By the European Federation of Journalists: Amid growing concerns over the spread of COVID-19 in prisons, the Turkish government is accelerating the preparation of a draft law that will reportedly release up to 100,000 prisoners. This is a welcome step. Overcrowding and unsanitary facilities already pose a serious health threat to Turkey’s prison population of…
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Category Archives: Human rights
Women Delegation from Ireland, Britain and Italy Call for Unlawful Prison Policy of Isolation to End
PRESS RELEASE: Diyarbakir, Turkey The health of Hakkari 55 year old MP Leyla Güven, who started a hunger strike on 8 November 2018, has reached a life-threatening stage. Leyla Güven, who is on the 67th day of a hunger strike, has become too weak to meet with her lawyers. Leyla has a brain tumour. She…
Open Letter to UN High Commissioner on Human Rights: Case of Ramin Hussein Panahai
By Dr Amir Sharifi: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Palais Wilson 52 rue des Pâquis CH-1201 Geneva, Switzerland. June 29, 2018 Dear Mr. Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein: On behalf of the Kurdish human rights organizations and associations in Southern California, I express my grave concerns, disquietude and distress over…
Tribunal Rebukes Turkish President Erdogan For War Crimes Against His Own People
Permanent People’s Tribunal – Press Statement: One month before the presidential election in Turkey, an international Tribunal has issued a stinging condemnation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, charging him with war crimes against Kurds in Turkey and saying that he has been “tormenting” and “causing incalculable suffering” to the Kurdish people in Southeast Turkey….
The Massacres and Oppression of the Kurds in 20th Century Turkey
By Helin Newroz Boztosun: The 20th century was one of the most destructive eras in Kurdish history. While you may be aware of the current Kurdish-Turkish conflict, such as Turkey’s recent attacks on Afrin, Syria, most of you probably don’t know of their historical campaigns against the Kurds, and other minorities for that matter, until…
Open Letter to Boris Johnson
By Arian Mufid: The Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs King Charles St LONDON SW1A 2AH Dear Secretary of State I came across your article in the Daily Telegraph on Saturday 17 February entitled “Poor Pangolin is being butchered in the name of male virility”. I was quite…
All Democratic Forces Must Condemn Alleged Turkish State Executions – KNK
KNK Statement: We call on all democratic forces to condemn alleged state executions by the Turkish state. The actions of Turkey must not be tolerated any longer and the United Nations, European Union, Council of Europe and all those who stand for democracy must condemn the actions of Turkey in the strongest terms. In the…
Turkey’s Path from Fascism to Fascism!
By Rebwar Rashed: As a kid I was always amused by the magician’s ability that, with just a wave of the hat, he could pull a rabbit or a dove out of an empty hand. What a performance! I never quit comparing the magician’s venture to the Western Democracies’ amazing propensity to put rose-colored glasses…
Imprisoned HDP Co-Chair Selahattin Demirtaş and Deputies Join Prison Hunger Strikes
HDP Statement: On 31 March 2017, our co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş and MP Abdullah Zeydan, both held captive in Edirne High Security Prison, have initiated a hunger strike in solidarity with the protest actions of political prisoners across Turkey. The current wave of prison hunger strikes started in early February against systematic rights violations that took…
Chairperson of Human Rights Association (İHD) Diyarbakır Branch and Vice-Chairperson of İHD Headquarters M.Raci Bilici Must Immediately Be Released!
IHD Statement: Chairperson of the Human Rights Association (İHD) Diyarbakır Branch and Vice-Chairperson of İHD Headquarters M.Raci Bilici has been arrested this morning (March 15, 2017) and still in custody at Diyarbakır Anti-Terror Branch. By this operation, along with Raci Bilici, 11 old and new representatives of the NGOs in Diyarbakır have been arrested. According…
UK Must Oppose Erdogan’s Creeping Dictatorship
Peace in Kurdistan Campaign Statement: British Prime Minister Theresa May is embarking on an official visit to Turkey to talk about trade, defence and security with President Erdogan. There are many more urgent issues that need to be addressed not least of which is the massive crackdown and repression unleashed by Erdogan that shows little…
Free Balochistan Movement’s Long March Reaches Berlin
By Perak Baloch: Hyrbyair Marri, an exiled pro-freedom Baloch leader announced his new political platform, Free Balochistan Movement (FBM) to highlight Pakistan’s atrocities and human rights violations in Balochistan. He announced the platform by initiating a long march campaign in Germany on July 16. He said in a public statement that the long march in…
You Should Not Abuse Democracy in Kurdistan
By Abdul-Qahar Mustafa: In democracy, every individual has a single vote but in a country where decision-making is controlled by a group of rich men who came together in the form of a political party, people have very little say in the actions and decisions of government. The rich privileged families, who receive special education…
Will the USA and EU Punish Turkey If It Doesn’t Commit To Democracy?
By Abdul-Qahar Mustafa: Most people including me know that Turkey has a bad history in dealing with minorities and has never had any true approach to democracy. It started from the time when their ancestors took the land by force from Kurds, Assyrians, Armenians, and Greeks in the 11th century. They have subjected and murdered…
Turkey’s Detention of Journalists Who Showed Solidarity With Kurdish Newspaper Widely Condemned
KT Report: There has been widespread condemnation of the Turkish authorities following the arrests yesterday of two journalists and a human rights activist who had supported a campaign of solidarity with the pro-Kurdish newspaper Özgür Gündem. An Istanbul court ordered the pre-trial detention of Paris-based Reporters Without Borders (RSF) Turkey representative Erol Önderoğlu, Human Rights…
