Kurdistance

Welcome back to this week's edition of Kurdistance!

Hiwa gives us a wonderful link to a amatur video about the Kurdish community in Leeds, UK that is featured on the BBC. Hiwa also reports on an incident that has made headlines in Turkey. At a recent NATO seminar, an American lieutenant colonel used a map of the Middle East showing possible re-drawn borders in Iraq. On this particular map the Southeast of Turkey was included in the borders of a new country called “Free Kurdistan”. This has angered Turkish officals and an apology from US General Peter Pace had to be given to the Turkish Chief of Staff, General Yasar Buyukanit for the incident.

General Yasar Buyukanit has been a vocal opponent to all things Kurdish this week, as Rasti explains

“Which action of the military is undemocratic?” Buyukanit asked. “I am a soldier, and I am carrying out the duties given to me by laws. As soldiers, we have nothing to do with politics. However, if there are those who are disturbed by our assessments on security and regime, it is up to them.”

This is hilarious! The Turkish miltary has nothing to do with politics unless there's a coup in the works–whether hard or soft–and any duties given to the military by laws, are given to it by laws that were written by generals. If a country has a constitution written by generals, a constitution which serves to protect the state from the people, then that country is not a democracy. Therefore, every action the military undertakes according to such a constitution is, by its very nature, undemocratic.

Yasar Pasha is also worried about the Islamist threat, but he doesn't mention that is was the pashas who created the Islamist threat by their deal with the Islamists back in the early 1980's. Ostensibly this was to help contain the threat of Soviet expansion, the threat of Islamist expansion from Iran, and, especially, to counter the politicization of the Kurdish people. The pashas agreed to the Turkish-Islamist synthesis, believing that, through this means, they could control both the Islamist threat and Kurdish resistance. Plus it offered the potential to be a cheap way of combatting the PKK, so much so that Tansu Ciller admitted publicly that she had signed the order to give weapons to Turkish Hezbollah from military installations in Turkish-occupied Kurdistan.

Mizgin also writes about how the US PKK Coordinator is also on the board of Lockheed Martin, who recently arranged a very large arms shipment deal to the Turkish Military….a case of an obvious conflict of interest and a case detailing the emminent failure of the PKK ceasefire.

we read that US intentions toward the Kurdish people are moving in rhythm of the same song and dance that we all know so well. The “bad” Kurds remain “bad” Kurds, and the US has no interest in making a place at the table for those issues that “bad” Kurds face daily. Those issues include the recent increase in repression, especially as outlined in the new anti-terror law, the removal of America's allies, the Pashas, from the control of civil government, or an end to the Ankara regime's policy of equality through forced assimilation. Let's make it absolutely clear that this severe repression has been, and continues to be, actively assisted by the policies of the US government.

The joke is that the US has appointed a PKK coordinator in order to “counter PKK,” while ignoring gross human rights abuses perpetrated by Turkey, the eternal victim. Considering that both the Ankara regime and Washington have appointed two former generals to “counter the PKK,” there will be no effort on the part of either state to negotiate a peaceful solution to the dire situation of the Kurdish people. To complete the tirumvirate of evil against the Kurdish people, is Iraqi general, Amir Amed Hassun, a Sunni Arab.

Kurdish Aspect has been focusing this week on the tensions between the Turkish Government and the Kurdistan Regional Government in Northern Iraq over the status of the PKK and whether or not it is acceptable for the KRG to negotiate with the terrorist organization.

Why is it okay for Turkey to dialog with Hammas when Hamas is listed as a terrorist organization by Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Israel, and the U.S., and is banned in Jordan? However, it is not acceptable for Jalal Talabani, a Kurd and president of Iraq, to talk to PKK. In addition, Talabani’s dialog with PKK is nothing new. It was not long ago when former Turkish president, Turgut Özal, appealed for Talabani assistants to reach a deal with PKK in order to resolve the Kurdish issue. The cease fire of the 90’s was the direct result of those negotiations. Unfortunately Mr. Ozal passed away and those talks ended. In a short period of time, northern Kurdistan was again engulfed in violence.

However, the issue of the KRG's ability to negotiate with anyone is not an old one in Iraqi political spheres.

Roj Bash, is back up and running again with a four part (so far anyway) travelogue of a French speaking Kurd traveling back to Hawler in Southern Kurdistan/Northern Iraq. Unfortuately the author of these pieces is not listed on the blog entry itself (Roj Bash is a group blog). Topics covered in this travelouge include a trip to the Citadal and Bazar, a visit to the Ministry of Extra-Regional Affairs, and hanging out at a local park.

Vladimir on From Holland to Kurdistan reports about the latest news of a standard Kurdish language program being developed in the United States at the University of Indiana, Bloomington. This program is the first University program in the United States that has Kurdish language instruction. Vladimir also reports on a recent rash of Kurdish websites being hacked into by a Turkish group called Ayyildiz.

One could expect more attacks against Kurdish websites in the future. In Holland, one can get a one-year jail sentence for hacking websites. The Dutch website Zinloosgeweld.nl wanted to take legal steps, but since the Turkish hackers mostly operate from Turkey, this is fruitless. The only way you can prevent attacks, is by protecting and updating your website regularly.

2 comments

  • Bige vona

    Dear Debrah,

    I am not quite sure that you know about
    The peoples of Turkey, their history,
    Social, religious and economicks to write
    an opinion. It sounds as if you are parroting few views very few people
    In Turkey take seriously. To talk
    About a constitution which is preaperad
    By military as being anti-demokratic
    You must first know the history.

    The most democratic Constitution was
    Written in 1960 BY THE MILITARY
    After the coup. The Sivil government
    Of 1950’s emptied the treasury , sansured
    The press, and was heading towards
    Dictorship…..When “THE BIG BAD MILITARY took over the government,
    It was called “The first blodless” coup
    People were under such preassure they
    Were on streets hugging the soldiers,
    Then every one lined in front of the
    Banks to donate their gold , their
    Dollars, even their wedding bands
    In order to fill the treasury. This my
    Dear child is the story of the First
    Most demokratic Constitution of Turkey
    And unlike other military they turned
    The government over to the Civilian
    Leadership. Then It was Called one
    And only DEMOCRATIC COUP OF
    THE CENTURY by the world.
    Read and learn….

    I am going to leave it up to you to learn
    What happened from there on, and how that
    MOST DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTION
    ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD which by
    The way MILITARY WROTE got
    Abused by the same people whose views you are porrating when you write ,
    About Turkey, democracy and their much
    Loved and respected military,
    And how the need for second coup came
    About. Especially since you are “such
    An avid student of “everything Turkish”
    You may wonder, why Turks have such
    A special trust and love for their Army
    And respect for their Generals. You
    Must wonder, I am sure being such an
    Avid student of turkey you can not
    Think that they are stupid, or afraid
    To speak up……Now do you.
    Research the rest of the story then
    Write Avid students do not parrot.

  • […] I choose to begin this week’s article with a disclaimer which is spawned in response to comments I received on last week’s edition of Kurdistance: the contents of my articles are not of my own opinion, but rather the opinions of the bloggers that I cover. I try to remain neutral and objective in my article reporting: I take no sides, I will not withhold information and I will not skew what was said by someone else. The bloggers that I cover are not objective and it is my job to show you what their point of view on current events is. […]

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