Another Momentous Victory on the Road to Freedom!

Abdullah Ocalan, born 4th April 1948 in the village of Amara, Urfa.

Kurdish people have struggled to be able to visit the birthplace of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the Kurdish Freedom Struggle in Turkey. Past years have seen lines of police and army and Kurds have been banned from travelling to Abdullah's village of birth, Amara in Urfa.

Last year two young Kurdish men were killed as the authorities suppressed a march to President Ocalan's house.

This year however, the Kurds have once again fought again for the right of travel and political expression by arriving at Abdullah Ocalan's house to hear speech's and celebrate with dance and song.

Tens of thousands party on Abdullah Ocalan's Birthday!

Tens of thousands of Kurdish people also attended a celebration of the birth of Abdullah Ocalan in Aligor in Urfa where people travelled from all parts of Turkey and Kurdistan and danced all night long in what was an emotional event for all who were there.

Kurdish Civil Rights March to Birthplace of Abdullah Ocalan on his Birthday, 4th April.

Tens of thousands of Kurds will march today and tomorrow to, Amara, the birthplace of Abdullah Ocalan, the Kurdish leader imprisoned on the Robben Island type prison cell on Imrali Island off Istanbul.

The Kurdish people are poised on the edge of a provocation from the Turkish Generals and Army in an attempt to draw them into armed conflict.

The backdrop to today and tommorow's marches is the Turkish state's continuation to deny some of the basic realities of the Kurdish Question in Turkey and continued stagnation in any political developments on the demanded changes to the Turkish constitution, a constitution that was designed by the Turkish Generals after the 1980 coup to keep the Kurdish people out of politics and denied any representation.

A constitution that was designed to forcibly assimilate the Kurds into Turkish society by banning the Kurdish language, Kurdish culture and Kurdish history.

The Turkish Generals are determined to provoke the Kurdish side into continued war and bloodshed. So desperate are they that the Turkish Generals Psychological Warfare Department are continuing to make up stories. Yesterday the Turkish media repeated the Turkish Generals verbatim by reporting that 5 Kurdish guerrillas had been killed by the Turkish Army.

Designed to provoke this story was categorically denied by the military leadership of the Kurdish defence forces, HPG and shows how the Turkish Generals are trying to stoke up tensions ahead of this annual march to the birthplace of Abdullah Ocalan in Amara, Urfa.

Last year two youth were killed by the Turkish Army, one young student was killed by a gas cannister fired directy at him. Blood pumped out of his head and he died instantly. Hundreds of others were injured and detained.

This year is set to be struck with perhaps more serious provocations from the Turkish Generals side as they try to rachet up the tension to provoke the Kurdish side to continued war which benefits them and justifies their existance at a time when many are questioning their role in Turkish politics.

If only the worlds media would flock to Amara today and tomorrow and witness the Kurdish civil rights struggle as they did in Derry in 1968.

What is our strategy for Kirkuk?

By Baqi Barzani

Kirkuk and other disputed Kurdish territories rank among the most elevated priorities in our government's agenda. With its definitive status still in the balance after 7 years of bitter bickering between Baghdad and KRG, the odds of incorporating it into Kurdistan turns out to be more knotty and dubious by every passing day.

Despite numerous prior accords, none of the formerly incumbent coalition partners have been able to honor their vows and views. After 2 parliamentary elections, despite KRG's consistent prodding for a solution to the dilemma, the officials in Baghdad do not seem to be demonstrating any tendency toward addressing the issue. Weary and Wedged in Iraq, the US and coalition forces have no proclivity to cope with the outset of a spanking new ethnic war.

At present, the adjoining countries are the only ones benefiting from the prevalent anarchism and stalling of process to an degree that if all concerned parties involved in Kirkuk convene and recognize the centrality of a third party mediation, they would still veto it.

What ever the motives behind the lingering of Kirkuk dispute, Kirkuk is a Kurdish and Kurdistani internal affair and we, the Kurds would suffer the most loss in case of any potential surrender. Bowing down to every behest whether internal or external is an Achilles' heel on our part, further exacerbating and prolonging the state of affairs in Kirkuk.

With Allawi gearing up to form his new coalition members, our officials and representatives should take a more rigid position to seek a lasting ultimatum to the issue peacefully and multilaterally. We must come up with a robust, transparent, consistent, persistent, shrewd strategy before it is too late. We have lost scores of leeway in the past and we can not afford to squander any more time.

Kurdish mother and her children sentenced to death

Rudaw

In the Kurdish province Urmiyeh a mother and her two children were sentenced to death for threatening the security of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Human rights organizations from Iran’s Kurdish provinces confirm that Caziye Dervis Zade and her daughter Dervis Zade (19) and her son Fetullah Dervis Zade (21) were sentenced to death. According to the court in Mahabad, the three suspects endanger Iran’s security.

According to Amnesty International, recent developments in Iran have prompted fears that the Iranian authorities are once more using executions as a tool to try and quell political unrest, intimidate the population and send a signal that dissent will not be tolerated.

UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston argues that under international law, death penalty can only be carried out for the most serious crimes. "I have shown very clearly that that phrase was intended to refer to crimes which result in an intentional death of some sort - homicide - and that any lesser crimes cannot be punished by the death penalty. Again, that is a prohibition that the Iranian courts and the Iranian government have consistently neglected or ignored."

Through the power of unity, victory is achieved!

KurdishMedia.com

By Delovan Barwari

02/04/2010

The world witnessed millions of Iraqis and Kurds cast their votes in the second Iraqi parliamentary election held on March 7th, 2010. The timing of this monumental occasion is highly critical and the outcome will certainly be one of the most pivotal events that will transform the balance of power in Baghdad as Washington is planning to reduce its military presence in Iraq. The eccentric alliance of Ayad allawi’s Al-Iraqia among Sunnis, Shiites, and Turcomans on the one hand, and the failure of Kurds to fully unite under a single Kurdistani list on the other hand, will certainly diminished the Kurdish political clout in Baghdad and complicate the status of the disputed areas.

Thus far, the election has fueled numerous controversies among various political, religious, and ethnic groups in Iraq. Amongst the most controversial is article 140, a potentially explosive article which defines a mechanism to resolve the issue of the disputed areas claimed by Kurds, most importantly Kirkuk. It is believed by many analysts that the dispute has the potential to ignite an all out civil war between Kurds and Arabs.

In June of 2009, a splinter group from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), under the leadership of Newshirwan Mustfa, the former deputy chief of PUK, emerged as a new Kurdish opposition group known as Gorran (Change in Kurdish). As the citizens of Kurdistan became frustrated with widespread corruption and cronyism, the slogans of reform and change became highly attractive to their ears; consequently, through its media outlets, Newshirwan capitalized on people’s sense of dissatisfactions and frustrations and created a power vacuum while entering the political arena, which inevitably transformed the balance of power in PUK’s strong hold, Sullimania.

In principal, opposition groups are highly vital for the transformation and progression of a nation’s political system, and generally is an important instrument that limits political corruption. Based on a study, “Party and Corruption in New Europe”, by Leiden University, it was concluded that, “ Where party competition is strong, governing and opposition parties will ´keep each other in check´, uncovering corrupt behavior of their opponents, and rational voters will penalize corrupt politicians at elections”.

In contrast, although opposition is healthy in principal, it can also be destructive in certain cases. In the case of Iraqi - Kurdistan, the political predicament is like no other in the world. Kurdistan is a land locked region surrounded by traditional enemies which are determined to eradicate and destroy the gains Kurds have made in recent years. The Kurdish opposition leaders must recognize that the concept of opposition and reform must not be at the expense of Kurdistan’s national interest.

One of the oldest concepts used by rulers of vast empires - such as Romans and Britain’s - to exploit tribes against one another for maintaining absolute control over their region was the concept of Divide and rule. Gorran and the Kurdish Islamic parties’ decision to run as independent lists in Iraqi election, indirectly applied the concept of Divide and rule to Kurdistan for its enemies.

Based on report published by Rudaw, in Kerkuk, Musil, and Diyala, nearly 100,000 votes casted for Gorran and the Kurdish Islamic parties (Yekgirtu and Komal) were lost, due to the threshold requiring a minimum of 25000 votes. As a result, the balance of power shifted in favor of Ayad Allawi’s Al-Iraqia party and his Sunni and Turcoman partners. One thing for sure, Gorran helped bring “change” to Kirkuk – a change from Kurdish dominance to the rise of Sunnis and Turkmans into power.

The failure of Kurds to enter into the Iraqi parliamentary election as a unified Kurdistani list has depicted an image of being more susceptible to Baghdad’s hegemony; moreover, it has diminished the Kurdish posture in the disputed areas. Due to the aforementioned reasons, the Kurdish leadership must be aware of the dangers posed ahead and set aside their differences. More importantly, with the current political climate in Iraq, it is greatly crucial for Gorran and the Kurdish Islamic parties to place Kurdistan’s national interest above their party’s interest and unite with Kurdistan Alliance. As Publilius Syrus has stated, “Where there is unity there is always victory”

You can email your opinions to Delovan Barwari at: Delovan@yahoo.com

Iran: Another Kurd Dead Under Torture

Saturday, 03 April 2010

Eastern Kurdistan- Xane: The Iranian Intelligent Agents killed another Kurd under torture.

According to the report by the European Human Rights Organisation Tahir Ahmedi from the city of Xane was arrested by the Intelligent Office due to his alleged involvement with a Kurdish opposition party as well as having a gun in his house.

The report said that last week Mr. Tahir Ahmedi’s corps was handed over to his family after 3 months of constant torture.

Iranian Forces shot another Kurd dead

Saturday, 03 April 2010

Eastern Kurdistan: in the city of Muhabad a 29 years old Kurdish man was shot dead by the Iranian Forces and another Kurd was tortured to death in the city of Xane.

According to the report on Friday morning at 8 am while the residents of Muhabad were heading out to the national fest of “Sezdebeder”, the Iranian Military Forces marked the day with the blood of the Kurds. The victim of this time was a 29 years old father of a little girl.

The report said that Celal Amini known as Celal Mine Beri a Kurdish worker from the city of Muhabad along with his wife and 5 years old daughter headed out for the national fest of “Sezdebeder” while he was shot. According to the report while he was driving through a check point, which is common in the militarised Kurdistan, the military forces demanded him to stop. Since Mr. Amini was previously sentenced to prison he did not stop his car and as the result of that the Military Forces opened fires on his car. Somehow Mr. Amini managed to escape from the scene and drove to his house.

The Iranian Military Forces chased him all the way down to his house and set a siege on his place to disable him from escaping again. Mr. Amini came out of his house and faced them in the street; he got shot four times. When his family receives his body back from the Iranian Forces they noticed the traces of twelve bullets mainly on his chest and neck. The report said that when the Military Forces took his body from the scene he was still alive but they tortured him to death and shot him 8 times more.

Iranian Police Forces attacked a peaceful demonstration

Friday, 02 April 2010

Eastern Kurdistan-Urmiye: According to the local participants in the demonstration the Iranian Police Forces and the dissidents clashed in the city of Urmiye.

On Friday morning hundreds of the local people gathered to express their discontent about the disclosure of the local bridge over the people. The report said that the participants chanted anti-government slogans.

The Iranian Police Forces raided the protest and dispersed the population using tear-gas. The provocative behaviour of the Police Forces resulted in the clash with the dissidents. A number of the people as well as the police forces were injured, report said.

According to the report after 5 hours of clash the police forces arrested a numbers of the dissidents. The Urmiye Bridge has also been captured by the police forces that the local people are not allowed to use.

Turkey: four Kurdish politicians on trial for speaking Kurdish

Friday, 02 April 2010

Northern Kurdistan- Hakkari: the Hakkari’s Mayor Fadıl Bedirhanoğlu, former mayor Kazım Kurt and the officials of the banned Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) Fahri Kurt and Rahmi Temel do all stand trial for addressing their electorates in Kurdish language in the run-up to the 2009 local elections.

The Court of First Instance of Hakkari in the Northen Kurdistan tries four Kurdish prominent politicians from the closed Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) on the grounds of having addressed their electorates in Kurdish language in the run-up to the local elections on 29 March 2009.

The DTP was the main Kurdish party in the Turkish parliament having 22 seats and 99 municipalities. The Turkish Court closed DPT to its alleged link with the Kurdistan Worker Party (PKK).

Iran: Kurdish mother and 2 children sentenced to death

Friday, 02 April 2010

Eastern Kurdistan- Urmie: The Iranian government continues executing the Kurdish people under the groundless accusations of “being the enemy of God” or threatening the security of the Islamic Republic.

Within this framework a mother and her two children from the city of Urmie were sentenced to death for threatening the security of the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Human rights organizations from Eastern Kurdistan confirmed that Caziye Dervis Zade and her daughter Dervis Zade “19” and her son Fetullah Dervis Zade “21” were sentenced to death. Accordingly the three suspects did endanger the Iran’s security.

The PJAK’s battle is the battle against one-self

Kurdishaspect.com

By Kardo Bokani

The Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK) is different with the other Kurdish classical organisations not in the name but in its ideologies. PJAK’s ideology is based on “Apoism” the philosophy of Kurdish national leader Mr. Abdullah Ocalan. PJAK believes that the Kurdish social and political issues can not be settled by Karl Marx, John Stewart Mill, Max Webber, Habermas or any other theorists from the left or the right; owing to the fact they have not provided a deep analysis of the Kurdish history, culture and society. The only philosopher who took a deep and thorough insight into the Kurdish society was Abdullah Ocalan; his thesis not only carries the potential to solve the Kurdish issue but also have the abilities to save the Middle East from all sorts of extremism.

One of the most outstanding works of Ocalan is called the “problem of personality” in which he provides a deep analysis of Kurdish classical personalities, individualities and characteristics. He concluded that the Kurdish personalities have over the course of history been created by the occupying forces of Kurdistan. If your enemy creates your personalities, he will create it in a way that suits its requirements. Ocalan suggested that with that classical Kurdish personality you cannot fight the occupiers; and Kurdistan will not be freed. With the personality of the enemy you cannot win the war against the enemy; this is the rules of fight. If you want to win the battle for the freedom; you need to have free personality; you need to re-create a ‘free’ individuality from the Kurdish classical oppressed character; a personality that suit the freedom paths. With the classical occupiers-made personalities you can not fight the occupiers. You will lose if you do, as the previous Kurdish resistance movements did.

Based on Aposim PJAK’s first battle is the battle against one-self; the social one; the battle against the classical-traditional oppressed individuality-personality-characters that had over the centuries been created by the occupiers of Kurdistan. In that sense PJAK believes in methodological individualism. All the PJAK’s members are engaged in a daily fight against their classical characteristic and seek to re-build a newly born and free individuality-personality. Hence PJAK is a social and cultural movement before it is regarded as a political one. If you have created free personalities-individualities for the Kurds, they occupiers would not be able to stay in Kurdistan. Mr. Haci Ahmedi the leader of PJAK says if you don’t leave the gaps, from where you would be attacked? The PJAK seeks to fill the gaps; that is why PJAK is different from the other Kurdish classical organisations.

PJAK is a movement that simultaneously struggles in five different fronts. Personality, nationality, gender, class and ecologic spheres; but its main battle is the battle against one-self, against the Kurdish classical oppressed personality-individuality-character. If you don’t manage to win the battle against your classical personality, you would face difficulties in the other areas of the struggle; this is what the PJAK has taken as the basis for its campaign and this is what makes it different from other Kurdish classical groups. Based on this argument the PJAK’s members are very well disciplined; they are expected to make a series of pledges, write regular reports on their own weaknesses and submit to regular, frequent “criticism and self-criticism” sessions. This generally seems adequate as a means of ensuring adherence to the ideal personality type. The PJAK keeps its members perpetually active, by convincing them that, no matter how well they apply themselves, they can never do enough.

The Kurds in all parts of Kurdistan now are embracing Aposim on an unprecedented scale. The PJAK now have members from all parts of Kurdistan. People now have noticed that Liberalism or Marxism can’t save Kurdistan. Neither Marx nor the liberal theorists have the recipe for the emancipation of Kurdistan; they have not studies Kurdish complicated social, historic, cultural and political issues. One might ask as to why the Aposit Movement in Kurdistan have enhanced into such a level. The underlying reason is that this movement took a deep analysis of the Kurdish social, cultural and political history, but before that, it had firstly analysed the Kurdish personality-individuality and oppressed characters; then it prescribed the solutions to the problems. It is like when you go to a doctor, the doctor has to test and examine ‘your’ body and then prescribe to ‘your’ body the required medications; with the examination of somebody else who can prescribe medication for you? Some one else can’t be examined and tested instead of you and your prescription can’t be used by someone else. That is why the PJAK says Liberalism and the Marxism have no solution to the Kurdish issue; because they have no the premise to support their conclusions; they have not studied Kurdish society; they have no analysis of the problems upon which they can prescribe solutions. The only possible solution is inherent in the philosophy of Ocalan the author of more than 100 valuable books; in which he has produced an outstanding analysis of the Kurdish society.

Based on the philosophy of Ocalan the PJAK is not a classic party; it doesn’t seek authority or power; it is as much ideological, ethical and organisational entity as it is an ecologic organisation which strongly advocates the rights of animals as well as the protection of nature. In the criticism of the liberalism, Ocalan claims that, “by taking the individual as the centre of the universe, the liberals give the individuals a free hand to dominate and exploit the nature”. The PJAK sees the gender inequality and the women’s oppression as a serious problem and reiterate that a free and equal society presupposes the emancipation of women. In that sense the PJAK is also a unique feminist movement which seeks the emancipation of women from the Middle Eastern cultural norms.

PJAK believe that a democracy which doesn’t transcend the mentality of the superiority of humans over the nature, superiority of male over female, its content will be hallow and won’t carry the potential to be an alternative for the society. All the backwardness and the damages that have been done to the nature go back to the liberal thinking which take the humans as a distinct entity and the centre of the universe. PJAK believes that in order to tackle these issues there is a need for an ecological revolution which revives the concept of the superiority to the nature.