NEWS FOR FRIDAY

"Actually, Cemil Çiçek's approach, in a way, is Turkey's century-long general approach. The hysterical, assimilationist, exclusionist, vengeful, denialist policy reveals itself through Cemil Çiçek."
~ Mehmet Nuri Güneş, DTP mayor of Iğdır.

Last week the Vineyard Saker interviewed Zerkes from Zerkesorg. It's an excellent and extensive interview discussing the current situation in Turkey, the Turkish Deep State, and potential Kurdish alliances in the region, so go on over to The Vineyard of the Saker and enjoy.


This week the third installation of an examination of the career of the new American Turkish Council chairman Richard Armitage is up at Sibel Edmonds' place. You can also find Part 1 and Part 2 on Armitage if you missed them.





Down in Tucson, Arizona there's been a bit of a dust-up over a Gülen school. You might want to notice the final comment of the Turkish principal:

"I'm hoping that they know that these are defamatory allegations which may put them in trouble later on. These are excelling schools. ... I hope they are aware of what they're doing."

Cue threatening music . . .

Turkish is taught in the school and students are encouraged to participate in Gülen's Turkish Olympiads. The Turkish Olympiads are sponsored by local Turkish organizations around the world and news about these Olympiads regularly appear on Fethullah Gülen's official website.

The interesting thing about this, especially in the US, is that the Bush administration created the National Security Language Initiative in 2006. Turkish is included as a language that is "fundamental to the economic competitiveness and security interests of the Nation."

Now, that begs the question: What kind of translators are former Gülen students going to be? Are they going to be like Sibel Edmonds? Or are they going to be like Melek Can Dickerson? Does anyone think, if these students have a Gulen-inspired view of Turkey--a Turkish nationalist view of Turkey--that they are going to translate things in a way that is favorable to Turkey? Doesn't that undermine the whole idea of a "National Security Language Initiative"?

Finally, last week the DTP/BDP mayor of Iğdır, Mehmet Nuri Güneş, was among those detained in the continuing terror actions against the Kurdish people in Turkey. Many here will remember an interview with Comrade Mehmet from ANF last year. This was after deputy prime minister Cemil "Chicken Little" Çiçek almost had a stroke because the DTP (read: the KURDS) had taken over Iğdır. The problem being, of course, that Iğdır borders Armenia and you know how Kurds might just let the Armenians in the back door so that they would be able to SEPARATE--OMG! OMG! OMG!--Turkey.

According to Roj TV, Comrade Mehmet's detention officially became an arrest last weekend.

ALI HASAN AL-MAJID FINALLY PAYS FOR THE CRIME OF GENOCIDE

"I will kill them all with chemical weapons! Who is going to say anything? The international community? Fuck them! The international community and those who listen to them."
~ Ali Hasan Al-Majid.

Well, well, well . . . they finally executed that son-of-a-bitch Ali Hasan Al-Majid. I would have preferred that Chemical Ali had been handed over to the women survivors of the Anfal so that they could cut him to pieces rather than allow him the comfort of a hangman's noose but, unfortunately, proper Kurdish justice was once again thwarted.

Here's a little something on the dead bastard:

Chemical Ali is responsible for a lot more suffering than what happened in 1988. Here are some videos about Helebce which show some of the long-term effects of chemical weapons on the civilian population. I believe these videos are from 1998 because they feature Dr. Christine Gosden of the UK, who went to Helebce in 1998 to evaluate the long-term effects of weapons of mass destruction:

Remember that it wasn't only in Helebce that chemical weapons were used. It was the policy of the Saddam regime to use these kinds of weapons against the Kurdish people.

For more on Dr. Gosden's evaluations, see this article of hers from the Washington Post. Check also her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Technology, Terrorism and Government and the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

I have posted the following videos before but, now that Al-Majid is dead, it's time to revisit them so that we should never forget. Besides, these videos were a documentary that was never aired in the US. I wonder why?

Now it's time to deliver those non-Iraqis who are responsible for the Anfal to the Kurdish women survivors . . . and let them all be cut to pieces.

ÖCALAN IN IL MANIFESTO

"The Turkish State’s mentality to date of denying the Kurdish people their fundamental human rights, is not so different from the uniformising fascist, authoritarian mentality that in the twentieth century established itself in Germany and Italy."
~ Abdullah Öcalan.

Italy's Il Manifesto has begun publishing articles by Abdullah Öcalan. Here is a translation of the first article, from the International Initiative

A just peace for the Kurds

by Abdullah Ocalan

I respectfully greet all the readers of Il Manifesto and my friends in Italy. My particular thanks go to your newspaper for giving me this opportunity to express my opinions.

Italy is a country that holds a most particular meaning for me. Not only because in November 1998 my quest for a democratic solution to the Kurdish question led me to Rome, but also because of the high opinion I hold of Italian history and the struggles for liberation that have taken place there. In my most recent book, “The Democratisation of Middle-Eastern Culture”, I devoted several pages to Italy and its role. I hope to be able to share it with my readers soon, although direct communication may not always be possible due to my being in solitary confinement.

On another occasion I would like to discuss the international conspiracy that brought me from Rome to the island of Imrali. To discuss not only the historical significance of this event for the Kurds, but also the power structures of the global system and the nature of international relations. I think this could be of interest to the progressive side of European public opinion.

I personally learnt historical lessons from the 3-month odyssey that took me to Athens, Moscow and Rome. The central concept of my most recent books is that of the “capitalist modernity” which, with its 1000 masks and weapons, I was able to witness close-up during my adventure. If this hadn’t happened I would never have drawn the conclusions that I did. Perhaps I would have remained attached to a simple, statist-type nationalism, or would have become part of a classic left-wing movement like so many before me. As a socio-scientifically thinking individual I don’t want to draw any definitive conclusions, but I assume that I would never have been able to arrive at my current analyses.

I would like to underline a fundamental conclusion. The true strength of the capitalist modernity lies neither in its money nor in its arms. Its true strength is represented by its almost magical ability to suffocate in its own liberalism all utopias, including the strongest and most recent utopia – socialism. Until we are able to understand how the whole of humanity can be trapped in the vortex of liberalism, even the most self-confident school of thought will be incapable of being anything but a lackey to capitalism, let alone the possibility of fighting it.

I am fighting with the Kurdish people, not only for our identity and our existence. Our battle is also against the dominant ideology of the capitalist modernity and is an attempt from Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization, to contribute towards the creation of an alternative which we call “democratic modernity”.

In the context of global terrorism paranoia, we see the attempts by the Turkish government to label our democratic struggle as “terrorist” as just the same old propaganda game. The Turkish State’s mentality to date of denying the Kurdish people their fundamental human rights, is not so different from the uniformising fascist, authoritarian mentality that in the twentieth century established itself in Germany and Italy.

To this day the Turkish State perpetrates political, economic and cultural genocide against the Kurdish population. The Kurdish people opposes this with obstinate, organised resistance. I continue my quest for a peaceful, democratic solution against the chauvinist, fascistic nationalism which has, in the meantime, advanced its lynch-mob culture wherever Kurds live. From 1993 onwards I have made a number of proposals and tangible steps. The unilateral ceasefire in 1999 – the year of crisis – was respected despite various attacks, the withdrawal of guerrillas from Turkish territory and the symbolic peace delegations from Europe and from the Kandil mountains, are only a small part of the peace efforts. The fact that in 2009 the guns have been unilaterally silent and a delegation of guerrillas arrived in Turkey from the Kandil mountains should serve as proof of the continuity and perseverance of my efforts for peace. Despite everything the stance of the Turkish State has not changed. Our efforts in the direction of peace continue to be underestimated and are taken as a sign of weakness. Military operations and attacks on the population continue. All the state organs continue to shout in unison: “eliminate them!” The current AKP government is carrying out the most insidious diversionary manoeuvre of all in trying to make the European states believe that they are working towards democratisation and a solution to the Kurdish question.

It is this government that has passed laws, thanks to which Turkish prisons are full of Kurdish children and thanks to which in Sirnak a prosecutor could demand 305 years of imprisonment for five children. Thanks to this government it was possible to outlaw the Party for a Democratic Society (DTP). And it is this government that continues to humiliate Kurds, taking Kurdish mayors away from their electorate in handcuffs, something that recalls images of the deportations to concentration camps.

The Kurdish people will never stop fighting for their fundamental rights. They will continue to organise themselves with the aim of regaining their dignity and a life of freedom. The will gain that freedom fighting with democratic means, but also reserving their right to self-defence. I have not the slightest doubt of this.

In concluding this article, written at the beginning of a new year, I would like to wish the Italian people a happy 2010. That this year may bring liberation to oppressed peoples, classes and sexes.

Fırat News reports that Il Manifesto is not revealing the source that is giving it Öcalan's writings, although the Italian paper remarked that it is not receiving the writings through regular mail or through email. Another Italian-language news site reports on the Turkish [In]Justice Ministry's statement--via its website--that "Öcalan has no right to send articles to newspapers or write for a newspaper while being held [in prison]".

A follow-up article in Il Manifesto describes the response received by the paper after Öcalan's initial piece. Here's a portion (translation courtesy Google):

Our site has been besieged ever since a few minutes after the publication of the output of the first article signed by the President of the PKK. Two positions, clearly the opposite: there are those who evaluated the initiative for what it is, namely the attempt to give voice to a leader who - you judge how you want - is working on a solution to the conflict (and perhaps is worth remembering that the PKK is a unilateral ceasefire since last March, that is, ten months). There are others who simply preferred the attitude of former British Prime Minister John Major (British, however, withdrawn by the same major): Ocalan is the devil and a priori does not interest me to know what to think or what to propose.

The Turkish side on our site was bombarded with foul language and insults. A sort of organized attack, given that many had the same email address. The most frequent comments: Ocalan is a terrorist who can not give voice. Kurdistan does not exist, the Kurds do not exist, then what are you talking about? Why do not you do your own business? (written in a much less polished way). Many Americans, or at least email from the U.S., have reminded us that the PKK is on the list (the American and European Union) of terrorist organizations. So was the IRA, Irish Republican Army and now his (stated) commander, Martin McGuinness, Deputy Prime Minister of the decentralized government of Northern Ireland.

I might add that Nelson Mandela was also once-upon-a-time listed on a "terrorist" watch list by the American government, as are certain former KDP members who served as translators for the US Army in Iraq. What was the KDP's crime that it was characterized as an "undesignated terrorist organization" by the US? It tried for many decades to overthrow stalwart American ally, Saddam Hussein.

Hehehe . . .

INTERVIEW WITH ABDULLAH DEMIRBAŞ

"If the country needs communism, we will bring it."
~ Abdullah Demirbaş, quoting the Kemalists.

Here's a short interview with the now arrested mayor of Diyarbakır-Sur, Abdullah Demirbaş. He talks about the same things I've bitched about since forever. In the first part of the interview, he points out the hypocrisy of the Turkish regime using Kurdish for itself--even though in many cases such use is illegal--while forbidding the use of Kurdish for Kurds. Hand-in-glove with that goes his implication of the international community's Pay attention, too, to his remarks on the fact that the Turkish consitution must be changed and that identity must not be connected in any way to the constitution.

While he doesn't say it because he can't, let's not forget that the changes forced on the regime thus far are not only the result of struggles by those such as Musa Anter, Uğur Kaymaz, and many, many others; it is also the result of the struggle of our courageous guerrillas and Abdullah Öcalan.

Many thanks to the comrade who sent the links.

Without further ado:

Now, he doesn't sound like you expected a big, bad, scary, SCARY "terrorist" to sound, does he? But that's what he's been arrested for.

The petition to free Kurdish mayors like Abdullah Demirbaş is still available for your signature.

Serkeftin!

ARMENIANS, KURDS, AND THE RECALCITRANT TURKISH NATION

"I write upon Kurdish-Armenian relations with a mingled feeling of regret and of gratitude. That, through the sinister influence of the Turk and the ignorance of the Kurd, the Armenian, in certain localities and at certain periods, has suffered is a cause for deep regret. That we have already buried the past is cause for congratulation and gratitude . . . "
~ Sureya Bedirxan, The Case of Kurdistan Against Turkey, 1928.

In the past I have said that unless Turkey acknowledges the Armenian Genocide and settles its situation with the Armenian people, the survivors of that genocide, then there will be no precedent for Turkey to acknowledge the atrocities it has carried out and continues to carry out against the Kurdish people.

I'm not the only one who thinks this way. Taner Akçam spoke in just this same way on 4 January in Lebanon. There's a video below and a partial transcript, which begins at about the 3:50 minute in the video:

"The main flaw of this concept [the Turkish national security concept] is its perception that the promotion of basic democratic rights such as equality, and social reforms and freedom of speech are a threat to national security. So, this is very important. In the past, the emergence of the so-called Armenian Question was the result of Armenian demands for equality and for social reforms which arguably would have led to a better Ottoman society. Their demands and the Armenians themselves were considered as a security threat by the Ottomans, which led to them being targeted for massacres and deportations. Today the demand for an honest account of history is being handled in the same way--as a security problem.

"The irony is that criminalizing historical injustices for national security reasons is not only a huge obstacle on the path to democracy, but also is counterproductive and leads directly to real security problems for the Turkish state. The self-fulfilling prophecy, as it's called, can be shown not only in the Armenian Genocide of the past but in the Kurdish problem of today. Just as the Armenians and their social and political demands for a more just society were considered a threat in the past, a democratic future for Kurds today is also considered a threat to security

"So, instead of solving the Kurdish problem by seeking solutions that would lead to a more democratic society, the old--I would argue now useless security concept--has been resurrected and and has declared that the Kurdish demands are essentially a security problem for the Turkish nation. [ . . . ] As long as Turkey continues to regard moral principles, one of which is facing historic injustices with honesty, and national security as two opposing foes that are mutually exclusive, and refuses to come to terms with the past for national security reasons, indeed as long as Turkey's national security is defined in opposition to an honest historical recounting, further problems will be created in Turkey.

"So, there is a security aspect for the Middle East. A non-democratic, authoritarian Turkey creates more security problems than it solves when it makes the consistent denial of historical injustices an integral part of its security policy. It is exactly this attitude that delays not only democratization in the region [ . . . ] You cannot solve any problem in the Middle East today without addressing historic wrongdoings because history is not something in the past; it is the present in the Middle East today.

"So, my conclusion is that Turkey should stop going around and threatening other countries who wants to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide and only acknowledge historic wrongdoings, acknowledge the Armenian Genocide, pave the way for Turkey for a democratic, secure future for the region."

Now who does he sound like?

Many thanks to the friend who sent the link to the video.

On a related item, someone else sent a link to this interesting article at Asbarez.com. Here's a teaser:

I was given a seat in the front row. There was an empty chair to my left; I thought it might have been planted there deliberately, because Kurds, all from Turkey, came to shake my hand, and sit on that chair to share thoughts and “Secrets” with the “Representative of the Armenian People”, which I was not, nor did I claimed to be. A few of them posed a rhetorical question: “Why are the Kurds Muslims, what have we gained by being Muslims?” at least a dozen or so told me, on promise of anonymity, that their grandmother is Armenian. I was not shocked. A few years later I heard the Kurdish explanation of kidnapping our girls, which I will discuss later.

[ . . . ]

I said my word, loud and clear, from the podium, the gist of which was: yes we have the same cause, yes we have a common enemy, yes there should be an alliance between us, but each party has its own interests and rights for which to struggle. There should be no dispute between our two Nations, we are partners in destiny, our rights were spelled out, in detail, in the provisions of the Sevres Treaty, which was then refined and mapped by President Woodrow Wilson. It is to our advantage, and in detriment to Turkey, to stick to this map and the provisions of the Sevres Treaty.

I got standing ovation all three times, but not necessarily as endorsement of my expressed ideas. They were, I believe, happy for my exposing Turkey for what it is: an occupier, an oppressor of other nations, and a violator of human rights.

[ . . . ]

Our relationship with the Kurds is a complex one:

1. We are allies by necessity; the enemy of my enemy is my friend.

2. They definitely look up to us, yet we look down upon them. We are wrong; Kurds have advanced in every imaginable field beyond anyones imagination, certainly beyond mine.

3. Whether we like it or not, they are our neighbors, we better understand them.

4. Other than Western Armenia, there is, for them, the issue of the “Red Kurdistan”-Lachin, Kelbajar, Fizuli. For us the case is closed!

So, are the Kurds friends or foe? Probably both! Smart approach to this seemingly impossible situation will make them, in my opinion, our friends, much more than our foes.

Food for thought and the basis for dialog, my friends.

SPEAKING THE LANGUAGE THEY UNDERSTAND

"We are frankly Nationalist . . . and Nationalism is our only factor of cohesion. Before the Turkish majority other elements have no kind of influence. At any price, we must turkify the inhabitants of our land, and we will annihilate those who oppose Turks or 'le turqisme.'"
~ İsmet İnönü, 1925.

KCK Executive Committee member Bozan Tekin recently spoke to a graduating cycle of new HPG guerrillas. Here's what he had to say:

Bozan Tekin: From now on, we'll speak the language they understand.

At a time when the policies to take Kurds from the mountains are being used, the number of youths that join HPG is increasing. Forty-one warrior candidates were delivered to their units after successfully completing their Şehit Kemal training cycle.

In the closing session of the graduating cycle that was dedicated to Kemal Şêvişkî, who was murdered by the TSK at a time when the Kurdish movement had declared a ceasefire, KCK Executive Council member Bozan Tekin made a speech.

In his speech, Tekin mentioned that the Turkish state is conducting a new genocide under the name of "Initiative". Tekin said, "The discourses about 'initiative' that have been mentioned up until now are revealed clearly that it's a game. Despite all our goodwill and endeavors, the Turkish state conducts cultural, social, and political genocide against the Kurds with the policy of 'one nation, one state'. Despite our ceasefire decision, the level of military operations remained the same; in addition, our people's representatives have been thrown in jail. The Kurdısh party, the DTP, has been closed and its members have been arrested. My people, who were demonstrating their legitimate reactions, were raided and our youths were murdered. From now on, our movement and our people will speak the language they will understand."

After the swearing-in ceremony, the HPG guerrillas received their graduation documents and the ceremony ended with dancing.

According to a report from ANF earlier in the month of December 2009, the number of new guerrilla recruits joining HPG since March 2009 was 787, with 591 of those joining since August.

At this point, it is very likely that those numbers will increase in 2010.

THE END OF REASON

"The extreme severity of the Turkish measures of repression may temporarily break the spirit of rebellion, but will probably produce a good deal of future hostility to Turkish rule on the part of the remaining Turkish Kurds, and this may eventually complicate the situation on the Irak frontier."
~ Sir Ronald Lindsay, British Ambassador to Turkey, 1925 - 1926.

Here's some commentary on the current situation in Turkey from Ahmet Altan:

Be Reasonable!

These people are the sons of a race that has suffered, been tortured, been forcibly displaced, has been killed on the streets, had their homes burned.

Grievance and anger accumulated in their souls.

You take them, line them up in a single row and walk them, like scenes reminiscent of Dersim, forcible emigration, and Nazi camps. What kind of injustice, understanding, and torture is this?

Those people are the politicians who received their peoples' votes.

If you are suspicious that they are criminal, you can call them and get their statements. All of us give statements, so will they.

Where did the handcuffing come from?

With Homer's saying, this is "adding insult to injury."

Why do you want to insult? What are you trying to prove? What happened to the "democratic initiative"? Are you doing this to make them say, "Let such an initiative not exist."

On the day a new Kurdish party established a group in parliament, you raided and assembled the Southeast's mayors and politicians from their homes toward the morning.

You put handcuffs on their arms. You lined them up in a row and took their pictures. Who will believe your sincerity about the "initiative" from now on? Who will forget these scenes?

You make up an Emine Ayna out of the most peaceful person. What kind of "initiative shit" is this, that you create Nazi camps in the middle of the initiative?

If the government is sincere about this "initiative" it must act sincerely. There cannot be any initiative by breaking peoples' hearts, raising their anger and creating hopelessness in them.

There can't be an "initiative" by handcuffing people.

There can't be an "initiative" by insulting people.

AKP became sluggish after it said "initiative" and created big hopes. Now when they [the Kurdish people] encounter these scenes, how will they dream about peace and how will they believe in peace?

Are you doing all these things to let them say, "I don't have any other ways to protect my honor except by weapons"?

If AKP does not come to its senses, and it does not behave the way the "initiative" requires, it will break all the hopes, one by one. If it kills all the hopes, it will put itself and the whole country in trouble.

Whoever is going to do an "initiative" needs to do it like they mean it.

There can't be any initiative by fearing MHP or abstaining from CHP. Now AKP must be clear. It must say what it will do. Not only the Kurds but also the Turks need this "democratic" initiative.

There isn't any single man who hasn't been crushed by the state in this country.

It is time to take steps that inspire confidence, reign in the state, stop the state from committing crimes, create conditions for all people from every ethnicity and every language to live freely, to strengthen the rule of law.

If you are the one in power, act like it.

After saying, "I will be a historical person, I will change the fate of this country," if you say "but I should not pay any cost" with cunning maneuvers, at the end you will pay the biggest price that you feared without even having done anything.

You will lose control.

The men under your orders will tear down your "initiative" in pieces by causing "'cuffing scenes".

The things that must be done are not secret. Turks and Kurds will be equal; whatever rights the Turks have, Kurds will have; if Turks teach their mother language to their children, so will the Kurds; you will rescue both Turkish and Kurdish municipalities under Ankara's despotic rule and will recognize autonomous regions for them; you will change the law that convicts "stone-throwing children" for eight years; you will change the current constitution that shows the Turk as the master of the country; you will prevent the closure of both Turkish and Kurdish parties; you will open up ways to let the armed people in the mountains to begin a new life within the community; you will enable the people who want to lay down their arms and have their voices heard instead through political means.

An "initiative" starts like this.

With an "initiative" program like this you will guarantee not only the rights of the Kurds but also those of religious people, Alevis, Leftists, laborers. You will free not only the Kurds but also the headscarf and the cemevi, too.

Which one of these did you do; which ones will you do?

The ruling party must decide if it is going to do an "initiative" it should take the required steps. It must not commit injustices reminiscent of Dersim and Seyit Rıza.

Those handcuffs are not put on only the Kurdish politicians but they are put on the whole country, the whole people, the whole future.

If you are the ruler, honest and sincere, take off the handcuffs.

And do not allow oppression in this country any more.

Unfortunately, I think we have reached the end of reasonableness. There is no initiative. There is no political avenue. There is only one language they understand.

Sureya Bedirxan's words from 1928 apply today: "The war between Turk and Kurd is going on--and will go on--until the objective of the Kurd has been attained."

STATE REPRESSION CONTINUES IN NORTH KURDISTAN

"We have to stand together now and stand behind all the victims of political repression."
~ Bernadette Devlin.

While US and western media have been busy promoting the cause of "democracy" in Iran, they have remained suspiciously silent over the ongoing crackdown against democratically elected Kurdish politicians in Turkey. Since 24 December, a number of Kurdish politicians have been arrested by the Turkish state. These include members of the now closed DTP and its succession party, the BDP (Peace and Democracy Party--Barış ve Demokrasi Partisi).

In addition to the arrests of DTP/BDP politicians, the vice-president of İHD and the chief of the Diyarbakır branch of the İHD, Muharrem Erbey, has also been arrested and the İHD office unlawfully raided.

Here is a current list of the arrested:

Muharrem Erbey.

Hatip Dicle: DTP co-chairman, he was previously arrested while member of parliament and imprisoned for ten years.

Firat Anli: DTP Amed city leader. He was the mayor of Yenisehir in the last term and stood for Mayor of Cewlik in the last election.

Abdullah Demirbas: Mayor of Sur. He was removed from power by the state for supporting multi-lingual administration, but was put back into power by the people in the March Elections. In addition he has health problems that make his detainment without attention of a doctor a threat to his well being

Aydin Budak: Mayor of Cizre-- just like Demirbas was removed from power by the state and re-elected by the people.

Zulkuf Karatekin: Mayor of Kayapinar Serving his second term in office.

Nejdet Atalay: Mayor of Batman. He won his office with a high majority in Batman.

Ferhan Turk: Mayor of Kiziltepe He spent years in the notorious Amed prison and felt the full force of the coup. He is now imprisoned for the second time.

Leyla Guven: Mayor of Viransehir She has previously been a local administrator and has actively taken part in the women’s freedom movement.

Ethem Sahin: Mayor of Suruc won the local election with a landslide victory and has since changed the appearance of the town.

Huseyin Kalkan: Former mayor of Batman

Emrullah CIn: Former mayor of Viransehir

Abdullah Akengin: Former mayor of Dicle

Kazim Kurt: Former mayor of Hakkari

Nadir Bingol: Former mayor of Ergani

Ali Simsek: Assistant mayor of Amed

Yasar Sari: General Secretary of DISKI

Ferzende Abi: MEYADER (Mesopotamia Association of Those Having Lost their Relatives) Van Branch President

Tefik Say: Hacıbekir Suburb Free Citizen Association Chairman

Sıddık Gül: DTP Van Provincial Treasurer

Yıldız Tekin: BDP Women's Council Member

Eylem Açıkalın: BDP Women's Council Member

Kerem Çağlı: BDP Women's Council Member

Ramazan Özlü:BDP Women's Council Member

Selim Çay: BDP Women's Council Member

Cafer Koçak: BDP Women's Council Member

Zihni Karakaya: BDP Women's Council Member

Mustafa Ayaz

Kamuran Parlak

Ahmet Sormaz: Former DTP Batman Provincial President , Göç-Der (Migration Association)

Selamet Akyüz: Batman Manager

Veysi Gülseren

İlyas Sağlam

Aydın Kılıç: former DTP city and county administrators

Gülizar Kal: Urban Women's Council employee

Cahit Conbay: politician

Rıdvan Asaln: politician

Şeymus Yaşar: politician

Şirin Bağlı: Batman Municipality Council Member

Rıfat Başalak: Batman Municipality Council Member

Nesri Kılıç: Batman Municipality Council Member

Fethi Suvari: Coordinator of Local Gundem21

Abbas Celik: Administrator of Goc-Der’s Diyarbakir Branch

Cebrail Kurt: BDP worker

Ramazan Debe

Ahmet Makas

Takibe Turgay

A petition is available online to request the freedom of these Kurdish mayors, politicians, and political workers from Turkish prisons. Please sign the petition and disseminate widely.

TİHV Secretary General Metin Bakkalcı an urgent call for protest against the arrest of Muharrem Erbey and the DTP/BDP politicians, and has urged that the following ministers be contacted in protest:

Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN Prime Minister

Tel: + 90 (312) 415 40 00

Fax: + 90 (312) 417 04 76

Address: Başbakanlık Merkez Bina



Beşir ATALAY Minister of the Interior

E-mail: besir.atalay@icisleri.gov.tr

Tel: + 90 (312) 425 40 80

Faks: + 90 (312) 418 17 95

Address: T.C. İçişleri Bakanlığı, Bakanlıklar / ANKARA

E-mail: bilgiislem@icisleri.gov.tr



Sadullah ERGİN Minister of Justice

E-mail: sadullahergin@adalet.gov.tr

Tel: + 90 (312) 417 77 70

Fax: + 90 (312) 419 33 70

Address: T.C. Adalet Bakanlığı 06659 Kızılay / ANKARA

E-mail: info@adalet.gov.tr

Serkeftin!