07.94, Turkish Chief of Staff Dogan Gures, main coordinator of the war against the Kurds, was received with full military honors and spent four days with Bundeswehr General Inspector Klaus Naumann. According to ministerial reports, several high-level meetings took place and Gures visited several military facilities in Germany. At the end of July 1994, Gures told the Turkish daily 'Hurriyet' that the "necessary contacts" with European states had been made in order to stop the PKK. According to him, German Defence Minister Volker Ruhe said he was "confident" that criminals from the ranks of the PKK would be deported to Turkey. Since the banning of the PKK and all Kurdish cultural organizations associated with it, all Kurdish gatherings and demonstrations are banned, even protests against actions by the Turkish "security forces" in Kurdistan are massively criminalized, and demonstrations which are held are brutally attacked by the police. State sponsored hate campaigns in the media have created the necessary pogrom mentality against the Kurds. The climax of this was the murder of Halim Dener, who was shot by a cop for hanging posters in Hannover. Kurds living in Germany have practically no right to freedom of expression or freedom of assembly. This virtual state of emergency against one social group is also a warning to other oppositional forces in Germany which could experience the same in the future. Kurds who have been arrested during protests and demonstrations, some of whom are now on hungerstrike, are threatened with rejected asylum claims and possible deportation. "It is unacceptable that violent foreigners abuse our hospitality and make Germany a battlefield for their civil war", stated one German politician after the Autobahn blockades. The deportation of Kurds to Turkey, especially if the individual was involved in the Kurdish liberation struggle, can mean torture and death. We chose a Bundeswehr facility as a target for our action because it is representative of Germany's active support for the Turkish "security forces", and it is representative of Germany's foreign and domestic policies with respect to the Kurdish liberation struggle. Especially now, when there is a debate going on concerning the possible deployment of Bundeswehr troops abroad as part of UN or other missions, the German military needs to be the focus of more attention. During the Gulf War, German soldiers were actually stationed in North Kurdistan in late-1990. Future deployments as part of NATO missions in Kurdistan cannot be ruled out. German foreign policy has created the necessary instruments for direct military engagement and these will be utilized. This development must be resisted. Immediately stop all military, economic, and political cooperation with Turkey! Boycott Turkish tourism! Repeal the ban against Kurdish parties and associations! A right to stay for all refugees! Solidarity with the Kurdish political prisoners in German prisons who have been on hungerstrike since 10.8.94! Support the Kurdish liberation struggle! Das K.O.M.I.T.E.E. (Translated from Radikal 12/94) ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++ ++++ see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++ +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist collective based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of material, including political prisoners, national liberation struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings, research, and translation materials in our magazine and bulletins called Arm The Spirit. For more information, contact: Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P7 Canada E-mail: ats at etext.org WWW: gopher://locust.cic.net:70/11/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Fri Aug 18 07:21:15 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 18 Aug 1995 07:21:15 Subject: Kurdish News #19 - August 1995 Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) Kurdish News A Monthly Publication Of The Kurdistan Committee Of Canada Number 19 - August 1995 Index: 1) 10,000 Prisoners Of War Have Begun Hungerstrike In Turkey 2) An Open Letter 3) ARGK Statement Concerning The Latest Turkish Incursion Into South Kurdistan 4) Hundreds Of People Detained In Ankara 5) From Weakness To Resistance: A Portrait Of Leyla Zana 6) Women Parliamentarians Support Leyla Zana 7) The Kurdish People Will Have Victory With Dignity And Pride 8) Hungerstrike Updates 9) Huge Funeral Procession In Berlin 1) 10,000 Prisoners Of War Have Begun Hungerstrike In Turkey Press Release #1 - July 14, 1995 Since July 14, 1995, more than 10,000 Prisoners of War from Kurdistan have started an indefinite hungerstrike in Turkish prisons, using the only weapon they have, their bodies, to fight against the barbaric colonialist war of the Turkish regime and to struggle for peace for the Turkish and Kurdish peoples so as to put an end to the suffering of millions of people as fast as possible. The hungerstrikers have made the following demands: 1. In order to reach a political solution, calls made by PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan for a dialogue must be supported and encouraged. 2. Geneva Convention regulations covering combatants must be observed and enforced in Kurdistan. 3. Killing of civilians, summary executions, torture in prisons, and the burning of villages must come to an end. 4. All war prisoners in jails must be classified as POWs. 5. All military operations designed to destroy our people must be stopped. 6. Under the auspices of the UN and the Red Cross, committees must be formed and sent to monitor the war in Kurdistan and prison conditions. Although the Turkish state is signatory to the Geneva Convention, it has never taken these obligations seriously or abided by these regulations in its war in Kurdistan. Western states, aware of this fact, never thought to warn Turkey concerning this Convention nor urge it to abide by the regulations. Confronting this reality, the 10,000 hungerstrikers have begun their actions and are determined not to stop them unless their demands are met. Further information concerning this action may be received from the Solidarity Bureau in Brussels, Belgium at telephone +322-230- 9239 or fax +322-230-9208. 2) An Open Letter To: The United Nations, The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), The International Red Cross, The Council of Europe, The European Parliament, The European Union, and Amnesty International. The United Nations and its affiliates, having the responsibility for the peaceful coexistence of the peoples of the world, are no doubt aware of the circumstances in our homeland, Kurdistan. We, the Kurdish people, as responsible members of the world community, wish to be treated fairly. We see you as a voice of responsibility and reason and hence are making this announcement to you as we do with various worldwide organizations. Our people, having been denied status even as a colonized people, before the eyes of the United Nations is left to annihilation by this century's most vicious and barbaric regimes. What Saddam saw fit to bring upon the Kurdish people has not yet left our conscience. Today, a similar savagery is being planned and executed by the Turkish regime in Kurdish lands. Our settlements are being destroyed, forests burnt, and all of our land is being systematically deprive of all life. Our people are being stripped forcibly from their lands and are condemned to die. Millions of our people are fighting disease and starvation as they flee their homeland. For those who migrate to the metropolitan areas, hunger, unemployment, and "mystery killings" are new realities. Each day, new attacks are added to the special teams and contra-guerrilla savagery. Even the dead are not exempt from the torture which is rooted in racism and fascist aggression. Today's realities include the rape of young and old women, houses burnt, and villages destroyed. It is impossible to speak of human rights while a people, its culture, its language, and its history are being denied and systematically destroyed. While the whole world watches in silence, we cannot accept the death sentences being served upon our people. The Kurdish national liberation movement, under the leadership of the PKK, represents vast portions of Kurdish society and is taking shape with great difficulty and pains. This movement has proven that despite incredible odds, our people, having begun their liberation, will not rest until they are free. Common values which enhance people's security and peace must be supported throughout our region. We believe our people are contributing to this endeavour. We ask all organizations, including yours, to show greater sensitivity towards the wishes of our people. Especially since the spring of 1995, the dirty war aimed at exterminating our people rages unabated, despite the calls for a cease-fire issued by PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. We are 10,000 war prisoners. In order to call attention to the suffering in our homeland, we shall begin an indefinite hungerstrike on July 14, 1995. We shall continue our resistance until serious steps are taken to remedy our concerns outlined below. We display our personal gift of life to underline our people's right to live. We hope and wish for change with this moderate step in our people's resistance. We seek the following: 1. In order to reach a political solution, calls made by PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan for a dialogue must be supported and encouraged. 2. Geneva Convention regulations covering combatants must be observed and enforced in Kurdistan. 3. Killing of civilians, summary executions, torture in prisons, and the burning of villages must come to an end. 4. All war prisoners in jails must be classified as POWs. 5. All military operations designed to destroy our people must be stopped. 6. Under the auspices of the UN and the Red Cross, committees must be formed and sent to monitor the war in Kurdistan and prison conditions. This dirty war, and all killings, can be stopped by common and cohesive action. We believe not in war but in an honourable peace. We hope that you share our views and desires and we appreciate your understanding. 10,000 Prisoners of War from Kurdistan and Turkey July 14, 1995 3) ARGK Statement Concerning The Latest Turkish Incursion Into South Kurdistan The latest military incursion of the Turkish army into South Kurdistan (northern Iraq) is, in fact, not a new development. The area around the Iraqi border and the Zagros region (where the borders of Iran, Iraq, and Turkey meet) has been a constant area of conflict for a long time now. During the course of this conflict, the Turkish military authorities have had to evacuate 4 military bases and some village guard settlements and has attempted to centralize them in so-called "strategic villages". Having lost control in this region, the Turkish authorities are now finding it impossible to get village guard militias to participate in military operations and fear they may turn against them. Therefore, the Turkish army has concentrated its forces in certain areas which are now coming under guerrilla attacks. The latest military operation is an attempt to prevent guerrilla attacks on the remaining bases. The areas on the side of the Iraqi border that have been targeted are those areas that could be used for launching attacks on these bases. Clashes over the last few days have occurred all along the border as far as Xankurke and have been concentrated in the Gerdi region. The first Turkish units were ambushed and the Turkish forces have been attempting to reach Avashin and Munzuri for 4 days now. They have suffered heavy casualties and succeeded in getting as far as Miroz, an area controlled by Barzani's forces. 7 villages in the area have been bombarded and villagers have been massacred on the orders of the 'Cevik' headquarters. We heard the order being given over walkie-talkie and we heard that it had been carried out, but we have not yet confirmed this. There have also been clashes in the border region around Cukurca. The Turkish forces have been unable to advance from this area. East of Cukurca there have also been clashes around Mt. Cilo and the Turkish forces have advanced into Iraqi territory in the Burcela area, but they have not been able to advance very far. During these clashes, we have lost a total of 3 guerillas with another 7 slightly wounded. Turkish army casualties are in the hundreds. Our forces have seized many weapons. The enemy is prepared to suffer these casualties solely in order to protect their limited forces in the area, for unless they do this it will be impossible for them to defend these targets. They are endeavouring to prevent us from carrying out our plans. We are aware of this and yesterday they themselves admitted as much. The enemy is also trying to conceal the reality in the region by waging a psychological war to make it seem like they are able to carry out such operations. In reality, they are not in a position to advance very far. They now only have 4 battalions in the Cukurca area, 1 in Gerdi, and several in Gewer. This summer we will attack and destroy these targets. The enemy, aware of our intentions, is endeavouring to prolong the existence of these bases by going on the offensive. Our forces, however, are prepared and we are intensifying our activities. We have plans to defeat the efforts of the enemy and we are determined to carry out our objective of destroying the Turkish bases in the area, thereby establishing our authority over an extensive area. This is our goal for the summer. We will not accept anything less. People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) July 7, 1995 4) Hundreds Of People Detained In Ankara A total of 244 people, including 2 children, were detained in Ankara on July 6. Among those detained were Yavuz Onen, President of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey and Chairman of the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects, Husnu Ondul, Secretary General of the Human Rights Association (IHD), Nazmi Gur, Vice Secretary General of IHD, and Sirri Sakik, former Democracy Party (DEP) Member of Parliament. Out of the detainees, Husnu Ondul was released on the evening of July 6, and Yavuz Onen and Nazmi Gur were released on the evening of July 7. Sirri Sakik and the remaining 240 people are still in police custody. The incident took place during the trial launched against leaders of the People's Democracy Party (HADEP). HADEP Vice Chairpersons Sahabettin Ozarslaner and Hikmet Fidan, HADEP Vice Secretary General Seyhmus Cagro, and Ferhan Turk, one of the administrators of the HADEP Ankara Provincial Organization, are all facing 15 years in prison on charges of being members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). This trial started in Ankara State Security Court on July 6. At the first hearing of the trial, persons wishing to observe the proceedings were not allowed to enter the court. Some people then protested by starting to clap their hands and the defence attorneys walked out of the hearing room. Then, Nusret Demiral, Chief Prosecutor of the Ankara State Security Court, ordered that everyone be arrested, including the lawyers. Upon the orders of the prosecutor, 244 persons were arrested. The detainees were then taken by police buses to the sports hall of the Ankara Security Directorate. Except for the three men released, the prosecutor has asked that all 241 people be detained until at least July 12. Mr. Onen, President of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, had this to say about the incident: "A total of 244 people were detained on the orders of the State Security Court prosecutor. The detainees were divided into four groups and were interrogated. I was interrogated twice. During the interrogation, 4 women were beaten. We were kept in abnormal conditions. Our group was taken to the Narcotics Branch. The cells were not open, so we had to stay on the concrete floor in the hall. Besides, nobody met the needs of the detainees. Me and Nazmi were released on the condition that we appear before the State Security Court on July 12. I can say that this detention was truly an arbitrary one." The Human Rights Foundation of Turkey and the Union of Chambers of Turkish Engineers and Architects call upon the Turkish government to release the detainees immediately, and we call upon the international public and all democratic organizations to be aware of these events. We invite you to join in our struggle for democracy in our country and to protest with us against this violation of human rights. Turkiye Insan Haklari Vakfi/Human Rights Foundation of Turkey July 7, 1995 5) From Weakness To Resistance: A Portrait Of Leyla Zana Not long after she was sentenced to prison, Leyla Zana was honoured with several international peace prizes. She was given the Rosa Prize from Denmark, the Aachen Alternative Peace Prize, and the Rafto Association's Peace Prize from Norway, and most recently she was awarded the Bruno Kreisky Peace Prize from Austria. In addition to all of this, Norway has nominated her for the Nobel Peace Prize. Who is Leyla Zana, and why have so many people across the world given her so many prizes in such a short period of time? Leyla Zana, who is known well beyond the borders of Turkey and Kurdistan, and who has been imprisoned in Ankara since March 1994, caused quite a sensation when she was elected to the Turkish Parliament in 1991 and, along with her male colleague Hatip Dicle, added a referenced to "Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood" in her inaugural oath. For the first time since the founding of the Turkish Republic, someone dared to speak in the Kurdish language before the eyes of watching Members of Parliament and TV viewers. And in yet another first, she took hear inaugural oath wearing the Kurdish national colours, red, green, and yellow. Together with her other colleagues from the Democracy Party (DEP), Leyla Zana attempted to deal with the Kurdish problem at the political level. She made it her task to make the Kurdish question an issue in the Turkish Parliament. But she knew from day one that this would be a very difficult task. Would a Parliament that did not even allow people to wear the Kurdish national colours allow a discussion of the situation of the Kurds? It was a heavy task which this young MP took on. Where did she get so much courage? A close examination will reveal that the life and personal development of Leyla Zana closely mirrors that of the uprising of the Kurdish people; a sort of microcosm of the entire Kurdish resistance movement. The will for social and personal freedom was the basis for her activities. It was this resistance throughout her entire life that made it possible for her to fight to change the present conditions. The female gender in the village of Bahce, where Leyla Zana was born in 1961, had very little to do and was supposed to stay hidden. But Leyla was never easy to control and she rebelled even then. Before her wedding, she had never worn a head garment, and even then she only wore it for a short time. She didn't seem too concerned when everyone thought she was crazy for tossing the head garment on the ground. She was just 14 years old in 1975 when she was forced to marry her father's cousin, a man 20 years older than she. Even when she reacted angrily to the idea of this marriage and beat her father with her fists, something no other Kurdish girl would surely ever do, she still had an amazingly clear analysis of her situation: "I don't blame my family or my husband, rather I blame the social conditions. These must be changed." The possibilities for changing both personal and social conditions actually improved after her marriage to Mehdi Zana, an active Kurd. It was through him that Leyla first encountered state repression, and this was what politicized her. In 1976, Leyla went with her husband to Diyarbakir and soon the illiterate woman, still only 15, gave birth to a son. The following year, her husband was elected Mayor of Diyarbakir. After the 1980 military coup, Mehdi Zana was arrested and sentenced to 30 years in prison. Leyla Zana was now a young, single mother, her son Ronay was 5 and she was pregnant with her daughter Ruken. Whereas before she had been heavily influenced by her relatives, now she was forced "to think for myself and act for myself". During the next few years, she followed her husband from prison to prison, from Diyarbakir to Aydin, from Afyon to Askisehir. While doing so, she learned to speak Turkish so that she could be more effective outside the prisons, and she even managed to study on her own. In Diyarbakir, she became the first woman ever to get a high school diploma without ever attending school. She eventually became the spokesperson for all the women who were waiting for their husbands in prison and her personal authority continued to grow. In the 1980s, she was active in promoting women's self-organization and she founded and chaired a women's group which eventually opened offices in Istanbul and Diyarbakir. She also became active as a journalist for 'Yeni Ulke', eventually becoming editor at the Diyarbakir office. These and many other examples clearly show that her personal development was virtually synonymous with the development of the Kurdish liberation struggle, and this culminated with her candidacy for Parliament in the 1991 elections. Leyla Zana was the first Kurdish woman ever elected to the Turkish Parliament. She received 45,000 votes in her district in Diyarbakir, more than any other candidate. After her election, she moved to Ankara. Her incredible energy and courageous actions on behalf of the 16 million Kurds in Turkey made her famous throughout the entire country: hungerstrike to protest army attacks on the Kurdish New Year festival 'Newroz'; funeral march for a leading Kurdish politician, whose murdered body had been found near a beach; countless visits to families who had been victims of state violence and who had been deprived of their means for existence. Leyla Zana, who has been in prison in Ankara for more than 15 months now, has become a symbol for the Kurdish resistance. Her life and her fate are directly tied to the fate of the Kurdish people. In Leyla Zana's own words: "Freedom has its price." And she is prepared to pay it. It was predictable that she would one day end up in prison, and she was prepared for this. The important thing is that she is helping to solve the problems of the Kurdish people. Immediately after being sentenced to prison, Leyla Zana was showered with several international peace awards, and the Norwegian Parliament has nominated her for this year's Nobel Peace Prize. Her struggle, therefore, is no longer confined to the borders of Kurdistan, rather hers is an international struggle, one which is increasing in international resonance with each passing day. In a recent interview, a spokesperson for the Bruno Kreisky Association, Stefan August, answered the question as to why Leyla Zana had been awarded the association's Peace Prize that year: "We nominated Leyla Zana as a candidate to the independent jury. We clearly explained the situation in both Turkey and Kurdistan. The development of the struggle in Kurdistan has meant that not only Austria has closely followed the events, but all the countries of Europe have been able to see things unfold from very close by. The discussion about Turkey's acceptance into the Customs Union and Austria's ties to Turkey motivated our decision. The lifting of the immunity of the DEP parliamentarians and the verdict of Turkey's State Security Court, which functioned as a special court for this trial, clearly revealed Turkey's attitude with respect to the Kurdish question. We think this is a serious situation. When we look at the Kurdish question in its historical context, we think also of Africa or Russia. This is a fundamental problem. That's why we made our decision the way we did...Leyla Zana was awarded our prize for human rights achievements as a representative of all the imprisoned DEP parliamentarians." Norway gave the following reason for nominating Leyla Zana for the Nobel Peace Prize: "Leyla Zana carried out courageous politics in the interest of democratic rights for the Kurdish people and for human rights. If she were not brave then she would not have struggled to end this war and to find a peaceful solution to the problem. The Turkish government put Leyla Zana and her colleagues in prison illegally. We, as representatives of the Norwegian people, would like to see Leyla Zana awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, because in that way we could show solidarity with their struggle for peace and democracy." July 1995 Kurdistan Informations-Zentrum Cologne, Germany 6) Women Parliamentarians Support Leyla Zana The 4th Annual Parliamentary session of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) was held in Ottawa, Canada from July 4-8, 1995. At this meeting, a Green Member of Parliament from Finland, Tuija Maaret Pykalainen, distributed a petition during the women's caucus which called for the immediate release of Leyla Zana from prison. This petition was signed by nearly all the women delegates present at the caucus. Appeal To The Turkish Government From Members Of The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly July 6, 1995 We, as Members of Parliament from a variety of nations, and as women, are concerned about the fate of a fellow woman Member of Parliament from Turkey, Leyla Zana. Mrs. Zana was duly elected to the Turkish Grand National Assembly in October 1991. She was arrested in March 1994 and charged with "high treason". The Prosecutor asked for the death penalty, but she and five other Members of Parliament were sentenced to prison. Leyla Zana herself was given a sentence of 15 years. Her only crime was being a Kurd and speaking out in the Turkish Parliament for the rights of the Kurdish people. An OSCE Parliamentary Delegation visited Leyla Zana in prison during its visit to Turkey from May 1-6 of this year. This OSCE Delegation has called for the immediate release of the imprisoned Kurdish Members of Parliament, perhaps by means of an amnesty. We would like to support this call for the release of the MPs imprisoned in Turkey, in particular our colleague Leyla Zana. Sincerely, Women delegates to the 4th OSCE Parliamentary Assembly: -Ms. Tuija Maaret Pykalainen, MP, Finland -Ms. Kaisa Maria Aula, MP, Finland -Mrs. Maija Perho-Santala, MP, Finland -Mrs. Elena B. Mizulina, MP, Russia -Mrs. Maria Gaidash, MP, Russia -Ms. Nina Markovsky, MP, Ukraine -Mrs. Lili Nabholz, MP, Switzerland -Mrs. Feroniki Tzavella, MP, Greece -Mrs. Paddy Torsney, MP, Canada -Mrs. Anne-Marie Lizin, MP, Belgium -Mrs. Josi Meier, MP, Switzerland -Mrs. Edith Haller, MP, Austria -Mrs. Kristina Svensson, MP, Sweden -Mrs. Dorota Simonides, MP, Poland -Mrs. Maud Bjornemalm, MP, Sweden -Mrs. Karin Wegestal, MP, Sweden -Mrs. Helle Degn, MP, Denmark -Ms. Bjorg Hope Galtung, MP, Norway -Ms. Kirsti Kolle Groendahl, MP, Norway -Mrs. Helena Nilsson, MP, Sweden -Ms. Katrin Fuchs, MP, Germany 7) The Kurdish People Will Have Victory With Dignity And Pride On July 25, 1995 Kani Yilmaz, European representative of the ERNK, appeared in court for the fourth and final extradition hearing at Belmarsh Magistrates Court. Kani has been confined to Belmarsh Prison in South East London as a 'Category A' prisoner since January, following his October 26, 1994 arrest by the Special Branch outside Westminster tube station. Initially on his way to address MPs and peers on a political solution to the Kurdish question, and having previously entered Britain numerous times unhindered, Kani soon found himself facing deportation on supposed 'national security' grounds. On November 10, 1994 an extradition request was made by the German government for offences connected with Kani's membership in the PKK and related activities. Having committed no crime, Kani, like many Kurds before him, has faced torture and persecution at the hands of the Turkish state for simply advocating civil and human rights for the Kurdish people. Now, he languishes in a British prison under a justice system and security service which has aligned itself with Turkish state fascism. Since the arrest of Kani Yilmaz, the campaign for his release and for a halt to the criminalisation of the Kurds in Britain and Europe has gathered momentum. On July 14, 10,000 prisoners of war from Kurdistan went on indefinite hungerstrikes in Turkish prisons in resistance to Turkey's escalation of the war in Kurdistan and have demanded a negotiated political solution to the Kurdish question. Solidarity hungerstrikes were started on July 20 in cities all over the world including Berlin, Frankfurt, Paris, Geneva, Stockholm, The Hague, Athens, and Washington DC. In London, Kurdish people are presently on hungerstrike outside Westminster Cathedral in Victoria Street. On July 25, Kani himself commenced a hungerstrike in solidarity with the Kurdish people. On the day of July 25, a picket and demonstration was held in London at Kani Yilmaz's committal hearing to bring the Kurdish question into the public eye and to continue the campaign for Kani's release. 2,000 Kurds and their supporters, including the hungerstrikers, were present on the day. At noon, an overwhelmingly heavy riot police presence were on the scene as protesters participated in traditional Kurdish dances and listened to a variety of speeches. A few hours later an announcement was made that Kani Yilmaz was to be deported. This was returned by strong silence and an atmosphere of disbelief, then the protest returned to Westminster Cathedral to bring the situation of the Kurds in Turkey into focus. At this point a sit-down protest took place, followed by a continuation of the march which would have continued if not for the riot police who formed a line against the confused demonstrators and Kurdish families, lashing out against them with truncheons. Following this sustained attack, enraged marchers fought back with sticks and bottles. Running battles continued until police effectively fenced-in the entire demonstration. Close to midnight, the protesters dispersed themselves into the underground subway. The press later claimed that 12 police were injured in the melee, while downplaying the casualties on the demonstrators' side which included a young woman and hungerstriker who had her leg broken in several places by police batons. Considering the nature of the demonstrators, who by and large restrained themselves against police forces which from the outset sought to menace any display of Kurdish protest, it seems quite hard to believe statements from the police who claim that the Kurds had planned the violence. One officer claimed his partner had been "stabbed in the chest", while another claims to have caught demonstrators in the possession of petrol bombs. None of these claims actually came to ground. For the Kurds, Turkish state fascism has again shown its interests met by the hands of the British authorities. An extract from Abdullah Ocalan, PKK chairman, to the people of Britain reads: "Our British friends must raise their voice to stop the killings which are ten times worse than Saddam's atrocities across the border. There was only one Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan but in Turkey, the whole southeast is becoming one enormous Halabja. This war is worse than Chechnya, yet it is being ignored. Can you possibly justify these double standards?" Yesterday Vietnam, Today Kurdistan! Yesterday Hitler, Today Ciller! Release Kani Yilmaz - Victory to the Honourable Kurdish Struggle! London, England - July 28, 1995 Written by a comrade from Arm The Spirit 8) Hungerstrike Updates --- Press Release #4 - July 24, 1995 In Paris, Police Trap 300 Hungerstrikers In St. Eustache Since authorities in Paris would not grant the Kurdish hungerstrikers any appropriate location for their event, they commenced their event in the Kurdish community centre in Paris. After police attempts to disturb their action, the 300 participants headed for the centrally-located church of St. Eustache. They held a meeting there declaring the church the new location of the hungerstrike. Police forces reacted by assaulting the house of prayer and blocking all the exits. Several hundred supporters of the strike protesting against the trapping of the hungerstrikers clashed with police and a French journalist was wounded. When the police stopped trapping the hungerstrikers at 11:00 PM, the crowd held a spontaneous rally through the streets of Paris. In London, Police Provoke Hungerstrikers The London hungerstrike became a target of provocations by the British police. However, the many attempts to escalate the situation did not succeed due to the high morale of the hungerstrikers. A spokesperson for the London Hungerstrike Committee stated that the provocations must be seen in context with the trial of National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK) representative Kani Yilmaz after 9 months of detention in Belmarsh prison. In Frankfurt, Church Opens Gates While Police Attack Kurds The hungerstrike of about 250 Kurds in Frankfurt enjoys growing public response after having been outlawed initially. Representatives of the University Students Parliament, a Tamil organization, the Church of Unification, and the German Communist Party (DKP) held speeches at the location. Meanwhile, police tried to rip down flags of the ERNK and pictures of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan, attacking the participants four times. In a press release, Father Dr. Stoodt of the neighboring Katharinenkirche declared that he would open the gates of his church to give shelter to the hungerstrikers. Today, Members of Parliament will have a discussion at the location on "the German state's hostile policies towards the Kurds". The Hague: Members of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile, founded in April, visited the hungerstrikers. Ali Yigit, MP and Nizamettin Toguc, MP declared that the Parliament would always approve of and support actions like this hungerstrike. Further, they stated that Turkey must immediately respect the Geneva Conventions and answer the appeals of the Kurdish side. There was no other way to go, they said. Geneva: A hungerstrike commenced by 80 persons on July 21. The local Hungerstrike Committee announced a press conference. Berlin: The hungerstrike event on the central Kurfurstendamm enjoys broad response. Except police confiscating materials on Kurdistan, the event was calm. --- Press Release #5 - July 24, 1995 The Hague: A group of Dutch supporters held a vigil at the location of the hungerstrike on the 22nd. On the 23rd, the European spokesperson for the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK), Ali Sapan, gave a speech at the location and stressed the historical importance of the 14th of July, the anniversary of the prison resistance of 1982. On that day, Kurdish political prisoners in the military prison in Diyarbakir started a hungerstrike to the death in order to protest against torture and ill-treatment in the prisons. This fast until death, which cost 4 people their lives, was a central event in the birth of the national liberation movement of Kurdistan, Sapan stated. He pointed out that this year's protest action, which began in the prisons, has spread out not only across the metropoles of Turkey and Kurdistan but all over Europe and other continents as well. Today, the Turkish government has lost in terms of economy and politics, he said. Also, several Alevi associations visited the location of the hungerstrike. Rochester: In a prison in the British town of Rochester, 69 prisoners have started a hungerstrike in solidarity with the 10,000 Prisoners of War from Kurdistan on July 20. This group consists of 31 Bosnians, 15 Rumanians, 12 Indians, 8 Pakistanis, 1 Arab, 1 person from Zaire, and 1 Turkish prisoner. Washington: Remzi Kartal, member of the Executive Council of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile, opened this hungerstrike on July 20. He stated that the 12 hungerstrikers were not alone in their convictions, but rather were together with more than 10,000 people across the world. The interest of the American public as well as the Kurdish population in exile in America in the hungerstrike and its backgrounds in growing. Geneva: A delegation of scholars attending a historical congress in Lausanne visited the location of the hungerstrike and expressed their support for the demands brought forth. The latest figures for the solidarity hungerstrikes: Stockholm 100 The Hague 150 Paris 300 London 70 Athens 50 Washington 12 Geneva 80 Moscow 70 Frankfurt 300 Berlin 200 Rochester 69 --- Press Release #6 - July 24, 1995 PKK Prisoner of War Fesih Beyazcicek Ended His Life In Yozgurt Prison Today's events in Yozgurt prison are an example of the way Turkey treats the Kurds. The Prisoner of War Fesih Beyazcicek from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), born in Bitlis-Guroymak, fell seriously ill after the hungerstrike in Yozgurt had been commenced by 170 prisoners from the PKK, DHKP-C, TKP-L, MLKP-K, and TKP-ML on July 14. However, he was transferred to a medical station much too late, fellow prisoners stated. Beyazcicek died because medical aid had been refused to him by the prison guards for too long. Beyazcicek was arrested in March 1994 when security forces accused him of "distributing propaganda for the PKK" at the Kurdish new year's celebration Newroz. He probably would have been released in 20 days. In face of these events, the Bureau for Solidarity with the Hungerstrike of the 10,000 Prisoners of War reiterates its appeal to the media, democratic organizations and institutions, and the progressive public to pay adequate attention to the dirty war in Kurdistan and to contribute to the fulfilling of the demands made by the 10,000 Prisoners of War. These demands are: 1. In order to reach a political solution, calls made by PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan for a dialogue must be supported and encouraged. 2. Geneva Convention regulations covering combatants must be observed and enforced in Kurdistan. 3. Killing of civilians, summary executions, torture in prisons, and the burning of villages must come to an end. 4. All war prisoners in jails must be classified as POWs. 5. All military operations designed to destroy our people must be stopped. 6. Under the auspices of the UN and the Red Cross, committees must be formed and sent to monitor the war in Kurdistan and prison conditions. ---- Press Release #8 - July 27, 1995 In Istanbul, Families Of Prisoners March On Galatasaray The families of Prisoners of War, who are themselves on hungerstrike in Baheieviler, rallied in Istanbul on July 23. Despite massive hindrances from the security forces, they were able to achieve their aim by having a sit-down strike until the security forces let them march to the headquarters of the United Socialist Party (BSP) in Galatasaray. The families sent petition telegrams to several Turkish ministers and to organizations and associations from the post office in Galatasaray. About 1,000 members of the "Association for Solidarity with the Families of the Prisoners" also sent telegrams from there at night to the United Nations, the Red Cross, various international human rights organizations, the Turkish National Council, and to President Demirel. In South Kurdistan, Broad Support For The Demands Of The Prisoners Awakes Meanwhile, in South Kurdistan, a number of parties have expressed their support for the hungerstrikers and their demands, among them the Kurdistan Independent Workers Party, the National Democratic Association of Kurdistan, the Kurdish Labour Party of Iraq, Kurdistan Workers Struggle, the Democratic Party of Iran, the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iran (KDP-Iran), and the KDP-Iran Revolutionary Leadership, and others. Wave Of Hungerstrikes Across Kurdistan And Turkey The hungerstrikes by relatives of the Prisoners of War in the offices of the Peoples Democracy Party (HADEP) in Adana, Seyhan, and Yuregir suffer from a lack of space. HADEP has issued an appeal calling on democratic organizations to open their premises to the hungerstrikers. As the number of hungerstrikers was growing daily, there was an acute lack of space in the offices of the party. Meanwhile, hungerstrikes have also started in the HADEP offices in Mersin and Hatay. The HADEP office in Diyarbakir must turn away new participants, since there are already 100 PKK relatives there who have been fasting since July 18. According to the latest news, the hungerstrike in Antalya which started on July 22 is being threatened by security forces. The building is surrounded and visitors are refused entry and taken to the police station. HADEP spokesperson Murat Yucel has stated that this repression is the result of the unease felt by the police because of the ongoing hungerstrike and the many visitors to the office. The party has condemned the police action. Urfa: 16 women Prisoners of War from the PKK are boycotting their court hearings. They must be brought to court by force now. In a statement, the hungerstrikers explained that prior to the boycott they hadn't been taken to court because transport costs were deemed too high. Only since the strike began have they been dragged to court by force. The boycott will continue, they said. Ankara: The detainees in Merkes Kapali prison in Ankara are also boycotting their trials. Since the beginning of the hungerstrike, paramilitary gendarmes have been deployed instead of the normal prison guards. Security measures have been increased, such as the installation of additional iron bars. Because the gendarmes are also present during visits, these are boycotted as well. Mersin: The Human Rights Association (IHD) has published a statement saying that they would like to mediate in talks between the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Turkish government in order to see the demands of the war prisoners fulfilled. As the IHD are concerned about the health of the hungerstrikers, the statement said it would conduct every possible mediating function necessary. The war is no solution, so both sides must sit down at a round table in order to avoid further bloodshed. --- Kurdish Woman Hungerstriker Killed By Police In Berlin (The Toronto Star, July 28, 1995) Hunger Strike Claims Kurd, 41 Activists in Germany press for end of war Bonn, Germany - A woman on a hungerstrike died in Berlin yesterday amid a wave of protests and attacks on Turkish properties in Germany that police have linked to Kurdish activists. Police said the dead woman was among a group of several hundred Kurds in Germany showing solidarity with imprisoned members of the separtist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey. A Belgian-based Kurdish organization, in a statement distributed in Germany, named the dead woman as Gulnaz Bagiztani, 41, and said she had been on the hungerstrike for eight days. Imprisoned PKK members, who are fighting an 11-year battle for independence or autonomy in southeast Turkey, started the hunger strike on July 14 to demand Ankara open talks to end the war. Ankara has not yet responded to the hungerstrike. The pro-Kurdish newspaper Yeni Politika said hundreds of Kurds in Europe were also on sympathy hungerstrikes or had occupied buildings in support. Between 8,000 and 10,000 people in 22 Turkish jails joined the hungerstrike, the Human Rights Association of Turkey said. Turkish Kurds in Germany and Britain have protested over various Kurdish issues this week. Police detained about 80 Kurds in Frankfurt as they broke up a week-long vigil for displaying the symbols of the PKK, which is banned in Germany for extremism. Eight Turkish properties were firebombed during the night in Germany. It was the third consecutive night of such attacks, and police said some of the incidents were the work of the PKK. Prosecutors in the south-western city of Stuttgart said police had detained five suspects after a firebombing in the town of Villingen Schweningen took the total of such attacks in the area in the last three days to 12. Two Kurds made confessions that indicated "the majority or all of the attacks were probably masterminded by the banned Kurdistan Workers Party", a police spokesperson said. Interior Minister Manfred Kanther called on Kurds living in Germany not to support political extremists. "We must proceed against PKK terror with resolve and determination", he said in a statement. Stuttgart investigators have linked some of the attacks to the planned extradition to Germany from Britain of PKK member Kani Yilmaz, who has been given 14 days to return to Germany. Bonn is seeking Yilmaz on suspicion of helping to organize, as European head of the PKK, the series of Europe-wide attacks on Turkish properties in 1993 and 1994 that led to the banning of the PKK in Germany. --- Press Release #10 - July 28, 1995 Berlin: After the death of Gulnaz Bagiztani in Berlin, more than 1,000 Kurdish people have gathered in the Kurdistan House where the hungerstrike is continued. The husband of the fallen Gulnaz Bagiztani held a speech in front of the crowd. Police surrounded the building but did not attack because of the death. One of two arrested persons has been released in the meantime. Frankfurt: Following the police attacks and break-up of the hungerstrike, a new group of 60 hungerstrikers has formed on July 27. It increased to 300 persons in the evening and was then again subjected to police assaults resulting in serious clashes. During a demonstration in the city centre, several shops were damaged. Dusseldorf: Nine Alevi community centres in Germany have expressed their support for the hungerstrike by the Prisoners of War. Their members will go on hungerstrike on July 28 at 3:00 PM in the Alevi Pir House of Culture in Dusseldorf in order to protest against the dirty war in Turkey and to stop the bloodshed. Geneva: The strike continues with high motivation and broad support, most recently expressed by the group LIDLIP and the International Association of Democratic Youth. Paris: The hungerstrike by 103 participants including 40 women was attended to by delegations of the International Medical Association, the Red Cross, and the group New Human Rights. Furthermore, the Federation of Institutions for Human Rights (FIDH), France Liberte, the Socialist Party, and the Organization of Political Prisoners have called the strike a positive step towards a political dialogue. Stockholm: Talks with the Middle East regional officer of the International Red Cross resulted in a promise to involve the Scandanavian Red Cross committees in medical care for the hungerstrikers and to distribute the demands of the PKK Prisoners of War. A representative of the Internationalist Social Democratic Party, Conny Fredrikson, offered to mediate in talks between Ocalan and officials of the Turkish state. Breda: In a refugee camp in the Dutch town of Gilse near Breda, 20 Kurdish refugees began a hungerstrike on July 23 after the warden refused to let them participate in the central hungerstrike in The Hague. 9) Huge Funeral Procession In Berlin On August 1, 1995, there was a massive funeral procession to honor Gulnaz Bagiztani, a Kurdish mother of five who was killed in a police attack on Kurdish hungerstrikers in Berlin. According to the KURD-A news agency, around 35,000 people marched through Berlin waving flags of the outlawed National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK) and pictures of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. Kurds in Germany have vowed to continue their hungerstrikes and they have called on the German police to cease their attacks on Kurdish protestors. Kurdish News is published by: Kurdistan Committee of Canada 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 tel: (613) 733-9634 fax: (613) 733-0090 email: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sat Aug 19 14:34:36 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 19 Aug 1995 14:34:36 Subject: Open Letter From Kani Yilmaz, Kurdi Message-ID: From: Arm The Spirit Subject: Open Letter From Kani Yilmaz, Kurdish Political Prisoner Open Letter From Kani Yilmaz, Kurdish Political Prisoner The hunger strike started by 10,000 prisoners of war in Turkish prisons on 14 July 1995 has grown in strength and numbers. Supported by our own people in Kurdistan and abroad, and by democratic people in European prisons, the hungerstrike is becoming an irresistible cry for freedom. The demands of the hunger strikers are proposals for a political solution to the Kurdish question, based on recent appeals from the leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan. This is a message of immense importance not only for Kurdish and Turkish people, but for those involved in the struggle and for those Western states who a supposedly interested in democratic proposals. The suffocated voices of the hunger strikers are at last being heard. This desperate course of action has been initiated by the Kurdish people and day by day grows stronger. The fact that 10,000 people in Turkish jails are on hungerstrike has been supressed by the Turkish media. The general public is not yet aware what is happening. Recent history has shown us that such repressive regimes as Turkey will destroy themselves. South Africa could not sustain such repressive polices. Change will be slow, although important political reforms have been made. What sort of future does the Turkish state offer the Kurdish people? A future without a home? Without land? A future without hope? Without a voice, a powerless, feeble future. It murders and says it does not. It allows no solution but intensifies its own murderous actions. History shows us this is a dangerous attitude. For this reason the voices from the prisons must be listened to. By responding to the appeal of PKK Prisoners of War, and by actively taking part ourselves I would like to say that we firmly believe that all our people will support us and act accordingly, so that all voices will be raised together in an insuppresable demand for freedom. All international institutions, states and humanitarian bodies must listen to this profound cry from the dark shadows of Turkish prisons. The public must know and be allowed to support us. They have to know that the Turkish state has sentenced the Kurdish nation to annihilation; to being a homeless nameless people. They must know that in Turkey a Kurd is called a Turk, denied his or her own identity. They must know that the Turkish state rips apart Kurdish skin and bones under torture, that prisons are turned into death camps, that every day Kurds are kidnapped and murdered, that military forces mutilate and violate the bodies of captured guerrillas, degrading and humiliating themselves in the process. To decide the fate of the Kurdish people in this manner is a shame on humanity. It must not be allowed to continue. The unbridled terror of the Turkish state, with its army and media machine must be curtailed. The just and legitimate demands of our people, as laid out in the proposals of the President of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, must be responded to. The voices from the prisons must be conveyed to the outside world, with our help. The Turkish state has turned our country into a sea of blood, now is the time for all voices of opposition to ring out! I have myself, only yesterday, refused my first food. The Kurdish people will have victory with dignity and pride. Yours in solidarity, Kani Yilmaz, Belmarsh Prison. 26th July 95. ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++ ++++ see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++ +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist collective based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of material, including political prisoners, national liberation struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings, research, and translation materials in our magazine and bulletins called Arm The Spirit. For more information, contact: Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P7 Canada E-mail: ats at etext.org WWW: gopher://locust.cic.net:70/11/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sat Aug 19 14:34:43 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 19 Aug 1995 14:34:43 Subject: Open Letter From Kani Yilmaz, Kurdi References: Message-ID: From: Arm The Spirit Subject: Open Letter From Kani Yilmaz, Kurdish Political Prisoner Open Letter From Kani Yilmaz, Kurdish Political Prisoner The hunger strike started by 10,000 prisoners of war in Turkish prisons on 14 July 1995 has grown in strength and numbers. Supported by our own people in Kurdistan and abroad, and by democratic people in European prisons, the hungerstrike is becoming an irresistible cry for freedom. The demands of the hunger strikers are proposals for a political solution to the Kurdish question, based on recent appeals from the leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan. This is a message of immense importance not only for Kurdish and Turkish people, but for those involved in the struggle and for those Western states who a supposedly interested in democratic proposals. The suffocated voices of the hunger strikers are at last being heard. This desperate course of action has been initiated by the Kurdish people and day by day grows stronger. The fact that 10,000 people in Turkish jails are on hungerstrike has been supressed by the Turkish media. The general public is not yet aware what is happening. Recent history has shown us that such repressive regimes as Turkey will destroy themselves. South Africa could not sustain such repressive polices. Change will be slow, although important political reforms have been made. What sort of future does the Turkish state offer the Kurdish people? A future without a home? Without land? A future without hope? Without a voice, a powerless, feeble future. It murders and says it does not. It allows no solution but intensifies its own murderous actions. History shows us this is a dangerous attitude. For this reason the voices from the prisons must be listened to. By responding to the appeal of PKK Prisoners of War, and by actively taking part ourselves I would like to say that we firmly believe that all our people will support us and act accordingly, so that all voices will be raised together in an insuppresable demand for freedom. All international institutions, states and humanitarian bodies must listen to this profound cry from the dark shadows of Turkish prisons. The public must know and be allowed to support us. They have to know that the Turkish state has sentenced the Kurdish nation to annihilation; to being a homeless nameless people. They must know that in Turkey a Kurd is called a Turk, denied his or her own identity. They must know that the Turkish state rips apart Kurdish skin and bones under torture, that prisons are turned into death camps, that every day Kurds are kidnapped and murdered, that military forces mutilate and violate the bodies of captured guerrillas, degrading and humiliating themselves in the process. To decide the fate of the Kurdish people in this manner is a shame on humanity. It must not be allowed to continue. The unbridled terror of the Turkish state, with its army and media machine must be curtailed. The just and legitimate demands of our people, as laid out in the proposals of the President of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, must be responded to. The voices from the prisons must be conveyed to the outside world, with our help. The Turkish state has turned our country into a sea of blood, now is the time for all voices of opposition to ring out! I have myself, only yesterday, refused my first food. The Kurdish people will have victory with dignity and pride. Yours in solidarity, Kani Yilmaz, Belmarsh Prison. 26th July 95. ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++ ++++ see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++ +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist collective based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of material, including political prisoners, national liberation struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings, research, and translation materials in our magazine and bulletins called Arm The Spirit. For more information, contact: Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P7 Canada E-mail: ats at etext.org WWW: gopher://locust.cic.net:70/11/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== From kurdeng at aps.nl Wed Aug 23 21:33:24 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 23 Aug 1995 21:33:24 Subject: Open Letter From Kani Yilmaz, Kurdi References: Message-ID: Subject: Re: Open Letter From Kani Yilmaz, Kurdish Political Prisoner ------------------------ Forwarded from : ats at etext.org ------------------------ Open Letter From Kani Yilmaz, Kurdish Political Prisoner The hunger strike started by 10,000 prisoners of war in Turkish prisons on 14 July 1995 has grown in strength and numbers. Supported by our own people in Kurdistan and abroad, and by democratic people in European prisons, the hungerstrike is becoming an irresistible cry for freedom. The demands of the hunger strikers are proposals for a political solution to the Kurdish question, based on recent appeals from the leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan. This is a message of immense importance not only for Kurdish and Turkish people, but for those involved in the struggle and for those Western states who a supposedly interested in democratic proposals. The suffocated voices of the hunger strikers are at last being heard. This desperate course of action has been initiated by the Kurdish people and day by day grows stronger. The fact that 10,000 people in Turkish jails are on hungerstrike has been supressed by the Turkish media. The general public is not yet aware what is happening. Recent history has shown us that such repressive regimes as Turkey will destroy themselves. South Africa could not sustain such repressive polices. Change will be slow, although important political reforms have been made. What sort of future does the Turkish state offer the Kurdish people? A future without a home? Without land? A future without hope? Without a voice, a powerless, feeble future. It murders and says it does not. It allows no solution but intensifies its own murderous actions. History shows us this is a dangerous attitude. For this reason the voices from the prisons must be listened to. By responding to the appeal of PKK Prisoners of War, and by actively taking part ourselves I would like to say that we firmly believe that all our people will support us and act accordingly, so that all voices will be raised together in an insuppresable demand for freedom. All international institutions, states and humanitarian bodies must listen to this profound cry from the dark shadows of Turkish prisons. The public must know and be allowed to support us. They have to know that the Turkish state has sentenced the Kurdish nation to annihilation; to being a homeless nameless people. They must know that in Turkey a Kurd is called a Turk, denied his or her own identity. They must know that the Turkish state rips apart Kurdish skin and bones under torture, that prisons are turned into death camps, that every day Kurds are kidnapped and murdered, that military forces mutilate and violate the bodies of captured guerrillas, degrading and humiliating themselves in the process. To decide the fate of the Kurdish people in this manner is a shame on humanity. It must not be allowed to continue. The unbridled terror of the Turkish state, with its army and media machine must be curtailed. The just and legitimate demands of our people, as laid out in the proposals of the President of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, must be responded to. The voices from the prisons must be conveyed to the outside world, with our help. The Turkish state has turned our country into a sea of blood, now is the time for all voices of opposition to ring out! I have myself, only yesterday, refused my first food. The Kurdish people will have victory with dignity and pride. Yours in solidarity, Kani Yilmaz, Belmarsh Prison. 26th July 95. ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++ ++++ see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++ +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist collective based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of material, including political prisoners, national liberation struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings, research, and translation materials in our magazine and bulletins called Arm The Spirit. For more information, contact: Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P7 Canada E-mail: ats at etext.org WWW: gopher://locust.cic.net:70/11/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sat Aug 19 15:19:05 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 19 Aug 1995 15:19:05 Subject: Kurds Sentenced In Kiel Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) Kurds Sentenced For Molotov Action Two Kurds in Germany have been given prison terms for firebombing a Turkish travel agency. The State Court in Kiel sentenced 19-year-old Mehmet A. to 1 year and 3 months of youth detention and 29-year-old Mehmet Safi B. to 2 years and 3 months in prison. (taz, 19.08.1995) From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sat Aug 19 16:19:02 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 19 Aug 1995 16:19:02 Subject: Yeni Politika Closed Down! Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) Yeni Politika Closed Down By Turkish Authorities Press Release - August 16, 1995 Yeni Politika started as a daily newspaper on April 13, 1995 under the slogan "tear down the curtain of lies" and published 126 issues without interruption. Since the very first issue, our newspaper has never made any concession to the principles of objective journalism which it considers a requirement to its commitment to peace, democracy, and liberty, and also to its responsibility vis-a-vis our people. However, anti-democratic forces, who are mortally afraid of the possibility that our peoples will become aware of the truth, were not slow to attack our newspaper using all their undemocratic modus operandi such as confiscation, obstacles to distribution, and censorship. Almost all of our 126 issues, except for 9, were censored or banned from distribution. Soon after the last decision of the National Security Council prescribing "increased control" over freedom of the press, our paper was confiscated by a decision of the 4th Istanbul Penal Court under added Article 2.2 of Law 5680. According to the Istanbul Press Prosecutor, Yeni Politika "was a continuation of the papers Ozgur Gundem and Ozgur Ulke which were previously closed down". As this sentence for confiscation is a de facto sentence to close down the paper, our issues to be published from now on will be confiscated as illegal. Since the above-mentioned sentence leaves us no other choice, we have to interrupt our activities as a newspaper. Necati Taniyan Director of Yeni Politika NUJ Delegation Visits Diyarbakir Press Release - August 17, 1995 Four days after a National Union of Journalists (NUJ) delegation visited the Istanbul offices of Yeni Politika, the daily Kurdish newspaper [published in the Turkish language], to enquire into the continuing censorship and intimidation of Kurdish newspapers and their workers, the newspaper was closed down. The delegation, consisting of journalist Marie Ryan and lawyer Sadi Khan, visited Yeni Politika on August 13 and then flew to Diyarbakir to attend the trial of three Kurdish journalists, two of whom worked for Yeni Politika. While in Diyarbakir, they spoke to the families of Kurdish prisoners who are currently on hungerstrike in support of the increasingly determined hungerstrike by thousands of Kurdish political prisoners in Turkish prisons which has been running since July 14 (and hardly reported). They heard of the brutal suppression by the Turkish authorities of previous hungerstrikes, with elderly women and children being taken into custody and beaten. Hungerstrikes by families in Adana have met with a similar swift reaction by police. Two Kurdish women set fire to themselves in Adana and are currently in serious condition in hospital. The NUJ delegates were told by hungerstrikers in Diyarbakir that they were prepared to fast until death and if necessary set fire to themselves to draw attention to the plight of the Kurdish people in southeastern Turkey. When the delegation tried to visit a second hungerstrike in the offices of the Democracy and Change Party (DPP) they were turned away by plainclothes police. The hungerstrikers are demanding that the Turkish government consider the proposals made by PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan for a political solution to the conflict, that the Geneva Convention be applied to the so-called "dirty war" in southeastern Turkey, that the UN and the Red Cross be given access to the region, and that Kurdish prisoners be given Prisoner of War status. Kurdistan Solidarity Committee London ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurdeng at aps.nl Wed Aug 23 21:35:02 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 23 Aug 1995 21:35:02 Subject: Yeni Politika Closed Down! References: Message-ID: ------------------------ Forwarded from : kcc at magi.com ------------------------- Yeni Politika Closed Down By Turkish Authorities Press Release - August 16, 1995 Yeni Politika started as a daily newspaper on April 13, 1995 under the slogan "tear down the curtain of lies" and published 126 issues without interruption. Since the very first issue, our newspaper has never made any concession to the principles of objective journalism which it considers a requirement to its commitment to peace, democracy, and liberty, and also to its responsibility vis-a-vis our people. However, anti-democratic forces, who are mortally afraid of the possibility that our peoples will become aware of the truth, were not slow to attack our newspaper using all their undemocratic modus operandi such as confiscation, obstacles to distribution, and censorship. Almost all of our 126 issues, except for 9, were censored or banned from distribution. Soon after the last decision of the National Security Council prescribing "increased control" over freedom of the press, our paper was confiscated by a decision of the 4th Istanbul Penal Court under added Article 2.2 of Law 5680. According to the Istanbul Press Prosecutor, Yeni Politika "was a continuation of the papers Ozgur Gundem and Ozgur Ulke which were previously closed down". As this sentence for confiscation is a de facto sentence to close down the paper, our issues to be published from now on will be confiscated as illegal. Since the above-mentioned sentence leaves us no other choice, we have to interrupt our activities as a newspaper. Necati Taniyan Director of Yeni Politika NUJ Delegation Visits Diyarbakir Press Release - August 17, 1995 Four days after a National Union of Journalists (NUJ) delegation visited the Istanbul offices of Yeni Politika, the daily Kurdish newspaper [published in the Turkish language], to enquire into the continuing censorship and intimidation of Kurdish newspapers and their workers, the newspaper was closed down. The delegation, consisting of journalist Marie Ryan and lawyer Sadi Khan, visited Yeni Politika on August 13 and then flew to Diyarbakir to attend the trial of three Kurdish journalists, two of whom worked for Yeni Politika. While in Diyarbakir, they spoke to the families of Kurdish prisoners who are currently on hungerstrike in support of the increasingly determined hungerstrike by thousands of Kurdish political prisoners in Turkish prisons which has been running since July 14 (and hardly reported). They heard of the brutal suppression by the Turkish authorities of previous hungerstrikes, with elderly women and children being taken into custody and beaten. Hungerstrikes by families in Adana have met with a similar swift reaction by police. Two Kurdish women set fire to themselves in Adana and are currently in serious condition in hospital. The NUJ delegates were told by hungerstrikers in Diyarbakir that they were prepared to fast until death and if necessary set fire to themselves to draw attention to the plight of the Kurdish people in southeastern Turkey. When the delegation tried to visit a second hungerstrike in the offices of the Democracy and Change Party (DPP) they were turned away by plainclothes police. The hungerstrikers are demanding that the Turkish government consider the proposals made by PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan for a political solution to the conflict, that the Geneva Convention be applied to the so-called "dirty war" in southeastern Turkey, that the UN and the Red Cross be given access to the region, and that Kurdish prisoners be given Prisoner of War status. Kurdistan Solidarity Committee London ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sat Aug 19 18:48:58 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 19 Aug 1995 18:48:58 Subject: State Of Emergency In Adana Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) State Of Emergency In Adana For several days now, the city of Adana has been under a state of emergency. On Friday, August 11, a 600 strong demonstration in solidarity with the hungerstrikers was attacked when people were marching to the local council. Over 150 people were arrested. 9-year-old Scide Ozdemir was beaten up by police and forced to watch as they tortured her mother. On August 13, Gulcan Kornaz was dragged by her hair by the police from the hungerstrike bureau downstairs and taken to a place some 20km outside the city where she was raped by the policemen who also threatened to kill her. But instead they left her there. When she returned some time later to Adana, she was again arrested. Today, 50 hungerstrikers in the HADEP office are surrounded by police. Water and electricity have been cut off and the building has been sealed off by the police. There are several children inside the building. The situation is becoming worse by the hour. These attacks by the police are probably connected with the expected August 15 anniversary marking the beginning of the armed struggle in 1984. In the outskirts of Adana, two Kurdish women tried to burn themselves to death. They are receiving medical treatment in hospital. On August 16, 3 members of a German human rights delegation and 1 translator from Switzerland who were in the country to monitor the hungerstrike by 10,000 prisoners of war were arrested by security forces in Diyarbakir. They were arrested in the hungerstrike bureau. Those arrested were: Eva Erle from Magdeburg; Jeanie Weigel from Braunschweig; Thomas Kappeller from Wiesbaden; and Anina Jenryeiko-Marki from Zurich. ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurdeng at aps.nl Wed Aug 23 21:36:41 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 23 Aug 1995 21:36:41 Subject: State Of Emergency In Adana References: Message-ID: d VT15266; Wed, 23 Aug 1995 20:04:55 -0800 ------------------------ Forwarded from : kcc at magi.com ------------------------- State Of Emergency In Adana For several days now, the city of Adana has been under a state of emergency. On Friday, August 11, a 600 strong demonstration in solidarity with the hungerstrikers was attacked when people were marching to the local council. Over 150 people were arrested. 9-year-old Scide Ozdemir was beaten up by police and forced to watch as they tortured her mother. On August 13, Gulcan Kornaz was dragged by her hair by the police from the hungerstrike bureau downstairs and taken to a place some 20km outside the city where she was raped by the policemen who also threatened to kill her. But instead they left her there. When she returned some time later to Adana, she was again arrested. Today, 50 hungerstrikers in the HADEP office are surrounded by police. Water and electricity have been cut off and the building has been sealed off by the police. There are several children inside the building. The situation is becoming worse by the hour. These attacks by the police are probably connected with the expected August 15 anniversary marking the beginning of the armed struggle in 1984. In the outskirts of Adana, two Kurdish women tried to burn themselves to death. They are receiving medical treatment in hospital. On August 16, 3 members of a German human rights delegation and 1 translator from Switzerland who were in the country to monitor the hungerstrike by 10,000 prisoners of war were arrested by security forces in Diyarbakir. They were arrested in the hungerstrike bureau. Those arrested were: Eva Erle from Magdeburg; Jeanie Weigel from Braunschweig; Thomas Kappeller from Wiesbaden; and Anina Jenryeiko-Marki from Zurich. ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Mon Aug 21 17:11:21 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 21 Aug 1995 17:11:21 Subject: Letter From Kani Yilmaz Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) Open Letter From Kani Yilmaz, Kurdish Political Prisoner The hungerstrike started by 10,000 prisoners of war in Turkish prisons on July 14, 1995 has grown in strength and numbers. Supported by our own people in Kurdistan and abroad, and by democratic people in European prisons, the hungerstrike is becoming an irresistible cry for freedom. The demands of the hungerstrikers are proposals for a political solution to the Kurdish question, based on recent appeals from the leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan. This is a message of immense importance not only for Kurdish and Turkish people, but for all those involved in the struggle and for those Western states who are supposedly interested in democratic proposals. The suffocated voices of the hungerstrikers are at last being heard. This desperate course of action has been initiated by the Kurdish people and day by day grows stronger. The fact that 10,000 people in Turkish jails are on hungerstrike has been supressed by the Turkish media. The general public is not yet aware what is happening. Recent history has shown us that such repressive regimes as Turkey will destroy themselves. South Africa could not sustain such repressive polices. Change will be slow, although important political reforms have been made. What sort of future does the Turkish state offer the Kurdish people? A future without a home? Without land? A future without hope? Without a voice, a powerless, feeble future. It murders and says it does not. It allows no solution but intensifies its own murderous actions. History shows us this is a dangerous attitude. For this reason the voices from the prisons must be listened to. By responding to the appeal of PKK prisoners of war, and by actively taking part ourselves, I would like to say that we firmly believe that all our people will support us and act accordingly, so that all voices will be raised together in an insuppresable demand for freedom. All international institutions, states, and humanitarian bodies must listen to this profound cry from the dark shadows of Turkish prisons. The public must know and be allowed to support us. They have to know that the Turkish state has sentenced the Kurdish nation to annihilation; to being a homeless, nameless people. They must know that in Turkey a Kurd is called a Turk, denied his or her own identity. They must know that the Turkish state rips apart Kurdish skin and bones under torture, that prisons are turned into death camps, that every day Kurds are kidnapped and murdered, that military forces mutilate and violate the bodies of captured guerrillas, degrading and humiliating themselves in the process. To decide the fate of the Kurdish people in this manner is a shame on humanity. It must not be allowed to continue. The unbridled terror of the Turkish state, with its army and media machine, must be curtailed. The just and legitimate demands of our people, as laid out in the proposals of the President of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, must be responded to. The voices from the prisons must be conveyed to the outside world, with our help. The Turkish state has turned our country into a sea of blood, now is the time for all voices of opposition to ring out! I have myself, only yesterday, refused my first food. The Kurdish people will have victory with dignity and pride. Yours in solidarity, Kani Yilmaz - Belmarsh Prison - July 26, 1995 ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurdeng at aps.nl Wed Aug 23 21:38:51 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 23 Aug 1995 21:38:51 Subject: Letter From Kani Yilmaz References: Message-ID: ------------------------ Forwarded from : kcc at magi.com ------------------------- Open Letter From Kani Yilmaz, Kurdish Political Prisoner The hungerstrike started by 10,000 prisoners of war in Turkish prisons on July 14, 1995 has grown in strength and numbers. Supported by our own people in Kurdistan and abroad, and by democratic people in European prisons, the hungerstrike is becoming an irresistible cry for freedom. The demands of the hungerstrikers are proposals for a political solution to the Kurdish question, based on recent appeals from the leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), Abdullah Ocalan. This is a message of immense importance not only for Kurdish and Turkish people, but for all those involved in the struggle and for those Western states who are supposedly interested in democratic proposals. The suffocated voices of the hungerstrikers are at last being heard. This desperate course of action has been initiated by the Kurdish people and day by day grows stronger. The fact that 10,000 people in Turkish jails are on hungerstrike has been supressed by the Turkish media. The general public is not yet aware what is happening. Recent history has shown us that such repressive regimes as Turkey will destroy themselves. South Africa could not sustain such repressive polices. Change will be slow, although important political reforms have been made. What sort of future does the Turkish state offer the Kurdish people? A future without a home? Without land? A future without hope? Without a voice, a powerless, feeble future. It murders and says it does not. It allows no solution but intensifies its own murderous actions. History shows us this is a dangerous attitude. For this reason the voices from the prisons must be listened to. By responding to the appeal of PKK prisoners of war, and by actively taking part ourselves, I would like to say that we firmly believe that all our people will support us and act accordingly, so that all voices will be raised together in an insuppresable demand for freedom. All international institutions, states, and humanitarian bodies must listen to this profound cry from the dark shadows of Turkish prisons. The public must know and be allowed to support us. They have to know that the Turkish state has sentenced the Kurdish nation to annihilation; to being a homeless, nameless people. They must know that in Turkey a Kurd is called a Turk, denied his or her own identity. They must know that the Turkish state rips apart Kurdish skin and bones under torture, that prisons are turned into death camps, that every day Kurds are kidnapped and murdered, that military forces mutilate and violate the bodies of captured guerrillas, degrading and humiliating themselves in the process. To decide the fate of the Kurdish people in this manner is a shame on humanity. It must not be allowed to continue. The unbridled terror of the Turkish state, with its army and media machine, must be curtailed. The just and legitimate demands of our people, as laid out in the proposals of the President of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, must be responded to. The voices from the prisons must be conveyed to the outside world, with our help. The Turkish state has turned our country into a sea of blood, now is the time for all voices of opposition to ring out! I have myself, only yesterday, refused my first food. The Kurdish people will have victory with dignity and pride. Yours in solidarity, Kani Yilmaz - Belmarsh Prison - July 26, 1995 ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Mon Aug 21 17:41:12 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 21 Aug 1995 17:41:12 Subject: K.O.M.I.T.E.E. Message-ID: From: Arm The Spirit K.O.M.I.T.E.E. Attack Foiled In Berlin On April 10/95, police foiled an attempted attack by four militants against a newly constructed deportation prison in the Grunau section of Berlin. A total of 120kg of explosives had been disguised as fire extinguishers and were designed to destroy the new prison before it could be opened. However, ever since the spectacular RAF commando attack which completely destroyed a new high-tech prison in Weiterstadt in March of 1993, German authorities have greatly increased their surveillance of prison construction sights. Although police foiled the attack, all four persons were able to flee. Since then, however, one woman (Beate) has been arrested, but three men (Bernhard, Thomas, and Peter) are still on the run. All three were active in the autonomist scene in the Kreuzberg section of Berlin, according to police. During the foiled attack, police also claim to have found the communique for the action, signed by a group called "Das K.O.M.I.T.E.E.". This group had previously carried out an attack on an abandoned army barracks in Bad Freienwalde in East Germany in November of 1994. This action, which caused 200,000 DM in damage, was done in solidarity with the Kurdish national liberation struggle and to protest German arms sales to Turkey. Below is the communique from an action against the company responsible for building the deportation prison in Berlin-Grunau. If we receive any updates about the Grunau incident, we publish them. In the meantime, however, we send greetings of solidarity to the three comrades still on the run. - Arm The Spirit, June 9/95 ----- Terrorists Are Those People Who Build Deportation Prisons, Not Those That Blow Them Up! Stop The German State's Racist Asylum And Deportation Policies! On the night of Wednesday/Thursday, June 7/8, 1995, we detonated several containers full of flammable mixtures under three vehicles belonging to the ALLROUND construction firm, because they are involved in the construction of the deportation prison in Grunau and therefore are partly responsible for the deportation of countless refugees and immigrants to regions of war, crisis, and poverty. This company earns money by constructing a place where people will be caged up for weeks, just for exercising their right to demand their fair share of the world's wealth. For refugees, deportation doesn't just mean poverty and sorrow, but also torture, prison, and death. On Monday, 22.5.95, a Kurdish woman named Havva Koc was deported from Berlin-Schonefeld to Istanbul, where she was immediately arrested by plainclothes police. Her present whereabouts are unknown. As of June 12, the moratorium on the deportation of Kurds will be lifted. In Kurdistan, the Turkish military has been waging war for years, not just against armed ERNK units of the PKK, but also against the Kurdish civilian population and all those who strive for independence. According to the 1994 annual report of the Turkish Human Rights Association (IHD), more than 2,000 villages have been destroyed, writers and journalists were sentenced to a total of some 500-600 years in prison, more than 100 unions, parties, associations, and organizations were banned, and more than 100 publications were confiscated or forced to close down (Ozgur Gundem, Ozgur Ulke, etc.). Through its weapons sales to NATO partner Turkey, Germany is a party in this dirty war: first send in weapons to fight against the Kurds, earns lots of money in the process, and then send back all those who flee from this war. The German state is responsible for this cycle of death! "Today, some two years after the right to asylum (Art. 16 GG) was practically abolished, politicians celebrating the 50th anniversary of the defeat of fascism speak of peace and reconciliation. But such words are meaningless, as Roma peoples are being deported to Rumania where today they still face persecution, discrimination, and pogroms. They speak of peace, and yet people are still being shipped back to the former Yugoslavia: deserters, who, through their decision to avoid military service, are actively resisting the war, raped women, elderly people, sick and mistreated children. (...) Threatened expansion and tightening of laws regulating asylum seekers, overflowing deportation prisons, the accompaniment of so- called security personnel from the refugee's home country to assist in the deportation process, and the planned "chip card", which would record an asylum seeker's every move - all of this shows that the interior ministers' racist repertoire is still replete." (from a leaflet for the demonstration against the Interior Ministers' Conference in Berlin, May 1995) We demand that all refugees and immigrants be given the right to stay here. Not only because Germany, through its imperialist policies in the Three Continents (the so-called Third World), has created the root causes of flight (poverty, war, etc.), but also because we envision a society where it doesn't matter in the least whether someone is green, black, white, or purple, whether they have a passport from this or that country, whether they speak one language or the other. We don't give a shit about any of these things! Everyone has the right to live here. Period! On 7.5.95, 2,000 people took part in a demonstration in the Westphalian city of Buren sponsored by more than 40 refugee groups and organizations against the deportation prison located in that city. "This prison in Buren, which holds 600 people, is exemplary of the legal, state practice of German racism", according to one speaker at the demo. On 18.5.95, another 2,000 people demonstrated against the Interior Ministers' Conference in Berlin to protest the deportation of refugees. Today, no one can claim that they weren't aware of things. The division of labor is clear. Some people pass racist laws, others transport refugees like freight, and still others build deportation prisons - like the ALLROUND firm! The prison in Grunau, when it's finished, will hold 400 people. Unfortunately, the planned attack by K.O.M.I.T.E.E. was foiled by the cops at the last minute. When right becomes wrong, resistance is a must! And when words go unheard, the language of violence must be spoken! Open borders for all! Solidarity with the Kurdish liberation struggle! We wish Bernhard, Thomas, and Peter lots of fun, strength, and love as they run from the cops! You can live and struggle anywhere! For the immediate release of Beate K.! And, of course, for Mumia Abu-Jamal! Greetings of solidarity to Das K.O.M.I.T.E.E.! Bye for now, until the next time, Das K.O.L.L.E.K.T.I.V. Berlin, June 7/8, 1995 ----- K.O.M.I.T.E.E. Statement Concerning The Attack In Bad Freienwalde November 1994 "I can't really hold Turkey responsible; we all know about Turkey, the whole world knows about Turkey. One Kurdish proverb states: 'Expect the worst from your enemy so that you won't be disappointed.' But the German authorities, who claim to be defenders of human rights, these people I blame. They are just as guilty of murdering Mesut as the Turkish soldiers themselves are. What have we done to them? Why do they do such things to us? The Germans also murdered my son. They must be held responsible. I call on the public to see to it that my son's death is punished. Please, tell the people there to stop them from sending weapons here, because we are being tortured and killed by these weapons." - statement from the mother of Mesut Dunder, who was killed on 23.9.92 by a German tank, to the German public On 27.10.94, we destroyed the barracks of the Verteidigungskriegskommando 852 in Bad Freienwalde in Markisch Oberland with an incendiary device. Germany Is A Partner In The Genocidal War In Kurdistan: Militarily, Economically, And Politically! "Turkey, because of its strategic position on NATO's southeastern flank, used to be the cornerstone of our security. Today, because of the developments in the southern regions of the former Soviet Union as well as in other countries in the Near and Middle East, Turkey is even more important. A democratic and stable Turkey can play an important role in this region's relationship to Europe. (...) Our military aid is the continuation of agreements made by previous German governments and is of particular importance for the Atlantic Alliance." - Helmut Kohl during the parliamentary debate on 2.4.94, where a central issue was the lifting of the limited arms embargo against Turkey The above statement clearly spells out Germany's role in the war in Kurdistan. Turkey is the power charged with keeping regional stability, after having won for itself the reputation at the international level of being the only power in the area which can be trusted. Following a NATO meeting Brussels in January 1994, at a trilateral foreign ministers conference in Ankara between Germany, Great Britain, and Turkey, Foreign Minister Kinkel proclaimed Turkey's "strategic importance" in Europe's new security structure because of its proximity to Asia (taz, 21.1.94). In other words, what had previously been a bulwark against Bolshevik expansionism would now buffer the rise of Islamic fundamentalism in the Near East, while at the same time preventing Russia from exerting excess pressure on the new republics in the Caucasus and Asia. Turkey's final role has to do with the so-called "Turk states" (Azerbaijan, Kazakstan, Cirgesia, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan) which are granted to be "natural" spheres of influence for Turkey on account of the fact that they are all "brother states with common historical and cultural ties". The first step towards realizing the hegemony of this region was the agreement signed with these Turk republics in Istanbul on 19.10.94 which foresees "increasing political and cultural relations". It is this geopolitical status which Turkey enjoys which is costing Kurds their lives every day. This function which Turkey exercises in the region is the reason why genocide can be carried out with impunity with the approval and support of Western states. Higher interests must take priority. Germany is the most significant pillar of support which Ankara enjoys. Turkey's 3,000-man anti-terror unit, the "Black Beetles", known for its killer mentality, is trained by the Germany's own anti-terrorist elite, the GSG-9. Each year, Turkish "students" are educated at the Bundeswehr's officers academy and at various police training facilities. Turkey is the largest customer of the world's second largest arms exporter, Germany. Arms exports from Germany to Turkey totalled 6.3 billion DM from 1964-94. The "NATO defence aid" which Turkey receives, enough to equip an entire army, is virtually free. And this doesn't include the cheap credits for arms purchases and other "regular" deals which Turkey enters into. The "NATO defence aid" which Turkey was granted in a 1964 NATO decision will finally expire at the end of 1994. In addition to the deal for 68 million DM of arms from 1992-94, a report from the Foreign Ministry has noted that Turkey recently received an additional 1.5 billion DM in other materials from Bonn. This included the free delivery of former NVA army weapons from the former East Germany. The total amount of arms gifts given to Turkey since 1989 makes the real dimension of this transaction clear. Here are just a few examples: 30 fighter jets, 170 Leopard-1 battle tanks, 300 BTR-60PB (East German) armoured tanks, 537 M-113 armoured tanks, 1,000 air-to-air rockets, 5,000 tank shells, RPG-7s (East German) with 200,000 grenades, more than 300,000 Kalaschnikov machine pistols (East German), and 175,000 gas masks. In addition to military aid to Turkey, the German government would also like to conclude a comprehensive private business deal: In a Finance Ministry report to Parliament, it was announced that talks were underway between the Turkish Defence Ministry and various German corporations. These talks concerned the "delivery of 115 trailers for transporting tanks" and 10 multi-use helicopters. Bonn is hoping to secure a deal worth 120.7 million DM. Negotiations with the Turkish Defence Ministry concern deliveries worth a total of 1.8 billion DM (ND, 21.9.94). Just because the NATO program will expire in 1995 doesn't mean that the arms shipments will cease. On the contrary, "private" deals between German multi-national arms corporations like Siemens, the Daimler-Benz firms AEG, Dornier, MBB, MTU, and others, deals which are easier to hide from the public, will continue. Dornier delivered Stinger air defence systems, DASA sold Phantom fighter jets. The Leopard-1 tanks were specially fitted for Turkey by the Kraus-Maffai corporation. German grenades fired from Leopard-1 tanks were discovered after the destruction of the Kurdish city of Sirnak in mid-August 1992. The Kurd Mesut Dunder was dragged to death in Lice behind a German BTR-60 tank. The ca. 40,000 "village guards", lackeys in the service of the Turkish "security forces", are usually armed with G3 guns made by the firm Heckler & Koch. The 300,000 Kalaschnikov machine pistols found their way into the hands of the secret police and the "special teams" operating in Kurdistan, men who are paid per kill. The Foreign Ministry lied for a long time about the deployment of German weapons against the Kurdish civilian population. Later, when the facts could no longer be denied, the government simply stated that no agreements had been violated. Evidence of the arms deployment led to a brief arms embargo this spring. But that was just a sham. According a NATO decision arrived at in Rome in 1991, the security of a member state could also be affected by terrorism and sabotage, thereby making the domestic deployment of NATO weaponry permissible. According to this NATO doctrine: "The security of the Alliance must be viewed in a global context. The security interests of the Alliance can be affected by other risks...such as the disruption of necessary resources by means of terrorism or sabotage." That's how the Turkish government can justify its military actions in Turkish Kurdistan. The deployment of German weapons are just part of a "fight against terrorists", in full accordance with NATO guidelines. According to Foreign Ministry spokesman Hans Schumacher, the German government has "full understanding" for this argument. During his visit to Turkey in July 1993, the Bundeswehr's General Inspector Klaus Naumann, after meetings with Turkish Chief of Staff Dogan Gures and Defence Minister Nevzat Ayaz, stated that the use of German weapons in Kurdistan was "fully legitimate given the present conditions". It is the massive amount of German arms shipments to Turkey which has made it possible for the Turkish army to massacre the Kurdish people. In the past two years, 1,500 Kurdish villages have been destroyed and 4 million Kurds have become refugees. In August 1994, it also become known that Kurdish refugees were being detained in concentration camps where they were tortured and sometimes murdered. Without the political, economic, and military support of Germany, Turkey would not be able to carry out its genocide against the Kurds. Without exaggerating, it is fair to say that Germany is just as important for Turkey today as the USA used to be for Vietnam and Central America. In September, a new wave of destruction was launched by the Turkish military. In the last four weeks alone, 30 villages in the Dersim region were depopulated and destroyed. The forests in the Dersim region have been continually bombarded from the air and set on fire since August. According to the newspaper 'Ozgur Ulke', this method of burning forests and villages has been dubbed "Operation Rome" by the Turkish military in reference to Emperor Nero's destruction of Rome. As soldiers involved in the operation have told to the newspaper, this destruction is just the first phase of a plan designed to eliminate another 150 villages and settlements in the Dersim region. Germany is the long-arm of Turkey's counter-insurgency in Western Europe! Or, in the words of Klaus Kinkel, "We cannot abandon our friends in a difficult situation!" The smear campaigns against Kurds living here has reached a new level of intensity. For years, Kurds have been criminalized here, subject to persecution, arrest, and deportation. Through trials against alleged PKK members under Article 129a in the Dusseldorf PKK Trial in 1986 and the banning of the PKK and 42 other Kurdish organizations in 1993, Germany has opened up a second front against the Kurdish liberation movement in Europe. Germany is the major power in the European Union and has taken a leading role in defeating Kurdish organizations (following Germany, other EU states like France have also banned Kurdish organizations). Germany, on its own territory as well, has become an essential partner of the Turkish military and the political system dependent on it. In September 1993, during a state visit by Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Ciller to Bonn, definite plans were made to ban the PKK in Germany. The armed actions by the PKK in Germany just a few weeks later were just an excuse for the ban, not its actual reason. Germany thereby took up Turkey's call to "fight against terrorism". Following the PKK ban, "Thank you, Helmut!" was the main headline in the Turkish press. On 19.07.94, Turkish Chief of Staff Dogan Gures, main coordinator of the war against the Kurds, was received with full military honors and spent four days with Bundeswehr General Inspector Klaus Naumann. According to ministerial reports, several high-level meetings took place and Gures visited several military facilities in Germany. At the end of July 1994, Gures told the Turkish daily 'Hurriyet' that the "necessary contacts" with European states had been made in order to stop the PKK. According to him, German Defence Minister Volker Ruhe said he was "confident" that criminals from the ranks of the PKK would be deported to Turkey. Since the banning of the PKK and all Kurdish cultural organizations associated with it, all Kurdish gatherings and demonstrations are banned, even protests against actions by the Turkish "security forces" in Kurdistan are massively criminalized, and demonstrations which are held are brutally attacked by the police. State sponsored hate campaigns in the media have created the necessary pogrom mentality against the Kurds. The climax of this was the murder of Halim Dener, who was shot by a cop for hanging posters in Hannover. Kurds living in Germany have practically no right to freedom of expression or freedom of assembly. This virtual state of emergency against one social group is also a warning to other oppositional forces in Germany which could experience the same in the future. Kurds who have been arrested during protests and demonstrations, some of whom are now on hungerstrike, are threatened with rejected asylum claims and possible deportation. "It is unacceptable that violent foreigners abuse our hospitality and make Germany a battlefield for their civil war", stated one German politician after the Autobahn blockades. The deportation of Kurds to Turkey, especially if the individual was involved in the Kurdish liberation struggle, can mean torture and death. We chose a Bundeswehr facility as a target for our action because it is representative of Germany's active support for the Turkish "security forces", and it is representative of Germany's foreign and domestic policies with respect to the Kurdish liberation struggle. Especially now, when there is a debate going on concerning the possible deployment of Bundeswehr troops abroad as part of UN or other missions, the German military needs to be the focus of more attention. During the Gulf War, German soldiers were actually stationed in North Kurdistan in late-1990. Future deployments as part of NATO missions in Kurdistan cannot be ruled out. German foreign policy has created the necessary instruments for direct military engagement and these will be utilized. This development must be resisted. Immediately stop all military, economic, and political cooperation with Turkey! Boycott Turkish tourism! Repeal the ban against Kurdish parties and associations! A right to stay for all refugees! Solidarity with the Kurdish political prisoners in German prisons who have been on hungerstrike since 10.8.94! Support the Kurdish liberation struggle! Das K.O.M.I.T.E.E. (Translated from Radikal 12/94) ----- ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++ ++++ see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++ +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist collective based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of material, including political prisoners, national liberation struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings, research, and translation materials in our magazine and bulletins called Arm The Spirit. For more information, contact: Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P7 Canada E-mail: ats at etext.org WWW: gopher://locust.cic.net:70/11/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Mon Aug 21 18:26:34 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 21 Aug 1995 18:26:34 Subject: Children Arrested In Istanbul Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) Children Arrested In Istanbul Around 100 children between the ages of 5 and 15 were arrested by Turkish police in Istanbul on Saturday, August 19. The children were demonstrating in support of the hungerstrike by Kurdish prisoners. In several Turkish prisons, thousands of mostly Kurdish prisoners are still on hungerstrike, to demand better conditions and a political solution to the war in Kurdistan. (taz) ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurdeng at aps.nl Wed Aug 23 21:37:30 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 23 Aug 1995 21:37:30 Subject: Children Arrested In Istanbul References: Message-ID: 1995 21:35:27 -0800 ------------------------ Forwarded from : kcc at magi.com ------------------------- Children Arrested In Istanbul Around 100 children between the ages of 5 and 15 were arrested by Turkish police in Istanbul on Saturday, August 19. The children were demonstrating in support of the hungerstrike by Kurdish prisoners. In several Turkish prisons, thousands of mostly Kurdish prisoners are still on hungerstrike, to demand better conditions and a political solution to the war in Kurdistan. (taz) ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Tue Aug 22 01:01:11 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 22 Aug 1995 01:01:11 Subject: Chronology Of Kurdish Hungerstriker Message-ID: From: Arm The Spirit Subject: Chronology Of Kurdish Hungerstrikers In Berlin KURDISH HUNGER STRIKE IN BERLIN - A PROVISIONAL CHRONOLOGY 21.7.95 Around two hundred Kurdish people start a hunger strike in front of the Geddchtniskirche (Memorial Church) in Berlin. The hunger strike is part of an international protest in support of the more than 10,000 Kurdish prisoners in Turkish jails already on hunger strike since July 14th to achieve prisoners of war status, in accordance with the Geneva convention, to which Turkey is also a signatory. 24.7.95 Police confiscate Turkish-language material documenting the activities of the Turkish army against the population of the Kurdish provinces in Turkey. Material is claimed by police to be "PKK Propaganda", and hence illegal in Germany. 25.7.95 A Berlin court declares the protest to be "in continual contravention of the law of assembly" and rules that no alternative open-air events may be held in the Berlin state area until August 5th. 26.7.95 Police evict hunger strikers and supporters from the area in front of the church. Hunger strikers and supporters undertake an eight kilometer march to the "Navca-Kurd" Kurdish centre in Berlin's Kreuzberg district. The march is accompanied by around 400 police officers who are reported to have made an unannounced attack on the demonstration in order to make an arrest. The situation in Frankfurt - where another group of Kurds are participating in the international hunger strike protest - is equally tense. Hunger strikers withdraw to the Katharinenkirche (St Catherine's church) to escape daily harassment by police. On July 26th police surround the church and demand that certain banners be handed over. 27.7.95 Hunger striker G|lnaz Baghistani, a 41 year old mother of five, dies of heart failure. A spokersperson for the huger strike committee states that she had fainted during the previous day's march to the Kurdish centre but seemed to have recovered. On the morning of July 27th she was found to be in a coma. Berlin emergency services stated that Mrs Baghistani was dead before they reached her. Hunger strike organizers claim Mrs Baghistani's death is a direct result of the police eviction from the previous day. "If the eviction had not taken place, G|lmaz Baghistani would still be alive. The Turkish and German state (sic) bear responsibility". In Frankfurt police break up the hunger strike protest during the morning of the 27th. Heavy fighting ensues during which police use water cannon. A different group of Kurdish protesters attempts to resume the hunger strike in front of the Katharinenkirche later the same evening. Police attempt to break up the protest at around 11pm. Protesters organize a spontaneous demonstration through the city centre. The minister of the Katharinenkirche church, Dr Hans-Christoph Stoodt, states that the "police bear a large part of the responsibility for the escalation of the situation". 28.7.95 Around 1000 people join a rally in Berlin in solidarity with the hunger strike. Nine associations of the Turkish Alevite minority in Germany join the hunger strike. At a futher rally in the evening German solidarity organisations call for the repeal of legislation banning Kurdish organisations in Germany and an end to German weapon sales and economic aid to Turkey. A spokesperson for the hunger strikers' international solidarity bureau in Brussels states that the hunger strike has received a generally positive echo throughout Europe. "The protest actions have nowhere been attacked as much as in Germany". 31.7.95 Hunger strikers in Berlin declare their readiness to continue their hunger strike, even after the death of Mrs Baghistani. In an interview her husband says the Kurds are a peaceful people but prepared "to sacrifice everything for freedom". After renewed arson attacks against Turkish premises on the night of 30-31st July, a spokesperson for the Confederation of Kurdish Associations YEK-KOM, denies any Kurdish involvement in the current series of attacks, attributing them instead to "forces wishing to damage our activities". The Federal Investigative Agency BKA announces no concrete evidence exists for a PKK involvement in the attacks, and that statements so far have been speculation (jw-1.8.95). German supporters of the hunger strike occupy the Jacobi Church in the town of Gvttingen in the hope of "breaking through the disinformation about the background and demands of the Kurds' hunger strike". The protesters claim that whilst the Kurds are being accused of transporting "their" war to Europe, not a word is being said about German support for Turkey. And whilst a member of the Bundestag for the Green Party, Cem Vzdemir, claimed that "Germany is not doing enough to implement the ban on the PKK", his Green party colleague and member of the party's federal executive committee Kambiz Behbahani stated in an interview that "the ban on the PKK is a political stick to beat the opposition into silence with ("ein Totschlagargument"). As long as the ban is not lifted there can be no dialogue with the Kurds. Germany is the chief partner of the Turkish government and need not be surprised that the Kurds also hold the German government responsible." Police in Berlin have a busy day tearing down posters announcing a demonstration on August 1st. The posters in question show a picture of Mrs Baghistani as well as a red star against a yellow background - a PKK symbol which has been declared illegal. Police were hence forced to wander round Berlin tearing and scratching at posters, or in some cases even painting over them. 1.8.95 Over 20,000 Kurds participate in the funeral march for G|lnaz Baghistani in Berlin. The demonstration is peaceful in spite of near-hysteria on the part of the mainstream press prior to the march. Newspaper reports of Kurdish sharpshooters preparing to take shots at the German police prove to be unfounded. According to newspaper reports, the spokesman for the Lower Saxony Verfassungsschutz (Constitutional Protection Agency) R|diger Hesse had "assumed" that members of the PKK were planning attacks on the Berlin police. The assumptions were countered by the Berlin and Federal Verfassungsschutz departments, which are quoted as calling the claims "exaggerated" (taz 2.8.95). In an earlier interview a speaker for the Berlin hunger strike solidarity bureau had made the following comment with regard to the attacks: "It doesn't make sense. We are fighting for a political settlement with our hunger strike. The police is always quick to identify the PKK as the culprit", and "We have achieved a good deal of international publicity with our hunger strike; that could lead the Turkish state to attempt to diffame us by means of secret service actions." The hunger strike continues. (Source: Berlin Antiracist Information Network - July/August 1995) ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++ ++++ see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++ +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist collective based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of material, including political prisoners, national liberation struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings, research, and translation materials in our magazine and bulletins called Arm The Spirit. For more information, contact: Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P7 Canada E-mail: ats at etext.org WWW: gopher://locust.cic.net:70/11/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== From kurdeng at aps.nl Wed Aug 23 21:58:43 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 23 Aug 1995 21:58:43 Subject: Chronology Of Kurdish Hungerstriker References: Message-ID: Subject: Re: Chronology Of Kurdish Hungerstrikers In Berlin ------------------------ Forwarded from : ats at etext.org ------------------------ KURDISH HUNGER STRIKE IN BERLIN - A PROVISIONAL CHRONOLOGY 21.7.95 Around two hundred Kurdish people start a hunger strike in front of the Geddchtniskirche (Memorial Church) in Berlin. The hunger strike is part of an international protest in support of the more than 10,000 Kurdish prisoners in Turkish jails already on hunger strike since July 14th to achieve prisoners of war status, in accordance with the Geneva convention, to which Turkey is also a signatory. 24.7.95 Police confiscate Turkish-language material documenting the activities of the Turkish army against the population of the Kurdish provinces in Turkey. Material is claimed by police to be "PKK Propaganda", and hence illegal in Germany. 25.7.95 A Berlin court declares the protest to be "in continual contravention of the law of assembly" and rules that no alternative open-air events may be held in the Berlin state area until August 5th. 26.7.95 Police evict hunger strikers and supporters from the area in front of the church. Hunger strikers and supporters undertake an eight kilometer march to the "Navca-Kurd" Kurdish centre in Berlin's Kreuzberg district. The march is accompanied by around 400 police officers who are reported to have made an unannounced attack on the demonstration in order to make an arrest. The situation in Frankfurt - where another group of Kurds are participating in the international hunger strike protest - is equally tense. Hunger strikers withdraw to the Katharinenkirche (St Catherine's church) to escape daily harassment by police. On July 26th police surround the church and demand that certain banners be handed over. 27.7.95 Hunger striker G|lnaz Baghistani, a 41 year old mother of five, dies of heart failure. A spokersperson for the huger strike committee states that she had fainted during the previous day's march to the Kurdish centre but seemed to have recovered. On the morning of July 27th she was found to be in a coma. Berlin emergency services stated that Mrs Baghistani was dead before they reached her. Hunger strike organizers claim Mrs Baghistani's death is a direct result of the police eviction from the previous day. "If the eviction had not taken place, G|lmaz Baghistani would still be alive. The Turkish and German state (sic) bear responsibility". In Frankfurt police break up the hunger strike protest during the morning of the 27th. Heavy fighting ensues during which police use water cannon. A different group of Kurdish protesters attempts to resume the hunger strike in front of the Katharinenkirche later the same evening. Police attempt to break up the protest at around 11pm. Protesters organize a spontaneous demonstration through the city centre. The minister of the Katharinenkirche church, Dr Hans-Christoph Stoodt, states that the "police bear a large part of the responsibility for the escalation of the situation". 28.7.95 Around 1000 people join a rally in Berlin in solidarity with the hunger strike. Nine associations of the Turkish Alevite minority in Germany join the hunger strike. At a futher rally in the evening German solidarity organisations call for the repeal of legislation banning Kurdish organisations in Germany and an end to German weapon sales and economic aid to Turkey. A spokesperson for the hunger strikers' international solidarity bureau in Brussels states that the hunger strike has received a generally positive echo throughout Europe. "The protest actions have nowhere been attacked as much as in Germany". 31.7.95 Hunger strikers in Berlin declare their readiness to continue their hunger strike, even after the death of Mrs Baghistani. In an interview her husband says the Kurds are a peaceful people but prepared "to sacrifice everything for freedom". After renewed arson attacks against Turkish premises on the night of 30-31st July, a spokesperson for the Confederation of Kurdish Associations YEK-KOM, denies any Kurdish involvement in the current series of attacks, attributing them instead to "forces wishing to damage our activities". The Federal Investigative Agency BKA announces no concrete evidence exists for a PKK involvement in the attacks, and that statements so far have been speculation (jw-1.8.95). German supporters of the hunger strike occupy the Jacobi Church in the town of Gvttingen in the hope of "breaking through the disinformation about the background and demands of the Kurds' hunger strike". The protesters claim that whilst the Kurds are being accused of transporting "their" war to Europe, not a word is being said about German support for Turkey. And whilst a member of the Bundestag for the Green Party, Cem Vzdemir, claimed that "Germany is not doing enough to implement the ban on the PKK", his Green party colleague and member of the party's federal executive committee Kambiz Behbahani stated in an interview that "the ban on the PKK is a political stick to beat the opposition into silence with ("ein Totschlagargument"). As long as the ban is not lifted there can be no dialogue with the Kurds. Germany is the chief partner of the Turkish government and need not be surprised that the Kurds also hold the German government responsible." Police in Berlin have a busy day tearing down posters announcing a demonstration on August 1st. The posters in question show a picture of Mrs Baghistani as well as a red star against a yellow background - a PKK symbol which has been declared illegal. Police were hence forced to wander round Berlin tearing and scratching at posters, or in some cases even painting over them. 1.8.95 Over 20,000 Kurds participate in the funeral march for G|lnaz Baghistani in Berlin. The demonstration is peaceful in spite of near-hysteria on the part of the mainstream press prior to the march. Newspaper reports of Kurdish sharpshooters preparing to take shots at the German police prove to be unfounded. According to newspaper reports, the spokesman for the Lower Saxony Verfassungsschutz (Constitutional Protection Agency) R|diger Hesse had "assumed" that members of the PKK were planning attacks on the Berlin police. The assumptions were countered by the Berlin and Federal Verfassungsschutz departments, which are quoted as calling the claims "exaggerated" (taz 2.8.95). In an earlier interview a speaker for the Berlin hunger strike solidarity bureau had made the following comment with regard to the attacks: "It doesn't make sense. We are fighting for a political settlement with our hunger strike. The police is always quick to identify the PKK as the culprit", and "We have achieved a good deal of international publicity with our hunger strike; that could lead the Turkish state to attempt to diffame us by means of secret service actions." The hunger strike continues. (Source: Berlin Antiracist Information Network - July/August 1995) ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++ ++++ see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++ +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist collective based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of material, including political prisoners, national liberation struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings, research, and translation materials in our magazine and bulletins called Arm The Spirit. For more information, contact: Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P7 Canada E-mail: ats at etext.org WWW: gopher://locust.cic.net:70/11/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Tue Aug 22 15:31:35 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 22 Aug 1995 15:31:35 Subject: Kurdish Hungerstrike Is Over Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) Hungerstrike Of 10,000 Kurdish Prisoners Successfully Concluded The hungerstrike launched by 10,000 Kurdish prisoners in Turkish jails on July 14, 1995 was concluded on August 20 having achieved significant worldwide interest. The hungerstrike commemorated once again the resistance of Hayri Durmus, Kemal Pir, Ali Cicek, and Akif Yilmaz, who made the supreme sacrifice, and their comrades who launched a hungerstrike on July 14, 1982 against Turkey's policy of denial of Kurdish identity and its savage repression. The hungerstrike lasted for 35 days and was supported by hungerstrikes in HADEP and other offices all over Turkey, and by solidarity hungerstrikes by Kurdish people all over Europe, the Middle East, North America, and Australia. Amongst the hungerstrikers' demands were that the Turkish army end its dirty war in Kurdistan and comply with the Geneva Conventions. Relatives of the prisoners and democrats in Turkey and Kurdistan and in diaspora united around these demands. During the hungerstrike, 4 people died: Fesih Beyazcicek, Gulnaz Baghistani, Remzi Altintas, and Latife Kaya. Our hungerstrike and its martyrs will go down in history as a great resistance. The determination of the Kurdish people and their refusal to be cowed by police attacks has demonstrated the Kurdish people's devotion and belief in freedom. The hostile attitude of the German police to the Kurdish hungerstrikers has exposed German-Turkish collaboration in the war against the Kurdish people. But the repressive attitude of the police only served to make the Kurdish people offer more solidarity to the hungerstrikers. Following the successful resolution of the hungerstrike, we would like to thank our people, all friends of the Kurdish people, and all organizations and individuals who showed solidarity with the hungerstrike. Solidarity Bureau - Brussels August 20, 1995 ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurdeng at aps.nl Wed Aug 23 21:59:38 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 23 Aug 1995 21:59:38 Subject: Kurdish Hungerstrike Is Over References: Message-ID: id VT15456; Wed, 23 Aug 1995 21:35:44 -0800 ------------------------ Forwarded from : kcc at magi.com ------------------------- Hungerstrike Of 10,000 Kurdish Prisoners Successfully Concluded The hungerstrike launched by 10,000 Kurdish prisoners in Turkish jails on July 14, 1995 was concluded on August 20 having achieved significant worldwide interest. The hungerstrike commemorated once again the resistance of Hayri Durmus, Kemal Pir, Ali Cicek, and Akif Yilmaz, who made the supreme sacrifice, and their comrades who launched a hungerstrike on July 14, 1982 against Turkey's policy of denial of Kurdish identity and its savage repression. The hungerstrike lasted for 35 days and was supported by hungerstrikes in HADEP and other offices all over Turkey, and by solidarity hungerstrikes by Kurdish people all over Europe, the Middle East, North America, and Australia. Amongst the hungerstrikers' demands were that the Turkish army end its dirty war in Kurdistan and comply with the Geneva Conventions. Relatives of the prisoners and democrats in Turkey and Kurdistan and in diaspora united around these demands. During the hungerstrike, 4 people died: Fesih Beyazcicek, Gulnaz Baghistani, Remzi Altintas, and Latife Kaya. Our hungerstrike and its martyrs will go down in history as a great resistance. The determination of the Kurdish people and their refusal to be cowed by police attacks has demonstrated the Kurdish people's devotion and belief in freedom. The hostile attitude of the German police to the Kurdish hungerstrikers has exposed German-Turkish collaboration in the war against the Kurdish people. But the repressive attitude of the police only served to make the Kurdish people offer more solidarity to the hungerstrikers. Following the successful resolution of the hungerstrike, we would like to thank our people, all friends of the Kurdish people, and all organizations and individuals who showed solidarity with the hungerstrike. Solidarity Bureau - Brussels August 20, 1995 ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Wed Aug 23 01:23:07 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 23 Aug 1995 01:23:07 Subject: News From Kurdistan Rundbrief 16/95 Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) News Translated From Kurdistan Rundbrief 16/95 - ERNK Not Responsible For The Attacks - Constitutional Reform? A Charade! - PDS Calls For PKK Ban To Be Lifted ---- In a statement delivered to the KURD-A news agency on July 29, the European spokesperson for the ERNK, Ali Sapan, denied that the ERNK/PKK were behind the recent series of firebomb attacks in Germany. ERNK Not Responsible For The Attacks Especially now, at a time when the Turkish state is experiencing a serious crisis, the position of German government officials and their policies are difficult to comprehend. Germany is developing a campaign of lies and denunciations with respect to the PKK. The recent pronouncements about the PKK from the Office to Protect the Constitution [Verfassungsschutz] do not reflect the truth, rather they are distortions. We have nothing to do with the events of the past few days. After a series of attacks in several parts of Germany, the German government is doing its best to make us appear responsible. Germany has lots of prejudices concerning the PKK, and this has lead to a new campaign aimed at discrediting us. In particular, the Office to Protect the Constitution is trying to look as though it knew about the attacks beforehand in order to legitimize its own inhumane attacks on completely democratic and peaceful hungerstrikes. Upon closer inspection, the following is made clear: The statements about us made by German Interior Minister Kanther are exact copies of those by Turkey's Interior Minister, Mentese. Despite the bans, the repression, and the anti-democratic logic of the German state, the support by the Kurdish people for the PKK continues to grow. Germany's inhumane and anti-democratic praxis has lead to even greater support for the PKK from our people. The anti-democratic logic of the German state, which will not even permit a peaceful and legal hungerstrike, is forcing the Kurdish people to voice its protest via other means. The PKK is fighting with determination and perseverance for a political solution. Germany should abandon its support for the military option, should cease with its lust for war, and should accept the political-democratic proposed solutions from the PKK. In the past few days, the German government has brought its collaboration with Turkey against our people to a climax. During a recent visit to Ankara by a state secretary from the German Interior Ministry, a statement was made that the two countries' security agencies would work in closer cooperation in order to combat Kurdish people living in Germany who are connected to our party, the PKK, and our front organization, the ERNK. There is to be an intensive exchange of information between Germany and Turkey in order to prevent PKK activities and to increase bilateral cooperation between the two countries. Furthermore, Germany promised to give the Turkish police the necessary training and modernization to carry out this task. All of this clear shows that Germany plans to further strengthen its hostile and destructive attitude towards our people in the name of "security", and it has once again placed itself firmly on the side of the dirty war and state terrorism carried out by the Turkish Republic against our people. We call on all democratic and progressive forces to expose the fascistic policies carried out by Germany against our people and to stand against such policies. Ali Sapan, ERNK European Representative ----- Constitutional Reform? A Charade! The change of a few points of the Turkish Constitution has been celebrated for several days now in the Turkish media as a major victory for democratization and sold as such to the world public opinion. They are making it seem as though a new Constitution had been drafted, as though all bans had been lifted, as if all problems had been solved. In reality, only the first few sections of Articles 12 and 177 and some of Transitional Articles 16 and 17 have been affected. In other words, only a small part of the Constitution drafted by the September 12 junta has been changed. The core of the military junta's Constitution remains untouched, it has just been given a minor facade. The biggest impediment to democracy in Turkey is the Kurdish question. As long as no humane and just solution to this problem is found, democratization in Turkey will be impossible. The most important aspect of the Turkish Constitution is its denial of the existence of the Kurds and the ban on all forms of Kurdish expression. This Constitution is racist, militarist, repressive, blind, and destructive. The changes recently made to the Constitution did not affect any of these aspects, in fact the changes made in the introductory paragraphs pushed this even more to the forefront. Not a single problematic Article was changed. The unimpeachable nature of the September 12 junta is proclaimed. Social and political life is buried under soldiers' boots. Thought is made a crime, and there are more than 15,000 people in prison for political reasons. The Kurdish reality is denied, contradicted, destroyed. The destruction of villages, contra-guerrilla attacks, murders by "unknown persons" (organized by the state), bombardments and war in Kurdistan, all of the shedding of blood continues unabated. The problems in Turkey cannot be solved by increasing the number of MPs in Parliament from 450 to 550, nor by lowering the voting age to 18, nor by granting MPs the right to switch parties after their election, nor by granting civil servants the right to organize in a union and engage in collective bargaining, but without granting them the right to strike, nor by allowing members of high school corps to join political parties, nor by giving the right to vote to Turkish citizens living abroad, nor by giving youth and women's groups the right to organize from within political parties. These are not the Articles which form the basis of the problems which have led to bloodshed and which are the causes of the war, which have caused tens of thousands of people to be tortured, which have sent people to jail for voicing opinions, which have plunged the country into chaos. The changes made to the Constitution are a charade which only serve to hide reality. They are not a sign of good will, but rather of the desire to conceal the truth. This is not democratization, rather quite the contrary, this is a new means of hiding their anti- democratic methods. These changes to the Constitution do not serve the cause of peace, rather they will just prolong the dirty war and the genocide. Our people don't want deception, they desire true democracy. Our people don't want war, rather they desire peace and a truly democratic Constitution. They are sick of empty promises. Sooner or later, our people will realize their desire for true democracy, peace, and understanding between peoples. The Kurdistan Parliament in Exile July 27, 1995 ----- In a joint statement issued on July 18, members of the Berlin state legislature from the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), including representative Sigrun Steinborn and PDS fraction leader Dr. Zotl, called on Germany's Interior Minister Manfred Kanther to lift the ban against the PKK. PDS Calls For PKK Ban To Be Lifted You and the federal government keep justifying the repression against the Kurds here out of supposed concern for the German population. The federal government says it does not want the conflict in Turkey to be exported to Germany. That's why they banned all activities by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK) in Germany. At least, that's what we keep hearing from the Interior Ministry. Violent raids on private homes and the offices of organizations and associations, surveillance, the closing down of the Agri-Verlag publishing house and the confiscation of 15 tons of books, and other repressive measures have become almost daily occurrences. We, the undersigned, are convinced that this form of repressive domestic politics does not "only" affect the Kurds. On the basis of our daily experiences, we have come to the conclusion that the German state's monopoly on violence has been enforced with rigid and even undemocratic means against all those who do not submit to the state's desires. At the moment, it is ethnic and social minorities who are being most repressed, but the state's violence monopoly is increasingly being used against disadvantaged people, non-conformists, and political leftists as well. We must ask ourselves, how long will it be before the present minority of right-wing extremists becomes the unmolested majority? That's why we call on you to: - lift the information and association ban, as well as the ban on political activity, for Kurds living in Germany, regardless of any supposed connection to the PKK and the ERNK; - have the federal government recognize the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile! The PKK and the ERNK are seen by many Kurds are the legitimate representatives of the Kurdish people, that's why it's about time the federal government stops to think about how long it wishes and can afford to support the narrow policies of the Turkish government. PDS-Berlin ----- ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurdeng at aps.nl Wed Aug 23 22:02:15 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 23 Aug 1995 22:02:15 Subject: News From Kurdistan Rundbrief 16/95 References: Message-ID: Subject: Re: News From Kurdistan Rundbrief 16/95 ------------------------ Forwarded from : kcc at magi.com ------------------------- News Translated From Kurdistan Rundbrief 16/95 - ERNK Not Responsible For The Attacks - Constitutional Reform? A Charade! - PDS Calls For PKK Ban To Be Lifted ---- In a statement delivered to the KURD-A news agency on July 29, the European spokesperson for the ERNK, Ali Sapan, denied that the ERNK/PKK were behind the recent series of firebomb attacks in Germany. ERNK Not Responsible For The Attacks Especially now, at a time when the Turkish state is experiencing a serious crisis, the position of German government officials and their policies are difficult to comprehend. Germany is developing a campaign of lies and denunciations with respect to the PKK. The recent pronouncements about the PKK from the Office to Protect the Constitution [Verfassungsschutz] do not reflect the truth, rather they are distortions. We have nothing to do with the events of the past few days. After a series of attacks in several parts of Germany, the German government is doing its best to make us appear responsible. Germany has lots of prejudices concerning the PKK, and this has lead to a new campaign aimed at discrediting us. In particular, the Office to Protect the Constitution is trying to look as though it knew about the attacks beforehand in order to legitimize its own inhumane attacks on completely democratic and peaceful hungerstrikes. Upon closer inspection, the following is made clear: The statements about us made by German Interior Minister Kanther are exact copies of those by Turkey's Interior Minister, Mentese. Despite the bans, the repression, and the anti-democratic logic of the German state, the support by the Kurdish people for the PKK continues to grow. Germany's inhumane and anti-democratic praxis has lead to even greater support for the PKK from our people. The anti-democratic logic of the German state, which will not even permit a peaceful and legal hungerstrike, is forcing the Kurdish people to voice its protest via other means. The PKK is fighting with determination and perseverance for a political solution. Germany should abandon its support for the military option, should cease with its lust for war, and should accept the political-democratic proposed solutions from the PKK. In the past few days, the German government has brought its collaboration with Turkey against our people to a climax. During a recent visit to Ankara by a state secretary from the German Interior Ministry, a statement was made that the two countries' security agencies would work in closer cooperation in order to combat Kurdish people living in Germany who are connected to our party, the PKK, and our front organization, the ERNK. There is to be an intensive exchange of information between Germany and Turkey in order to prevent PKK activities and to increase bilateral cooperation between the two countries. Furthermore, Germany promised to give the Turkish police the necessary training and modernization to carry out this task. All of this clear shows that Germany plans to further strengthen its hostile and destructive attitude towards our people in the name of "security", and it has once again placed itself firmly on the side of the dirty war and state terrorism carried out by the Turkish Republic against our people. We call on all democratic and progressive forces to expose the fascistic policies carried out by Germany against our people and to stand against such policies. Ali Sapan, ERNK European Representative ----- Constitutional Reform? A Charade! The change of a few points of the Turkish Constitution has been celebrated for several days now in the Turkish media as a major victory for democratization and sold as such to the world public opinion. They are making it seem as though a new Constitution had been drafted, as though all bans had been lifted, as if all problems had been solved. In reality, only the first few sections of Articles 12 and 177 and some of Transitional Articles 16 and 17 have been affected. In other words, only a small part of the Constitution drafted by the September 12 junta has been changed. The core of the military junta's Constitution remains untouched, it has just been given a minor facade. The biggest impediment to democracy in Turkey is the Kurdish question. As long as no humane and just solution to this problem is found, democratization in Turkey will be impossible. The most important aspect of the Turkish Constitution is its denial of the existence of the Kurds and the ban on all forms of Kurdish expression. This Constitution is racist, militarist, repressive, blind, and destructive. The changes recently made to the Constitution did not affect any of these aspects, in fact the changes made in the introductory paragraphs pushed this even more to the forefront. Not a single problematic Article was changed. The unimpeachable nature of the September 12 junta is proclaimed. Social and political life is buried under soldiers' boots. Thought is made a crime, and there are more than 15,000 people in prison for political reasons. The Kurdish reality is denied, contradicted, destroyed. The destruction of villages, contra-guerrilla attacks, murders by "unknown persons" (organized by the state), bombardments and war in Kurdistan, all of the shedding of blood continues unabated. The problems in Turkey cannot be solved by increasing the number of MPs in Parliament from 450 to 550, nor by lowering the voting age to 18, nor by granting MPs the right to switch parties after their election, nor by granting civil servants the right to organize in a union and engage in collective bargaining, but without granting them the right to strike, nor by allowing members of high school corps to join political parties, nor by giving the right to vote to Turkish citizens living abroad, nor by giving youth and women's groups the right to organize from within political parties. These are not the Articles which form the basis of the problems which have led to bloodshed and which are the causes of the war, which have caused tens of thousands of people to be tortured, which have sent people to jail for voicing opinions, which have plunged the country into chaos. The changes made to the Constitution are a charade which only serve to hide reality. They are not a sign of good will, but rather of the desire to conceal the truth. This is not democratization, rather quite the contrary, this is a new means of hiding their anti- democratic methods. These changes to the Constitution do not serve the cause of peace, rather they will just prolong the dirty war and the genocide. Our people don't want deception, they desire true democracy. Our people don't want war, rather they desire peace and a truly democratic Constitution. They are sick of empty promises. Sooner or later, our people will realize their desire for true democracy, peace, and understanding between peoples. The Kurdistan Parliament in Exile July 27, 1995 ----- In a joint statement issued on July 18, members of the Berlin state legislature from the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), including representative Sigrun Steinborn and PDS fraction leader Dr. Zotl, called on Germany's Interior Minister Manfred Kanther to lift the ban against the PKK. PDS Calls For PKK Ban To Be Lifted You and the federal government keep justifying the repression against the Kurds here out of supposed concern for the German population. The federal government says it does not want the conflict in Turkey to be exported to Germany. That's why they banned all activities by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the National Liberation Front of Kurdistan (ERNK) in Germany. At least, that's what we keep hearing from the Interior Ministry. Violent raids on private homes and the offices of organizations and associations, surveillance, the closing down of the Agri-Verlag publishing house and the confiscation of 15 tons of books, and other repressive measures have become almost daily occurrences. We, the undersigned, are convinced that this form of repressive domestic politics does not "only" affect the Kurds. On the basis of our daily experiences, we have come to the conclusion that the German state's monopoly on violence has been enforced with rigid and even undemocratic means against all those who do not submit to the state's desires. At the moment, it is ethnic and social minorities who are being most repressed, but the state's violence monopoly is increasingly being used against disadvantaged people, non-conformists, and political leftists as well. We must ask ourselves, how long will it be before the present minority of right-wing extremists becomes the unmolested majority? That's why we call on you to: - lift the information and association ban, as well as the ban on political activity, for Kurds living in Germany, regardless of any supposed connection to the PKK and the ERNK; - have the federal government recognize the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile! The PKK and the ERNK are seen by many Kurds are the legitimate representatives of the Kurdish people, that's why it's about time the federal government stops to think about how long it wishes and can afford to support the narrow policies of the Turkish government. PDS-Berlin ----- ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Wed Aug 23 04:31:10 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 23 Aug 1995 04:31:10 Subject: The Social Programme Of The PKK Message-ID: From: Arm The Spirit Liberation Into The State? The Social Programme Of The PKK As a national liberation movement of the Marxist-Leninist type, the Kurdistan Workers Party (1) is a seemingly paradoxical phenomenon: It represents a type of party which loses its relevance in the whole world, but at the same time the PKK is plainly successful. Obviously simple characteristics like "nationalism", "Marxism", etc. don't meet the specific conditions which the PKK is acting under. That means the problem has a certain essence of its own and general terms are not necessarily useful to its description. Here we want to examine important concepts of the PKK for their concrete use and their political and social context. National Identity And Economy The generation which builds up the PKK was born into a traumatized society, moulded by the experience of 28 Kurdish uprisings crushed by the Turkish Republic. There was no talk about the experienced humiliations, but nevertheless fear and helplessness in the face of state institutions were their visible result. The strangeness in the face of the state was increased by the problem of language. Because of missing school education, especially the women couldn't speak nearly any Turkish and correspondingly children learned mostly Kurdish in their first years. When entering elementary school, most children had to learn a completely new language. While the curriculum glorified "Turk-ness", the teachers communicated with the pupils by lifting pictures. Officially, the problem mustn't exist, and so the education became a mockery. Eventually the pupils finally learned Ataturk's motto: "How lucky is he who can say 'I'm a Turk!'" Besides such experiences, which also children made with the state, the marginalization of big sectors of Kurdish society, respectively the fear being marginalized, played an important part. A rapid increase in population and progress of mechanization of farming made redundant a lot of working power. Additionally, the state economic policy, concerning both infrastructure and direct public investment, was fixated almost completely on the Turkish provinces. A comparison of the gross national product per capita between the richest Turkish province Kocaeli- $3650/year - and the Kurdish province Hakkari - $177/year - demonstrates the differences of wealth. A 50% rate of illiteracy in Kurdistan demonstrates the worse starting chances in the education system. Consequently the experiences of cultural and economic oppression are closely linked for the Kurdish population. The Turkish state does substantiate this further in its own kind. Turkish nationalism taught in the schools suggests a feeling of being taken care of in the term of the nation, like all nationalisms. This creates a feeling of preferring Turks in comparison to non-Turks. From the Kurdish point of view this seems to be completely confirmed. They are not real Turks, and in fact they live under worse conditions. The PKK considers Kurdistan a colony of Turkey. (2) As a supplier of raw materials and agricultural products, as a market for the industrial products of Turkey, politically without national sovereignty, the economy of Kurdistan in fact fits into the classic term of a colony. The existence of social contradictions also within Kurdish society isn't neglected. But the social question is subordinated to the national question. This is connected to the development of the traditional Kurdish society. (3) In connection with the strengthening of the modern state, of its legal and administrative apparatus, and changes of the agricultural mode of production, the former ruling layer of the Kurdish society, consisting of aghas and sheiks, was robbed of their traditional functions. But their material privileges didn't vanish. Instead of being based on the traditional tributes, their wealth is now founded on state-guaranteed large estates. Thus they became natural allies of the state. Not only that, they abuse their position as informers of the Turkish secret service. Since the beginning of the armed struggle, they have also played a decisive part in the implementation of the village guard militias. Thus the land question remains one of the social explosives, which the Turkish state cannot defuse because it needs the aghas for the ruling of Kurdistan. The sociologist Ismail Besikci drastically describes this relationship between large estate ownership and the state by characterizing the large estate owners as an "agent class". (5) The PKK normally calls them a "comprador class". National struggle and class struggle merge in the disposal of this feudal class. Hence the PKK considers the major problems of Kurdish society as being induced from outside. But in contrast with some purely nationalist movements in Europe, it doesn't argue that the oppressors in reality would be of foreign origin. (6) The "manifesto" of the founding party congress captures this priority of the national question: "The main conflict of the country is of national quality and the solution of all other conflicts depends on the solution of this main conflict. Starting from the non-development of the productive powers, the national history, language, and culture, to the dominance of the darkness of the Middle Ages ..." Only after the national democratic revolution "without interruption the transition to the socialist revolution" starts. The economy takes shape on the level of the people's democracy. This system permits "state socialism, the cooperative system, and private ownership" and is "under supervision of a central Institute for National Planning, authorized to give orders". Vague as they are, these formulations allow different for economic models; even the mixed system of the Turkish economy of the 1970s could be applied by such terms a good bid. Also the collapse of real-existing socialism has resulted in an imprecise criticism of "the illnesses of bureaucratism" by the PKK, but it hasn't resulted in a new economic theory. The question arises, whether the PKK is really fighting for a new economic system, or rather for a new identity and authority. Becoming One State The position of the PKK concerning an independent state has to be considered against the background of the later Kurdish history. Forms of improvements of Kurdish status other than sovereignty have already existed in parts of Kurdistan for some time. They have always arisen from a weakness of the respective national state, and always they were null and void as soon as the state grew stronger again. This starts with the disregard of minority rights laid down in the Lausanne Peace Treaty of 1923 by the Turkish Republic, and continues in the attempts at autonomy under Mustafa Barzani in Iraq in the early 1970s, the blighted hopes after the Iranian Revolution in 1979, and the failed attempt of a new autonomy in Iraq under Jalal Talabani in 1985. Also the experience with the so-called UN Protection Zone in northern Iraq, which is under attack by the neighbouring states at their pleasure, belongs in this list. In his book "Kurdistan: Interstate Colony", published in 1990, Ismail Besikci (8) illustrates another explanation for the Kurdish desire for sovereignty. In a fictitious dialogue he lets a Kurdish farmer say: "Sir, one needs an independent state to fight against another state. We are poor and uneducated people. But the Turkish state is great and powerful. It has an army. It has planes, tanks, cannons, and guns. It has the police, the prisons, the police stations, the schools, the newspapers, the radio, just about everything. What do we have? Nothing." The farmer's answer contains two considerations important for the development of the struggle of the PKK. First, that the power of a state doesn't only consist of its armed repression organs; second, that one may need something like a state to fight against another state, that an independent state isn't just the reward of the struggle but could also be the means of it. Ataturk's state shall be deflected by its own instruments: by the Kemalist fetish for the nation state. Thus the PKK begins to act more and more like a state. Also, other resistance movements have their own flags and ceremonies, but which liberation militia has ever asked for visa for its own area and has stamped passports? Among the Kurds exiled in Europe, the PKK has conducted elections for a Kurdish national parliament. In Kurdistan itself, the PKK enacts actual laws. Alcohol and gambling are forbidden, so is watching national television, thus the antennas had to be dismounted. Lawsuits are not to be taken to the Turkish courts, but rather to the guerrilla. Service in the Turkish army and the payment of taxes to the Turkish state are forbidden, Turkish political party offices are closed, the distribution of newspapers of the media loyal to the Turkish regime is interdicted, journalists were ordered to leave, international media needs permission, comparable to the accreditation of a real state. If necessary, these prohibitions are enforced. To what extent they are followed, and what conflicts they are producing, is hard to judge. Some, like the prohibition of alcohol, have led to visible changes. An important example for the struggle against the public service system are the schools. Almost 5,000 Turkish schools were closed in Kurdistan. In the magazine Berxwedan (9) this is summed up like this: "The institutions of colonialistic assimilation were closed." The build-up of the Kurdish state doesn't take place in liberated zones (10), in which the state power isn't present at all anymore, but in full view of the stunned Turkish state. The antennas vanish from the roofs, the alcohol from the shelves of the shops, the number of lawsuits in the courts decreases, the frightened teachers leave the schools. In Ankara, meanwhile, they consider draconian punishments, even for the dismounting of an antenna. Still, the government has not realized that the PKK cannot be gotten at by repression. So the PKK doesn't come along with a programme for a new society, but rather with a new state. What the PKK offers as a programme is only slightly different from positions of competing Kurdish parties in its time of founding. The programme of the PKK is little concrete in factual issues and is hardly developed. The slogans of the PKK don't contain social demands like "Land for everybody" or "Bread for everybody", but refer to the struggle for Kurdistan, to the party, its chairman, etc. This form of socialism, on whose realization they still insist, is an empty term. But where should faith in a programme in Kurdistan come from? In traditional Kurdish society, one always turned to a personal authority, not to written law. The Turkish state above all behaved as a new authority with a rather random use of violence. In the administrative offices the simple people mainly feel as being petitioners, dependant on the grace of the highest-ranking official as possible. Social security still almost completely depends on the family. The state, whose missing is bemoaned by Besikci's farmer, and also the party, with its popular leader Abdullah Ocalan (11), again are just another authority, but finally one which isn't conceived as hostile, and at the same time seems to be strong enough to give protection even against states. (12) This is the main reason for the backing which the PKK receives from the Kurdish population. It takes up the experiences of cultural and economic oppression, of marginalization or threatening marginalization of big sectors of Kurdish society, and it is the only party which is able to stand up to Turkish state terrorism. Even without a decided social programme (13) and on the background of authoritarian structures within Kurdish society itself, the armed struggle of the PKK against the oppression of the Kurdish minority is experienced as a liberating step. Nevertheless, the absence of a concrete social model leaves a gap which is closed with moralistic attitudes, similar to real-existing socialism's "socialistic morals" and the French Revolution's "brotherhood". "Developing The New Human Being" (14) Instead of a concrete socio-economic programme, the emphasis on the vanguard role of the PKK and its importance for the creation of a "new humanity" is appearing again and again in the publications of the PKK and in the statements of its chair Ocalan. In this context, the PKK itself suggests a certain affinity to the Cuban Revolution and to Guevarism. Central importance is ascribed to the function of a politicized and organized vanguard already in the "Manifesto" of 1978: "In all phases of history, consciousness was applied to the peoples and classes from the outside. A 'minority' torn away from production sets the theory and tries to make it the theory of the people from the outside. For the colonial people, a national liberation movement cannot be achieved without the production of a patriotic youth and intellectual movement under the leadership of a conscious and organized 'minority'". (15) It is made quite plain that this task is due to the PKK as the leading political organization, the national liberation front formed under its leadership (the ERNK), and the people's army led by this political structure (the ARGK). But the PKK isn't content with the establishment of its vanguard function on the basis of such considerations on a revolutionary theoretical/strategic level. What is more, it is its particular concern that a new type of human being be created and realized in the Kurdish revolution, led by the PKK, which is able to develop a socialism beyond the malformations of socialist models tested until now, and which is able to give a universal importance for the development of humankind towards socialism, far surpassing the constitution as a nation, to the Kurdish revolution. This rhetoric obviously aims at two points, besides just the general strengthening of the ideological legitimation of the armed liberation struggle of the PKK. The differentiation from both the discredited real-existing socialist models of the Soviet type, while emphasizing the original Kurdish contribution to the socialist idea, and bourgeois-nationalist tendencies and liberation movements, labelled "primitive nationalism". The orientation towards socialist internationalism is held out to the latter. (16) Consequently, one prominent feature of the definitions of the socialism of the PKK in the thought of Abdullah Ocalan and others is the emphasis on subjective elements, such as will, morals, and idealistic values. "Without doubt, all social developments are related to the underlying economic developments. Nonetheless the aspect of morals and will figure large. The most important aspect, contributing a lot to the realization of socialism, in our opinion, is the aspect of morals. We consider this aspect as being more important than the economic aspect (!)" (17) Accordingly, the problem of revolutionary practice is posed for Ocalan as follows: "If we want to create socialism, then in the first place we have to create the human being, within our own small cores, who shall build socialism ... We define this as the task of the practice of the militants. Those who want to take socialism seriously have the task of how they can educate themselves to be socialists, how they can organize an intensive education of their feelings and thoughts ..." (18) Thus a specific importance is given to the instruction and education of Kurdish revolutionaries to "a firm personality and an own identity". The already named sociologist Ismail Besikci is suggesting an interpretation of the vanguard concept of the PKK by referring to Frantz Fanon: "Societies and people who don't stand up against oppression and resign themselves to it are hurt in the innermost heart. Frantz Fanon makes plain 'that it is very difficult to organize the people and raise the level of struggle against the colonial power in such an atmosphere ... When an activist is firing the first shot against the colonialist and imperialist state, he is actually killing himself.' According to Frantz Fanon, the first shot is killing the enslaved, oppressed, and constantly frightened personality of the human being ... He will become a human being who has confidence in himself, his family, his compatriots, and his nation.'" (19) With this interpretation, Besikci, who certainly emphasises that this "first shot" also may be an anti-colonial press-product, is moving closely to the self-definition of the PKK. Abdullah Ocalan himself has stressed in interviews how difficult it was for him to overcome his old Kurdish "slave mentality". It becomes evident that the emphasis on the "new human being" and on the morally fortified personality in the vanguard concept of the PKK has a great deal to do with the mobilization of identity creating resources for the realization of the national liberation struggle against the Turkish state. For the necessary construction of the "real fiction" (Detlev Claussen) nation, under the specific conditions of an extreme force of assimilation and of complete denial of Kurdish identity by the Kemalist doctrine in the Turkish part of Kurdistan, from the beginning delineation in the "interior" appeared as being at least just as necessary as the one against the "outside" to the PKK. That means the delineation against all forms of appearance of assimilation and colonization within Kurdish society, the struggle against Kurdish collaborators as the concrete expression of the Kurdish slave mentality. Concerning the delineation against the "outside", however, it was always emphasized that it is directed at the Turkish state and not against the Turkish population, who, after all, are oppressed by the same state. This was wrapped up in the terminology of the "brotherhood of peoples" in the sense of proletarian internationalism. Meanwhile, isolated voices in the surroundings of the PKK warningly concede that this distinction between anti-colonialism and ethnical demarcation is threatened of losing its clearness under the pressure of the military escalation of the conflict. (20) The Relevance Of The Liberation Struggle Of The PKK For Kurdish Women Perhaps the most far-reaching social transformations for the Kurdish society brought about by the Kurdish liberation struggle are the ones regarding the role of women. These transformations are closely related to the liberation struggle, but cannot be explained solely by the programme and the position of the PKK concerning problems of male dominance and the oppression of women. As relatives of Kurdish fighters and activists, women have played a decisive role in the broadening of the social base of the Kurdish liberation struggle. They didn't participate in the proscription of their children and relatives imprisoned as "terrorists" demanded by the state, and set out for the public areas of the towns to intervene at the courts, police stations, and jails with the help of lawyers and they organized themselves in relatives groups and human rights associations. The Kurdish scientist Yayla Monch-Bucak explains this with the example of a woman who forced an autopsy of her husband, with the help of a lawyer, who allegedly was "shot while attempting to escape", and this autopsy proved that torture was the real cause of death. She exemplifies: "Also such a behaviour is revolutionary for a Kurdish woman. Because it has to be considered that most women are illiterates, don't speak the official language, Turkish, and often have never left their village before." As another example she also mentions a demonstration of mainly elderly women in front of a prison, women who had come together when their sons were on hungerstrike against the conditions in the prison. Not only the police considered this "un-feminine" behaviour, according to traditional values outrageous, but also some of the husbands of the demonstrators got divorced afterwards. Also the massive entry of women into the ranks of the armed struggle - it is said that a third of the PKK guerrilla consists of women - represents a decisive break with the existing family traditions and has certainly resulted in transformations. The liberation of women also figures large in the programme of the PKK. Abdullah Ocalan has written several papers concerning the issues of women and the family. In its programmatic statements, the Kurdish women's association YJWK (Union of Patriotic Women of Kurdistan) stresses that national liberation isn't identical with the liberation of women. But it becomes obvious that the national liberation struggle under the leadership of the PKK makes up the framework in which also the more far-reaching social liberation of women is to be considered. In an article by women of the YJWK (22) this relationship is exemplified more closely: "It is not quite correct to call this (the solidarity of women with the prisoners) a women's movement. Also, the widespread participation of women in the support of the guerrilla in connection with the fallen martyrs in the recent years isn't a women's movement by its nature. But such an upheaval of women within the structures of the struggle, their open actions against the enemy, inevitably also result in putting their own problems and the demands of women on the agenda." But there is the danger "that everything remains within the framework of the political national liberation movement, that the political and social identity of women isn't defined really ... from the female point of view." Definitely we can state that the transformations of the self-image and behaviour of Kurdish women achieved by the liberation struggle are not completely tied to its fate. But the question arises, whether the experiences of Kurdish women made in the liberation struggle are inroads into the existing social conditions, which cannot be turned back also in the case of a failure of the PKK, specifically a roll-back, in one way or another, against the self-determination of women. Conclusions The PKK stands for a decided modernization of Kurdish society. For the case of the removal of Turkish power and the removal of the oppression of the agha class allied to it, the PKK promises "the liberation of women, of farmers, of minorities, of the whole social structure". By building mass organisations for different social groups, the PKK is giving shape to the emancipation of the oppressed and is making this emancipation an important factor of its success. The most visible case is the example of women. It is significant that this modernization by emancipation of various social groups is directed against the Turkish state. After all, it is the Turkish state which until now has forestalled such a modernization in its fear of uncontrolled political movements, by its alliance with conservative forces within Kurdish society, and through the neglect of the educational system and economic development. On the other hand we can also clearly identify the tendency to tie up the emancipatory and potentially divergent forces of society, and by this finally turn them back again. The obvious neglect of factual issues and concrete social demands, the vanguard concept etc., are all part of this. This is met by a way of thinking orientated towards authority, whose social roots go back deep into history. When Abdullah Ocalan states that "developments which took centuries in the history of other nations were made in the last fourteen years in Kurdistan", he is only partly correct. The old authoritarian relationships are fought by the PKK, but there is the danger of creating new ones within the party. Footnotes: (1) Verbatim translation of "Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan", PKK. (2) Abdullah Ocalan, "Kurdistan Devriminin Yolu (Manifesto)"; cited from the 5th edition, Cologne (FRG) 1993, p.121ff. Abdullah Ocalan has been the leader of the PKK since its founding on 27.11.1978. The Manifesto was adopted as the point of view of the party at the founding party congress. (3) The relationship between large estate owners, traditional society, and state authority is described by Martin von Bruinessen in his standard work "Agha, Sheik, and State. Politics and Society of Kurdistan", Berlin (FRG) 1989. (4) Originally clan- and tribe-leader and teacher of the religious orders banned by Ataturk; see footnote (3). (5) Ismail Besikci, "Devletlerasi somurge Kurdistan", Istanbul 1990; cited from the German translation of "Kurdistan: Interstate Colony", Frankfurt/M (FRG), p.113ff. (6) This happened, for example, in the former Soviet Union, when the ruling class was characterized as "verjudet" (ie, under the influence of a Jewish conspiracy) by such movements. Similarly in Turkey a propaganda below the official level is spread which tries to defame the members of the PKK as Armenians or Anatolian Greeks. (7) The Manifesto defends sovereignty as the only correct solution. However Abdullah Ocalan suggested flexibility in this question when announcing the unilateral cease-fire in the spring of 1993. (8) See Footnote (5). (9) No. 165, 15.11.1993. (10) The Turkish state had to evacuate some military bases and its authority is crumbling regionally. On the other hand the PKK isn't able to maintain a single firm base within the Turkish borders. (11) Generally called Apo, originating from "ap", meaning "uncle from the father's side". (12) Already the Kurdish national epos "Mem u Zin", dated from the 17th century, contains such an idea: "If we had a king ... we would have been asked for also." Cited from Besikci, see above, p.222. (13) In its initial stage, however, the PKK was strongly engaged in the organising of militant land occupations. Through this it gained great sympathy amongst the unemployed rural population. Today, the land question takes a relative status in contrast to national liberation. (14) Headline of an article in Kurdistan Report, No.52 (FRG), 1992, p.21. (15) Manifesto, p.153. (16) Consequently, central points of criticism of Soviet-Marxist socialism, besides bureaucratism, are "the loss of morals and the reduction to materialism" (Ocalan), just as limitless consumerism is criticized in capitalism. (17) Ali Firat, Kurdistan Report, No.55 (FRG), p.26. (18) Abdullah Ocalan in Kurdistan Report, No.50 (FRG), special supplement p.X. (19) Besikci 1991, see above, p.57. (20) See article by Cemil Gundogan in Ozgur Gundem, 28.1.1994; cited from Freitag, 11.3.1994. (21) Lecture on a meeting in Freiburg (FRG), Jan. 1992. (22) N.N. article in Kurdistan Report, No.44 (FRG), 1992, p.18. This article is taken from the book "... alles aendert sich die ganze Zeit. Soziale Bewegung(en) im 'Nahen Osten'" ("...everything changes all the time. Social Movement(s) in the 'Middle East'"), edited by Jorg Spaeter. Published by Verlag Informationszentrum Dritte Welt, Kronenstrasse 16 HH, 79020 Freiburg, Germany. Translation: Someone from SpinnenNetz/ICN Berlin (With the hope that the translation isn't too bad!) ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++ ++++ see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++ +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist collective based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of material, including political prisoners, national liberation struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings, research, and translation materials in our magazine and bulletins called Arm The Spirit. For more information, contact: Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P7 Canada E-mail: ats at etext.org WWW: gopher://locust.cic.net:70/11/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== From kurdeng at aps.nl Wed Aug 23 22:03:05 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 23 Aug 1995 22:03:05 Subject: The Social Programme Of The PKK References: Message-ID: ------------------------ Forwarded from : ats at etext.org ------------------------ Liberation Into The State? The Social Programme Of The PKK As a national liberation movement of the Marxist-Leninist type, the Kurdistan Workers Party (1) is a seemingly paradoxical phenomenon: It represents a type of party which loses its relevance in the whole world, but at the same time the PKK is plainly successful. Obviously simple characteristics like "nationalism", "Marxism", etc. don't meet the specific conditions which the PKK is acting under. That means the problem has a certain essence of its own and general terms are not necessarily useful to its description. Here we want to examine important concepts of the PKK for their concrete use and their political and social context. National Identity And Economy The generation which builds up the PKK was born into a traumatized society, moulded by the experience of 28 Kurdish uprisings crushed by the Turkish Republic. There was no talk about the experienced humiliations, but nevertheless fear and helplessness in the face of state institutions were their visible result. The strangeness in the face of the state was increased by the problem of language. Because of missing school education, especially the women couldn't speak nearly any Turkish and correspondingly children learned mostly Kurdish in their first years. When entering elementary school, most children had to learn a completely new language. While the curriculum glorified "Turk-ness", the teachers communicated with the pupils by lifting pictures. Officially, the problem mustn't exist, and so the education became a mockery. Eventually the pupils finally learned Ataturk's motto: "How lucky is he who can say 'I'm a Turk!'" Besides such experiences, which also children made with the state, the marginalization of big sectors of Kurdish society, respectively the fear being marginalized, played an important part. A rapid increase in population and progress of mechanization of farming made redundant a lot of working power. Additionally, the state economic policy, concerning both infrastructure and direct public investment, was fixated almost completely on the Turkish provinces. A comparison of the gross national product per capita between the richest Turkish province Kocaeli- $3650/year - and the Kurdish province Hakkari - $177/year - demonstrates the differences of wealth. A 50% rate of illiteracy in Kurdistan demonstrates the worse starting chances in the education system. Consequently the experiences of cultural and economic oppression are closely linked for the Kurdish population. The Turkish state does substantiate this further in its own kind. Turkish nationalism taught in the schools suggests a feeling of being taken care of in the term of the nation, like all nationalisms. This creates a feeling of preferring Turks in comparison to non-Turks. From the Kurdish point of view this seems to be completely confirmed. They are not real Turks, and in fact they live under worse conditions. The PKK considers Kurdistan a colony of Turkey. (2) As a supplier of raw materials and agricultural products, as a market for the industrial products of Turkey, politically without national sovereignty, the economy of Kurdistan in fact fits into the classic term of a colony. The existence of social contradictions also within Kurdish society isn't neglected. But the social question is subordinated to the national question. This is connected to the development of the traditional Kurdish society. (3) In connection with the strengthening of the modern state, of its legal and administrative apparatus, and changes of the agricultural mode of production, the former ruling layer of the Kurdish society, consisting of aghas and sheiks, was robbed of their traditional functions. But their material privileges didn't vanish. Instead of being based on the traditional tributes, their wealth is now founded on state-guaranteed large estates. Thus they became natural allies of the state. Not only that, they abuse their position as informers of the Turkish secret service. Since the beginning of the armed struggle, they have also played a decisive part in the implementation of the village guard militias. Thus the land question remains one of the social explosives, which the Turkish state cannot defuse because it needs the aghas for the ruling of Kurdistan. The sociologist Ismail Besikci drastically describes this relationship between large estate ownership and the state by characterizing the large estate owners as an "agent class". (5) The PKK normally calls them a "comprador class". National struggle and class struggle merge in the disposal of this feudal class. Hence the PKK considers the major problems of Kurdish society as being induced from outside. But in contrast with some purely nationalist movements in Europe, it doesn't argue that the oppressors in reality would be of foreign origin. (6) The "manifesto" of the founding party congress captures this priority of the national question: "The main conflict of the country is of national quality and the solution of all other conflicts depends on the solution of this main conflict. Starting from the non-development of the productive powers, the national history, language, and culture, to the dominance of the darkness of the Middle Ages ..." Only after the national democratic revolution "without interruption the transition to the socialist revolution" starts. The economy takes shape on the level of the people's democracy. This system permits "state socialism, the cooperative system, and private ownership" and is "under supervision of a central Institute for National Planning, authorized to give orders". Vague as they are, these formulations allow different for economic models; even the mixed system of the Turkish economy of the 1970s could be applied by such terms a good bid. Also the collapse of real-existing socialism has resulted in an imprecise criticism of "the illnesses of bureaucratism" by the PKK, but it hasn't resulted in a new economic theory. The question arises, whether the PKK is really fighting for a new economic system, or rather for a new identity and authority. Becoming One State The position of the PKK concerning an independent state has to be considered against the background of the later Kurdish history. Forms of improvements of Kurdish status other than sovereignty have already existed in parts of Kurdistan for some time. They have always arisen from a weakness of the respective national state, and always they were null and void as soon as the state grew stronger again. This starts with the disregard of minority rights laid down in the Lausanne Peace Treaty of 1923 by the Turkish Republic, and continues in the attempts at autonomy under Mustafa Barzani in Iraq in the early 1970s, the blighted hopes after the Iranian Revolution in 1979, and the failed attempt of a new autonomy in Iraq under Jalal Talabani in 1985. Also the experience with the so-called UN Protection Zone in northern Iraq, which is under attack by the neighbouring states at their pleasure, belongs in this list. In his book "Kurdistan: Interstate Colony", published in 1990, Ismail Besikci (8) illustrates another explanation for the Kurdish desire for sovereignty. In a fictitious dialogue he lets a Kurdish farmer say: "Sir, one needs an independent state to fight against another state. We are poor and uneducated people. But the Turkish state is great and powerful. It has an army. It has planes, tanks, cannons, and guns. It has the police, the prisons, the police stations, the schools, the newspapers, the radio, just about everything. What do we have? Nothing." The farmer's answer contains two considerations important for the development of the struggle of the PKK. First, that the power of a state doesn't only consist of its armed repression organs; second, that one may need something like a state to fight against another state, that an independent state isn't just the reward of the struggle but could also be the means of it. Ataturk's state shall be deflected by its own instruments: by the Kemalist fetish for the nation state. Thus the PKK begins to act more and more like a state. Also, other resistance movements have their own flags and ceremonies, but which liberation militia has ever asked for visa for its own area and has stamped passports? Among the Kurds exiled in Europe, the PKK has conducted elections for a Kurdish national parliament. In Kurdistan itself, the PKK enacts actual laws. Alcohol and gambling are forbidden, so is watching national television, thus the antennas had to be dismounted. Lawsuits are not to be taken to the Turkish courts, but rather to the guerrilla. Service in the Turkish army and the payment of taxes to the Turkish state are forbidden, Turkish political party offices are closed, the distribution of newspapers of the media loyal to the Turkish regime is interdicted, journalists were ordered to leave, international media needs permission, comparable to the accreditation of a real state. If necessary, these prohibitions are enforced. To what extent they are followed, and what conflicts they are producing, is hard to judge. Some, like the prohibition of alcohol, have led to visible changes. An important example for the struggle against the public service system are the schools. Almost 5,000 Turkish schools were closed in Kurdistan. In the magazine Berxwedan (9) this is summed up like this: "The institutions of colonialistic assimilation were closed." The build-up of the Kurdish state doesn't take place in liberated zones (10), in which the state power isn't present at all anymore, but in full view of the stunned Turkish state. The antennas vanish from the roofs, the alcohol from the shelves of the shops, the number of lawsuits in the courts decreases, the frightened teachers leave the schools. In Ankara, meanwhile, they consider draconian punishments, even for the dismounting of an antenna. Still, the government has not realized that the PKK cannot be gotten at by repression. So the PKK doesn't come along with a programme for a new society, but rather with a new state. What the PKK offers as a programme is only slightly different from positions of competing Kurdish parties in its time of founding. The programme of the PKK is little concrete in factual issues and is hardly developed. The slogans of the PKK don't contain social demands like "Land for everybody" or "Bread for everybody", but refer to the struggle for Kurdistan, to the party, its chairman, etc. This form of socialism, on whose realization they still insist, is an empty term. But where should faith in a programme in Kurdistan come from? In traditional Kurdish society, one always turned to a personal authority, not to written law. The Turkish state above all behaved as a new authority with a rather random use of violence. In the administrative offices the simple people mainly feel as being petitioners, dependant on the grace of the highest-ranking official as possible. Social security still almost completely depends on the family. The state, whose missing is bemoaned by Besikci's farmer, and also the party, with its popular leader Abdullah Ocalan (11), again are just another authority, but finally one which isn't conceived as hostile, and at the same time seems to be strong enough to give protection even against states. (12) This is the main reason for the backing which the PKK receives from the Kurdish population. It takes up the experiences of cultural and economic oppression, of marginalization or threatening marginalization of big sectors of Kurdish society, and it is the only party which is able to stand up to Turkish state terrorism. Even without a decided social programme (13) and on the background of authoritarian structures within Kurdish society itself, the armed struggle of the PKK against the oppression of the Kurdish minority is experienced as a liberating step. Nevertheless, the absence of a concrete social model leaves a gap which is closed with moralistic attitudes, similar to real-existing socialism's "socialistic morals" and the French Revolution's "brotherhood". "Developing The New Human Being" (14) Instead of a concrete socio-economic programme, the emphasis on the vanguard role of the PKK and its importance for the creation of a "new humanity" is appearing again and again in the publications of the PKK and in the statements of its chair Ocalan. In this context, the PKK itself suggests a certain affinity to the Cuban Revolution and to Guevarism. Central importance is ascribed to the function of a politicized and organized vanguard already in the "Manifesto" of 1978: "In all phases of history, consciousness was applied to the peoples and classes from the outside. A 'minority' torn away from production sets the theory and tries to make it the theory of the people from the outside. For the colonial people, a national liberation movement cannot be achieved without the production of a patriotic youth and intellectual movement under the leadership of a conscious and organized 'minority'". (15) It is made quite plain that this task is due to the PKK as the leading political organization, the national liberation front formed under its leadership (the ERNK), and the people's army led by this political structure (the ARGK). But the PKK isn't content with the establishment of its vanguard function on the basis of such considerations on a revolutionary theoretical/strategic level. What is more, it is its particular concern that a new type of human being be created and realized in the Kurdish revolution, led by the PKK, which is able to develop a socialism beyond the malformations of socialist models tested until now, and which is able to give a universal importance for the development of humankind towards socialism, far surpassing the constitution as a nation, to the Kurdish revolution. This rhetoric obviously aims at two points, besides just the general strengthening of the ideological legitimation of the armed liberation struggle of the PKK. The differentiation from both the discredited real-existing socialist models of the Soviet type, while emphasizing the original Kurdish contribution to the socialist idea, and bourgeois-nationalist tendencies and liberation movements, labelled "primitive nationalism". The orientation towards socialist internationalism is held out to the latter. (16) Consequently, one prominent feature of the definitions of the socialism of the PKK in the thought of Abdullah Ocalan and others is the emphasis on subjective elements, such as will, morals, and idealistic values. "Without doubt, all social developments are related to the underlying economic developments. Nonetheless the aspect of morals and will figure large. The most important aspect, contributing a lot to the realization of socialism, in our opinion, is the aspect of morals. We consider this aspect as being more important than the economic aspect (!)" (17) Accordingly, the problem of revolutionary practice is posed for Ocalan as follows: "If we want to create socialism, then in the first place we have to create the human being, within our own small cores, who shall build socialism ... We define this as the task of the practice of the militants. Those who want to take socialism seriously have the task of how they can educate themselves to be socialists, how they can organize an intensive education of their feelings and thoughts ..." (18) Thus a specific importance is given to the instruction and education of Kurdish revolutionaries to "a firm personality and an own identity". The already named sociologist Ismail Besikci is suggesting an interpretation of the vanguard concept of the PKK by referring to Frantz Fanon: "Societies and people who don't stand up against oppression and resign themselves to it are hurt in the innermost heart. Frantz Fanon makes plain 'that it is very difficult to organize the people and raise the level of struggle against the colonial power in such an atmosphere ... When an activist is firing the first shot against the colonialist and imperialist state, he is actually killing himself.' According to Frantz Fanon, the first shot is killing the enslaved, oppressed, and constantly frightened personality of the human being ... He will become a human being who has confidence in himself, his family, his compatriots, and his nation.'" (19) With this interpretation, Besikci, who certainly emphasises that this "first shot" also may be an anti-colonial press-product, is moving closely to the self-definition of the PKK. Abdullah Ocalan himself has stressed in interviews how difficult it was for him to overcome his old Kurdish "slave mentality". It becomes evident that the emphasis on the "new human being" and on the morally fortified personality in the vanguard concept of the PKK has a great deal to do with the mobilization of identity creating resources for the realization of the national liberation struggle against the Turkish state. For the necessary construction of the "real fiction" (Detlev Claussen) nation, under the specific conditions of an extreme force of assimilation and of complete denial of Kurdish identity by the Kemalist doctrine in the Turkish part of Kurdistan, from the beginning delineation in the "interior" appeared as being at least just as necessary as the one against the "outside" to the PKK. That means the delineation against all forms of appearance of assimilation and colonization within Kurdish society, the struggle against Kurdish collaborators as the concrete expression of the Kurdish slave mentality. Concerning the delineation against the "outside", however, it was always emphasized that it is directed at the Turkish state and not against the Turkish population, who, after all, are oppressed by the same state. This was wrapped up in the terminology of the "brotherhood of peoples" in the sense of proletarian internationalism. Meanwhile, isolated voices in the surroundings of the PKK warningly concede that this distinction between anti-colonialism and ethnical demarcation is threatened of losing its clearness under the pressure of the military escalation of the conflict. (20) The Relevance Of The Liberation Struggle Of The PKK For Kurdish Women Perhaps the most far-reaching social transformations for the Kurdish society brought about by the Kurdish liberation struggle are the ones regarding the role of women. These transformations are closely related to the liberation struggle, but cannot be explained solely by the programme and the position of the PKK concerning problems of male dominance and the oppression of women. As relatives of Kurdish fighters and activists, women have played a decisive role in the broadening of the social base of the Kurdish liberation struggle. They didn't participate in the proscription of their children and relatives imprisoned as "terrorists" demanded by the state, and set out for the public areas of the towns to intervene at the courts, police stations, and jails with the help of lawyers and they organized themselves in relatives groups and human rights associations. The Kurdish scientist Yayla Monch-Bucak explains this with the example of a woman who forced an autopsy of her husband, with the help of a lawyer, who allegedly was "shot while attempting to escape", and this autopsy proved that torture was the real cause of death. She exemplifies: "Also such a behaviour is revolutionary for a Kurdish woman. Because it has to be considered that most women are illiterates, don't speak the official language, Turkish, and often have never left their village before." As another example she also mentions a demonstration of mainly elderly women in front of a prison, women who had come together when their sons were on hungerstrike against the conditions in the prison. Not only the police considered this "un-feminine" behaviour, according to traditional values outrageous, but also some of the husbands of the demonstrators got divorced afterwards. Also the massive entry of women into the ranks of the armed struggle - it is said that a third of the PKK guerrilla consists of women - represents a decisive break with the existing family traditions and has certainly resulted in transformations. The liberation of women also figures large in the programme of the PKK. Abdullah Ocalan has written several papers concerning the issues of women and the family. In its programmatic statements, the Kurdish women's association YJWK (Union of Patriotic Women of Kurdistan) stresses that national liberation isn't identical with the liberation of women. But it becomes obvious that the national liberation struggle under the leadership of the PKK makes up the framework in which also the more far-reaching social liberation of women is to be considered. In an article by women of the YJWK (22) this relationship is exemplified more closely: "It is not quite correct to call this (the solidarity of women with the prisoners) a women's movement. Also, the widespread participation of women in the support of the guerrilla in connection with the fallen martyrs in the recent years isn't a women's movement by its nature. But such an upheaval of women within the structures of the struggle, their open actions against the enemy, inevitably also result in putting their own problems and the demands of women on the agenda." But there is the danger "that everything remains within the framework of the political national liberation movement, that the political and social identity of women isn't defined really ... from the female point of view." Definitely we can state that the transformations of the self-image and behaviour of Kurdish women achieved by the liberation struggle are not completely tied to its fate. But the question arises, whether the experiences of Kurdish women made in the liberation struggle are inroads into the existing social conditions, which cannot be turned back also in the case of a failure of the PKK, specifically a roll-back, in one way or another, against the self-determination of women. Conclusions The PKK stands for a decided modernization of Kurdish society. For the case of the removal of Turkish power and the removal of the oppression of the agha class allied to it, the PKK promises "the liberation of women, of farmers, of minorities, of the whole social structure". By building mass organisations for different social groups, the PKK is giving shape to the emancipation of the oppressed and is making this emancipation an important factor of its success. The most visible case is the example of women. It is significant that this modernization by emancipation of various social groups is directed against the Turkish state. After all, it is the Turkish state which until now has forestalled such a modernization in its fear of uncontrolled political movements, by its alliance with conservative forces within Kurdish society, and through the neglect of the educational system and economic development. On the other hand we can also clearly identify the tendency to tie up the emancipatory and potentially divergent forces of society, and by this finally turn them back again. The obvious neglect of factual issues and concrete social demands, the vanguard concept etc., are all part of this. This is met by a way of thinking orientated towards authority, whose social roots go back deep into history. When Abdullah Ocalan states that "developments which took centuries in the history of other nations were made in the last fourteen years in Kurdistan", he is only partly correct. The old authoritarian relationships are fought by the PKK, but there is the danger of creating new ones within the party. Footnotes: (1) Verbatim translation of "Partiya Karkeren Kurdistan", PKK. (2) Abdullah Ocalan, "Kurdistan Devriminin Yolu (Manifesto)"; cited from the 5th edition, Cologne (FRG) 1993, p.121ff. Abdullah Ocalan has been the leader of the PKK since its founding on 27.11.1978. The Manifesto was adopted as the point of view of the party at the founding party congress. (3) The relationship between large estate owners, traditional society, and state authority is described by Martin von Bruinessen in his standard work "Agha, Sheik, and State. Politics and Society of Kurdistan", Berlin (FRG) 1989. (4) Originally clan- and tribe-leader and teacher of the religious orders banned by Ataturk; see footnote (3). (5) Ismail Besikci, "Devletlerasi somurge Kurdistan", Istanbul 1990; cited from the German translation of "Kurdistan: Interstate Colony", Frankfurt/M (FRG), p.113ff. (6) This happened, for example, in the former Soviet Union, when the ruling class was characterized as "verjudet" (ie, under the influence of a Jewish conspiracy) by such movements. Similarly in Turkey a propaganda below the official level is spread which tries to defame the members of the PKK as Armenians or Anatolian Greeks. (7) The Manifesto defends sovereignty as the only correct solution. However Abdullah Ocalan suggested flexibility in this question when announcing the unilateral cease-fire in the spring of 1993. (8) See Footnote (5). (9) No. 165, 15.11.1993. (10) The Turkish state had to evacuate some military bases and its authority is crumbling regionally. On the other hand the PKK isn't able to maintain a single firm base within the Turkish borders. (11) Generally called Apo, originating from "ap", meaning "uncle from the father's side". (12) Already the Kurdish national epos "Mem u Zin", dated from the 17th century, contains such an idea: "If we had a king ... we would have been asked for also." Cited from Besikci, see above, p.222. (13) In its initial stage, however, the PKK was strongly engaged in the organising of militant land occupations. Through this it gained great sympathy amongst the unemployed rural population. Today, the land question takes a relative status in contrast to national liberation. (14) Headline of an article in Kurdistan Report, No.52 (FRG), 1992, p.21. (15) Manifesto, p.153. (16) Consequently, central points of criticism of Soviet-Marxist socialism, besides bureaucratism, are "the loss of morals and the reduction to materialism" (Ocalan), just as limitless consumerism is criticized in capitalism. (17) Ali Firat, Kurdistan Report, No.55 (FRG), p.26. (18) Abdullah Ocalan in Kurdistan Report, No.50 (FRG), special supplement p.X. (19) Besikci 1991, see above, p.57. (20) See article by Cemil Gundogan in Ozgur Gundem, 28.1.1994; cited from Freitag, 11.3.1994. (21) Lecture on a meeting in Freiburg (FRG), Jan. 1992. (22) N.N. article in Kurdistan Report, No.44 (FRG), 1992, p.18. This article is taken from the book "... alles aendert sich die ganze Zeit. Soziale Bewegung(en) im 'Nahen Osten'" ("...everything changes all the time. Social Movement(s) in the 'Middle East'"), edited by Jorg Spaeter. Published by Verlag Informationszentrum Dritte Welt, Kronenstrasse 16 HH, 79020 Freiburg, Germany. Translation: Someone from SpinnenNetz/ICN Berlin (With the hope that the translation isn't too bad!) ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++ ++++ see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++ +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist collective based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of material, including political prisoners, national liberation struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings, research, and translation materials in our magazine and bulletins called Arm The Spirit. For more information, contact: Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P7 Canada E-mail: ats at etext.org WWW: gopher://locust.cic.net:70/11/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Wed Aug 23 20:33:16 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 23 Aug 1995 20:33:16 Subject: Action For Kurdish Women: Release N Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) Subject: Action For Kurdish Women: Release Necmiye Arslanoglu! Release Necmiye Arslanoglu!! Trial date: October 3, 1995 "The Kurdish women I spoke to seemed more determined than ever, they feel like they now have nothing to lose." - Marie Ryan, British journalist, Diyarbakir, August 1995 Necmiye Arslanoglu, 22, a young Kurdish journalist from Diyarbakir, is on trial for trying to report on the increasingly barbaric nature of the atrocities being committed against her people, the Kurds in southeastern Turkey. Thousands of Kurdish villages have been razed in the most gruesome fashion. Torture, rape, and state-sponsored murder against journalists, lawyers, trade unionists, and anyone who dares to speak of the daily increasing repression in Turkey today are common. Rape is used as a systematic weapon against Kurdish women. Truncheons and other objects are routinely used in this dirty war, which has gone beyond the boundaries of conventional warfare. Yet, shamefully, the silence continues. Necmiye, in a letter to a friend in London, says: "The dirty war continues to take the lives of innocent people every day, and we only want to announce this to the public. As journalists, there is nothing else we can do. I can't stop this blood from flowing. Believe me, I am very unhappy about all of this." Necmiye is painfully frank about the consequences of trying to report the truth: "Death is an inevitable end, death cannot be avoided, but to die having been successful and having done something for humanity is the best way to die, isn't it?" Necmiye was first arrested in November 1993 while visiting a burnt down Kurdish village with a British trade union delegation and has been detained four times since, severely tortured on each occasion. Yet when released she defiantly goes back to work, refusing to be intimidated by the military. She has been charged with being a member of an illegal organization and with the dissemination of separatist propaganda. Under prolonged torture, she signed a confession which she later retracted. She denies both charges. A delegation supported by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) observed her last hearing on August 15, 1995. It was adjourned until October 3, 1995. Article 19, the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, and the NUJ have all sent letters of protest demanding the release of Necmiye. YOU CAN HELP: Please send a fax or letter to Prime Minister Tansu Ciller asking that her government release Necmiye Arslanoglu and allow her to continue her work. Please do it today!! Necmiye is back in court on October 3, 1995 in Diyarbakir Security Court. Send letters to: Ms. Tansu Ciller Office of the Prime Minister Basbakanlik 06573 Ankara Turkey fax: +90.312.417.0476 or +90.312.230.8896 For further information, please contact: Action for Kurdish Women tel: +44.171.250.1315 fax: +44.171.250.1317 In Canada, send letters of protest to: Embassy of Turkey 197 Wurtemburg Street Ottawa, Ontario K2P 0J9 fax: (613) 789-3442 ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurdeng at aps.nl Thu Aug 24 12:12:59 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 24 Aug 1995 12:12:59 Subject: Action For Kurdish Women: Release N References: Message-ID: Subject: Re: Action For Kurdish Women: Release Necmiye Arslanoglu! by aps.nl (V-MailServer 2.20) id VT15812; Thu, 24 Aug 1995 01:21:13 -0800 ------------------------ Forwarded from : kcc at magi.com ------------------------- Release Necmiye Arslanoglu!! Trial date: October 3, 1995 "The Kurdish women I spoke to seemed more determined than ever, they feel like they now have nothing to lose." - Marie Ryan, British journalist, Diyarbakir, August 1995 Necmiye Arslanoglu, 22, a young Kurdish journalist from Diyarbakir, is on trial for trying to report on the increasingly barbaric nature of the atrocities being committed against her people, the Kurds in southeastern Turkey. Thousands of Kurdish villages have been razed in the most gruesome fashion. Torture, rape, and state-sponsored murder against journalists, lawyers, trade unionists, and anyone who dares to speak of the daily increasing repression in Turkey today are common. Rape is used as a systematic weapon against Kurdish women. Truncheons and other objects are routinely used in this dirty war, which has gone beyond the boundaries of conventional warfare. Yet, shamefully, the silence continues. Necmiye, in a letter to a friend in London, says: "The dirty war continues to take the lives of innocent people every day, and we only want to announce this to the public. As journalists, there is nothing else we can do. I can't stop this blood from flowing. Believe me, I am very unhappy about all of this." Necmiye is painfully frank about the consequences of trying to report the truth: "Death is an inevitable end, death cannot be avoided, but to die having been successful and having done something for humanity is the best way to die, isn't it?" Necmiye was first arrested in November 1993 while visiting a burnt down Kurdish village with a British trade union delegation and has been detained four times since, severely tortured on each occasion. Yet when released she defiantly goes back to work, refusing to be intimidated by the military. She has been charged with being a member of an illegal organization and with the dissemination of separatist propaganda. Under prolonged torture, she signed a confession which she later retracted. She denies both charges. A delegation supported by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) observed her last hearing on August 15, 1995. It was adjourned until October 3, 1995. Article 19, the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, and the NUJ have all sent letters of protest demanding the release of Necmiye. YOU CAN HELP: Please send a fax or letter to Prime Minister Tansu Ciller asking that her government release Necmiye Arslanoglu and allow her to continue her work. Please do it today!! Necmiye is back in court on October 3, 1995 in Diyarbakir Security Court. Send letters to: Ms. Tansu Ciller Office of the Prime Minister Basbakanlik 06573 Ankara Turkey fax: +90.312.417.0476 or +90.312.230.8896 For further information, please contact: Action for Kurdish Women tel: +44.171.250.1315 fax: +44.171.250.1317 In Canada, send letters of protest to: Embassy of Turkey 197 Wurtemburg Street Ottawa, Ontario K2P 0J9 fax: (613) 789-3442 ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Thu Aug 24 12:12:00 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 24 Aug 1995 12:12:00 Subject: Action For Kurdish Women: Release N References: Message-ID: <082395233257Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a> Subject: Re: Action For Kurdish Women: Release Necmiye Arslanoglu! by aps.nl (V-MailServer 2.20) id VT15812; Thu, 24 Aug 1995 01:21:13 -0800 ------------------------ Forwarded from : kcc at magi.com ------------------------- Release Necmiye Arslanoglu!! Trial date: October 3, 1995 "The Kurdish women I spoke to seemed more determined than ever, they feel like they now have nothing to lose." - Marie Ryan, British journalist, Diyarbakir, August 1995 Necmiye Arslanoglu, 22, a young Kurdish journalist from Diyarbakir, is on trial for trying to report on the increasingly barbaric nature of the atrocities being committed against her people, the Kurds in southeastern Turkey. Thousands of Kurdish villages have been razed in the most gruesome fashion. Torture, rape, and state-sponsored murder against journalists, lawyers, trade unionists, and anyone who dares to speak of the daily increasing repression in Turkey today are common. Rape is used as a systematic weapon against Kurdish women. Truncheons and other objects are routinely used in this dirty war, which has gone beyond the boundaries of conventional warfare. Yet, shamefully, the silence continues. Necmiye, in a letter to a friend in London, says: "The dirty war continues to take the lives of innocent people every day, and we only want to announce this to the public. As journalists, there is nothing else we can do. I can't stop this blood from flowing. Believe me, I am very unhappy about all of this." Necmiye is painfully frank about the consequences of trying to report the truth: "Death is an inevitable end, death cannot be avoided, but to die having been successful and having done something for humanity is the best way to die, isn't it?" Necmiye was first arrested in November 1993 while visiting a burnt down Kurdish village with a British trade union delegation and has been detained four times since, severely tortured on each occasion. Yet when released she defiantly goes back to work, refusing to be intimidated by the military. She has been charged with being a member of an illegal organization and with the dissemination of separatist propaganda. Under prolonged torture, she signed a confession which she later retracted. She denies both charges. A delegation supported by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) observed her last hearing on August 15, 1995. It was adjourned until October 3, 1995. Article 19, the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, and the NUJ have all sent letters of protest demanding the release of Necmiye. YOU CAN HELP: Please send a fax or letter to Prime Minister Tansu Ciller asking that her government release Necmiye Arslanoglu and allow her to continue her work. Please do it today!! Necmiye is back in court on October 3, 1995 in Diyarbakir Security Court. Send letters to: Ms. Tansu Ciller Office of the Prime Minister Basbakanlik 06573 Ankara Turkey fax: +90.312.417.0476 or +90.312.230.8896 For further information, please contact: Action for Kurdish Women tel: +44.171.250.1315 fax: +44.171.250.1317 In Canada, send letters of protest to: Embassy of Turkey 197 Wurtemburg Street Ottawa, Ontario K2P 0J9 fax: (613) 789-3442 ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Thu Aug 24 17:30:46 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 24 Aug 1995 17:30:46 Subject: Rote Zora Communique - July 1995 Message-ID: From: Arm The Spirit Rote Zora Communique - July 1995 You Have The Power, But The Night Belongs To Us In the night on 24.7.95, we bombed a shipyard belonging to the Lurssen corporation in Lernwerder near Bremen. This firm supplies arms to the Turkish government, which is waging a murderous war against the Kurds. Lurssen has been giving military assistance to Turkey for years now. At the moment they are producing high-speed attack ships in Lernwerder and in the Turkish naval shipyard at Tazkisac, and the firm also exports production techniques and the necessary military know-how to all parts of the world. Germany supports the Turkish government in its war against the Kurdish population by being the number two arms supplier behind the USA. In the last 5 years alone, Germany has delivered 1.5 billion DM of military equipment (as part of a military aid accord which lasted from 1990-1995) in order to strengthen its imperialist interests in the strategically important "NATO partner country, Turkey". German arms corporations secure their profits through large-scale projects such as observation posts along the border with Syria, where the Turkish regime practices extortionary water policies, or by giving the Turkish regime a gift of 450 former East German panzers which then end up being deployed in Kurdistan. 700 German weapons firms are directly involved with production in Turkey today. In the war against the Kurds, villages have been systematically burned down for at least the last 5 years. According to the Human Rights Association (IHD), more than 1,300 Kurdish villages had been forcibly evacuated or destroyed by October 1994. In the last few months, there have been continuous raids and expulsions in addition to torture and the summary execution of villagers in the Dersim region. As early as the 1960s, many refugees fled to Germany from this region to escape systematic policies of impoverishment and destruction. Today, Kurdish cities are increasingly bombarded by fighter jets and refugees are detained in concentration camps outside the major Kurdish cities. Despite massive protests by Kurdish immigrants and even some Members of Parliament, arms sales to Turkey continue unhindered and even the European Council in Strasbourg is "reluctant to impose sanctions against Turkey" (FR, 27.6.95). Also, it has become increasingly difficult for people to flee from these policies of destruction and seek refuge in Germany and Western Europe (particularly after the adoption of the Schengen Agreement). Interior Minister Kanther has called it a "great success" that "because of the tightened restrictions on asylum practices, fewer people have the possibility of seeking refuge from political persecution in Germany" (FR, 22.6.95). With the banning of the PKK last year, the German government launched a unique means of racist persecution and criminalization against an entire group of immigrants, the Kurds. The Problem Of Solidarity We see it as our task to break through the passivity of many women's group and other leftist associations here with respect to the Kurdish resistance movement and the massive repression against Kurds seeking refuge here and those Kurds who are supporting the resistance back home. This lack of action is usually based on criticisms of the PKK. Women say they can't identify with the PKK - nor can we - and unfortunately our solidarity is usually made dependent upon this question. We would like to discuss political solidarity which is not dependent upon support for or the denunciation of liberation movements. All too often, our identifications are based upon our own projections, and this blocks our view of the actual social confrontation in its entirety. This is not a suitable basis for solidarity. On the contrary, as soon as a different reality is seen behind the projection, the solidarity usually comes to an end. The women of Kurdistan, who for good reasons fight either within or outside of the PKK against their oppressors and for total liberation, and all oppressed and fighting people who are struggling against the Turkish regime and its German imperialist arms suppliers, deserve our support. As people living in Germany, we must fulfil our responsibility and intervene if we don't wish to be part of the war against the Kurds which is massively supported by Germany. In order to examine, in its full dimension, this war against the population and against women, we must break away from the viewpoint of reducing this to a military confrontation between the Turkish state on the one side and the PKK on the other, a view which both the mainstream media and the PKK perpetuate. For its part, the PKK doesn't seem to place much importance on coming up with a clear formula or program for social liberation. They and their German supporters call for "national liberation" as a priority and they seek to achieve victory in an armed struggle against the Turkish military. In this struggle, the "new humanity" will be formed, with the aid of the party. Yet by only looking at this confrontation between both warring sides, the social situation there becomes hidden, particularly what confrontations the women are in and what goals they association with the liberation struggle. The Goals Of The War The Turkish government and its military are waging a war against the Kurdish people in order to break their resistance against oppression and their support for the guerrilla. The war against Kurdish people is designed to destroy their way of life, which is still very much connected to subsistence level social reproduction. Farmers and shepherds are gunned down with their animals in the fields by Turkish soldiers, villages are attacked and the winter rations are destroyed. From the air, forests and pastures are deliberately bombed and set on fire. Tanks destroy entire landscapes. The Turkish government has essentially "banned" the Kurds' means of reproduction and is enforcing this ban militarily. In the mountain regions, shepherding has been the predominant way of life for centuries, taking the animals to higher ground in the summer and spending the winter in villages in the valleys. In many parts of the 300km long border between Turkey and Iraq, many people must make their living by smuggling and cross-border trade. But this way of life has been taken away from them through persecution. In order to eliminate all possible logistical support for the guerrillas, huge "security zones" have been established in this region and military operations have virtually depopulated the area, with all border villages reduced to rubble. Nearly all Kurdish families have children or relatives who have been taken away by the military and tortured or killed. So it's no surprise that nearly all families have at least one member in the guerrilla, and they are supported. In the decades before the PKK became strong, military occupation and limited warfare in Kurdistan had the effect of forced displacement, thereby creating an internal colony ripe for exploitation. Due to the pressures of the global market and IMF and World Bank debts, the Turkish government, up to this day, has had to use war to push through its murderous demographic policies. By doing so it hopes to destroy the old networks of solidarity which have continuously given life to the Kurdish resistance. The war and destruction were planned a long time ago, and yet "modernization" has not halted this. In fact, change has actually brought improvements since "modern", that is, imperialist forms of exploitation allow for better utilization of a people deprived of their subsistence. The escalation of the war in the last few years began with the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of small farmers and their families to create export zones in the new GAP region. [The GAP, or East Anatolia Project, is a huge system of dams designed to create export-oriented agriculture such as agro-industry cash crops, the creation of cattle, leather, tobacco, and other industrial zones, tourist regions, etc.] The more than 4 million people who live in the 6 GAP provinces are generally dependent on their harvests and subsistence farming. Their small farms are being increasingly bought out by the state as part of its "land reform" and handed over to investors and large land owners in the GAP region. In our fundamental rejection of authoritarian modernization, we assume that "development zones" such as the GAP region are not being developed to fulfil the wishes of the Kurds or to improve their standard of living. [In a report published in 1994 by journalist Lissy Schmidt, who was later assassinated by Iraqi intelligence agents, 70% of the affected population rejected the project in a survey conducted at the time construction was beginning.] Because for the majority of the poor population, this project has resulted in a loss of their land and the devaluation and destruction of their capabilities and previous means of production and survival. The War On Women The war is not only being waged in those areas where the guerrillas are strong, but rather it is also concentrated in places where women have a relatively strong and free position in the society: against the people in the mountains, where there is a tradition of semi-nomadic pasture agriculture, and against the people of the Yezidi and Alevi religions, who increasingly reject patriarchal and religious forms of oppression. Up to this day, the strong position and resistance of women against their exploitation by (Kurdish) land owners has been particularly significant. After being expelled from their villages, Kurdish women were deprived of their independent fields of labor. They lost their roles of social significance and found themselves living as refugees in slums in Kurdish and Turkish cities, and increasingly in virtual concentration camps as well. Under these conditions, their traditional network of solidarity broke down and they became increasingly isolated in the society, dependent on men and threatened by male violence and "modern" forms of patriarchal (especially sexual and small family) oppression. Worse than the women's loss of independence and their dependence on their job-seeking husbands, the newly-created strategic hamlets and concentration camps gave rise to new forms of patriarchal violence: militarist control, hunger, disease, infant mortality, humiliation, dependence, food rations, torture, and rape. This impoverishment and insecurity is to the benefit of violent patriarchal control, and has been taken up by Islamic groups who propagate and push through the oppression of women. The Resistance Of Women Even after the destruction of thousands of villages, the Turkish government, to this very day, still has not been able to defeat the resistance of the Kurdish people. Although their traditional subsistence has all but been eradicated, the power of women has not yet been wiped out. The women cling to this and further develop it in the cities. "More and more Kurdish cities are becoming powder kegs, more and more people are part of the propertyless masses whose means of subsistence has been destroyed and who don't even have the opportunity to work as day laborers in the cities. In many places, they have even been able to mobilize the regular city inhabitants." [Lissy Schmidt, 1992/93] It was women, recently driven out of the mountains, who were the organizers and driving force behind the 'Serhildan', the Kurdish Intifada, which lasted from late 1989 until March 1992. It was they who resisted against the Turkish military with stones, sticks, and pure anger. [The uprising organized by women in Sirnak in February 1991 was particularly significant. The military gunned down hundreds of miners to enforce a ban on private coal mining and distribution, after which hardly any government building escaped the angry attacks of the women (and men) who broadened their resistance into a popular uprising by the time of Newroz.] Ever since then, Newroz celebrations are marked by massive military deployments and are "guarded" by German tanks. Cities, the new centers of resistance, are bombarded from the air, and ever more people are kidnapped by death squads, tortured, and killed. Many of the women who have been driven into the cities build new groups and structures of solidarity and resistance in human rights and prisoner support associations, neighborhood committees to oppose the death squads and publicize hungerstrikes by prisoners, and by engaging in their own hungerstrikes to oppose the torture and disappearance of relatives and friends. Everywhere they develop a great power. Another part of women's resistance is the struggle for better living conditions and human dignity. Many young women go to the mountains and join the guerrilla, into illegality, to fight against the repression, expulsion, and war of the Turkish military and also to struggle for their own liberation from traditional patriarchal oppression. Kurdish Women And The PKK A significant reason for the massive participation and organization of women in the struggle of the PKK is that fact that the war directly affects them and their families and friends and is waged in their villages and cities. Even before the war, life in Kurdistan was determined by the colonialist politics, carried out in conjunction with Kurdish land owners. Increasing amounts of land, the foundation of pasture agriculture, were taken away from village ownership and "capitalized", the people were terrorized with racist bureaucratic and militarist repression, and they were victims of systematic social neglect. The raw materials and harvests of their agricultural labor were plundered. That's why more and more people were forced to emigrate starting in the 1950s. In this process of so-called underdevelopment and repression, and in the growing resistance to this, many women felt a desire for more freedom, diversity, experience, etc., and they increasingly rejected the traditional village structures which regulated and oppressed them. With the dissolution of the extended family, the focus on the power and opinions of the oldest woman - who always made the women into defenders of patriarchy - also began to decline. Among the young women, many fought against the patriarchal oppression in their family as well and thus decided to join the PKK in order to break out of this. ["At home, my father gave the orders, and when he wasn't there, my brother did. In the guerrilla, I can decide things for myself, perhaps even become a commander!" - a young female PKK guerrilla] Many women associated all of their hopes for total liberation from this situation of destruction and oppression with the PKK, because the PKK's military successes were the only proven and serious force which could resist the Turkish military and organs of repression. The main reasons for their supporting the PKK are the Turkish politics of nationalism, chauvinism, and racism. [Kurds were called "mountain Turks", their language, history, traditions, etc. were banned, students who spoke in Kurdish were beaten by Turkish teachers, and so on.] But among the Kurds themselves, they developed a sort of pride of the oppressed, and their resistance created an identity which crossed social divisions. Ever since the days of Ataturk, Turkish authorities have tried to wipe out everything Kurdish and make all memories of such things impossible. The experience of Kurds who saw their daily cultural self-consciousness and their history being broken felt a stronger desire for their "Kurdish identity". In other words, they want to be and live like that which was forbidden to them, and repression could not stop them from this. In the words of one prisoner in Diyarbakir in 1983: "All the hatred for the oppressors which boiled up inside me since my early childhood has done me good. It was only after I went to prison that I learned about my country and my history, about our collective 'guilt', that is, being Kurdish." Not only in Kurdistan, even here in Germany aid is given to the Turkish repressive machinery, as relatives who sometimes can only speak Kurdish are ordered to "speak Turkish!" when they visit jailed relatives German prisons. An "identity" becomes resistance, something illegal to be pushed through. Even traditions, such as the Newroz festival, for example, are given new life as forms of resistance, but also as a form of hope of a future free society, because although the war mobilizes lots of strength and self-consciousness ("identity"), it also prevents and destroys many things, it creates feelings of sorrow, weakness, limitations, and the struggle to survive. Official PKK propaganda equates women's liberation with their participation in the military wing of the national liberation struggle. In order to prevent the progressive radicalization of many young women against both old and new power relations from turning against the PKK itself and its own power structures, the party for several years now has been using lots of propaganda, pressure, and "education" with the help of the women leaders of the YJWK to reintegrate women into modernized patriarchal family norms. [The YJWK is the Union of Patriotic Women of Kurdistan, the PKK's women's organization. The following is a quotation from 1992 concerning the situation of immigrant Kurdish women: "Kurds as people from a strange society have different social and political characteristics than other peoples, such as Greeks, Yugoslavians, Turks, etc."] Their reform consists of rebuilding the family according to "national traditions" with a folklore identity, a "strong Kurdish culture", and a means of discipline to prevent things from going too far or becoming a "Western" form of "women's emancipation" which the party looks down upon. Solidarity and collectivity are certainly lively aspects of women's struggles. In many independent initiatives, acting in solidarity and cooperation with one another, women have taken on responsibilities and struggled for collective, self-determined structures, even in the mountains, even against their male comrades. This calls into question the eroded and largely scattered family and its patriarchal values, as well as the party's power and its principles of discipline and subordination. That's why the "collective" of the family is termed the building block of the nation state, and moralistic pressure is exerted to get the women back in line. [Here, "collective" means subordination to the desires of the patriarchal leadership in the family and the party.] According to the PKK's party program from 1978: "Any analysis of Kurdistan which does not view the national conflict as the main conflict is only serving the forces of colonialism and reaction." Even today, PKK women leaders seem to have taken this view to heart. [From a PKK women's text in Germany for March 8, 1994: "It is important that women recognize and carry out their responsibilities as bridges to education in the family in the service of the revolution."] Although we understand and accept the fact that many Kurdish women strive for a "Kurdish identity" as a driving force of their resistance against racist Turkish oppression, we think it's fiction to believe that a true "Kurdish identity" can only be developed in a "liberated Kurdistan". The party ideology exploits this need for an "identity", in that it builds on the Turkish politics of denying and eliminating Kurdish historical consciousness and offers people fleeing from the war myths about their history instead of supporting their struggle to defend and link up to their living history - for example, the resistance to their expulsion. If the PKK - or the Turkish occupiers, for that matter - has its way, the earlier diversity of Kurdish culture and its decentralized means of production and self-reliance will disappear, because only then can they implement their proposals for modernized control. The war is a means of destroying diverse social structures and it creates the necessary polarization and forced standardization for the future power and exploitation needs of the party. All of this is buried beneath the PKK myth of an ancient history and the "creating of the Kurdish nation" and the conservation of certain Kurdish traditions. By signifying what is "Kurdish" and what isn't, everything which contradicts the power of the party will be oppressed, even to the point of erasing people's historical consciousness. [With the naturalization of the notion of being "Kurdish", Kurdish people become an ethnic group and the party decides what "Kurdish" is. All undesirable conduct which "contradicts Kurdish nature, the Kurdish nation, and the Kurdish people" is opposed, even to the point of isolating and oppressing those people who choose not to be "Kurdish".] But the history of Kurdish life and struggle is very changing and diverse, indeed this is what characterizes it. It was exactly this relatively autonomous decentralization and heterogeneity which prevented its destruction at the hands of the centralized violence of the Ottoman Empire and modern-day nation states and imperialist exploitation interests. That's why the destruction is aimed at the people's fundamental necessities for living. We reject the reformulation of commonly understood living resistance to the oppression of the Kurdish people which seeks to change their Kurdishness in the resistance to repression, the exploitation of their life necessities, their language, and their culture into a national ideology and a rigid culture, because that only serves the specific aims of the party to achieve power and future exploitation in a state of its own, and this merely conceals social and anti-patriarchal contradictions and struggles. A Critique Of Liberation Nationalism In contrast to colonial and imperial nationalism, which creates and utilizes control, liberation nationalism gives rise to resistance by various social groups against the colonialists and the imperialists. In that sense it is identical to a resistance to all forms of oppression. It mobilizes liberation utopias in people towards a common struggle against exploitation and occupation, it creates a culture of resistance in opposition to the dominant ruling culture which robs people of their way of life, their language, their history, their experiences, etc. Nonetheless, we see in "national liberation" few possibilities for creating a society on its way to eliminating exploitation and both patriarchal as well as racist oppression. For the PKK, "national liberation" means taking power in Kurdistan and taking possession of it resources like water, oil, and minerals in order to secure its own hold on the modernized exploitation of people and resources. The struggles of people against authoritarian modernization (for example, their resistance to forced resettlement and bans on trade and agriculture) are turned around by the PKK into "national" aims: they are to be directed against the Turkish regime, but not against "modernization", which is destructive and which worsens the gap between the land owners and those without property. Social demands disappear behind the dominance of the national demand of an independent state. For example, the PKK didn't support the resistance to the forced resettlement from the GAP region, and even their own early attacks against GAP engineers were simply directed against Western/Turkish exploitation plans. The farmers, and their subsistence way of life in "traditional society", were often dismissed as feudalistic and regressive people who did not fight against large land ownership and redistribution. Appeals to tradition, it seems, are only made if they serve the aims of the nation state. Even large land owners can be "progressive" if they support the aims of creating a nation state. The focus of the struggle on national power leads to the destruction of subsistence living and makes the future society dependent on the imperialist global market. The guerrilla structures, which are separate from the society, are focussed on military counter-power against the Turkish army and the goal of national separation makes a guerrilla formation necessary which will fight against "foreign domination", and consequently its armed attacks will only be directed against military and police targets of the occupying force. This prevents the formation of a guerrilla formation which can orient itself to social liberation interests and against exploitation and patriarchal and racist oppression. Even though many women in Kurdistan view the formation of an independent women's army within the PKK as a necessary and welcome step towards equality, that is not an organization in our opinion. This independent organization of women cannot change the fact that the militarist formulation is separated from the social struggles and must remain a pillar supporting and renewing patriarchy. We do not wish to support the myth of the revolutionary quality of "armed struggle". But "armed struggle", with its militarist approach and weaponry, will not lead to liberation, only a connection to social struggles against social exploitation and oppression will. Our solidarity mainly goes out to those women who are not willing to sacrifice themselves to national-ethnic slogans in their struggle for a liberated society without exploitation or the oppression of women. Thoughts On Internationalism, Anti-Racism, And Feminist Solidarity Today, the radical wing of the feminist movement in Germany is hardly visible, rather it is broken and splintered into little groups who have little effect. Many women who used to be active have turned their political needs into career responsibilities or a job and their change is only limited to their personal daily surroundings and is therefore pretty much gone. The major social breaks over the last few years have left us with little ground to stand on, so it seems easier to stay amongst ourselves and just self-critically debate the weaknesses of our past political formations. And the critiques from immigrant women and women from the Three Continents of the metropolitan white lesbian/women's movement led to us having to make our own contradictions - our own racism, anti-Semitism, hetero-/sexism, productivism - a theme before our movement could become strong again. The previous feminist self-understanding of the politics of the first person (as women, we are ALL, albeit it to different degrees, oppressed and "objectively" opposed to patriarchy) was called into question by our analysis of our metropolitan women's reality, in that we aren't just victims or subjects waging resistance, but rather that we are also responsible for and benefit from patriarchal forms of domination and exploitation. The - necessary and important! - discussion about our own differences took us off our pedestal: We are not the ones with the full picture, the ones already more "liberated" or emancipated than the women of Eastern Europe or the Three Continents. Because our "liberation" is, at the same time, a form and expression of our complicity in the oppression of our sisters. This realization was crucial for us: We no longer speak of revolutionary demands or on behalf of ALL women, but rather just for US, and we prefer to leave out the word "revolutionary" - this needs to apply to everyone, otherwise your view of liberation is just the building up of your own privileges. But this retreat into a position where at least there were four walls which helped to determine relevance also isolated other women once again. We have given support, at least verbally and sometimes more deeply, to the demands of immigrant women and socially discriminated women. We have noted, respected, and struggled against the differences between us as they are represented within ourselves, that is, our own racism, anti-Semitism, productivism, hetero-/sexism. But this often just leads to merely stating these problems, as if correct speech were always a reflection of a correct consciousness. As if there could even be a "right" or "wrong" consciousness unless women fight against this. At this point, our own increased sensibilities and willingness for self-criticism appeared deceptive. It was simply a reflection of the insecurity which results from the process of dissolution ("deregulation") of old metropolitan social structures and the new offensive of patriarchal power and exploitation in which the ruling powers and those who swim with the tide seek to integrate our previous feminist demands. With our retreat back to US and our focus on sensitizing our own consciousness, we found ourselves in line with the dominant social trend of increased individualization and the dissolution of collective social experiences. In some of our praxis as well as in our theoretical work, we saw the destruction of the social collectivity which had previously been the basis of our resistance. We can only win back a fighting revolutionary perspective if we go beyond our own interests and find external links for our struggle to eliminate sexist violence and patriarchal domination, and if we create networks with women and their structures here who are affected by racist mistreatment and social isolation/exploitation. We must - while respecting our differences - open ourselves up to these women in a concrete way, women whose racist, sexist, legal, and social discrimination has made them subject to the worst forms of exploitation and violence, making them prime targets for authoritarian modernization, against which they resist with their counter- strategies and their fighting subjectivity. Denying rights to immigrants and criminalizing them is a strategic weapon of the ruling elite. They utilize this to reformulate their exploitation and violence in the society at large, thus hoping to restabilize their hold on power. An illegal labor force and sexual favors almost for free, regardless of what violence must be used, reduce the costs of reproduction for everyone. That means that we nearly all profit from this, thereby reducing the labor costs for all types of exploitation (including that of women and immigrants) across the board in society. Women here must not stay put at demanding a equal right to stay for women refugees, independent of men, and then close their eyes to the exploitation of these women. Supporting the struggles waged by immigrants also means resisting their second-class status and criminalization, that means fighting to repeal the so- called "foreigner laws" (and any type of "law" which is discriminatory) with all our possibilities and with all the weapons and forms of resistance which we have developed, because we don't want to be a part of exclusion and exploitation. Besides, it's fun and exciting to resist "from below" the small social circles and individualization which have been prescribed to us, and to resist the ("post-Fordist") trend to dissolve social collectivity by forming new associations and to always break out of our contradictions and our inclusion in the power structure of this inhumane system. By "opening up to" other women, we don't just mean their different form of subjectivity or their different - less dependent on dominant productivism and "independent of the individual" and more in tune with social reproduction - values, activities, and struggles. But rather we should try sometimes to see things through different eyes and to learn things when we are confronted with our productivist and racist values and activities. It's important to be aware of our differences and to respect these, but it's just as important to break out of our increasing isolation and to develop some fighting together, to prevent old and new forms of patriarchal domination and capitalist value systems from completely taking over. Our view of women's liberation and our view of communism here and now can only become visible and liveable if we break out of our divisions of oppression, which play women off against each other, and join forces in a network of resistance structures. [We hope this context makes it clear that we do NOT have a Marxist conception of social struggles as a "progressive development" on the way to a "classless society" in mind. We view "communism" as a critical notion of struggle for a society in which we abolish the patriarchal-capitalist cult of productivism and its greed for ever more modernization and technology, which "only" sees value in the reproduction of human life according to that which is useful and that which isn't useful, according to which humans have no intrinsic "right" to existence, and a society in which all forms of exploitation, domination, and violence and the racist and sexist foundations of these have been eliminated.] This interconnectedness of the various struggles for a right for EVERYONE to exist, regardless of their capitalist value, their social or cultural background, their passport, and so on, can help us to extricate ourselves from our integration into this system of domination or make use of this for the cause of collective liberation (for example, our easy access to information and our ability to deal with official bureaucracy, as well as our assured social status). In our dealings with this system, which to the eyes of women who have come or fled here seems like a complex web of racist and sexist exploitative power, we learn to know better the personifications and responsibilities of this power and this makes them attackable by us. Solidarity With Kurdish Women We are still far away from such mid-term goals, but there are already networks of solidarity which have been built up by immigrant women themselves. Not just "exchanges" with Kurdish women, but rather practical solidarity in our relations with them can help build our contacts to Kurdish women and this can strengthen the network. The war in Kurdistan has led to sharpened national divisions between people of different ethnic backgrounds, both in Turkey as well as here. In associations of Turkish, Kurdish, and German women, we need to struggle to break down these barriers. There are several ways to show practical solidarity, and we can carry out a variety of public and subversive protests: - A right to stay for ALL! Actions to disrupt state racist policies, to prevent deportations and new deportation prisons, to remove the anonymity surrounding those individuals responsible for these things. - Attacks on the corporations responsible for these things. - Actions against racists, fascists, sexists, and exploiters responsible for underpaid illegal labor (including women!). - Solidarity actions against the banning of the PKK and Kurdish associations. Nearly all networks of Kurdish solidarity are affected by the party ban and are directly affected by German government repression. For the unhindered and self-determined organization of immigrants! - Tourism is a modern form of colonialist exploitation. The tourism industry will this year again promote "Vacation Land Turkey '95". We connect actions calling for "No Tourism to Turkey!" with the aim of cutting into the massive profits which German agencies make, rather than attacking small Turkish travel firms. The silence of the PKK with respect to the actions this spring directed against Turkish immigrants only strengthens racist and nationalistic tendencies in Germany, and it makes the tensions between Kurds and Turks even worse. This is in fundamental contradiction to our aims. - Actions to prevent the economic cooperation between Germany and Turkey, from public protests to attacks on corporations and politicians who are responsible for this bloody business. Lurssen is a mid-sized firm which makes 100% of its money by building warships. At the present time, Lurssen is building a new "high-speed attack ship" which can carry missiles and machine guns. This is part of a package of three "Dogan" brand speed boats produced by Lurssen, two of which are being produced in the Turkish port of Tazkisac. The financing of this production - via the German firm Hermes - totals 400 million DM. At least since 1987, Lurssen has been doing business with the German state- sponsored Turkish military, having already produced at least 10 Dogan craft, made either in Tazkisac or at Lurssen's own docks. In addition to warships, Lurssen also provides other necessary military equipment to regimes all around the world: construction plans, licenses, know-how, training, all the way up to entire wharfs. More than 130 ships over the last few decades have been built according to Lurssen's specifications and licenses. "The Lurssen wharf has sent more warships onto the seas and trained more people to serve on warships than any other wharf in the world", according to one Lurssen spokesman at an arms show in Malaysia in 1994. Lurssen's murderous business practices have been publicly criticized in the past in press releases and protest actions against arms exports, most recently the symbolic blockade action at the end of 1994 in response to Lurssen's arms sales to Indonesia. Although a public campaign has developed over the past few years in opposition to German military and economic assistance to Turkey, mainly aimed at a few major German firms which do business with Turkey, Lurssen has tried to remain quietly in the background and carry out its business. We won't let them do this! Lurssen: Stop Your Murderous Deals With The Turkish Government! No arms sales to Turkey! So government support for the Germans arms industry! Stop all German military and economic "aid" to the Turkish government! No tourism to Turkey! (Or to anywhere else for that matter!) Lift the ban against the PKK and stop persecuting Kurdish associations! A right to stay for all Kurds! (And for all other people who migrate or flee here!) Fight against the "foreigner laws" and all other laws which discriminate against people and thus open the door for exploitation and violence! Recognize the independent grounds of fleeing for women and grant them the right to stay! Show practical solidarity with the resistance of women in Kurdistan and of Kurdish immigrants here! Against nationalism! For international women's gangs! Rote Zora - July 1995 [Translator's Note: The above text from the Rote Zora, instead of being an attack on Germany's role in the dirty war in Turkey and Kurdistan, is primarily a stinging critique of the PKK. I do not agree with a lot of the criticisms made in this text, some of which are just plain wrong. The idea, for example, that PKK units only aim at military targets and don't carry out social liberation/political organizing is simply not true. Then comes the usually cries of nationalism, making it seem as though the Kurdish resistance movement is something for "Kurds only", yet another gross misconception. The PKK, some of whose founders were Turkish, has fighters of several nationalities in its ranks, and one of the party's best characteristics is its commitment to internationalism and its refusal to follow narrow national aims. And Rote Zora's critique of Kurdish women organized in the PKK is borderline to patronizing. It seems that Kurdish women who are willing to fight and die for their party, the PKK, are somehow fooling themselves, and they haven't yet discovered real (German autonome?) feminism. Instead of praising the incredible gains in women's liberation which have been made in Kurdish society since 1978, despite the counter-attacks by Islamic and feudal forces, Rote Zora stick to their German feminist superiority, despite claims that they have come off their pedestal. Why are no critiques of bourgeois German/Western feminism offered alongside the anti-PKK stance? Certainly one can make constructive criticisms of the PKK, but just as Zora claim that the PKK distort reality to fit their vision of society, isn't that exactly what the RZ women are doing here? Trying to point out all the ways in which the outlook and organizational approach of Kurdish women and the PKK differ from the German radical-left and why these differences are mistaken. In any case, Rote Zora carried out a fine action, and we hope this text will inspire reflection and discussion. Please note that the comments in brackets in the above text are footnotes from the original RZ communique.] ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++ ++++ see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++ +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist collective based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of material, including political prisoners, national liberation struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings, research, and translation materials in our magazine and bulletins called Arm The Spirit. For more information, contact: Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P7 Canada E-mail: ats at etext.org WWW: gopher://locust.cic.net:70/11/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Thu Aug 24 17:30:00 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 24 Aug 1995 17:30:00 Subject: Rote Zora Communique - July 1995 References: Message-ID: <199508241615.MAA17653@locust.cic> From: Arm The Spirit Rote Zora Communique - July 1995 You Have The Power, But The Night Belongs To Us In the night on 24.7.95, we bombed a shipyard belonging to the Lurssen corporation in Lernwerder near Bremen. This firm supplies arms to the Turkish government, which is waging a murderous war against the Kurds. Lurssen has been giving military assistance to Turkey for years now. At the moment they are producing high-speed attack ships in Lernwerder and in the Turkish naval shipyard at Tazkisac, and the firm also exports production techniques and the necessary military know-how to all parts of the world. Germany supports the Turkish government in its war against the Kurdish population by being the number two arms supplier behind the USA. In the last 5 years alone, Germany has delivered 1.5 billion DM of military equipment (as part of a military aid accord which lasted from 1990-1995) in order to strengthen its imperialist interests in the strategically important "NATO partner country, Turkey". German arms corporations secure their profits through large-scale projects such as observation posts along the border with Syria, where the Turkish regime practices extortionary water policies, or by giving the Turkish regime a gift of 450 former East German panzers which then end up being deployed in Kurdistan. 700 German weapons firms are directly involved with production in Turkey today. In the war against the Kurds, villages have been systematically burned down for at least the last 5 years. According to the Human Rights Association (IHD), more than 1,300 Kurdish villages had been forcibly evacuated or destroyed by October 1994. In the last few months, there have been continuous raids and expulsions in addition to torture and the summary execution of villagers in the Dersim region. As early as the 1960s, many refugees fled to Germany from this region to escape systematic policies of impoverishment and destruction. Today, Kurdish cities are increasingly bombarded by fighter jets and refugees are detained in concentration camps outside the major Kurdish cities. Despite massive protests by Kurdish immigrants and even some Members of Parliament, arms sales to Turkey continue unhindered and even the European Council in Strasbourg is "reluctant to impose sanctions against Turkey" (FR, 27.6.95). Also, it has become increasingly difficult for people to flee from these policies of destruction and seek refuge in Germany and Western Europe (particularly after the adoption of the Schengen Agreement). Interior Minister Kanther has called it a "great success" that "because of the tightened restrictions on asylum practices, fewer people have the possibility of seeking refuge from political persecution in Germany" (FR, 22.6.95). With the banning of the PKK last year, the German government launched a unique means of racist persecution and criminalization against an entire group of immigrants, the Kurds. The Problem Of Solidarity We see it as our task to break through the passivity of many women's group and other leftist associations here with respect to the Kurdish resistance movement and the massive repression against Kurds seeking refuge here and those Kurds who are supporting the resistance back home. This lack of action is usually based on criticisms of the PKK. Women say they can't identify with the PKK - nor can we - and unfortunately our solidarity is usually made dependent upon this question. We would like to discuss political solidarity which is not dependent upon support for or the denunciation of liberation movements. All too often, our identifications are based upon our own projections, and this blocks our view of the actual social confrontation in its entirety. This is not a suitable basis for solidarity. On the contrary, as soon as a different reality is seen behind the projection, the solidarity usually comes to an end. The women of Kurdistan, who for good reasons fight either within or outside of the PKK against their oppressors and for total liberation, and all oppressed and fighting people who are struggling against the Turkish regime and its German imperialist arms suppliers, deserve our support. As people living in Germany, we must fulfil our responsibility and intervene if we don't wish to be part of the war against the Kurds which is massively supported by Germany. In order to examine, in its full dimension, this war against the population and against women, we must break away from the viewpoint of reducing this to a military confrontation between the Turkish state on the one side and the PKK on the other, a view which both the mainstream media and the PKK perpetuate. For its part, the PKK doesn't seem to place much importance on coming up with a clear formula or program for social liberation. They and their German supporters call for "national liberation" as a priority and they seek to achieve victory in an armed struggle against the Turkish military. In this struggle, the "new humanity" will be formed, with the aid of the party. Yet by only looking at this confrontation between both warring sides, the social situation there becomes hidden, particularly what confrontations the women are in and what goals they association with the liberation struggle. The Goals Of The War The Turkish government and its military are waging a war against the Kurdish people in order to break their resistance against oppression and their support for the guerrilla. The war against Kurdish people is designed to destroy their way of life, which is still very much connected to subsistence level social reproduction. Farmers and shepherds are gunned down with their animals in the fields by Turkish soldiers, villages are attacked and the winter rations are destroyed. From the air, forests and pastures are deliberately bombed and set on fire. Tanks destroy entire landscapes. The Turkish government has essentially "banned" the Kurds' means of reproduction and is enforcing this ban militarily. In the mountain regions, shepherding has been the predominant way of life for centuries, taking the animals to higher ground in the summer and spending the winter in villages in the valleys. In many parts of the 300km long border between Turkey and Iraq, many people must make their living by smuggling and cross-border trade. But this way of life has been taken away from them through persecution. In order to eliminate all possible logistical support for the guerrillas, huge "security zones" have been established in this region and military operations have virtually depopulated the area, with all border villages reduced to rubble. Nearly all Kurdish families have children or relatives who have been taken away by the military and tortured or killed. So it's no surprise that nearly all families have at least one member in the guerrilla, and they are supported. In the decades before the PKK became strong, military occupation and limited warfare in Kurdistan had the effect of forced displacement, thereby creating an internal colony ripe for exploitation. Due to the pressures of the global market and IMF and World Bank debts, the Turkish government, up to this day, has had to use war to push through its murderous demographic policies. By doing so it hopes to destroy the old networks of solidarity which have continuously given life to the Kurdish resistance. The war and destruction were planned a long time ago, and yet "modernization" has not halted this. In fact, change has actually brought improvements since "modern", that is, imperialist forms of exploitation allow for better utilization of a people deprived of their subsistence. The escalation of the war in the last few years began with the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of small farmers and their families to create export zones in the new GAP region. [The GAP, or East Anatolia Project, is a huge system of dams designed to create export-oriented agriculture such as agro-industry cash crops, the creation of cattle, leather, tobacco, and other industrial zones, tourist regions, etc.] The more than 4 million people who live in the 6 GAP provinces are generally dependent on their harvests and subsistence farming. Their small farms are being increasingly bought out by the state as part of its "land reform" and handed over to investors and large land owners in the GAP region. In our fundamental rejection of authoritarian modernization, we assume that "development zones" such as the GAP region are not being developed to fulfil the wishes of the Kurds or to improve their standard of living. [In a report published in 1994 by journalist Lissy Schmidt, who was later assassinated by Iraqi intelligence agents, 70% of the affected population rejected the project in a survey conducted at the time construction was beginning.] Because for the majority of the poor population, this project has resulted in a loss of their land and the devaluation and destruction of their capabilities and previous means of production and survival. The War On Women The war is not only being waged in those areas where the guerrillas are strong, but rather it is also concentrated in places where women have a relatively strong and free position in the society: against the people in the mountains, where there is a tradition of semi-nomadic pasture agriculture, and against the people of the Yezidi and Alevi religions, who increasingly reject patriarchal and religious forms of oppression. Up to this day, the strong position and resistance of women against their exploitation by (Kurdish) land owners has been particularly significant. After being expelled from their villages, Kurdish women were deprived of their independent fields of labor. They lost their roles of social significance and found themselves living as refugees in slums in Kurdish and Turkish cities, and increasingly in virtual concentration camps as well. Under these conditions, their traditional network of solidarity broke down and they became increasingly isolated in the society, dependent on men and threatened by male violence and "modern" forms of patriarchal (especially sexual and small family) oppression. Worse than the women's loss of independence and their dependence on their job-seeking husbands, the newly-created strategic hamlets and concentration camps gave rise to new forms of patriarchal violence: militarist control, hunger, disease, infant mortality, humiliation, dependence, food rations, torture, and rape. This impoverishment and insecurity is to the benefit of violent patriarchal control, and has been taken up by Islamic groups who propagate and push through the oppression of women. The Resistance Of Women Even after the destruction of thousands of villages, the Turkish government, to this very day, still has not been able to defeat the resistance of the Kurdish people. Although their traditional subsistence has all but been eradicated, the power of women has not yet been wiped out. The women cling to this and further develop it in the cities. "More and more Kurdish cities are becoming powder kegs, more and more people are part of the propertyless masses whose means of subsistence has been destroyed and who don't even have the opportunity to work as day laborers in the cities. In many places, they have even been able to mobilize the regular city inhabitants." [Lissy Schmidt, 1992/93] It was women, recently driven out of the mountains, who were the organizers and driving force behind the 'Serhildan', the Kurdish Intifada, which lasted from late 1989 until March 1992. It was they who resisted against the Turkish military with stones, sticks, and pure anger. [The uprising organized by women in Sirnak in February 1991 was particularly significant. The military gunned down hundreds of miners to enforce a ban on private coal mining and distribution, after which hardly any government building escaped the angry attacks of the women (and men) who broadened their resistance into a popular uprising by the time of Newroz.] Ever since then, Newroz celebrations are marked by massive military deployments and are "guarded" by German tanks. Cities, the new centers of resistance, are bombarded from the air, and ever more people are kidnapped by death squads, tortured, and killed. Many of the women who have been driven into the cities build new groups and structures of solidarity and resistance in human rights and prisoner support associations, neighborhood committees to oppose the death squads and publicize hungerstrikes by prisoners, and by engaging in their own hungerstrikes to oppose the torture and disappearance of relatives and friends. Everywhere they develop a great power. Another part of women's resistance is the struggle for better living conditions and human dignity. Many young women go to the mountains and join the guerrilla, into illegality, to fight against the repression, expulsion, and war of the Turkish military and also to struggle for their own liberation from traditional patriarchal oppression. Kurdish Women And The PKK A significant reason for the massive participation and organization of women in the struggle of the PKK is that fact that the war directly affects them and their families and friends and is waged in their villages and cities. Even before the war, life in Kurdistan was determined by the colonialist politics, carried out in conjunction with Kurdish land owners. Increasing amounts of land, the foundation of pasture agriculture, were taken away from village ownership and "capitalized", the people were terrorized with racist bureaucratic and militarist repression, and they were victims of systematic social neglect. The raw materials and harvests of their agricultural labor were plundered. That's why more and more people were forced to emigrate starting in the 1950s. In this process of so-called underdevelopment and repression, and in the growing resistance to this, many women felt a desire for more freedom, diversity, experience, etc., and they increasingly rejected the traditional village structures which regulated and oppressed them. With the dissolution of the extended family, the focus on the power and opinions of the oldest woman - who always made the women into defenders of patriarchy - also began to decline. Among the young women, many fought against the patriarchal oppression in their family as well and thus decided to join the PKK in order to break out of this. ["At home, my father gave the orders, and when he wasn't there, my brother did. In the guerrilla, I can decide things for myself, perhaps even become a commander!" - a young female PKK guerrilla] Many women associated all of their hopes for total liberation from this situation of destruction and oppression with the PKK, because the PKK's military successes were the only proven and serious force which could resist the Turkish military and organs of repression. The main reasons for their supporting the PKK are the Turkish politics of nationalism, chauvinism, and racism. [Kurds were called "mountain Turks", their language, history, traditions, etc. were banned, students who spoke in Kurdish were beaten by Turkish teachers, and so on.] But among the Kurds themselves, they developed a sort of pride of the oppressed, and their resistance created an identity which crossed social divisions. Ever since the days of Ataturk, Turkish authorities have tried to wipe out everything Kurdish and make all memories of such things impossible. The experience of Kurds who saw their daily cultural self-consciousness and their history being broken felt a stronger desire for their "Kurdish identity". In other words, they want to be and live like that which was forbidden to them, and repression could not stop them from this. In the words of one prisoner in Diyarbakir in 1983: "All the hatred for the oppressors which boiled up inside me since my early childhood has done me good. It was only after I went to prison that I learned about my country and my history, about our collective 'guilt', that is, being Kurdish." Not only in Kurdistan, even here in Germany aid is given to the Turkish repressive machinery, as relatives who sometimes can only speak Kurdish are ordered to "speak Turkish!" when they visit jailed relatives German prisons. An "identity" becomes resistance, something illegal to be pushed through. Even traditions, such as the Newroz festival, for example, are given new life as forms of resistance, but also as a form of hope of a future free society, because although the war mobilizes lots of strength and self-consciousness ("identity"), it also prevents and destroys many things, it creates feelings of sorrow, weakness, limitations, and the struggle to survive. Official PKK propaganda equates women's liberation with their participation in the military wing of the national liberation struggle. In order to prevent the progressive radicalization of many young women against both old and new power relations from turning against the PKK itself and its own power structures, the party for several years now has been using lots of propaganda, pressure, and "education" with the help of the women leaders of the YJWK to reintegrate women into modernized patriarchal family norms. [The YJWK is the Union of Patriotic Women of Kurdistan, the PKK's women's organization. The following is a quotation from 1992 concerning the situation of immigrant Kurdish women: "Kurds as people from a strange society have different social and political characteristics than other peoples, such as Greeks, Yugoslavians, Turks, etc."] Their reform consists of rebuilding the family according to "national traditions" with a folklore identity, a "strong Kurdish culture", and a means of discipline to prevent things from going too far or becoming a "Western" form of "women's emancipation" which the party looks down upon. Solidarity and collectivity are certainly lively aspects of women's struggles. In many independent initiatives, acting in solidarity and cooperation with one another, women have taken on responsibilities and struggled for collective, self-determined structures, even in the mountains, even against their male comrades. This calls into question the eroded and largely scattered family and its patriarchal values, as well as the party's power and its principles of discipline and subordination. That's why the "collective" of the family is termed the building block of the nation state, and moralistic pressure is exerted to get the women back in line. [Here, "collective" means subordination to the desires of the patriarchal leadership in the family and the party.] According to the PKK's party program from 1978: "Any analysis of Kurdistan which does not view the national conflict as the main conflict is only serving the forces of colonialism and reaction." Even today, PKK women leaders seem to have taken this view to heart. [From a PKK women's text in Germany for March 8, 1994: "It is important that women recognize and carry out their responsibilities as bridges to education in the family in the service of the revolution."] Although we understand and accept the fact that many Kurdish women strive for a "Kurdish identity" as a driving force of their resistance against racist Turkish oppression, we think it's fiction to believe that a true "Kurdish identity" can only be developed in a "liberated Kurdistan". The party ideology exploits this need for an "identity", in that it builds on the Turkish politics of denying and eliminating Kurdish historical consciousness and offers people fleeing from the war myths about their history instead of supporting their struggle to defend and link up to their living history - for example, the resistance to their expulsion. If the PKK - or the Turkish occupiers, for that matter - has its way, the earlier diversity of Kurdish culture and its decentralized means of production and self-reliance will disappear, because only then can they implement their proposals for modernized control. The war is a means of destroying diverse social structures and it creates the necessary polarization and forced standardization for the future power and exploitation needs of the party. All of this is buried beneath the PKK myth of an ancient history and the "creating of the Kurdish nation" and the conservation of certain Kurdish traditions. By signifying what is "Kurdish" and what isn't, everything which contradicts the power of the party will be oppressed, even to the point of erasing people's historical consciousness. [With the naturalization of the notion of being "Kurdish", Kurdish people become an ethnic group and the party decides what "Kurdish" is. All undesirable conduct which "contradicts Kurdish nature, the Kurdish nation, and the Kurdish people" is opposed, even to the point of isolating and oppressing those people who choose not to be "Kurdish".] But the history of Kurdish life and struggle is very changing and diverse, indeed this is what characterizes it. It was exactly this relatively autonomous decentralization and heterogeneity which prevented its destruction at the hands of the centralized violence of the Ottoman Empire and modern-day nation states and imperialist exploitation interests. That's why the destruction is aimed at the people's fundamental necessities for living. We reject the reformulation of commonly understood living resistance to the oppression of the Kurdish people which seeks to change their Kurdishness in the resistance to repression, the exploitation of their life necessities, their language, and their culture into a national ideology and a rigid culture, because that only serves the specific aims of the party to achieve power and future exploitation in a state of its own, and this merely conceals social and anti-patriarchal contradictions and struggles. A Critique Of Liberation Nationalism In contrast to colonial and imperial nationalism, which creates and utilizes control, liberation nationalism gives rise to resistance by various social groups against the colonialists and the imperialists. In that sense it is identical to a resistance to all forms of oppression. It mobilizes liberation utopias in people towards a common struggle against exploitation and occupation, it creates a culture of resistance in opposition to the dominant ruling culture which robs people of their way of life, their language, their history, their experiences, etc. Nonetheless, we see in "national liberation" few possibilities for creating a society on its way to eliminating exploitation and both patriarchal as well as racist oppression. For the PKK, "national liberation" means taking power in Kurdistan and taking possession of it resources like water, oil, and minerals in order to secure its own hold on the modernized exploitation of people and resources. The struggles of people against authoritarian modernization (for example, their resistance to forced resettlement and bans on trade and agriculture) are turned around by the PKK into "national" aims: they are to be directed against the Turkish regime, but not against "modernization", which is destructive and which worsens the gap between the land owners and those without property. Social demands disappear behind the dominance of the national demand of an independent state. For example, the PKK didn't support the resistance to the forced resettlement from the GAP region, and even their own early attacks against GAP engineers were simply directed against Western/Turkish exploitation plans. The farmers, and their subsistence way of life in "traditional society", were often dismissed as feudalistic and regressive people who did not fight against large land ownership and redistribution. Appeals to tradition, it seems, are only made if they serve the aims of the nation state. Even large land owners can be "progressive" if they support the aims of creating a nation state. The focus of the struggle on national power leads to the destruction of subsistence living and makes the future society dependent on the imperialist global market. The guerrilla structures, which are separate from the society, are focussed on military counter-power against the Turkish army and the goal of national separation makes a guerrilla formation necessary which will fight against "foreign domination", and consequently its armed attacks will only be directed against military and police targets of the occupying force. This prevents the formation of a guerrilla formation which can orient itself to social liberation interests and against exploitation and patriarchal and racist oppression. Even though many women in Kurdistan view the formation of an independent women's army within the PKK as a necessary and welcome step towards equality, that is not an organization in our opinion. This independent organization of women cannot change the fact that the militarist formulation is separated from the social struggles and must remain a pillar supporting and renewing patriarchy. We do not wish to support the myth of the revolutionary quality of "armed struggle". But "armed struggle", with its militarist approach and weaponry, will not lead to liberation, only a connection to social struggles against social exploitation and oppression will. Our solidarity mainly goes out to those women who are not willing to sacrifice themselves to national-ethnic slogans in their struggle for a liberated society without exploitation or the oppression of women. Thoughts On Internationalism, Anti-Racism, And Feminist Solidarity Today, the radical wing of the feminist movement in Germany is hardly visible, rather it is broken and splintered into little groups who have little effect. Many women who used to be active have turned their political needs into career responsibilities or a job and their change is only limited to their personal daily surroundings and is therefore pretty much gone. The major social breaks over the last few years have left us with little ground to stand on, so it seems easier to stay amongst ourselves and just self-critically debate the weaknesses of our past political formations. And the critiques from immigrant women and women from the Three Continents of the metropolitan white lesbian/women's movement led to us having to make our own contradictions - our own racism, anti-Semitism, hetero-/sexism, productivism - a theme before our movement could become strong again. The previous feminist self-understanding of the politics of the first person (as women, we are ALL, albeit it to different degrees, oppressed and "objectively" opposed to patriarchy) was called into question by our analysis of our metropolitan women's reality, in that we aren't just victims or subjects waging resistance, but rather that we are also responsible for and benefit from patriarchal forms of domination and exploitation. The - necessary and important! - discussion about our own differences took us off our pedestal: We are not the ones with the full picture, the ones already more "liberated" or emancipated than the women of Eastern Europe or the Three Continents. Because our "liberation" is, at the same time, a form and expression of our complicity in the oppression of our sisters. This realization was crucial for us: We no longer speak of revolutionary demands or on behalf of ALL women, but rather just for US, and we prefer to leave out the word "revolutionary" - this needs to apply to everyone, otherwise your view of liberation is just the building up of your own privileges. But this retreat into a position where at least there were four walls which helped to determine relevance also isolated other women once again. We have given support, at least verbally and sometimes more deeply, to the demands of immigrant women and socially discriminated women. We have noted, respected, and struggled against the differences between us as they are represented within ourselves, that is, our own racism, anti-Semitism, productivism, hetero-/sexism. But this often just leads to merely stating these problems, as if correct speech were always a reflection of a correct consciousness. As if there could even be a "right" or "wrong" consciousness unless women fight against this. At this point, our own increased sensibilities and willingness for self-criticism appeared deceptive. It was simply a reflection of the insecurity which results from the process of dissolution ("deregulation") of old metropolitan social structures and the new offensive of patriarchal power and exploitation in which the ruling powers and those who swim with the tide seek to integrate our previous feminist demands. With our retreat back to US and our focus on sensitizing our own consciousness, we found ourselves in line with the dominant social trend of increased individualization and the dissolution of collective social experiences. In some of our praxis as well as in our theoretical work, we saw the destruction of the social collectivity which had previously been the basis of our resistance. We can only win back a fighting revolutionary perspective if we go beyond our own interests and find external links for our struggle to eliminate sexist violence and patriarchal domination, and if we create networks with women and their structures here who are affected by racist mistreatment and social isolation/exploitation. We must - while respecting our differences - open ourselves up to these women in a concrete way, women whose racist, sexist, legal, and social discrimination has made them subject to the worst forms of exploitation and violence, making them prime targets for authoritarian modernization, against which they resist with their counter- strategies and their fighting subjectivity. Denying rights to immigrants and criminalizing them is a strategic weapon of the ruling elite. They utilize this to reformulate their exploitation and violence in the society at large, thus hoping to restabilize their hold on power. An illegal labor force and sexual favors almost for free, regardless of what violence must be used, reduce the costs of reproduction for everyone. That means that we nearly all profit from this, thereby reducing the labor costs for all types of exploitation (including that of women and immigrants) across the board in society. Women here must not stay put at demanding a equal right to stay for women refugees, independent of men, and then close their eyes to the exploitation of these women. Supporting the struggles waged by immigrants also means resisting their second-class status and criminalization, that means fighting to repeal the so- called "foreigner laws" (and any type of "law" which is discriminatory) with all our possibilities and with all the weapons and forms of resistance which we have developed, because we don't want to be a part of exclusion and exploitation. Besides, it's fun and exciting to resist "from below" the small social circles and individualization which have been prescribed to us, and to resist the ("post-Fordist") trend to dissolve social collectivity by forming new associations and to always break out of our contradictions and our inclusion in the power structure of this inhumane system. By "opening up to" other women, we don't just mean their different form of subjectivity or their different - less dependent on dominant productivism and "independent of the individual" and more in tune with social reproduction - values, activities, and struggles. But rather we should try sometimes to see things through different eyes and to learn things when we are confronted with our productivist and racist values and activities. It's important to be aware of our differences and to respect these, but it's just as important to break out of our increasing isolation and to develop some fighting together, to prevent old and new forms of patriarchal domination and capitalist value systems from completely taking over. Our view of women's liberation and our view of communism here and now can only become visible and liveable if we break out of our divisions of oppression, which play women off against each other, and join forces in a network of resistance structures. [We hope this context makes it clear that we do NOT have a Marxist conception of social struggles as a "progressive development" on the way to a "classless society" in mind. We view "communism" as a critical notion of struggle for a society in which we abolish the patriarchal-capitalist cult of productivism and its greed for ever more modernization and technology, which "only" sees value in the reproduction of human life according to that which is useful and that which isn't useful, according to which humans have no intrinsic "right" to existence, and a society in which all forms of exploitation, domination, and violence and the racist and sexist foundations of these have been eliminated.] This interconnectedness of the various struggles for a right for EVERYONE to exist, regardless of their capitalist value, their social or cultural background, their passport, and so on, can help us to extricate ourselves from our integration into this system of domination or make use of this for the cause of collective liberation (for example, our easy access to information and our ability to deal with official bureaucracy, as well as our assured social status). In our dealings with this system, which to the eyes of women who have come or fled here seems like a complex web of racist and sexist exploitative power, we learn to know better the personifications and responsibilities of this power and this makes them attackable by us. Solidarity With Kurdish Women We are still far away from such mid-term goals, but there are already networks of solidarity which have been built up by immigrant women themselves. Not just "exchanges" with Kurdish women, but rather practical solidarity in our relations with them can help build our contacts to Kurdish women and this can strengthen the network. The war in Kurdistan has led to sharpened national divisions between people of different ethnic backgrounds, both in Turkey as well as here. In associations of Turkish, Kurdish, and German women, we need to struggle to break down these barriers. There are several ways to show practical solidarity, and we can carry out a variety of public and subversive protests: - A right to stay for ALL! Actions to disrupt state racist policies, to prevent deportations and new deportation prisons, to remove the anonymity surrounding those individuals responsible for these things. - Attacks on the corporations responsible for these things. - Actions against racists, fascists, sexists, and exploiters responsible for underpaid illegal labor (including women!). - Solidarity actions against the banning of the PKK and Kurdish associations. Nearly all networks of Kurdish solidarity are affected by the party ban and are directly affected by German government repression. For the unhindered and self-determined organization of immigrants! - Tourism is a modern form of colonialist exploitation. The tourism industry will this year again promote "Vacation Land Turkey '95". We connect actions calling for "No Tourism to Turkey!" with the aim of cutting into the massive profits which German agencies make, rather than attacking small Turkish travel firms. The silence of the PKK with respect to the actions this spring directed against Turkish immigrants only strengthens racist and nationalistic tendencies in Germany, and it makes the tensions between Kurds and Turks even worse. This is in fundamental contradiction to our aims. - Actions to prevent the economic cooperation between Germany and Turkey, from public protests to attacks on corporations and politicians who are responsible for this bloody business. Lurssen is a mid-sized firm which makes 100% of its money by building warships. At the present time, Lurssen is building a new "high-speed attack ship" which can carry missiles and machine guns. This is part of a package of three "Dogan" brand speed boats produced by Lurssen, two of which are being produced in the Turkish port of Tazkisac. The financing of this production - via the German firm Hermes - totals 400 million DM. At least since 1987, Lurssen has been doing business with the German state- sponsored Turkish military, having already produced at least 10 Dogan craft, made either in Tazkisac or at Lurssen's own docks. In addition to warships, Lurssen also provides other necessary military equipment to regimes all around the world: construction plans, licenses, know-how, training, all the way up to entire wharfs. More than 130 ships over the last few decades have been built according to Lurssen's specifications and licenses. "The Lurssen wharf has sent more warships onto the seas and trained more people to serve on warships than any other wharf in the world", according to one Lurssen spokesman at an arms show in Malaysia in 1994. Lurssen's murderous business practices have been publicly criticized in the past in press releases and protest actions against arms exports, most recently the symbolic blockade action at the end of 1994 in response to Lurssen's arms sales to Indonesia. Although a public campaign has developed over the past few years in opposition to German military and economic assistance to Turkey, mainly aimed at a few major German firms which do business with Turkey, Lurssen has tried to remain quietly in the background and carry out its business. We won't let them do this! Lurssen: Stop Your Murderous Deals With The Turkish Government! No arms sales to Turkey! So government support for the Germans arms industry! Stop all German military and economic "aid" to the Turkish government! No tourism to Turkey! (Or to anywhere else for that matter!) Lift the ban against the PKK and stop persecuting Kurdish associations! A right to stay for all Kurds! (And for all other people who migrate or flee here!) Fight against the "foreigner laws" and all other laws which discriminate against people and thus open the door for exploitation and violence! Recognize the independent grounds of fleeing for women and grant them the right to stay! Show practical solidarity with the resistance of women in Kurdistan and of Kurdish immigrants here! Against nationalism! For international women's gangs! Rote Zora - July 1995 [Translator's Note: The above text from the Rote Zora, instead of being an attack on Germany's role in the dirty war in Turkey and Kurdistan, is primarily a stinging critique of the PKK. I do not agree with a lot of the criticisms made in this text, some of which are just plain wrong. The idea, for example, that PKK units only aim at military targets and don't carry out social liberation/political organizing is simply not true. Then comes the usually cries of nationalism, making it seem as though the Kurdish resistance movement is something for "Kurds only", yet another gross misconception. The PKK, some of whose founders were Turkish, has fighters of several nationalities in its ranks, and one of the party's best characteristics is its commitment to internationalism and its refusal to follow narrow national aims. And Rote Zora's critique of Kurdish women organized in the PKK is borderline to patronizing. It seems that Kurdish women who are willing to fight and die for their party, the PKK, are somehow fooling themselves, and they haven't yet discovered real (German autonome?) feminism. Instead of praising the incredible gains in women's liberation which have been made in Kurdish society since 1978, despite the counter-attacks by Islamic and feudal forces, Rote Zora stick to their German feminist superiority, despite claims that they have come off their pedestal. Why are no critiques of bourgeois German/Western feminism offered alongside the anti-PKK stance? Certainly one can make constructive criticisms of the PKK, but just as Zora claim that the PKK distort reality to fit their vision of society, isn't that exactly what the RZ women are doing here? Trying to point out all the ways in which the outlook and organizational approach of Kurdish women and the PKK differ from the German radical-left and why these differences are mistaken. In any case, Rote Zora carried out a fine action, and we hope this text will inspire reflection and discussion. Please note that the comments in brackets in the above text are footnotes from the original RZ communique.] ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++ ++++ see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++ +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist collective based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of material, including political prisoners, national liberation struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings, research, and translation materials in our magazine and bulletins called Arm The Spirit. For more information, contact: Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P7 Canada E-mail: ats at etext.org WWW: gopher://locust.cic.net:70/11/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== From kurdeng at aps.nl Fri Aug 25 01:38:26 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 25 Aug 1995 01:38:26 Subject: TURKEY: UN CONDEMNATION OF "ARB Message-ID: Subject: Re: TURKEY: UN CONDEMNATION OF "ARBITRARY" JAILING OF POC's ---------------- Forwarded from : Amnesty_International at io.org ----------------- This News Service is posted by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International, 1 Easton Street, London WC1X 8DJ (Tel +44-71-413-5500, Fax +44-71-956-1157) Sender: Amnesty_International at io.org Precedence: bulk AMNESTY-L: ******************** News Service 153/95 AI INDEX: EUR 44/85/95 EMBARGOED UNTIL 0001 HRS GMT 22 AUGUST 1995 TURKEY: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL WELCOMES UNITED NATIONS CONDEMNATION OF "ARBITRARY" JAILING OF PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE Amnesty International welcomes a resolution by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention which declares the imprisonment of Gunay Aslan, Dr Haluk Gerger and Sedat Aslantas as arbitrary and requests that the Government of Turkey take the necessary steps to remedy the situation. The human rights organization considers the three men, imprisoned solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression, to be prisoners of conscience and submitted their cases to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in July 1994. In its decision, the Working Group expressed its concern regarding "the imprecise nature of charges such as those provided under Article 8/1 of the Anti-Terror Law, which could be used as a pretext for grave violations of the right to freedom of opinion and expression". The Working Group noted that the three men had made no incitement to violence and that therefore the application of this article constituted "a violation of their right to freedom of opinion and expression, a right guaranteed under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights". The three men were arrested under Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law, under which most prisoners of conscience in Turkey are held. It provides for up to five years' imprisonment for "jeopardizing the territorial integrity of the country by disseminating separatist propaganda". Moves to amend Article 8 were opposed by the armed forces and have so far failed to receive parliamentary approval. Amnesty International calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Dr Haluk Gerger and Sedat Aslantas as well as the release of all other prisoners of conscience currently imprisoned. The organization also calls for the immediate repeal or revision of Article 8. BACKGROUND Gunay Aslan, writer and journalist, was released in January after serving 15 months of a 20-month prison sentence in connection with his book "33 Bullets", about the alleged massacre of Kurdish villages in Turkey more than 50 years ago. Dr Haluk Gerger, academic, journalist and founding member of the Turkish Human Rights Association (HRA), is serving a 20-month prison sentence for a letter sent to a memorial meeting for three political prisoners who were executed in 1972. He is due to be released in September 1995. Sedat Aslantas, lawyer and Deputy Secretary General of the HRA, is serving a three-year prison sentence for a speech he made to the 1992 Annual Congress of the HRA, in which he referred to the problems of Turkey's Kurdish minority. He was arrested in December 1994. ENDS\ ********** You may re-post this message onto other sources but if you do then please tell us at AINS at GN.APC.ORG so that we can keep track of what is happening to these items. If you want more information concerning this item then please contact the Amnesty International section office in your own country. You may also send email to amnesty-info at igc.apc.org, an automatic reply service. A list of section contact details is posted on the APC conference. If there is not a section of Amnesty International in your country then you should contact the International Secretariat in London.END ********** ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Fri Aug 25 01:38:00 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 25 Aug 1995 01:38:00 Subject: TURKEY: UN CONDEMNATION OF "ARB Message-ID: <082595014725Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a> Subject: Re: TURKEY: UN CONDEMNATION OF "ARBITRARY" JAILING OF POC's ---------------- Forwarded from : Amnesty_International at io.org ----------------- This News Service is posted by the International Secretariat of Amnesty International, 1 Easton Street, London WC1X 8DJ (Tel +44-71-413-5500, Fax +44-71-956-1157) Sender: Amnesty_International at io.org Precedence: bulk AMNESTY-L: ******************** News Service 153/95 AI INDEX: EUR 44/85/95 EMBARGOED UNTIL 0001 HRS GMT 22 AUGUST 1995 TURKEY: AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL WELCOMES UNITED NATIONS CONDEMNATION OF "ARBITRARY" JAILING OF PRISONERS OF CONSCIENCE Amnesty International welcomes a resolution by the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention which declares the imprisonment of Gunay Aslan, Dr Haluk Gerger and Sedat Aslantas as arbitrary and requests that the Government of Turkey take the necessary steps to remedy the situation. The human rights organization considers the three men, imprisoned solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression, to be prisoners of conscience and submitted their cases to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in July 1994. In its decision, the Working Group expressed its concern regarding "the imprecise nature of charges such as those provided under Article 8/1 of the Anti-Terror Law, which could be used as a pretext for grave violations of the right to freedom of opinion and expression". The Working Group noted that the three men had made no incitement to violence and that therefore the application of this article constituted "a violation of their right to freedom of opinion and expression, a right guaranteed under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights". The three men were arrested under Article 8 of the Anti-Terror Law, under which most prisoners of conscience in Turkey are held. It provides for up to five years' imprisonment for "jeopardizing the territorial integrity of the country by disseminating separatist propaganda". Moves to amend Article 8 were opposed by the armed forces and have so far failed to receive parliamentary approval. Amnesty International calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Dr Haluk Gerger and Sedat Aslantas as well as the release of all other prisoners of conscience currently imprisoned. The organization also calls for the immediate repeal or revision of Article 8. BACKGROUND Gunay Aslan, writer and journalist, was released in January after serving 15 months of a 20-month prison sentence in connection with his book "33 Bullets", about the alleged massacre of Kurdish villages in Turkey more than 50 years ago. Dr Haluk Gerger, academic, journalist and founding member of the Turkish Human Rights Association (HRA), is serving a 20-month prison sentence for a letter sent to a memorial meeting for three political prisoners who were executed in 1972. He is due to be released in September 1995. Sedat Aslantas, lawyer and Deputy Secretary General of the HRA, is serving a three-year prison sentence for a speech he made to the 1992 Annual Congress of the HRA, in which he referred to the problems of Turkey's Kurdish minority. He was arrested in December 1994. ENDS\ ********** You may re-post this message onto other sources but if you do then please tell us at AINS at GN.APC.ORG so that we can keep track of what is happening to these items. If you want more information concerning this item then please contact the Amnesty International section office in your own country. You may also send email to amnesty-info at igc.apc.org, an automatic reply service. A list of section contact details is posted on the APC conference. If there is not a section of Amnesty International in your country then you should contact the International Secretariat in London.END ********** ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sat Aug 26 18:57:10 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 26 Aug 1995 18:57:10 Subject: News From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief' 17/ Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) Subject: News From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief' 17/95 News Translated From Kurdistan Rundbrief 17/95 - ARGK July Balance: "Consolidating Our Positions" - Guerrilla Struggle Spreads To Mediterranean And Taurus - "All Of Turkey Has Become One Huge Prison" - Debate On The PKK/ERNK Ban Continues - PDS Lower Saxony Demands Security Chief Resign - Kurdistan Parliament In Exile Prepares For National Congress - Bremen Officials Let Kurd Die - A Look At The Press... ----- ARGK July Balance: "Consolidating Our Positions" The attacks by the Turkish military in South Kurdistan in early July in the region of the Zap and Haci-Beg rivers, which began with lots of excitement, ended as a total fiasco for the Turkish forces and allowed us to consolidate our positions. In the second half of July, both our guerrilla actions as well as mass actions increased, causing the colonialist- fascist Turkish Republic to cry for even more help from their imperialist masters. This showed that plans are in the making to increase their cooperation. The imperialists states, in particular the USA and Germany, aren't content with just supporting the cruel Turkish regime, rather they have increased their attacks on Kurdish people living there who support the liberation struggle and they are once again organizing the Kurdish collaborators so as to attack the PKK and the revolution in Kurdistan. Various collaborationist forces, particularly the KDP, are bending over backwards to please the imperialists and are doing everything they can to halt the march of the Kurdish people towards revolutionary- democratic people's power. From July 1-31, the war was waged in all regions of Kurdistan. There were a total of 482 confrontations between our guerrilla units and the army of the Turkish Republic (TR). Among these, there were 132 ambushes, 63 battles, 52 attacks, and 9 roadblocks. We know full or partial casualty figures for 273 of these confrontations, but the totals for the other 209 engagements are unknown. During the 273 confrontations for which the casualty figures are known, 990 TR forces were killed, including 14 officers, 8 captains, 8 special forces, and 960 soldiers. A similar number were wounded, including 7 officers. There were also 9 policemen, 7 agents and contra-guerrillas, and 166 village guards, including 2 village guard leaders, killed. Therefore, the total number of confirmed enemy casualties for July totals 1,172. Another 65 village guards, including 1 village guard leader, were wounded in the fighting. In July, we took 58 members of the enemy forces as prisoners, including 2 soldiers, 2 watchmen, 13 agents and contra-guerrillas, 1 official, 1 village guard leader, and 39 village guards. In July, we entered 6 city centres and carried out actions. We destroyed 3 military stations, 1 hotel used as a military headquarters by the TR, 1 officers' quarters, and 1 state- owned water and power office, and we forced 2 brigades of the TR army to evacuate their bases. During the month, we also destroyed 8 tanks, 22 military vehicles, 1 MIT secret police vehicle, 28 vehicles belonging to village guards, agents, or contra-guerrillas, 3 state-owned TV stations, 1 radar station, and 4 power sub-stations. We also damaged 3 helicopters, 12 tanks, 18 military vehicles, and 1 stretch of railroad tracks. In July, we confiscated the following military equipment from the enemy: 1 heavy machine gun, 20 automatic weapons, 130 infantry weapons, 4 precision rifles with scopes, 383 magazines, 21,980 rounds of ammunition of various calibre, 57 rockets, 4 flame throwers, 35 mines, 1 mine detector, and 8 radios. During the last month, the TR carried out 39 aerial bombardments and 64 operations. All over Kurdistan, vast tracts of forests were burned and 25 villages were depopulated, including 13 in South Kurdistan. The Turkish army murdered 26 farmers, 8 in North Kurdistan and 18 in the South. In July, 111 of our guerrilla fighters and 4 of our militia forces were martyred. Another 48 were wounded, and 3 were injured and captured by the enemy. Press Office of the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) August 2, 1995 ----- Guerrilla Struggle Spreads To Mediterranean And Taurus The People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) commander for the Mediterranean-Taurus region gave the following statement to the KURD-A news agency on July 19, 1995: As the national liberation struggle in Kurdistan comes closer to victory step by step, our guerrilla struggle in Turkey continues to gain strength and to expand. Our guerrilla forces, which have attacked enemy forces in Kurdistan as part of the 1995 summer offensive, have also begun to trouble the enemy in the Taurus Mountains and in the Mediterranean region as well. After a period of preparation, our forces were first stationed in those regions in 1994. After establishing their positions, they remained there for the 1994/95 winter season. The enemy, who first became aware of the presence of our forces in that region in early 1995, analyzed the Mediterranean-Taurus situation in a session of the National Security Council and planned direct and indirect, open and covert measures for defeating our forces there. They sent thousands of soldiers to the region and hoped to achieve a victory over us by means of a military operation. Because they could not achieve such a victory, they built up a system of contra-guerrillas and village guards in urban centres such as Cukurova, Hatay, and Adana. But our forces were still able to carry out actions and to sometimes limit the freedom of movement of the enemy forces in many areas. In the last six months, 25 enemy soldiers, village guards, and civilian fascists have been killed in the region during our actions, and an equal number have been wounded. The enemy has sought to avenge its losses on the civilian population by attacking villages, arresting hundreds of people, and torturing and threatening to kill people who show sympathy with our struggle. The enemy has depopulated nearly 100 settlements, so tens of thousands of people have been affected by this war. Despite this, our units have continued to enjoy success in their activities in city centres and villages. In the last six months, 2 of our fighters were killed. The Turkish people have shown a great deal of interest in our struggle, which is led by the PKK. In the last six months, many Turkish youths have joined our struggle for freedom and independence and the PKK has accepted these youths into the ranks of our guerrilla. ARGK Mediterranean-Taurus Regional Commander ----- "All Of Turkey Has Become One Big Prison" Interview With The Head Of The IHD Office In Istanbul On July 6, Canan of Kurdistan Rundbrief spoke in Istanbul with Ercan Kaner, the head of Human Rights Association (IHD) office in that city. Kaner spoke about the work of the IHD, the arrest of IHD lawyer Eren Keskin, political persecution in Turkey, government propaganda about the so-called "democratization steps", and the deportation of refugees back to Turkey. Below are excerpts from this discussion: After her conviction, Eren Keskin is now in prison. Could you tell us more about this? Eren Keskin was a lawyer by profession and she was the coordinator of our Istanbul branch. She was both a friend as well as a colleague. She was on the board of directors for four years and was deputy head for two years. Eren Keskin's motivations for her work both at her office as well as with the IHD was her concern for human rights. She worked for equal rights and freedom for people. She worked for us for free. The Turkish state "rewarded" her for this pro bono work by tossing her in jail. But I don't think that this punishment will deter her. Even though Eren Keskin has never held a weapon in her hands, never used violence, and only ever acted on a democratic basis for equal rights and freedom in her quest for human rights, she was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison because of an article she wrote in the [now banned] newspaper Ozgur Gundem. She will stay in prison for at least 22 months. She has already been in prison for one month now. This is an unjust and racist punishment. But there are still other trials continuing against her right now. It's possible that she could be imprisoned for several more years if Article 8 is not repealed and if Turkey does not start taking the path towards democracy. Just like all the other people who have been punished for their beliefs, Eren Keskin and the IHD have made this problem an issue through their activities. Recently we held a protest outside the prison and handed out press releases, even though the police tried to stop us. The IHD will soon start a campaign, not just for Eren Keskin, but for all prisoners sentenced under these laws which restrict freedom of thought. Of course, it's not just the IHD that supports her, rather all people who believe in human rights and who support the prisoners do. Eren Keskin is aware of the support she has. It's important to see all of this in the larger context as well: Today, it's not just the prisoners who are in jail, rather all of Turkey has become one huge prison. At present, more than 5,000 people have been charged because of their opinions. If these laws are not repealed, all of these people will most likely end up in prison. In order to tackle this problem at its roots, all democrats who until now have kept their opinions to themselves must be mobilized to demand the repeal of these unjust laws. Are you hopeful that Article 8 will be changed or repealed? No, actually I'm not. Back when the present coalition government was formed in 1991/92, we knew they would only present the veneer of democracy. We tried to make people aware of the existence of protocols which have not been made public. By presenting the veneer of democratization, they are trying to win membership in the European Union (EU), or at the very least win a customs union with the European Community. They are trying to make the international public believe that changes are taking place. But they are hiding the fact that laws concerning freedom of expression have not been abolished, rather they have just been changed into new laws. And this they call democratization. But they can't even manage this, because the parliament is comprised of so many chauvinistic, reactionary, and anti-democratic forces that they can't even make cosmetic changes. They want to govern like a war parliament. What are the problems faced by the IHD in Diyarbakir and the offices in other cities? Since the founding of the Human Rights Association and the establishment of a few offices, we have been under intense pressure. When we add up all the trials against the head office and all of the local offices, we easily surpass one hundred. For example, right now there are 20 trials against IHD Istanbul, 3 against the head office, 10 against IHD Diyarbakir, and 10 against other offices. So far, 12 of our leading members have been murdered, including the heads of some of the local offices. The office which suffers the most repression is the branch in Diyarbakir. Before they could put together delegations and travel out to the surrounding villages. Today they can longer visit any villages. The heads of the office were threatened [by the state] and they were told to leave the area or they would be murdered. Today, more and more Kurds are being deported back to Turkey. Can you tell us something about what happens to these people? The policies of Germany's federal and state governments are well known to us. In order to avoid public criticism, they have made certain offers to the IHD. We don't want any Kurds to be deported, but the German government decided against our wishes. The CDU [conservative party] has decided to carry out the deportations, so negotiations started with the Turkish government to get them to agree to certain conditions. A protocol was signed. The state governments bowed down to this federal decision, but they asked us, the IHD, for help because they were concerned about the fate of Kurds being deported back to Turkey. They wanted to sign an agreement with us. We told each of the state governments in Germany - albeit North Rhein-Westphalia, Baden-Wurtemburg, or Berlin - that international human rights standards did not apply in Turkey, so it's clear that deported Kurds cannot expect to receive humane treatment. We condemn the protocol which was signed with Turkey, because it is a violation of human rights, the Geneva Accords on refugees, and all international human rights agreements. That's why we refused to cooperate with that process. We assured them of the following: The IHD would, as with any case, investigate matters brought to its attention, but we will not sign a protocol with any state or parliament. If friends or relatives of persecuted persons contact us, we will deal with the matter. But we will not pat the German government on the back when it comes to human rights. We reserve the right to criticize them. You cannot trust the word of the Turkish government. ----- Debate On The PKK/ERNK Ban Continues The German political satire TV program "ZAK" dealt with the recent attacks on Turkish targets in its August 13 sending. Featured guests on the show were Green politician and state parliamentarian from North Rhein-Westphalia Siggi Martch and ERNK European spokesperson Ali Sapan. Ali Sapan stated his desire that the ERNK establish contacts with the German government in order to bring about a de-escalation, and he criticized the attacks. Two days later, Siggi Martsch stated in an interview with the leftist daily Junge Welt that the German government should "recognize" the ERNK and the PKK and start a dialogue with them. But he didn't see "any possibility at the time being" of lifting the ban against the PKK and the ERNK. But the bans against many other groupings should be lifted, or at least new associations should not be banned, nor should the display of Kurdish symbols be punishable. So here's the situation: A banned organization seeks a dialogue with a democratic state to avoid a further escalation. Of course, the prerequisite to this is that the banned organization adhere to the laws of this state, and that this state also abide by these. Clearly, the escalation by the security forces has failed. Even the conservative daily FAZ made the following comment about the federal government in an appeal to its more "neutral forces": "I think we need to make the federal government realize that the key to the violence question is in the hands of the PKK." The FAZ commentary, which Siggi Martsch referred to, was printed on August 3 and is somewhat different than the Green politician's interpretation of it. After stating that "actually, the PKK is banned", the newspaper's internal affairs editor Friedrich Karl Fromme then stated the following about the funeral procession in Berlin: "Up until now, it has been impossible to separate the fanatical supporters of the PKK from their leadership by means of bans or criminalization." He couples this realization with the demand to proceed with "patience for all but also with firm determination" so as to "stop the PKK's activities on German soil as much as possible". But discussions about the ban are continuing in police circles. In the August 4 edition of the daily Frankfurter Rundschau, there was an article about a discussion meeting held in Bonn with the chief of Bonn's central police district, who is responsible for demonstrations in that city, concerning police complaints about the ban on PKK/ERNK symbols and flags. According to him, this ban has put police in a situation where they must intervene in otherwise peaceful demonstrations simply because a banned symbol or flag is being displayed, and that this is why confrontations break out. So the police then become "advertisers for the PKK", and police officers have demanded that their duties be limited to combatting "serious offences". Bavaria's interior minister Beckstein, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with discussions about the ban, and he strongly criticized police restraint during the funeral procession [for Gulnaz Baghistani] in Berlin in the August 7 edition of the FAZ: "I call on anyone who thinks the banning of the PKK has been ineffective to see what it is has done in Bavaria. Mass rallies organized by the PKK, where people are free to hold their flags and show their symbols and read speeches by their leader Abdullah Ocalan, are the wrong signal to give. This only shows the power of the PKK and the weakness of the state." It isn't the ban which has strengthened the PKK, he says, rather "the inactivity of the state in the face of flagrant violations of the law". ----- PDS Lower Saxony Demands Security Chief Resign The head of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) in Lower Saxony, Hans Henning Adler, has demanded that state interior minister Glogowski immediately fire the president of Lower Saxony's Office to Protect the Constitution [Verfassungsschutz], Rolf Peter Minner. With his claim that Kurdish snipers were planning to shoot at German police - a rumour which was then spread further by federal police and intelligence agencies - Minner is giving Lower Saxony's police a mentality that all Kurds must be viewed as potential killers. This could easily lead to the use of police firearms in "preventive necessity", as the murder of Halim Dener one year ago by a Lower Saxony policeman in Hannover clearly illustrated. The PDS has said that Minner should work somewhere else, perhaps in the film industry where he can better live out his violent fantasies. ----- Kurdistan Parliament In Exile Prepares For National Congress The President of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile, Yasar Kaya, issued a statement on August 1 detailing the results of the Second Session of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile. The Kurdistan Parliament in Exile carried out its Second Session from July 30-August 1, 1995. All relevant issues were discussed, and the following decisions were made: - The Newroz festival on March 21 will not only be an official national holiday in Kurdistan but also outside Kurdistan as well. This law, as well as changes to Articles 2 and 8 of the Parliament's founding statues, was passed. - The emblem of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile was decided upon and agreed to. The General Secretariat and the Executive Council of the Parliament took up and passed the organizational law. - On the theme of national unity, which was a general discussion, a National Congress shall be convened and work shall begin on establishing a National Parliament. In line with this, the Executive Council was empowered to make the necessary preparations. - The meeting also discussed the Turkish state's widening war in Kurdistan, the reason for its continued attacks on the civilian population, the hungerstrike by more than 10,000 political prisoners and their demand for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish problem, and the many activities in support of the hungerstrike which have taken place in cities all across Turkey and in Europe. - Our Parliament recognizes the hungerstrike activities as democratic and values them as a form of resistance by the Kurdish people against the Turkish government. - Our Parliament, since its establishment, has dealt with and sought solutions to the Kurdistan problem and has taken on a role of active representation. - Our assembly took place at a time when the war in North Kurdistan is intensifying, as the Turkish army seeks to destroy everything Kurdish by bombarding villages and killing dozens of people every day, and as more than 10,000 prisoners are on hungerstrike with our people actively supporting them. - Our Parliament discussed these matters at this critical phase and it took decisions so as to play an active role in these developments. - Our Parliament will, in future, continue to seek a peaceful and democratic solution to the Kurdish problem and will strengthen its work towards this end. Yasar Kaya President of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile August 1, 1995 ----- Bremen Officials Let Kurd Die A 36-year-old Kurdish asylum seeker died recently because the social services officials in the German city of Bremen held back payments for a necessary liver transplant for too long. This was confirmed on August 17 by a spokesperson for the Bremen Senate's health and social services ministry. There were "bad mistakes" and "we are sorry about these and we will learn from these". The group Solidarity Assistance, which was caring for the Kurd, Celal Arkan, has brought charges of medical neglect against the authorities. Arkan, a Yezidi, was arrested and badly tortured in Turkey on suspicions that he was a PKK supporter. In prison, he became infected with hepatitis B and D. After 9 months in prison, he was able to flee to Germany. In Germany, clinic and state doctors kept sending him back and forth for 15 months, despite his need for urgent medical attention. ----- A Look At The Press... Global Arms Trade (in millions U.S. dollars) Main Exporters 1994 (of heavy weapons) 1. USA 11,959 2. Germany 3,162 3. U.K. 1,593 4. China 1,204 5. Russia 842 6. France 705 Main Importers 1994 (of heavy weapons) 1. Turkey 2,135 2. Saudi Arabia 1,602 3. Indonesia 1,415 4. Egypt 1,370 5. Taiwan 1,069 6. Greece 973 (Neues Deutschland, 17.8.95) Despite Successes, Economy Remains Weak There is widespread optimism in Ankara's government. After prime minister Tansu Ciller won a major victory in parliament and passed her, albeit minor, constitutional reform package, the international finance and investment firm Morgan Stanley gave a robust picture of the Turkish economy. The experts estimated that Turkey, despite a year of crisis in 1994, had managed to pay off $10 billion of its foreign debt. And the recent ratings by an American agency, which raised Turkey's status from "stable" to "positive", gave heart to economy politicians in Ankara. Experts especially praised the great rise in currency reserves. The reserves of the Central Bank - without gold - have risen 90% since the beginning of the year to $13.51 billion. But the economy is vulnerable nonetheless. The balance of trade deficit stood at $2.78 billion in the first five months of this year, 50% higher than the same period in 1994. The inflation rate, which hit a record high of 150% at the beginning of the year, managed to fall back to 80%, but bank circles seem to feel that the rate could climb once again by year's end. Early fall is a particularly crucial season for Turkey, because that's when foreign and domestic debt payments are due. The treasury will have to bury $1.5 or $2 billion in international financial markets in order to make this year's foreign debt payment of $6.5 billion. The government is also confronted with growing discontent in the public sector. In a series of mass demonstrations, workers have rejected an offer of a 5% pay increase, which with an inflation rate of 85% actually means a substantial loss of income. Last year, public sector workers already had to cope with a 40% loss in earnings. (Handelsblatt, 11.8.95) Turkey: Professors Demand Negotiations More than 100 intellectuals in Turkey have issued a call for a cease-fire and negotiations between the PKK and the army in order to prevent "national suicide". (Hamburger Abendblatt, 18.8.95) Investigation Against Two Policemen The state prosecutor's office in Frankfurt has opened an investigation against two unnamed police officers who allegedly mishandled demonstrators while dispersing a Kurdish vigil two weeks ago. The reason for the investigation was video footage, according to Job Tilmann, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office. The video seemed to show two as yet unidentified officers kicking people lying on the ground. (Frankfurter Rundschau, 12.8.95) Actually, The PKK Is Banned Leaders of the PKK are being sought after for membership in a terrorist organization. But legal proceedings against individual members who are caught are not likely to stop the danger of this cancer, because the militant organization of a national minority in a foreign state is seeking an alternative battlefield for its civil war here in Germany. Up until now, it has been impossible to separate the fanatical supporters of the PKK from their leadership by means of bans or criminalization. (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 3.8.95) ----- ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Sat Aug 26 18:57:00 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 26 Aug 1995 18:57:00 Subject: News From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief' 17/ References: Message-ID: <9508261733.AA29310@magi.com> From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) Subject: News From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief' 17/95 News Translated From Kurdistan Rundbrief 17/95 - ARGK July Balance: "Consolidating Our Positions" - Guerrilla Struggle Spreads To Mediterranean And Taurus - "All Of Turkey Has Become One Huge Prison" - Debate On The PKK/ERNK Ban Continues - PDS Lower Saxony Demands Security Chief Resign - Kurdistan Parliament In Exile Prepares For National Congress - Bremen Officials Let Kurd Die - A Look At The Press... ----- ARGK July Balance: "Consolidating Our Positions" The attacks by the Turkish military in South Kurdistan in early July in the region of the Zap and Haci-Beg rivers, which began with lots of excitement, ended as a total fiasco for the Turkish forces and allowed us to consolidate our positions. In the second half of July, both our guerrilla actions as well as mass actions increased, causing the colonialist- fascist Turkish Republic to cry for even more help from their imperialist masters. This showed that plans are in the making to increase their cooperation. The imperialists states, in particular the USA and Germany, aren't content with just supporting the cruel Turkish regime, rather they have increased their attacks on Kurdish people living there who support the liberation struggle and they are once again organizing the Kurdish collaborators so as to attack the PKK and the revolution in Kurdistan. Various collaborationist forces, particularly the KDP, are bending over backwards to please the imperialists and are doing everything they can to halt the march of the Kurdish people towards revolutionary- democratic people's power. From July 1-31, the war was waged in all regions of Kurdistan. There were a total of 482 confrontations between our guerrilla units and the army of the Turkish Republic (TR). Among these, there were 132 ambushes, 63 battles, 52 attacks, and 9 roadblocks. We know full or partial casualty figures for 273 of these confrontations, but the totals for the other 209 engagements are unknown. During the 273 confrontations for which the casualty figures are known, 990 TR forces were killed, including 14 officers, 8 captains, 8 special forces, and 960 soldiers. A similar number were wounded, including 7 officers. There were also 9 policemen, 7 agents and contra-guerrillas, and 166 village guards, including 2 village guard leaders, killed. Therefore, the total number of confirmed enemy casualties for July totals 1,172. Another 65 village guards, including 1 village guard leader, were wounded in the fighting. In July, we took 58 members of the enemy forces as prisoners, including 2 soldiers, 2 watchmen, 13 agents and contra-guerrillas, 1 official, 1 village guard leader, and 39 village guards. In July, we entered 6 city centres and carried out actions. We destroyed 3 military stations, 1 hotel used as a military headquarters by the TR, 1 officers' quarters, and 1 state- owned water and power office, and we forced 2 brigades of the TR army to evacuate their bases. During the month, we also destroyed 8 tanks, 22 military vehicles, 1 MIT secret police vehicle, 28 vehicles belonging to village guards, agents, or contra-guerrillas, 3 state-owned TV stations, 1 radar station, and 4 power sub-stations. We also damaged 3 helicopters, 12 tanks, 18 military vehicles, and 1 stretch of railroad tracks. In July, we confiscated the following military equipment from the enemy: 1 heavy machine gun, 20 automatic weapons, 130 infantry weapons, 4 precision rifles with scopes, 383 magazines, 21,980 rounds of ammunition of various calibre, 57 rockets, 4 flame throwers, 35 mines, 1 mine detector, and 8 radios. During the last month, the TR carried out 39 aerial bombardments and 64 operations. All over Kurdistan, vast tracts of forests were burned and 25 villages were depopulated, including 13 in South Kurdistan. The Turkish army murdered 26 farmers, 8 in North Kurdistan and 18 in the South. In July, 111 of our guerrilla fighters and 4 of our militia forces were martyred. Another 48 were wounded, and 3 were injured and captured by the enemy. Press Office of the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) August 2, 1995 ----- Guerrilla Struggle Spreads To Mediterranean And Taurus The People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) commander for the Mediterranean-Taurus region gave the following statement to the KURD-A news agency on July 19, 1995: As the national liberation struggle in Kurdistan comes closer to victory step by step, our guerrilla struggle in Turkey continues to gain strength and to expand. Our guerrilla forces, which have attacked enemy forces in Kurdistan as part of the 1995 summer offensive, have also begun to trouble the enemy in the Taurus Mountains and in the Mediterranean region as well. After a period of preparation, our forces were first stationed in those regions in 1994. After establishing their positions, they remained there for the 1994/95 winter season. The enemy, who first became aware of the presence of our forces in that region in early 1995, analyzed the Mediterranean-Taurus situation in a session of the National Security Council and planned direct and indirect, open and covert measures for defeating our forces there. They sent thousands of soldiers to the region and hoped to achieve a victory over us by means of a military operation. Because they could not achieve such a victory, they built up a system of contra-guerrillas and village guards in urban centres such as Cukurova, Hatay, and Adana. But our forces were still able to carry out actions and to sometimes limit the freedom of movement of the enemy forces in many areas. In the last six months, 25 enemy soldiers, village guards, and civilian fascists have been killed in the region during our actions, and an equal number have been wounded. The enemy has sought to avenge its losses on the civilian population by attacking villages, arresting hundreds of people, and torturing and threatening to kill people who show sympathy with our struggle. The enemy has depopulated nearly 100 settlements, so tens of thousands of people have been affected by this war. Despite this, our units have continued to enjoy success in their activities in city centres and villages. In the last six months, 2 of our fighters were killed. The Turkish people have shown a great deal of interest in our struggle, which is led by the PKK. In the last six months, many Turkish youths have joined our struggle for freedom and independence and the PKK has accepted these youths into the ranks of our guerrilla. ARGK Mediterranean-Taurus Regional Commander ----- "All Of Turkey Has Become One Big Prison" Interview With The Head Of The IHD Office In Istanbul On July 6, Canan of Kurdistan Rundbrief spoke in Istanbul with Ercan Kaner, the head of Human Rights Association (IHD) office in that city. Kaner spoke about the work of the IHD, the arrest of IHD lawyer Eren Keskin, political persecution in Turkey, government propaganda about the so-called "democratization steps", and the deportation of refugees back to Turkey. Below are excerpts from this discussion: After her conviction, Eren Keskin is now in prison. Could you tell us more about this? Eren Keskin was a lawyer by profession and she was the coordinator of our Istanbul branch. She was both a friend as well as a colleague. She was on the board of directors for four years and was deputy head for two years. Eren Keskin's motivations for her work both at her office as well as with the IHD was her concern for human rights. She worked for equal rights and freedom for people. She worked for us for free. The Turkish state "rewarded" her for this pro bono work by tossing her in jail. But I don't think that this punishment will deter her. Even though Eren Keskin has never held a weapon in her hands, never used violence, and only ever acted on a democratic basis for equal rights and freedom in her quest for human rights, she was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison because of an article she wrote in the [now banned] newspaper Ozgur Gundem. She will stay in prison for at least 22 months. She has already been in prison for one month now. This is an unjust and racist punishment. But there are still other trials continuing against her right now. It's possible that she could be imprisoned for several more years if Article 8 is not repealed and if Turkey does not start taking the path towards democracy. Just like all the other people who have been punished for their beliefs, Eren Keskin and the IHD have made this problem an issue through their activities. Recently we held a protest outside the prison and handed out press releases, even though the police tried to stop us. The IHD will soon start a campaign, not just for Eren Keskin, but for all prisoners sentenced under these laws which restrict freedom of thought. Of course, it's not just the IHD that supports her, rather all people who believe in human rights and who support the prisoners do. Eren Keskin is aware of the support she has. It's important to see all of this in the larger context as well: Today, it's not just the prisoners who are in jail, rather all of Turkey has become one huge prison. At present, more than 5,000 people have been charged because of their opinions. If these laws are not repealed, all of these people will most likely end up in prison. In order to tackle this problem at its roots, all democrats who until now have kept their opinions to themselves must be mobilized to demand the repeal of these unjust laws. Are you hopeful that Article 8 will be changed or repealed? No, actually I'm not. Back when the present coalition government was formed in 1991/92, we knew they would only present the veneer of democracy. We tried to make people aware of the existence of protocols which have not been made public. By presenting the veneer of democratization, they are trying to win membership in the European Union (EU), or at the very least win a customs union with the European Community. They are trying to make the international public believe that changes are taking place. But they are hiding the fact that laws concerning freedom of expression have not been abolished, rather they have just been changed into new laws. And this they call democratization. But they can't even manage this, because the parliament is comprised of so many chauvinistic, reactionary, and anti-democratic forces that they can't even make cosmetic changes. They want to govern like a war parliament. What are the problems faced by the IHD in Diyarbakir and the offices in other cities? Since the founding of the Human Rights Association and the establishment of a few offices, we have been under intense pressure. When we add up all the trials against the head office and all of the local offices, we easily surpass one hundred. For example, right now there are 20 trials against IHD Istanbul, 3 against the head office, 10 against IHD Diyarbakir, and 10 against other offices. So far, 12 of our leading members have been murdered, including the heads of some of the local offices. The office which suffers the most repression is the branch in Diyarbakir. Before they could put together delegations and travel out to the surrounding villages. Today they can longer visit any villages. The heads of the office were threatened [by the state] and they were told to leave the area or they would be murdered. Today, more and more Kurds are being deported back to Turkey. Can you tell us something about what happens to these people? The policies of Germany's federal and state governments are well known to us. In order to avoid public criticism, they have made certain offers to the IHD. We don't want any Kurds to be deported, but the German government decided against our wishes. The CDU [conservative party] has decided to carry out the deportations, so negotiations started with the Turkish government to get them to agree to certain conditions. A protocol was signed. The state governments bowed down to this federal decision, but they asked us, the IHD, for help because they were concerned about the fate of Kurds being deported back to Turkey. They wanted to sign an agreement with us. We told each of the state governments in Germany - albeit North Rhein-Westphalia, Baden-Wurtemburg, or Berlin - that international human rights standards did not apply in Turkey, so it's clear that deported Kurds cannot expect to receive humane treatment. We condemn the protocol which was signed with Turkey, because it is a violation of human rights, the Geneva Accords on refugees, and all international human rights agreements. That's why we refused to cooperate with that process. We assured them of the following: The IHD would, as with any case, investigate matters brought to its attention, but we will not sign a protocol with any state or parliament. If friends or relatives of persecuted persons contact us, we will deal with the matter. But we will not pat the German government on the back when it comes to human rights. We reserve the right to criticize them. You cannot trust the word of the Turkish government. ----- Debate On The PKK/ERNK Ban Continues The German political satire TV program "ZAK" dealt with the recent attacks on Turkish targets in its August 13 sending. Featured guests on the show were Green politician and state parliamentarian from North Rhein-Westphalia Siggi Martch and ERNK European spokesperson Ali Sapan. Ali Sapan stated his desire that the ERNK establish contacts with the German government in order to bring about a de-escalation, and he criticized the attacks. Two days later, Siggi Martsch stated in an interview with the leftist daily Junge Welt that the German government should "recognize" the ERNK and the PKK and start a dialogue with them. But he didn't see "any possibility at the time being" of lifting the ban against the PKK and the ERNK. But the bans against many other groupings should be lifted, or at least new associations should not be banned, nor should the display of Kurdish symbols be punishable. So here's the situation: A banned organization seeks a dialogue with a democratic state to avoid a further escalation. Of course, the prerequisite to this is that the banned organization adhere to the laws of this state, and that this state also abide by these. Clearly, the escalation by the security forces has failed. Even the conservative daily FAZ made the following comment about the federal government in an appeal to its more "neutral forces": "I think we need to make the federal government realize that the key to the violence question is in the hands of the PKK." The FAZ commentary, which Siggi Martsch referred to, was printed on August 3 and is somewhat different than the Green politician's interpretation of it. After stating that "actually, the PKK is banned", the newspaper's internal affairs editor Friedrich Karl Fromme then stated the following about the funeral procession in Berlin: "Up until now, it has been impossible to separate the fanatical supporters of the PKK from their leadership by means of bans or criminalization." He couples this realization with the demand to proceed with "patience for all but also with firm determination" so as to "stop the PKK's activities on German soil as much as possible". But discussions about the ban are continuing in police circles. In the August 4 edition of the daily Frankfurter Rundschau, there was an article about a discussion meeting held in Bonn with the chief of Bonn's central police district, who is responsible for demonstrations in that city, concerning police complaints about the ban on PKK/ERNK symbols and flags. According to him, this ban has put police in a situation where they must intervene in otherwise peaceful demonstrations simply because a banned symbol or flag is being displayed, and that this is why confrontations break out. So the police then become "advertisers for the PKK", and police officers have demanded that their duties be limited to combatting "serious offences". Bavaria's interior minister Beckstein, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with discussions about the ban, and he strongly criticized police restraint during the funeral procession [for Gulnaz Baghistani] in Berlin in the August 7 edition of the FAZ: "I call on anyone who thinks the banning of the PKK has been ineffective to see what it is has done in Bavaria. Mass rallies organized by the PKK, where people are free to hold their flags and show their symbols and read speeches by their leader Abdullah Ocalan, are the wrong signal to give. This only shows the power of the PKK and the weakness of the state." It isn't the ban which has strengthened the PKK, he says, rather "the inactivity of the state in the face of flagrant violations of the law". ----- PDS Lower Saxony Demands Security Chief Resign The head of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) in Lower Saxony, Hans Henning Adler, has demanded that state interior minister Glogowski immediately fire the president of Lower Saxony's Office to Protect the Constitution [Verfassungsschutz], Rolf Peter Minner. With his claim that Kurdish snipers were planning to shoot at German police - a rumour which was then spread further by federal police and intelligence agencies - Minner is giving Lower Saxony's police a mentality that all Kurds must be viewed as potential killers. This could easily lead to the use of police firearms in "preventive necessity", as the murder of Halim Dener one year ago by a Lower Saxony policeman in Hannover clearly illustrated. The PDS has said that Minner should work somewhere else, perhaps in the film industry where he can better live out his violent fantasies. ----- Kurdistan Parliament In Exile Prepares For National Congress The President of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile, Yasar Kaya, issued a statement on August 1 detailing the results of the Second Session of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile. The Kurdistan Parliament in Exile carried out its Second Session from July 30-August 1, 1995. All relevant issues were discussed, and the following decisions were made: - The Newroz festival on March 21 will not only be an official national holiday in Kurdistan but also outside Kurdistan as well. This law, as well as changes to Articles 2 and 8 of the Parliament's founding statues, was passed. - The emblem of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile was decided upon and agreed to. The General Secretariat and the Executive Council of the Parliament took up and passed the organizational law. - On the theme of national unity, which was a general discussion, a National Congress shall be convened and work shall begin on establishing a National Parliament. In line with this, the Executive Council was empowered to make the necessary preparations. - The meeting also discussed the Turkish state's widening war in Kurdistan, the reason for its continued attacks on the civilian population, the hungerstrike by more than 10,000 political prisoners and their demand for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish problem, and the many activities in support of the hungerstrike which have taken place in cities all across Turkey and in Europe. - Our Parliament recognizes the hungerstrike activities as democratic and values them as a form of resistance by the Kurdish people against the Turkish government. - Our Parliament, since its establishment, has dealt with and sought solutions to the Kurdistan problem and has taken on a role of active representation. - Our assembly took place at a time when the war in North Kurdistan is intensifying, as the Turkish army seeks to destroy everything Kurdish by bombarding villages and killing dozens of people every day, and as more than 10,000 prisoners are on hungerstrike with our people actively supporting them. - Our Parliament discussed these matters at this critical phase and it took decisions so as to play an active role in these developments. - Our Parliament will, in future, continue to seek a peaceful and democratic solution to the Kurdish problem and will strengthen its work towards this end. Yasar Kaya President of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile August 1, 1995 ----- Bremen Officials Let Kurd Die A 36-year-old Kurdish asylum seeker died recently because the social services officials in the German city of Bremen held back payments for a necessary liver transplant for too long. This was confirmed on August 17 by a spokesperson for the Bremen Senate's health and social services ministry. There were "bad mistakes" and "we are sorry about these and we will learn from these". The group Solidarity Assistance, which was caring for the Kurd, Celal Arkan, has brought charges of medical neglect against the authorities. Arkan, a Yezidi, was arrested and badly tortured in Turkey on suspicions that he was a PKK supporter. In prison, he became infected with hepatitis B and D. After 9 months in prison, he was able to flee to Germany. In Germany, clinic and state doctors kept sending him back and forth for 15 months, despite his need for urgent medical attention. ----- A Look At The Press... Global Arms Trade (in millions U.S. dollars) Main Exporters 1994 (of heavy weapons) 1. USA 11,959 2. Germany 3,162 3. U.K. 1,593 4. China 1,204 5. Russia 842 6. France 705 Main Importers 1994 (of heavy weapons) 1. Turkey 2,135 2. Saudi Arabia 1,602 3. Indonesia 1,415 4. Egypt 1,370 5. Taiwan 1,069 6. Greece 973 (Neues Deutschland, 17.8.95) Despite Successes, Economy Remains Weak There is widespread optimism in Ankara's government. After prime minister Tansu Ciller won a major victory in parliament and passed her, albeit minor, constitutional reform package, the international finance and investment firm Morgan Stanley gave a robust picture of the Turkish economy. The experts estimated that Turkey, despite a year of crisis in 1994, had managed to pay off $10 billion of its foreign debt. And the recent ratings by an American agency, which raised Turkey's status from "stable" to "positive", gave heart to economy politicians in Ankara. Experts especially praised the great rise in currency reserves. The reserves of the Central Bank - without gold - have risen 90% since the beginning of the year to $13.51 billion. But the economy is vulnerable nonetheless. The balance of trade deficit stood at $2.78 billion in the first five months of this year, 50% higher than the same period in 1994. The inflation rate, which hit a record high of 150% at the beginning of the year, managed to fall back to 80%, but bank circles seem to feel that the rate could climb once again by year's end. Early fall is a particularly crucial season for Turkey, because that's when foreign and domestic debt payments are due. The treasury will have to bury $1.5 or $2 billion in international financial markets in order to make this year's foreign debt payment of $6.5 billion. The government is also confronted with growing discontent in the public sector. In a series of mass demonstrations, workers have rejected an offer of a 5% pay increase, which with an inflation rate of 85% actually means a substantial loss of income. Last year, public sector workers already had to cope with a 40% loss in earnings. (Handelsblatt, 11.8.95) Turkey: Professors Demand Negotiations More than 100 intellectuals in Turkey have issued a call for a cease-fire and negotiations between the PKK and the army in order to prevent "national suicide". (Hamburger Abendblatt, 18.8.95) Investigation Against Two Policemen The state prosecutor's office in Frankfurt has opened an investigation against two unnamed police officers who allegedly mishandled demonstrators while dispersing a Kurdish vigil two weeks ago. The reason for the investigation was video footage, according to Job Tilmann, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office. The video seemed to show two as yet unidentified officers kicking people lying on the ground. (Frankfurter Rundschau, 12.8.95) Actually, The PKK Is Banned Leaders of the PKK are being sought after for membership in a terrorist organization. But legal proceedings against individual members who are caught are not likely to stop the danger of this cancer, because the militant organization of a national minority in a foreign state is seeking an alternative battlefield for its civil war here in Germany. Up until now, it has been impossible to separate the fanatical supporters of the PKK from their leadership by means of bans or criminalization. (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 3.8.95) ----- ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Aug 27 01:44:31 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 27 Aug 1995 01:44:31 Subject: News From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief' 17/ References: Message-ID: Subject: Re: News From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief' 17/95 ------------------------ Forwarded from : kcc at magi.com ------------------------- News Translated From Kurdistan Rundbrief 17/95 - ARGK July Balance: "Consolidating Our Positions" - Guerrilla Struggle Spreads To Mediterranean And Taurus - "All Of Turkey Has Become One Huge Prison" - Debate On The PKK/ERNK Ban Continues - PDS Lower Saxony Demands Security Chief Resign - Kurdistan Parliament In Exile Prepares For National Congress - Bremen Officials Let Kurd Die - A Look At The Press... ----- ARGK July Balance: "Consolidating Our Positions" The attacks by the Turkish military in South Kurdistan in early July in the region of the Zap and Haci-Beg rivers, which began with lots of excitement, ended as a total fiasco for the Turkish forces and allowed us to consolidate our positions. In the second half of July, both our guerrilla actions as well as mass actions increased, causing the colonialist- fascist Turkish Republic to cry for even more help from their imperialist masters. This showed that plans are in the making to increase their cooperation. The imperialists states, in particular the USA and Germany, aren't content with just supporting the cruel Turkish regime, rather they have increased their attacks on Kurdish people living there who support the liberation struggle and they are once again organizing the Kurdish collaborators so as to attack the PKK and the revolution in Kurdistan. Various collaborationist forces, particularly the KDP, are bending over backwards to please the imperialists and are doing everything they can to halt the march of the Kurdish people towards revolutionary- democratic people's power. From July 1-31, the war was waged in all regions of Kurdistan. There were a total of 482 confrontations between our guerrilla units and the army of the Turkish Republic (TR). Among these, there were 132 ambushes, 63 battles, 52 attacks, and 9 roadblocks. We know full or partial casualty figures for 273 of these confrontations, but the totals for the other 209 engagements are unknown. During the 273 confrontations for which the casualty figures are known, 990 TR forces were killed, including 14 officers, 8 captains, 8 special forces, and 960 soldiers. A similar number were wounded, including 7 officers. There were also 9 policemen, 7 agents and contra-guerrillas, and 166 village guards, including 2 village guard leaders, killed. Therefore, the total number of confirmed enemy casualties for July totals 1,172. Another 65 village guards, including 1 village guard leader, were wounded in the fighting. In July, we took 58 members of the enemy forces as prisoners, including 2 soldiers, 2 watchmen, 13 agents and contra-guerrillas, 1 official, 1 village guard leader, and 39 village guards. In July, we entered 6 city centres and carried out actions. We destroyed 3 military stations, 1 hotel used as a military headquarters by the TR, 1 officers' quarters, and 1 state- owned water and power office, and we forced 2 brigades of the TR army to evacuate their bases. During the month, we also destroyed 8 tanks, 22 military vehicles, 1 MIT secret police vehicle, 28 vehicles belonging to village guards, agents, or contra-guerrillas, 3 state-owned TV stations, 1 radar station, and 4 power sub-stations. We also damaged 3 helicopters, 12 tanks, 18 military vehicles, and 1 stretch of railroad tracks. In July, we confiscated the following military equipment from the enemy: 1 heavy machine gun, 20 automatic weapons, 130 infantry weapons, 4 precision rifles with scopes, 383 magazines, 21,980 rounds of ammunition of various calibre, 57 rockets, 4 flame throwers, 35 mines, 1 mine detector, and 8 radios. During the last month, the TR carried out 39 aerial bombardments and 64 operations. All over Kurdistan, vast tracts of forests were burned and 25 villages were depopulated, including 13 in South Kurdistan. The Turkish army murdered 26 farmers, 8 in North Kurdistan and 18 in the South. In July, 111 of our guerrilla fighters and 4 of our militia forces were martyred. Another 48 were wounded, and 3 were injured and captured by the enemy. Press Office of the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) August 2, 1995 ----- Guerrilla Struggle Spreads To Mediterranean And Taurus The People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) commander for the Mediterranean-Taurus region gave the following statement to the KURD-A news agency on July 19, 1995: As the national liberation struggle in Kurdistan comes closer to victory step by step, our guerrilla struggle in Turkey continues to gain strength and to expand. Our guerrilla forces, which have attacked enemy forces in Kurdistan as part of the 1995 summer offensive, have also begun to trouble the enemy in the Taurus Mountains and in the Mediterranean region as well. After a period of preparation, our forces were first stationed in those regions in 1994. After establishing their positions, they remained there for the 1994/95 winter season. The enemy, who first became aware of the presence of our forces in that region in early 1995, analyzed the Mediterranean-Taurus situation in a session of the National Security Council and planned direct and indirect, open and covert measures for defeating our forces there. They sent thousands of soldiers to the region and hoped to achieve a victory over us by means of a military operation. Because they could not achieve such a victory, they built up a system of contra-guerrillas and village guards in urban centres such as Cukurova, Hatay, and Adana. But our forces were still able to carry out actions and to sometimes limit the freedom of movement of the enemy forces in many areas. In the last six months, 25 enemy soldiers, village guards, and civilian fascists have been killed in the region during our actions, and an equal number have been wounded. The enemy has sought to avenge its losses on the civilian population by attacking villages, arresting hundreds of people, and torturing and threatening to kill people who show sympathy with our struggle. The enemy has depopulated nearly 100 settlements, so tens of thousands of people have been affected by this war. Despite this, our units have continued to enjoy success in their activities in city centres and villages. In the last six months, 2 of our fighters were killed. The Turkish people have shown a great deal of interest in our struggle, which is led by the PKK. In the last six months, many Turkish youths have joined our struggle for freedom and independence and the PKK has accepted these youths into the ranks of our guerrilla. ARGK Mediterranean-Taurus Regional Commander ----- "All Of Turkey Has Become One Big Prison" Interview With The Head Of The IHD Office In Istanbul On July 6, Canan of Kurdistan Rundbrief spoke in Istanbul with Ercan Kaner, the head of Human Rights Association (IHD) office in that city. Kaner spoke about the work of the IHD, the arrest of IHD lawyer Eren Keskin, political persecution in Turkey, government propaganda about the so-called "democratization steps", and the deportation of refugees back to Turkey. Below are excerpts from this discussion: After her conviction, Eren Keskin is now in prison. Could you tell us more about this? Eren Keskin was a lawyer by profession and she was the coordinator of our Istanbul branch. She was both a friend as well as a colleague. She was on the board of directors for four years and was deputy head for two years. Eren Keskin's motivations for her work both at her office as well as with the IHD was her concern for human rights. She worked for equal rights and freedom for people. She worked for us for free. The Turkish state "rewarded" her for this pro bono work by tossing her in jail. But I don't think that this punishment will deter her. Even though Eren Keskin has never held a weapon in her hands, never used violence, and only ever acted on a democratic basis for equal rights and freedom in her quest for human rights, she was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison because of an article she wrote in the [now banned] newspaper Ozgur Gundem. She will stay in prison for at least 22 months. She has already been in prison for one month now. This is an unjust and racist punishment. But there are still other trials continuing against her right now. It's possible that she could be imprisoned for several more years if Article 8 is not repealed and if Turkey does not start taking the path towards democracy. Just like all the other people who have been punished for their beliefs, Eren Keskin and the IHD have made this problem an issue through their activities. Recently we held a protest outside the prison and handed out press releases, even though the police tried to stop us. The IHD will soon start a campaign, not just for Eren Keskin, but for all prisoners sentenced under these laws which restrict freedom of thought. Of course, it's not just the IHD that supports her, rather all people who believe in human rights and who support the prisoners do. Eren Keskin is aware of the support she has. It's important to see all of this in the larger context as well: Today, it's not just the prisoners who are in jail, rather all of Turkey has become one huge prison. At present, more than 5,000 people have been charged because of their opinions. If these laws are not repealed, all of these people will most likely end up in prison. In order to tackle this problem at its roots, all democrats who until now have kept their opinions to themselves must be mobilized to demand the repeal of these unjust laws. Are you hopeful that Article 8 will be changed or repealed? No, actually I'm not. Back when the present coalition government was formed in 1991/92, we knew they would only present the veneer of democracy. We tried to make people aware of the existence of protocols which have not been made public. By presenting the veneer of democratization, they are trying to win membership in the European Union (EU), or at the very least win a customs union with the European Community. They are trying to make the international public believe that changes are taking place. But they are hiding the fact that laws concerning freedom of expression have not been abolished, rather they have just been changed into new laws. And this they call democratization. But they can't even manage this, because the parliament is comprised of so many chauvinistic, reactionary, and anti-democratic forces that they can't even make cosmetic changes. They want to govern like a war parliament. What are the problems faced by the IHD in Diyarbakir and the offices in other cities? Since the founding of the Human Rights Association and the establishment of a few offices, we have been under intense pressure. When we add up all the trials against the head office and all of the local offices, we easily surpass one hundred. For example, right now there are 20 trials against IHD Istanbul, 3 against the head office, 10 against IHD Diyarbakir, and 10 against other offices. So far, 12 of our leading members have been murdered, including the heads of some of the local offices. The office which suffers the most repression is the branch in Diyarbakir. Before they could put together delegations and travel out to the surrounding villages. Today they can longer visit any villages. The heads of the office were threatened [by the state] and they were told to leave the area or they would be murdered. Today, more and more Kurds are being deported back to Turkey. Can you tell us something about what happens to these people? The policies of Germany's federal and state governments are well known to us. In order to avoid public criticism, they have made certain offers to the IHD. We don't want any Kurds to be deported, but the German government decided against our wishes. The CDU [conservative party] has decided to carry out the deportations, so negotiations started with the Turkish government to get them to agree to certain conditions. A protocol was signed. The state governments bowed down to this federal decision, but they asked us, the IHD, for help because they were concerned about the fate of Kurds being deported back to Turkey. They wanted to sign an agreement with us. We told each of the state governments in Germany - albeit North Rhein-Westphalia, Baden-Wurtemburg, or Berlin - that international human rights standards did not apply in Turkey, so it's clear that deported Kurds cannot expect to receive humane treatment. We condemn the protocol which was signed with Turkey, because it is a violation of human rights, the Geneva Accords on refugees, and all international human rights agreements. That's why we refused to cooperate with that process. We assured them of the following: The IHD would, as with any case, investigate matters brought to its attention, but we will not sign a protocol with any state or parliament. If friends or relatives of persecuted persons contact us, we will deal with the matter. But we will not pat the German government on the back when it comes to human rights. We reserve the right to criticize them. You cannot trust the word of the Turkish government. ----- Debate On The PKK/ERNK Ban Continues The German political satire TV program "ZAK" dealt with the recent attacks on Turkish targets in its August 13 sending. Featured guests on the show were Green politician and state parliamentarian from North Rhein-Westphalia Siggi Martch and ERNK European spokesperson Ali Sapan. Ali Sapan stated his desire that the ERNK establish contacts with the German government in order to bring about a de-escalation, and he criticized the attacks. Two days later, Siggi Martsch stated in an interview with the leftist daily Junge Welt that the German government should "recognize" the ERNK and the PKK and start a dialogue with them. But he didn't see "any possibility at the time being" of lifting the ban against the PKK and the ERNK. But the bans against many other groupings should be lifted, or at least new associations should not be banned, nor should the display of Kurdish symbols be punishable. So here's the situation: A banned organization seeks a dialogue with a democratic state to avoid a further escalation. Of course, the prerequisite to this is that the banned organization adhere to the laws of this state, and that this state also abide by these. Clearly, the escalation by the security forces has failed. Even the conservative daily FAZ made the following comment about the federal government in an appeal to its more "neutral forces": "I think we need to make the federal government realize that the key to the violence question is in the hands of the PKK." The FAZ commentary, which Siggi Martsch referred to, was printed on August 3 and is somewhat different than the Green politician's interpretation of it. After stating that "actually, the PKK is banned", the newspaper's internal affairs editor Friedrich Karl Fromme then stated the following about the funeral procession in Berlin: "Up until now, it has been impossible to separate the fanatical supporters of the PKK from their leadership by means of bans or criminalization." He couples this realization with the demand to proceed with "patience for all but also with firm determination" so as to "stop the PKK's activities on German soil as much as possible". But discussions about the ban are continuing in police circles. In the August 4 edition of the daily Frankfurter Rundschau, there was an article about a discussion meeting held in Bonn with the chief of Bonn's central police district, who is responsible for demonstrations in that city, concerning police complaints about the ban on PKK/ERNK symbols and flags. According to him, this ban has put police in a situation where they must intervene in otherwise peaceful demonstrations simply because a banned symbol or flag is being displayed, and that this is why confrontations break out. So the police then become "advertisers for the PKK", and police officers have demanded that their duties be limited to combatting "serious offences". Bavaria's interior minister Beckstein, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with discussions about the ban, and he strongly criticized police restraint during the funeral procession [for Gulnaz Baghistani] in Berlin in the August 7 edition of the FAZ: "I call on anyone who thinks the banning of the PKK has been ineffective to see what it is has done in Bavaria. Mass rallies organized by the PKK, where people are free to hold their flags and show their symbols and read speeches by their leader Abdullah Ocalan, are the wrong signal to give. This only shows the power of the PKK and the weakness of the state." It isn't the ban which has strengthened the PKK, he says, rather "the inactivity of the state in the face of flagrant violations of the law". ----- PDS Lower Saxony Demands Security Chief Resign The head of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) in Lower Saxony, Hans Henning Adler, has demanded that state interior minister Glogowski immediately fire the president of Lower Saxony's Office to Protect the Constitution [Verfassungsschutz], Rolf Peter Minner. With his claim that Kurdish snipers were planning to shoot at German police - a rumour which was then spread further by federal police and intelligence agencies - Minner is giving Lower Saxony's police a mentality that all Kurds must be viewed as potential killers. This could easily lead to the use of police firearms in "preventive necessity", as the murder of Halim Dener one year ago by a Lower Saxony policeman in Hannover clearly illustrated. The PDS has said that Minner should work somewhere else, perhaps in the film industry where he can better live out his violent fantasies. ----- Kurdistan Parliament In Exile Prepares For National Congress The President of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile, Yasar Kaya, issued a statement on August 1 detailing the results of the Second Session of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile. The Kurdistan Parliament in Exile carried out its Second Session from July 30-August 1, 1995. All relevant issues were discussed, and the following decisions were made: - The Newroz festival on March 21 will not only be an official national holiday in Kurdistan but also outside Kurdistan as well. This law, as well as changes to Articles 2 and 8 of the Parliament's founding statues, was passed. - The emblem of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile was decided upon and agreed to. The General Secretariat and the Executive Council of the Parliament took up and passed the organizational law. - On the theme of national unity, which was a general discussion, a National Congress shall be convened and work shall begin on establishing a National Parliament. In line with this, the Executive Council was empowered to make the necessary preparations. - The meeting also discussed the Turkish state's widening war in Kurdistan, the reason for its continued attacks on the civilian population, the hungerstrike by more than 10,000 political prisoners and their demand for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish problem, and the many activities in support of the hungerstrike which have taken place in cities all across Turkey and in Europe. - Our Parliament recognizes the hungerstrike activities as democratic and values them as a form of resistance by the Kurdish people against the Turkish government. - Our Parliament, since its establishment, has dealt with and sought solutions to the Kurdistan problem and has taken on a role of active representation. - Our assembly took place at a time when the war in North Kurdistan is intensifying, as the Turkish army seeks to destroy everything Kurdish by bombarding villages and killing dozens of people every day, and as more than 10,000 prisoners are on hungerstrike with our people actively supporting them. - Our Parliament discussed these matters at this critical phase and it took decisions so as to play an active role in these developments. - Our Parliament will, in future, continue to seek a peaceful and democratic solution to the Kurdish problem and will strengthen its work towards this end. Yasar Kaya President of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile August 1, 1995 ----- Bremen Officials Let Kurd Die A 36-year-old Kurdish asylum seeker died recently because the social services officials in the German city of Bremen held back payments for a necessary liver transplant for too long. This was confirmed on August 17 by a spokesperson for the Bremen Senate's health and social services ministry. There were "bad mistakes" and "we are sorry about these and we will learn from these". The group Solidarity Assistance, which was caring for the Kurd, Celal Arkan, has brought charges of medical neglect against the authorities. Arkan, a Yezidi, was arrested and badly tortured in Turkey on suspicions that he was a PKK supporter. In prison, he became infected with hepatitis B and D. After 9 months in prison, he was able to flee to Germany. In Germany, clinic and state doctors kept sending him back and forth for 15 months, despite his need for urgent medical attention. ----- A Look At The Press... Global Arms Trade (in millions U.S. dollars) Main Exporters 1994 (of heavy weapons) 1. USA 11,959 2. Germany 3,162 3. U.K. 1,593 4. China 1,204 5. Russia 842 6. France 705 Main Importers 1994 (of heavy weapons) 1. Turkey 2,135 2. Saudi Arabia 1,602 3. Indonesia 1,415 4. Egypt 1,370 5. Taiwan 1,069 6. Greece 973 (Neues Deutschland, 17.8.95) Despite Successes, Economy Remains Weak There is widespread optimism in Ankara's government. After prime minister Tansu Ciller won a major victory in parliament and passed her, albeit minor, constitutional reform package, the international finance and investment firm Morgan Stanley gave a robust picture of the Turkish economy. The experts estimated that Turkey, despite a year of crisis in 1994, had managed to pay off $10 billion of its foreign debt. And the recent ratings by an American agency, which raised Turkey's status from "stable" to "positive", gave heart to economy politicians in Ankara. Experts especially praised the great rise in currency reserves. The reserves of the Central Bank - without gold - have risen 90% since the beginning of the year to $13.51 billion. But the economy is vulnerable nonetheless. The balance of trade deficit stood at $2.78 billion in the first five months of this year, 50% higher than the same period in 1994. The inflation rate, which hit a record high of 150% at the beginning of the year, managed to fall back to 80%, but bank circles seem to feel that the rate could climb once again by year's end. Early fall is a particularly crucial season for Turkey, because that's when foreign and domestic debt payments are due. The treasury will have to bury $1.5 or $2 billion in international financial markets in order to make this year's foreign debt payment of $6.5 billion. The government is also confronted with growing discontent in the public sector. In a series of mass demonstrations, workers have rejected an offer of a 5% pay increase, which with an inflation rate of 85% actually means a substantial loss of income. Last year, public sector workers already had to cope with a 40% loss in earnings. (Handelsblatt, 11.8.95) Turkey: Professors Demand Negotiations More than 100 intellectuals in Turkey have issued a call for a cease-fire and negotiations between the PKK and the army in order to prevent "national suicide". (Hamburger Abendblatt, 18.8.95) Investigation Against Two Policemen The state prosecutor's office in Frankfurt has opened an investigation against two unnamed police officers who allegedly mishandled demonstrators while dispersing a Kurdish vigil two weeks ago. The reason for the investigation was video footage, according to Job Tilmann, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office. The video seemed to show two as yet unidentified officers kicking people lying on the ground. (Frankfurter Rundschau, 12.8.95) Actually, The PKK Is Banned Leaders of the PKK are being sought after for membership in a terrorist organization. But legal proceedings against individual members who are caught are not likely to stop the danger of this cancer, because the militant organization of a national minority in a foreign state is seeking an alternative battlefield for its civil war here in Germany. Up until now, it has been impossible to separate the fanatical supporters of the PKK from their leadership by means of bans or criminalization. (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 3.8.95) ----- ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Aug 27 01:44:00 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 27 Aug 1995 01:44:00 Subject: News From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief' 17/ References: Message-ID: <082695235407Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a> Subject: Re: News From 'Kurdistan Rundbrief' 17/95 ------------------------ Forwarded from : kcc at magi.com ------------------------- News Translated From Kurdistan Rundbrief 17/95 - ARGK July Balance: "Consolidating Our Positions" - Guerrilla Struggle Spreads To Mediterranean And Taurus - "All Of Turkey Has Become One Huge Prison" - Debate On The PKK/ERNK Ban Continues - PDS Lower Saxony Demands Security Chief Resign - Kurdistan Parliament In Exile Prepares For National Congress - Bremen Officials Let Kurd Die - A Look At The Press... ----- ARGK July Balance: "Consolidating Our Positions" The attacks by the Turkish military in South Kurdistan in early July in the region of the Zap and Haci-Beg rivers, which began with lots of excitement, ended as a total fiasco for the Turkish forces and allowed us to consolidate our positions. In the second half of July, both our guerrilla actions as well as mass actions increased, causing the colonialist- fascist Turkish Republic to cry for even more help from their imperialist masters. This showed that plans are in the making to increase their cooperation. The imperialists states, in particular the USA and Germany, aren't content with just supporting the cruel Turkish regime, rather they have increased their attacks on Kurdish people living there who support the liberation struggle and they are once again organizing the Kurdish collaborators so as to attack the PKK and the revolution in Kurdistan. Various collaborationist forces, particularly the KDP, are bending over backwards to please the imperialists and are doing everything they can to halt the march of the Kurdish people towards revolutionary- democratic people's power. From July 1-31, the war was waged in all regions of Kurdistan. There were a total of 482 confrontations between our guerrilla units and the army of the Turkish Republic (TR). Among these, there were 132 ambushes, 63 battles, 52 attacks, and 9 roadblocks. We know full or partial casualty figures for 273 of these confrontations, but the totals for the other 209 engagements are unknown. During the 273 confrontations for which the casualty figures are known, 990 TR forces were killed, including 14 officers, 8 captains, 8 special forces, and 960 soldiers. A similar number were wounded, including 7 officers. There were also 9 policemen, 7 agents and contra-guerrillas, and 166 village guards, including 2 village guard leaders, killed. Therefore, the total number of confirmed enemy casualties for July totals 1,172. Another 65 village guards, including 1 village guard leader, were wounded in the fighting. In July, we took 58 members of the enemy forces as prisoners, including 2 soldiers, 2 watchmen, 13 agents and contra-guerrillas, 1 official, 1 village guard leader, and 39 village guards. In July, we entered 6 city centres and carried out actions. We destroyed 3 military stations, 1 hotel used as a military headquarters by the TR, 1 officers' quarters, and 1 state- owned water and power office, and we forced 2 brigades of the TR army to evacuate their bases. During the month, we also destroyed 8 tanks, 22 military vehicles, 1 MIT secret police vehicle, 28 vehicles belonging to village guards, agents, or contra-guerrillas, 3 state-owned TV stations, 1 radar station, and 4 power sub-stations. We also damaged 3 helicopters, 12 tanks, 18 military vehicles, and 1 stretch of railroad tracks. In July, we confiscated the following military equipment from the enemy: 1 heavy machine gun, 20 automatic weapons, 130 infantry weapons, 4 precision rifles with scopes, 383 magazines, 21,980 rounds of ammunition of various calibre, 57 rockets, 4 flame throwers, 35 mines, 1 mine detector, and 8 radios. During the last month, the TR carried out 39 aerial bombardments and 64 operations. All over Kurdistan, vast tracts of forests were burned and 25 villages were depopulated, including 13 in South Kurdistan. The Turkish army murdered 26 farmers, 8 in North Kurdistan and 18 in the South. In July, 111 of our guerrilla fighters and 4 of our militia forces were martyred. Another 48 were wounded, and 3 were injured and captured by the enemy. Press Office of the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) August 2, 1995 ----- Guerrilla Struggle Spreads To Mediterranean And Taurus The People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) commander for the Mediterranean-Taurus region gave the following statement to the KURD-A news agency on July 19, 1995: As the national liberation struggle in Kurdistan comes closer to victory step by step, our guerrilla struggle in Turkey continues to gain strength and to expand. Our guerrilla forces, which have attacked enemy forces in Kurdistan as part of the 1995 summer offensive, have also begun to trouble the enemy in the Taurus Mountains and in the Mediterranean region as well. After a period of preparation, our forces were first stationed in those regions in 1994. After establishing their positions, they remained there for the 1994/95 winter season. The enemy, who first became aware of the presence of our forces in that region in early 1995, analyzed the Mediterranean-Taurus situation in a session of the National Security Council and planned direct and indirect, open and covert measures for defeating our forces there. They sent thousands of soldiers to the region and hoped to achieve a victory over us by means of a military operation. Because they could not achieve such a victory, they built up a system of contra-guerrillas and village guards in urban centres such as Cukurova, Hatay, and Adana. But our forces were still able to carry out actions and to sometimes limit the freedom of movement of the enemy forces in many areas. In the last six months, 25 enemy soldiers, village guards, and civilian fascists have been killed in the region during our actions, and an equal number have been wounded. The enemy has sought to avenge its losses on the civilian population by attacking villages, arresting hundreds of people, and torturing and threatening to kill people who show sympathy with our struggle. The enemy has depopulated nearly 100 settlements, so tens of thousands of people have been affected by this war. Despite this, our units have continued to enjoy success in their activities in city centres and villages. In the last six months, 2 of our fighters were killed. The Turkish people have shown a great deal of interest in our struggle, which is led by the PKK. In the last six months, many Turkish youths have joined our struggle for freedom and independence and the PKK has accepted these youths into the ranks of our guerrilla. ARGK Mediterranean-Taurus Regional Commander ----- "All Of Turkey Has Become One Big Prison" Interview With The Head Of The IHD Office In Istanbul On July 6, Canan of Kurdistan Rundbrief spoke in Istanbul with Ercan Kaner, the head of Human Rights Association (IHD) office in that city. Kaner spoke about the work of the IHD, the arrest of IHD lawyer Eren Keskin, political persecution in Turkey, government propaganda about the so-called "democratization steps", and the deportation of refugees back to Turkey. Below are excerpts from this discussion: After her conviction, Eren Keskin is now in prison. Could you tell us more about this? Eren Keskin was a lawyer by profession and she was the coordinator of our Istanbul branch. She was both a friend as well as a colleague. She was on the board of directors for four years and was deputy head for two years. Eren Keskin's motivations for her work both at her office as well as with the IHD was her concern for human rights. She worked for equal rights and freedom for people. She worked for us for free. The Turkish state "rewarded" her for this pro bono work by tossing her in jail. But I don't think that this punishment will deter her. Even though Eren Keskin has never held a weapon in her hands, never used violence, and only ever acted on a democratic basis for equal rights and freedom in her quest for human rights, she was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison because of an article she wrote in the [now banned] newspaper Ozgur Gundem. She will stay in prison for at least 22 months. She has already been in prison for one month now. This is an unjust and racist punishment. But there are still other trials continuing against her right now. It's possible that she could be imprisoned for several more years if Article 8 is not repealed and if Turkey does not start taking the path towards democracy. Just like all the other people who have been punished for their beliefs, Eren Keskin and the IHD have made this problem an issue through their activities. Recently we held a protest outside the prison and handed out press releases, even though the police tried to stop us. The IHD will soon start a campaign, not just for Eren Keskin, but for all prisoners sentenced under these laws which restrict freedom of thought. Of course, it's not just the IHD that supports her, rather all people who believe in human rights and who support the prisoners do. Eren Keskin is aware of the support she has. It's important to see all of this in the larger context as well: Today, it's not just the prisoners who are in jail, rather all of Turkey has become one huge prison. At present, more than 5,000 people have been charged because of their opinions. If these laws are not repealed, all of these people will most likely end up in prison. In order to tackle this problem at its roots, all democrats who until now have kept their opinions to themselves must be mobilized to demand the repeal of these unjust laws. Are you hopeful that Article 8 will be changed or repealed? No, actually I'm not. Back when the present coalition government was formed in 1991/92, we knew they would only present the veneer of democracy. We tried to make people aware of the existence of protocols which have not been made public. By presenting the veneer of democratization, they are trying to win membership in the European Union (EU), or at the very least win a customs union with the European Community. They are trying to make the international public believe that changes are taking place. But they are hiding the fact that laws concerning freedom of expression have not been abolished, rather they have just been changed into new laws. And this they call democratization. But they can't even manage this, because the parliament is comprised of so many chauvinistic, reactionary, and anti-democratic forces that they can't even make cosmetic changes. They want to govern like a war parliament. What are the problems faced by the IHD in Diyarbakir and the offices in other cities? Since the founding of the Human Rights Association and the establishment of a few offices, we have been under intense pressure. When we add up all the trials against the head office and all of the local offices, we easily surpass one hundred. For example, right now there are 20 trials against IHD Istanbul, 3 against the head office, 10 against IHD Diyarbakir, and 10 against other offices. So far, 12 of our leading members have been murdered, including the heads of some of the local offices. The office which suffers the most repression is the branch in Diyarbakir. Before they could put together delegations and travel out to the surrounding villages. Today they can longer visit any villages. The heads of the office were threatened [by the state] and they were told to leave the area or they would be murdered. Today, more and more Kurds are being deported back to Turkey. Can you tell us something about what happens to these people? The policies of Germany's federal and state governments are well known to us. In order to avoid public criticism, they have made certain offers to the IHD. We don't want any Kurds to be deported, but the German government decided against our wishes. The CDU [conservative party] has decided to carry out the deportations, so negotiations started with the Turkish government to get them to agree to certain conditions. A protocol was signed. The state governments bowed down to this federal decision, but they asked us, the IHD, for help because they were concerned about the fate of Kurds being deported back to Turkey. They wanted to sign an agreement with us. We told each of the state governments in Germany - albeit North Rhein-Westphalia, Baden-Wurtemburg, or Berlin - that international human rights standards did not apply in Turkey, so it's clear that deported Kurds cannot expect to receive humane treatment. We condemn the protocol which was signed with Turkey, because it is a violation of human rights, the Geneva Accords on refugees, and all international human rights agreements. That's why we refused to cooperate with that process. We assured them of the following: The IHD would, as with any case, investigate matters brought to its attention, but we will not sign a protocol with any state or parliament. If friends or relatives of persecuted persons contact us, we will deal with the matter. But we will not pat the German government on the back when it comes to human rights. We reserve the right to criticize them. You cannot trust the word of the Turkish government. ----- Debate On The PKK/ERNK Ban Continues The German political satire TV program "ZAK" dealt with the recent attacks on Turkish targets in its August 13 sending. Featured guests on the show were Green politician and state parliamentarian from North Rhein-Westphalia Siggi Martch and ERNK European spokesperson Ali Sapan. Ali Sapan stated his desire that the ERNK establish contacts with the German government in order to bring about a de-escalation, and he criticized the attacks. Two days later, Siggi Martsch stated in an interview with the leftist daily Junge Welt that the German government should "recognize" the ERNK and the PKK and start a dialogue with them. But he didn't see "any possibility at the time being" of lifting the ban against the PKK and the ERNK. But the bans against many other groupings should be lifted, or at least new associations should not be banned, nor should the display of Kurdish symbols be punishable. So here's the situation: A banned organization seeks a dialogue with a democratic state to avoid a further escalation. Of course, the prerequisite to this is that the banned organization adhere to the laws of this state, and that this state also abide by these. Clearly, the escalation by the security forces has failed. Even the conservative daily FAZ made the following comment about the federal government in an appeal to its more "neutral forces": "I think we need to make the federal government realize that the key to the violence question is in the hands of the PKK." The FAZ commentary, which Siggi Martsch referred to, was printed on August 3 and is somewhat different than the Green politician's interpretation of it. After stating that "actually, the PKK is banned", the newspaper's internal affairs editor Friedrich Karl Fromme then stated the following about the funeral procession in Berlin: "Up until now, it has been impossible to separate the fanatical supporters of the PKK from their leadership by means of bans or criminalization." He couples this realization with the demand to proceed with "patience for all but also with firm determination" so as to "stop the PKK's activities on German soil as much as possible". But discussions about the ban are continuing in police circles. In the August 4 edition of the daily Frankfurter Rundschau, there was an article about a discussion meeting held in Bonn with the chief of Bonn's central police district, who is responsible for demonstrations in that city, concerning police complaints about the ban on PKK/ERNK symbols and flags. According to him, this ban has put police in a situation where they must intervene in otherwise peaceful demonstrations simply because a banned symbol or flag is being displayed, and that this is why confrontations break out. So the police then become "advertisers for the PKK", and police officers have demanded that their duties be limited to combatting "serious offences". Bavaria's interior minister Beckstein, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with discussions about the ban, and he strongly criticized police restraint during the funeral procession [for Gulnaz Baghistani] in Berlin in the August 7 edition of the FAZ: "I call on anyone who thinks the banning of the PKK has been ineffective to see what it is has done in Bavaria. Mass rallies organized by the PKK, where people are free to hold their flags and show their symbols and read speeches by their leader Abdullah Ocalan, are the wrong signal to give. This only shows the power of the PKK and the weakness of the state." It isn't the ban which has strengthened the PKK, he says, rather "the inactivity of the state in the face of flagrant violations of the law". ----- PDS Lower Saxony Demands Security Chief Resign The head of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS) in Lower Saxony, Hans Henning Adler, has demanded that state interior minister Glogowski immediately fire the president of Lower Saxony's Office to Protect the Constitution [Verfassungsschutz], Rolf Peter Minner. With his claim that Kurdish snipers were planning to shoot at German police - a rumour which was then spread further by federal police and intelligence agencies - Minner is giving Lower Saxony's police a mentality that all Kurds must be viewed as potential killers. This could easily lead to the use of police firearms in "preventive necessity", as the murder of Halim Dener one year ago by a Lower Saxony policeman in Hannover clearly illustrated. The PDS has said that Minner should work somewhere else, perhaps in the film industry where he can better live out his violent fantasies. ----- Kurdistan Parliament In Exile Prepares For National Congress The President of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile, Yasar Kaya, issued a statement on August 1 detailing the results of the Second Session of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile. The Kurdistan Parliament in Exile carried out its Second Session from July 30-August 1, 1995. All relevant issues were discussed, and the following decisions were made: - The Newroz festival on March 21 will not only be an official national holiday in Kurdistan but also outside Kurdistan as well. This law, as well as changes to Articles 2 and 8 of the Parliament's founding statues, was passed. - The emblem of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile was decided upon and agreed to. The General Secretariat and the Executive Council of the Parliament took up and passed the organizational law. - On the theme of national unity, which was a general discussion, a National Congress shall be convened and work shall begin on establishing a National Parliament. In line with this, the Executive Council was empowered to make the necessary preparations. - The meeting also discussed the Turkish state's widening war in Kurdistan, the reason for its continued attacks on the civilian population, the hungerstrike by more than 10,000 political prisoners and their demand for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish problem, and the many activities in support of the hungerstrike which have taken place in cities all across Turkey and in Europe. - Our Parliament recognizes the hungerstrike activities as democratic and values them as a form of resistance by the Kurdish people against the Turkish government. - Our Parliament, since its establishment, has dealt with and sought solutions to the Kurdistan problem and has taken on a role of active representation. - Our assembly took place at a time when the war in North Kurdistan is intensifying, as the Turkish army seeks to destroy everything Kurdish by bombarding villages and killing dozens of people every day, and as more than 10,000 prisoners are on hungerstrike with our people actively supporting them. - Our Parliament discussed these matters at this critical phase and it took decisions so as to play an active role in these developments. - Our Parliament will, in future, continue to seek a peaceful and democratic solution to the Kurdish problem and will strengthen its work towards this end. Yasar Kaya President of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile August 1, 1995 ----- Bremen Officials Let Kurd Die A 36-year-old Kurdish asylum seeker died recently because the social services officials in the German city of Bremen held back payments for a necessary liver transplant for too long. This was confirmed on August 17 by a spokesperson for the Bremen Senate's health and social services ministry. There were "bad mistakes" and "we are sorry about these and we will learn from these". The group Solidarity Assistance, which was caring for the Kurd, Celal Arkan, has brought charges of medical neglect against the authorities. Arkan, a Yezidi, was arrested and badly tortured in Turkey on suspicions that he was a PKK supporter. In prison, he became infected with hepatitis B and D. After 9 months in prison, he was able to flee to Germany. In Germany, clinic and state doctors kept sending him back and forth for 15 months, despite his need for urgent medical attention. ----- A Look At The Press... Global Arms Trade (in millions U.S. dollars) Main Exporters 1994 (of heavy weapons) 1. USA 11,959 2. Germany 3,162 3. U.K. 1,593 4. China 1,204 5. Russia 842 6. France 705 Main Importers 1994 (of heavy weapons) 1. Turkey 2,135 2. Saudi Arabia 1,602 3. Indonesia 1,415 4. Egypt 1,370 5. Taiwan 1,069 6. Greece 973 (Neues Deutschland, 17.8.95) Despite Successes, Economy Remains Weak There is widespread optimism in Ankara's government. After prime minister Tansu Ciller won a major victory in parliament and passed her, albeit minor, constitutional reform package, the international finance and investment firm Morgan Stanley gave a robust picture of the Turkish economy. The experts estimated that Turkey, despite a year of crisis in 1994, had managed to pay off $10 billion of its foreign debt. And the recent ratings by an American agency, which raised Turkey's status from "stable" to "positive", gave heart to economy politicians in Ankara. Experts especially praised the great rise in currency reserves. The reserves of the Central Bank - without gold - have risen 90% since the beginning of the year to $13.51 billion. But the economy is vulnerable nonetheless. The balance of trade deficit stood at $2.78 billion in the first five months of this year, 50% higher than the same period in 1994. The inflation rate, which hit a record high of 150% at the beginning of the year, managed to fall back to 80%, but bank circles seem to feel that the rate could climb once again by year's end. Early fall is a particularly crucial season for Turkey, because that's when foreign and domestic debt payments are due. The treasury will have to bury $1.5 or $2 billion in international financial markets in order to make this year's foreign debt payment of $6.5 billion. The government is also confronted with growing discontent in the public sector. In a series of mass demonstrations, workers have rejected an offer of a 5% pay increase, which with an inflation rate of 85% actually means a substantial loss of income. Last year, public sector workers already had to cope with a 40% loss in earnings. (Handelsblatt, 11.8.95) Turkey: Professors Demand Negotiations More than 100 intellectuals in Turkey have issued a call for a cease-fire and negotiations between the PKK and the army in order to prevent "national suicide". (Hamburger Abendblatt, 18.8.95) Investigation Against Two Policemen The state prosecutor's office in Frankfurt has opened an investigation against two unnamed police officers who allegedly mishandled demonstrators while dispersing a Kurdish vigil two weeks ago. The reason for the investigation was video footage, according to Job Tilmann, a spokesman for the prosecutor's office. The video seemed to show two as yet unidentified officers kicking people lying on the ground. (Frankfurter Rundschau, 12.8.95) Actually, The PKK Is Banned Leaders of the PKK are being sought after for membership in a terrorist organization. But legal proceedings against individual members who are caught are not likely to stop the danger of this cancer, because the militant organization of a national minority in a foreign state is seeking an alternative battlefield for its civil war here in Germany. Up until now, it has been impossible to separate the fanatical supporters of the PKK from their leadership by means of bans or criminalization. (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 3.8.95) ----- ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From KOMMAG at ASCO.nev.sub.de Sun Aug 27 14:37:00 1995 From: KOMMAG at ASCO.nev.sub.de (KOMMAG at ASCO.nev.sub.de) Date: 27 Aug 1995 14:37:00 Subject: Offener Brief von YEK-KOM Message-ID: <5sdZxHy2x.B@kommagp.asco.nev.sub.de> Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit *F?deration kurdischer Vereine YEK-KOM* *in Deutschland e.V.* YEK-KOM Von-Gall-Str. 2 D-44807 Bochum Tel: (49) 0234-541118 Fax: (49) 0234-541194 Offener Brief an die Freundinnen und Freunde des kurdischen Volkes Parteien Gewerkschaften Medien Menschenrechtsorganisationen Friedensinitiativen Nach der Aufl?sung der friedlich verlaufenden Hungerstreiks in Berlin und Frankfurt erreichte in der Bundesrepublik die Diffamierungskampagne gegen die Kurden ihren H?hepunkt. Bundesdeutsche Politiker und Verfassungsschutzorgane bauten systematisch das Bild von Kurden als Randalierer, Brandstiffter und Rauschgifth?ndler auf und machten es zum Bestandteil ihrer Diffamierungskampagne. Bereits vor der Trauerdemonstration in Berlin wurde von nieders?chsischen Verfassungsschutz in der ?ffentlichkeit verbreitet, die Kurden w?rden w?hrend des Trauermarsches Schu?waffen einsetzen. Obwohl die oben genannten Ank?ndigungen, dazu dienten den Trauermarsch zu diffamieren, haben die Kurden sich auf diese Provokationen nicht eingelassen. Unter den Demonstranten in Berlin befanden sich auch zahlreiche Teilnehmer des Hungerstreiks in Frankfurt, die zuvor in dieser Stadt vor den Augen einer breiten ?ffentlichkeit massiven polizeilichen Angriffen ausgesetzt waren. Vor allem diese setzten ein deutliches Zeichen ihrer Bereitschaft zu einer friedlichen L?sung in der Bundesrepublik. Nach dem auch in den St?dten Osnabr?ck und in Frankfurt die Aktionen der Kurden friedlich verliefen relativierten sich die Erkl?rungen der deutschen Sicherheitsbeh?rden hinsichtlich der angek?ndigten Gewalt durch die Kurden. Doch das Ziel zur Diffamierung und Kriminalisierung der Kurden wurde systematisch aufgebaut und f?r innen- und au?enpolitische Zwecke der Bundesregierung funktionalisiert. Die Darstellung der Kurden als Gewaltt?ter dient zur Entorganisierung der deutschen ?ffentlichkeit mit den Kurden. Friedliche Aktionen, wie der aufgel?ste Hungersteik, wurden von bundesdeutschen Beh?rden als Gewaltaktionen diffamiert und die legitimen Forderungen der Hungerstreikenden nach der baldigen Beendigung und nach einer politischen L?sung in den Hintergrund gedr?ngt. Unterst?tzt wird diese Politik durch eine Medienberichterstattung, die in der ?ffentlichkeit ein Bild gewaltt?tiger und fanatischer Kurden liefert und bereits vorhandene Feindbilder verst?rkt. Eine differenzierte Darstellung der Situation und damit auch eine breitere Solidarit?t wird somit verhindert und erm?glicht den politisch Verantwortlichen die Situation weiter eskalieren zu lassen. - Geplante Versch?rfung im Bereich der asyl- und ausl?nderrechtlichen Bestimmungen. Am Tag der Aufl?sung des Hungersteiks in Frankfurt verk?ndete das Oberverwaltungsgericht Hessen, der hessische Abschiebestopp sei f?r Kurden verfassungswiedrig, die Regierung hob daraufhin diesen sofort auf. Vor den Augen der ?ffentlichkeit demonstrierte die Polizei in Frankfurt Mitten am Tag Macht und St?rke und machte der ?ffentlichkeit deutlich, wie gef?hlich f?r die "innere Sicherheit der Ordnung" diese abzuschiebenden Menschen doch sind! Die Ausschreitungen der letzten Woche dienten als Anla?, um die Forderung nach einer ?nderung des Versammlungsgesetzes f?r Nicht-Deutsche in die Diskussion zu bringen. Der CSU-Innenexperte Zeitlmann betonte, da? das Recht auf Demonstration auf Versammlung und zur Vereinsgr?ndung f?r Ausl?nder in "Notsituationen" zu suspendieren. - Legitimation f?r die am 16.7.1995 vereinbarten Kooperation der Bundesrepublik mit der T?rkei auf polizeilicher Ebene. K?nftig soll die bereits jetzt bestehende Zusammenarbeit in Sicherheitsfragen ausgeweitet werden. Die T?rkei sicherte der Bundesrepublik ihre Hilfe zu, "den Terrorismus der PKK auf deutschen Boden einzud?mmen". Die Bundesrepublik werde dagegen die T?rkei beim "Austausch" von Staft?tern" unterst?tzen. - Unterdr?ckung des Protestes gegen die deutsche Kriegspartnerschaft. Seit der Verbotsverf?gung des Bundesinnenministeriums im November 1993 ?ber kurdische Vereine und Organisationen, ist jede M?glichkeit von Kurden sich politisch zu artikulieren abgeschaft worden. Es ist in diesem Zusammenhang nochmals zu verdeutlichen, da? die Bundesrepublik friedliche Aktionen, die dazu dienen eine ?ffentlichkeit f?r die Beendigung des Krieges und die deutsche Kriegsbeteiligung herzustellen, entweder im Vorfeld verboten bzw. unter dem Vorwand des "Tragens von verbotenen Symbolen" im nachhinein aufgel?st werden. Faktum ist jedoch, da? weder durch den milit?rischen Kurs der T?rkei, noch die Verbote in der Bundesrepublik die Kurden-Frage l?sen k?nnen. Ein entscheidender innenpolitischer Schritt dazu w?re die erlassenen Verbote aufzuheben und damit die Repression gegen die kurdische Bev?lkerung hier zu beenden. Ein notwendiger erster Schritt ist, jegliche milit?rische zusammenarbeit mit der T?rkei einzustellen und sie auf internationaler Ebene den Druck auf die T?rkei auszu?ben, um sie politischen Verhandlungen mit der kurdischen Seite, die mehrmals ihre Bereitschaft zur Beendigung des Krieges und den Willen zu einer politischen L?sung erkl?rt hat, zu bewegen. From KOMMAG at ASCO.nev.sub.de Sun Aug 27 22:37:00 1995 From: KOMMAG at ASCO.nev.sub.de (KOMMAG at ASCO.nev.sub.de) Date: 27 Aug 1995 22:37:00 Subject: Offener Brief von YEK-KOM References: <5sdZxHy2x.B@kommagp.asco.nev.sub.de> Message-ID: <5sdZxHy2x.B@kommagp.asco.nev.sub.de> *F?deration kurdischer Vereine YEK-KOM* *in Deutschland e.V.* YEK-KOM Von-Gall-Str. 2 D-44807 Bochum Tel: (49) 0234-541118 Fax: (49) 0234-541194 Offener Brief an die Freundinnen und Freunde des kurdischen Volkes Parteien Gewerkschaften Medien Menschenrechtsorganisationen Friedensinitiativen Nach der Aufl?sung der friedlich verlaufenden Hungerstreiks in Berlin und Frankfurt erreichte in der Bundesrepublik die Diffamierungskampagne gegen die Kurden ihren H?hepunkt. Bundesdeutsche Politiker und Verfassungsschutzorgane bauten systematisch das Bild von Kurden als Randalierer, Brandstiffter und Rauschgifth?ndler auf und machten es zum Bestandteil ihrer Diffamierungskampagne. Bereits vor der Trauerdemonstration in Berlin wurde von nieders?chsischen Verfassungsschutz in der ?ffentlichkeit verbreitet, die Kurden w?rden w?hrend des Trauermarsches Schu?waffen einsetzen. Obwohl die oben genannten Ank?ndigungen, dazu dienten den Trauermarsch zu diffamieren, haben die Kurden sich auf diese Provokationen nicht eingelassen. Unter den Demonstranten in Berlin befanden sich auch zahlreiche Teilnehmer des Hungerstreiks in Frankfurt, die zuvor in dieser Stadt vor den Augen einer breiten ?ffentlichkeit massiven polizeilichen Angriffen ausgesetzt waren. Vor allem diese setzten ein deutliches Zeichen ihrer Bereitschaft zu einer friedlichen L?sung in der Bundesrepublik. Nach dem auch in den St?dten Osnabr?ck und in Frankfurt die Aktionen der Kurden friedlich verliefen relativierten sich die Erkl?rungen der deutschen Sicherheitsbeh?rden hinsichtlich der angek?ndigten Gewalt durch die Kurden. Doch das Ziel zur Diffamierung und Kriminalisierung der Kurden wurde systematisch aufgebaut und f?r innen- und au?enpolitische Zwecke der Bundesregierung funktionalisiert. Die Darstellung der Kurden als Gewaltt?ter dient zur Entorganisierung der deutschen ?ffentlichkeit mit den Kurden. Friedliche Aktionen, wie der aufgel?ste Hungersteik, wurden von bundesdeutschen Beh?rden als Gewaltaktionen diffamiert und die legitimen Forderungen der Hungerstreikenden nach der baldigen Beendigung und nach einer politischen L?sung in den Hintergrund gedr?ngt. Unterst?tzt wird diese Politik durch eine Medienberichterstattung, die in der ?ffentlichkeit ein Bild gewaltt?tiger und fanatischer Kurden liefert und bereits vorhandene Feindbilder verst?rkt. Eine differenzierte Darstellung der Situation und damit auch eine breitere Solidarit?t wird somit verhindert und erm?glicht den politisch Verantwortlichen die Situation weiter eskalieren zu lassen. - Geplante Versch?rfung im Bereich der asyl- und ausl?nderrechtlichen Bestimmungen. Am Tag der Aufl?sung des Hungersteiks in Frankfurt verk?ndete das Oberverwaltungsgericht Hessen, der hessische Abschiebestopp sei f?r Kurden verfassungswiedrig, die Regierung hob daraufhin diesen sofort auf. Vor den Augen der ?ffentlichkeit demonstrierte die Polizei in Frankfurt Mitten am Tag Macht und St?rke und machte der ?ffentlichkeit deutlich, wie gef?hlich f?r die "innere Sicherheit der Ordnung" diese abzuschiebenden Menschen doch sind! Die Ausschreitungen der letzten Woche dienten als Anla?, um die Forderung nach einer ?nderung des Versammlungsgesetzes f?r Nicht-Deutsche in die Diskussion zu bringen. Der CSU-Innenexperte Zeitlmann betonte, da? das Recht auf Demonstration auf Versammlung und zur Vereinsgr?ndung f?r Ausl?nder in "Notsituationen" zu suspendieren. - Legitimation f?r die am 16.7.1995 vereinbarten Kooperation der Bundesrepublik mit der T?rkei auf polizeilicher Ebene. K?nftig soll die bereits jetzt bestehende Zusammenarbeit in Sicherheitsfragen ausgeweitet werden. Die T?rkei sicherte der Bundesrepublik ihre Hilfe zu, "den Terrorismus der PKK auf deutschen Boden einzud?mmen". Die Bundesrepublik werde dagegen die T?rkei beim "Austausch" von Staft?tern" unterst?tzen. - Unterdr?ckung des Protestes gegen die deutsche Kriegspartnerschaft. Seit der Verbotsverf?gung des Bundesinnenministeriums im November 1993 ?ber kurdische Vereine und Organisationen, ist jede M?glichkeit von Kurden sich politisch zu artikulieren abgeschaft worden. Es ist in diesem Zusammenhang nochmals zu verdeutlichen, da? die Bundesrepublik friedliche Aktionen, die dazu dienen eine ?ffentlichkeit f?r die Beendigung des Krieges und die deutsche Kriegsbeteiligung herzustellen, entweder im Vorfeld verboten bzw. unter dem Vorwand des "Tragens von verbotenen Symbolen" im nachhinein aufgel?st werden. Faktum ist jedoch, da? weder durch den milit?rischen Kurs der T?rkei, noch die Verbote in der Bundesrepublik die Kurden-Frage l?sen k?nnen. Ein entscheidender innenpolitischer Schritt dazu w?re die erlassenen Verbote aufzuheben und damit die Repression gegen die kurdische Bev?lkerung hier zu beenden. Ein notwendiger erster Schritt ist, jegliche milit?rische zusammenarbeit mit der T?rkei einzustellen und sie auf internationaler Ebene den Druck auf die T?rkei auszu?ben, um sie politischen Verhandlungen mit der kurdischen Seite, die mehrmals ihre Bereitschaft zur Beendigung des Krieges und den Willen zu einer politischen L?sung erkl?rt hat, zu bewegen. From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Aug 27 01:45:48 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 27 Aug 1995 01:45:48 Subject: TURKEY IS NOT A DEMOCRATIC COUN Message-ID: Subject: Re: TURKEY IS NOT A DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY!!! #1 -------------------- Forwarded from : Petros Liapis -------------------- The bellow copy of a report in the house of the Representatives in US, demonstrates clearly the lack of democracy in Turkey. Petros. > > TURKEY ESCALATES WAR ON FREE EXPRESSION > > [Page: E313] > > > > HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH > > OF NEW JERSEY > > in the House of Representatives > > Thursday, February 9, 1995 > > Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, last October, a Helsinki Commission > delegation met with Turkish officials and others in Ankara. With one exception, > each and every official, including the Speaker of Parliament, produced a copy > of the pro-Kurdish newspaper Ozgur Ulke and waved it in the air as proof that, > despite what critics alleged, free expression was alive and well in Turkey. > > Last week, Mr. Speaker, Turkish officials decided that the costs of allowing > the paper to air its pro-Kurdish sentiments outweighed its value as a token of > free expression. On February 3, a Turkish court forced the paper to shut down. > This blatant assault on free speech comes within a week of the decision to > prosecute Turkey's most widely known author, Yasar Kemal, for publicly stating > his thoughts on the government's handling of the Kurdish situation. He now > faces charges of separatist propaganda, and now, even those who favor the > government's uncompromising hardline towards the Kurds are beginning to > question whether the government hasn't gone too far. > > Mr. Speaker, Ozgur Ulke's closure culminates an orchestrated campaign which > began as soon as the newspaper appeared to fill the void left when a likeminded > predecessor was forcibly closed. Censorship of the paper included violent > attacks that left 20 reporters and distributors killed by unidentified death > squads. At least four others have been kidnapped. The tortured, bullet-ridden > body of one reporter was found weeks after he had disappeared. At least 35 > journalists and workers of the newspaper have been imprisoned and 238 issues > seized. The campaign against the newspaper went into high gear on November 30, > 1994, when Prime Minister Ciller issued a secret decree, which was leaked and > published, calling for the complete elimination of the newspaper. On December > 3, 1994, its printing facility and headquarters in Istanbul and its Ankara > bureau were bombed. One person was killed and 18 others were injured in the > explosions. > > On January 6, 1995, policemen started to wait outside the printing plant to > confiscate the paper as soon as it was printed. Copies were taken directly to a > prosecutor who worked around the clock to determine which articles were > undesirable. Often some three to four pages of the paper, mostly articles about > security force abuses, were censored and reprinted as blank sections. Since > December, five reporters, who were detained and later released, spoke of being > tortured by police attempting to force confessions against the newspaper's > editorial board. > > Mr. Speaker, last week, the State Department issued its annual human rights > report, and only China had as many pages devoted to it as Turkey. While the > report indicated that human rights conditions in Turkey had worsened > significantly over the past year, the publication of Ozgur Ulke was cited as a > positive example of press freedom. Responding to the report, an official > spokesperson dismissed its report as biased and based on one-sided information. > The spokesperson, repeating assertions made whenever Turkey is criticized for > human rights violations, insisted that significant improvements had taken place > and other important reforms were being undertaken. Given the countless times we > have heard such assertions, it is a wonder that Turkey is not a model of > freedom and democracy. > > Mr. Speaker, now that Turkish officials do not have copies of Ozgur Ulke to > wave at visiting delegations, they will likely search for other props to > convince skeptics of their good intentions. I would suggest, Mr. Speaker, that > instead of tolerating certain types of expression in order to placate foreign > observers, Turkish officials should take real steps to bring policies in line > with stated human rights commitments. Free expression and other rights cannot > be viewed simply as products of public relations campaigns. If Turkish > officials are unwilling to work seriously towards implementing such rights to > bring their laws into conformity with international standards, then they cannot > expect their pronouncements on human rights to be viewed sympathetically. In > this context, Turkish denunciations of the State Department human rights report > are as puzzling as they are absurd. > ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Aug 27 01:46:21 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 27 Aug 1995 01:46:21 Subject: TURKEY IS NOT A DEMOCRATIC COUN References: Message-ID: Subject: Re: TURKEY IS NOT A DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY!!!#2 -------------------- Forwarded from : Petros Liapis -------------------- The bellow report presented in the House of Representatives in US, proves for one more time that Turkey and Human Rights it is a contradiction in terms !!! Petros. > DELEGATION DETAILS HUMAN RIGHTS CONDITIONS IN TURKEY > > [Page: E705] > > > > HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH > > OF NEW JERSEY > > in the House of Representatives > > Tuesday, March 28, 1995 > > Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, earlier this month members of a > Parliamentary Human Rights Foundation delegation returned from a fact-finding > mission to Turkey . The human rights situation in that country has > significantly deteriorated in recent years despite assurances otherwise by > Turkey 's leaders. > > At present, internal tensions have reached new heights, threatening to tear > apart the multiethnic fabric of Turkish society while destabilizing the entire > region. Turkey 's campaign against the Kurdish Worker's Party [PKK] has been > used to justify the recent invasion of Northern Iraq as well as sweeping > restrictions on pro-Kurdish expression and peaceful political activity. And, > while the PKK continues to operate and gather support, Turkey 's democratic > credentials are increasingly questioned. > > Mr. Speaker, at this time I ask that the report of the Parliamentary Human > Rights Foundation delegation, which outlines many of the human rights problems > in Turkey and offers constructive recommendations on how Turkey 's Government > might better address such problems be printed in the Record. > > REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS CONDITIONS IN TURKEY , MARCH 2, 1995 > > The Parliamentary Human Rights Foundation (formerly the Congressional Human > Rights Foundation) organized a human rights fact-finding mission to Turkey > (2/25-3/1/95). The delegation was led by the Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell, a > Member of the Board of Directors and former U.S. Ambassador to the United > Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC). The delegation also included David L. > Phillips, President of the Foundation. The purpose of the trip was to > investigate reported human rights violations committed by the Government of > Turkey , particularly the abuses against its citizens of Kurdish origin. The > delegation also investigated violations by the PKK, a separatist organization > committed to armed struggle. Based on the delegation's findings, a report has > been submitted to officials in Geneva, Members of the U.S. Congress, the > European Parliament, and National Assemblies in Europe. > > The delegation visited Istanbul, Diyarbakir, and Ankara. In order to consider a > broad range of views, the delegation spoke with Turkish officials from the > Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign > Affairs, the Turkish Grand National Assembly, the Governor and Deputy Governor > of the Emergency Region, and Turkish Army personnel. The delegation also met > with representatives of the Turkish Human Rights Association, the Turkish Human > Rights Foundation, the Diyarbakir Bar Association, HADEP officials, a DEP > Parliamentarian, lawyers representing the DEP MPs, former MPs of Kurdish > origin, and Kurdish citizens. > > Our official request for meetings with Layla Zana and Ahmet Turk, imprisoned > parliamentarians and members of the Foundations Interparliamentary Human Rights > Network (IPN), was declined. Despite assurances from the Governor of the > Emergency Region, our travel to Kurdish villages outside of Diyarbakir was > blocked at military checkpoints. The office of the Diayarbakir Human Rights > Association was closed and four members were arrested within 24 hours of the > delegation's meeting with representatives of the Association. > > Turkish authorities are systematically violating the rights of Turkish > citizens, including those of Kurdish origin. The Anti-Terror Act and the State > of Emergency provide legal sanction for gross human rights violations, > particularly in Southeast Turkey . > > Turkish authorities state that their objection is to the non-combatants > terrorism. However, many civilian non-combatants suffer human rights violations > as a result of the struggle between Turkish authorities and the PKK. The PKK is > an extremist, militant organization responsible for acts of terrorism in which > Turkish military and police personnel are targeted, as are Kurdish civilians. > It should be noted, however, that the PKK has recently called for a `civilian > solution' to the Kurdish question and has recognized Turkey 's borders. > > The Government of Turkey believes all persons who seek political and cultural > expression for the Kurds are `separatists' and PKK sympathizers. Suspected by > Turkish authorities as bases for PKK operations, more than one thousand Kurdish > villages have been destroyed. Human rights monitors report instances of > arbitrary detention, torture, extrajudicial killing, and restrictions on > freedom of expression. In addition, democratically elected parliamentarians of > Kurdish origin have been jailed and convicted for disseminating `separatist' > propaganda and supporting an `armed band' while, in reality, they were merely > representing the interests of their constituents. There are serious shortfalls > in Turkey 's administration of justice. > > The Interior Ministry indicates that 1,046 villages in the emergency region > have been evacuated; human rights monitors say several thousand villages have > been destroyed; homes and their claimed inhabitants have been burned; use of > chemical agents and poison gas are reported. The Government acknowledges that > 940 combatants have been killed; however, other reports claim that thousands > have died. The population of Diyarbakir has doubled to more than 1.2 million as > internally displaced persons have sought refuge in the city. > > The DEP parliamentarians were convicted in proceedings many observers labelled > a `show-trial.' The Government of Turkey indicates that 8,682 persons have been > sentenced under its Anti-Terror Act, which permits arbitrary arrest. Many of > those known to be arrested, as well as persons who have disappeared, were just > attempting to peacefully exercise freedoms of speech, association, or other > internationally recognized human rights. The Turkish Human Rights Association > reports instances of extrajudicial killings and torture of persons held in > incommunicado for political crimes. There are 250 cases/appeals presently > before the European Court of Human Rights and the European Commission on Human > Rights. > > The Constitutional Court of Turkey has no right of review for `decrees with the > force of law' issued under the state of emergency. The Anti-Terror Act, adopted > in 1991, restricts many civil liberties, including attorney access to, as well > as the rights of, persons in detention. The Anti-Terror Act and state of > emergency provisions also restrict freedom of expression. Government agencies > harass and imprison human rights minors, journalists, lawyers, and professors. > The Act's broad and ambiguous definition of terrorism, particularly Article 8, > has led to widespread abuses of innocent civilians. > > In addition, the Constitutional Court has banned the DEP party, a vehicle for > the expression of Kurdish cultural identity and full citizenship rights. In the > past two years, 26 DEP and HADEP members have been killed. In the run-up to > recent elections, the DEP headquarters was bombed. The press law permits > banning of publications with a court order and states that `responsible > editors' bear responsibility for the content of their publications; 19 > journalists have been tried under the Anti-Terror Act. On December 3, 1994, a > journal reputed to be pro-PKK, the `Izgur Ulke' was bombed. There are no > independent Kurdish language newspapers, television, or radio. Regarding > cultural expression, the Constitution does not recognize Kurds as a national, > racial, or ethnic minority. Two hundred Kurds were arrested during Newroz New > Year celebrations in Diyarbakir. > > It is important to note that the PKK, itself, is responsible for gross human > rights violations by targeting village officials, guards, informants, teachers, > and young men who refuse to take up arms against the authorities. By the > admission of its own representatives, the PKK has recently killed 179 village > guards, 66 collaborators, and police officials. The well-being of almost every > Kurd is adversely affected by the conflict. > > As a result of the conflict, Turkey 's citizens of Kurdish origin have become > bereft of many democratic rights and are denied effective political and > cultural expression. The resulting radicalization of the Kurds is contributing > to a worsening security situation throughout the country. An increasing number > of Kurds are turning to the pro-Muslim Welfare Party. > > [Page: E706] > > The international community should promote improvement in human rights > conditions in Turkey by encouraging a dialogue between Turkish authorities and > legitimate representatives of Kurdish interests. To this end, amnesty should be > provided to convicted DEP parliaments so that they can participate in a > dialogue concerning the reduction of tensions and the normalization of > relations between Turkish authorities and Turkey 's citizens of Kurdish origin. > > Within the competence of the UNHRC, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, > and the Special Rapporteurs on Torture and Freedom of Expression should > investigate human rights conditions in Turkey . The Government of Turkey has > `invited' the Special Rapporteur on Summary Executions to visit Turkey . A > suitable itinerary and near term date should be finalized. > > Efforts should be made by the U.S. and the E.U. to establish mutual reinforcing > restrictions on the sale of military equipment which might be used against > civilian populations. The US and EU should also coordinate the extension and/or > relaxation of tariff and trade privileges based on Turkey 's overall human > rights performance. > > Technical assistance programs in the rule of law should be undertaken among > Members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, European Parliament, and U.S. > Congress in order to strengthen democratic institutions and assist in > constitutional and legislative reform. The Anti-Terror Act should be amended so > that the rights of Turkish citizens are safeguarded, as is the right of the > state to protect its territorial integrity. Electronic computer networks should > be established between the TGNA and parliamentary bodies in other countries. > > These recommendations are provided so that the international community can > become fully seized by the worsening human rights conditions in Turkey . The > authors of this report hope for reconciliation through dialogue so that peace, > prosperity, and democracy may flourish for all citizens of the Turkish > Republic. > > - ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Aug 27 01:45:00 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 27 Aug 1995 01:45:00 Subject: TURKEY IS NOT A DEMOCRATIC COUN Message-ID: <082795000142Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a> Subject: Re: TURKEY IS NOT A DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY!!! #1 -------------------- Forwarded from : Petros Liapis -------------------- The bellow copy of a report in the house of the Representatives in US, demonstrates clearly the lack of democracy in Turkey. Petros. > > TURKEY ESCALATES WAR ON FREE EXPRESSION > > [Page: E313] > > > > HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH > > OF NEW JERSEY > > in the House of Representatives > > Thursday, February 9, 1995 > > Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, last October, a Helsinki Commission > delegation met with Turkish officials and others in Ankara. With one exception, > each and every official, including the Speaker of Parliament, produced a copy > of the pro-Kurdish newspaper Ozgur Ulke and waved it in the air as proof that, > despite what critics alleged, free expression was alive and well in Turkey. > > Last week, Mr. Speaker, Turkish officials decided that the costs of allowing > the paper to air its pro-Kurdish sentiments outweighed its value as a token of > free expression. On February 3, a Turkish court forced the paper to shut down. > This blatant assault on free speech comes within a week of the decision to > prosecute Turkey's most widely known author, Yasar Kemal, for publicly stating > his thoughts on the government's handling of the Kurdish situation. He now > faces charges of separatist propaganda, and now, even those who favor the > government's uncompromising hardline towards the Kurds are beginning to > question whether the government hasn't gone too far. > > Mr. Speaker, Ozgur Ulke's closure culminates an orchestrated campaign which > began as soon as the newspaper appeared to fill the void left when a likeminded > predecessor was forcibly closed. Censorship of the paper included violent > attacks that left 20 reporters and distributors killed by unidentified death > squads. At least four others have been kidnapped. The tortured, bullet-ridden > body of one reporter was found weeks after he had disappeared. At least 35 > journalists and workers of the newspaper have been imprisoned and 238 issues > seized. The campaign against the newspaper went into high gear on November 30, > 1994, when Prime Minister Ciller issued a secret decree, which was leaked and > published, calling for the complete elimination of the newspaper. On December > 3, 1994, its printing facility and headquarters in Istanbul and its Ankara > bureau were bombed. One person was killed and 18 others were injured in the > explosions. > > On January 6, 1995, policemen started to wait outside the printing plant to > confiscate the paper as soon as it was printed. Copies were taken directly to a > prosecutor who worked around the clock to determine which articles were > undesirable. Often some three to four pages of the paper, mostly articles about > security force abuses, were censored and reprinted as blank sections. Since > December, five reporters, who were detained and later released, spoke of being > tortured by police attempting to force confessions against the newspaper's > editorial board. > > Mr. Speaker, last week, the State Department issued its annual human rights > report, and only China had as many pages devoted to it as Turkey. While the > report indicated that human rights conditions in Turkey had worsened > significantly over the past year, the publication of Ozgur Ulke was cited as a > positive example of press freedom. Responding to the report, an official > spokesperson dismissed its report as biased and based on one-sided information. > The spokesperson, repeating assertions made whenever Turkey is criticized for > human rights violations, insisted that significant improvements had taken place > and other important reforms were being undertaken. Given the countless times we > have heard such assertions, it is a wonder that Turkey is not a model of > freedom and democracy. > > Mr. Speaker, now that Turkish officials do not have copies of Ozgur Ulke to > wave at visiting delegations, they will likely search for other props to > convince skeptics of their good intentions. I would suggest, Mr. Speaker, that > instead of tolerating certain types of expression in order to placate foreign > observers, Turkish officials should take real steps to bring policies in line > with stated human rights commitments. Free expression and other rights cannot > be viewed simply as products of public relations campaigns. If Turkish > officials are unwilling to work seriously towards implementing such rights to > bring their laws into conformity with international standards, then they cannot > expect their pronouncements on human rights to be viewed sympathetically. In > this context, Turkish denunciations of the State Department human rights report > are as puzzling as they are absurd. > ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Sun Aug 27 01:46:00 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 27 Aug 1995 01:46:00 Subject: TURKEY IS NOT A DEMOCRATIC COUN References: <082795000142Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a> Message-ID: <082795000205Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a> Subject: Re: TURKEY IS NOT A DEMOCRATIC COUNTRY!!!#2 -------------------- Forwarded from : Petros Liapis -------------------- The bellow report presented in the House of Representatives in US, proves for one more time that Turkey and Human Rights it is a contradiction in terms !!! Petros. > DELEGATION DETAILS HUMAN RIGHTS CONDITIONS IN TURKEY > > [Page: E705] > > > > HON. CHRISTOPHER H. SMITH > > OF NEW JERSEY > > in the House of Representatives > > Tuesday, March 28, 1995 > > Mr. SMITH of New Jersey. Mr. Speaker, earlier this month members of a > Parliamentary Human Rights Foundation delegation returned from a fact-finding > mission to Turkey . The human rights situation in that country has > significantly deteriorated in recent years despite assurances otherwise by > Turkey 's leaders. > > At present, internal tensions have reached new heights, threatening to tear > apart the multiethnic fabric of Turkish society while destabilizing the entire > region. Turkey 's campaign against the Kurdish Worker's Party [PKK] has been > used to justify the recent invasion of Northern Iraq as well as sweeping > restrictions on pro-Kurdish expression and peaceful political activity. And, > while the PKK continues to operate and gather support, Turkey 's democratic > credentials are increasingly questioned. > > Mr. Speaker, at this time I ask that the report of the Parliamentary Human > Rights Foundation delegation, which outlines many of the human rights problems > in Turkey and offers constructive recommendations on how Turkey 's Government > might better address such problems be printed in the Record. > > REPORT ON HUMAN RIGHTS CONDITIONS IN TURKEY , MARCH 2, 1995 > > The Parliamentary Human Rights Foundation (formerly the Congressional Human > Rights Foundation) organized a human rights fact-finding mission to Turkey > (2/25-3/1/95). The delegation was led by the Honorable J. Kenneth Blackwell, a > Member of the Board of Directors and former U.S. Ambassador to the United > Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC). The delegation also included David L. > Phillips, President of the Foundation. The purpose of the trip was to > investigate reported human rights violations committed by the Government of > Turkey , particularly the abuses against its citizens of Kurdish origin. The > delegation also investigated violations by the PKK, a separatist organization > committed to armed struggle. Based on the delegation's findings, a report has > been submitted to officials in Geneva, Members of the U.S. Congress, the > European Parliament, and National Assemblies in Europe. > > The delegation visited Istanbul, Diyarbakir, and Ankara. In order to consider a > broad range of views, the delegation spoke with Turkish officials from the > Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Foreign > Affairs, the Turkish Grand National Assembly, the Governor and Deputy Governor > of the Emergency Region, and Turkish Army personnel. The delegation also met > with representatives of the Turkish Human Rights Association, the Turkish Human > Rights Foundation, the Diyarbakir Bar Association, HADEP officials, a DEP > Parliamentarian, lawyers representing the DEP MPs, former MPs of Kurdish > origin, and Kurdish citizens. > > Our official request for meetings with Layla Zana and Ahmet Turk, imprisoned > parliamentarians and members of the Foundations Interparliamentary Human Rights > Network (IPN), was declined. Despite assurances from the Governor of the > Emergency Region, our travel to Kurdish villages outside of Diyarbakir was > blocked at military checkpoints. The office of the Diayarbakir Human Rights > Association was closed and four members were arrested within 24 hours of the > delegation's meeting with representatives of the Association. > > Turkish authorities are systematically violating the rights of Turkish > citizens, including those of Kurdish origin. The Anti-Terror Act and the State > of Emergency provide legal sanction for gross human rights violations, > particularly in Southeast Turkey . > > Turkish authorities state that their objection is to the non-combatants > terrorism. However, many civilian non-combatants suffer human rights violations > as a result of the struggle between Turkish authorities and the PKK. The PKK is > an extremist, militant organization responsible for acts of terrorism in which > Turkish military and police personnel are targeted, as are Kurdish civilians. > It should be noted, however, that the PKK has recently called for a `civilian > solution' to the Kurdish question and has recognized Turkey 's borders. > > The Government of Turkey believes all persons who seek political and cultural > expression for the Kurds are `separatists' and PKK sympathizers. Suspected by > Turkish authorities as bases for PKK operations, more than one thousand Kurdish > villages have been destroyed. Human rights monitors report instances of > arbitrary detention, torture, extrajudicial killing, and restrictions on > freedom of expression. In addition, democratically elected parliamentarians of > Kurdish origin have been jailed and convicted for disseminating `separatist' > propaganda and supporting an `armed band' while, in reality, they were merely > representing the interests of their constituents. There are serious shortfalls > in Turkey 's administration of justice. > > The Interior Ministry indicates that 1,046 villages in the emergency region > have been evacuated; human rights monitors say several thousand villages have > been destroyed; homes and their claimed inhabitants have been burned; use of > chemical agents and poison gas are reported. The Government acknowledges that > 940 combatants have been killed; however, other reports claim that thousands > have died. The population of Diyarbakir has doubled to more than 1.2 million as > internally displaced persons have sought refuge in the city. > > The DEP parliamentarians were convicted in proceedings many observers labelled > a `show-trial.' The Government of Turkey indicates that 8,682 persons have been > sentenced under its Anti-Terror Act, which permits arbitrary arrest. Many of > those known to be arrested, as well as persons who have disappeared, were just > attempting to peacefully exercise freedoms of speech, association, or other > internationally recognized human rights. The Turkish Human Rights Association > reports instances of extrajudicial killings and torture of persons held in > incommunicado for political crimes. There are 250 cases/appeals presently > before the European Court of Human Rights and the European Commission on Human > Rights. > > The Constitutional Court of Turkey has no right of review for `decrees with the > force of law' issued under the state of emergency. The Anti-Terror Act, adopted > in 1991, restricts many civil liberties, including attorney access to, as well > as the rights of, persons in detention. The Anti-Terror Act and state of > emergency provisions also restrict freedom of expression. Government agencies > harass and imprison human rights minors, journalists, lawyers, and professors. > The Act's broad and ambiguous definition of terrorism, particularly Article 8, > has led to widespread abuses of innocent civilians. > > In addition, the Constitutional Court has banned the DEP party, a vehicle for > the expression of Kurdish cultural identity and full citizenship rights. In the > past two years, 26 DEP and HADEP members have been killed. In the run-up to > recent elections, the DEP headquarters was bombed. The press law permits > banning of publications with a court order and states that `responsible > editors' bear responsibility for the content of their publications; 19 > journalists have been tried under the Anti-Terror Act. On December 3, 1994, a > journal reputed to be pro-PKK, the `Izgur Ulke' was bombed. There are no > independent Kurdish language newspapers, television, or radio. Regarding > cultural expression, the Constitution does not recognize Kurds as a national, > racial, or ethnic minority. Two hundred Kurds were arrested during Newroz New > Year celebrations in Diyarbakir. > > It is important to note that the PKK, itself, is responsible for gross human > rights violations by targeting village officials, guards, informants, teachers, > and young men who refuse to take up arms against the authorities. By the > admission of its own representatives, the PKK has recently killed 179 village > guards, 66 collaborators, and police officials. The well-being of almost every > Kurd is adversely affected by the conflict. > > As a result of the conflict, Turkey 's citizens of Kurdish origin have become > bereft of many democratic rights and are denied effective political and > cultural expression. The resulting radicalization of the Kurds is contributing > to a worsening security situation throughout the country. An increasing number > of Kurds are turning to the pro-Muslim Welfare Party. > > [Page: E706] > > The international community should promote improvement in human rights > conditions in Turkey by encouraging a dialogue between Turkish authorities and > legitimate representatives of Kurdish interests. To this end, amnesty should be > provided to convicted DEP parliaments so that they can participate in a > dialogue concerning the reduction of tensions and the normalization of > relations between Turkish authorities and Turkey 's citizens of Kurdish origin. > > Within the competence of the UNHRC, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, > and the Special Rapporteurs on Torture and Freedom of Expression should > investigate human rights conditions in Turkey . The Government of Turkey has > `invited' the Special Rapporteur on Summary Executions to visit Turkey . A > suitable itinerary and near term date should be finalized. > > Efforts should be made by the U.S. and the E.U. to establish mutual reinforcing > restrictions on the sale of military equipment which might be used against > civilian populations. The US and EU should also coordinate the extension and/or > relaxation of tariff and trade privileges based on Turkey 's overall human > rights performance. > > Technical assistance programs in the rule of law should be undertaken among > Members of the Turkish Grand National Assembly, European Parliament, and U.S. > Congress in order to strengthen democratic institutions and assist in > constitutional and legislative reform. The Anti-Terror Act should be amended so > that the rights of Turkish citizens are safeguarded, as is the right of the > state to protect its territorial integrity. Electronic computer networks should > be established between the TGNA and parliamentary bodies in other countries. > > These recommendations are provided so that the international community can > become fully seized by the worsening human rights conditions in Turkey . The > authors of this report hope for reconciliation through dialogue so that peace, > prosperity, and democracy may flourish for all citizens of the Turkish > Republic. > > - ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Mon Aug 28 20:10:57 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 28 Aug 1995 20:10:57 Subject: Ozgur Politika Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) August 28, 1995 'Ozgur Politika' Is Open! After the closing down of the pro-Kurdish daily newspaper 'Yeni Politika' (New Politics) earlier this month - after similar bans and attacks on 'Ozgur Gundem' (Free Agenda) and 'Ozgur Ulke' (Free Land) - a new paper has gone into operation today, 'zgur Politika' (Free Politics)! We hope to have more information about this, including translations of articles, in the coming days. ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Mon Aug 28 20:13:07 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 28 Aug 1995 20:13:07 Subject: Ozgur Politika References: Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) August 28, 1995 'Ozgur Politika' Is Open! After the closing down of the pro-Kurdish daily newspaper 'Yeni Politika' (New Politics) earlier this month - after similar bans and attacks on 'Ozgur Gundem' (Free Agenda) and 'Ozgur Ulke' (Free Land) - a new paper has gone into operation today, 'zgur Politika' (Free Politics)! We hope to have more information about this, including translations of articles, in the coming days. ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Mon Aug 28 20:10:00 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 28 Aug 1995 20:10:00 Subject: Ozgur Politika References: Message-ID: <9508281824.AA00462@magi.com> From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) August 28, 1995 'Ozgur Politika' Is Open! After the closing down of the pro-Kurdish daily newspaper 'Yeni Politika' (New Politics) earlier this month - after similar bans and attacks on 'Ozgur Gundem' (Free Agenda) and 'Ozgur Ulke' (Free Land) - a new paper has gone into operation today, 'zgur Politika' (Free Politics)! We hope to have more information about this, including translations of articles, in the coming days. ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurdeng at aps.nl Thu Aug 31 02:47:02 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 31 Aug 1995 02:47:02 Subject: Ozgur Politika References: Message-ID: Aug 1995 02:36:51 -0800 ------------------------ Forwarded from : kcc at magi.com ------------------------- August 28, 1995 'Ozgur Politika' Is Open! After the closing down of the pro-Kurdish daily newspaper 'Yeni Politika' (New Politics) earlier this month - after similar bans and attacks on 'Ozgur Gundem' (Free Agenda) and 'Ozgur Ulke' (Free Land) - a new paper has gone into operation today, 'zgur Politika' (Free Politics)! We hope to have more information about this, including translations of articles, in the coming days. ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Mon Aug 28 20:11:22 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 28 Aug 1995 20:11:22 Subject: PKK Operation Against KDP Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) Press Release From The Headquarters Of The ARGK The following is a statement from the headquarters of the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) from August 26, 1995 concerning the recent clashes in South Kurdistan between armed units of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). Right now, Kurdistan is at the most crucial phase of its history. This turning point in history will fundamentally alter the fate of our people. National and international conditions offer a perfect opportunity for our people to win their freedom. The power and dominance of the exploiter states over Kurdistan is breaking down. The political collaboration and cooperation of the exploiter states in Kurdistan is coming to an end. The liberation struggle under the leadership of the PKK in North-West Kurdistan is handing heavy defeats to the fascist Turkish state, which follows policies of massive human rights violations. At the same time, the PKK is uniting and strengthening Kurdish liberation movements in other regions. This struggle, which has already theoretically abolished artificial borders, has brought the North and South of our country together. The Turkish government never recognized these borders anyway. This has allowed it to export its dirty war of destruction to South Kurdistan, and it has even organized its village guard system there. The feudal KDP, which has become a lackey of the Turkish state, is being utilized to destroy the liberation struggle of our people. This traitorous, collaborationist gang, which carries out the orders of the Turkish Republic, seems be to continuing its traitorous activities despite all of our warnings. They are opposing the liberation struggle and using methods which are against the people. In order to prevent this foul and traitorous gang of collaborators from being successful, our people's liberation fighters launched a major operation on August 26 against these traitorous and collaborationist forces. The primary goal of this operation is to facilitate a democratic federation in South Kurdistan, and at the same time this operation has seen the formation of the 1st Storm Brigade of the ARGK. On the first day of the operation, 21 military targets and 4 other KDP positions were attacked. 18 of these military posts are now either in our control, burned, or destroyed. In the area around Zaho, a radar station used by the KDP for radio and TV transmissions was destroyed. During these actions, 2 leading officers and 62 members of the collaborator gang were taken prisoner. One of those arrested, who was also a judge, was set free because of his old age. 10 vehicles belonging to the collaborators were completely destroyed. Also on the first day, the following equipment was confiscated from the captured positions: 2 anti-aircraft guns and 4 full boxes of ammunition, 1 fully automatic rifle (A4), 1 BKC with 600 rounds of ammunition, 64 infantry Kalschnikovs, and 4 rockets. In addition to this, our forces confiscated: 110 clips and 3,620 rounds of ammunition, 43 pistols, 3 Bruno guns, 1 mortar launcher with 35 shells and 40 other mortar shells, 2 B7 rocket launchers with 8 rockets, 19 hand grenades, 4 smoke grenades, 4 large walkie-talkie radios and 2 smaller ones, 1 telephone, 2 sets of binoculars, 3 bayonettes, 1 generator, 2 batteries, 6 radios, 1 cassette player, 2 TVs, and 1 VCR. Our operation against the collaborators will spread as the cause is taken up by the people. On the first day of this operation, 4 of our fighters were killed and 2 were wounded. If the KDP wants these attacks to end and wishes an agreement to be reached, then they must support the people's struggle for a democratic federation, they must take the PKK more seriously, and they must, before all else, cease their cooperation with the Turkish government. They must distance themselves from the oppression of the civilian population and attacks on patriotic forces, they must end their two-faced deal with external forces, and they must take their place alongside the patriotic people. This is the only way they can escape the anger of our people and avoid their destruction. People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) August 26, 1995 ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Mon Aug 28 20:11:00 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 28 Aug 1995 20:11:00 Subject: PKK Operation Against KDP References: Message-ID: <9508281825.AA00500@magi.com> From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) Press Release From The Headquarters Of The ARGK The following is a statement from the headquarters of the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) from August 26, 1995 concerning the recent clashes in South Kurdistan between armed units of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). Right now, Kurdistan is at the most crucial phase of its history. This turning point in history will fundamentally alter the fate of our people. National and international conditions offer a perfect opportunity for our people to win their freedom. The power and dominance of the exploiter states over Kurdistan is breaking down. The political collaboration and cooperation of the exploiter states in Kurdistan is coming to an end. The liberation struggle under the leadership of the PKK in North-West Kurdistan is handing heavy defeats to the fascist Turkish state, which follows policies of massive human rights violations. At the same time, the PKK is uniting and strengthening Kurdish liberation movements in other regions. This struggle, which has already theoretically abolished artificial borders, has brought the North and South of our country together. The Turkish government never recognized these borders anyway. This has allowed it to export its dirty war of destruction to South Kurdistan, and it has even organized its village guard system there. The feudal KDP, which has become a lackey of the Turkish state, is being utilized to destroy the liberation struggle of our people. This traitorous, collaborationist gang, which carries out the orders of the Turkish Republic, seems be to continuing its traitorous activities despite all of our warnings. They are opposing the liberation struggle and using methods which are against the people. In order to prevent this foul and traitorous gang of collaborators from being successful, our people's liberation fighters launched a major operation on August 26 against these traitorous and collaborationist forces. The primary goal of this operation is to facilitate a democratic federation in South Kurdistan, and at the same time this operation has seen the formation of the 1st Storm Brigade of the ARGK. On the first day of the operation, 21 military targets and 4 other KDP positions were attacked. 18 of these military posts are now either in our control, burned, or destroyed. In the area around Zaho, a radar station used by the KDP for radio and TV transmissions was destroyed. During these actions, 2 leading officers and 62 members of the collaborator gang were taken prisoner. One of those arrested, who was also a judge, was set free because of his old age. 10 vehicles belonging to the collaborators were completely destroyed. Also on the first day, the following equipment was confiscated from the captured positions: 2 anti-aircraft guns and 4 full boxes of ammunition, 1 fully automatic rifle (A4), 1 BKC with 600 rounds of ammunition, 64 infantry Kalschnikovs, and 4 rockets. In addition to this, our forces confiscated: 110 clips and 3,620 rounds of ammunition, 43 pistols, 3 Bruno guns, 1 mortar launcher with 35 shells and 40 other mortar shells, 2 B7 rocket launchers with 8 rockets, 19 hand grenades, 4 smoke grenades, 4 large walkie-talkie radios and 2 smaller ones, 1 telephone, 2 sets of binoculars, 3 bayonettes, 1 generator, 2 batteries, 6 radios, 1 cassette player, 2 TVs, and 1 VCR. Our operation against the collaborators will spread as the cause is taken up by the people. On the first day of this operation, 4 of our fighters were killed and 2 were wounded. If the KDP wants these attacks to end and wishes an agreement to be reached, then they must support the people's struggle for a democratic federation, they must take the PKK more seriously, and they must, before all else, cease their cooperation with the Turkish government. They must distance themselves from the oppression of the civilian population and attacks on patriotic forces, they must end their two-faced deal with external forces, and they must take their place alongside the patriotic people. This is the only way they can escape the anger of our people and avoid their destruction. People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) August 26, 1995 ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurdeng at aps.nl Thu Aug 31 02:47:32 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 31 Aug 1995 02:47:32 Subject: PKK Operation Against KDP References: Message-ID: ------------------------ Forwarded from : kcc at magi.com ------------------------- Press Release From The Headquarters Of The ARGK The following is a statement from the headquarters of the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) from August 26, 1995 concerning the recent clashes in South Kurdistan between armed units of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). Right now, Kurdistan is at the most crucial phase of its history. This turning point in history will fundamentally alter the fate of our people. National and international conditions offer a perfect opportunity for our people to win their freedom. The power and dominance of the exploiter states over Kurdistan is breaking down. The political collaboration and cooperation of the exploiter states in Kurdistan is coming to an end. The liberation struggle under the leadership of the PKK in North-West Kurdistan is handing heavy defeats to the fascist Turkish state, which follows policies of massive human rights violations. At the same time, the PKK is uniting and strengthening Kurdish liberation movements in other regions. This struggle, which has already theoretically abolished artificial borders, has brought the North and South of our country together. The Turkish government never recognized these borders anyway. This has allowed it to export its dirty war of destruction to South Kurdistan, and it has even organized its village guard system there. The feudal KDP, which has become a lackey of the Turkish state, is being utilized to destroy the liberation struggle of our people. This traitorous, collaborationist gang, which carries out the orders of the Turkish Republic, seems be to continuing its traitorous activities despite all of our warnings. They are opposing the liberation struggle and using methods which are against the people. In order to prevent this foul and traitorous gang of collaborators from being successful, our people's liberation fighters launched a major operation on August 26 against these traitorous and collaborationist forces. The primary goal of this operation is to facilitate a democratic federation in South Kurdistan, and at the same time this operation has seen the formation of the 1st Storm Brigade of the ARGK. On the first day of the operation, 21 military targets and 4 other KDP positions were attacked. 18 of these military posts are now either in our control, burned, or destroyed. In the area around Zaho, a radar station used by the KDP for radio and TV transmissions was destroyed. During these actions, 2 leading officers and 62 members of the collaborator gang were taken prisoner. One of those arrested, who was also a judge, was set free because of his old age. 10 vehicles belonging to the collaborators were completely destroyed. Also on the first day, the following equipment was confiscated from the captured positions: 2 anti-aircraft guns and 4 full boxes of ammunition, 1 fully automatic rifle (A4), 1 BKC with 600 rounds of ammunition, 64 infantry Kalschnikovs, and 4 rockets. In addition to this, our forces confiscated: 110 clips and 3,620 rounds of ammunition, 43 pistols, 3 Bruno guns, 1 mortar launcher with 35 shells and 40 other mortar shells, 2 B7 rocket launchers with 8 rockets, 19 hand grenades, 4 smoke grenades, 4 large walkie-talkie radios and 2 smaller ones, 1 telephone, 2 sets of binoculars, 3 bayonettes, 1 generator, 2 batteries, 6 radios, 1 cassette player, 2 TVs, and 1 VCR. Our operation against the collaborators will spread as the cause is taken up by the people. On the first day of this operation, 4 of our fighters were killed and 2 were wounded. If the KDP wants these attacks to end and wishes an agreement to be reached, then they must support the people's struggle for a democratic federation, they must take the PKK more seriously, and they must, before all else, cease their cooperation with the Turkish government. They must distance themselves from the oppression of the civilian population and attacks on patriotic forces, they must end their two-faced deal with external forces, and they must take their place alongside the patriotic people. This is the only way they can escape the anger of our people and avoid their destruction. People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) August 26, 1995 ----- Kurdistan Committee of Canada Tel: (613) 733-9634 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Fax: (613) 733-0090 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 E-mail: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc ----- From kurdeng at aps.nl Mon Aug 28 20:26:19 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 28 Aug 1995 20:26:19 Subject: Mustafa Barzani Message-ID: ------------------ Forwarded from : Alex Atroushi -------------------- MUSTAFA BARZANI 14 . 03 . 1903 - 01 . 03 .1979 The most prominent Kurdish national leader, Mustafa Barzani, was President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) when died on 1 St. March 1979. His death Occurred at George Town Hospital, Washington DC, And the body was flown to Iran and buried at Shuno ( Ashnovia ) in Kurdistan, Western Iran. Hundreds Of thousands of Kurds and others mourned him . His memory will remain alive in the hearts of millions Of Kurds who support the aims he struggled for... All his Life. Barzani will remain a towering figure in the history of Kurdish people. BIOGRAPHY - Born in the village of Barzan on 14 th March 1903. - Detained with his mother in Mosul Prison in 1906, After uprising against the Ottoman rule. - Took part in Sheikh Mahmoud's uprising in 1919 commanding a 300 man force. - Visited Sheikh Said Piran ( in north Kurdistan ) as A representative of his elder brother, Sheikh Ahmad ( Sheikh Said led the Kurdish uprising in 1925 ). - Commanded Barzan forces resisting the Iraqi Government campaign, supported by British forces, Against the Kurds in 1932. Then he and a number of Pesh Margas went to Turkey. Sheikh Ahmad was Arrested and handed over to the Iraqi authorities. During the same year, he returned to Mosul And was arrested. - He was banished to various towns between 1932 and 1943. - Managed to escape, with the help of Hiwa Party And other Kurds, and returned to Barzan. - Led the Barzan uprising against Iraqi regime, Which were directly helped by the British Royal Air Forces, in 1945. - In the same year, he and his forces went to Mahabad and participated in the consolidation Of the Mahabad Republic. He was appointed Commander of the Republic's Army and given the rank of General by the former Soviet Union. - In 1946 he and other Kurds founded the KDP and Was elected its President. He was President of the Party from that time until his death 1979. - Fought the forces of defunct Shah and after The collapse of Mahabad Republic, with the help of Britain and the USA, he and 500 of the Pesh Mergas Fought the armies of Iran, Iraq and Turkey and Reached the former Soviet Union, where they Became refugees until 1958. - He and his Pesh Merga returned to Iraq on 6th October 1958, i.e. After the 14th July revolution. He welcomed by Kurdish and Iraqi popular masses, As well as officially, as a national hero. - Led the September Revolution from 11th September 1961 until the collapse in March 1975. - During the 8th February 1963 Black Coup by the Bath Party, Barzani welcomed all Iraqi, Kurdish , Arab and other minorities patriots to the liberated Areas. - The Kurdish national movement, under Barzani's Leadership, signed the 11th March 1970 agreement With Iraqi government, stipulating autonomy for Kurdish within Iraq, which the government Subsequently reneged. - After the collapse of March 1975, Barzani lived In Iran for a time under many restrictions. - Because of failing health and his distrust of the Shah, he went to USA to receive treatment for his lung cancer and remained there until his death. - He had decided to return to Kurdistan via Iran 1979. - Died in the late hours of Thursday, the 1st of March 1979 and subsequently buried in Shuno ( Ashnoviya in Kurdistan ). A massive crowd of people took part in his funeral, and 1994 his body is moved to Barzan where he was born. ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Mon Aug 28 20:26:00 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 28 Aug 1995 20:26:00 Subject: Mustafa Barzani Message-ID: <082795212151Rnf0.79b6@newsdesk.a> ------------------ Forwarded from : Alex Atroushi -------------------- MUSTAFA BARZANI 14 . 03 . 1903 - 01 . 03 .1979 The most prominent Kurdish national leader, Mustafa Barzani, was President of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) when died on 1 St. March 1979. His death Occurred at George Town Hospital, Washington DC, And the body was flown to Iran and buried at Shuno ( Ashnovia ) in Kurdistan, Western Iran. Hundreds Of thousands of Kurds and others mourned him . His memory will remain alive in the hearts of millions Of Kurds who support the aims he struggled for... All his Life. Barzani will remain a towering figure in the history of Kurdish people. BIOGRAPHY - Born in the village of Barzan on 14 th March 1903. - Detained with his mother in Mosul Prison in 1906, After uprising against the Ottoman rule. - Took part in Sheikh Mahmoud's uprising in 1919 commanding a 300 man force. - Visited Sheikh Said Piran ( in north Kurdistan ) as A representative of his elder brother, Sheikh Ahmad ( Sheikh Said led the Kurdish uprising in 1925 ). - Commanded Barzan forces resisting the Iraqi Government campaign, supported by British forces, Against the Kurds in 1932. Then he and a number of Pesh Margas went to Turkey. Sheikh Ahmad was Arrested and handed over to the Iraqi authorities. During the same year, he returned to Mosul And was arrested. - He was banished to various towns between 1932 and 1943. - Managed to escape, with the help of Hiwa Party And other Kurds, and returned to Barzan. - Led the Barzan uprising against Iraqi regime, Which were directly helped by the British Royal Air Forces, in 1945. - In the same year, he and his forces went to Mahabad and participated in the consolidation Of the Mahabad Republic. He was appointed Commander of the Republic's Army and given the rank of General by the former Soviet Union. - In 1946 he and other Kurds founded the KDP and Was elected its President. He was President of the Party from that time until his death 1979. - Fought the forces of defunct Shah and after The collapse of Mahabad Republic, with the help of Britain and the USA, he and 500 of the Pesh Mergas Fought the armies of Iran, Iraq and Turkey and Reached the former Soviet Union, where they Became refugees until 1958. - He and his Pesh Merga returned to Iraq on 6th October 1958, i.e. After the 14th July revolution. He welcomed by Kurdish and Iraqi popular masses, As well as officially, as a national hero. - Led the September Revolution from 11th September 1961 until the collapse in March 1975. - During the 8th February 1963 Black Coup by the Bath Party, Barzani welcomed all Iraqi, Kurdish , Arab and other minorities patriots to the liberated Areas. - The Kurdish national movement, under Barzani's Leadership, signed the 11th March 1970 agreement With Iraqi government, stipulating autonomy for Kurdish within Iraq, which the government Subsequently reneged. - After the collapse of March 1975, Barzani lived In Iran for a time under many restrictions. - Because of failing health and his distrust of the Shah, he went to USA to receive treatment for his lung cancer and remained there until his death. - He had decided to return to Kurdistan via Iran 1979. - Died in the late hours of Thursday, the 1st of March 1979 and subsequently buried in Shuno ( Ashnoviya in Kurdistan ). A massive crowd of people took part in his funeral, and 1994 his body is moved to Barzan where he was born. ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org Mon Aug 28 13:07:00 1995 From: KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org (KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org) Date: 28 Aug 1995 13:07:00 Subject: Kurdistan Report Nr.74/1995 Message-ID: <5sh.GtEYx.B@kommagp.asco.nev.sub> F?r ein freies und unabh?ngiges Kurdistan *KURDISTAN Report* Nr. 74/1995 Mai-Juni DM 4.- --------------------------------------------------------------- Kontaktadresse und Bestellungen: Kurdistan Report Informationsstelle Kurdistan Maxstr. 50 53111 Bonn --------------------------------------------------------------- Inhaltsverzeichnis *kurdistan aktuell* Er?ffnung des Kurdischen Parlament in Exil 5-7 Gru?worte zur Parlamentser?ffnung 7-9 Artikel von Yasar Kaya ?ber das Parlment 10-11 Interview mit Herrn Nabi Gadery 11-12 Kabinett gebildet und Programm verabschiedet 12-13 Die Konterguerilla-Republik 14-16 Invasion in S?dkurdistan: Quo vadis T?rkei? 17-20 *dokumentation* Eine politische L?sung w?re f?r beide Seiten vorteilhafter 21-22 (Interview mit Abdullah ?calan) Beschl?sse des V. Parteikongre? der PKK 23-25 *menschenrechte* Newrozdelegation 1995 26-27 Ab 0.00 Uhr wird zur?ckgeschoben 28-29 Die Situation der Kinder unter den Bedingungen des Krieges 30-32 in Kurdistan *hintergrund* Die Geschichte eines endlosen Kampfes 33-34 Eine Politik fortw?hrender Instabilit?t in der T?rkei 35-36 Die Kurdenpolitik der USA 36-37 *kultur und geschichte* Der V?lkermord an der christlich-armenischen Bev?lkerung 38-40 vor 80 Jahren ?bersicht ?ber die Formen kurdischer Literatur und Musik 41-44 *Internationales* ?ber die Solidarit?t in den Bergen Kurdistans 45-46 Tamilen und Kurden: Zwei uralte V?lker im Kampf um die Freiheit 46-47 Der 8. Mai 1995: Befreiung oder Niederlage? 48 Eine deutsche Debatte *************************************************************** Spendenkonten: Spenden f?r den kurdischen Befreiungskampf Beate Berg (Kontoinhaberin), Hamburger Sparkasse Konto Nr.: 1042786655, BLZ 200 505 50 *************************************************************** -- pgp-key als EB >> Willkommen im GLOBALEN dOrFFrIedhOf! ## CrossPoint v3.02 R ## From KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org Mon Aug 28 13:08:00 1995 From: KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org (KOMMAG at ASCO.comlink.apc.org) Date: 28 Aug 1995 13:08:00 Subject: Kurdistan Report Nr.75/1995 Message-ID: <5sh.Homnx.B@kommagp.asco.nev.sub> F?r ein freies und unabh?ngiges Kurdistan *KURDISTAN Report* Nr. 75/1995 Juli-August DM 4.- --------------------------------------------------------------- Kontaktadresse und Bestellungen: Kurdistan Report Informationsstelle Kurdistan Maxstr. 50 53111 Bonn --------------------------------------------------------------- Inhaltsverzeichnis *kurdistan aktuell* Unterst?tzung des Volkes f?r eine politische L?sung 5-8 ?ber die Gro?demonstration am 17. Juni 1995 in Bonn Augen zu und durch 9-11 ?ber die Haltung der BRD zur Kurdischen Befreiungsbewegung "Setzen wir unsere Sehnsucht nach Freiheit in Realit?t um" 12 ?ber die T?tigkeiten das Kurdistan Parlament im Exil Halim Dener ist unsterblich 13-14 ?ber die Demonstration am 1.Jahrestag seiner Erschie?ung Sondereinsatzkommandos gegen kurdische Studenten 15 Hungerstreik gegen die Diskriminierung von Kurden in der BRD 16 Kurdenfrage auf der Tagesordnung der OSZE-Konferenz 17 Am 24. Juli 1993 wurde Semsettin Kurt ermordet 18 PKK und CPP schlie?en ein B?ndnis 18 *hintergrund* Briten, Deutsche und Kurden in Europa: 19-23 Der Fall Kani Yilmaz *dokumentation* Strebt die PKK einen unabh?ngigen marxistisch-leninistischen Staat an? Interview von David E. Korn mit Abdullah ?calan 24-29 Beschl?sse des 5. Parteikongre? der PKK zu drei Bereichen 30-35 *menschenrechte* Ismail Besikci, ein Leben im Dienste der Wahrheit 36-37 Biographie des t?rkischen Soziologen Ismail Besikci *frauen und gesellschaft* Von der Ohnmacht zum Widerstand 38-39 Biographie ?ber Leyla Zana Unter der gefl?chteten Bev?lkerung aus Botan 40-43 Die kurdische Frau will die Freiheit 44-45 Interview mit einer Vertreterin der YAJK *kultur und geschichte* Ziryap, ein Kurde im kordobesischem K?nigshaus 46-47 Die Religionsgemeinschaft der Yeziden 48-52 *sonstiges* Buchbesprechung 53-54 Der Sturz nach oben *************************************************************** Spendenkonten: Spenden f?r den kurdischen Befreiungskampf Beate Berg (Kontoinhaberin), Hamburger Sparkasse Konto Nr.: 1042786655, BLZ 200 505 50 *************************************************************** -- pgp-key als EB >> Willkommen im GLOBALEN dOrFFrIedhOf! ## CrossPoint v3.02 R ## From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Tue Aug 29 17:32:42 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 29 Aug 1995 17:32:42 Subject: Kurdish News #20 - September 1995 Message-ID: From: kcc at magi.com (Kurdistan Committee of Canada) Kurdish News A Monthly Publication Of The Kurdistan Committee Of Canada Number 20 - September 1995 Index: 1) Hungerstrike Of 10,000 Kurdish Prisoners Successfully Concluded 2) Constitutional Reform? A Charade! 3) Press Release From The Headquarters Of The ARGK 4) ARGK July Balance: "Consolidating Our Positions" 5) Guerrilla Struggle Spreads To Mediterranean And Taurus 6) "All Of Turkey Has Become One Big Prison" 7) Kurdistan Parliament In Exile Prepares For National Congress 8) Release Necmiye Arslanoglu!! 1) Hungerstrike Of 10,000 Kurdish Prisoners Successfully Concluded The hungerstrike launched by 10,000 Kurdish prisoners in Turkish jails on July 14, 1995 was concluded on August 20 having achieved significant worldwide interest. The hungerstrike, which lasted for more than one month, commemorated once again the resistance of Hayri Durmus, Kemal Pir, Ali Cicek, and Akif Yilmaz, who made the supreme sacrifice, and their comrades who launched a hungerstrike on July 14, 1982 against Turkey's policy of denial of Kurdish identity and its savage repression. The hungerstrike lasted for 35 days and was supported by hungerstrikes in HADEP and other offices all over Turkey, and by solidarity hungerstrikes by Kurdish people all over Europe, the Middle East, North America, and Australia. Amongst the hungerstrikers' demands were that the Turkish army end its dirty war in Kurdistan and comply with the Geneva Conventions. Relatives of the prisoners and democrats in Turkey and Kurdistan and in diaspora united around these demands. During the hungerstrike, 4 people died: Fesih Beyazcicek, Gulnaz Baghistani, Remzi Altintas, and Latife Kaya. Our hungerstrike and its martyrs will go down in history as a great resistance. The determination of the Kurdish people and their refusal to be cowed by police attacks has demonstrated the Kurdish people's devotion and belief in freedom. The hostile attitude of the German police to the Kurdish hungerstrikers has exposed German-Turkish collaboration in the war against the Kurdish people. But the repressive attitude of the police only served to make the Kurdish people offer more solidarity to the hungerstrikers. Following the successful resolution of the hungerstrike, we would like to thank our people, all friends of the Kurdish people, and all organizations and individuals who showed solidarity with the hungerstrike. Solidarity Bureau - Brussels August 20, 1995 2) Constitutional Reform? A Charade! The change of a few points of the Turkish Constitution has been celebrated for several days now in the Turkish media as a major victory for democratization and sold as such to the world public opinion. They are making it seem as though a new Constitution had been drafted, as though all bans had been lifted, as if all problems had been solved. In reality, only the first few sections of Articles 12 and 177 and some of Transitional Articles 16 and 17 have been affected. In other words, only a small part of the Constitution drafted by the September 12 junta has been changed. The core of the military junta's Constitution remains untouched, it has just been given a minor facade. The biggest impediment to democracy in Turkey is the Kurdish question. As long as no humane and just solution to this problem is found, democratization in Turkey will be impossible. The most important aspect of the Turkish Constitution is its denial of the existence of the Kurds and the ban on all forms of Kurdish expression. This Constitution is racist, militarist, repressive, blind, and destructive. The changes recently made to the Constitution did not affect any of these aspects, in fact the changes made in the introductory paragraphs pushed this even more to the forefront. Not a single problematic Article was changed. The unimpeachable nature of the September 12 junta is proclaimed. Social and political life is buried under soldiers' boots. Thought is made a crime, and there are more than 15,000 people in prison for political reasons. The Kurdish reality is denied, contradicted, destroyed. The destruction of villages, contra- guerrilla attacks, murders by "unknown persons" (organized by the state), bombardments and war in Kurdistan, all of the shedding of blood continues unabated. The problems in Turkey cannot be solved by increasing the number of MPs in Parliament from 450 to 550, nor by lowering the voting age to 18, nor by granting MPs the right to switch parties after their election, nor by granting civil servants the right to organize in a union and engage in collective bargaining, but without granting them the right to strike, nor by allowing members of high school corps to join political parties, nor by giving the right to vote to Turkish citizens living abroad, nor by giving youth and women's groups the right to organize from within political parties. These are not the Articles which form the basis of the problems which have led to bloodshed and which are the causes of the war, which have caused tens of thousands of people to be tortured, which have sent people to jail for voicing opinions, which have plunged the country into chaos. The changes made to the Constitution are a charade which only serve to hide reality. They are not a sign of good will, but rather of the desire to conceal the truth. This is not democratization, rather quite the contrary, this is a new means of hiding their anti-democratic methods. These changes to the Constitution do not serve the cause of peace, rather they will just prolong the dirty war and the genocide. Our people don't want deception, they desire true democracy. Our people don't want war, rather they desire peace and a truly democratic Constitution. They are sick of empty promises. Sooner or later, our people will realize their desire for true democracy, peace, and understanding between peoples. Kurdistan Parliament in Exile July 27, 1995 3) Press Release From The Headquarters Of The ARGK The following is a statement from the headquarters of the People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) from August 26, 1995 concerning the recent clashes in South Kurdistan between armed units of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP): Right now, Kurdistan is at the most crucial phase of its history. This turning point in history will fundamentally alter the fate of our people. National and international conditions offer a perfect opportunity for our people to win their freedom. The power and dominance of the exploiter states over Kurdistan is breaking down. The political collaboration and cooperation of the exploiter states in Kurdistan is coming to an end. The liberation struggle under the leadership of the PKK in North-West Kurdistan is handing heavy defeats to the fascist Turkish state, which follows policies of massive human rights violations. At the same time, the PKK is uniting and strengthening Kurdish liberation movements in other regions. This struggle, which has already theoretically abolished artificial borders, has brought the North and South of our country together. The Turkish government never recognized these borders anyway. This has allowed it to export its dirty war of destruction to South Kurdistan, and it has even organized its village guard system there. The feudal KDP, which has become a lackey of the Turkish state, is being utilized to destroy the liberation struggle of our people. This traitorous, collaborationist gang, which carries out the orders of the Turkish Republic, seems be to continuing its traitorous activities despite all of our warnings. They are opposing the liberation struggle and using methods which are against the people. In order to prevent this foul and traitorous gang of collaborators from being successful, our people's liberation fighters launched a major operation on August 26 against these traitorous and collaborationist forces. The primary goal of this operation is to facilitate a democratic federation in South Kurdistan, and at the same time this operation has seen the formation of the 1st Storm Brigade of the ARGK. On the first day of the operation, 21 military targets and 4 other KDP positions were attacked. 18 of these military posts are now either in our control, burned, or destroyed. In the area around Zaho, a radar station used by the KDP for radio and TV transmissions was destroyed. During these actions, 2 leading officers and 62 members of the collaborator gang were taken prisoner. One of those arrested, who was also a judge, was set free because of his old age. 10 vehicles belonging to the collaborators were completely destroyed. Also on the first day, the following equipment was confiscated from the captured positions: 2 anti-aircraft guns and 4 full boxes of ammunition, 1 fully automatic rifle (A4), 1 BKC with 600 rounds of ammunition, 64 infantry Kalschnikovs, and 4 rockets. In addition to this, our forces confiscated: 110 clips and 3,620 rounds of ammunition, 43 pistols, 3 Bruno guns, 1 mortar launcher with 35 shells and 40 other mortar shells, 2 B7 rocket launchers with 8 rockets, 19 hand grenades, 4 smoke grenades, 4 large walkie-talkie radios and 2 smaller ones, 1 telephone, 2 sets of binoculars, 3 bayonettes, 1 generator, 2 batteries, 6 radios, 1 cassette player, 2 TVs, and 1 VCR. Our operation against the collaborators will spread as the cause is taken up by the people. On the first day of this operation, 4 of our fighters were killed and 2 were wounded. If the KDP wants these attacks to end and wishes an agreement to be reached, then they must support the people's struggle for a democratic federation, they must take the PKK more seriously, and they must, before all else, cease their cooperation with the Turkish government. They must distance themselves from the oppression of the civilian population and attacks on patriotic forces, they must end their two-faced deal with external forces, and they must take their place alongside the patriotic people. This is the only way they can escape the anger of our people and avoid their destruction. People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) August 26, 1995 4) ARGK July Balance: "Consolidating Our Positions" The attacks by the Turkish military in South Kurdistan in early July in the region of the Zap and Haci-Beg rivers, which began with lots of excitement, ended as a total fiasco for the Turkish forces and allowed us to consolidate our positions. In the second half of July, both our guerrilla actions as well as mass actions increased, causing the colonialist-fascist Turkish Republic to cry for even more help from their imperialist masters. This showed that plans are in the making to increase their cooperation. The imperialists states, in particular the USA and Germany, aren't content with just supporting the cruel Turkish regime, rather they have increased their attacks on Kurdish people living there who support the liberation struggle and they are once again organizing the Kurdish collaborators so as to attack the PKK and the revolution in Kurdistan. Various collaborationist forces, particularly the KDP, are bending over backwards to please the imperialists and are doing everything they can to halt the march of the Kurdish people towards revolutionary-democratic people's power. From July 1-31, the war was waged in all regions of Kurdistan. There were a total of 482 confrontations between our guerrilla units and the army of the Turkish Republic (TR). Among these, there were 132 ambushes, 63 battles, 52 attacks, and 9 roadblocks. We know full or partial casualty figures for 273 of these confrontations, but the totals for the other 209 engagements are unknown. During the 273 confrontations for which the casualty figures are known, 990 TR forces were killed, including 14 officers, 8 captains, 8 special forces, and 960 soldiers. A similar number were wounded, including 7 officers. There were also 9 policemen, 7 agents and contra-guerrillas, and 166 village guards, including 2 village guard leaders, killed. Therefore, the total number of confirmed enemy casualties for July totals 1,172. Another 65 village guards, including 1 village guard leader, were wounded in the fighting. In July, we took 58 members of the enemy forces as prisoners, including 2 soldiers, 2 watchmen, 13 agents and contra- guerrillas, 1 official, 1 village guard leader, and 39 village guards. In July, we entered 6 city centres and carried out actions. We destroyed 3 military stations, 1 hotel used as a military headquarters by the TR, 1 officers' quarters, and 1 state-owned water and power office, and we forced 2 brigades of the TR army to evacuate their bases. During the month, we also destroyed 8 tanks, 22 military vehicles, 1 MIT secret police vehicle, 28 vehicles belonging to village guards, agents, or contra- guerrillas, 3 state-owned TV stations, 1 radar station, and 4 power sub-stations. We also damaged 3 helicopters, 12 tanks, 18 military vehicles, and 1 stretch of railroad tracks. In July, we confiscated the following military equipment from the enemy: 1 heavy machine gun, 20 automatic weapons, 130 infantry weapons, 4 precision rifles with scopes, 383 magazines, 21,980 rounds of ammunition of various calibre, 57 rockets, 4 flame throwers, 35 mines, 1 mine detector, and 8 radios. During the last month, the TR carried out 39 aerial bombardments and 64 operations. All over Kurdistan, vast tracts of forests were burned and 25 villages were depopulated, including 13 in South Kurdistan. The Turkish army murdered 26 farmers, 8 in North Kurdistan and 18 in the South. In July, 111 of our guerrilla fighters and 4 of our militia forces were martyred. Another 48 were wounded, and 3 were injured and captured by the enemy. People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) August 2, 1995 5) Guerrilla Struggle Spreads To Mediterranean And Taurus The People's Liberation Army of Kurdistan (ARGK) commander for the Mediterranean-Taurus region gave the following statement to the KURD-A news agency on July 19, 1995: As the national liberation struggle in Kurdistan comes closer to victory step by step, our guerrilla struggle in Turkey continues to gain strength and to expand. Our guerrilla forces, which have attacked enemy forces in Kurdistan as part of the 1995 summer offensive, have also begun to trouble the enemy in the Taurus Mountains and in the Mediterranean region as well. After a period of preparation, our forces were first stationed in those regions in 1994. After establishing their positions, they remained there for the 1994/95 winter season. The enemy, who first became aware of the presence of our forces in that region in early 1995, analyzed the Mediterranean-Taurus situation in a session of the National Security Council and planned direct and indirect, open and covert measures for defeating our forces there. They sent thousands of soldiers to the region and hoped to achieve a victory over us by means of a military operation. Because they could not achieve such a victory, they built up a system of contra-guerrillas and village guards in urban centres such as Cukurova, Hatay, and Adana. But our forces were still able to carry out actions and to sometimes limit the freedom of movement of the enemy forces in many areas. In the last six months, 25 enemy soldiers, village guards, and civilian fascists have been killed in the region during our actions, and an equal number have been wounded. The enemy has sought to avenge its losses on the civilian population by attacking villages, arresting hundreds of people, and torturing and threatening to kill people who show sympathy with our struggle. The enemy has depopulated nearly 100 settlements, so tens of thousands of people have been affected by this war. Despite this, our units have continued to enjoy success in their activities in city centres and villages. In the last six months, 2 of our fighters were killed. The Turkish people have shown a great deal of interest in our struggle, which is led by the PKK. In the last six months, many Turkish youths have joined our struggle for freedom and independence and the PKK has accepted these youths into the ranks of our guerrilla. ARGK Mediterranean-Taurus Regional Commander 6) "All Of Turkey Has Become One Big Prison" Interview With The Head Of The IHD Office In Istanbul On July 6, Canan of Kurdistan Rundbrief spoke in Istanbul with Ercan Kaner, the head of Human Rights Association (IHD) office in that city. Kaner spoke about the work of the IHD, the arrest of IHD lawyer Eren Keskin, political persecution in Turkey, government propaganda about the so-called "democratization steps", and the deportation of refugees back to Turkey. Below are excerpts from this discussion: After her conviction, Eren Keskin is now in prison. Could you tell us more about this? Eren Keskin was a lawyer by profession and she was the coordinator of our Istanbul branch. She was both a friend as well as a colleague. She was on the board of directors for four years and was deputy head for two years. Eren Keskin's motivations for her work both at her office as well as with the IHD was her concern for human rights. She worked for equal rights and freedom for people. She worked for us for free. The Turkish state "rewarded" her for this pro bono work by tossing her in jail. But I don't think that this punishment will deter her. Even though Eren Keskin has never held a weapon in her hands, never used violence, and only ever acted on a democratic basis for equal rights and freedom in her quest for human rights, she was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison because of an article she wrote in the [now banned] newspaper Ozgur Gundem. She will stay in prison for at least 22 months. She has already been in prison for one month now. This is an unjust and racist punishment. But there are still other trials continuing against her right now. It's possible that she could be imprisoned for several more years if Article 8 is not repealed and if Turkey does not start taking the path towards democracy. Just like all the other people who have been punished for their beliefs, Eren Keskin and the IHD have made this problem an issue through their activities. Recently we held a protest outside the prison and handed out press releases, even though the police tried to stop us. The IHD will soon start a campaign, not just for Eren Keskin, but for all prisoners sentenced under these laws which restrict freedom of thought. Of course, it's not just the IHD that supports her, rather all people who believe in human rights and who support the prisoners do. Eren Keskin is aware of the support she has. It's important to see all of this in the larger context as well: Today, it's not just the prisoners who are in jail, rather all of Turkey has become one huge prison. At present, more than 5,000 people have been charged because of their opinions. If these laws are not repealed, all of these people will most likely end up in prison. In order to tackle this problem at its roots, all democrats who until now have kept their opinions to themselves must be mobilized to demand the repeal of these unjust laws. Are you hopeful that Article 8 will be changed or repealed? No, actually I'm not. Back when the present coalition government was formed in 1991/92, we knew they would only present the veneer of democracy. We tried to make people aware of the existence of protocols which have not been made public. By presenting the veneer of democratization, they are trying to win membership in the European Union (EU), or at the very least win a customs union with the European Community. They are trying to make the international public believe that changes are taking place. But they are hiding the fact that laws concerning freedom of expression have not been abolished, rather they have just been changed into new laws. And this they call democratization. But they can't even manage this, because the parliament is comprised of so many chauvinistic, reactionary, and anti-democratic forces that they can't even make cosmetic changes. They want to govern like a war parliament. What are the problems faced by the IHD in Diyarbakir and the offices in other cities? Since the founding of the Human Rights Association and the establishment of a few offices, we have been under intense pressure. When we add up all the trials against the head office and all of the local offices, we easily surpass one hundred. For example, right now there are 20 trials against IHD Istanbul, 3 against the head office, 10 against IHD Diyarbakir, and 10 against other offices. So far, 12 of our leading members have been murdered, including the heads of some of the local offices. The office which suffers the most repression is the branch in Diyarbakir. Before they could put together delegations and travel out to the surrounding villages. Today they can longer visit any villages. The heads of the office were threatened [by the state] and they were told to leave the area or they would be murdered. Today, more and more Kurds are being deported back to Turkey. Can you tell us something about what happens to these people? The policies of Germany's federal and state governments are well known to us. In order to avoid public criticism, they have made certain offers to the IHD. We don't want any Kurds to be deported, but the German government decided against our wishes. The CDU [conservative party] has decided to carry out the deportations, so negotiations started with the Turkish government to get them to agree to certain conditions. A protocol was signed. The state governments bowed down to this federal decision, but they asked us, the IHD, for help because they were concerned about the fate of Kurds being deported back to Turkey. They wanted to sign an agreement with us. We told each of the state governments in Germany - albeit North Rhein-Westphalia, Baden-Wurtemburg, or Berlin - that international human rights standards did not apply in Turkey, so it's clear that deported Kurds cannot expect to receive humane treatment. We condemn the protocol which was signed with Turkey, because it is a violation of human rights, the Geneva Accords on refugees, and all international human rights agreements. That's why we refused to cooperate with that process. We assured them of the following: The IHD would, as with any case, investigate matters brought to its attention, but we will not sign a protocol with any state or parliament. If friends or relatives of persecuted persons contact us, we will deal with the matter. But we will not pat the German government on the back when it comes to human rights. We reserve the right to criticize them. You cannot trust the word of the Turkish government. 7) Kurdistan Parliament In Exile Prepares For National Congress The President of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile, Yasar Kaya, issued a statement on August 1 detailing the results of the Second Session of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile: The Kurdistan Parliament in Exile carried out its Second Session from July 30-August 1, 1995. All relevant issues were discussed, and the following decisions were made: - The Newroz festival on March 21 will not only be an official national holiday in Kurdistan but also outside Kurdistan as well. This law, as well as changes to Articles 2 and 8 of the Parliament's founding statues, was passed. - The emblem of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile was decided upon and agreed to. The General Secretariat and the Executive Council of the Parliament took up and passed the organizational law. - On the theme of national unity, which was a general discussion, a National Congress shall be convened and work shall begin on establishing a National Parliament. In line with this, the Executive Council was empowered to make the necessary preparations. - The meeting also discussed the Turkish state's widening war in Kurdistan, the reason for its continued attacks on the civilian population, the hungerstrike by more than 10,000 political prisoners and their demand for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish problem, and the many activities in support of the hungerstrike which have taken place in cities all across Turkey and in Europe. - Our Parliament recognizes the hungerstrike activities as democratic and values them as a form of resistance by the Kurdish people against the Turkish government. - Our Parliament, since its establishment, has dealt with and sought solutions to the Kurdistan problem and has taken on a role of active representation. - Our assembly took place at a time when the war in North Kurdistan is intensifying, as the Turkish army seeks to destroy everything Kurdish by bombarding villages and killing dozens of people every day, and as more than 10,000 prisoners are on hungerstrike with our people actively supporting them. - Our Parliament discussed these matters at this critical phase and it took decisions so as to play an active role in these developments. - Our Parliament will, in future, continue to seek a peaceful and democratic solution to the Kurdish problem and will strengthen its work towards this end. Yasar Kaya President of the Kurdistan Parliament in Exile August 1, 1995 8) Release Necmiye Arslanoglu!! Trial date: October 3, 1995 "The Kurdish women I spoke to seemed more determined than ever, they feel like they now have nothing to lose." - Marie Ryan, British journalist, Diyarbakir, August 1995 Necmiye Arslanoglu, 22, a young Kurdish journalist from Diyarbakir, is on trial for trying to report on the increasingly barbaric nature of the atrocities being committed against her people, the Kurds in southeastern Turkey. Thousands of Kurdish villages have been razed in the most gruesome fashion. Torture, rape, and state-sponsored murder against journalists, lawyers, trade unionists, and anyone who dares to speak of the daily increasing repression in Turkey today are common. Rape is used as a systematic weapon against Kurdish women. Truncheons and other objects are routinely used in this dirty war, which has gone beyond the boundaries of conventional warfare. Yet, shamefully, the silence continues. Necmiye, in a letter to a friend in London, says: "The dirty war continues to take the lives of innocent people every day, and we only want to announce this to the public. As journalists, there is nothing else we can do. I can't stop this blood from flowing. Believe me, I am very unhappy about all of this." Necmiye is painfully frank about the consequences of trying to report the truth: "Death is an inevitable end, death cannot be avoided, but to die having been successful and having done something for humanity is the best way to die, isn't it?" Necmiye was first arrested in November 1993 while visiting a burnt down Kurdish village with a British trade union delegation and has been detained four times since, severely tortured on each occasion. Yet when released she defiantly goes back to work, refusing to be intimidated by the military. She has been charged with being a member of an illegal organization and with the dissemination of separatist propaganda. Under prolonged torture, she signed a confession which she later retracted. She denies both charges. A delegation supported by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) observed her last hearing on August 15, 1995. It was adjourned until October 3, 1995. Article 19, the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, and the NUJ have all sent letters of protest demanding the release of Necmiye. YOU CAN HELP: Please send a fax or letter to Prime Minister Tansu Ciller asking that her government release Necmiye Arslanoglu and allow her to continue her work. Please do it today!! Necmiye is back in court on October 3, 1995 in Diyarbakir Security Court. Send letters to: Ms. Tansu Ciller Office of the Prime Minister Basbakanlik 06573 Ankara Turkey fax:+90.312.417.0476 For further information, please contact: Action for Kurdish Women tel: +44.171.250.1315 fax: +44.171.250.1317 In Canada, send letters of protest to: Embassy of Turkey 197 Wurtemburg Street Ottawa, Ontario K2P 0J9 fax: (613) 789-3442 Kurdish News is published by: Kurdistan Committee of Canada 2487 Kaladar Ave. Suite 203 Ottawa, Ontario, K1V 8B9 tel: (613) 733-9634 fax: (613) 733-0090 email: kcc at magi.com http://infoweb.magi.com/~kcc From kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu Tue Aug 29 20:31:12 1995 From: kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu (kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu) Date: 29 Aug 1995 20:31:12 Subject: El Salvador: New Guerrilla Movement Message-ID: From: Arm The Spirit Subject: El Salvador: New Guerrilla Movements RECOMPOSITION OF THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT IN EL SALVADOR By Jose Gutierrez We know that the original Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) has split into two tendencies: the social democrats (ERP-RN) and the democratic socialists (FPL-PRTC-PCS). However, in response to state terrorism, the non-implementation of the peace accords, and the continuing levels of poverty and misery in El Salvador, there has been another less known but major split within the Salvadoran revolutionary movement. The FMLN has split into a third tendency: the marxist-leninists (new clandestine organisations). The ERP and RN (now Democratic Party) have virtually given up the original ideas of the Salvadoran revolution, adopting instead a very conciliatory line with the bourgeoisie and North American imperialism. They are now against any form of revolutionary armed struggle and defend the status quo, going to the extreme of even forming political alliances with ARENA. The Democratic Party is one more populist and nationalist party which does not threaten the foundations of capitalism in El Salvador. Their leader, Joaquin Villalobos, has lost all credibility before the Salvadoran people and is now a strong advocate of the "free market". Other left-wing critics see him as playing a key political role in the new U.S. counter-insurgency program for El Salvador. The FMLN -- or what remains of the original FMLN -- has become the main opposition party in Salvadoran politics. The FMLN has also given up the original objectives of the Salvadoran revolution and has adopted a conciliatory line with the bourgeoisie and the United States, but their line -- democratic socialism-- still remains a threat to their former enemies. However, in the economic front, the FMLN's economic policies do not seek to change capitalism but merely to reform it. Because of that, the FMLN does not really constitute a threat to the foundations of capitalism in El Salvador. As long as the FMLN remains in the opposition, it fits nicely with the type of political system the U.S. government wants to see in El Salvador: "democracy", which in reality is nothing but a new type of capitalist dictatorship with a pluralist face. This "pluralism", however, does not extend to the marxist-leninist organisations. The marxist-leninists are still considered "terrorists" by the Salvadoran and U.S. government and even by the FMLN itself, but the new revolutionary organisations are made up of ex-members of the FMLN who disagree with the leadership of the FMLN. They advocate armed struggle and the establishment of a socialist society in El Salvador. These ideological differences originated inside the FMLN as far back as 1983 and several groups actually split from the FMLN before the signing of the peace accords in 1992 and these organisations didn't sign the peace accords and therefore had no reason to disarm or to comply with the peace accords. The new guerrilla movements operate in the most strict clandestinity since both the CIA and the Salvadoran intelligence services -- death squads -- seek their total extermination. That is why some leaders of the ARENA party are publicly demanding that the FMLN release a list of all FMLN commando units who operated during the civil war. However, even if the leadership of the FMLN complies with the intelligence services, by now the new revolutionary organisations would have been re-structured so as to make it impossible for their enemies to find out more about them. Currently, there are several underground marxist-leninist guerrilla organisations in El Salvador and it is estimated that all of these together would make up a guerrilla army even larger than the FMLN itself, but the new guerrillas are also divided and operating independently of each other. Their tactics have changed too. Some guerrilla units do not take responsibility for their actions, which leaves room for speculation and confusion in the population. This is a major mistake. The Salvadoran people would be more understanding of their actions if the urban guerrillas would leave some kind of propaganda on the ground taking responsibility for burning a bus, executing a policeman, etc. Otherwise, the people think that the guerrillas are just common criminals and the revolutionary movement has no political impact. It actually justifies more police repression against the left under the pretext that they are fighting organized crime. What's more, the death squads often pose as left-wing guerrillas in major operations of deception and psychological warfare. This confuses and terrorizes the people. In the end, it is the police and the state who win popular support. So far only six revolutionary organisations have made themselves public: (1) Frente Clara Elizabeth Ramirez (FCER). The FCER is actually the oldest and largest of all the marxist-leninist guerrilla organisations. The FCER split from the Popular Liberation Forces (FPL) in 1983 after the internal power struggle between Commander Cayetano Carpio (Marcial) and Commander Ana Maria. The FCER adopted a pro-Marcial position, a marxist-leninist political line, and maintained the People's Prolonged War strategy. It was opposed to "peace negotiations" and the "Government of Broad Participation". The FPL has been active since 1970 and the FCER was actually the metropolitan front of the FPL. As soon as the FCER split from the FPL, it had to confront two enemies: the Armed Forces and the FMLN. Their biggest defeat was the massacre of the San Salvador Volcano in 1983 when the FCER lost 400 guerrillas in a surprise attack against their camp. The Salvadoran Armed Forces bombed the camp to the ground and troops invaded the volcano resulting in the FCER having to withdraw from the area. Later on, it was discovered that an informer in the FPL had given the army the exact location of the FCER camp. This resulted in more conflict between the FCER and the FMLN. The RN and ERP also ambushed some FCER units, executing a great number of FCER guerrillas. The FCER retaliated by attacking some FMLN troops and the conflict even spread to the streets of Mexico City where FPL and FCER exiles engaged in a very deadly covert war. The FCER also conducted successful operations against top Salvadoran military officers, U.S. military personnel, and CIA agents. By 1988, it seemed that the FCER had been wiped out, but it actually went underground to continue waging irregular guerrilla warfare. In 1993, it surfaced again, taking over a radio station in San Salvador and broadcasting a communique announcing their disagreement with the FMLN and the so-called "peace accords" and that they will continue the armed struggle against Yankee imperialism and the puppet ARENA regime for a socialist homeland. (2) Frente Revolucionario Salvadoreno (FRS). The FRS first appeared in 1993 by issuing some communiques denouncing the "peace accords" as a farce, the leadership of the FMLN as traitors, and threatening to continue the armed struggle. The same year, the FRS burned some buses in the capital leaving FSR propaganda on the street. The FSR also threatened to kill Joaquin Villalobos for "selling out the revolution" to Yankee imperialism. The emergence of the FSR caused controversy in El Salvador. The ERP swiftly accused the FSR of being a "CIA front". Juan Ramon Medrano, member of the ERP and official spokesman of the FMLN at the time, said that the FSR was a ghost group led by the American journalist Bruce Jones and his personal assistant. Bruce Jones is a very well known CIA agent who was very active in supporting the Contras in Nicaragua. Medrano also suggested that the FSR didn't really exist, but that it was just propaganda from the Salvadoran counter-intelligence service to destabilise the peace process. However, during 1994 and 1995, the FSR has been very persistent in denouncing the Salvadoran government for violating the peace accords, criticising Joaquin Villalobos and the leadership of the FMLN for betraying the revolution, calling for armed struggle against the regime, and announcing that the PNC are now military targets of the FSR. Psychologically, the FSR has played a major role in questioning the outcome of the peace accords and the status quo in El Salvador, but, in actual practice, the FSR has been more talk than action. Because of the ERP allegations that the FSR is a "CIA front" and its lack of action, the FSR does not have much credibility in El Salvador. Recently, it called upon the rest of the guerrilla groups to unite in a front to fight the common enemy. (3) Comando Revolucionario Jesus Rojas (CRJR). This group seems to be a recent split from the FPL. It could be made up of ex- members of the FPL who disagree with the outcome of the peace accords and who advocate armed struggle to achieve socialism in El Salvador. It has issued several communiques, but it has not carried out any major military operation -- at least none for which they have taken responsibility. (4) Unidad Guerrillera (UG). This group is made up by ex-members of the ERP and RN who are in disagreement with the social democratic line adopted by these organisations. Most of them were expelled by Joaquin Villalobos in an internal purge prior to the signing of the peace accords. The UG adheres to the original marxist-leninist line of the ERP-RN and it also advocates armed struggle as the only alternative for revolutionary change in El Salvador. They consider Joaquin Villalobos as the biggest traitor of the Salvadoran revolution. The Unidad Guerrillera operates mainly in the regions of Morazan and Usulutan. (5) Voz Popular Revolucionaria (VPR). One of the two most recent groups to come out into the open. They made their presence felt in the capital, San Salvador, just last week when they intercepted and burned three buses in protest of the increase in bus fares. They also issued communiques calling for more militant action. (6) Frente Revolucionario para la Defensa del Pueblo (FRDP). The latest group to announce its existence. It seems to be a group of "self-defence of the masses", a shock guerrilla unit to confront the army and police when the latter intervenes to repress the people in demonstrations, industrial strikes, etc. I suspect that many more clandestine revolutionary organisations will announce their existence when the times comes up. The new revolutionary organisations are armed and very well organised. Their methods of work are now much more sophisticated, all the experience accumulated during decades of war. Within a few years, as long as the different guerrilla organisations unite, they will be in a position to confront the armed forces on an equal basis. The current political situation is leading in that direction. The policies of the ARENA government are creating more poverty and misery in El Salvador, more polarisation between the rich and the poor, and the current repression by the army and police against the left will escalate the conflict to the point of civil war. I would predict that by the year 1999, after the FMLN loses the elections again, we will see the beginning of a more brutal and bloody civil war in El Salvador. The FMLN and the Democratic Party are not the alternative for the people. Their reformist rhetoric and pro-capitalist economic policies will not alter, reform, or change the power of the oligarchy and the multinational corporations. Poverty and repression will only make people desperate and the new guerrilla organisations will attract great numbers of recruits to the movement. However, as expected, the U.S. will see the new developments with great concern and will intervene again on behalf of the ruling elites. The FMLN will have to decide on which side to fight. I predict that the leadership of the FMLN will remain in their comfortable positions, while great numbers of the rank and file will continue splitting from the FMLN and joining the new guerrilla organisations. And the war will last for decades until the United States is defeated, forced to withdraw, or the guerrilla movement is completely exterminated. But there won't be peace unless there is a radical change of society and by this I don't mean "reforms" but a complete overhaul and re-structure of society. ** End of text from cdp:reg.elsalvador ** ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++ ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++ ++++ see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++ +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist collective based in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of material, including political prisoners, national liberation struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings, research, and translation materials in our magazine and bulletins called Arm The Spirit. For more information, contact: Arm The Spirit P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A Toronto, Ontario M5W 1P7 Canada E-mail: ats at etext.org WWW: gopher://locust.cic.net:70/11/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit +++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++== From kurdeng at aps.nl Thu Aug 31 02:47:59 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 31 Aug 1995 02:47:59 Subject: www-site on Kurdistan Message-ID: 57; Tue, 29 Aug 1995 02:37:03 -0800 ======== Newsgroups: de.soc.politik,fido.ger.politik,maus.politik,zer.z-netz.forum.diskussion.politik,fido.ger.antifa Subject: WWW-Seite zu Kurdistan From: ihringer at kalypso.rbi.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de (Frank Ihringer) Date: 25 Aug 1995 09:22:45 GMT Hallo Leute, fuer alle die sich fuer aktuelle Berichte zum Thema kurdischer Befreihungskampf interessieren gibt es ab sofort eine neue WWW-Adr.: http://www.uni-frankfurt.de/~ihringer/kurdistan.html Hier gibt es Informationen zu Delegationen nach Kurdistan, ein klein wenig Zahlen-Material und andere Texte von denen ich der Meinung bin, dass sie fuer die Allgemeinheit von Interesse sind. Falls es Leute gibt die noch AKTUELLES Material haben und der Meinung sind, es koennte ganz gut da hineinpassen, so sollten sie dieses mir bitte doch zuposten. Biji Kurdistan Frank Und an all die Leute, die nur rumnoelen und auf die ja ach so schlimmen, gewalttaetigen und kinderfressenden KurdInnen rumschimpfen und bei der Abschiebung in Folter und Tod am liebsten selbst Hand anlegen wollen: FUER EUCH IST DIESE SEITE NICHT GEDACHT Deshalb erspart mir Eure Kommentare !!!!! -- Fr at nk Ihringer Fachschaft Informatik, J.W.G.-Unitaet Bankfurt E-Mail: ihringer at rbi.informatik.uni-frankfurt.de WWW : http://www.uni-frankfurt.de/~ihringer/ From kurdeng at aps.nl Thu Aug 31 21:46:44 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 31 Aug 1995 21:46:44 Subject: TURKEY: 'Historic' Freedom of E Message-ID: Subject: Re: TURKEY: 'Historic' Freedom of Expression Case Open ---------- Forwarded from : rich at pencil.cs.missouri.edu (Rich Winkel) ---------- /** headlines: 118.0 **/ ** Topic: IPS: TURKEY-HUMAN RIGHTS: 'Historic' Freedom of Expression Case Open ** ** Written 1:03 PM Aug 28, 1995 by newsdesk in cdp:headlines ** From: IGC News Desk Subject: IPS: TURKEY-HUMAN RIGHTS: 'Historic' Freedom of Expression Case Open /* Written 4:09 PM Aug 27, 1995 by newsdesk in igc:mideast.news */ /* ---------- "IPS: TURKEY-HUMAN RIGHTS: 'Historic" ---------- */ Copyright 1995 InterPress Service, all rights reserved. Worldwide distribution via the APC networks. *** 24-Aug-95 *** Title: TURKEY-HUMAN RIGHTS: 'Historic' Freedom of Expression Case Opens By Nadire Mater ISTANBUL, Aug 24 (IPS) - Turkey's intellectual community Thursday claimed an initial victory when a state security court prosecutor made what they described as a key concession in a case that is set to put Turkish laws on freedom of expression under scrutiny. Fifty of the country's leading writers, artists and actors have been brought before the court for putting their seal of approval -- by way of signature -- to a series of reprinted banned articles in contravention of Article 8 of the country's 'Anti-Terror Law'. But when the case opened Thursday, Istanbul State Security Court Prosecutor Aytac Tolay himself said what the intellectuals have been claiming for the past several months which is that the section under which they are charged in the four-year-old Anti- Terror Law goes against the Turkish constitution. The law was enacted in 1991 seven years after the guerrilla Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) took to arms in its struggle to try to force the government to grant independent status to the country's 15 million Kurds who are not even recognised as a minority by the Turkish authorities. Under Article 8, it a punishable offence to criticise the government or its methods in pursuing its military campaign to try to crush the PKK guerrillas whose main activity is concentrated in south-east Turkey where several provinces are under emergency case rule. As a consequence, several pro-Kurdish newspapers have been banned and there are instances where journalists and writers have been jailed for being critical of the government's strong-arm tactics in trying to crush the PKK. According to the government line, such people are promoting ''separatism''. State security courts throughout the country have in the past four years tried about 3,000 cases related to provisions under the Anti-Terror Law and 161 people have been convicted for violating the law and have served or are serving jail sentences. According to a recent report published by Turkey's Human Rights Foundation, among the imprisoned are six pro-Kurdish DEP deputies, seven academics, 116 journalists, 17 actors and six human rights activists. Artists and trade union leaders have also been convicted under the law. The convictions have infuriated the intellectual community who deliberately set out to challenge the law by approving the republication of a collection of banned articles under the title ''Freedom of Thought in Turkey''. The articles -- all devoted to the discussion of the Kurdish issue and the ongoing war in the south-east -- included the work of parliamentarians representing the banned pro-Kurdish Democracy Party (DEP) and human rights activists. ''This case is historic in two senses,'' said one of the accused Prof Bulent Tanor of Istanbul University Faculty of Law. ''First of all this is the first instance in Turkey that a law is about to be brought before the constitutional court due to pressure from below. ''Moreover,'' he went on, ''this is proof that restrictions on public discussion of the Kurdish issue, despite pressure from the military, is not frowned on at least by part of the judiciary.'' In court Thursday, Tolay, in his opening remarks, noted that while it was ''acceptable'' for the government to punish those who sought to ''divide the unity of the state'', he said it went against international norms and the Turkish constitution for the government to suppress professional journalists or its critics. He said such criticisms did not necessarily represent ''separatist propaganda'' yet as the law is written, it effectively went against all principles in respect of freedom of expression and allows the government to ''indiscriminately'' silence critics. ''The article further contradicts international treaties, including the 1951 Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Basic Liberties signed by the Council of Europe member countries...'' Tolay told the presiding judges. He further noted that Turkey is a member of the Council of Europe and added: ''According to Article 90 of the Turkish Constitution, provisions in these conventions should be granted equal force to those in Turkish Law.'' As such, he concluded that ''Article 8, in its present form, contradicts the essence of basic principles of our laws'', and to pursue a case under this law would undermine the judicial system. ''Therefore it (this law) should be brought before the Constitutional Court and be abolished.'' When it was their turn to respond, the defendants immediately welcomed the prosecutor's remarks, and tried to capitalise on the apparent concession by pressing for the abolition of other Articles of the law under which they might also be tried. ''I completely agree with the prosecutor for the first time in my life,'' said newspaper columnist Ahmet Altan. ''However, it is not only Article 8 of the 'Anti-Terror Law' that needs to be abolished. Article 312 of the penal code is also against the Turkish Constitution and should be also brought before the Constitutional Court.'' Article 312 deems it a criminal act to ''...openly agitate the public...through racial, social, religious or sectarian bias''. Tolay has already indicated that the state might pursue its case under this provision in the law. The case, which has been adjourned till Oct 26, is likely to last several months with Turkish laws providing that all the accused be given a chance to individually respond to the Istanbul state security court prosecutor's opening statement. Once they have all had their say, the judges will then decide whether Article 8 should indeed be reviewed by the constitutional court. This is not the first time Article 8 has come under scrutiny. Just last month when the parliament was debating amendments to the constitution in a bid to bring Turkey in line with European Union (EU) norms, left wing parliamentarians suggested that the provision be amended or quashed. However, Prime Minister Tansu Ciller's conservative True Path Party and the main opposition Motherland Party -- also right-wing -- threw cold water on the proposal and the matter was deferred. Senior military officials like Gen. Ahmet Corekci, also campaigned against any changes to the provision. ''It would undermine military moral at a time when a fierce combat against terrorism is taking place,'' he said. But the Turkish government is under strong pressure by the European Parliament which is concerned about numerous claims by human rights organisations that the military is committing several rights abuses in its war with the Kurdish guerrillas which has already claimed more than 18,000 lives. Civilians, guerrillas and security personnel count among the dead. The European parliamentarians have threatened to block Turkey's aspirations to engage in a Customs Union agreement with the EU unless it cleans up its act, and this includes amending legislation deemed to be repressive. The agreement has already been signed, but must be approved by the parliament in order to become effective. The Customs Union agreement is seen here as a first step towards Turkey's future membership in the powerful political and economic 15-member EU bloc -- hence the passing of last month's so-called ''democratisation package'' that amended some sections of the constitution that were not in keeping with Western European norms. ''Whether the EU puts pressure on Turkey or not, I am happy that I myself am putting pressure on the government,'' said film critic Tugrul Eryilmaz, after Thursday's court appearance. ''People have indispensable rights, including freedom of expression. Until this day I did not need to make a point on the Kurdish issue. However I wish all who want to make a point to be able to do so without facing any threat,'' Eryilmaz added. Musician Sanar Yurdatapan, who is leading the freedom of expression campaign, is however doubtful about the outcome of the case. But he is prepared to be a martyr for the cause. ''Then we will take our place on the row of hundreds of 'prisoners of conscience'. And this will make life even more difficult for the judges to decide on cases related to freedom of expression,'' he told IPS.(END/IPS/EU-HD-IP/NM/CPG/95) Origin: Amsterdam/TURKEY-HUMAN RIGHTS/ ---- [c] 1995, InterPress Third World News Agency (IPS) All rights reserved May not be reproduced, reprinted or posted to any system or service outside of the APC networks, without specific permission from IPS. This limitation includes distribution via Usenet News, bulletin board systems, mailing lists, print media and broadcast. For information about cross- posting, send a message to . For information about print or broadcast reproduction please contact the IPS coordinator at . ** End of text from cdp:headlines ** *************************************************************************** This material came from PeaceNet, a non-profit progressive networking service. For more information, send a message to peacenet-info at igc.apc.org *************************************************************************** ----------------------------- End forwarded message -------------------------- From kurdeng at aps.nl Thu Aug 31 21:47:49 1995 From: kurdeng at aps.nl (kurdeng at aps.nl) Date: 31 Aug 1995 21:47:49 Subject: German Human Rights Activists trial Message-ID: Subject: German Human Rights Activists trialed in Diyarbakir id VT16520; Thu, 31 Aug 1995 21:42:11 -0800 BONN, Aug 17 (Reuter) - Four German human rights activists were detained by police in Turkey on Thursday after four other members of their group appeared in a court there, German officials said. Three Germans and their Swiss interpreter appeared in court in Diyarbakir, in southeastern Turkey, after visiting an office coordinating hunger strikes by Kurds, the officials said. A German foreign ministry spokesman said they had been detained by police on Wednesday and four more members of the group had been held on Thursday. He did not say if the activists had been charged with any offences. Matthias Gaertner, a member of the regional assembly in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, said the group was planning to put together a report on human rights in the region. The ministry spokesman said the German embassy in Ankara was in close contact with the authorities in Diyarbakir. In April a court in Diyarbakir ordered 11 Germans to be deported for taking part in an illegal pro-Kurdish demonstration. (4) DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (Reuter) - A Turkish court Thursday released seven German human rights activists and their Swiss interpreter detained by police in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir, court officials said. Police sources said the eight would probably be expelled from the region on a plane to either Ankara or Istanbul Thursday evening. They appeared at a special security court after being detained by police for "provocation" while visiting Kurdish hunger strikers in Diyarbakir, a court official said. The hearing of almost one hour was closed to the media. In Bonn, a German foreign ministry spokesman said three of the activists were detained by police Wednesday while the other four were arrested Thursday. Matthias Gaertner, a member of the regional assembly in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, said the group was planning to put together a report on human rights in the region. In April, the same court ordered 11 Germans, most of them human rights activists, to be deported for taking part in an illegal pro-Kurdish demonstration. --- * Origin: APS Amsterdam (aps.nl), bbs +31-20-6842147 (16:31/2.0)