By Amy L. Beam, Ed.D: Fighting continued today at UNHCR Mahmur Camp in northern Iraq. ‘Islamic State’ or IS (also referred to as ISID, ISIS or ISIL) controls it from inside. Twenty IS are reported to have been killed. All residents have left the town. The men of Mahmur Camp remain in the mountains approximately…
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Category Archives: PKK
Sirnak Supports Demirtaş for President; Erdoğan Too Little, Too Late
By Amy L. Beam, Ed.D: On August 10, 2014, Turkey will vote for a new President. The People’s Democratic Party (HDP) candidate, Selahattin Demirtaş is sure to win the vote in Sirnak, in southeast Turkey. This is the first time in Turkey’s history that citizens will have the opportunity to vote for a Kurdish President. There…
Democracy’s Frontline Starts with the Pershmerga
By Kaziwa Salih: The Middle East, particularly Iraq and Syria, has turned into a triangle battlefield, amongst fanatical groups with diverse titles and similar aims: creating an Islamic state with Stone Age approaches. There are two tyrannical Governments completing this dimension which are Iraq and Syria. The Peshmarga of Kurdistan is the only force defending…
KCK: Lice Massacre has de facto ruled out the non-conflict situation
By the Co-Presidency of the KCK: To our peoples and the public opinion The Kurdish Freedom Movement has been in a non-action position for one and a half years. The AKP administration has misused this position as an opportunity for building new military posts, new dams and new roads for military purposes. It attacked the…
Turkey: What Is the Kurdish Question?
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…
Women and the Kurdish Movement in Turkey: ‘There will be no turning back’
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…
We hang those guilty of petty crimes and appoint those guilty of murder
By Evin Cheikosman: Kurdish mother, Mulkiye Demir Kilinc, was recently convicted for selling BOOKS related to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) at the Mesopotamian Culture Center in Diyarbakir,Turkey. To some this is regarded to be a punishable crime, to others a petty crime, and to many more not a crime at all. Bookmark on Delicious Recommend…
Why There Are No Toilets on Mount Ararat
By Dr. Amy L. Beam: A blood-curdling, staccato scream woke me from alpha state at 8:30 in the morning at camp 2. It came echoing down the mountain from where the last group of climbers was descending from their sunrise summit. Most had already returned and were resting in their tents. The sun was now…
KT news briefing, 18th March 2014
Karaylan: No disarmament while Ocalan in jail Murat Karaylan, the PKK leader, has accused the Turkish government of not complying with ceasefire agreement with PKK fighters. Karaylan has warned the Turkish government to conduct more practical and effective steps toward peace prior to the Turkish provincial election in September 2014. Regarding disarmament of PKK fighters,…
My real role in Kurds’ struggle for freedom: Abdullah Öcalan
Letter to ‘The Guardian’ by Abdullah Öcalan: Editorial Note: The following version appeared in ‘The Guardian’ on 20th January and the full text of the letter appears below it. I am writing in response to an editorial published in your newspaper on the occasion of Nelson Mandela’s death (5 December). The article drew comparisons between Mandela, Nehru, Aung Sang…
Turkey’s Kurds demand answers on Roboski Massacre as part of Kurdish Peace Process
By a Correspondent: The identity of the author of this report must remain anonymous. A Turkish court has banned journalists in Turkey from writing about the Roboski massacre. Over 50 Kurdish journalists and editors are in prison in Turkey, accused of associating with a terrorist organization for their reporting on Kurdish issues. On December 28,…
The US Should Reconsider PKK Terror Designation
By Michael Rubin: The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) began an insurgency and terrorist campaign against Turkey in 1984, and the United States designated the group to be a terrorist entity 13 years later largely out of deference to Turkey. Turks may insist that the PKK remains a terrorist group, and Kurdish supporters may say it…
Erdogan says ‘democracy package’ will be revealed this month
KT News: Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced yesterday that he will reveal the Turkish government’s ‘democracy package’ before the end of September. These details were expected some weeks ago, as part of the peace process that began in January. The KCK (Kurdish Communities Union) responded last week to the delay by announcing a halt…
PKK will halt withdrawal if Turkish government doesn’t act soon: Cemil Bayık
KT News: PKK leader Cemil Bayık has told the BBC Turkish service that the PKK will suspend its withdrawal of guerrilla forces across the Turkish border unless the AKP government begins by Sunday to take the steps that were promised as part of the second phase of the peace process. Bookmark on Delicious Recommend on Facebook…
Peace process?
By Issa Chomani: The Turkish government has been holding negotiations with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) leader Abdullah Öcalan under the settlement process since late 2012, claiming it intends to find a peaceful and political solution to the decades-long Kurdish dispute and the armed conflict between the Turkish military and PKK. The clashes between the…
