Karayilan : Kurdish Militants are Ready for War or Peace
An Exclusive Interview with Murat Karayilan/ Jamestown Foundation 24.09.2009- (..) In an August 11 interview with Karayilan in a
PKK camp located in the mountains of northern Iraq, Karayilan said that
he would like to return to his home country. “But I am not dreaming
about this, I am a realist.”
Bombing Defendants Accuse Police of Forcing Confessions
Bawir Cakir-A bomb in Güngören, Istanbul kiled 17 people and injured 154 in July
2008. The trial of nine defendants, one of them undetained, started
yesterday (11 May) in Besiktas, Istanbul.Relatives of those killed or injured had gathered in front of the court
and wanted to lynch the defendants, who were protected by the police.
One of the defendants shouted, “We have no connection to the Güngören
bombings. This is a conspiracy.”
Turkey's main Kurdish party appeals for help after crackdown
The Guardian 27.04.2009-Turkey's main Kurdish political party has appealed for international
support after hundreds of its officials were arrested in a crackdown by
Turkish authorities.The Democratic Society party (DTP) has written to
members of the European parliament asking them to speak out against the
arrests, which follow the party's surprise success in last month's
local elections. The DTP, the fourth largest party in the Turkish
parliament with 20 seats, fears that the arrests will radicalise the
Kurdish minority and make a solution to the Kurdish problem even more
elusive.
PIK:Turkey’s new wave of repression must be resisted
Peace in Kurdistan Campaign statement 19.04.2009-News of a wave of arrests of Democratic Society Party (DTP) members across the Turkey is deeply dismaying and can only bode ill for the future of the country.On 17 April it was reported that Turkish police had carried out raids in places from Izmir in the west to Batman in the south-east and the capital Ankara. Some 43 people were reportedly arrested for alleged links with the PKK.This was the second wave of arrests in the space of a week. Earlier more than 70 people were arrested, including senior members of the DTP. The names published by the DTP lists a total of 90 arrested DTP members (available from PIK). Firat news agency reported that 245 people had been arrested over a four-day period.Such actions are an affront to democracy and can only be viewed as a cynical attempt to crush the hopes of all the Kurds who only a few days earlier had courageously braved the harassment and intimidation from police and military to cast their votes in overwhelming numbers for the DTP.
Kurds in Southeast Anatolia celebrate DTP’s boost in votes
Local elections were held on Sunday and the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society (DTP) won 58 municipalities in total, which many Kurds celebrated by taking to the streets for dancing. In addition to Diyarbakır, Batman, Şırnak, Tunceli and Hakkari, the five provinces already run by the DTP, the party now has Van and Siirt, which previously belonged to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), and the Iğdır Municipality, which was under the control of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Countrywide, the DTP garnered 5.4 percent of the vote, the highest figure since pro-Kurdish political parties entered the political arena almost a decade ago.
Newroz in Turkey: Calls for a Solution to Kurdish Question
BIA 23.03.2009- Call for a solution to Kurdish issue-The Newroz celebration in Istanbul was organised by the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) and socialist groups. Around 300,000 people gathered in Kazlıçeşme, in the Zeytinburnu district in western Istanbul, where DTP politicians and others spoke. DTP co-chair Emine Ayna, Istanbul MP for the DTP Sebahat Tuncel, DTP Istanbul mayoral candidate Akın Birdal, MP Ufuk Uras from the Freedom and Solidarity Party (ÖDP), Saadet Çaçan from the Peace Mothers, Levent Tüzel from the Labour Party (EMEP) and Gülseren Yoleri, president of the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Foundation (İHD) all spoke at the rally, emphasising the fraternity of people, but also demanding concrete steps towards solving the Kurdish question.
Iraq Kurds celebrate New Year with mountain torches
AFP 21.03.2009 - Iraqi Kurds have celebrated the start of their New Year, Nowruz, which falls on the first day of spring, by lighting a chain of torches up a mountain in northern Iraq. The focus of festivities for New Year, marking the start of 2079 in the Kurdish solar calendar, was in Akra, near the city of Dohuk.On Friday night, thousands of Kurds formed a long chain from Akra to the top of the mountain overlooking the town. They lit up a chain of torches spaced out over several kilometres (miles).
Thousands celebrate flashpoint Kurdish holiday in Turkey
AFP 21.03.2009- Thousands of Kurds celebrated Newroz, their New Year, here on Saturday, as police enforced tight security measures for the holiday, often mired in violence and bloodshed.About 2,000 officers were on duty in Diyarbakir and helicopters flew over the city, the largest in Turkey's Kurdish-majority southeast, but the festivities organised by the country's main Kurdish party, the Democratic Society Party (DTP), ended peacefully.
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An Exclusive Interview with Murat Karayilan/ Jamestown Foundation 24.09.2009-
Local elections were held on Sunday and the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society (DTP) won 58 municipalities in total, which many Kurds celebrated by taking to the streets for dancing. In addition to Diyarbakır, Batman, Şırnak, Tunceli and Hakkari, the five provinces already run by the DTP, the party now has Van and Siirt, which previously belonged to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), and the Iğdır Municipality, which was under the control of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Countrywide, the DTP garnered 5.4 percent of the vote, the highest figure since pro-Kurdish political parties entered the political arena almost a decade ago.
BIA 23.03.2009- Call for a solution to Kurdish issue-
AFP 21.03.2009 - 