Selahattin put HDP Majors & MPs at risk of imprisonment

[Anthea]

Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ
remain in prison

The former co-chairs of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş, remain in prison

On Monday, a court in Ankara made a review and ruled against the release of two politicians. The 8th Penal Court of Peace in the Turkish capital justified its decision with the risk of flight. Meanwhile, it is still unclear when the trial against Yüksekdağ and Demirtaş will start, as the indictment has still not been prepared.

Former HDP co-chairs Figen Yüksekdağ and Selahattin Demirtaş were arrested on November 4, 2016, at the same time as numerous other members of their party and subsequently imprisoned. Since then they have been in prison in Kandira and Edirne respectively. Last September, the arrest warrants against both politicians were surprisingly revoked. At the instigation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, however, the proceedings for "spreading hatred and incitement to violence" were reopened and a new arrest warrant obtained.

Erdoğan said: "We cannot release them. They have infiltrated the parliament. Our nation does not forget those who have called people to the streets and murdered our sons. We will persecute them and never let them go." The trial includes charges of attempted "destruction of the unity and integrity of the state", "incitement to looting for the benefit of a terrorist organization" and "deprivation of liberty".

Kobanê protests in October 2014

On the evening of October 6, 2014, after 21 days of resistance by the local defense units YPG/YPJ as well as the largely Kurdish population, the jihadist militia ISIS succeeded in penetrating the center of the northern Syrian city of Kobanê. In view of the critical situation in Kobanê, the HDP called on the people of Northern Kurdistan and Turkey to protest indefinitely against the AKP government, as it did not end its support for the ISIS. In the course of this, there were downright street clashes between Turkish security forces and the protesters in many cities:

Soldiers, policemen, village guards as well as members and supporters of the radical Islamist Hezbollah led a common fight against Kurds who participated in the protests. The number of people killed, most of whom were participants in the uprising, fluctuated between 46 and 53. Politicians from the AKP camp repeatedly refer to the assertion that Demirtaş and Yüksekdağ were responsible for the deaths of these people.

[Anthea]

HDP Muş co-chair taken into custody

The Turkish regime’s political genocide against the HDP continues unabated



Turkish police stormed the flat of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Muş provincial branch co-chair Abdulbari Yiğit this morning.

Yiğit was taken into custody during the operation in Bulanık district and taken to Bulanık District Police Directorate.

[Anthea]

Arrests in Turkey and
Northern Kurdistan

Once again the Turkish police stormed and devastated apartments in Northern Kurdistan and Western Turkey. Several HDP politicians were arrested, and a twelve-year-old was held at gunpoint to the head

ŞIRNAK

Turkish forces have stormed houses in the province of Şırnak on Saturday. A total of five people were arrested in the districts of Beytüşşebap, İdil and Silopi; Ramazan Cin, Ali Ül, Ihsan Olgar and Sabri Ormanlı and İslam Kurtay. Sekvan Cin who also faced an arrest warrant was not found at his place of residence. Since Friday, 14 people have been arrested in the province.

AYDIN

In the Ortaklar district in the western Turkish province of Aydın, HDP district association chairman Tekin Erikli has been arrested after his apartment was stormed early in the morning. During the search, family members were forced to lie down on the floor and police held a gun to the head of his twelve-year-old son. Erikli was taken to the anti-terror department at Aydın Police Department.

BURSA

In the province of Bursa, five people who had been arrested the day before over social media posts have been brought before the judge today. Aziz Amak was arrested and transferred to Bursa H Type Closed Prison. The other four were released.

ADANA

In Adana province in southern Turkey, 10 people who had been arrested last week, among them three minors, have been referred to court today. Ferhat Kalkan, a member of the HDP Party Council and Youth Council, as well as Serdal Aslan, Hasan Aslan and Ibrahim Önen were placed under house arrest for alleged “membership of a terrorist organization”.

MUŞ

Turkish police stormed the flat of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Muş provincial branch co-chair Abdulbari Yiğit this morning.

Yiğit was taken into custody during the operation in Bulanık district and taken to Bulanık District Police Directorate.

CIZRE

11 people were taken into custody during house raids carried out in Silopi and İdil districts of Şırnak province

The three people detained in Silopi have been referred to court today. Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Silopi district branch member Delil Ürek was remanded in custody for alleged “membership to an illegal organization” while the other two were released on condition of judicial control.

Of the 8 people who were detained in Cizre, four people were referred to court today and remanded in custody for alleged “membership to an illegal organization”.

The five people have been sent to Şırnak T Type Closed Prison.

[Anthea]

HDP lawmaker jailed 10 years

A Turkish court in southeastern Diyarbakir province sentenced a Kurdish lawmaker from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) to ten years for her alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)

Remziye Tosun, 39, is a parliamentarian representing her hometown Diyarbakir. She is married and has four children.

Tosun, who did not attend the hearing herself, was found guilty of treating wounded PKK-affiliated fighters in Diyarbakir’s Sur district in 2015 after the collapse of a short-lived peace process between Ankara and the PKK. Some PKK-affiliated young fighters had taken control of Kurdish areas by digging trenches around them. Some were injured when Turkish forces retook the area.

The court ruled that Tosun is a “member of an armed terrorist organization,” reported the independent Bianet news outlet.

HDP condemned the ruling as a blow to democracy.

“The sentence given to Tosun is a blow to democratic politics and the will of people. You cannot prevent us from practicing democratic politics or our women’s struggle,” the party said in a tweet.

Tosun has the right to appeal the ruling. If that fails, the Ministry of Justice will send a copy of the final court decision to the parliament where her parliamentary immunity could be revoked.

Two other HDP lawmakers, Leyla Guven and Musa Farisogullari, and a member of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) were impeached in June after convictions in court. The HDP lawmakers were accused of having ties to the PKK while CHP’s Enis Berberoglu was accused of leaking state secrets.

Former HDP co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag as well as many other party leaders are still behind bars after they were jailed in November 2016 for alleged links to the PKK.

The PKK is a Kurdish group that has waged an armed struggle against the Turkish state since 1984. The party seeks greater cultural and political rights for Kurds in Turkey. Clashes between the PKK and Turkish forces have caused the deaths of over 40,000 people from both sides, including civilians.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeas ... y/11092020

[Anthea]

HDP condemns politically
motivated arrests in Turkey

Turkish security force raids on the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) on Friday are politically-motivated. The authorities want to scare the party and its supporters

Turkish authorities issued arrest warrants for 82 people, including HDP officials, former parliamentarians, and a mayor, in relation to deadly October 2014 protests in Turkey after the Islamic State (ISIS) seized most of the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobane.

“The reasons for these operations are politically-motivated and the courts have become tools for this dirty and adversarial policy,” HDP spokesperson Ebru Gunay told Rudaw English via Whatsapp messenger. By targeting HDP, the government in Ankara harms the country’s democracy, she added.

The arrests are in connection with the 2014 Kobane protests that left 37 people dead, but Gunay denied HDP was responsible for the violence. “There is no evidence, though we know that the government and courts will not act as per evidence but as per their political opinions,” she said.

The party has asked the parliament many times to investigate the protests, but their calls were ignored because the government “knows that the truth is not in their favor. They know that the casualties were killed by people affiliated to the government,” said Gunay.

Turkish security forces responded to the 2014 protests with tear gas and water cannons. Gunay said 34 of the people killed were associated with HDP. Hundreds of protesters and security force members were also injured.

The arrest warrants were announced today by Ankara’s public prosecutor and related to acts theft, looting, attempted murder, and burning the Turkish flag during the protests.

As of Friday evening, at least 16 members of HDP have been arrested, Gunay said. Many of them were previously detained during local elections in March 2019. Gunay speculated that they were being targeted again because of HDP’s success in the elections. The government “wants to spread fear among the HDP supporters. They fail to understand from history, to know that the people and the HDP will not be afraid,” she said.

It is not clear why the arrest warrants are being issued now, six years after the protests. “No one can understand why the detentions are taking place now, while the incident took place six years ago,” Omer Faruk Gergerliogu, HDP lawmaker, told Rudaw English on Friday. “This means that there is no judicial rule in Turkey, but a political one.”

He claimed that the raids targeted Kurds.

Presidential spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said the arrests were “totally a legal process and we will monitor the developments.”

Some European political parties and Turkey’s main opposition condemned the arrests.

This is “yet another politically motivated attempt to silence” the HDP, stated the Party of European Socialists (PES), adding “The PES stands in solidarity with HDP and against this further crackdown on democratic opposition in Turkey.”

The Socialists and Democrats (S&D) Group in the European Parliament also condemned the arrests. “Despite repeated messages from Europe and the international community, the Turkish authorities still continue their attack against pro-Kurdish politicians. The detention of these people, including former members of parliament, is another step backwards pushing Turkey even further away from the EU,” said S&D Group’s vice-president, Kati Piri.

Kemal Kilicdaroglu, leader of Turkey’s largest opposition, the Republican People’s Party (CHP), called HDP co-chair Mithat Sancar, expressing his support and solidarity against what he described as a politically-motivated attack on HDP.

Sancar called on Turkey’s opposition parties to take a unified stance, saying “This attack on the HDP is actually an attack on the opposition.”

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeas ... /250920201

[Anthea]

HDP mayor announces resignation

The recently detained mayor of Turkey’s northeastern city of Kars has announced that he will resign from his position, saying he is too old to “play democracy.”

“I have passed the age to play democracy. The conditions in Turkey are not convenient to play the game,” said pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) mayor Ayhan Bilgen in a tweet on Wednesday:

“I will not allow the city to be tempered with arbitrary detentions. I will resign from my position - no matter if you arrest or release me - if no trustee is appointed until my detention period ends.”

Bilgen was among the 82 people sought out by police on Friday for their alleged involvement in deadly protests in some Turkish cities during October 2014 after the Islamic State (ISIS) seized most of the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobane.

The mayor and several other HDP politicians and members were detained on the same day. Bilgen said in the tweet that he was going to visit a police station to give his testimony.

Aged 49, Bilgen is among the few HDP mayors elected in March 2019 that have managed to remain in their positions. Most of the officials have been detained and/or replaced by pro-government and unelected officials.

Rudaw English has reached out to the HDP for comment on their mayor’s resignation.

Turkish security forces responded to the 2014 protests with tear gas and water cannons. Ebru Gunay, HDP spokesperson, told Rudaw English on Friday that 34 of 37 the people killed were associated with the HDP. Hundreds of protesters and security force members were also injured.

Gunay claimed that the Friday raids were “politically-motivated.”

“The reasons for these operations are politically-motivated and the courts have become tools for this dirty and adversarial policy,” said the spokesperson. By targeting the HDP, the government in Ankara harms the country’s democracy, she added.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeas ... /300920201

[Anthea]

Two more Kurdish politicians
detained in Turkey

Kurdish politician, lawyer and writer Mahmut Alinak, a former member of the Turkish parliament, was taken into custody in Kars province on Thursday for allegedly “insulting the president”. Alınak was detained in his home and taken to the provincial police department

Alınak had been arrested on February 17 in Kars on suspicion of “membership to a terrorist organisation”.The Kurdish politician was accused of “disrupting the unity of the state” and “undermining the independence of the state” and faces life sentence. He was released from prison to house arrest following the first hearing held at the 2nd Heavy Penal Court of Kars on May 13. The house arrest order was removed on September 24.

Alınak was imprisoned several times. In 2011, he was arrested during the KCK operations and spent seven months in prison. In 2014 he spent another three months in prison.

On the other hand, police raided the house of Hayri Bökü, co-chair of the HDP Turgutlu district branch in Manisa province. Bökü was not found home and was arrested outside later on.

Bökü was reportedly detained for mentioning “Kobanê” in a speech he had made during an event organised by the local people in the Çapaklı village on September 30. Bökü was taken to Salihli Gendarmerie Station.

[Anthea]

Four HDP officials detained

Four provincial co-chairs of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) were detained by Turkish security forces after fresh raids in Diyarbakir province on Thursday 22 October, according to the party

“Following a long-lasting search and raid on our provincial office in Amed and Yenisehir [central district] office, our co-chairs were detained,” the HDP said in a tweet on Thursday afternoon.

Diyarbakir (Amed) office co-chairs Zeyyat Ceylan and Hulya Alokmen were taken into police custody, as well as Kasim Kaya and Remziye Sizici in Yenisehir.

The reason behind the raids is not clear but the state-owned Anadolu Agency (AA) reported that the security forces found many documents, including posters of Abdullah Ocalan leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its members.

The PKK is a Kurdish armed group fighting for the INDEPENDENCE of Kurds in Turkey.

Ankara considers the PKK a terrorist organization and accuses the HDP of being the political wing of the group. The HDP has denied any links to the PKK but refuses to call it a terrorist organization.

Turkish security forces have conducted regular raids against the HDP in recent years, detaining and arresting scores of its members and officials. Most of them have been charged with links to the PKK.

Nine HDP parliamentarians have been detained since November 2016, according to the latest available party data, including former co-chairs Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag. At least 30 former HDP officials have also been detained. Most of them have been held on terror-related charges.

The HDP gained 65 of over a thousand municipalities in local elections held last March, but six mayor-elects were prohibited from taking office, on the grounds that they had previously been dismissed from mayorship by the government.

According to data from the HDP, 47 of the 59 mayors permitted to take office have been dismissed, then replaced with trustees appointed by the Justice and Development Party (AKP) majority government.

HDP Diyarbakır lawmaker Semra Guzel said "there is no logical reason for them to search the provincial building which is kept under their surveillance for 24 hours,” referring to regular gathering of a number of parents in front of the HDP offices, claiming their children have been abducted by the PKK. The parents have called on the HDP to play a role in returning their children.

“Political conspiratory operations have been carried out against our party in various ways for a long time,” the HDP’s Women’s Council spokesperson Ayse Acar Basaran said during a press conference.

The raids “once again demonstrate that the HDP is banned from doing politics,” she added.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeas ... y/22102020

It is time for a new, Kurdish Independence Party

One which will work towards Kurdish Unity and Freedom

[Anthea]

Friday dozens of politicians
and lawyers detained

On Friday Turkish police detained 72 members of a pro-Kurdish organization and a bar association in the southeastern province of Diyarbakir (Amed) on suspected links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK)

Cihan Aydin, head of the Diyarbakır Bar Association, told reporters that police began arresting members of the association at 3am.

“Today, we woke up and saw a detention operation against 34 members of our Diyarbakir Bar Association, 24 of them have been detained,” said Aydin, describing it as “political revenge.”

According to Aydin, authorities had said names and phone numbers of those arrested were found in Democratic Society Congress (DTK) documents recently confiscated in police raids.

The DTK is a civil organization working towards resolving the status of Kurds in Turkey. Its co-chair Leyla Guven, elected to the parliament in 2018 on a joint ticket with the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), was arrested on terror-related charges and accusations of ties with the PKK.

She was released from prison in June, but stripped of her parliamentary standing.

Turkish state-owned Anadolu Agency (AA) claimed that police seized two unlicensed guns, 165 rounds of cartridges, digital materials and documents about the PKK in the raids. It describes the DTK as the legislative body of the PKK.

The PKK is an armed group struggling for the increased cultural and political rights of Kurds in Turkey in the last four decades. It is regarded as a terrorist organization by Ankara and its Western allies. Most of the raids against Kurdish activists, politicians and journalists are linked to the PKK.

The arrests come amid a government project to “reform” the judicial system as announced by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on November 13.

The HDP condemned the detentions, saying one of their leadership members, Berna Celik – a member of the DTK- was also detained.

The HDP denies Ankara’s claims of its links to the PKK, but refuses to call the group a terrorist organization.

Dr. Seyhmus Gokalp of the Turkish Medical Association was also detained, according to Human Rights Watch Turkey director Emma Sinclair-Webb.

Arrest warrants were issued for another 29 people as part of an investigation into the PKK, AA reported.

Umit Dede, deputy HDP co-chair for Human Rights Affairs said in a statement that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the ultranationalist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) target anyone who seeks democratic politics.

“These detentions, carried out in a rush, against our party and democratic institutions cannot be explained by law. These detentions are a product of the intimidation policy implemented by the AKP / MHP government against HDP and other institutions and individuals representing democratic politics.”

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeas ... y/20112020

[Anthea]

Demirtas denies links to PKK

Jailed leader of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party (HDP) Selahattin Demirtas has rejected accusations linking him with the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK)



In an interview released by "Bir Arti Bir" (One plus One ) on Saturday, Demirtas answered a range of questions on his political affiliations and opinions on the status of Kurds in Turkey.

"I'm a politician and I'm not linked to any organization other than the HDP. I'm a politician who chose the path of democratic politics because I don't find the methods of using violence and arms appropriate,” Demirtas told the Turkish magazine.

Demirtas has been imprisoned since November 2016, awaiting trial on a flurry of legal cases and terror-related charges often brought against pro-Kurdish officials and activists.

"If I were a PKK member, I would have at least said that in court, I am what I am.” Demirtas said in response to his alleged links with the PKK. “I have nothing to hide, and I have not conducted any illegal activity.”

“I believe that democracy is the antidote for violence…. all problems must be solved by peaceful political methods,” Demirtas added.

The PKK, which has struggled for decades for increased rights for Kurds in Turkey, has been branded a terror group by the Turkish government.

In November 2018, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued a ruling on Demirtas' appeal of his detention, and ordered Turkey to release Demirtas, a ruling dismissed by Ankara.

Bulent Arinc, a top aide to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, resigned last week after calling for the release of Demirtas and jailed Turkish philanthropist Osman Kavala.

Demirtas expressed optimism regarding the use of Kurdish language in Turkey, and claimed that it is the duty of the administration to make way for the language to be freely used.

“There is no need to be pessimistic… the main way for a language to be preserved is through its constant use,” he said. “In order to preserve this language, we need collaboration from the administration.”

The Kurdish language has been silenced in modern Turkey since its foundation in 1923, due to the oppressive assimilation policies of successive governments. A 2019 study showed that only a small proportion of Turkey’s Kurdish population can speak Kurdish.

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeas ... y/29112020

[Anthea]

Hatred against HDP

1000 people detained in 10 days

The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Democratic Local Governments Women's Council spokesperson, Hediye Karaaslan made a written statement regarding the political genocide practices:

"The AKP-MHP government, which pursues its hatred policy, has detained nearly 1000 people in the last ten days through political genocide operations. The previous day, dozens of people, including our Cizre Municipality co-mayor Berivan Kutlu, members of the Municipal Council and the Provincial Council, were detained", said Karaaslan.

WOMEN ARE TARGETED IN PARTICULAR

The statement continued:

"Our Cizre Municipality Co-Mayor Berivan Kutlu, who was suspended from her duty with the Trustee Coup on 29 October 2019, has been detained four times since she took office with the local elections on 31 March 2019. Kutlu, detained with false indictments each time, was detained and threatened by the police who told her to leave the country during her previous detention.

Fearing the organized power and existence of women, the AKP-MHP’s male alliance targets women and women's struggle in particular in all of its attacks. The very first thing to do by the trustees appointed by the AKP-MHP government is always to attack women’s gains and our co-chairmanship system.

With the trustees being appointed, our female co-mayors and council members were detained and imprisoned. As a result of the government's male dominant and misogynist policies, 19 of our co-chairs were taken hostage. Dozens of councilors are still being detained, including 7 female co-mayors.”

WE WILL NEVER BOW

Spokesperson Karaaslan called out to the government, "We have never bowed to your misogynist policies and your attacks against our co-chairmanship system until today, nor will we ever.”

She added; "We, women, will continue our struggle against the trustee politics that usurp our achievements. It should be known that our Cizre co-chair Berivan Kutlu is the chosen will of the people and women of Cizre. Berivan Kutlu and all of our hostage friends should be released immediately.”

https://anfenglishmobile.com/women/hatr ... days-48376

[Anthea]

Turkey sentences HDP lawmaker to 22 years

A Turkish court on Monday sentenced a prominent Kurdish former lawmaker who went on a months-long hunger strike to more than 22 years in jail on terror-related charges

Leyla Guven, a Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker who was stripped of her parliamentary immunity in June, was convicted of “membership of a terror group” and “disseminating terror propaganda” for the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), an AFP reporter said.

Guven, 56, launched a 200-day hunger strike in 2018 in a bid to end jailed Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan's isolation by securing him access to his family and lawyers.

The PKK, which is seen as a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies, has fought the Turkish state for increased rights for the country’s Kurdish minority since 1984.

Ocalan has been serving a life sentence for treason on a prison island off Istanbul since his 1999 capture.

Despite his almost complete isolation, he is still a key figure of the Kurdish insurgency and the movement generally in the region.

In May last year, he called for an end to hunger strikes by thousands of jailed supporters in Turkey, who were surviving by drinking only salty and sugary water.

Ocalan was allowed to meet his brother Mehmet for the first time in more than two years on January 12 last year, but details of the meeting have not been made public.

In May last year, he was allowed to see his lawyers for the first time in eight years.

Guven was in custody on separate charges when she launched her hunger strike.

She was freed under judicial control last year after serving a one-year term for labelling the Turkish military operation against the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) an "invasion."

The government accuses the HDP of links to the PKK, which the party denies.

Founded in 2012, the HDP, a pro-Kurdish leftist party, has been subject to repressive measures from the Turkish government, including party member arrests, since its establishment.

Turkish authorities in September issued arrest warrants for 82 people, including HDP officials, former parliamentarians, and a mayor, in relation to deadly October 2014 protests in Turkey after the Islamic State (ISIS) seized most of the Syrian Kurdish city of Kobane.

“The reasons for these operations are politically-motivated and the courts have become tools for this dirty and adversarial policy,” HDP spokesperson Ebru Gunay told Rudaw English at the time.

Guven's daughter Sabiha Temizkan said her mother was convicted for her work with the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Congress (DTK), a civil society group which has not been banned by the Turkish state but remains under close scrutiny.

In a tweet, Temizkan called the Turkish government "the enemy of the law."

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeas ... y/21122020

[Anthea]

Demirtas release ruling

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) announced that its website suffered a cyberattack on Wednesday, one day after the court called for Turkish authorities to immediately release jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas

“Following the delivery of the Selahattin Demirtas v. Turkey (no. 2) judgment on 22 December, the website of the European Court of Human Rights was the subject of a large-scale cyberattack which has made it temporarily inaccessible,” read a press release from the ECHR.

“The Court strongly deplores this serious incident. The competent services are currently making every effort to remedy the situation as soon as possible,” the press release added.

Access to the ECHR’s website has since been restored.

Demirtas, the former co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), was detained in November 2016 along with a number of other HDP officials and parliamentarians for their alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey but classified as a terrorist organization by Ankara. He faces up to 142 years in jail for the charges brought against him.

The ECHR ruled yesterday that Turkey must “take all necessary measures to secure the applicant’s immediate release” with relation to Demirtas’ detention.

The court found “several violations” of the European Convention on Human Rights in the case of the detention of Demirtas, particularly with respect to exercising his freedom of expression.

The ruling was dismissed on Wednesday by Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who accused the ECHR of "double standards" for failing to condemn PKK "violence".

https://www.rudaw.net/english/world/231220201

[Anthea]

The PKK lost my support when it gave up the fight for the freedom and independence of Kurds and decided they wished to become friends with the Turks and gain increased rights for Kurds living under Turkish occupation inside Turkish borders

ALL the many Kurds I know want an INDEPENDENT UNITED KURDISTAN

Thousands of Kurds joined the PKK to fight for freedom and thousands died

Now the PKK itself have become TRAITORS to the Kurdish cause

Fortunately, there are some leaders who still believe that Kurds should have a FREE and UNITED KURDISTAN

As for the HDP, if it really had the support of millions Ocalan would have been freed years ago

Also if the HDP had the support of millions they could have saved HASANKEYF instead of allowing Turkey to destroy the MOST IMPORTANT architectural site on Kurdish land

Kurds in both North and West Kurdistan need NEW LEADERS, ones who will work toward UNITY and FREEDOM

The PKK should be the ARMY of NORTH KURDISTAN

The PKK started out working towards an Independent Kurdistan, which is why so many thousands of people suppored them

The PKKs main problem is it's Marxist ideology, because as soon as they stated that they were working towards an Independent Communist Kurdistan any chance of international support was gone. Especially as almost all communist countries were giving up communism

The Kurds themselves knew little about communism. All they knew was that Turkey had been killing Kurds and destroying Kurdish homes and villages ever since Kurdish land was given to Turkey, without the consent of the Kurdish population

Had the PKK not followed a Marxist ideology, I am POSITIVE they would have gained international support for an INDEPENDENT KURDISTAN

[Anthea]

Demirtas European court ruling

Basak Demirtas, wife of jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas said on Thursday that she expects her husband to be released by Turkish authorities following a release order from a top European court

“I expect Selahattin to be released of course because Turkey is one of the signatory countries to the European Convention on Human Rights,” she told Reuters on Thursday, adding that Ankara is a member of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) as well.

The Grand Chamber of the ECHR ruled on Tuesday that Turkey must “take all necessary measures” to secure the “immediate release” of Demirtas, the former co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).

“We knew both Selahattin and his friends have been kept in jail unlawfully, unjustly. It made us happy that the ECHR made this official,” Basak Demirtas said.

“The issue is not only about Selahattin. The whole judicial system needs to be fixed.”

Demirtas was detained in November 2016 along with a number of other HDP officials and parliamentarians for their alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a Kurdish armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey but classified as a terrorist organization by Ankara.

He faces up to 142 years in jail for the charges brought against him, which relate to speeches he made during nationwide protests in 2014 in solidarity with the Kurdish city of Kobane in Syria, then besieged by the Islamic State (ISIS).

Tens of people died in the protest after clashes erupted between protesters and security forces. Turkish officials continue to blame Demirtas and the HDP for the casualties.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said earlier this month that Demirtas would not benefit from any planned “reforms” made to the country’s judicial system, branding him a “terrorist”.

He also dismissed the ECHR ruling, accusing it on Wednesday of "double standards" for failing to condemn PKK "violence".

Demirtas remains in detention even though two Turkish courts and the ECHR have called his detention unlawful, his wife said on Thursday. “Now, you cannot declare anyone guilty only because you want it that way,” she tweeted. “This is the real crime!”

https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeas ... y/24122020

If Turkey took any notice of the fact it is a member of European Court of Human Rights, or even remotely cared about anyones human rights, Hasankeyf would not have been destroyed, Kurds would be free from Turkish oppression and Ocalan would be free

If Demirtas is released, then all other HDP members must also be freed because it was mostly Demirtas support of the PKK that lead to others in HDP being arrested