Remember Halabja 25 years ago 16 March 1988

5,000 people died in the chemical gas attack on Halabja in the Kurdish region of Iraq 25 years ago – 16 March 1988 – this is a video of how it was. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIeN0anJ1iA

You might also be interested to look at: Recognition of Genocide against the Kurds in Iraq [e-petition now closed, but there was a response to the request:http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/31014] Read more

Imprisoned in Iraq since 2004 – Freedom for painter and poet Hussein Faqe!

Hussein Mahmood Hussein Faqe is a Kurdish poet, painter and journalist from Syria. He was an active member of the cultural scene in Syria and Lebanon and writes both in Arabic and in Kurdish Kurmanji. His texts and paintings are committed to a dialogue between different cultures and to promote the establishment of a peaceful and free civil society in the Middle East.

He repeatedly published essays in which he drew attention to the oppression of the Kurds by the Ba’ath regime in Syria and was arrested many times for doing so. As a consequence, he went to Iraq in 2004 and stayed there for several months. He originally wanted to also bring his wife to Iraq, but then did not. Therefore – and because his situation in Iraq had been insecure all long – he decided to return to Syria.
Read more

SKS statement: Turkey bombing of Kurds on 28 December 2011

Turkish war planes bomb Kurds and massacre 40 children and youth in Sirnak, South East Turkey.
Turkish war planes bombed villagers in the South East province of Sirnak, Turkey, killing at least 40 civilians, many of them children and youth on 28 December 2011. 24 of those killed belonged to the same family. A villager who escaped the air attack wounded said that the bombs thrown sucked the air away and left them breathless, spread an acidic smell and burnt them. Other villagers who hid under a large rock to escape, were crushed by the rock said the villager. Another villager said that Turkish soldiers had apprehended them only moments before the attack and then had moved away. The bodies of 35 civilians have been found while the corpses of others are still to be discovered because of the obliteration caused by the bombing. Read more

Thousand soldiers enter South Kurdistan as first clashes reported

Firat News: 25 October 2011 @ midday: The Turkish state army began its cross border operation against the Medya Defence Areas. According to HPG (People’s Defense Forces) sources, around 1000 Turkish troops with heavy weaponry entered the area of Haftanin/the Media Defence Areas under air support of war-planes and cobra type helicopters.

Also, according to the reports from the area that few minutes ago first clashes began between the HPG Guerrilla Forces and Turkish state army in the area of Haftanin/the Media Defence Areas. At the moment the clashes continues.
ANF / NEWS DESK

KCK announced that during the air-raids of 10 October 2011  on Xakurke-Xinere region there were grave losses: Rüstem Cudi (Rüstem Osman) Member of the KCK Executive Council, Çiçek Kiçi (Guhar Çekirge) Member of the HPG Military Council, Alisher Koçgiri (Yücel Halis) Member of the HPG Military Council and precious militants of the HPG Nazl?can, Eshref, Roj Amara and Dr. Amara have been martyred. In addition, on 8 October 2011 during the clashed in Kato Marinos area former member of the KCK Executive Council one of the commanders Baz Mordem and one of the militants Bager Tatvan had also been martyred.

The attacks of 19 October on Turkish police and army posts came as retaliation for these killings.

See our report: Turkey: Retaliation keeps the battle going -  http://supportkurds.org/news/turkey-retaliation-keeps-the-battle-going Read more

Turkey fires on Kurds in Iraq

Kani Xulam: Erdogan thinks “other” countries are jealous of turkey and are using pkk to attack his country. I guess it would be news to him to find out that his hatred of the kurds is the main reason for the present impasse. Read more

Turkey/Iraq: Investigation needed into killing of civilians in the Kurdistan region of Iraq

The killing several days ago of an Iraqi Kurdish family of seven, including two women and four children, when the vehicle they were travelling in was attacked in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, reportedly by a Turkish warplane, must be promptly and independently investigated, Amnesty International said today.

In the early afternoon of 21 August 2011 Hussain Mostafa Hassan, a 61-year-old Kurdish farmer from the village of Bolle near Mount Qandil on the Iraq-Iran border, was heading to the town of Rania, accompanied by six members of his family, when the car he was driving was bombed, reportedly by a warplane belonging to the Turkish armed forces. Hussain Mostafa Hassan, his 43-year-old wife, Mer Haci Mam Kak, his daughter Rezan Hussain Mostafa, aged 20, together with her two daughters Sonia Shamal Hassan, aged two, and Sholin Shamel Hassan, aged six months, his son Zana Hussain Mostafa, aged 11, and his niece Oskar Khuzer Hassan, aged 10, all died as a result. Later their burnt bodies were taken to a hospital in Rania and buried the same day. Read more

U.S. Embassy In Baghdad: We support cooperation between Iraq and Turkey in combating The PKK

Rudaw conducted this interview via email with Michael McClellan, spokesperson for the US embassy in Baghdad. 

Rudaw: What is US’s reaction to Turkey’s recent attacks on the Kurdistan region? 

Michael McClellan: We support cooperation between Iraq and Turkey in combating the PKK, which is a common enemy of Turkey, Iraq, and the United States.  We have seen the reports of the impact that the attacks have had on civilian populations that live along Iraq’s northern border and understand the concerns raised by Iraqi officials for their well-being.  Read more

An Independent Kurdistan is the long-term solution

Written on August 26, 2011 by Editor in KRG, Kurdistan

Kurdish Studies and language classes at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU)

At the direction of President McPhee, plans were developed to create a Middle East Center (MEC), which officially came into being in December 2006.  From July 2006 through June 2009 MTSU had a Department of Education Undergraduate International Studies and Foreign Languages grant to initiate language programs in Arabic and Hebrew, develop courses for a new Middle East Studies (MES) minor, support faculty members working in MES, and offer workshops for middle and high school teachers in the region that presented ways to incorporate the study of the Middle East in their curriculum.   Read more

Leyla Zana MP says to world leaders: it is time you speak

While Turkey’s air strike continues in southern Kurdistan, Diyarbakir deputy Leyla Zana, in a letter to the leaders of the world, criticized the silence over the growing attacks against Kurds. Leyla Zana has sent the following letter to:

• US President Barack Obama,
• NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen,
• UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon,
• President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek,
• President of the Council of Europe, Herman Van Rompuy and
• Turkish President Abdullah Gül

regarding the most recent policy implemented against the Kurdish people. Read more

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