TCKR International

- Before I begin I must send my condolences to the families and friends of those that have lost their lives in this tragedy. Peace be upon them.

The Recent Norwegian ‘Terrorist’ massacre was not instigated by a  Kurd nor was it instigated by a Muslim of any decent as was perpetrated by the media in the initial reporting of the attacks. I myself will not use the libel word “Terrorist” to define the attack nor would I use that word for any other such attack. This word in question has become infamous because of its direct use with attacks perpetrated by Muslims. As such all Attacks could be categorized as “Events.”

As the popular adage goes, “my Freedom fighter is your terrorist and your terrorist is my freedom fighter,” as such it is applied to this event. I cannot comment on the ideology of the individual because we all have different upbringings and causes. What I can comment on is the motives and intentions of the “spinners” who propagate an event for their ideological gain.

This event has been in the works for many years as Xenophobia and particularly  Islamaphobia are on the rise. Mullah Krekar was cited as the first perpetrator of the event not because he is a Kurd but because he is a Muslim Kurd. The very fact that you have names not sourced or backed by any credible evidence is in itself defamation and is something that is common in the new age of  “second media” reporting.

Instead of emphasis on the attack itself and the lives that have been destroyed, foreign and Norwegian National Media have stressed why the attack happened and who might it have been orchestrated by (New American Media). American News corporations have tried to emphasis the similarities of this attack to Timothy McVeigh and his isolated attack in Oklahoma City (CNN). No attack nor event is similar and if one was to compare events, then all events should be raised and addressed in a fair manner. In this case you have two nationals who have committed tragic events on their own soil.

Anders Behring Breivik, the perpetrator of the attack is a fundamentalist in its own right not because he is against Muslims but because he is against the brotherhood (Toronto Sun); the ideals of community and unity among all humans.

The Vancouver Sun Article (sourced below) written by Stephen Hume in the initial reporting of the attacks falsely believes and stipulates that the attack was orchestrated by a Muslim extremist. I believe the article will be pulled down if it gets enough complaints but we shall see.

A lesson well learned is what we should be saying when walking away from this event. That we are all brothers and there is no place for bias religious tendencies especially when it comes to the value of life.

Source:

New American Media, ahttp://newamericamedia.org/2011/07/norways-tragedy-the-usual-suspects-and-the-demonization-of-muslims.php
Cable News Network, http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/europe/07/24/norway.okc.terror/
Toronto Sun, http://www.torontosun.com/2011/07/23/norway-suspect-attacked-multiculturalism
Vancouver Sun, http://www.vancouversun.com/news/canada-in-afghanistan/Attack+Norway+shows+terrorists+like+soft+targets+such+Canada/5148790/story.html

I’ve recently read in many many news outlets referring to the Kurdish demonstrations in Southern Kurdistan as the “Kurdish Spring,” now I don’t have a problem with this naming itself if it was originally attributed to the Kurdish demonstrators but this is not the case.

The problem with this naming is that most of the outside world believes we started this demonstrators because of the “Arab Spring” (when in all actualities the Arab Spring itself should be referred to as the Arab Revolution).

I was in Kurdistan in May 2‘ˆˆ10 for 26 days and things were already heating up especially with the establishment of the Goran Party. Prior to my arrival there was large and small scale demonstrations in the Kurdish province of Silemani.

There should be no confusion as to the authenticity and originality of the Demonstrations in Kurdistan. The tensions in the Bazaars and streets against corruption existed prior to the Tunisian Revolution.

I myself am not proposing a name for the event because once corruption has been erased it will simply be history. It is interesting how The Kurdish demonstrations in turkey is not reported in Western Media? One has to ask himself why this is the case an whether or not there is a form of hypocrisy involved in this obvious bias.

Protests in Kurdistan are not fueled by western media attention but by instincts against tyranny. When there was no media attention the students and journalists took to the streets, when fuel prices where high they again took to the streets.

Next time you read an article on Kurdistan question and ask yourself who wrote it, what’s his background and what is his obvious bias?

It is our responsibility not to let others skew history.

Around thirty activists from Lebanon and Syria on Friday night rallied in Beirut’s Hamra Street in support of protestors in Syria.

A group of pro-Syrian regime protestors also rallied to the site and held up pictures of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Security forces reportedly separated the two groups of demonstrators .

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Now Lebanon:

Photo; Lebanese soldiers stand guard as Syrian Kurds living in Lebanon chant slogans and carry banners and a Kurdish flag during a protest in solidarity with anti-government protesters in Syria, in front of the Syrian embassy in Beirut, April 29, 2011.

A Syrian Kurdish protester shows his palms as he shouts anti-Syrian President Bashar Assad slogans during a sit-in in front of the U.N. house in downtown Beirut, Lebanon.

Syrian authorities have arrested more than 1,000 people and many more have been reported missing in the latest sweep aimed at crushing the uprising against President Bashar Assad.

Assad is determined to crush the 6-week-old revolt, which is the gravest challenge to his family’s 40-year-old ruling dynasty. Assad inherited power from his father in 2000.

Rights groups say at least 545 Syrians have been killed since the uprising began in mid-March in Daraa, spreading quickly across the nation of some 23 million people.

But Assad has also acknowledged the need for reforms. He has lifted the country’s despised emergency laws and granted citizenship to Kurds, a long-marginalized minority group, in an effort to placate protesters. He offered an amnesty to Syrians who turn themselves in before May 15 for carrying weapons and allegedly undermining the country’s security.

Syrian Kurds living in Lebanon chant slogans and carry a Kurdish flag during a protest in Beirut.

The Syrian government has deployed troops on the streets of the capital Damascus with tear gas to stamp out yet another round of anti-government protests.

Demonstrations on the so-called “Day of Rage” are also going on in other cities across Syria as the revolt against the repressive rule of President Bashar al-Assad now enters its sixth week.

There are also unconfirmed reports of some Syrians fleeing to Lebanon to escape the violence.

At least 500 people have died during the unrest, with unknown hundreds more detained by the authorities.

Protesters are particularly incensed with another brutal crackdown in the southern city of Deraa, the focal point of the anti-Assad movement. Fifty people have reportedly been shot down there in recent days, with many unburied corpses lying on the streets.

The city is reportedly under a “lock-down” siege with no electrical power, phones or water service.

A new element of the anti-government protests is the open participation of the Muslim Brotherhood, the organization that Assad’s father trued to destroy in the early 1980s and has since been outlawed.

The Brotherhood reportedly made the following direct appeal to protesters: “Do not let the regime besiege your compatriots. Chant with one voice for freedom and dignity. Do not allow the tyrant to enslave you.”

Within the Syrian regime itself, cracks are beginning to appear. On Wednesday, 200 member of Assad’s Baath party resigned in protest over violence directed at protesters. There are also reports of an increasing number of military officers and soldiers refusing orders to harm protesters.

After a firefight with the Turkish army 7 Peshmerga soldiers have been killed.

The Turkish security forces killed seven Peshmerga Soldiers in an army operation in eastern Turkey.

At least 1,000 soldiers, backed by helicopters, attacked a large group of PKK soldiers in a mountainous area on the borders of Tunceli and Bingol provinces late Wednesday.

Kalashnikov arms and ammunition related to the weapon, two hand grenades and ten propane cylinders were captured during the operation.

The Protests in Silemani took place before the Arab Resurrection in 2011.

Usually I don’t get involved in Internal Politics in Kurdistan, and the reason for this is I trust the people back home when it comes to the integrity of the nation.

I have visited Kurdistan, have been on the eastern side and on the southern side, and one thing I can say is that money and the pursuit of money changes people (it’s a shame I didn’t have time to visit the west and north).

When it comes to corruption and thievery in Kurdistan, it doesn’t really bother me one bit if one individual or a thousand are corrupt and start hoarding the wealth for themselves. Before you jump to any conclusions hear me out.

Just like the land’s around Silemani and Hawler are being split up, divided and shared among the Peshmerga’s that stayed back and fought so this will be the case for the land and wealth of the Rich hoarders. There hasn’t been much reporting on land Partitioning in Kurdistan but land around the cities have been confiscated and shared among the population to better accommodate all the displaced and returning families abroad. nobody should have a problem with land partitioning its a good thing believe me.

The Kurdish way of life does not allow for hoarding to exist. I’m sure most of you know what a franchise is. Now imagine you franchise a business to a Kurd, can you imagine going to him at the end of the month asking him for a share of his profits? something like that to us is preposterous just as the concept of incurring interest.

Just like the Citizens that protested the politicization of the annihilation of Halabja from the beginning of 2004, simultaneously the people across all cities protested to what was then perceived as corrupt party leaders who they supported for years. The protests in Silemani and Hawler is nothing but the cause and effect of the conformation to changing times.

In some Anglo-Saxon and Western Reporting they have incorrectly reported that the protests in Silemani is a direct result of the Arab Resurrection. This is however incorrect and the protests in Silemani took place before the Arab Resurrection in 2011. The protests in Northern Kurdistan (Southeastern Turkey) has been going on since 1991 and still fails to catch the eyes of the west.

Even though the Protests in other parts of Kurdistan fail to catch world attention the sensational media of the world only concentrate on one corner of a small square. The Kurdish will cannot be broken by the corruption of a few. Let us not divert attention from the cause. We in the Diaspora and the English News Sites need to spread the message and stay united.

Nonetheless the Protests need to continue.

Earlier this week the Supreme Election Board (YSK) said 12 independent nominees would not be allowed to run for Parliament in the next elections due to their past convictions in “terrorism” related crimes. However, the mounting reactions worked, and the YSK reversed its decision on Thursday. In its new decision, the election board said seven of the candidates were eligible to run in the elections. According to the jurists, the tension raised by the earlier YSK decision has clearly shown Turkey’s need for an overhaul in the structure of the election body as well as for a new constitution. Ahmet İyimaya, the head of the parliamentary Justice Commission, said: “Turkey cannot avoid a constitutional change and judicial reform. We cannot settle today’s questions with proposals that date back to the 19th century.” Recently, Turkey made a partial amendment to its Constitution and overhauled the structure of the Council of State and the Supreme Court of Appeals. But analysts believe a partial amendment of the Constitution and an overhaul of a few public institutions will not help solve Turkey’s chronic problems.

After long deliberations on Thursday, the YSK voted unanimously to allow seven of the 12 candidates, six of whom are backed by the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), to run in the June elections. The board accepted arguments that there was no legal obstacle to prevent Hatip Dicle, Leyla Zana, Salih Yıldız, Ertuğrul Kürkçü, Gültan Kışanak, Sebahat Tuncel and Harun Özcan from running for Parliament. The board’s initial decision to bar the candidates from the ballots sparked outrage in the mainly Kurdish east, southeast, where protestors staged violent protests.

In clashes with security forces, one protestor was fatally shot and dozens of others were injured. Several police officers were also injured in clashes across the region. Many shop owners did not open their shops for three days. Protestors attacked several open business places with stones and Molotov cocktails, causing great financial losses in the region.

The YSK was founded in 1950. It currently has seven members who are elected from among jurists at the Supreme Court of Appeals and the Council of State. In addition, the board has three substitute members. The YSK president serves for three years. The tenure of its incumbent chairman, Ali Em, will end in 2013. The primary task of the board is to administer and monitor all votes, including parliamentary elections, local polls and referendums. YSK rulings are closed to further judicial review, such as an appeals process, and are considered to be final in Turkey.

Former İstanbul Bar Association President Yücel Sayman said the authority of the election body should be narrowed, and it should not have the right to “interpret laws.” “The YSK decision [against the independent candidates] is against laws. Laws were falsely interpreted against three or four of the vetoed candidates. The election board did not do any research for a more plausible decision. The real problem with the YSK is related to the structure and legitimacy of the state. For this reason, the YSK should be restructured through a new constitution,” he noted.

Independent candidates hope to increase the number of BDP seats in Parliament. In Turkey, a political party must win at least 10 percent of the overall vote in an election to win seats in Parliament. The BDP finds it difficult to surpass the election barrier and, as a remedy, endorses its members as independents in electoral districts.

According to Mahmut Övür, a columnist for the Sabah daily, the YSK initially made an implausible decision, but later corrected it. “We all witnessed the negative impact of the decision, which was made regardless of the course of developments in Turkey. The YSK is constantly producing problems to protect its pro-tutelary structure. Now we have reached a good result [with the revision of the earlier decision.] We are more hopeful that our problems can be settled altogether in a democratic manner. This is very important for Turkey,” he stated.

In its earlier decision, the YSK said the nominees who were disqualified from running in the June elections had past convictions in “terrorism” related crimes.

Mounting reactions against the YSK decision against the barred candidates spurred the election body to reconsider its decision. On Wednesday, the candidates obtained the required document from separate courts and forwarded it to the YSK for examination. The YSK examined the documents on Thursday, and decided to allow seven of the candidates to run for Parliament in the June elections. Two remaining candidates are still waiting to hear from the board.

According to Professor Serap Yazıcı, an expert on constitutional law, the problem with the YSK can be overcome through a new constitution. “In a new constitution, the structure and function of the election board should be revised and restructured. The YSK is placed in the legislative part of the Constitution, but it is made up of jurists and makes both judicial and administrative decisions. The YSK decisions are not open to judicial review. The new constitution should state that YSK decisions should not go contrary to laws,” she added.

On Friday, a civilian coalition known as “70 Million Steps Against Coups” filed a criminal complaint against the YSK members at the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, arguing that they abused their power when they disqualified the independent candidates from running in the elections.

The new YSK decision to allow seven of the independent candidates to run in the elections has been met with pleasure among most of Turkey’s politicians. Kurdish politicians welcomed the YSK’s revised decision but regretted the loss of life and injuries in the East and Southeast. “The decision has been tainted with blood,” Sırrı Sakık, a Kurdish lawmaker, said in televised remarks, adding, “The result is a benefit to democracy but the price has been heavy.” Aysel Tuğluk, another Kurdish lawmaker, said: “A mistake has been undone.”

Leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu, said he was happy to see that the trouble regarding the barred deputy candidates was overcome. “We extend our thanks to everyone who contributed to the settlement of the problem. But no one should forget that the problem was overcome after related parties circumvented laws. What is important is to lower the election threshold, and allow the entire national will to be represented in Parliament,” he noted. Sezgin Tanrıkulu, deputy chairman of the CHP, defined the period that started with the YSK’s pro-ban decision against some nominees and ended with the board’s revised decision as “lost times for Turkey.” “The three-day period has been a loss for Turkey. The YSK did what the law required by revising its decision,” he added.

The former chairman of the BDP, Selahattin Demirtaş, said Turkey would not have suffered from heavy losses if the YSK had asked independent candidates to obtain missing documents beforehand. “We were faced with an anti-democratic stance [by the YSK.] It is a positive development that it has been partially corrected. However, Turkey could have not experienced the trouble at all. We lost a young man in demonstrations,” he lamented.

It is a shame that the decision of the YSK had to come at the death of an individual.

Source: Today’s Zaman by YASİN KILIÇ

Six of the seven independent candidates barred from standing in June elections by the electoral authority win the battle following fierce protests that left one dead by police gun shot.

The Supreme Board of Elections (YSK) took a step back and ruled that six of the seven independent candidates, backed by a coalition of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and socialists, are eligible to stand in June elections.

Harun Özcan, Hatip Dicle, Leyla Zana, Mehmet Salih Yıldız, Ertuğrul Kürkçü, Gültan Kışanak and Sebahat Tuncel will be able to run for MP, while İsa Gürbüz was once again denied in yesterday’s ruling -which is final.

“People’s resistance yielded this result. The YSK had to take back its veto for the candidates of the Labor, Democracy and Freedom Block,” said Kürkçü, who will run in the southern city of Mersin.

This is a gain in the name of democracy, said Tuğluk and added “I wish that the Board would make this ruling before a citizen is killed”.

Protests took off after YSK turned down 12 independent candidates. Seven of those were backed by a coalition of the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) and a number of socialist parties and groups.

Despite a recent legislative reform and previous case files contradicting its arguments, the YSK contended that those candidates have been convicted of “terror crimes”, therefore stripped of their rights to stand as MPs.

Source: Bianet by BİA Haber Merkezi

Some prominent jurists have renewed earlier calls for an overhaul in the structure of Turkey's top election body and a brand new constitution in the wake of a crisis sparked by a highly disputed decision to bar several independent candidates from running in the June 12 general elections.

Some prominent jurists have renewed earlier calls for an overhaul in the structure of Turkey’s top election body and a brand new constitution in the wake of a crisis sparked by a highly disputed decision to bar several independent candidates from running in the June 12 general elections.

Turkey on Thursday approved the election bids of several candidates after their initial disqualification sparked violent protests that flared for a third day across the Kurdish Regions in Turkey.

The Supreme Election Board (YSK) said it reversed its ruling for six of the seven barred Kurdish candidates “after a review of fresh court documents presented within the appeal period.”

The Kurdish parties as well as the Kurdish people welcomed the decision with bittersweet joy as one protestor demonstrating against the YSK veto was shot to death by police Wednesday in Bismil town near the regional capital Diyarbakir (Amed).

The tension in Diyarbakir faded Thursday evening after the YSK decision, while small groups celebrated the ruling with fireworks.

“The consequences did not need to be that heavy,” said the leader of Turkey’s main Kurdish movement Peace and Democracy Party (BDP), Selahattin Demirtas, in his televised remarks, referring to the slain protestor.

Among those who won a green light from YSK to stand in the June 12 parliamentary polls was iconic Kurdish activist Leyla Zana, winner of the European Parliament’s human rights award who spent 10 years behind bars before being released in 2004, according to the statement.

They included also two Kurdish members of the outgoing parliament, a prominent politician currently in jail and a well-know leftist intellectual.

Citing past convictions and legal technicalities, the YSK had declared the seven bidders ineligible Monday, setting the scene for street clashes between Kurdish protestors and the police.

The electoral board convened in Ankara to review the appeals as thousands of people took to the streets in the Kurdish-majority southeast for the funeral of the slain protestor and waged pitch battles with the security forces.

In nearby Bismil, an estimated 30,000 people marched at the funeral of a protestor killed in clashes the previous day, chanting slogans in favour of the PKK.

The mourners carried the coffin, wrapped in PKK flags, on their shoulders as masked youths shouting “Revenge, revenge!” escorted the procession.

Unrest broke out as youths hurled Molotov cocktails and stones at the security forces, who responded with pepper gas and pressurized water.

There were similar scenes of violence in other towns across the Turkey as President Abdullah Gul appealed for peace.

“Nothing can be resolved through violence,” Anatolia quoted Gul as saying.

“It turned out the documents were incomplete. Since they have been completed now, there should be no problem,” he said, in anticipation of the YSK review.

The disqualifications deepened frustration among the Kurds at a time when their parties already face legal hurdles and many activists remain in jail despite a series of reforms broadening Kurdish rights.

Enraged youths torched the Bismil office of the ruling Justice and Development Party Wednesday night, while a bus driver in Diyarbakir was critically injured when his vehicle caught fire from a petrol bomb.