By Dr. Amy L. Beam: Eighty-five years ago, the Turkish military slaughtered between 7,000 and 15,000 Kurds in less than a week in Zilan Valley in North Kurdistan (southeast Turkey). Some historians put the figure at 47,000 Kurds killed by the Turkish state.
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Kurdistan Genocide Office Prepares Cases for Prosecutions
By Dr. Amy L. Beam: The Genocide Office to Identify Crimes Against Kurdish People Outside of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) was established in Duhok, Kurdistan, in September 2014, under the Kurdistan Ministry of Interior. It serves Kurds, Yezidis, Christians and other minorities who suffered at the hands of the Islamic State jihadists (also referred…
Yezidi Mass Exodus from Turkey Fails
By Dr. Amy L. Beam: On June 26, 2015, Shengal Yezidis from refugee camps in southeast Turkey, began a mass exodus to the Bulgarian border. They were hopeful of leaving Turkey and entering Bulgaria or camping out between borders to gain the attention of the international community. They are pleading with countries to open their…
Yezidis Want Mass Exodus from Turkey
By Dr Amy L. Beam: Over 20,000 Yezidis from Shingal, Iraq, have been living in refugee camps in southeast Turkey since September, 2014. They do not want to face a second winter stuck in tents or over-crowed rooms in Turkey. They are faced with choosing between three deeply problematic options: remain living in refugee camps…
Lost Armenian History: Unknown Island in Lake Van
By Dr. Amy L. Beam: The popular tourist attraction of Akdamar Island with its famous 10th century Armenian church is not the only island in Lake Van, Turkey. There is a tiny island with a dark, lost history along the northeast coast. Road signs show it is 40 km north of Van and 60 km…
Turkish Army Kills Civilian during Arbor Day Activities
By Dr. Amy L. Beam: On April 11, 2015, the Turkish army shot from a helicopter and killed Cezmi Budak, former co-chair of the HDP party in Diyadin in eastern Turkey. Local Kurdish residents were going to the outskirts of Yukari Tütek village in the Tendurek Mountains for their annual Arbor Day activities on Saturday…
Photos of Roboski Mule Massacre – March 23, 2015
By Dr. Amy L. Beam: On March 23, 2015, Turkish soldiers shot and killed eight mules at the Roboski border in southeast Turkey, near Kurdistan, Iraq. Tensions have been high between local villagers and military forces since the Roboski massacre of December 28, 2011, in which 34 innocent men and teenagers were killed by two…
Yazidis Demonstrate for International Protection and Asylum
By Dr. Amy L. Beam: On March 23, 2015, 1500 Yazidis demonstrated in Brussels to plea for International Protection and aid from countries of the world. They were supported by demonstrations of thousands of Yazidis in Europe and refugee camps in Turkey and Iraq holding up signs written in both Arabic and English for the…
Soldiers Slaughter Mules at Roboski
By Dr. Amy L. Beam: On March 23, 2015, at the border crossing between Roboski, Turkey, and Kurdistan, Iraq, soldiers shot and killed eight mules and wounded five (story corrected 25 March). Angry villagers gathered at the border as additional soldiers were sent to the border. Mules are used in cross-border trade to support the livelihood…
Turkey Bans American Writer
Press Release, March 9 2015, Ankara: According to Reporters Without Borders, Turkey has dropped to number 154 out of 180 countries in its 2014 Press Freedom Index. Foreign journalists in Turkey have been silenced through fear of losing their residence permit or actual deportation and banning. These bans often come without explanation. Dr. Amy L….
Türkiye, Amerikalı Yazar Ülkeye Girişini Yasakladı
Basın Bildirisi, 9 Mart 2015, Ankara: Sınır Tanımayan Gazeteciler örgütüne göre Türkiye, 2014 Basın Özgürlüğü Endeksi’nde 180 ülke arasında 154. sıraya düştü. Türkiye’de bulunan yabancı gazeteciler, oturma izinlerinin iptaliyle, fiili sınır dışı edilmeyle ve girişlerinin yasaklanmasıyla korkutulup susturulmakta. Bu yasaklar çoğunlukla hiçbir açıklama yapılmadan konulmakta. Ülkeye girişi yasaklanan son gazeteci, Mount Ararat Trek turizm şirketinin…
American Writer Banned from Turkey
By Dr. Amy L. Beam: In America they have a saying: “Let the punishment fit the crime.” In Turkey, for too many years, this adage has been reversed: first comes the punishment, then comes the accusation. Truth-telling has become the leading crime in Turkey, but it is always disguised, either as something mundane like “overstaying…
Kurdish Writer Yaşar Kemal Dies at Age 92
By Dr. Amy L. Beam: On February 28, 2015, Kurdish writer Yaşar Kemal, died in Istanbul at the age of 92. He was born in Osmaniye Gökçeda in southeast Turkey on October 6, 1923. One of the most famous writers in Turkey, Kemal was awarded 19 literary prizes during his lifetime and nominated for the Nobel…
Tourism in Southeast Turkey: Is It Really Safe?
Special Report by Dr. Amy L. Beam: It is safe, legal, beautiful, and remarkable to travel now in southeast Turkey. Outsiders are so rare that visitors are treated like celebrity stars. The democratic, secular Kurds have dominated world news recently in their heroic fight against the Islamic State or ISIS in Iraq and Syria. North…
Beytüşşebap Was Our Shingal
By Dr. Amy L. Beam: A year has passed since I went to a wedding in Beytüşşebap and promised to return with an interpreter. Now there’s a new baby and Denize is getting married to her cousin in Van. Only four months ago she had dressed up in her khaki guerilla clothes and Kurdish neck…
