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By Dr. Amy L. Beam: On March 30, 2014, Turkey held nationwide mayoral elections followed by many accusations of fraud. In the eastern city of Agri, the Kurdish BDP co-candidates Sırrı Sakık and Mukkadeş Kubily won by 15 votes. The ruling AKP party demanded 14 recounts, but failed to demonstrate a win. The government set…
By Dr. Amy L. Beam: What is the Kurdish Question? From Istanbul to Ankara, one is likely to hear the resentful, bitter lament “What do Kurds want? They have all the same rights as we do.” There remains a deep chasm of animosity between they and we. After ninety years of Kurdish persecution and thirty…
By Eva Bernard: First published by Women’s Voices Now In Turkish public opinion and media, and according to certain studies, the Kurdish regions of Turkey are often deemed the most patriarchal and traditional. Yet, since the late 1970s, the Kurdish guerrilla movement and Kurdish political parties have been the most openly progressive proponents of women’s…
By a Correspondent: The pro-Kurd Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) is set to merge with the People’s Democracy Party (HDP) in a process due to begin soon, when all the BDP deputies in the Turkish parliament will join the HDP. Sebahat Tuncel, co-chair of the HDP, told Radikal in an interview yesterday that the HDP will…
By the Rojava Report: The Hakkari (Kurdish: Colemêrg) Province Branch of the BDP organized a protest march around the foot of Kato mountain earlier yesterday to draw attention to a recent upsurge in military movements in the area and the continued construction of military bases in the region. According to local reports military activity between…
KT Report: Following Sunday’s local elections in Turkey, the HDP (Peoples’ Democratic Party) leadership met on Tuesday to discuss the results and its future plans. In western Turkey the HDP ran a campaign parallel to the pro-Kurd BDP (Peace and Democracy Party), which stood in north Kurdistan. While the BDP vote went up, and the…
By Sarkawt Shams: The decisive victory of Erdogan’s AKP, Justice and Development Party, in the municipality election, is an indication of AKP’s successful strategies for the peace process and its economic progress. Both cases are related; the peace and stability at its border and the involvement of imprisoned leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, in…
Report by KT Correspondent in Amed (Diyarbakir): BDP co-chairman Selahattin Demirtaş told a press conference this morning that yesterday’s local election results were good for the BDP in north Kurdistan, adding that the party needs to work hard for the upcoming presidential and general elections. The BDP made some significant advances in Kurdistan, winning control of…
KT Report from Dyarbakir: Today’s municipal electıons are a trial for Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, against a backdrop of months of damaging leaks. corruption allegations and accusations of increased authoritarianism. While his ruling AKP is expected to retain the most votes, Erdogan will be weakened by any significant losses. These polls are also…
By a KT Correspondent in Dyarbakir: Gültan Kışanak & Firat Anli speak to KT On the eve of tomorrow’s crucial local elections, an open-topped Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) bus led a lively cavalcade around the city of Dyarbakir, north Kurdistan, today. As it passed through the centre and on to the working class suburbs,…
Interview by a KT Correspondent in Istanbul: Shamil Altan, co-president of the Istanbul regional Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) spoke to a KT correspondent on the eve of Turkey’s critical municipal elections. He discussed the election campaign in Turkey and Kurdistan and said there is a danger, in the current state crisis, that the army will…
Interview by a KT Correspondent in Istanbul: Mehmet Akar, head of the BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) media branch in Istanbul, spoke to a KT correspondent about the local election campaign and the prospects for the BDP and its recently-formed electoral partner, the HDP (Peoples’ Democratic Party). KT: Why isn’t the BDP standing in Istanbul…
Shahrstani: Iraq will monitor KRG oil fields Hussein Shahrstani, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister for Energy, has stated that Baghdad has proposed a new initiative to the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) to solve the dispute over oil revenue. Shahrstani said that the Iraqi Ministry of Oil, together with the KRG’s Natural Resources ministry, can install a…
By ANF/Rojava Report: BDP co-President Selahattin Demirtaş yesterday addressed around a crowd of around one hundred thousand during the city’s Newroz celebrations. Demirtaş told the crowd that “every vote for the BDP means not forgetting the women and children that were beaten on the streets of Batman, to not forget the tens of thousands who have…
KT News: With Turkey gripped by massive protests following the death yesterday of 15 year old Berkin Elvan, the pro-Kurd Peace and Democracy (BDP) has backed the protests and declared two days mourning, suspending its election campaign in the Istanbul area, reports ANF. Berkin Elvan had been in a coma for 269 days after he was…
