Kids in southeast Turkey: smuggling to survive
SMUGGLING – At the end of December 35 people lost their lives in a bombardment by the Turkish army. Seventeen of them were less than 18 years old. They were smugglers, who brought diesel and sugar from Iraq to Turkey. There is a war going on in the area between Turkey and the PKK, a forbidden Kurdish movement. That makes …
Denderleeuw – ‘We won!’ An employee of the Kurdish channel RojTV, broadcasting under a Danish license, enters the newsroom with a phone in his hand. He is on the line to Denmark, where the judge just announced the verdict in a case against RojTV, which is accused by the Turkish government of being a terrorist channel. Then everybody cheers: ‘We …
Uludere victims’ families don’t want compensation
GÜLYAZI – The families of the 34 boys and young men killed last week in a bombing bythe Turkish air force, will not consider accepting the compensation the Turkish government is offering them. Prime Minister Erdogan announced on Tuesday that within a few days he would pay the families of the men, who were smuggling across the Iraqi border when …
‘Turkish TV can’t cover the news’
ISTANBUL – Turkish journalists are getting more frustrated about the increasing censorship in their country. Whenever there is big news concerning the fight against the Kurdish PKK, immediately the phone calls from the government in Ankara start coming in with instructions. And so it was this morning, after the news that dozens of civilians were killed in an air strike …
ISTANBUL – Early Tuesday morning in several Turkish cities a total of at least eighteen journalists were detained. The raids are part of an investigation of people who are active in Kurdish political and public organisations, which has been going on for years. One of the detained journalists is Mustafa Özer, photographer for the international press agency AFP.
A total of
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Turkey: from one dictatorship to the other
The AKP government of Prime Minister Erdoğan has effectively decreased the once unlimited power of the army. The power of the judiciary was strengthened. But now that power has too strong a grip on society.
Why did you visit wounded demonstrators in hospital? Why did you give interviews to so many TV and radio stations? Why did you attend that press …
Erdogan apologizes for Dersim massacres
ISTANBUL – The Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has apologized on behalf of the state for the massacres in the eastern province of Dersim, in 1937 and 1938. Around 13,000 men, women and children died in the massacres. Goal of the operation was to bring the rebellious province under the control of the republic.
The discussion about Dersim, which is called Tunceli …
‘Aid to Kurdish municipalities delayed’
ISTANBUL – Although the earthquake in the east of Turkey intensifies brotherhood between Turks and Kurds, on the other hand ethnic tensions are rising. Saban Isiktas, working for the Istanbul office of pro-Kurdish party BDP: ‘There are rumours that the aid to Van is being delayed because Van is governed by the BDP and not by governing party AKP. I …
PKK attack hampers work on new Turkish constitution
ISTANBUL (ANP) – “Our revenge will be great”, stated the Turkish president Abdullah Gül after PKK attacks in the country’s south east. The attacks on several police and army posts left 24 soldiers dead and 22 wounded.
Turkish ground troops crossed the border with Northern Iraq for the first time since 2008 in pursuit of the PKK fighters.
The increasing violence …
Kurdish party ends boycott of parliament
ISTANBUL – The pro-Kurdish party BDP is ending its boycott of the Turkish parliament. The MP’s will take their oath on Saturday, at the opening of the parliamentary year, the party announced on Wednesday. The BDP members refused to take their seats after the elections in June because some of their group members had not been released from prison.
The BDP …
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