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HDP, DBP co-chairs to go on hunger strike against "inhumane treatment".

BreakingNews @en di

Co-chairs of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) will go on a hunger strike to protest against “inhumane treatment” in prison. Selahattin Demirtas said in a message addressed to the HDP and the public on Thursday (March 30) that he along with HDP deputy Abdullah Zeydan will start a hunger strike from March 31 due to the actions of a warden at Edirne Prison, where the HDP co-leader is currently being detained. HDP co-leaders Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag were jailed pending trial on November 4 after refusing to give testimony in a probe linked to “terrorist propaganda”. Separately, DBP co-chair Sebahat Tuncel who is imprisoned in Silivri Prison said she would also join the hunger strike with a group at the prison on 1-5 April until the demands of the hunger strikers are met. Turkish authorities accuse the opposition party, the HDP – which is the third-biggest grouping in parliament – of links with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The HDP denies the accusations.

 

Turkish military says: nearly 100 terrorists killed last week

BreakingNews @en di

A total of 98 terrorists were killed last week in Turkey and northern Syria, Turkish military said in a statement Friday. The Turkish General Staff said in a statement that 27 terrorists were killed in anti-PKK operations in Turkey while 71 members of the PKK-affiliated Democratic Union Party (PYD) were killed as part of the Turkish-led Operation Euphrates Shield, which began last August. According to the statement, Turkish soldiers have destroyed 24 shelters that were used by the PKK and seized weapons and nearly 1000 kilos of drugs during the anti-PKK operations. Meanwhile, military sources said three armed vehicles belonging to terrorists were also destroyed in northern Syria’s al-Bab, a city that was liberated from the group’s clutches, last week. Anti-PKK operations in Turkey’s eastern provinces of Siirt, Bingöl, Kars, Tunceli, Diyarbakır, Bitlis, Mardin, and Ağrı were still ongoing, the army added.

Turkey and United States evaluate options for joint Raqqa operation

BreakingNews @en di

Turkey and the U.S. are discussing options for a joint operation to retake Daesh’s so-called capital of Raqqa, a photo released by the Turkish military has revealed. Turkish military Chief of Staff Gen. Hulusi Akar met with his counterparts U.S. Gen. Joseph Dunford and Russian Gen. Valery Gerasimov in the southern city of Antalya on Tuesday. The Turkish military released photos of the meeting, and in one of the photos, a document can be seen in front of a Turkish general with the title “Raqqa Offensive: Turkey-U.S. joint planning”. The photo revealed that Ankara and Washington are currently evaluating options to draw up a joint plan for the Raqqa offensive. A U.S. commander of the anti-Daesh coalition told reporters last week that military leaders are still discussing Turkey’s participation in the Raqqa operation, and that a decision is yet to be made on whether to include the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) led by the PKK’s Syrian offshoot the Democratic Union Party’s (PYD) armed wing, the YPG in the offensive. Ankara strictly opposes any involvement of the PYD/YPG in the Raqqa operation, as Turkey considers it a terrorist group. Ankara has suggested that the Free Syrian Army (FSA), which has successfully liberated Jarablus, Dabiq and al-Bab as part of Turkey-backed Operation Euphrates Shield, lead the operation in cooperation with the Turkish military. The YPG, under the guise of the SDF, is on its way to Raqqa. In fact, according to sources close to the YPG, the terrorist group is positioned only a few kilometers away from Raqqa, a Syrian city on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River. Ankara has claimed that several thousand FSA fighters were ready to engage against Daesh to liberate Raqqa.

 

 

Turkey's Foreign Ministry calls US Human Rights report "unacceptable", that doesn't mention the role of FETO and PKK

BreakingNews @en di

Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said Saturday that the 2016 Human Rights report on Turkey, which was released Friday by the U.S. Department of State, included “unacceptable claims and inaccurate descriptions”. “It is noteworthy that the report does not mention at all the role of Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETO) in the July 15 coup attempt and the presence of FETO leaders in the U.S.”, a statement read. Led by U.S.-based FetullahGulen and his terrorist group FETO, last year’s failed coup left at least 248 people martyred and nearly 2,200 injured. The report refers to the terrorist group as “the Gulen movement”. “The [Turkish] government ascribed responsibility for the attempt to the FethullahGulen movement, which it defined as a terrorist organization”, the report read. The Foreign Ministry also criticized the report’s description of the fight against PKK terrorist organization as “a conflict between the government and PKK members”, saying this description was “totally unacceptable”. “At a time when we are facing unprecedented terror threats against the existence of our state and nation, the inaccurate reflection of our reasonable fight against FETO, PKK, [far-left] DHKP-C, and Daeshhas left us deeply disappointed” the ministry said, adding the report was not based on objectivity. It added that Turkey would continue its fight against terrorism, and to work towards further enhancing fundamental rights and freedoms. Turkey has been fighting terrorist organizations on multiple fronts whether at home (FETO, PKK) or abroad, in Syria and Iraq (Daesh and PKK allies).

 

Curfew imposed in 9 neighborhoods of Mardin (Turkey)

BreakingNews @en di

A curfew was imposed in nine neighborhoods of Turkey’s southeastern Mardin province early Sunday, according to the regional governor’s office. Security forces will locate and destroy explosive devices planted by the PKK terror group in neighborhoods of the Nusaybin, Ömerli and Artuklu districts during the curfew, the office said in a statement. Shelters and ammunition depots of the terror group will also be targeted during the security operation. The governor’s office did not mention an exact date to when the curfew would end. Security forces carried out 905 operations in January against the PKK terrorist organization. A total of 1,463 suspects were detained in last month’s nationwide operations over charges of aiding PKK terrorist organization; 153 were remanded in custody.

Car bomb attack in the Aegean province of Izmir

A car bomb attack in the Aegean province of İzmir near the Courthouse killed at least two people on Jan. 5, the İzmir Governor has announced.
Governor Erol Ayyıldız said one of the victims was a police officer while the other was an employee at the İzmir Courthouse, adding that around seven people were also wounded and two militants were killed. Police officer identified as Fethi Sekin apparently prevented an even bigger attack by noticing the bomb-laden car on time and intervening. According to Ayyıldız, another car was also detonated near the scene. Ayyıldız also said initial findings suggested that the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was responsible for the attack, but in the end the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) had claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Kurdish wars

Middle East - Africa/Politics di

Against Isis, against Erdogan’s threats, against Barzani that wants to be the president of KRG forever.

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While on the turkish border, President Erdogan is exploiting international aid to face Isis and, at the same time, try to hit the Kurds of PKK, the president of the KRG (Kurdistan Regional Government), Barzani, is organizing military parades in order to retain his mandate, beyond the two-year extension already granted. KRG is the only form of government able to represent Kurdish people, divided between Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran.

The Kurdistan Regional Government was established in Iraq after the collapse of the regime of Saddam Hussein and is now subjected to the same power struggles that caused the instability of the Middle East. During the years Kurdish people were, and still are, discriminated against. Saddam Hussein has made the Kurds the target of his chemical weapons causing real massacres as in Halabja in 1988. The persecution took the traits of the genocide through the “Anfal Campaign”.

In Turkey , as well as in Syria, over the years, the persecution never stopped and Kurdish people did not get more favors. Their conditions has come to international attention since the irregular army of KRG, the Peshmarga, took their weapons to face the advancing of Isis. The pages of history books written now, will describe the heroic resistance of these mixed troops made of men and women, who fought to protect cities like Kobanî. But this is not enough for Turkey that is ready to exploit the Isis justification to attack the Kurdish army.

If the elections on June 7 in Turkey seemed to be a turning point with the entrance in Parliament of HDP; recent events like the connection of the Democratic party of the Kurdish people to PKK after exceeding the threshold of 10% of the preferences set by Erdogan, seem to record a sharp setback.In recent years, the bombings inflicted by the Turkish on the Kurds of northern Iraq never stopped and have caused the reaction of the Kurdish militants. On August 10th, the escalation of violence caused 9 victims, killed in four separate attacks. Near the US Consulate and a police station in Istanbul and near a convoy and a military helicopter in the south-east of the country, Sirkin, in Kurdish territory.

Episodes that are triggering the danger of a real civil war. The DHKP-C claimed the shots against the US consulate that brings the terrorists of the Revolutionary Front for the Liberation of the People, and PKK, the Kurdistan Workers Party of Ocalan, was responsible for the two attacks in the south-east . The reasons that led Erdogan to attack the Kurds, causing their reaction, is to be found in the victory of the Kurdish minority in the last election.

The entry of HDP into Parliament has removed the AKP, the Party for Justice and Development which belongs to Erdogan, that had held absolute majority for 13 years. After the attacks of August 10, Erdogan is supporting the need to go to early elections and get back to the majority denied last June. The attacks claimed by DHKP-C and PKK will cause a loss of votes in the Kurdish party of Hdp at they will be used at his advantage. If it is not possible now to talk about a probable alliance between the guerrillas of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and the terrorists of the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Front (DHKP-C), however, it is certain that the Kurds are increasingly unwilling to accept the requests of the leader of the PKK, Abdullah Ocalan, in 2006.

From the prison of Imral he asked his fighters to seek dialogue with the Turkish government to reach a cease-fire. If the risk, in Turkey, is to come to a war against the Kurds, the chances that serious internal unrest will happen in the autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan are just as real . Days ago, the President of the KRG, Massoud Barzani organized a military parade in Erbil. A clear message designed to get to what he has been asking for a long time, that Is a new confirmation of his role. According to the internal laws to KRG, the presidential term of four years is extendable just for only one renewal. Then, the President decades automatically. Barzani has already achieved a two-year extension that will run out on the next August 19. However, he does not intend to give up his role. The first elections in the KRG took place in 1992. Neither political parties PUK and PKK, represented by Jalal Talabani and Masoud Barzani reached a majority and an agreement. Those conditions caused the dreadful civil war that has killed more than 3,000 civilians. When the civil war ended in 2005, Talabani became the Iraqi President and Barzani the KRG’s President.

The power of the Kurdistan Regional Presidency was stronger than the one of the Parliament and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), to counterbalance the Iraqi presidency. For the KRG, the presidency was a new institution with unlimited powers. The result is that corruption has grown exponentially, national resources have been squandered, private militias and intelligence services are increasingly loyal to their parties as opposed to the country, and there is ever-growing social inequality. The country is bankrupt and most people are struggling to make ends meet, while 10,000 millionaires and 15 billionaires have emerged in a short period of time. Society is polarized between lackeys who live on political parties’ handouts and good honest citizens who have to wait for wages that are three months behind. In fact the system is almost near a dictatorial regime than a Presidential one. It’s true that is a well-established Middle-Eastern-Fact that the presidential system only breeds dictators and corrupt leaders.

In 2013, when Barzani’s term was extended, the political system became an absolute presidency according to legistlation and the chances required by Barzani, to get the president’s powers greater than those of any other president in the region. Just to have an idea, here’s a few of the KR President’s powers: highest executive power in KR, chief of General Staff, power to dissolve Parliament, can announce a State of Emergency [without parliament’s consent], power to appoint KR’s Constitutional Court members and members of the Judges Assembly, power to control KR’s Security Council and KR’s Intelligence services and most importantly of all, the power to approve or reject legislation passed by parliament.

The oppositions tried to make alliance to oppose Barzani but every attempt has been unconclusive. When the war against IS began, only the attack to Shingal and the following capture of a 1,000 women and children made Barzani act. Before that violences Barzani was refusing to engage in the conflict. Nowadays even the war hasn’t motivated Barzani to get his act together with Yazidis and unite the Peshmerga into a strong national army. There can only be two explanations for the multidimensional crisis Barzani has dragged the nation into: either he is too weak to accept responsibility and tackle these matters head on or else he is directly involved in the wrongdoing and exploitation of national resources.

What could happen is Barzani left? The response is not easy at the moment. Now, KRG is governed from the two-party coalition of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (Kurdistan List). At the opposition we found four parties, PUK, Gorran, KIU and KIG that might accept another KDP candidate o tolerate another term for Barzani only if KDP accepts constitutional amendments to establish a full parliamentary system and limit the powers of the president.
But at the moment KDP has not an influential leader who can be accepted by both of the main wings of their party. The PUK seems to have given up on the position since they already have Iraq’s presidency. Gorran also hasn’t declared any interest in the presidency. Just one thing is certain. If the parties do not reach a consensus in the next few months, KR will face a political crisis which could potentially lead to civil unrest.
Monia Savioli

[/level-european-affairs]

Turkey and renewed repression against the Kurds: what is happening?

In the last days, the Turkish government has been carrying out a wide repressive operation against civilians, parties and kurdish guerrillas.

Such an intensity of bombings has not been experienced in years. A double attack was carried out against both the workstations of PKK guerrillas and the villages of civilians. It is obvious that Erdogan has decided to intervene both in Turkey and the rest of the Middle East, by attacking all those components that try and advance democratic instances. Why this escalation of events? Mainly for what purpose?

Young people, university students, male and female workers, militants of the lgbt movement, together with the Kurdish movements gathered on the streets against an oppressive and increasingly authoritarian government. The prompt response of the government consisted in breaking into houses, arresting, killing people on the streets, forbid everything and militarily attacking groups of people. Turkish people know the meaning of military coup. In this case, it was a political coupe of the State, since the decisions concerning military operations were taken illegally, without the coverage of a government. During the last general elections held on June 7, Erdogan’s party, the Akp, has experience a significant reduction in its consent, showing that it has politically lost in the Middle East, and thus losing even his image in front of the whole world. It is now evident that the response of Erdogan to electoral defeat is, once again, a strong repression. Almost two months have passed since the elections but the Turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu has not yet found allies to form a new government. This makes the position of Erdogan even more weak, who is nevertheless, taking advantage of the absence of a government, and continues to take illegal decisions in a rebel and a fascist way. In seeking approval, since it is impossible the impasse and form a new government soon Turkey will go back to the elections, and the goal is to once again push the Kurds into a corner, labeling them as “terrorists” , weakening the HDP.

However the resistance inside and outside Turkey is very strong, since the Kurdish pepole are accustomed to rise up against repression as they have already shown. On the one hand the HDP has received broad electoral support, surpassing by three points the hideous 10% threshold to enter the parliament; on the other hand, the PKK has demonstrated to the world that they are the only force able to stop ISIS (Daesh) in the Middle East. While regular armies have left the field to ISIS, guerrilla forces intervened rescuing thousands of civilians, regardless of ethnicity and religion, protecting the entire population. Hence his continued growth of popular support inside and outside Turkey. Erdogan is realizing this fact and is fearing the consequences.

And what about the peace process that was taking place between Ocalan and the Turkish state and the Turkish government, and that in the last few months has finally got to a stopping point isolating Ocalan in the last 4 months. The AKP has always used the negotiations with the Kurds to offer Europe an image of openness and tolerance; in reality its policy aimed at trying to divide the Kurdish movement and the positions of Öcalan from guerrilla forces and the Kurdish refugees in Europe, in order to divide it and weaken it. Since it failed to crush the movement with the arms, he tried to do it politically by exploiting the contradictions inherent to any peace process.

Furthermore, let’s not forget that the AKP has never recognized the revolution in Rojava and denied status for the Kurdish people, who are trying to implement the so-called “democratic autonomy”. Instead, he tried to destroy it, by financing and allowing ISIS to move freely within and through its borders. The AKP plans have failed because of Kobane’s victory and the pushing of ISIS out of Rojava. Often news about the increasingly blatant connivance between the Turkish secret services and ISIS, spread both inside and outside of Turkey.

On July 20, 32 young socialists from the largest cities in Turkey were killed in the town near the Turkish -Syrian border of Suruc. Suruc is well-known for being the village where international support was given to the resistance of Kobane. Thousands of activists from around the world, many even from Italy, went right to Suruc to offer support and help, while the guerrillas in kobane resisted against the attack carried out by ISIS. That’s why these 32 young socialists were in Suruc on July 20. They wanted to continue to give support to the reconstruction of Kobane. Using this attack as a pretext, the turkish prime minister Ahmet Davutoglu has decided to take military action, justifying this decision with the danger represented by ISIS, and bombing its stations. Nothing but false and hypocritical propaganda. In the last two days of operation, the attack on the ISIS lasted 13 minutes at the most. And the stations attacked were empty. Someone had perhaps warned them?

On July 24 the bombing operation against the Kurdish guerrillas started in the mountains in the defense area of Medya. July 24 is an unlucky day for the Kurds since on the same day in 1923 in Lausanne, they witnessed the division of Kurdistan into four parts: Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. Turkish F-16s took off five minutes after midnight from the cities of Diyarbakir and Batman and dropped bombs all night long on the regions of Zap, Basyan, Gare, Avasin and Metina. The planes then hit Xinere and Kandil and many villages of civilians in the region. Some areas were hit three times in the same night. At the same time, a wide repressive operation was carried out in Turkey. It had the same magnitude than the one that was carried out in 2009, known as “KCK operation”, that led to the arrest of about 700 Democrats across the country and resulted in the killing of the 21 year old Abdullah Özdal in the city ​​of Cizre (Turkey). All these events, in a very delicate moment when the prime minister is still trying to form a new government, smell like “strategy of tension”. Taking advantage of the political vacuum, the AKP continues undisturbed its policy of annihilation of the Kurds. And that even with the support of Barzani, president of the Kurdistan region (Iraq), who is issuing statements condemning the Turkish bombings but basically turns out to be a spokesman for Erdogan and the AKP in southern Kurdistan, endorsing the game division of the Kurds. Exposing, among other things his country and putting his people at risk of becoming the “backyard” of Turkey, hoping for a formal recognition of the Kurdistan region while Erdogan’s real goal is exploiting its wealth and politically and economically controlling it. The policy of the AKP is therefore increasingly clear and desperate. Its policies in the Middle East have failed, that is why it is trying to regain a role that it no longer has, because the revolution of Rojava showed that no policy without or against the Kurds will succeed in the Middle East.

All countries that somehow are interested and / or involved in the Middle East policies change strategy according to their own interests. But Turkey insists on not changing and tries to continue as if it was still at the time of the Ottoman Empire. Turkey did not understand that the world has changed, the role of Turkey is no longer the one it had in the past: It cannot survive with the policies and “tricks” used by the Ottomans, rather this would lead the country to total failure. Society is changing. The boundaries are changing.

The only possible way out is to democratize Turkey and resolve all issues with all the people who live there, this is what Ocalan has been trying to pursue with the peace process. Meanwhile it is clear that the Kurdish guerrillas will not stay and watch, and they will continue their fight against ISIS in Rojava (since they showed they can stop them), and in Turkey against repression and bombings. They will continue to fight against this policy of the AKP that is taking Turkey into a marsh. They will continue to carry out the revolution in Rojava since it is the only solution for the people in the Middle East. The will continue to express their protest in all the cities in the world, as it happened for example in 15 cities in Italy or in 22 cities in Germany, or Japan, India, France, after the attack on Suruc. Kurds are accustomed to resist and will no longer bend, nor they would let anybody use them for the games of the great powers as had happened in the past.

Now the revolution has begun and has no boundaries. Especially those artificial boundaries that were decided in Lausanne without consulting the people. Then the audience should break the silence! The Kurds will no longer accept slavery. No bombing will break them ..

These bombings beyond the Turkish border are a violation of international law. International forces, with their democratic solidarity have had an important role in stopping the spreading of Isis in the Middle East. Let’s not forget that the AKP is another face of ISIS. It is important to act immediately to put an end to this policy of the Turkish state.

NATO answer to Turkey’s request for article 4 cosultation

BreakingNews @en/Europe di

The North Atlantic Council, which includes the ambassadors of all 28 NATO Allies, will meet on Tuesday 28 July, following a request by Turkey to hold consultations under article 4 of NATO’s founding Washington Treaty.
Under article 4 of the Treaty, any Ally can request consultations whenever, in the opinion of any of them, their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened.

Turkey requested the meeting in view of the seriousness of the situation after the heinous terrorist attacks in recent days, and also to inform Allies of the measures it is taking. NATO Allies follow developments very closely and stand in solidarity with Turkey.

Alessandro Conte
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