Social Trauma discussed in Psychology Symposium

The Third Critical Psychology Symposium organized by the Association of Psychologists for Social Solidarity will take place at Sümerpark reception hall in the main Kurdish city Diyarbakır today, Saturday and tomorrow. The two-day symposium is expected to be attended by a number of academicians from Turkey and western countries.
The symposium will mainly address the subject of “social trauma” under the title of “war”, “militarism”, “torture”, “women”, ”children” and “migration”.
In a statement calling for participation in the symposium, the association called attention to the importance of the symposium’s being held in the province of Diyarbakır which -it added- has constantly witnessed a war environment, cases of torture and death, unidentified murders, extrajudicial executions, suffered a considerable population decrease because of forced migrations, and has become a territory where children are raised in an environment lacking in peace and right to native language education while thousands of women have lost their children, husbands and relatives in the ongoing conflict environment.
The association called attention to the public need for this symposium and added;
“A considerable part of the society has not only been subjected to systematical government-run pressures in the last 30 years since the 12 September military coup in 1980 but also witnessed forced migrations and tortures. These traumatic times have not only led to difficulties in the daily life and repression on freedom of thought and expression but also weakened the hope for the possibility of a life in peace and safety. This picture could be identified as “public state of lament and trauma” which has been the main title of the Third Critical Psychology Symposium in Diyarbakır.”

Nederland deputy Van Bommel: “We support Syrian Kurds call for their rights”

The member of the Dutch parliament and the foreign and European spokesperson for socialist party Mr Harry Van Bommel warned against the Turkish interventions in Syrian Kurds’ affairs to confront their aspirations and self- governing of their own areas.
In an interview with the Kurdish website Onkurd Harry Van Bommel said ‘the Kurds in Syria are struggling to get their rights in administrating their own areas, which are legitimate and lawful’.
He expected that the Turkish state would make troubles and hardships for Kurds in Syrian, even will interfere in the Syrian conflict and would resort to force to halt the Kurdish aspirations and ambitions.
Harry Van Bommel added that ‘NATO should stop Turkey in case it would resort to violence against the Kurds, I in the name of my party, socialist party, call upon NATO to be committed to such a thing’.
He added that the security could be lost for a while in Syria and that the country could turn into an arena for violence.
He went on saying ‘I condemn the Saudi Arabia and Qatar’s efforts to take part in the conflict in Syria ‘they are doing that for political agenda, which are not in favour of Syrian people’.
Harry Van Bommel pointed out that they have strong relationships with some Syrian opposition factions without mentioning them ‘to not expose or endanger those factions’.

Freedom for Öcalan Bus reaches Sweden

The International Initiative Freedom for Öcalan’s Bus Tour has reached the Swedish Helsinborg city on Wednesday afternoon. The Bus departed from the German city of Mannheim on 8 September with the slogan “Freedom for Öcalan, status for Kurdistan”, thus starting a new process of international public information, exposure of the conspiracy and isolation of Öcalan and ensuring active public support for Öcalan’ liberation in 70 central cities in eight European countries.
Following an information release about the campaign to the Kurdish people in the city of Helsinborg on Wednesday evening and a demonstration at Helsinborg’s Storterget Square early Thursday morning, the bus, with a number of intellectuals and artists in it, left for the city of Goteborg where the bus companions will join a demonstration at Gustav Adolf Square in the afternoon and attend a public meeting at the “Kurdish Women Association for Integration” in the evening.
The Bus will continue its tour in the cities of Gävle and Uppsala, stopping by the demonstrations at Stortorget and Vaksala areas on Friday. Following the demonstrations here, the bus companions will arrive in Stockholm to join the Scandinavia 16th Kurdish Culture Festival in Solna Hallen on 15 September, Friday.

Thirty-three people detained in Karliova

At least 33 people were taken into custody as a result of simultaneous raids in a number of houses and Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) buildings in Bingöl’s Karlıova town on Thursday.

The raids by Bingöl Provincial Gendarmerie Command were carried out at around 5am local time in the town of Karlıova and many villages affiliated to it.

Among the detainees are also BDP Karlıova former provincial chair Şemsettin Özer, Karlıova deputy mayor Selim Yıldırım, municipal councilors Reşit Özen and Nevzat Azak as well as members of the BDP.

BDP members and voters started a sit-in in front of governor’s office in protest against the simultaneous raids and detentions in the town.

Journalists tied mouth with black band in protest

The  third day of the trial against 44 Kurdish journalists (36 have been in detention since December 2011) has witnessed loud protests as lawyers left the hearing room and journalists tied their mouths with black band to condemn the court board’s denial to self-defense in the Kurdish language.

The court board adjourned the trial to 12 November and ordered the next hearings to be held at the Silivri Court in Istanbul. The detention of journalists will be evaluated after taking the prosecutor’s opinion on their situation. The court board also rejected the request by lawyer Ümit Sisligün to be part of the defense on the grounds of his being tried in the scope of the Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) case against lawyers.

The trial at the 32nd anniversary of the 12 September 1980 military coup continues with no progress as the hearings at Istanbul 15th high Criminal Court don’t advance because of the deadlock in respect to defendants’ demand to express themselves in their mother tongue.

On Wednesday, the court board has once again rejected defense lawyers’ demands for defendants’ self-expression and translation service in Kurdish and for the admittance of audience in the hearing room.

In response to the court board, lawyers left the hearing room saying that they will not be ‘puppets’ in front of the court which they said “tried people in the wave of the 12 September coup”.

Journalists on trial also protested against the court board, wearing black bands on their month as they turned their back on the board and broke into an applause. Gendarmerie officers took the journalists off the hearing room following a short-lasting quarrel because of their attempt to attack in their protest.

Swedish deputies rise concern for trial of journalists

ANF asked Swedish deputies their comments on the ongoing trial of journalists in the scope of the so-called Kurdish communities Union (KCK) investigation in Turkey. The deputies underlined that the Kurdish problem should be resolved through democracy and dialogue, not repression, slaughter, arrests and limiting freedom of press and expression.

The Swedish deputies from different political parties protested against the arrest of deputies, journalists, lawyers, politicians and intellectuals in the KCK case and demanded the release of all political prisoners.

Abir Al-Sahlani from the Centre Party, member of the Alliance for Sweden coalition, evaluated Turkey’s policy against Kurds as “unacceptable” and remarked that the Turkish state should now recognize and respect the rights of Kurds and ensure an official status for the Kurdish language.

Al-Sahlani commented the trial and arrest of journalists as a “serious violation of the freedom of press and expression” and underlined that Turkey should “desist from the Stone-Age mentality which sees Turks as the master race and people”. The Turkish state should abandon “its chauvinist and racist practices as it is supposed to cover a long distance for democratization”, said Al-Sahlani from the Centre Party.

People’s Party deputy Kamil İsmail criticized the arrests for their bringing the Kurdish problem into question.

PKK and PAJK prisoners go on hunger strike today

PKK and PAJK prisoners in six jails will begin an hunger strike today. The action is to protest against the isolation Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan has been kept under since his arrest in 1999. The prisoners underlined that there has been no news about the Kurdish leader health and general situation for 14 months now. Öcalan has been denied visits with his lawyers since 27 July 2011.

The prisoners have announced, through their spokesperson Deniz Kaya, that the hunger strike will be indefinite. They also protest against what they called the “political genocide” perpetrated by the Turkish state against Kurds.

The prisons involved in the protest are:

Diyarbakır D type, Diyarbakır E Type, Bolu F Type, Kandıra F 1 and F 2, Siirt prison.

The prisoners beginning the hunger strike in Bolu F Type prison are:

Sakıp Hazman, Abdullah Oral, Maruf Türkan, Aydın Şaka, Muzaffer Akengin, Murat Avcı, Hasan Ateşçi, Ali Şek and Ali Adıman.

In Diyarbakır E Type prison 9 women are beginning the hunger strike: Sara Aktaş, Mizgin Arı, Nihayet Taşdemir, Herdem Kızılkaya, Pero Dündar, Besime Konca, Seve Demir, Taybet Belge and Zeynep Kaplan.

Since 1 September PKK prisoner Gönül Erdoğan is on hunger strike in Bakırköy women prison.

Explosion at Istanbul police station -UPDATE

An explosion took place in Sultangazi 75. Year Police Station at 11.00am this morning. One policer officer died and around ten people were wounded in the explosion which was caused by a suicide bomber who is claimed to be a woman and also died in the action.

The wounded were taken to the hospitals near the scene for medical treatment. Istanbul Chief of Police Hüseyin Çapkın made examinatons at the scene after the explosion for which Revolutionary People’s Liberation Front DHKC claimed responsibility in the afternoon.

In a statement on halkınsesi.tv website, DHKC said that the reprisal action was carried out against the recently increasing police executions out in the open. The suicide bomber was identified as İbrahim Çuhadır. 

Fourteen Eğitim Sen members arrested in Diyarbakır -UPDATE

Fourteen members of education union Eğitim-Sen  were taken into custody on Tuesday as a result of police attack on a group of union members staging a protest against the recently approved 4+4+4 law on national education.

Speaking before the police intervention in the protest march of unionists, Eğitim-Sen Diyarbakır branch chair Kasım Birtek said that protest demonstrations aren’t allowed in Diyarbakır and asked “Is there a special law in Diyarbakır and for Kurds?”. The police attack against the group ended up with the detention of nine unionists including Birtek himself and Branch Secretary Ramazan Kaval.

Protestors therewith made a statement to the press in front of Eğitim Sen Diyarbakır Branch. KESK General Council member Yılmaz Güneş, speaking at the press conference, underlined that unions will continue to demonstrate in Kurdish cities.

International Crisis Group released report

The International Crisis Group (ICG) has released a 67-pages long report in which it states “Turkish prime minister should engage with the legal Kurdish movement, take its grievances into account and make it feel ownership over reforms”.
The report called “Turkey: The PKK and a Kurdish Settlement” states that the Kurdish conflict is becoming more violent, with approximately 700 people killed in 14 months, the highest number of casualties in 13 years.
The report also adds that “The government and mainstream media should resist the impulse to call for all-out anti-terrorist war and focus instead, together with Kurds, on long-term conflict resolution. There is a need to reform oppressive laws that jail legitimate Kurdish politicians and make amends for security forces’ excesses”.  As for the Kurdish movement, including PKK leaders, the report states they “must abjure terrorist attacks and publicly commit to realistic political goals”.
The report further states that “The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) initiated a ‘Democratic Opening’ in 2005, but its commitment faltered in 2009. At times, AKP leaders give positive signals, including scheduling optional Kurdish lessons in schools and agreeing to collaborate in Parliament with other parties on more reforms. At others, they appear intent on crushing the PKK militarily, minimize the true extent of fighting, fail to sympathize with Kurdish civilian casualties, openly show their deep distrust of the Kurdish movement, do nothing to stop the arrest of thousands of non-violent activists and generally remain complacent as international partners mute their criticism at a time of Middle East turmoil.”
The ICG also states that the PKK has “made conciliatory statements, tried to stick to legal avenues of association and protest in the European diaspora and repeatedly called for a mutual truce. “