Kurdish News

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Kurdistan Freedom Falcons Claim Bombing in Istanbul

Kurdistan Freedom Falcons Claim Bombing in Istanbul
By Cihan News Agency
Published: Saturday, April 01, 2006
zaman.com


A Kurdish terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the bomb blast which hit the Fatih quarter of Turkey's largest city Istanbul on Friday evening, killing one person and injuring 14 others.

The Kurdistan Freedom Falcons said in a statement that the attack was in retaliation for the killings of Kurds in recent days in southeastern Turkey.

The blast occurred in rubbish container close to bus stops in the Fatih district in Istanbul on Friday evening.

Istanbul Governor Muammer Guler who arrived at the scene after the blast told reporters that one street vendor had been killed and 14 people injured.

Governor Guler condemned the "heinous" attack that had targeted innocent people.

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Turkey Insists on Closure of ROJ TV

Turkey Insists on Closure of ROJ TV
By Cihan, Istanbul
Published: Saturday, April 01, 2006
zaman.com


Turkey has initiated a fresh drive to close down Denmark-based pro-PKK ROJ TV after the TV channel urged people in southeast Turkey to attend pro-PKK demonstrations.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul has spoken to his Danish counterpart Per Stig Moller over the phone and asked him to use his political influence to close down ROJ TV.


In his conversation with Danish Foreign Minister, Gul indicated that ROJ TV had directed the pro-PKK riots in the city of Diyarbakir where seven people were killed in the aftermath of the funeral of PKK terrorists.


"The closure of ROJ TV is very important for Turkey in its fight against the PKK terror organization," Gul told Moller.

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110 PKK Militants Surrendered in Hakkari and Van

110 PKK Militants Surrendered in Hakkari and Van
By Sedat Gunec, Ankara
Published: Sunday, April 02, 2006
zaman.com


The Security Directorate prepared the balance sheet of terror in Hakkari and Van for the past two years where the separatist terrorist organization recently (PKK) intensified bombed and armed attacks.

According to the data from Security Directorate, 44 soldiers and police officials were killed by PKK militants in Hakkari and Van in 2004 and 2005. During this period, remarkable diversions started within the organization. A total of 110 terrorists escaped from the organization and surrendered to the state. Thanks to police and army operations, 279 terrorists were arrested. Civilians were also killed in the organization’s attacks. The terrorists killed eight civilians and wounded another 72 in Hakkari. In Van, 12 civilians were killed and 34 were wounded in PKK attacks.

According to the Security Directorate report, PKK realized activities in Hakkari, mainly by placing explosives, which came to the agenda due to the incidents occurring in the Semdinli province. The organization exploded 60 bombs in Hakkari during this period. Yet, some of the bombs, which were placed at certain key points, were defused. The organization realized16 armed activities in Hakkari and clashed with the security units 15 times. PKK was again behind the 138 violence incidents occurring in Hakkari. The organization planned 38 provocative incidents, hurled a Molotov xxxxtail, and realized seven attacks with sticks and stones.

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Tension spreads from southeast to Istanbul

Tension spreads from southeast to Istanbul

The New Anatolian with AP / Ankara



A 3-year-old boy was shot and killed on Friday during renewed clashes in the southeastern province of Batman, reported officials, raising to seven the death toll caused by recent unrest in the southeast.

Friday's death toll follows reports that a 6-year-old child and two young men wounded during earlier clashes had died in hospitals overnight.

The high tension running through southeastern Anatolia spread as far as Istanbul after a bomb exploded at bus stops in the Kocamustafapasa district on Friday. At least one person was killed and five people were wounded after the blast, as the TNA went to press.

Violent demonstrations continued in the southeast with the Yuksekova district of Hakkari joining the unrest on Friday with two injured. A group of people held illegal demonstration in Yuksekova and chanted slogans in favor of the terrorist organization Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The police fired in the air to disperse the crowd but two were injured during the clashes and seven protestors were detained.

But the atmosphere in Diyarbakir, the largest city in the southeast, was relatively calm Friday with shops opening their doors after three days of riots.

The street violence in Diyarbakir has been the worst in more than a decade in the region, where the PKK has been waging a separatist campaign since 1984.

The boy killed Friday was playing in a park in the city of Batman, east of Diyarbakir, when clashes broke out and he was shot in the neck with a rubber bullet, hospital officials said.

Haluk Imga, the governor for Batman, confirmed that one person was killed in clashes that also injured eight people, but gave no details on the identity of the dead person.

Imga however, hinted that the victim was a child. "Most of the protesters are children," he said. "We call on mothers and fathers to protect their children."

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Opposition brands violence a 'secessionist rebellion'

Opposition brands violence a 'secessionist rebellion'

The New Anatolian / Ankara



While the violent protests which crippled Diyarbakir over the course of the last few days spreads to other cities, the political opposition on Friday branded the incidents "secessionist" and "rebellious."

The demonstrations broke out on Tuesday after a funeral for terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) members killed by troops in the east last weekend. The protest turned violent when angry demonstrators began ravaging buildings and cars. This caused the clashes with police and paramilitary forces which left six people dead and more than 200 wounded. The demonstrations spurred the political opposition into castigating the government for not even raising a finger to ease the tension.

The General Administrative Council (GIK) of the True Path Party (DYP) used the term "secessionism" in a written statement that it wrote to urge the government to take immediate steps against the provocateurs. Meanwhile, Independence and Change Party (HURPARTI) leader Yasar Okuyan claimed that such demonstrations in 10 separate cities are just like a "rebellion" against the state.

The words "civil disobedience" and "rebellion" were first used to characterize the incidents by main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) deputy leader Haluk Koc and ANAVATAN deputy group leader Omer Abusoglu on Thursday during a meeting in Parliament.

Pointing to a photograph of a police officer who tried to stop protestors by using a sling, Okuyan claimed that Ankara ordered the security officers not to resist the protesters. He urged the National Security Council (MGK), a top government-military body, to convene as soon as possible.

According to a statement released by the DYP, the country, the state and the public now face the biggest threat in the country's history: government officials who don't take sufficient measures against terrorist attacks. The DYP also insinuated that the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party government is going to be toppled in elections scheduled for next year.

Speaking at a Democratic Left Party (DSP) meeting, party leader Zeki Sezer lashed out against both the government and Diyarbakir Mayor Osman Baydemir on Friday. He claimed that neither of them made any effort to end the incidents.

"The mayor crossed the line," said Sezer, claiming that Baydemir spoke words against Turkey's integrity.

Academics call for urgent action

Academics also reacted to altercations in the southeast by emphasizing the need for urgent action.

The Istanbul University Senate characterized the events as "separatist and terrorist movements" in a written notice. It urged the government and Parliament to take all necessary measures in accordance with law and democratic principles.

They called for all political parties to leave aside political ideologies, their concerns about votes and to unite and organize preventive measures without wasting any time.

DISK: Turkey now at critical point

Prejudice shouldn't be encouraged, union argues

The Board of Directors of the Confederation of Revolutionary Workers' Unions (DISK) released a written statement on Friday concerning recent violent clashes in southeastern cities, especially in Diyarbakir.

Criticizing the chaotic atmosphere of the city, DISK called for the government and Parliament to find concrete, permanent solutions to the problems of the people in the southeast.

The statement said that Turkey is now at the critical threshold of a dangerous escalation of events. It then cited several other examples of brawls in western cities.

According to the statement, the country is like a barrel of gunpowder, and the events have shown that violence has been promoted by certain circles.

DISK stressed that prejudicial feelings shouldn't be encouraged.

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Kurds not perpetrators but victims of PKK tricks

Kurds not perpetrators but victims of PKK tricks

The New Anatolian / Ankara



Not all Kurds are Kurdish nationalists or supporters of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), said Motherland Party (ANAVATAN) leader Erkan Mumcu on Friday, stressing that people in the southeast are the victims of the violent demonstrations in Diyarbakir.

Protests started on Tuesday after a funeral for terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) members killed by troops in the east over the weekend and turned violent when angry demonstrators attacked buildings and cars and clashed with police and paramilitary forces.

Commenting the incidents have ruined the city, Mumcu said that they were engineered beforehand but that the PKK has been unsuccessful in its attempt to provoke a rebellion. He emphasized two points that the terrorist organization hopes to achieve in the region through violence and by agitating the public.

"The PKK wants to create the atmosphere that there's an emergency rule in the region or, if it can, wants emergency rule again," he said, cautioning the government not to be taken in by the PKK's tricks which could jeopardize the country's European Union bid.

"It's also working to portray people in the region as those responsible for the incidents and thus erect a wall between the Turks and the Kurds," he asserted, calling on everyone to use their common sense and take a stand against agitation.

He reiterated that all state officials and security forces need to understand the difficult psychological conditions the people in Diyarbakir had to face.

Mumcu also took back an accusation he previously made, as well as other political opponents of the ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, over there being a power vacuum in the region.

"There's no power vacuum," he said, adding that the premier had better appear in the region to reassure the people there that the government is at their service. However he also lambasted the government, saying that the most recent incidents are a consequence of misadministration by the government.

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EU: Turkey should find peaceful solution at once

EU: Turkey should find peaceful solution at once

The New Anatolian with AP / Ankara



The European Union on Friday called for Ankara to take urgent action to end recent clashes between demonstrators and security forces in Diyarbakir and neighboring cities.

EU spokeswoman Krisztina Nagy said the European Commission is calling on Ankara to ensure that Kurdish people are granted more cultural rights in order to ease the tension.

"We are very concerned by the latest tension in the southeast of Turkey and the violence which has resulted in casualties," Nagy said. "We deplore the loss of all human life. We are well aware of the serious terrorist problem in the region, but it is a much wider issue than just a security problem."

She said the region needed "peace, economic development and a real exercise of cultural rights."

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Some Kurds do not want prosperity for Southeast

Some Kurds do not want prosperity for Southeast
Ilnur Cevik

[email protected]01 April 2006


After long years of terrorism and violence peace had been restored in practically all of our southeastern provinces thanks to the positive atmosphere created in the past few years.

First it was the military that understood that by using repression and iron-fist tactics all they did was to further alienate the people who are predominantly citizens of Kurdish origin. So the military changed its tactics and started putting more emphasis on human rights and attending to the needs of the local masses. So this was a major factor that contributed to the positive atmosphere created in the region.

Then, of course, there was the capture of terrorist Kurdistan Workers' party (PKK) leader Abdullah Ocalan and his conviction of life imprisonment that clipped the wings of the terrorist organization and opened the way to easing the violence.

With Turkey’s march to European Union membership, reforms and the start of accession talks, the atmosphere in southeastern Turkey further improved so much so that people started talking about investing in the region. There were already some industries in the region, especially cement factories, that thrived by selling all their products to the hungry market of Iraq.

So the southeast, in a way, had reached the take-off stage …

But it seems some circles didn't want this to happen. It seems they felt that if the region prospered this would create a negative atmosphere for them to further their aims of spreading terrorism and discord. So they decided to sabotage the current positive environment “before it was too late.”

The incidents in Diyarbakir, Van and Batman, as well as in other places, instigated by the PKK terrorist organization shows clearly that those who want violence to continue had no intention of allowing the positive atmosphere in the southeast to continue.

The PKK and its followers simply don't want the area to develop and thrive. They don't want the people there to prosper because all this would erase the environment where they can unleash their terrorism.

It's really ironic that while some conservative circles in Turkey opposed reforms because it would end their system of plunder and corruption, the PKK, on the other hand, is on a similar course as them to prevent the southeast from taking off.

Besides the PKK trying to sabotage the positive atmosphere in the southeast, we also see a kind of inactivity on the part of the civilian rulers of our country. For years the military has been warning successive governments that capturing Ocalan and easing the terrorism situation won't solve the problems of the region and that security measures have to be complemented by economic and social measures.

The prime minister talked about a “Kurdish problem” but has done NOTHING to date to solve it. He hasn't even mentioned economic and social programs for the region, let alone try to implement them. He hasn't even attempted to ease economic hardships in the region. Actually what his government has done in recent weeks at the Habur gate, by restricting land transportation through ordering special licenses for lorries, has created havoc and affected the meager income earned by thousands of Kurdish families who were eating because of Habur.

The PKK is finding ways to increase the economic hardships of the people there and the government is simply watching. Is this how you solve a major problem?

[Gavur]

Who is the terrorist?

Who is the terrorist?

4/2/2006
KurdishMedia.com - By Ardalan Hardi
In the last few days members of the Turkish security forces have attacked Kurdish civilians across Northern Kurdistan with vengeance. Hundreds have been arrested and eight have been killed including three children. And what does the Prime Minster of the so-called democratic Turkish state has to say about the civil unrest in Kurdistan? And I am quoting him verbatim:

“The security forces will intervene against the pawns of terrorism, no matter if they are children or women. Everyone should realize that", says Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Mr. Erdogan the dictionary describes terrorism, “As the calculated use of violence (or threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear.” Now who is the terrorist? 20 million Kurds who have been forced to live under decades of brutality, torture, unjust and ruthless occupation of the Turkish state can not be terrorists. Children are not terrorists but killing them is a terrorist act. No, Mr. Erdogan, you and your state are the terrorists not millions of Kurds who simply want to live like human beings.

Isn’t it every human being’s right to be able to practice, preserve his or her native language and culture? Mr. Erdogan, the Kurdish issue is not going to be solved by more threats and terrorist acts of your security forces, but by understanding what a great American president Thomas Jefferson wrote "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."

Like every human being on the face of this earth the Kurds want these very things. Recognition of Kurdish rights and peaceful resolution through dialog is the only road to peace in that reign. Avoiding the reality that stares you in the face, time after time, is nothing but pure self-deception.

Aren’t you the one who calls on Israel and Hamas to establish dialogue in order to revive the Middle East peace process? Last time I checked Hamas was on the same list that lists the so-called “terrorist” PKK as well. Please, Mr. Erdogan, stop making nonsense and pay attention to what you are saying. Not only the Kurds, but the world has had enough of your hypocrisy. Instead of talking maybe you should listen once in a while. Listen to what EU spokeswoman Krszting Nagy said about your country, "The region needs peace, economic development and real exercise of cultural rights for Kurds,” adding that this was not a new problem and was raised constantly by the European Commission in its talks with Turkey.

Unfortunately, like all terrorists you only cherry-pick what is convenient to you and your diabolical plans.

It isn’t time to place them under a RIP sign?

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339 Arrested in Diyarbakir Uproar

339 Arrested in Diyarbakir Uproar
By Cihan News Agency
Published: Monday, April 03, 2006
zaman.com


Three hundred and thirty-nine people have been arrested in recent days in connection with the public disturbances in the southeastern Turkish city of Diyarbakir.

Three hundred and thirty-nine out of 498 detainees were arrested by Diyarbakir court on charges of holding illegal demonstrations, resisting the security forces and causing damage to public and private property.

Diyarbakir Governor's Office said in a statement on Monday that 498 people including 189 teenagers had been detained in connection with the clashes in the city.

Including 90 children, 339 people were arrested by the court following their interrogation by the public prosecutor.

A total of 360 people including 199 security force members were injured during the clashes. Police used tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd during the protests n Diyarbakir.

Thirty-one people are still receiving treatment at hospital while the rest of the injured have been discharged.