Tag: Kurdistan

Iraq

Turkey bombs Iraqi territory —again

Turkish fighter jets struck Kurdish rebel positions across the Iraqi border—part of a new offensive against the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), apparently undertaken with the implicit consent of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government. Ankara’s Defense Ministry said warplanes struck arms depots and shelters used by the rebels in the Avashin area of Iraqi Kurdistan. Turkish ground forces are also reported to have crossed the border, and engaged PKK fighters at the village of Sidekan, Erbil province. The PKK issued a statement saying its fighters had clashed with the “Turkish invading army.” (Photo: Kurdistan 24)

Syria

Podcast: genocide, propaganda and the Idlib offensive

In Episode 33 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg compares coverage of the Idlib offensive from CNN and its Turkish counterpart TRT World, illustrating how the US corporate media uncritically echo the propaganda of the Assad regime. While TRT emphasizes civilian casualties, the CNN headline says “terrorists” are being killed—the propaganda technique of dehumanization and objectification of victims. Shamefully, “progressives” in the West are far more complicit with Assad’s genocide. The deplorable Amy Goodman has now repeatedlyallowed voices such as Phyllis Bennis and the inevitable Noam Chomsky to spew genocide-abetting propaganda on Democracy Now. Weinberg also discusses the contradictions facing the Rojava Kurds in the areas of Syria they control. He closes with a call for Syria Solidarity NYC and Rojava Solidarity NYC to hold a joint workshop at the NYC Anarchist Book Fair, to try to arrive at a unified pro-revolutionary position on Syria. Listen on SoundCloud, and support our podcast via Patreon. (Photo via Freedom)

Syria
SDF

Syrian Democratic Forces fire on Arab protesters

The final defeat of ISIS in Syria’s northeast has left many Arab-majority areas of the region under occupation by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF)—a situation obviously fraught with risk. Over the past weeks, protests have mounted in Arab villages across Deir ez-Zor province against the SDF, with residents demanding better services, employment and a greater role in decision-making. Finally, SDF fighters opened fire on protesters in the village of Shheil, killing one person. The protest came after an overnight raid in the village, in which SDF fighters besieged a neighborhood and killed six people. (Image via Rudaw)

Syria

Formation of Rojava Armenian brigade announced

On the 104th anniversary of the Armenian genocide, revolutionary forces in Rojava established the Martyr Nubar Ozanyan Armenian Battalion. The battalion is named after Armenian guerrilla Nubar Ozanyan, who fought in the ranks of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), and later as a commander with the Liberation Army of the Workers and Peasants of Turkey (TİKKO) in Rojava, the autonomous zone of the revolutionary Kurds and their allies in northern Syria. Formation of the brigade was anounced April 24, Armenian Genocide Memorial Day, especially commemorated by Armenians within Syria, where much of the genocide actually took place. (Photo: Abolition Media Worldwide)

Greater Middle East

Dozens detained at Istanbul May Day march

Turkish police detained at least 100 people who attempted to stage a May Day demonstration in Istanbul’s iconic Taksim Square, where protests are traditionally banned. Several thousand more gathered in the city’s Bakirkoy district, for a permitted march organized by the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions (DÄ°SK). In the permitted march was a large Kurdish contingent, led by women wearing white scarves to demand the release of political prisoners. The women were mostly mothers and relatives of followers of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) and People’s Democratic Congress (HDK) who have been imprisoned over the course of the current crackdown on political dissent in Turkey. (Photo: ANF)

Planet Watch

Podcast: paradoxes of anarchism and nationalism

In Episode 32 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg reads from George Orwell’s 1945 essay “Notes on Naitonalsim,” and explains why despite his anarchist politics he is willing to march under the Mexican flag but not “Old Glory,” under the Palestinian flag but not the Israeli, under the Tibetan flag but not that of the People’s Republic of China—and under the Free Syrian flag but not that of the Assad dictatorship. The Free Syrian flag flown by the rebels and opposition is the original flag of an independent Syria, and now represents the struggle to free the country from a one-family dynastic dictatorship massively propped up by foreign powers. Weinberg especially calls out the depraved Max Blumenthal for purveying a version of events in Syria starkly at odds with reality. Weinberg invites listeners to join the Syria Solidarity NYC contingent at New Yorkl’s May Day march, gathering 5 PM at the Sixth Ave. entrance to Central Park. Listen on SoundCloud, and support our podcast via Patreon. (Photo: SHAML)

Syria

Dutch anti-ISIS volunteer arrested in Netherlands

Authorities in the Netherlands have arrested a Dutch volunteer—known by the nom de guerre Andok—who fought with the Kurdish-led People’s Protection Units (YPG) against ISIS in northern Syria’s Raqqa in 2017. The Dutch Public Prosecution said in a statement that Andok, 24, was identified in an interview on Dutch TV. However, in the interview he did not show his face nor reveal his real name. He was detained upon his arrival at Amsterdam’s airport, and appeared the following day before a judge in Rotterdam, who placed him in custody for two weeks pending formal charges.

Greater Middle East

Repression in wake of Turkish elections

Turkey’s eastern province of Muş has banned protests and demonstrations for 15 days following nationwide local elections amid objections by the country’s pro-Kurdish party to the reported results. The announcement from the governor’s office came following an official victory by Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the Kurdish-majority province by a narrow margin over the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). The HDP is preparing to appeal the results, citing irregularities. Muş is one of numerous provinces in Turkey’s east where government-appointed administrators (kayyim) have been running municipalities since the July 2016 coup attempt.

Greater Middle East

Turkey arrests Kurdish politicians on election eve

Turkish police conducted raids on 127 homes in Istanbul and arrested at least 53 people, including all candidates for the city council with the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). The sweeps come less than 24 hours before nationwide local elections commence. In southern Sanliurfa province, police arrested 11 other HDP candidates and campaigners on supposed “terrorism-related” charges. Some 30 more HDP candidates and supporters were arrested in the cities of Adana, Van, and Igdir. The government accuses the HDP of links to outlawed Kurdish militants, and 10 lawmakers, 40 mayors and thousands of activists remain behind bars. Before the raids, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeated the accusation and called the party “terror lovers.”

Syria

SDF take last ISIS pocket: what next?

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have announced the complete “territorial defeat” of the Islamic State. Trump was of course quick to take credit for the victory. But this is a victory for the Rojava Kurds and their Arab and Assyrian allies, not for Trump. And it could paradoxically be very bad news for them, as they have now outlived their usefulness to the empire and could be betrayed to Turkish aggression. The collapse of ISIS could set off a new scramble for Syria’s north, with potential for an Arab-Kurdish ethnic war. (Image: SDF)

Greater Middle East

EU resolution suspends Turkey’s admittance

The European Union adopted a resolution against Turkey's accession as a member of the EU. The resolution passed in the European Parliament notes ongoing human and civil rights violations and lack of respect for minority religious and cultural rights. It mentions the "shrinking space for civil society," arrests and suppression of journalists, and dismissal of dissident academics, as well as the treatment of refugees and migrants within Turkey's borders. The body noted that Turkey's government has violated the due process rights of its own citizens under the guise of counter-terrorism. It has also intimidated its citizens abroad and abused Interpol arrest warrants to extradite its own nationals back to Turkey. (Map: CIA)