Kurdish singer Rojda Senses was charged with one year and eight months imprisonment
In a court in Diyarbakir on 25 March 2010, the Kurdish singer Rojda Senses was charged with one year and eight months imprisonment for ‘conducting propaganda for a terrorist organisation’ in two separate concerts.
Rojda Senses testified in court in Istanbul on 11 February 2010. She has previously been invited to participate in a breakfast meeting by Prime Minister Erdogan within the framework of the democratic expansion. Even so, she now received her sentence from Diyarbakir’s Special Authority High Criminal Court of one year each for having performed the song ‘Heval Kamuran’ in a concert at the 9th Diyarbakir Culture and Art Festival, as well as in another concert. Read more
Kurdish MPs’ arrest in Belgium unwelcome – Ludford
Reacting to the news that two Kurdish former MPs from Turkey, Remzi Kartal and Zubeyir Aydar, have been detained among a group of 30 people arrested in Belgium, Liberal Democrat European justice & human rights spokeswoman and London MEP Sarah Ludford said:
“The detention of Remzi Kartal and Zubeyir Aydarat by the Belgian authorities is very surprising. I have known Remzi Kartal for 10 years, and have no reason to believe that he or Zubeyir Aydar have done anything other than work for peace in Turkey through a political solution to the Kurdish issue.” Read more
Demonstration to support Berivan – London, 12 March 2010
Join the demonstration in front of Turkish Embassy to raise your voice against jailing of Berivan, a 15 year Kurdish girl, who was recently jailed for 8 years for allegedly throwing stones at armoured Police vehicle in a demonstration.
The conviction highlights Turkey’s practice of jailing children for terror-related offences under counter-terrorism legislation introduced in 2006. The law allows courts to try juveniles as adults and to jail them for up to 50 years. There are over 2,600 minors in Turkish prisons for offences such as throwing stones at the police, chanting slogans and making the victory sign in demonstrations. Berivan was mistaken for a demonstrator when she was walking on the road.
Berivan recently wrote in a letter to her solicitor:
“This place is such a difficult place, even if I tried to explain how much I can’t….They hit me a lot…They put this cream on my legs to cover the bruises so no one can see them. I don’t know why they treated me like this. I’m only 15, I never deserved this place. No one deserves this place. I am very upset here…I miss my family so much.”
On behalf of Berivan’s Mother and all Mother’s of Children in Turkish Jails we are going to protest near to Mother’s Day outside the Turkish Embassy in London and hand in petitions calling for the immediate release of these children.
Please join and help to build this demo. We can’t destroy our future by keeping silent today!!
Friday 12th March 2010
Time: 1430-1600
Outside Turkish Embassy
43 Belgrave Square London SW1X 8PA (nearest tube Hyde Park Corner)
Free Berivan Campaign.
For info contact: hevallo@gmail.com
Dozens of Kurdish BDP Members Arrested – Again
In operations carried out in eleven provinces last weekend the police arrested more than 100 people, most of them members of the Peace and Democracy Party. Of all people arrested in Hakkari, 15 persons were taken into detention.
The police carried out operations on 12 and 13 February in the cities of Adana, Diyarbakir, Van, Siirt, Batman, Mardin, Gaziantep, Sanliurfa, Mus and Istanbul on 12 an13 February. According to Firat News Agency, more than 200 people were arrested, Anatolian Agency and TRT speak of more than 100 people. 32 people were arrested in the province of Hakkari in the south-eastern corner of the country, 15 of them were taken into detention on Sunday (14 February) under charges of “membership of the PKK“, the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party. Read more
Free Kurdish Mayors, Politicians, DTP and BDP Members From Turkish Prisons – Petition
On December 24th, more than 80 people related to the BDP (Peace and Democracy Party), as well as human rights defenders and members of NGO’s were arrested across Turkey. On December 28th, another 24 people were arrested in Van, and Batman, cities of the pre-dominantly Kurdish south-east of Turkey.
The BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) is the succession party to the recently closed Democratic Society Party (DTP). The prosecutor’s office accuses the detained of membership in the KCK (Koma Civaken Kurdistan), the umbrella organization that includes the militant Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Read more
Kurdish children and Courts in Turkey
1. New hope arises for ‘stone throwing children’ in Turkey
Minors being tried at the C
ourt for Serious of Crimes for terrorism-related offenses continue to attract attention due to receiving sentences longer than their actual ages. Now, the Justice Ministry is planning to bring a new draft law to Parliament in an effort to solve the problem after discussion on a previous bill was overshadowed by worries it would benefit Abdullah Öcalan
New hope has emerged for children detained on terrorism charges for throwing stones at security forces as Turkey’s ruling party prepares to redraft a bill to overhaul the relevant anti-terror law. Read more
Sixth Annual EUTCC Conference Concludes at the European Parliament
The EU-Turkey Civic Commission’s (EUTCC) Sixth International Conference on the EU, Turkey and the Kurds has concluded at the European Parliament in Brussels.
Because of the overseas travel ban imposed against members of the now defunct pro-Kurdish Demokratik Toplum Partisi (Democratic Society Party, DTP), the third and final session of the conference— entitled ‘Possible Roadmap for the Kurdish Resolution and Role of the EU’— was opened with a written message that was read out by EUTCC board member Mr. Hans Branscheidt, on behalf of Diyarbakir Mayor, Osman Baydemir. Baydemir vowed that despite the recent arrests and widespread detention of mayors in the south-east of Turkey, the non-violent civilian struggle for an honourable peace will continue and affirmed that peace is not only possible, but that it will prevail. Read more
Open Letter to Prime Minister Gordon Brown – Appeal for the Release of Kurdish Politicians
PEACE IN KURDISTAN CAMPAIGN
Open Letter to Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Appeal for the Release of Kurdish Politicians
We, the undersigned, call on Prime Minister Gordon Brown to use all available diplomatic means to bring an immediate end to the repression of Kurdish politicians in Turkey and to promote a political and negotiated solution to the Kurdish conflict. Read more
800 Kurdish Politicians Arrested in One Year
Yaman from DTP: 800 Kurdish Politicians Arrested in One Year
Peace and Democracy Group Chairman Yaman said: “The AKP government takes revenge by arresting mayors of the provinces they did not win in the elections”. He urged the government to stop the operations.
Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Group Chairman Nuri Yaman said in the party’s regular weekly general meeting that almost 800 Kurdish politicians were arrested in the course of political operations throughout the last year. Yaman reminded the latest incident when Nuri Günes, Mayor of Igdir (a province on the Armenian border) was arrested together with another seven people, among them members of the city council. “The Justice and Development Party (AKP) takes revenge by arresting the mayors of the provinces they did not win in the elections”, Yaman argued.
Read more
Turkey and the Kurdish conflict:European Parliament, Brussels 3rd & 4th February 2010
January 30, 2010 by sks
Filed under News, Support Kurds, Turkey
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“Turkey and the Kurdish conflict:
Political dialogue & Peace-building”
European Parliament, Brussels
3rd & 4th February 2010 – Room ASP 1G2
(Interpretation available in EN – TK – FR – DE – PT – IT – DA)
Patrons
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, South Africa
Dr. Shirin Ebadi
Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Iran
Bianca Jagger
Council of Europe Goodwill Ambassador
Chair of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation, UK
Professor Noam Chomsky
Writer, USA
Yasar Kemal
Writer, Turkey
Leyla Zana
European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, Rafto Prize Laureate, Turkey Read more
