Turkish writer convicted because of his characters
ISTANBUL – The Turkish writer Mehmet Güler was sentenced to fifteen months imprisonment because characters in his book allegedly made propaganda for the PKK. This story appears in the Thursday edition of Hürriyet.
Güler’s book ‘Decision harder than death’ was published last year but was soon withdrawn from the market on charges of propaganda for a terrorist organisation. The book is …
Increased security measures in Turkish tourist areas
ISTANBUL – In tourist areas of Turkey extra security measures are being taken against attacks by Kurdish separatist movement PKK, according to several Turkish media on Friday. That is one of the outcomes of deliberations between the Turkish government and the army on Thursday. Exactly which measures will be taken has not been revealed.
The security measures are being intensified after …
Turkey investigates Israel-PKK ties
ISTANBUL –Turkish intelligence services are investigating whether there is a connection between the Israeli attack on the aid convoy to Gaza and a PKK attack on a Turkish marine base on the Mediterranean Sea a few hours earlier. Speculation about a link is rising in the Turkish press.
Newspapers have been printing articles about a possible connection between the two events …
Kurdish allowed in election campaign
ISTANBUL – The Turkish parliament has passed an amendment legalising the use of Kurdish in election campaigns, and thus removing an important restriction on the use of the language. This is according to reports in several Turkish media on Thursday. In parliament Turkish remains the only language allowed.
During last year’s local government elections, several Kurdish politicians got into trouble for …
ISTANBUL – After the banning of the DTP last Friday, Kurdish activists have formed a new political party: the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). The party was founded last year to take over the activiteis of the DTP in case the DTP was closed down. According to DTP leader Ahmet Türk, the BDP is a new party with new people …
It looks like a postcard, Northern Iraq. The mountains, the plains, the colours, the light. But in these mountains the PKK is hiding. And a bit further south, in the middle of such an empty plain, live ten thousand Turkish-Kurdish refugees in a gloomy camp. They want to go back home.
(published with a big beautiful picture of Northern …
Football club victim of Erdogan’s Kurdish plan
ISTANBUL – The Turkish football club Diyarbakirspor, from the Kurdish southeast of Turkey, has withdrawn from the Turkish foot ball competition, after the club was once again deluged with anti-Kurdish slogans at an away-from-home game. Anti-Kurdish sentiments have been on the rise since the Turkish government took the initiative this summer to solve the problems with the Kurdish minority.
The governing …
PKK group surrenders to Turkey
ISTANBUL (ANP) – A group of 34 men, women and children, some of them members of the Kurdish separatist movement PKK, have turned themselves in to Turkish authorities. This happened in the village of Silopi, near the Iraqi border. The surrender is seen as a sign that the PKK supports the initiative of the Turkish government to solve the Kurdish …
The fight between Kurdish seperatist movement PKK and the Turkish army was at its dirtiest in the nineteen-nineties. Hundreds of (alleged) PKK sympathisers were killed or disappeared without a trace. Who was responsible? It was thought “Jitem”, a secret anti-terrorism unit of the military police. The bodies were dumped in wells, fields and rivers. Now that Turkey is …
Öcalan obstructs Turkish government plan on Kurdish question
ISTANBUL – Ten years after his arrest, PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan still has a strong influence on how Turkey handles the Kurdish question. Even though Turkish media on Thursday praise the AKP government for declaring the Kurdish question will be solved by democratic means, the more concrete and far-reaching measures expected were not announced. The possible reason: Kurdish politicians, who …
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