"23 March 2006

1. "Festive Kurds Want Freedom For Rebel Chief Ocalan", more than 100,000 Turkish Kurds celebrated the ancient spring festival of Newroz on Tuesday with dancing, singing and calls for political reform and the release of jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan.

2. "Amed, the capital of Kurdistan celebrates Newroz", in the capital of greater Kurdistan, Amed (Diyarbakir), hundreds of thousands gathered yesterday for what is annually the world’s largest Newroz celebration. Approximately one million people were expected to attend this year’s festival, and it appears that this may well have occurred.

3. "Over a million Kurds participated in Newroz in West Kurdistan", over a million Kurds of West Kurdistan (Syria) took part in the demonstration to mark the anniversary of the Kurdish New Year Newroz, reported by different local sources. Some sources put the figure to 1.3 million.

4. "Turkey to get Kurdish television", private television channels will begin airing Kurdish language programmes in Turkey on Thursday, but must steer clear of showing children's cartoons and can only broadcast for 45 minutes a day.

5. "'Independece' Basic for Women Liberation", Akkoc from KA-MER and VAKAD head Ozgokce, who spoke of the problems of the Kurdish women at the conference on 'Turkey's Kurdish Question," said there is need for the formation of independent women's policies for the solution of the problem.

6. "Turkey's Displaced", Turkish Republic is not a country that has a good reputation for its attitude and discourse towards minority groups. One of the recent controversial problems about minority rights is the issue of displaced people.

1. - Reuters - "Festive Kurds Want Freedom For Rebel Chief Ocalan":

DIYARBAKIR / 21 March 2006 / by Gareth Jones

More than 100,000 Turkish Kurds celebrated the ancient spring festival of Newroz on Tuesday with dancing, singing and calls for political reform and the release of jailed Kurdish rebel leader Abdullah Ocalan.
Newroz, which means "new day" in Kurdish, has long served as a rallying call for Kurdish nationalism. Public celebrations were illegal in Turkey before Ocalan's capture in 1999. He is now serving a life prison sentence on an island near Istanbul.

The festivities in Diyarbakir, the largest city of Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, passed fairly peacefully though stone-throwing youths injured nine policemen with riot shields.

Revelers danced around bonfires, waved Kurdish flags and pictures of Ocalan, leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), and applauded calls for more cultural and linguistic rights for Turkey's 12 million Kurds.

"The repression of our language and culture must end, our language must be used in schools," Ahmet Turk, leader of the Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP), told the crowd.

"Everything is possible within the EU process," he said.

Under pressure from the European Union, which Turkey hopes to join, Ankara has eased restrictions on Kurdish language, though many Kurds want the government to do much more.

Kurdish is an Indo-European language unrelated to Turkish.

"There is some movement, but it does not mean we have our freedom now," said Ali Ihsan Okcu, a 40-year-old municipality worker clutching a picture of Ocalan.

"Ocalan is our leader, the leader of the Kurdish people. There can be no solution of the Kurdish problem without him," he said, expressing a view widely held among Turkey's Kurds.

But most Turks regard Ocalan as a terrorist responsible for the deaths of more than 30,000 people since the PKK launched its armed struggle for an ethnic Kurdish homeland in 1984.

The PKK, which called off a unilateral ceasefire in 2004, is classed as a terrorist group by the EU and the United States.

"The PKK never hurt us. If it was a terrorist organization, you would not see all these people here celebrating and cheering for them and for Ocalan," said Ramazan Ekin, 28, who works at a local cafe.

2. - Kurdish Media - "Amed, the capital of Kurdistan celebrates Newroz":

NEW YORK / 22 March 2006

In the capital of greater Kurdistan, Amed (Diyarbakir), hundreds of thousands gathered yesterday for what is annually the world’s largest Newroz celebration. Approximately one million people were expected to attend this year’s festival, and it appears that this may well have occurred.

Slight rain during the day did not dampen the mood of the people, as once again the Kurdish New Year and National Day became a celebration of Kurdistan and its people in a country where restrictions on Kurdish culture remain. Thousands of flags of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) were waved by those in attendance, in addition to many flags used by the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to represent the confederation program as well as Kurdistan flags and posters of imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan. A giant Kurdistan flag was displayed at one point, as well as a banner bearing the flags of Turkey, the Kurdistan confederation, and the European Union.

Musicians playing included Koma Sevin from Mahabad, Koma Azad from Amed, Koma Car Newa from Europe, and Ilkay Akkaya and Edip Akbayram from Istanbul. Iraqi President and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) Secretary General Jalal Talabani sent a letter to Amed Mayor Osman Baydemir thanking him for the invitation to the festival, stating that “political work” prevents him from attending the event but he hopes to come to Amed in the future. The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) also sent a letter to the mayor for Newroz, and many guests from Iraqi Kurdistan were present for the festivities, as well as members of the European Parliament. A number of Turkish and European journalists also attended the celebration.

3. - Kurdish Media - "Over a million Kurds participated in Newroz in West Kurdistan":

LONDON / 22 March 2006

Over a million Kurds of West Kurdistan (Syria) took part in the demonstration to mark the anniversary of the Kurdish New Year Newroz, reported by different local sources. Some sources put the figure to 1.3 million.

The Kurdish people demonstrated in Allapo, Kobani, Qamishlo and other Kurdish cities and towns. Perhaps the sizable demonstration was in Allapo, where an estimated half a million Kurds participated. In the capital, Damascus some 300,000 Kurds took part.

The demonstrators clashed with the police in some areas and many were arrested, the sources reported.

4. - Reuters - "Turkey to get Kurdish television":

22 March 2006

Private television channels will begin airing Kurdish language programmes in Turkey on Thursday, but must steer clear of showing children's cartoons and can only broadcast for 45 minutes a day.

Turkey is under pressure from the European Union, which it hopes to join, to improve the cultural rights of its ethnic minorities, especially the 12 million Kurds who until the 1990s were banned from using their language in public.

Private television channels will begin Kurdish language broadcasts on Thursday, but they will be limited to 45 minutes a day, or four hours a week, and must carry Turkish subtitles.

They are also prevented from airing educational programmes teaching the Kurdish language or broadcasting programmes directed at children, such as cartoons.

Cemal Dogan, director of Gun TV, one of three broadcasters now allowed to show Kurdish language programmes, said: "After many bureaucratic setbacks, we have finally won the right to broadcast in Kurdish.

"It is a small step, we still face many restrictions. But it is very important for Turkey and we are happy."

Gun TV hopes to attract 1.5 million viewers in Diyarbakir, the biggest city of Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast region, with programmes about history, culture and health.

Soz TV and a radio station will also be broadcasting in Kurdish.

Turkish state television and radio already provide limited broadcasting in Kurdish and several other minority languages including Arabic, but Dogan says nobody watches them as they consist almost entirely of news items from the previous week.

Slow pace

Ankara has been slow to allow Kurdish language broadcasts due to fears this could fan political separatism.

Turkish security forces have battled Kurdish rebels since 1984 in a conflict which has cost at least 30,000 lives.

Dogan said the broadcasts would be a positive thing.

"With time, people will see there is nothing to be afraid of, that allowing these broadcasts can help to resolve the Kurdish problem."

Others are less optimistic. They say Ankara's slow, grudging broadcasting reforms are symbolic of its wider approach to the Kurds, and say Turkey only acts because of heavy EU pressure.

Sezgin Tanrikulu, the head of the Diyarbakir bar association and a lawyer, said: "If I were [Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip] Erdogan, I would allow free, unlimited broadcasting in Kurdish, except for politically sensitive material."

But rising Turkish nationalism, along with looming elections due by 2007, make it harder for Erdogan to act, he said.

5. - Bianet - "'Independece' Basic for Women Liberation":

Akkoc from KA-MER and VAKAD head Ozgokce, who spoke of the problems of the Kurdish women at the conference on 'Turkey's Kurdish Question," said there is need for the formation of independent women's policies for the solution of the problem.

ISTANBUL / 17 March 2006 / by Gokce Susam

One of the panels of the meeting on "Turkey's Kurdish Question: The Quest for Democratic and Civilian Solutions (I)" by the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly and the Empathy Group, was on "Organization and Experiences." The meeting was held at the Dolapdere campus of Istanbul's Bilgi University over the weekend.

During the session directed by Umit Firat, a member of directors of the Helsinki Citizens' Assembly, Nebahat Akkoc and Zozan Ozgokce spoke about the policies and experiences of the women's organizations that they represent.

Former minister-lawmaker Ercan Karakas, former lawmaker and co-head of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) Ahmet Turk and Hak-Is head Salim Uslu were other panelists at the "Turkey's Kurdish Question" conference.

Women's joint emphasis

Nebahat Akkoc, who spoke of the Diyarbakir Women's Center (KA-MER) experience and Van Women's Association (VAKAD) head Zozan Ozgokce, underlined the need for an independent policy in the region.

Akkoc and Ozgokce said their target was to form policies, through the experiences and solidarity of women, which are pluralist and aimed at finding solutions, and which are not oppressive.

"At a time when forming a policy was identified with a political party, we pursued a different policy," said Akkoc. "For some, this was apolitical." She also underlined the multi-dimensional and complex structure of the situation and said the non-governmental organizations need an independent space for solution.

A crisis of confidence

Akkoc and Ozgokce also argued that women's issues need to be handled independent of ethnicity, religion and class.

According to Ozgokce, the biggest problem of Kurdish women like herself, is the "crisis of confidence." She said this crisis of confidence is a result of the "pressure women face from their fathers, their sons, the army, paramilitary police, and village guards."

Ozgokce said that especially the presence of over 100,000 village guards in the region causes a serious confidence problem. She added that women, most of the time, do not know how to express the sexual abuse and rapes they are faced with.

Akkoc: Our struggle for women began as we questioned violence

"We became active at a time when the Kurdish problem got more violent," said Akkoc, adding that their struggle for women began as they started questioning the violence:

"As it goes for all the wars in the world, those who formed organizations and took decisions were men. Women faced the most violence. Our bodies were used to punish men. While men were on the mountains, under detention or on the run, their wives and daughters were punished."

For this reason, Akkoc added, women's struggle is directly related to the Kurdish struggle. She argued that "a fight against the sexist approach that undermines the status of women, and which is reproduced every day by women and men," would bring real solution.

Cultural Conservatism

Akkoc proposed true participation, sharing and solidarity projects against discrimination and the hierarchy which objectifies the others.

Akkoc also drew attention to men's cultural conservatism which operates through women. She argued that women, who are seen as second-class because of traditional culture and beliefs, are given the mission to bear the identity, even if this means they are to remain outside the social life. For that reason for example, women are not sent to schools, and they are prevented from learning Turkish.

Ozgokce: The language that is nourished with nationalism and prejudices

Ozgokce said everyone defines the same things with different words (clash-war, terrorism, struggle) and argued that a "white language," which is nourished with nationalism and prejudices, is being used.

"Women cannot empathize with the problems the Kurdish women go through because of their language," said Ozgokce. "Many court cases have been dropped because women, who asked for a divorce could not express themselves in court."

The administrative structure is not cooperating with women's organizations

Ozgokce also highlighted the failure of administrative structures to cooperate with women's organizations:

"We had warned that women's suicides would increase when honor murders were brought under the scope of life-sentence. In 2006, there were 17 cases of suicide. Among those who committed suicide were children aged 10-11. Women's organizations were not admitted to the crisis center that was established in Van because of these suicides."

Karakas: Legal obstacles and prejudices prevent solution

Ercan Karakas, one of the speakers of the session said there were both legal obstacles and prejudices that prevented the discussion of the Kurdish problem.

"We believe the Kurdish problem can be solved within a unitary state structure through a democratic political framework," said Ahmet Turk, who was the last speaker of the session.

6. - Znet - "Turkey's Displaced":

21 March 2006 / by Sinem Yilanci

Turkish Republic is not a country that has a good reputation for its attitude and discourse towards minority groups. One of the recent controversial problems about minority rights is the issue of displaced people.

In East Anatolia, during 80s and 90s lots of people but specifically the most crowded minority group, Kurds, was forced to migrate by the state systematically. At the verge of the new millennium, even though the hot war ended peace was not fully settled, yet those Kurdish people, who have been forced to move before, commenced demanding their rights to return to their lands once they owned. Because of their mistrust in the Turkish Republic jurisprudence these people began to seek their rights in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Forming a mass, the files started to indicate that the problem is chronic and cannot be solved by domestic law. As ECHR enforced Russia and Poland before about a similar problem, it urged Turkey to solve the issue by territorial law and to pass a compensation law for displaced people in the parliament as a task of Turkey’s European Union (EU) integration process.

Compensation law, passed thanks to the EU accession negotiations, is a positive development for certain. Nevertheless taking into consideration the history of the minority groups’ problems, expecting the process to function independently and fairly would be a very optimistic approach. As a matter of fact, recent results of the relevant cases and ongoing researches conducted by various NGOs are indicating that the situation is not satisfactory.

First of all, the red tape in bureaucracy and the way domestic law operating lessens victims’ enthusiasm to struggle. Cases as such may continue for five to ten years and the expenses may not be affordable for the litigant after some threshold. Above all, considering the domestically unsolved cases which will most commonly be brought further to the European courts, the duration of a court will be extended

Let us assume that the case eventuated in favor of the litigant and as s/he wishes s/he could return back to home. However it is apparent that the place to return is not the one they left 15-20 years ago; they may probably find villages destroyed or burned down. The amount of compensation obliged to them may be enough to provide constructional material to build a new house but will they be able to live in the villages which have no infrastructure, no school, no electricity, no water and even no road? Will these people earning their lives by agriculture and livestock ten or twenty years ago gain any support for the lands and animals they lost during the war? It seems like the answers to these questions are not positive. Therefore, the compensation law, which passed in parliament out of necessity, does not in fact take into account the basic living conditions in the area, reducing the amount of loss to a building material

EU’s attitude towards Turkey, that inviting government to be more sensitive about displaced people is very important and affirmative. However except for the fact that the recent situation does not make things easier for the victims, it makes the process more complicated. With a non-functional law it is projected as if the minority groups’ rights are protected and without providing necessary conditions the problem is actually instigated. There are a few NGOs that are trying to draw attention to the issue but EU prefers to wait and observe the operation of the law.

I hope to see radical solutions to the problem in the short term for the favor of everyone otherwise lots of people aggrieved for decades will continue to live in exile in their own country.