1. "Media Still has Serious Problems", TGC head Erinc said that the Labor Ministry would finalize its preparations on the Press Labor Law in 2005 and expressed hope that the media's problems will be solved. "The amendments to the TCK indicate that we're not going to have a good year," he told.

2. "2004 was Good for Women, 2005 will Be Better", representatives of women's groups want the right of equal participation for women through necessary amendments to the Law on Political Parties and Elections in 2005. They have the implementation of laws and the setting up of shelters on their agenda.

3. "Gay group cautions EU in Turkey talks", one of Europe's largest lesbian and gay rights organizations is calling for the European Union to recognize the importance of LGBT equality when negotiating with Turkey later this year.

4. "Ties with U.S. will be intact,Turkey insists", one of the reasons for the chill in bilateral ties is the presence in northern Iraq of an estimated 5,000 militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) that Turkey holds responsible for a civil conflict that claimed about 37,000 lives in the country’s southeast from 1984 to 1999. Clashes tapered off after a rebel truce in 1999, but there has been a surge in violence since June, when the rebels declared an end to the cease-fire, saying Turkey had not responded in kind.

5. "Kurdish nationalists defend coalition", there are still more than three weeks before Iraqis are scheduled go to the polls to jostle for spots at the country’s new political table. But for the Kurdish minority parties in the north, Jan. 30 will hardly be a democratic feast in the making even if the vote comes off. For them, the results are already known.

6. "'These are the people we never see on TV'", A new film reveals how the war hit a corner of Iraq the world had overlooked: Kurdistan. Michael Howard meets its director. Turtles Can Fly: 'An anti-war movie without slogans.'

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1. - BIANET - "Media Still has Serious Problems":

TGC head Erinc said that the Labor Ministry would finalize its preparations on the Press Labor Law in 2005 and expressed hope that the media's problems will be solved. "The amendments to the TCK indicate that we're not going to have a good year," he told.

ISTANBUL / 5 January 2005 / by Erol Onderoglu

Although Orhan Erinc, the president of Turkish Journalists' Association (TGC), thinks there have been some positive press reforms in 2004, he isn't hopeful about the year 2005.

According to Erinc, the new Turkish Penal Code (TCK), which will go into effect in April 2005, has some unfavorable regulations for the press. The new penal code, contrary to the Press Law, reverts to handing out prison sentences instead of fines, and allows resorting to the penal code besides penalties, such as suspension of broadcasts, by the Radio and Television Higher Board (RTUK).

"If journalists were provided with jobs and social security, such complaints would be minimized."

According to Erinc, it is important that reporters now have the right not to disclose sources and cannot be forced to testify, under the new law. "But this has left us with an incomplete outcome," said Erinc.

"Since media workers at radios and televisions are subject to a different law, they won't be able to benefit from these rights."

"Since broadcasting principles were transferred to the TCK, radios and televisions will be subject to fines, suspension of broadcasts, and warnings by RTUK, as well as prison terms by legal jurisdiction under the TCK," Erinc added.

Talking about media ownership, Erinc reminded that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, "We don't approve bank owners to also own media organizations." He added that businessmen have owned media organizations in Turkey since 1950s. "The legal vacuum and the lack of job security has made media more susceptible to manipulation by owners," said Erinc.

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2. - Bianet - "2004 was Good for Women, 2005 will Be Better":

Representatives of women's groups want the right of equal participation for women through necessary amendments to the Law on Political Parties and Elections in 2005. They have the implementation of laws and the setting up of shelters on their agenda...

ISTANBUL / 5 January 2005 / by Burcin Belge

According to the representatives of the women's movement in Turkey, the year 2004 was in general a "positive" year.

They list legal regulations, the increased public awareness about honor crimes, and cooperation among women's groups as positive developments in 2005.

The women are happy about the legal regulations, but emphasize that efforts need to continue to have them implemented. They say that they will continuously express criticism and proposals about laws.

One of the most important developments was the amendment to the Turkish Penal Code (TCK) to define crime against women as "crime against individuals," instead of "crime against the family, society or tradition." Another positive development, was the change in Municipal Law. The law now requires each municipality with a population of at least 50,000, to set up a shelter.

Women's groups expect amendments to the Law on Elections and Political Parties in 2005, to allow forthe implementation of women's quotas and an increase in employment among women.

The women also want the United States of America to end its occupation in Iraq. They want peace and stability in the region, and ask that the violence against their fellow women ends.

Mehtap Kizilkan from the Diyarbakir Women's Center, Adile Necla Olcer, the head of the Mersin Independent Women's Association, Senal Sarihan, the head of Republican Women's Association, Surreya Turgut Ayaz from Batman Women's Solidarity Center, Ayla Yildirim from Bursa Gunyuzu Women's Cooperative, Suheyla Dogan from the Canakkale Women's Solidarity Group, and Cigdem Aydin, deputy head of the Association to Support and Train Women Candidates talked about their expectations in 2005:

Kizilkan: Our most important expectation is the setting up of shelters

* The number of women in the southeast, who die in honor crimes is still high; but the number of survivors is also increasing.

* The notions of "tradition" and "honor" have to be clearly understood; the phrase "tradition killings" in the TCK should be replaced with "honor killings."

* Our most important expectation in 2005 is for the municipalities to set up women's shelters.

Dogan: We want a quota of 50 percent, not 30 percent

* The European Court of Human Rights' decision about surnames was positive; it was also significant that there was such a high participation at the 7th Women's Shelters Congress; among other developments were the women's fight against honor crimes and the increase in public awareness,

* One of the most important targets in 2005 is to go-ahead with the "No to Economic Violence" campaign.

* It will again be our duty to pressure government institutions to set up women's shelters.

* More effort should be spent for equal participation of women in politics. Women should increase their demand of "30 percent quota" to 50 percent. There should be a joint effort for amendments to the Law on Political Parties and Elections.

Olcer: We want the right of equal participation in every field

* Women's demands were taken into account in many legal regulations. We will continue to press for our demands in 2005.

* The parliament in Turkey still belongs to men. We are going to continue spending effort to change that.

* It was very significant that in 2004, through amendments to the Municipal Law, municipalities with a minimum population of 50,000 were required to set up a shelter.

* In 2005 we want equal participation for women in every field. We want violence to lessen, women to become stronger economically, and more workplaces to be set up.

Sarihan: There should be a Commission of Equal Opportunity

* The improvements in the Law for the Protection of the Family no:4320, the Civil Law, and the TCK, and the developments about the social rights of women, especially about birth and child aid, were very positive.

* The most important step taken in the country, was to increase public awareness about honor crimes. The fact that some judges don't reduce the sentences in honor crime cases, shows that there is an increase in public awareness.

* Our most important goal in the newyear, will be to help teach the laws and get our legal achievements implemented. Judges, prosecutors, police officers and victims should improve their awareness of their legal rights. If we don't ensure that our legal achievements are implemented, they will all be in vain.

* Commissions should be set up to increase awareness about the discrimination against women at the Grand National Assembly (TBMM). A commission for equal opportunity is especially important.

Ayaz: Law no: 4320 is spreading

* 2004 was a positive year. Women in Batman still face violence but they are also still fighting against violence.

* We are trying to heighten the awareness of women, and trying to increase our fields of occupation.

* 2005 will be an even better year. Turkey will approve more legal regulations as it strives to join the European Union. Women are becoming more conscious, and are remaining hopeful. Our goal is to reduce violence.

Yildirim: Men continue to hit, the state continues to protect

* 2004 was not a very good year for the world. Many people lost their lives because of the U.S.' plans in the Middle East. Women were tortured and raped.

* From the women's point of view, there are some improvements in laws but these are usually not implemented. Violence against women is increasing.

* "Men continue to hit, and the state continues to protect them." There still are not institutions that women can apply to. The state doesn't support women's institutions.

Aydin: We have the Law on Political Parties and Elections on our agenda

* The year 2004 was both positive and negative for us. We think that some of the amendments to the TCK are quite positive. Some amendments to the Labor Law were also good. But the article on the sharing of property in the Civil Law is problematic.

* In 2005, the Law on Elections and Political Parties will come on the agenda. We are spending efforts so that the women's quota is accepted.

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3. - Gay.com - "Gay group cautions EU in Turkey talks":

5 January 2005 / by Ben Townley

One of Europe's largest lesbian and gay rights organizations is calling for the European Union to recognize the importance of LGBT equality when negotiating with Turkey later this year.

The International Lesbian and Gay Association of Europe (ILGA-Europe) says that while considering whether Turkey should join the union, members of the EU should ensure that the country pledges to improve its treatment of sexual minorities.

Currently, Turkish legislation does not provide protection again discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, ILGA-Europe reports.

Additionally, it is the only European NATO state that still bans LGBT people from joining the army, claiming that same-sex attraction is a "psychological disorder."

Turkey is set to meet with EU member states in October this year to negotiate as to whether it will join the union, after discussions were held last month.

However, the process is a controversial one, with some questioning whether the country should join at all.

Its past stance on human rights has been highlighted by opponents, as has its large population. Conservative Christian politicians have also expressed fear over its large Islamic community -- an estimated 70 million people are followers of the faith -- and its impact on the traditionally Christian Europe.

However, Turkey's supporters say these factors could be beneficial to the union and other member states, helping build bridges with the Middle East and Islamic world.

ILGA-Europe's Executive Director Patricia Prendiville said she hopes the process of joining the EU will help push Turkey in the right direction of LGBT equality.

"I hope that the negotiations will stimulate the Turkish authorities to comply with the EU standards on LGBT rights and adopt necessary laws banning discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity," Prendiville said in a statement.

However, she added that the EU must consider the country's current human rights record before committing itself to accession.

"I also hope the EU will pay serious attention to the human rights situation generally and to the human rights of LGBT people in particular when negotiating Turkey's accession to the EU," she said.

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4. - The Washington Times - "Ties with U.S. will be intact,Turkey insists":

ANKARA / 5 January 2005

Turkey — U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard L. Armitage and Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul on Monday reviewed touchy regional issues that have led to coolness between their countries, but Mr. Gul said ties between the two NATO allies, described by both parties as a "strategic partnership," will remain intact.

One of the reasons for the chill in bilateral ties is the presence in northern Iraq of an estimated 5,000 militants of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) that Turkey holds responsible for a civil conflict that claimed about 37,000 lives in the country’s southeast from 1984 to 1999.

Clashes tapered off after a rebel truce in 1999, but there has been a surge in violence since June, when the rebels declared an end to the cease-fire, saying Turkey had not responded in kind.

Trilateral talks sought

"We are going to have, we hope in the near future, a trilateral meeting here to discuss the whole question of the PKK," Mr. Armitage said after the talks. He did not elaborate. Ankara wants U.S. forces in Iraq to curb PKK’s activities.

Another bone of contention is Ankara’s unhappiness with the Kurds’ expulsion of Turkish-speaking Iraqi Turkmen from oil-rich Kirkuk. The Kurds themselves had been expelled from the area by Arabs under Saddam Hussein.

"There have been many segments of Iraqi society who have had their situation changed by force," Mr. Armitage told reporters. "The Turkmens are, of course, in this category and the Kurds themselves have been forced out, of particularly Kirkuk, to some degree.

"These are things that have to be corrected in the transitional administrational law ... to redress these wrongs for all those who are dispossessed," he said.

Kurdish break feared

Turkey fears that Kurdish control of the Kirkuk oil fields — among the richest in Iraq — could encourage Iraqi Kurds to break away from Baghdad and fan separatist sentiment among Kurds in southeastern Turkey, causing new turmoil in the region.

"We stressed our concern over Kirkuk," said a Turkish diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity. "We explained that we had serious concerns over efforts to change the demographic structure [because] ... this could lead to serious problems."

The diplomat said Mr. Armitage assured Mr. Gul he is discussing the matter with Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani, allies of the United States and leaders of the two mainstream Kurdish parties in northern Iraq, which borders Turkey.

The troubled electoral process in Iraq also was discussed, the Turkish source said, with Mr. Gul stressing "the need to hold the election in the soundest manner and with as much participation as possible."

Sunni vote uncertain

The Turkish concern follows growing indications that Sunni Arabs, who make up about 20 percent of the Iraqi population, will either boycott the Jan. 30 elections or be prevented from taking part because of a spreading insurgency.

"We very much wish the elections to be held on time. We believe it is very important for Sunni Arabs to take part in the polls. We believe that would be very important for Iraq’s integrity," Mr. Gul told reporters after the talks with Mr. Armitage.

"We hope the elections will kick off the political process in Iraq, which in turn may pave the way for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq," he added.

The Gul-Armitage talks came hours before the Turkish minister left Ankara on a fence-mending visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Mr. Armitage said he stressed "the window of opportunity that exists with the upcoming January 9 Palestinian election."

Palestinian poll nears

"We think that the new Palestinian leadership should be supportive of the revived peace process and make sure that no one resorts to political violence," Mr. Armitage said. "Our policy remains that of a search for a comprehensive solution."

Ties between longtime allies Washington and Ankara were additionally strained by the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Anti-American sentiment has increased in mainly Muslim but secular Turkey, especially after the U.S. offensive on the rebel stronghold of Fallujah, Iraq, in November.

One senior Turkish lawmaker accused U.S. troops of committing genocide in Iraq, and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told Vice President Dick Cheney of Turkey’s concerns about the Fallujah offensive.

But Mr. Gul said on Monday that Turkey attaches great importance to ties with the United States. "Turkish-American ties come above everything else; they are traditional," he said.

Mr. Armitage also met parliamentary Speaker Bulent Arinc and Gen. Hilmi Ozkok, chief of Turkey’s general staff.

Israel friendship ’solid’

In Jerusalem yesterday, Mr. Gul also assured Israel of the strength of its relationship with Turkey.

"Our friendship is solid," he said at a press briefing with his Israeli counterpart, Silvan Shalom. This was Turkey’s most senior-level official visit to Israel since the Justice and Development Party, a movement with Islamist roots, came to power in Ankara in 2002.

Tensions escalated in May, when Mr. Erdogan condemned a deadly Israeli operation in the Rafah region of southern Gaza Strip as "state terrorism" and Ankara temporarily recalled its ambassador.

It was the biggest chill in Turkish-Israeli relations since 1996, when, to the anger of Arab nations and Iran, the two countries clinched a military cooperation accord, followed by a sharp increase in trade and cultural exchanges.

"We agreed to intensify our collaboration to bring bilateral ties to new highs," Mr. Shalom said yesterday, hailing Israel’s "deep friendship and intimate dialogue" with Turkey.

Mr. Gul stressed that his country is eager to do all it can to help revive the Middle East peace process and said Syria, too, wants to participate.

’New climate’ noted

"There is a new climate in the region. ... This opportunity should not be missed," he said. "I believe [the Syrians] wish to seek a lasting peace in the region."

Mr. Gul told the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz that "the Syrian signals are serious and their intentions are good."

Mr. Gul’s trip to Israel came hot on the heels of a high-profile visit by Mr. Erdogan to Damascus late last month.

Turkey thinks it can help with peace initiatives regionwide, drawing on its close ties with Israel and the Palestinians, and the remarkable improvement in its relations with Syria, a former foe.

Mr. Erdogan told parliament yesterday that Turkey wants to regain its leadership role in mediating peace in the Middle East.

"Turkey’s regional importance is resurfacing as the country contributes to making peace in the region and reactivates the regional role it relinquished a long time ago," he said.

He voiced optimism about finding peaceful settlements to the conflict between Israel and Syria, noting that Turkey has offered to mediate.

Gul to meet Qureia, Abbas

The idea, however, appears to have attracted little enthusiasm from Israel.
Mr. Shalom welcomed Turkey’s offer but said Syria first should stop supporting and harboring militant groups targeting Israel.

"Turkey can also use its influence on the Palestinian Authority ... to help them realize that the only way towards progress is to put an end to terrorism and violence," he said.

Mr. Gul also met with Israeli President Moshe Katsav and was to hold talks later with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and opposition Labor Party leader Shimon Peres.

Mr. Gul is to meet today with Palestinian leaders, including Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath, Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia and Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Palestine Liberation Organization and front-runner in the election this weekend to choose a new president of the Palestinian Authority.

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5. - The Globe and Mail - "Kurdish nationalists defend coalition":

ERBIL / 6 January 2005 / by Nicholas Birch

There are still more than three weeks before Iraqis are scheduled go to the polls to jostle for spots at the country’s new political table. But for the Kurdish minority parties in the north, Jan. 30 will hardly be a democratic feast in the making even if the vote comes off. For them, the results are already known.

That Kurdish groups should agree to set up a coalition was only to be expected. With few friends in the rest of the country, the Kurds see a united front as their only hope of getting what they want from the new constitution.

But on Dec. 1, Kurdish leaders went a step further, announcing that their two main parties, plus half a dozen smaller organizations, had agreed to form a joint list for the Kurdistan regional parliamentary elections, which are due to take place on the same day as the wider vote. The agreement, negotiated in secret, allots 80 per cent of the coalition’s seats equally between the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan; the smaller parties get the rest.

Both PUK and KDP leaders described their decision as a response to public demand, and indeed, many Kurds say they approve of their leaders’ decision to strip them of almost all influence in the shaping of their new government.

"It would be nice if the democratization of Kurdish society could go hand in hand with the strengthening of our position within Iraq. Unfortunately, the situation in Iraq right now makes that impossible, and national rights must come before individual ones," said Stran Abdullah, editor of the Sulaimaniyah-based newspaper Asso.

"The Kurds have to show the Arab world, the U.S. and the Europeans that they are united on the Kurdish issue," agreed Fuat Hussein, a deputy member of the Governing Council that ruled Iraq immediately after the toppling of the Baathist regime. "How can parties in coalition for the national elections possibly fight a Kurdish election as rivals? That’s absurd and self-defeating."

There are some who are not convinced by the patriotic rhetoric.

"What we are facing now is not a democratic election, but a sort of single-party referendum," said Assos Herdi, editor of Hawlati, Iraqi Kurdistan’s only independent newspaper.

"It’s like George Bush and John Kerry running together against Ralph Nader," added Said Mohamed, a student in Sulaimaniyah, the capital of the southern, PUK-controlled half of Iraqi Kurdistan. "I hope they win 99 per cent of the vote, like that other expert at democratic elections, Saddam Hussein."

But apart from the websites of the more radical diaspora groups, such discontent with the Kurdish leadership is not widespread. Many say the joint list offers a solution to an issue close to every Kurd’s heart: the need to end their society’s deep political divisions.

Briefly united in an uneasy power-sharing arrangement after the de facto secession of Iraqi Kurdistan in 1991, the KDP and PUK were fighting each other by 1993. Northern Iraq has since been divided into two zones of influence, each with its own party-controlled ministries, budget and military. Even the 2001 decision to reconvene the regional parliament after an adjournment of eight years was made under international pressure and failed to hide the fact that real power lay with the party leaders in their separate fiefs.

Kemal Khambar, who heads the Erbil branch of the newly formed electoral commission, insisted that the so-called closed-list electoral system the United Nations chose for Iraq will change that.

"In the past, leaders were able to fire deputies at will," he explained. "They can’t any more. It’s a first foothold for a real parliamentary opposition."

But such arguments don’t convince Mr. Herdi, the Hawlati editor. He said the real reason for the coalition is the constitutional inability of Kurdish leaders to lose gracefully, and dismissed as naive those who argue that vote-sharing has prevented further civil strife.

"This agreement doesn’t solve anything," he said. "Frankly, it would be better for tensions between the parties to come to the surface now, with Iraq weak and the coalition forces on hand."

Others spread the blame to international insistence on the need to legitimize an Iraqi government as soon as possible, and to the pretence that Iraq is a unified country.

"If elections were purely regional, Iraqis would vote for people they approve of," Sulaimaniyah-based journalist Hiwa Osman said. "As it is, Kurds will vote for Kurds, Shiites for Shiites, and Sunni for Sunni.

"These elections are nothing to do with democracy. They’re all about domination, and that merely consolidates the power of people who are a model of bad governance."

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6. - The Guardian - "'These are the people we never see on TV'":

A new film reveals how the war hit a corner of Iraq the world had overlooked: Kurdistan. Michael Howard meets its director

6 January 2004

Turtles Can Fly: 'An anti-war movie without slogans.'

As a Kurd, Bahman Gobadi knows that opportunity can grow out of tragedy. That belief helps to explain why, two weeks after the fall of Saddam Hussein in the spring of 2003, he slipped across the border from his native Iran and headed for Baghdad. With him he carried a copy of his second feature film, Marooned in Iraq, a road movie about a group of Iranian-Kurdish musicians seeking lost love in Saddam's benighted land.
"I wanted to be the first to screen a film in Baghdad after the removal of the great dictator," he said last week in Arbil, the main Iraqi Kurdish city. "Being caught watching such a movie under the former regime would have almost certainly meant death. I was so delighted that Saddam had gone."

But Gobadi had also packed a small video camera, which whirred away as he passed through scores of impoverished Kurdish villages en route to the capital. Back in Tehran after the screening, he looked at the footage. "What I saw was startling: a land full of mines and refugee tents and disabled children ... arms sellers, abandoned tanks, mortars." He couldn't sleep. "Every time I closed my eyes, I was haunted by those images. There was something telling me to go back and make another movie. So I smuggled myself back over the border and started work."

This was the beginning of Turtles Can Fly, the first feature film to emerge from post-Saddam Iraq. It is a powerful cry on behalf of children everywhere caught up in despotism and war. Filmed on location last winter, using minimal equipment in the mountainous terrain of Iraqi Kurdistan, Turtles paints a radically different picture of life in Iraq from the one most western audiences have seen on their news channels. Gobadi is a deeply political film-maker, but his nuanced approach skillfully avoids the naive blustering of many on the anti-war left. "It is an anti-war movie without slogans." He chose the title in part, he says, because "people might think it was some kind of Disney film".

As with A Time for Drunken Horses, his acclaimed first film, the central characters are children. They are all first-time actors, some with serious physical disabilities, from whom Gobadi has coaxed astonishing performances. The story follows a group of Iraqi Kurdish orphans in a refugee camp on the Turkish border on the eve of the US-led invasion. The children carry the physical and mental scars of life under Saddam's regime with stoicism and not a little humour.

Gobadi's aim, he says, was to present a portrait of the "pain and surrealism" of war and its effects on Iraqis with "naturalness and honesty". "These are the people we never see or hear from on TV," he says. "President Bush and Saddam had become the superstars on the satellite channels. Iraqi people were just extras. So I wanted my stars to be the children, with Saddam and Bush in the background."

Turtles Can Fly is as bold a presentation of the Kurdish experience as has appeared on the big screen since the great Turkish Kurdish director Yilmaz Guney made Yol. And it has clearly touched a nerve among Iraq's Kurds.

A week after the film's premiere in Arbil, Gobadi still bore the bruises from what he described as "the astonishing reaction" of the audience. "They almost hugged me to death," he said. "I was telling a part of their pain and their memories. I take it as a compliment. If they had not believed what was in the film, they would not have reacted like that."

It is Gobadi's biggest production to date, involving thousands of Kurdish villagers as extras, as well as real US soldiers and helicopters. And he admits that without the help of the Kurdish Regional Government, led by Nechirvan Barzani, the film would never have been made. "We didn't have the money, or any sophisticated equipment, so their help made the difference."

Filming was tough, he says. "We endured hours of freezing weather, filming in the mud and the mountains. And believe me, what these children did in my film and put up with for my film, the Hollywood children could never do. The children were acting their lives. That's why they seem so real."

Gobadi was born in 1969 in the border town of Baneh in Iranian Kurdistan. As a student, he worked for a radio station before joining a group of amateur film-makers in the city Sanandaj. With their help, he directed his first short films.

In Tehran, where he had moved to attend film classes (he dropped out before graduating), Gobadi directed a number of award-winning short films. In 1999, he was Abbas Kiarostami's first assistant on The Wind Will Carry Us, which proved a crucial stepping stone. For Turtles he teamed up once more with cameraman Shahriar Assadi - "He's a Kurd at heart" - and persuaded Hussein Alizadeh, one of Iran's leading composers, to provide the eerily beautiful soundtrack.

Variety magazine recently dubbed Gobadi "the poet laureate of the Kurdish cinema". Yet he dismisses talk of a Kurdish cinema as premature. "When we have cinemas in every Kurdish town, and when Kurdish language and culture on film is no longer viewed as a rare and exotic bird by the film community, perhaps then we can talk of a Kurdish cinema. I want to register the Kurds on the cultural map."

Gobadi now lives in Tehran, because that is where the Iranian film industry is based. "But it's just my body that lives there," he says. "My spirit and my heart are in Kurdistan."

· Turtles Can Fly is released tomorrow.