17 million Kurds enough for Independent Northern Kurdistan

[Anthea]

In an attempt to gain support for Kurdish independence Kurds, who have suffered in a similar way to the Palestinians, are taking actions to share their history on how Kurdish land was stolen and divided, and how Kurds, the same as Palestinians, have been under constant attack

See below for list of Kurdish actions:

There is no list because Kurdish leaders in Northern and Western Kurdistan have shamefully betrayed all the freedom fighters who gave their lives for an independent Kurdistan

[Anthea]

Palestinian problems go back to the British giving Palestinian lands to the Jews

Kurdish problems go back to the British giving Kurdish lands to 4 different countries

Why are NOT Kurdish organizations pointing this out

Many countries say that Palestine should have their own country

Most Kurds believe that Kurds should have their own country

PKK refer to The Kurdish Freedom Movement

Yet HDP told Kurds they do not want freedom and HDP supports Ataturk NOT Kurds

Western Kurdistan, always strongly in favor of an Independent Kurdistan, now vile Kurds have moved into Western Kurdistan and taken the very name KURDISTAN from Kurdish lands and told the people that Ocalan does NOT want Western Kurdistan to become independent

The Kurdish people of Western Kurdistan were always a proud people and many of the leaders were my friends

Kurdistan means Land of the Kurds

My Name is Kurdistan and I Want my Country Back

[Anthea]

Green Left renamed as HEDEP

During the ongoing grand congress in Ankara, the Green Left Party will rename itself as the "Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party" (HEDEP)

The congress of the Green Left Party began in Ankara on Sunday. The party congress is attended by thousands of people from all over Turkey. Because there is not enough space in the event hall, the congress is being broadcast via a large screen in front of the Atatürk Sports Arena.

Before the start of the event, there was dancing inside and outside, and the slogan "Bijî berxwedana Rojava" (Long live the resistance in Rojava) Should be (LONG LIVE KURDISTAN) could be heard again and again. In the hall, central demands such as "Democratic solution to the Kurdish question", "No to isolation, peace now", "Democratic constitution" and "System change instead of climate change" are displayed on banners.

At the congress, around 800 delegates will elect the new co-chairs and the party council consisting of eighty members, and the members of the disciplinary and arbitration committees will also be determined. As previously announced, the Green Left Party, which contested elections for the first time in May due to the threat of a ban on the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), will rename itself at the congress. The new name is Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (Halkların Eşitlik ve Demokrasi Partisi, HEDEP).

Representatives of civil society organisations such as DTK (Democratic Social Congress, tr. DTK) and HDK (Peoples’ Democratic Congress) as well as various parties such as DBP, HDP, DP, SYKP, ESP, TIP, TÖP, EHP, EMEP, Sol, CHPG, DEVA, TSIP, DSIP, Azadî, KKP, KSP and PDK-T are participating in the congress.

Many foreign delegations and representatives are attending the Congress. Among them are Basque MP Oihana Etxebarrieta Legrand, BASTA General Secretary Franziska Stier, French Left Party co-chair Pierre Barbier, Elizabeth Doussain Puyraud from the French Left Party, Parliamentarian Ilona Szatmàri Waldau from the Swedish Left Party, MEP Nikos Papandreou, MEP Socialist Democrats Jörgen Siil, Jódís Skúladóttir, Mireille Court from the French New Anti-Capitalist Party, Primet Raphaelle from the French Communist Party, Mahmod Ahmad from the Norwegian Socialist Left Party, Liv Müller Smith Sivertsen from the Norwegian Red Party, Mina Jack Tolu, Hakan Taş from Die Linke. Also present are Antonia Tilly, Pınar Ecevitoğlu and Yasemin Ahi from the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Turkey Representation, Julia Bartman from the Heinrich Böll Turkey Representation, Valentina Škafar from the European Left Group and Janet Sawaya from the National Democracy Institute.

Speaking here, Meral Danış Beştaş, who was elected president of the council, said: “The enemies want to destroy our struggle for freedom but nobody can achieve to choke our march for freedom which we inherited from our history and will keep going until the last drop of blood.”

Speaking about the incommunicado detention of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan, who has not been heard from for 31 months now, Beştaş stated: “Mr. Öcalan is held in isolation. We will smash this isolation and the PKK leader Öcalan will attain his physical freedom. We trust our people and their struggle. We say “no to isolation” and “yes to peace”. We will continue to advocate for the equality and fraternity of peoples against vicious policies.

We stand with the people of Palestine who are under attack at the moment. Attacks against the Kurds are also going on, with the invaders seeking to annihilate our color, voice and language. We salute our friends who are waging a struggle under harsh conditions. We did and will never bow to repression. This congress of ours is for freedom.”

[Anthea]

PKK, 45 years struggling for the existence, freedom and honour of the Kurdish people

Will HEDEP be traitors to the Kurdish people or work toward an Independent Kurdistan !?!

HEDEP starts to receive candidate applications for local elections

People's Democracy and Equality Party (HEDEP) has started to receive candidate applications for the local elections to be held on 31 March 2024.

HEDEP will accept applications for municipal council membership as well as municipality co-mayors, said party’s officials.

Those who want to present the candidacies can apply to the commissions to be established in provincial and district organizations.

Applications started on 27 November and will continue until 10 December.

How will candidates be determined?

Ballot boxes will be established in every province and district to determine the candidates.

Party members, former executives, families and democratic mass organizations will be able to vote to select the candidates.

[Anthea]

HEDEP changes acronym to ‘DEM’

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Turkey's pro-Kurdish Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party, commonly known as HEDEP, has announced a change to its acronym to the DEM (“Time”) Party

Notably, the party’s name has remained the same, albeit the new “acronym” bears no actual resemblance to the name.

The change was made following a rejection by Turkey's Court of Appeal. Given the similarity of the HEDEP abbreviation to two outlawed groups, the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and the banned People's Democracy Party (HADEP), the court disapproved of its use.

The spokesperson for the party, Ayşegül Doğan, announced the new name on Monday at a press conference.

"Our party's essence is the struggle for peace and democracy. It is our resistance, determination, and struggle that will allow us to be written in history,” the spokesperson stated.

Formerly known as the Green Left Party, the party changed its name in its September congress along to the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party.

The party is a spiritual successor to the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which has been mired in legal action by Turkish authorities, with one of its founders, Selahattin Demirtas, currently behind bars.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/33 ... M%E2%80%99

[Anthea]

DEM party leaders visit jailed colleagues

The leaders of what were once thought to be a pro-Kurdish HDP and now renamedPeoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) made rare visits to colleagues who have been imprisoned for years for alleged links with Kurdish rebels

DEM Party co-chairs Tuncer Bakirhan and Tulay Hatimoglullari visited Figen Yuksekdag, Gultan Kisanak, Semira Guzel, and Nurhayat Altun at Kandira prison in Kocali province on Thursday, the party announced on Friday.

These four women, former co-chairs, mayors, and lawmakers, are affiliated with the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), the sister party of the DEM Party.

“Our colleagues stated that they continue to resist with great strength and hope and that they greet all the people of Turkey,” read a DEM Party statement.

The two co-chairs also visited former HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtas and Adnan Selcuk Mizrakli, expelled HDP mayor of Diyarbakir (Amed), who are both held in Edirne prison.

Scores of HDP party members have been in jail for years, with some like Demirtas serving more than seven years in jail. They have all been accused of having links with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)

Co-chairs Bakirhan and Hatimoglullari said that during their meeting with the four jailed female politicians they “exchanged views on the latest developments in the region and Turkey.” They also received the “valuable views and suggestions” from their jailed colleagues about upcoming March local elections that are very important for the pro-Kurdish party, which did not perform well in the general poll last May.

“We held consultations with Demirtas and Mizrakli to further strengthen the social opposition, which is being prevented by all kinds of pressure, conspiracy cases and closure cases,” Bakirhan and Hatimoglullari said.

“We exchanged ideas about the steps to be taken to solve Turkey's historical and political problems, especially the Kurdish problem, the ongoing hunger strikes in prisons, and the strategies we will follow regarding local elections,” the newly-elected co-chairs noted.

Demirtas’ father recently passed away, but he refused to submit a request to authorities for permission to attend the funeral. He has been presenting his lengthy defense via teleconference against charges related to 2014 Kobane protests.

In October 2014, during the Islamic State (ISIS) attack on the city of Kobane in northeastern Syria (Rojava), the HDP called for street protests urging the Turkish government to open a corridor for aid to reach the besieged Kurdish city across the border. The protests escalated into violence, resulting in the tragic loss of 51 lives and leaving hundreds more injured.

Turkish authorities, including President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, have blamed HDP and Demirtas for triggering the violence.

Over the past decade, Turkish authorities have detained and imprisoned thousands of members, officials, and lawmakers affiliated with the HDP on terror-related charges.

The DEM Party, previously named HEDEP, originated from the HDP. In the latest general election in May, the HDP strategically presented candidates under the banner of the newly formed Green Left Party to counter the imminent threat of closure. In October, the Green Left Party underwent a name change, adopting the designation HEDEP, and later changing to the DEM Party.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeas ... y/05012024

Scores of HDP party members have been in jail for years, with some like Demirtas serving more than seven years in jail. They have all been accused of having links with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)

Demirtas caused all the problems for HDP party members when, as leader of the HDP, he openly showed support for Ocalan and the PKK

The HDP proved they are NOT pro-Kurdish:

They supported Ataturkisim

Traitors to those who died in Dersim

They suppress Kurds telling they do not want Independence

Traitors to all who died fighting for Independence

[Anthea]

DEM has candidate for Turkish elections
By Wladimir van Wilgenburg

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The pro-Kurdish DEM (“Time”) Party Spokesperson Ayşegül Doğan on Sunday announced that the party would field their own candidate during the March 31 local elections in Turkey

“We decided to enter the Istanbul elections with our own candidates, which has been on our party's agenda for months, as the strongest option,” Doğan said.

“We will soon share with you both our Istanbul candidates,” she added.

Most likely, the party will choose Başak Demirtaş, the wife of imprisoned Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtaş, to run for Istanbul.

The decision hurt the chances of the Republican People's Party (CHP) to win Istanbul, with CHP supporters arguing it would easily give Istanbul to President Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP).

It also led unconfirmed speculation there was a secret backdoor deal between the AKP and DEM

“I believe the CHP was unwilling or unable to provide a clear path and project for the democratisation of Turkey and a lasting solution to the Kurdish question. These are the primary policy/political concerns of DEM Party’s base so neglecting them would have been irresponsible,” Giran Ozcan, Executive Director at Kurdish Peace Institute, told Kurdistan24

“Looking at the current actions of the governing AKP-MHP coalition I don’t think a behind the scenes deal is possible. The AKP are hellbent on quashing any Kurdish political articulation whether inside or outside the borders of Turkey and that would need to change before any kind of deal.”

Kayla Koontz, an independent researcher, told Kurdistan24 on Sunday that DEM’s decision to run an independent candidate probably has far less to do with a relationship with AKP than with their strained quasi-alliance with the opposition.

"(CHP’s Istanbul Mayor Ekrem) Imamoglu hasn’t delivered for DEM in recent years and (Kemal) Kilicdaroglu’s (former CHP leader) more dramatic nationalist rhetoric in the presidential elections offered a stark reminder of the deep chasms between the pro-Kurdish movement and the other opposition parties. Whatever the case, the DEM party seems to be in a period of transition and the opposition bloc weakened significantly after the election loss,” Koontz said.

During the last national Turkish elections on May 14, the traitorous HDP endorsed the Ataturk supporting CHP presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu and did not field their own candidate. However, the CHP still lost the elections to the ruling AKP.

In 2019, the HDP did not field a candidate and backed the CHP, which allowed the CHP to win municipalities of Ankara and Istanbul in 2019 local elections.

The DEM party is the successor to the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which has faced legal issues and a possible party closure.

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/33 ... -elections

Nobody should support the traitorous HDP who endorsed the Atatürkism CHP

What the HDP has done over the years has been a vile betrayal of all those brave people who fought and died for KURDISTAN

Many of the HDP are only interested in their self-aggrandizement

I have watched as the HDP have persuaded Kurds that they do NOT need independence, all they need is a few more rights

The final straw was when the HDP supported the CHP, the CHP being a descendant Atatürkism

Atatürk having been behind the slaughter of many thousands of Kurds

I believe Kurds deserve a NEW GENUINE KURDISH party supporting KURDISH FREEDOM

Sadly there are some genuine people connected to the HDP, they need support of others who believe in FREEDOM

NOTE: the PKK refer to their fighters as FREEDOM FIGHTERS

[Anthea]

Jailed MP stripped of parliamentary membership

Turkey’s Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) on Monday announced having resorted to the country’s Constitutional Court to appeal the decision to strip jailed parliament member Can Atalay of his parliamentary status

During a parliamentary session on Tuesday, Turkish Justice Minister Bekir Bozdag read a decision from the country’s Supreme Court inside the parliament, stripping Workers’ Party of Turkey (TIP) MP Atalay of his parliamentary status. The decision sparked an uproar among the members of the legislature.

The DEM Party stated on X that it “filed a complaint to the Constitutional Court after TIP MP from Hatay province was stripped of his parliamentary status,” referring to the decision as a “political coup.”

In the complaint, the DEM Party stated that the decision to strip Atalay of his parliamentary status was “null and void,” requesting the court to annul the decision in accordance with the country’s constitution.

In the parliamentary elections of May 2023, the DEM Party, then known as the Green Left Party, was TIP’s ally in the Labour and Freedom Alliance.

Atalay successfully ran for a seat in the legislature from jail in May’s parliamentary elections. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison as a part of the Gezi Park trial in 2022.

Following his electoral triumph in Hatay province, Atalay petitioned Turkey’s Supreme Court to release him on the basis of his parliamentary immunity to prosecution. The court rejected his petition in July.

Although the DEM Party has filed its complaint with the Constitutional Court, the subordinate Supreme Court has previously refused to comply with its ruling on the Atalay case.

In October, the Turkish Constitutional Court ruled in favor of Atalay’s release and ordered the Supreme Court to reverse its decision. The Supreme Court responded by issuing a statement accusing the Constitutional Court of “exceeding its legal authority” and filed a criminal complaint with the chief public prosecutor’s office against its members, pushing the country to the verge of a judicial crisis.

The Supreme Court rejected another Constitutional Court decision about the Atalay case in December.

Following Tuesday’s decision, Atalay stated on his personal X account, which is run by his lawyers that “Despite the Constitution’s clear provisions, which leave no room for doubt, they ‘dropped’ the membership of the elected MP for Hatay [province].”

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in October sided with the Supreme Court in its row with the Constitutional Court. He later said during a televised speech that he was not a party to the controversy but an “arbitrator,” and claimed the crisis was a sign the country needs a new constitution.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeas ... /050220241

[Anthea]

Basak Demirtas not to run as candidate
By Wladimir van Wilgenburg

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) - Basak Demirtas, the wife of imprisoned Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas, on Wednesday announced she will withdraw her Istanbul candidacy for the municipal elections scheduled for March 31

The DEM party is the successor to the pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), which faced closure by the Turkish Constitutional Court.

The pro-Kurdish DEM (“Time”) in a statement published by Bianet said they discussed all options, and agreed with Demirtas “upon in full harmony and coordination not to run as a candidate.”

Basak Demirtas herself in a statement said she met with the DEM party on Feb. 5, and reached a consensus that she would not be a candidate. “All our people and party members should know that all decisions were taken in full harmony and coordination with our Party," she said.

The party is expected to announce its candidates in Istanbul and other provinces on Friday.

On Feb. 4, the party announced it will have its own candidate for the upcoming Turkish local elections in Istanbul.

The decision hurt the chances of the Republican People's Party (CHP) to win Istanbul.

In 2019, the HDP did not field a candidate and backed the Ataturkist CHP, which allowed the CHP to win municipalities of Ankara and Istanbul in 2019 local elections

During the last national Turkish elections on May 14, the HDP endorsed CHP presidential candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu instead of running on their own.

However, the CHP still lost the elections to the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

https://www.kurdistan24.net/en/story/33 ... -elections

[Anthea]

More than 17 million Kurds

The Kurdish provinces in southeastern Turkey recorded a combined population of over 17 million in 2023, according to the Turkish statistic agency’s annual population report published on Tuesday

The Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) estimated the country’s population at 85,372,377 for 2023, an increase of over 92,000 from the previous year. The 25 Kurdish provinces in accounted for nearly 20 percent of the total population with 17,160,136.

The most populated province was Istanbul with more than 15,655,000, making up over 18 percent of the country’s total population. Sanliurfa (Riha) was the most populated Kurdish province with 2,213,964, according to the report.

Twin earthquakes shook 11 provinces in southern Turkey on February 6, 2023, killing over 50,000 people and destroying thousands of buildings, according to official figures.

Malatya, Kahramanmaras, and Adiyaman (Semsur in Kurdish) were among the provinces most affected by the tremors, which was reflected in the TUIK report. Malatya’s population dropped from 812,580 in 2022 to 742,725 in 2023, Kahramanmaras’ population went from 1,177,436 to 1,116,618, and Semsur’s population decreased from 635,169 to 604,978.

The Turkish government was heavily criticized by the opposition for the slow response to the earthquake, mainly due to not taking adequate prevention measures following the earthquakes of Elazig (Kharpet in Kurdish) and Izmir in 2020, which killed over 160 people.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeas ... y/08022024

More than 17 million Kurds[

More than enough for an independent Northern Kurdistan

But the Kurdish leaders in Turkey are corrupt and keep telling Kurds they do not need independence just a few more rights

Time for a Kurdish Independence Party