Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Initiative for Freedom for Öcalan has launched protest action
29 February 2012, Fifteen people have today started an indefinite hunger strike in Strasbourg to demand freedom for Öcalan and guarantees about his health and security conditions. Protestors will also call on the European Council and the European Union to take action against the pressures the Turkish state puts on the Kurdish people.
The group of protestors, naming themselves as Initiative for Freedom for Öcalan, will start their act with a press statement to be made in front of the European Council building.
The spokesman for the Initiative, journalist-writer Fuat Kav, remarked that the group consisted of Kurds from different parts of Europe and called on the Kurdish people in the region to support the act for Kurdish people’s leader Öcalan.
The act with the slogan “Freedom for Öcalan, status for Kurdish people” will also demand the exclusion of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) from the terror organization list of the European Union.
Journalist and writer Kav stated that all the initiatives and organizations that demand freedom for Öcalan could come together under a single roof in the coming process.
D.F. - ANF / STRASBOURG
http://en.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=article&nuceID=4241
The group of protestors, naming themselves as Initiative for Freedom for Öcalan, will start their act with a press statement to be made in front of the European Council building.
The spokesman for the Initiative, journalist-writer Fuat Kav, remarked that the group consisted of Kurds from different parts of Europe and called on the Kurdish people in the region to support the act for Kurdish people’s leader Öcalan.
The act with the slogan “Freedom for Öcalan, status for Kurdish people” will also demand the exclusion of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) from the terror organization list of the European Union.
Journalist and writer Kav stated that all the initiatives and organizations that demand freedom for Öcalan could come together under a single roof in the coming process.
D.F. - ANF / STRASBOURG
http://en.firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=article&nuceID=4241
So....which are up against which, here really? It´s clear which are "there between"...Isn´t it..
Thirty-seven Syrian deserters arrived in Turkey on Wednesday, Al-Jazeera reported.
The Syrian security forces attacked the town of Aazaz in the district of Aleppo, Al-Jazeera quoted activists as saying on Wednesday.
The Syrian army shelled Aleppo’s Ming, Al-Jazeera quoted activists as saying, adding that casualties were reported.
The Syrian army shelled Rastan, Al-Jazeera television reported, adding that casualties were reported.
Syrian regime forces bombarded rebel districts of the flashpoint city of Homs on Wednesday for a 26th straight day, monitors said, as activists feared an all-out assault on the Baba Amr neighborhood.
Syrian ground forces launched an assault on the rebel district of Baba Amr in Homs overnight and are flushing out the final pockets of resistance, a security source told AFP on Wednesday.
The Free Syrian Army is resisting a violent attack led by the Syrian army against the Homs neighborhood of Baba Amr, activists told Al-Arabiya.
The Homs neighborhood of Baba Amr suffered communications and electricity cuts, Al-Arabiya quoted activists as saying on Wednesday.
Eight Syrian security forces were killed and others were injured in a Free Syrian Army operation in Daraa’s town of Teebah, Al-Jazeera quoted activists as saying on Wednesday.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to clarify the precise objective of the mission entrusted to Kofi Annan, the ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday. http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=370604
Saudi, Chinese foreign ministers hold phone talks http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=370605
http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=253828
The Syrian security forces attacked the town of Aazaz in the district of Aleppo, Al-Jazeera quoted activists as saying on Wednesday.
The Syrian army shelled Aleppo’s Ming, Al-Jazeera quoted activists as saying, adding that casualties were reported.
The Syrian army shelled Rastan, Al-Jazeera television reported, adding that casualties were reported.
Syrian regime forces bombarded rebel districts of the flashpoint city of Homs on Wednesday for a 26th straight day, monitors said, as activists feared an all-out assault on the Baba Amr neighborhood.
Syrian ground forces launched an assault on the rebel district of Baba Amr in Homs overnight and are flushing out the final pockets of resistance, a security source told AFP on Wednesday.
The Free Syrian Army is resisting a violent attack led by the Syrian army against the Homs neighborhood of Baba Amr, activists told Al-Arabiya.
The Homs neighborhood of Baba Amr suffered communications and electricity cuts, Al-Arabiya quoted activists as saying on Wednesday.
Eight Syrian security forces were killed and others were injured in a Free Syrian Army operation in Daraa’s town of Teebah, Al-Jazeera quoted activists as saying on Wednesday.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has asked UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to clarify the precise objective of the mission entrusted to Kofi Annan, the ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday. http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=370604
Saudi, Chinese foreign ministers hold phone talks http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=370605
http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=253828
Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook gave keynote speech at Bilderberg Conference
Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook gave keynote speech at Bilderberg Conference at St Moritz, Switzerland. Mark Zuckerberg, who created Facebook, gave the year's keynote address: "Privacy, or How I learned to Stop Worrying and Trust the NSA," with a special presentation of Facebook's new "facial recognition" software. Developed in partnership with Lockheed Martin.
After attending the Bilderberg conference in Switzerland in June, Facebook’s marketing director, Randi Zuckerberg, announced that she had solved the cyberbullying issue: Prohibit anonymous Internet activity.
In addition to being the director of marketing for the social media icon, Zuckerberg is the sister of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The siblings attended the Bilderberg conference where Mark Zuckerberg delivered a key address.
Many of the Internet’s elites were present for the annual secret confab held in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
More than two dozen prominent members of the American elite attended, too. An especially interesting cadre at the 2011 event included some of the masters of the Internet world: the co-founder of Facebook; the executive chairman of Google; the co-founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn; the founder and CEO of Amazon.com; the commander of the American military’s “cyber command” (or USCYBERCOM); Microsoft’s chief research and strategy officer; and others.
http://thenewamerican.com/tech-mainmenu-30/computers/8409-after-bilderberg-meeting-facebook-official-says-end-internet-anonymity
After attending the Bilderberg conference in Switzerland in June, Facebook’s marketing director, Randi Zuckerberg, announced that she had solved the cyberbullying issue: Prohibit anonymous Internet activity.
In addition to being the director of marketing for the social media icon, Zuckerberg is the sister of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. The siblings attended the Bilderberg conference where Mark Zuckerberg delivered a key address.
Many of the Internet’s elites were present for the annual secret confab held in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
More than two dozen prominent members of the American elite attended, too. An especially interesting cadre at the 2011 event included some of the masters of the Internet world: the co-founder of Facebook; the executive chairman of Google; the co-founder and executive chairman of LinkedIn; the founder and CEO of Amazon.com; the commander of the American military’s “cyber command” (or USCYBERCOM); Microsoft’s chief research and strategy officer; and others.
http://thenewamerican.com/tech-mainmenu-30/computers/8409-after-bilderberg-meeting-facebook-official-says-end-internet-anonymity
Zbigniew Brzezinski must have "forgot about the Kurds" when suggesting Turkey would help Syrians from repression, death and destruction
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will meet with the Syrian opposition ahead of the second "Friends of Syria" meeting in Istanbul next month.
The criticism against Facebook’s secret policy is growing. A Twitter campaign is planned to start this Monday to show discontent against and spread awareness about the secret policy of Facebook, which is considered bizarre and violates the rights of Kurdish Facebook users.
28.02.2012, (DİHA) - The British newspaper, Daily Mail, published a document on Wednesday illustrating Facebook’s so far secret policy on what can and cannot be uploaded to the social networking site. The document has been leaked by a former employee and is of great interest due to a number or reasons. Facebook has earlier been criticised for removing photos of breastfeeding mothers while at the same time allowing pornographic photos.
Also worth noting are the guidelines concerning Turkey, the PKK and under Kurdistan under the section titled: “IP blocks and International D”. This segment reveals that Facebook has a specific policy for the management of issues related to Turkey and Kurdistan.
The segment further brings to light how Facebook has fully surrendered to a Turkish view on Kurds and Kurdistan. There is no equivalent or other issue in these guidelines concerning any other community, people, leader or resistance group where Facebook has taken a similar firm stand.
The policy also details that it is not approved to post photos portraying the map of Kurdistan or anything else related to the Kurdish PKK or the Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, unless it is used as a direct way of propaganda against the same.
Furthermore, it is also prohibited to post derogatory comments or anything else considered as attacks, Ataturk, the founder of modern day Turkey, or to publish photos or videos of burning of the Turkish flag.
#Facebook - #Fascistbook
A campaign is starting this Monday against the secret policy of Facebook on Twitter, an initiative of #TwitterKurds.
#TwitterKurds is calling upon all Twitter users to use the hash tag #Facebook and #Fascistbook. The aim of this campaign is to draw attention to the secret policy of Facebook, which is considered as a violation of Facebook users’ rights.
No peace for Roboski villagers
Fourteen university students arrested in Bingöl
Roboski victim’s brother taken into custody
Oppression against Kurdish politicians has not changed in 18 years
14 arrested in Kızıltepe and Diyarbakır
132nd tent fire in Van
Diyarbakır MP Tuğluk on trial despite legal immunity
Child arrested in Aydın
Öcalan's lawyers once more denied visit
HPG member Uruk sent to his last journey
Students’ demand to testify in Kurdish rejected
Ten thousand attend HPG member Demir's funeral
Write to UNICEF campaign launched to expose sexual abuses in prison
20 new arrests in Cizre-Şırnak
More people taken into custody
The never ending tragedy
BDP mayors to join hunger strike
Abuse on children known to Turkish authorities
The criticism against Facebook’s secret policy is growing. A Twitter campaign is planned to start this Monday to show discontent against and spread awareness about the secret policy of Facebook, which is considered bizarre and violates the rights of Kurdish Facebook users.
28.02.2012, (DİHA) - The British newspaper, Daily Mail, published a document on Wednesday illustrating Facebook’s so far secret policy on what can and cannot be uploaded to the social networking site. The document has been leaked by a former employee and is of great interest due to a number or reasons. Facebook has earlier been criticised for removing photos of breastfeeding mothers while at the same time allowing pornographic photos.
Also worth noting are the guidelines concerning Turkey, the PKK and under Kurdistan under the section titled: “IP blocks and International D”. This segment reveals that Facebook has a specific policy for the management of issues related to Turkey and Kurdistan.
The segment further brings to light how Facebook has fully surrendered to a Turkish view on Kurds and Kurdistan. There is no equivalent or other issue in these guidelines concerning any other community, people, leader or resistance group where Facebook has taken a similar firm stand.
The policy also details that it is not approved to post photos portraying the map of Kurdistan or anything else related to the Kurdish PKK or the Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan, unless it is used as a direct way of propaganda against the same.
Furthermore, it is also prohibited to post derogatory comments or anything else considered as attacks, Ataturk, the founder of modern day Turkey, or to publish photos or videos of burning of the Turkish flag.
#Facebook - #Fascistbook
A campaign is starting this Monday against the secret policy of Facebook on Twitter, an initiative of #TwitterKurds.
#TwitterKurds is calling upon all Twitter users to use the hash tag #Facebook and #Fascistbook. The aim of this campaign is to draw attention to the secret policy of Facebook, which is considered as a violation of Facebook users’ rights.
No peace for Roboski villagers
Fourteen university students arrested in Bingöl
Roboski victim’s brother taken into custody
Oppression against Kurdish politicians has not changed in 18 years
14 arrested in Kızıltepe and Diyarbakır
132nd tent fire in Van
Diyarbakır MP Tuğluk on trial despite legal immunity
Child arrested in Aydın
Öcalan's lawyers once more denied visit
HPG member Uruk sent to his last journey
Students’ demand to testify in Kurdish rejected
Ten thousand attend HPG member Demir's funeral
Write to UNICEF campaign launched to expose sexual abuses in prison
20 new arrests in Cizre-Şırnak
More people taken into custody
The never ending tragedy
BDP mayors to join hunger strike
Abuse on children known to Turkish authorities
Well..This communication through mainstream media every now and then is kindá striking
Syrian official tells AP the Baba Amr area of Homs will be "cleaned" within hours http://nyti.ms/wnGFeL
Looking for some sort of "approval", sympathy, relief.. or what?
Actually, many times, idiots, liars, psychopaths, etc makes us feel VERY old/older. If there is possible..
Actually, a whole LOT are not just "on the wrong side of history", they are WAAAAY out of the map!
Looking for some sort of "approval", sympathy, relief.. or what?
Actually, many times, idiots, liars, psychopaths, etc makes us feel VERY old/older. If there is possible..
Actually, a whole LOT are not just "on the wrong side of history", they are WAAAAY out of the map!
28/2-2012, Activists say 125 deaths. CBS News; Apparent mass execution uncovered in Syria
CBS News Video http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7400381n
28-2-2012, Syria - Chained detainees held in warehouses by Syrian Army. Prisoners are just a few of tens of thousands of detainees being held in Warehouses across Syria who are being secretly held. Claims that people are killed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8P2zKE9n_s&feature=player_embedded
Giza Under Attack - Burning of House in Horan. Attack on town leaves Giza house burning, the Horan area of the Daraa Region - filmed on February 28, 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23oQCUFv7aU&feature=player_embedded
Copied from where these YouTube videos are displayed
"These Political Prisoners are just a few of tens of thousands of detainees being held in Warehouses across Syria who are being secretly held and then killed in mass slaughters by the Assad Alawite Army -- The Assad Regime has quietly killed tens of thousands of prisoners in secret and has both buried them in mass graves as well as dumped their bodies into the Mediterranean Sea."
"The Iranian Warships that just left Syria also are loaded with Syrian Prisoners and it is unknown if the Iranians are going to kill them all and dump their bodies at sea or if they are going to bring them back to Iran with them."
28-2-2012, Syria - Chained detainees held in warehouses by Syrian Army. Prisoners are just a few of tens of thousands of detainees being held in Warehouses across Syria who are being secretly held. Claims that people are killed. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8P2zKE9n_s&feature=player_embedded
Giza Under Attack - Burning of House in Horan. Attack on town leaves Giza house burning, the Horan area of the Daraa Region - filmed on February 28, 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23oQCUFv7aU&feature=player_embedded
Copied from where these YouTube videos are displayed
"These Political Prisoners are just a few of tens of thousands of detainees being held in Warehouses across Syria who are being secretly held and then killed in mass slaughters by the Assad Alawite Army -- The Assad Regime has quietly killed tens of thousands of prisoners in secret and has both buried them in mass graves as well as dumped their bodies into the Mediterranean Sea."
"The Iranian Warships that just left Syria also are loaded with Syrian Prisoners and it is unknown if the Iranians are going to kill them all and dump their bodies at sea or if they are going to bring them back to Iran with them."
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Yeah...Another "Safe Zone."
Lebanese NBN TV is saying that the Syrian Army has controlled BabaAmr and is preparing to declare it a "Safe Zone."
22:13 The Syrian National News Agency on Tuesday reported that Syrian authorities “prevented an armed terrorist group from entering Syria through the Oyoun al-Shara-Halat crossing in Tall Kalakh along the Lebanese-Syrian border.”
22:15 The Syrian military has sent elite reinforcements from a unit commanded by President Bashar al-Assad's brother Maher to the besieged rebel city of Homs, an activist on the ground said on Tuesday.
http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=253828
http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=370301
Another "Safe Zone," with more than 3000 rockets fired on the neighborhood of Baba Amr. 3000 .. 24 rockets every 7 minutes
http://youtu.be/3mIZGMm2km0
http://youtu.be/PKDOwPrHheQ
http://youtu.be/zFsQ7jhAEEs
http://youtu.be/cjcExPCkKSs
http://youtu.be/pTrK0Ahry1Y
http://youtu.be/MwpAJlbI3ao
http://youtu.be/DvcZf9fzmzA
http://youtu.be/7YOkMLE_y8Q
http://youtu.be/YwNIWWPF0Rk
http://youtu.be/VkzF8lr8ZKo
22:13 The Syrian National News Agency on Tuesday reported that Syrian authorities “prevented an armed terrorist group from entering Syria through the Oyoun al-Shara-Halat crossing in Tall Kalakh along the Lebanese-Syrian border.”
22:15 The Syrian military has sent elite reinforcements from a unit commanded by President Bashar al-Assad's brother Maher to the besieged rebel city of Homs, an activist on the ground said on Tuesday.
http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=253828
http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=370301
Another "Safe Zone," with more than 3000 rockets fired on the neighborhood of Baba Amr. 3000 .. 24 rockets every 7 minutes
http://youtu.be/3mIZGMm2km0
http://youtu.be/PKDOwPrHheQ
http://youtu.be/zFsQ7jhAEEs
http://youtu.be/cjcExPCkKSs
http://youtu.be/pTrK0Ahry1Y
http://youtu.be/MwpAJlbI3ao
http://youtu.be/DvcZf9fzmzA
http://youtu.be/7YOkMLE_y8Q
http://youtu.be/YwNIWWPF0Rk
http://youtu.be/VkzF8lr8ZKo
Organ sell of executed Kurdish prisoners, designated as drug traffickers or/and terrorists by the US, its Treasury Department
Claims of organ sell of executed Kurdish prisoners. Executed and exterminated for decades under the pretext of national security, drug traffickers or/and designated as terrorists by the US Treasury Department. Tortured, tortured to death, to confess. Shot, killed, executed, hanged without trails according to International standards, for decades, with the UN body on "stand by".
Mass graves of Kurds all over the region.
Iranian Government continue their arrest of activists, and the rate of these arrests are on the rise. These arrests in Kurdish populated areas are on the rise. Many times Kurdish activists have been sentenced behind closed doors and executed behind closed doors.
There are some reports that Iranian government forces after executing the Kurdish political prisoners cut them to peaces for easier way of discarding them and sale their body parts: Heart, kidney, etc...to those that are in big need of these body parts. Prices on these body parts are very high.
Recently there were mass graves that were found in Kurdish city of Sine full of bodies with cut off parts. After this mass grave was found the Iranian government closed the area and relocated the bodies.
Kurdish Prisoners executed and their body parts being sold by the Iranian Government
Mass graves of Kurds all over the region.
Iranian Government continue their arrest of activists, and the rate of these arrests are on the rise. These arrests in Kurdish populated areas are on the rise. Many times Kurdish activists have been sentenced behind closed doors and executed behind closed doors.
There are some reports that Iranian government forces after executing the Kurdish political prisoners cut them to peaces for easier way of discarding them and sale their body parts: Heart, kidney, etc...to those that are in big need of these body parts. Prices on these body parts are very high.
Recently there were mass graves that were found in Kurdish city of Sine full of bodies with cut off parts. After this mass grave was found the Iranian government closed the area and relocated the bodies.
Kurdish Prisoners executed and their body parts being sold by the Iranian Government
28th, 2012 Local Coordination Committee.
Monday ended with 144 martyrs among them 64 martyrs from Baba Amro who were killed in Abel massacre in Homs, including 4 soldiers, 3 ladies and 3 kids.
98 martyrs fell in Homs, 11 in Aleppo countryside, 17 in the countryside of Idlib, 4 in the countryside of Hama, 4 in Damascus Suburbs and one martyr in each of Damascus, Hasakah, Raqqa and Daraa.
Homs, Another massacre added to the series of massacres by the regime's thugs (Shabeha), an entire family from Al-Darwish was murdered in Khaldiyeh neighborhood including father, mother, son and three daughters. They didn't just slaughter them but they deformed their corpses as well
Idlib: Taftanaz: The regime's army that is stationed at the Airport checkpoint intensely shelled the town
Hama, Halfaya, Renewal of intense shelling by regime forces on the city and burning of houses due to missiles falling on them.
Raqqa. The political activist Khalaf Al-Mohammad (Al-Jarboo) was kidnapped from the street today and taken to an unknown destination, Khalaf has been detained several times before in the past.
Deir Ezzor, Renewed clashes in the Dahaya region between the regime's army and the Free Syrian Army and the city is experiencing intense gunfire now.
Damascus Suburbs, Renewed gunfire in Misraba and snipers are stationed on top of Hamza Bin Abdelmutalib mosque, near the Municipal building, targetting pedestrians.
Daraa, Sounds of explosions and heavy gunfire now in Daraa Almahata- Tarif Al Sadd. Five snipers are stationed on Alabrar tower and they are shooting at anything that moves in front of them.
Aleppo Suburbs, The number of martyrs for today has reached 11 martyrs as a result of the continuous shelling by regime's army on several areas of the suburb. Helicopters are being used to bomb some of the areas.
Homs, Tadmur, Security forces shoot live ammunition heavily at the funeral of martyr Asad Jama'an and surround the cemetery with several security cars to arrest the participants in the funeral.
Heavy shelling on Halfaya by the regime's tanks
http://www.lccsyria.org/
SNC member: Hezbollah preventing aid for Syrians
http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=370339
98 martyrs fell in Homs, 11 in Aleppo countryside, 17 in the countryside of Idlib, 4 in the countryside of Hama, 4 in Damascus Suburbs and one martyr in each of Damascus, Hasakah, Raqqa and Daraa.
Homs, Another massacre added to the series of massacres by the regime's thugs (Shabeha), an entire family from Al-Darwish was murdered in Khaldiyeh neighborhood including father, mother, son and three daughters. They didn't just slaughter them but they deformed their corpses as well
Idlib: Taftanaz: The regime's army that is stationed at the Airport checkpoint intensely shelled the town
Hama, Halfaya, Renewal of intense shelling by regime forces on the city and burning of houses due to missiles falling on them.
Raqqa. The political activist Khalaf Al-Mohammad (Al-Jarboo) was kidnapped from the street today and taken to an unknown destination, Khalaf has been detained several times before in the past.
Deir Ezzor, Renewed clashes in the Dahaya region between the regime's army and the Free Syrian Army and the city is experiencing intense gunfire now.
Damascus Suburbs, Renewed gunfire in Misraba and snipers are stationed on top of Hamza Bin Abdelmutalib mosque, near the Municipal building, targetting pedestrians.
Daraa, Sounds of explosions and heavy gunfire now in Daraa Almahata- Tarif Al Sadd. Five snipers are stationed on Alabrar tower and they are shooting at anything that moves in front of them.
Aleppo Suburbs, The number of martyrs for today has reached 11 martyrs as a result of the continuous shelling by regime's army on several areas of the suburb. Helicopters are being used to bomb some of the areas.
Homs, Tadmur, Security forces shoot live ammunition heavily at the funeral of martyr Asad Jama'an and surround the cemetery with several security cars to arrest the participants in the funeral.
Heavy shelling on Halfaya by the regime's tanks
http://www.lccsyria.org/
SNC member: Hezbollah preventing aid for Syrians
http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=370339
Senators McCain and Graham: "People that are being massacred deserve to have the ability to defend themselves."
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will meet with the Syrian opposition ahead of the second "Friends of Syria" meeting in Istanbul next month.
"There's a whole other massacre going on in Idlib near the Turkish border with deliberate incitement and gross atrocities."
"Turkey ‘turns blind eye’ to arms shipment to Syria." http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=272617
Turkey, Syria’s neighbor and long-time ally, is now backing Western actions, reportedly providing a base for training Syrian rebels and even discussing a no-fly zone with the US.
http://rt.com/news/turkey-syria-neighbors-policy-077/
http://rt.com/news/syria-us-arms-conflict-479/
Karayilan: Ceasefire extended after a letter from Ocalan
President of Kurdish Democratic Confederation (KCK) Murat Karayilan said they extended the unilateral ceasefire against Turkey after receiving a letter from Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan.
Karayilan said it was only possible to extend the ceasefire if Ocalan's power was brought into the process. And as soon as the leadership of the Kurdistan Worker's Party received the 5 page letter they decided to declare a ceasefire until the general elections in June 2011.
"Our leader Ocalan saw the positive attitude of the state or the negotiating team for a solution (for the Kurdish Question) and sent us a letter which calls for extension of unilateral ceasefire" Karayılan said.
He also said that the five conditions should be met by the Turkish state for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish Question.
PKK demand to stop military and political operations and to release Kurdish politicians who are unjustly detained. The organization also requested to enable imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan's active participation in the process.
According to the Kurdish Muovument, the dialogues should go beyond negotiation. In order to advance the process, the organization suggested establishing an investigative commission into the constitution and to remove the second-to-none election threshold of 10 percent.
Karayilan said that these demands are just and could be met by the Turkish government in the current political climate.
He said firstly Turkey has to accept the unjust policies which are implemented against Kurdish minority since the creation of Turkish Republic. "They have to tell Turkish people the reality. They have to tell about the atrocities against the Kurdish people" he said.
"They are calling our leader 'head of the seperatists'. Is this real? Do we want to be seperated from Turkey? No! Since 18 years we are struggling for cultural and identity rights of Kurdish people. We want to solve the Kurdish Question by dialogue."
He called the Turkish government to seize the opportunity for peace and not underestimate the power of the PKK and Kurdish people. Karayilan said they have information about the level of negotiations with Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan and they will have a meeting to discuss about the negotiation points in two months with fellow PKK commanders.
He also added that Turkey did not respond the previous ceasefires declared by the KCK. Karayilan also accused Turkish media for providing false information about the PKK and Kurdish Question.
We are not withdrawing from North Kurdistan. President of Kurdish Democratic Confederation (KCK) Murat Karayilan says its impossible for the guerilla forces withdraw from North Kurdistan.
HPG guerillas were withdrawn from North Kurdistan in 1999 after Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan called for a permanent ceasefire. Turkish army continued its operations against the withdrawing guerilla forces. More than 200 guerillas were killed between 1 August 1999 and 1 August 2000 in Turkish military operations.
Karayilan ruled out any possibilities that will lead to a guerilla withdrawal from North Kurdistan. 'If there is a possibilitly for peace then our guerillas in Dersim will join this process. But they will stay where they are' he said.
Protecting our existence as a nation and building a free life, says KCK leader
We are in a self defence position, says Karayılan
“We are in a restricted self defence position and have not exercised our full power yet. It is a warning position where we are standing now. If the state launches an incursion on Medya Defence Territories or any other part of Kurdistan then we break the chain and the situation will be completely different.” said head of Kurdistan Democratic Confederation (KCK) Executive Council Murat Karayılan.
Karayılan further underlined that they are still supporting the line living with people of Turkey on an equal and free basis and said “We will continue resisting does not matter if it takes a century. We cannot accept such dishonour; we cannot accept the assimilation policies on the Kurdish people. They will never be able to make us Turk.”
Since 1 June 2010 Kurdish problem entered a new phase. KCK executive committee had declared it by a public release. Following this declaration the clashes in Northern Kurdistan (Turkey) increased and escalated to the Turkish regions such as Mediterranean, Black sea and the Marmara Regions. Turkish army has launched several air attacks on ‘Medya Defence Territories’, a region in northern Iraq controlled by PKK. With the raise in the number of clashes the number casualties has also increased.
All these recent developments brought the Kurdish question on the top of the agenda, as the most crucial problem of Turkey and whole region. While some are suggesting a military-security solution for the problem some others are suggestion new approach such a holding the problem with its all dimensions. What about KCK? How does KCK see the recent developments and discussions?
ANF interview Murat Karayılan, the head of Kurdistan Democratic Confederation (KCK) Executive Council. Karayılan explained what “Democratic Autonomy Solution” means.
* How do you evaluate the developments after 1 June 2010? What are the characteristics of this new era?
- Our leadership and movement have put great efforts for 18 years to develop a democratic solution for the Kurdish issue. Most recently on 13 April 2009 we declared a ceasefire which was ended on 1 June 2010. However, what we have seen is that AKP government and the Turkish state have no intention to make peace with the Kurdish people. They insist on their assimilation policies on our people and they want the Kurds unconditionally surrender. Our leader Abdullah Ocalan has declared that he is still supporting a democratic solution and he let the initiative to us. The responsibility of this new phase belongs to us. Nobody can blame our leadership for this.
* Mr. Ocalan has said that he can be part of a solution if there are negotiations. For your movement what is the role of your leadership Ocalan? How do you see the discussions about this issue?
- The role of our leadership is clear not only for our movement but also for the Kurdish people. As we have already underlined numberless times he is the leader of a people, he is the leader of the Kurdish people. His role is decisive for us.
He said the 3rd phase is over and he will withdraw until he is recognised as an interlocutor and negotiations start. He did it in the face of denial and destruction policies of AKP and the Turkish state.
We are a movement. We have a council, executive board and administration. We have been discussing for the last 6- 7 months how we can develop our own solution. Therefore, we decided to start a new phase. It was a necessity for us. If the state does not want to find a solution by negotiating with you then you have to find your own solution with your own dynamics. That is what we are doing now. Because the state does not want to solve the Kurdish question but destroy the Kurdish people. This is a danger for our people. AKP has rejected all our reasonable proposals. This means I do not want to make peace with you but destroy you. This is the danger.
We consider the phase as “protecting our existence as a nation and building a free life”. We are developing a solution and are ready to welcome the state if they want to be a part of the solution. If not, we will make it with our own dynamics.
* There are some calls from NGO’s and some business unions for a cease fire and stopping the military operations. How do you see these calls? Is a ceasefire possible in this phase? If yes, depending on what?
- First of all I should say that following the call from the NGO’s in Diyarbakir in which they asked for a cease fire from us and stopping the military operations from the state the Turkish media disseminated false, fabricated news. This is a big lie.
We respect all the calls from the NGO’s both based in and out of Diyarbakir. They are coherent and balanced. However, making calls itself does not suffice. A greater effort is needed. The framework proposed by the NGO’s is acceptable. If the state agrees on it too then we can start negotiations.
On one hand the Turkish PM is calling NATO and waiting USA on hand and foot. Despite all the tension with Israel, he is still sending delegations to Israel to buy Herons. Same with Syria and Iran. In order to destroy us they are holding security meetings one after another. One the other hand they are calling for a unilateral ceasefire. It does not make any sense. It is not acceptable. We have the power to resist the Turkish state, to stand on our own feet. All should be aware of this fact.
We are at a restricted self defence position. That means we have not exercised our full power yet. Because we are still of view of living together with Turkey and we are struggling for it. However, if the state as a result of these security meetings launches an incursion on Medya Defence Territories or any other part of Kurdistan then we break the chain and the situation will be completely different. We are following a well planned and organised self defence strategy.
If they insist on deadlock, if they insist on denial and destruction then the Kurdish people have right to head other options. We have the power to resist. The palavers from the politicians saying that they finished the PKK in 1999 are their false theories. That time, upon the request from our leadership we withdrew out of borders. It was a way of showing good faith. The Turkish state should not be deceived and think that it was something that they managed themselves.
Karayılan has also stated that democratic autonomy means democratisation of Turkey however; AKP government and the opposition party CHP are digging more frontiers to harden the war.
* What is Democratic Autonomy and when are you planning to declare it?
- Democratic Autonomy means respecting and promoting different cultures rather than subjecting them to assimilation and genocide policies. It is recognising the right to autonomy of different cultures living within the country. It does not mean secession or establishing a new state but enjoyment of full rights. Autonomy was promised to the Kurds by Mustafa Kemal who failed to keep his promise.
It is common system in the world. If the state does not accept it then the Kurdish people will realize it in their lives. And if the state tries to stop it then we have to tackle it in out way. Democratic Autonomy is the only possible solution for the Kurdish problem.
* How will you realise it?
- Democratic Confederalism is an alternative system to 5 thousand year-old state tradition. It is the unity of people living together without existence of a state.
If the state does not accept it then it will create danger for itself. We will realize it with our own dynamics. The Kurdish people are willing and capable of this. Hope the state act rationally. It will lead a permanent solution. Such a solution will bring an end to the war, deaths.
It is the time to see the realities. Otherwise Turkey will find itself in the middle of a chaos. They should stop using outdated arguments like “mother tongue will destroy the country”. Look at the world. Countries where different mother tongues are taught at school still exist. They are destroyed.
AKP is not sincere in the solution and using the opposition parties like CHP and MHP as an excuse not to take necessary step on the way to solution.
* And if the Turkish state does not accept it?
As I said Kurdish people are willing and capable of it. It is not only us declaring the autonomy but the Kurdish people. Political parties like BDP, NGO’s will all work together to realise this goal.
And if the state does not accept and allies with neighboring countries or international capital then the Kurds ally with the mountains of Kurdistan.
* This is an edited and shortened version of the original interview published today in Turkish – BAKI GÜL -ANF / KANDIL
Peace efforts of the Kurdish Side 1993-1999
Chronology of Ceasefires:
After years of fighting, the Kurdish liberation movement sought to find a political solution of the conflict. These efforts of the PKK, Kurdistan Worker’s Party, were underlined by the declaration of its first unilateral ceasefire in 1993. This truce however was undermined and sabotaged by gangs of war profiteers within the PKK and the Turkish state.
Being committed to and convinced of the necessity of a peaceful solution of the Kurdish question, the leader of the PKK, Mr. Abdullah Ocalan, repeatedly declared ceasefires such as in 1995 and 1998. The last truce became impossible to sustain due to concerted action against it by many different states. KCK Presidency of the Executive Council and the Kongra-Gel Presidential Board announced the unilateral cease-fire from 13 August 2010 to 20 September 2010
The peace initiatives of the PKK are in chronological order as below;
• March, 17 1993 General Secretray of the PKK declared the first ceasefire
• December, 14 1995 Mr. Abdullah Öcalan Declares Unilateral Cease-Fire to Test Turkey for the Cause of Peace
• September, 2 1998 PKK Announces Ceasefire in Turkey
• February, 15 1999 On the 15th of February, 1999, the President of the PKK, Mr. Abdullah Öcalan, was handed over to the Republic of Turkey
• August, 25 1999 PKK Begins Withdrawal from Turkey
• October, 1 1999 As a sign of goodwill the first peace group was send to Turkey.
• October, 29 1999 The second peace and democratic solution group was send from Europe to Turkey
• December, 10 1999 PKK declares its support for the EU-membership of Turkey.
• January, 202000 Peace Project
• December, 4 2000 The Urgent Action Plan for Peace and Democracy
• June, 19 2000 Urgent Demands in order to prevent the war and to promote the peace process
• April, 16 2002 Duties on Democratic Liberation on the 8th Congress of the PKK
• December, 22 2002 Urgent Peace Proclamation
• April, 15 2003 Proclamation for A Way out of Turkey’s Impasse
• August, 2 2003 Road Map for a Peaceful and Democratic Solution, of The Kurdish Question In Turkey, Declaration of KADEK Executive Council
• November, 15 2003 Final Declaration of the Foundation Conference of the People's Congress of Kurdistan (KONGRA GEL)
• June, 1 2004 ’We didn't declare war we are in self-defence’
• March, 20 2005 The declaration of Democratic Confederalism
• 20th of August to 20th of September 2005: Way for peace and a democratic solution hence contributing to the development of resolution process.
• September, 30 2006, Decision for a Ceasefire by Kongra Gel 2nd Interim Session Assembly Meeting
• October 17, 2007, The war decision was accepted by the Turkish Parliament, the occupational operation started
• February 21, 2008, The Turkish army bombed the Medya Defense Areas many times and carried out an invasion operation against the South Kurdistan and the Medya Defense Areas
• April 13, 2009 KCK decided for a cease-fire
• June, 1 2010 KCK declaration of the self-defence
• August 13, 2010 KCK declared the unilateral cease-fire from 13 August 2010 to 20 September. 2010.
1993
17 March 1993
On 17 of March 1993 General Secretary of the PKK declared the first ceasefire.
On April 17, 1993, Mr. Abdullah Öcalan, extended the cease-fire indefinitely.
Among the conditions were:
a) Immediate halt to Turkish military operations.
b) Abolition of the regional governorship system.
c) Constitutional recognition of the Kurdish identity.
d) Creation of conditions conducive to the return of displaced Kurds to Kurdistan.
e) Compensation for the loss of property.
At a press conference on June 8, 1993, Mr. Abdullah Öclan announced the ending of the cease-fire which had been unilaterally enforced by the PKK since March 17, 1993.
1995
14 December 1995
Mr. Abdullah Ocalan Declares Unilateral Cease-Fire to Test Turkey for the Cause of Peace
On December 14, 1995, Mr. Abdullah Ocalan announced a unilateral cease-fire to test Turkey for the cause of peace in an interview with the Kurdish satellite television station MED-TV.
Mr. Abdullah Ocalan stated: "We have announced a unilateral cease-fire. We wish to see how the new Turkish government, which will come to power after the December 24, 1995 elections, approaches the Kurdish question. It is a goodwill gesture on our part to give them the benefit of the doubt for new ways to deal with the issue."
Mr. Ocalan continued: "During the cease-fire, if the Turkish military does not attack PKK forces, then our guerrillas will halt all their offensive military actions."
Mr. Ocalan announced this cease-fire in response to attempts by the European Parliament to find ways for a political solution to the Kurdish question. Another factor was the desire to create more peaceful conditions for the upcoming general elections in Turkey.
He states: "If Turkey wishes to be a party to the political solution to the Kurdish question but does not want to enter into dialogue with our party, the PKK, some other Kurdish institution could act as an interlocutor, so long as the existence of the PKK is accepted as a fact and the reality on the ground is not misconstrued."
Mr. Ocalan, moreover, called upon the nations of Europe to establish a commission to oversee the cease-fire and to redouble their efforts for the cause of peace so that the momentum for a political solution is not wasted. He noted that Turkey's recent admission into the European Customs Union by definition has made the Kurdish question a European issue.
It is the duty, therefore, of European countries to bring an end to the war in Turkey. PKK Chair, Mr. Abdullah Öcalan called upon Turkey's political and military institutions to respect the cease-fire. He also called on the international community to acknowledge and give their support to this peace effort.
End of the ceasefire in May 1996
1998
2 September 1998
PKK Announces Ceasefire in Turkey
The PKK announced a unilateral ceasefire in its fight for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey. Mr. Abdullah Öcalan announced the ceasefire in a telephone interview on Kurdish MED-TV. In this interview he said that the ceasefire was timed to correspond with the September 1st World Peace Day.
"Terror and violence are not the best ways in human relations. For as long as we are not attacked by Turkish forces, we will not undertake any armed action," he said, adding that the ceasefire would last until April 1999. Kurdish sources said that although they would not initiate attacks on Turkish forces, they reserved the right to fight in self-defense.
The timing of the ceasefire announcement coincided with a changeover in the military, as Ismail Hakki Karadayi, chief of general staff, hands over command to General Huseyin Kivrikoglu. In addition, Turkey is looking toward the general election next April. Some analysts saw the ceasefire as an attempt by the PKK to renew its struggle in the arena of national politics.
In 1997, Mr. Abdullah Öcalan told Kurdish MED-TV that the PKK was ready for a unilateral cease-fire and wanted to begin negotiations with the Turkish government. Turkey has so far rejected all such offers and refuses to negotiate with the group. Recently Öcalan claimed that he no longer sought to separate the mainly Kurdish southeast from Turkey, saying that, "Following a realistic policy of Kurdish independence does not mean changing the borders."
Turkish government ignores ceasefire
This time, too, the Turkish government said that it would not respond to the ceasefire announcement. Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said Turkey would never agree to negotiate with the PKK and called on Mr. Öcalan to surrender. Yilmaz added that the efforts of the PKK to create a political platform in Europe would be in vain.
November 13, 1998
Intending to solve the Kurdish question through the political dialogue with Europe, Mr. Abdullah Ocalan left the Middle East and flew to Europe in October 1998. His stay in Europe ended abruptly with his kidnapping on February 15, 1999 and his subsequent imprisonment on the Turkish prison island of Imrali.
November 14, 1998
PKK Central Committee
Current developments centred upon our leadership's person portend to be of real significance in determining our people's fate. The Turkish State responded to the announcement of a cease-fire by our Party's General Secretary, Mr. Abdullah Öcalan, and his attempt to realize a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question, on the occasion of World Peace Day, September 1, 1998, by hatching a plot with international dimensions.
Reacting to the cease-fire by intensifying the war, the peace offering met with the fiercest display of enmity. The entire efforts of the Turkish State have concentrated upon attacking us - whether militarily, politically, diplomatically or what-have-you. Now, the direct-targeting of our national leadership attains new dimensions in the attempted genocide of our people.
In response to this, our party and people, rallying behind our national leadership, have determinedly pursued our resistance on the basis of a legitimate defense of the cause of liberty.
Our voice has risen up loudly; a heavy price paid to realize freedom, democracy and human rights. It was for those same goals of our national freedom struggle that the General Secretary of our Party, Mr. Abdullah Öcalan, traveled to Rome, the capital of Italy, on 13 November 1998.
The visit, which took place with the knowledge of the Italian Government, is of a political character, and is not merely a matter of his seeking refuge or security. As far as our national leadership is concerned, both security and location can be secured, most important of all, in our own land. We have no doubt whatsoever on this issue.
BDP filed request to ICC on Roboski massacre
Abuse on children known to Turkish authorities
Write to UNICEF campaign launched to expose sexual abuses in prison
Newala Qesaba trial opened in Siirt
İbrahim Ayhan MP announced indefinite hunger strike
Kurdish paper distributor sentenced to 12 years in prison
"There's a whole other massacre going on in Idlib near the Turkish border with deliberate incitement and gross atrocities."
"Turkey ‘turns blind eye’ to arms shipment to Syria." http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=272617
Turkey, Syria’s neighbor and long-time ally, is now backing Western actions, reportedly providing a base for training Syrian rebels and even discussing a no-fly zone with the US.
http://rt.com/news/turkey-syria-neighbors-policy-077/
http://rt.com/news/syria-us-arms-conflict-479/
Karayilan: Ceasefire extended after a letter from Ocalan
President of Kurdish Democratic Confederation (KCK) Murat Karayilan said they extended the unilateral ceasefire against Turkey after receiving a letter from Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan.
Karayilan said it was only possible to extend the ceasefire if Ocalan's power was brought into the process. And as soon as the leadership of the Kurdistan Worker's Party received the 5 page letter they decided to declare a ceasefire until the general elections in June 2011.
"Our leader Ocalan saw the positive attitude of the state or the negotiating team for a solution (for the Kurdish Question) and sent us a letter which calls for extension of unilateral ceasefire" Karayılan said.
He also said that the five conditions should be met by the Turkish state for a peaceful solution to the Kurdish Question.
PKK demand to stop military and political operations and to release Kurdish politicians who are unjustly detained. The organization also requested to enable imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan's active participation in the process.
According to the Kurdish Muovument, the dialogues should go beyond negotiation. In order to advance the process, the organization suggested establishing an investigative commission into the constitution and to remove the second-to-none election threshold of 10 percent.
Karayilan said that these demands are just and could be met by the Turkish government in the current political climate.
He said firstly Turkey has to accept the unjust policies which are implemented against Kurdish minority since the creation of Turkish Republic. "They have to tell Turkish people the reality. They have to tell about the atrocities against the Kurdish people" he said.
"They are calling our leader 'head of the seperatists'. Is this real? Do we want to be seperated from Turkey? No! Since 18 years we are struggling for cultural and identity rights of Kurdish people. We want to solve the Kurdish Question by dialogue."
He called the Turkish government to seize the opportunity for peace and not underestimate the power of the PKK and Kurdish people. Karayilan said they have information about the level of negotiations with Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan and they will have a meeting to discuss about the negotiation points in two months with fellow PKK commanders.
He also added that Turkey did not respond the previous ceasefires declared by the KCK. Karayilan also accused Turkish media for providing false information about the PKK and Kurdish Question.
We are not withdrawing from North Kurdistan. President of Kurdish Democratic Confederation (KCK) Murat Karayilan says its impossible for the guerilla forces withdraw from North Kurdistan.
HPG guerillas were withdrawn from North Kurdistan in 1999 after Kurdish leader Abdullah Ocalan called for a permanent ceasefire. Turkish army continued its operations against the withdrawing guerilla forces. More than 200 guerillas were killed between 1 August 1999 and 1 August 2000 in Turkish military operations.
Karayilan ruled out any possibilities that will lead to a guerilla withdrawal from North Kurdistan. 'If there is a possibilitly for peace then our guerillas in Dersim will join this process. But they will stay where they are' he said.
Protecting our existence as a nation and building a free life, says KCK leader
We are in a self defence position, says Karayılan
“We are in a restricted self defence position and have not exercised our full power yet. It is a warning position where we are standing now. If the state launches an incursion on Medya Defence Territories or any other part of Kurdistan then we break the chain and the situation will be completely different.” said head of Kurdistan Democratic Confederation (KCK) Executive Council Murat Karayılan.
Karayılan further underlined that they are still supporting the line living with people of Turkey on an equal and free basis and said “We will continue resisting does not matter if it takes a century. We cannot accept such dishonour; we cannot accept the assimilation policies on the Kurdish people. They will never be able to make us Turk.”
Since 1 June 2010 Kurdish problem entered a new phase. KCK executive committee had declared it by a public release. Following this declaration the clashes in Northern Kurdistan (Turkey) increased and escalated to the Turkish regions such as Mediterranean, Black sea and the Marmara Regions. Turkish army has launched several air attacks on ‘Medya Defence Territories’, a region in northern Iraq controlled by PKK. With the raise in the number of clashes the number casualties has also increased.
All these recent developments brought the Kurdish question on the top of the agenda, as the most crucial problem of Turkey and whole region. While some are suggesting a military-security solution for the problem some others are suggestion new approach such a holding the problem with its all dimensions. What about KCK? How does KCK see the recent developments and discussions?
ANF interview Murat Karayılan, the head of Kurdistan Democratic Confederation (KCK) Executive Council. Karayılan explained what “Democratic Autonomy Solution” means.
* How do you evaluate the developments after 1 June 2010? What are the characteristics of this new era?
- Our leadership and movement have put great efforts for 18 years to develop a democratic solution for the Kurdish issue. Most recently on 13 April 2009 we declared a ceasefire which was ended on 1 June 2010. However, what we have seen is that AKP government and the Turkish state have no intention to make peace with the Kurdish people. They insist on their assimilation policies on our people and they want the Kurds unconditionally surrender. Our leader Abdullah Ocalan has declared that he is still supporting a democratic solution and he let the initiative to us. The responsibility of this new phase belongs to us. Nobody can blame our leadership for this.
* Mr. Ocalan has said that he can be part of a solution if there are negotiations. For your movement what is the role of your leadership Ocalan? How do you see the discussions about this issue?
- The role of our leadership is clear not only for our movement but also for the Kurdish people. As we have already underlined numberless times he is the leader of a people, he is the leader of the Kurdish people. His role is decisive for us.
He said the 3rd phase is over and he will withdraw until he is recognised as an interlocutor and negotiations start. He did it in the face of denial and destruction policies of AKP and the Turkish state.
We are a movement. We have a council, executive board and administration. We have been discussing for the last 6- 7 months how we can develop our own solution. Therefore, we decided to start a new phase. It was a necessity for us. If the state does not want to find a solution by negotiating with you then you have to find your own solution with your own dynamics. That is what we are doing now. Because the state does not want to solve the Kurdish question but destroy the Kurdish people. This is a danger for our people. AKP has rejected all our reasonable proposals. This means I do not want to make peace with you but destroy you. This is the danger.
We consider the phase as “protecting our existence as a nation and building a free life”. We are developing a solution and are ready to welcome the state if they want to be a part of the solution. If not, we will make it with our own dynamics.
* There are some calls from NGO’s and some business unions for a cease fire and stopping the military operations. How do you see these calls? Is a ceasefire possible in this phase? If yes, depending on what?
- First of all I should say that following the call from the NGO’s in Diyarbakir in which they asked for a cease fire from us and stopping the military operations from the state the Turkish media disseminated false, fabricated news. This is a big lie.
We respect all the calls from the NGO’s both based in and out of Diyarbakir. They are coherent and balanced. However, making calls itself does not suffice. A greater effort is needed. The framework proposed by the NGO’s is acceptable. If the state agrees on it too then we can start negotiations.
On one hand the Turkish PM is calling NATO and waiting USA on hand and foot. Despite all the tension with Israel, he is still sending delegations to Israel to buy Herons. Same with Syria and Iran. In order to destroy us they are holding security meetings one after another. One the other hand they are calling for a unilateral ceasefire. It does not make any sense. It is not acceptable. We have the power to resist the Turkish state, to stand on our own feet. All should be aware of this fact.
We are at a restricted self defence position. That means we have not exercised our full power yet. Because we are still of view of living together with Turkey and we are struggling for it. However, if the state as a result of these security meetings launches an incursion on Medya Defence Territories or any other part of Kurdistan then we break the chain and the situation will be completely different. We are following a well planned and organised self defence strategy.
If they insist on deadlock, if they insist on denial and destruction then the Kurdish people have right to head other options. We have the power to resist. The palavers from the politicians saying that they finished the PKK in 1999 are their false theories. That time, upon the request from our leadership we withdrew out of borders. It was a way of showing good faith. The Turkish state should not be deceived and think that it was something that they managed themselves.
Karayılan has also stated that democratic autonomy means democratisation of Turkey however; AKP government and the opposition party CHP are digging more frontiers to harden the war.
* What is Democratic Autonomy and when are you planning to declare it?
- Democratic Autonomy means respecting and promoting different cultures rather than subjecting them to assimilation and genocide policies. It is recognising the right to autonomy of different cultures living within the country. It does not mean secession or establishing a new state but enjoyment of full rights. Autonomy was promised to the Kurds by Mustafa Kemal who failed to keep his promise.
It is common system in the world. If the state does not accept it then the Kurdish people will realize it in their lives. And if the state tries to stop it then we have to tackle it in out way. Democratic Autonomy is the only possible solution for the Kurdish problem.
* How will you realise it?
- Democratic Confederalism is an alternative system to 5 thousand year-old state tradition. It is the unity of people living together without existence of a state.
If the state does not accept it then it will create danger for itself. We will realize it with our own dynamics. The Kurdish people are willing and capable of this. Hope the state act rationally. It will lead a permanent solution. Such a solution will bring an end to the war, deaths.
It is the time to see the realities. Otherwise Turkey will find itself in the middle of a chaos. They should stop using outdated arguments like “mother tongue will destroy the country”. Look at the world. Countries where different mother tongues are taught at school still exist. They are destroyed.
AKP is not sincere in the solution and using the opposition parties like CHP and MHP as an excuse not to take necessary step on the way to solution.
* And if the Turkish state does not accept it?
As I said Kurdish people are willing and capable of it. It is not only us declaring the autonomy but the Kurdish people. Political parties like BDP, NGO’s will all work together to realise this goal.
And if the state does not accept and allies with neighboring countries or international capital then the Kurds ally with the mountains of Kurdistan.
* This is an edited and shortened version of the original interview published today in Turkish – BAKI GÜL -ANF / KANDIL
Peace efforts of the Kurdish Side 1993-1999
Chronology of Ceasefires:
After years of fighting, the Kurdish liberation movement sought to find a political solution of the conflict. These efforts of the PKK, Kurdistan Worker’s Party, were underlined by the declaration of its first unilateral ceasefire in 1993. This truce however was undermined and sabotaged by gangs of war profiteers within the PKK and the Turkish state.
Being committed to and convinced of the necessity of a peaceful solution of the Kurdish question, the leader of the PKK, Mr. Abdullah Ocalan, repeatedly declared ceasefires such as in 1995 and 1998. The last truce became impossible to sustain due to concerted action against it by many different states. KCK Presidency of the Executive Council and the Kongra-Gel Presidential Board announced the unilateral cease-fire from 13 August 2010 to 20 September 2010
The peace initiatives of the PKK are in chronological order as below;
• March, 17 1993 General Secretray of the PKK declared the first ceasefire
• December, 14 1995 Mr. Abdullah Öcalan Declares Unilateral Cease-Fire to Test Turkey for the Cause of Peace
• September, 2 1998 PKK Announces Ceasefire in Turkey
• February, 15 1999 On the 15th of February, 1999, the President of the PKK, Mr. Abdullah Öcalan, was handed over to the Republic of Turkey
• August, 25 1999 PKK Begins Withdrawal from Turkey
• October, 1 1999 As a sign of goodwill the first peace group was send to Turkey.
• October, 29 1999 The second peace and democratic solution group was send from Europe to Turkey
• December, 10 1999 PKK declares its support for the EU-membership of Turkey.
• January, 202000 Peace Project
• December, 4 2000 The Urgent Action Plan for Peace and Democracy
• June, 19 2000 Urgent Demands in order to prevent the war and to promote the peace process
• April, 16 2002 Duties on Democratic Liberation on the 8th Congress of the PKK
• December, 22 2002 Urgent Peace Proclamation
• April, 15 2003 Proclamation for A Way out of Turkey’s Impasse
• August, 2 2003 Road Map for a Peaceful and Democratic Solution, of The Kurdish Question In Turkey, Declaration of KADEK Executive Council
• November, 15 2003 Final Declaration of the Foundation Conference of the People's Congress of Kurdistan (KONGRA GEL)
• June, 1 2004 ’We didn't declare war we are in self-defence’
• March, 20 2005 The declaration of Democratic Confederalism
• 20th of August to 20th of September 2005: Way for peace and a democratic solution hence contributing to the development of resolution process.
• September, 30 2006, Decision for a Ceasefire by Kongra Gel 2nd Interim Session Assembly Meeting
• October 17, 2007, The war decision was accepted by the Turkish Parliament, the occupational operation started
• February 21, 2008, The Turkish army bombed the Medya Defense Areas many times and carried out an invasion operation against the South Kurdistan and the Medya Defense Areas
• April 13, 2009 KCK decided for a cease-fire
• June, 1 2010 KCK declaration of the self-defence
• August 13, 2010 KCK declared the unilateral cease-fire from 13 August 2010 to 20 September. 2010.
1993
17 March 1993
On 17 of March 1993 General Secretary of the PKK declared the first ceasefire.
On April 17, 1993, Mr. Abdullah Öcalan, extended the cease-fire indefinitely.
Among the conditions were:
a) Immediate halt to Turkish military operations.
b) Abolition of the regional governorship system.
c) Constitutional recognition of the Kurdish identity.
d) Creation of conditions conducive to the return of displaced Kurds to Kurdistan.
e) Compensation for the loss of property.
At a press conference on June 8, 1993, Mr. Abdullah Öclan announced the ending of the cease-fire which had been unilaterally enforced by the PKK since March 17, 1993.
1995
14 December 1995
Mr. Abdullah Ocalan Declares Unilateral Cease-Fire to Test Turkey for the Cause of Peace
On December 14, 1995, Mr. Abdullah Ocalan announced a unilateral cease-fire to test Turkey for the cause of peace in an interview with the Kurdish satellite television station MED-TV.
Mr. Abdullah Ocalan stated: "We have announced a unilateral cease-fire. We wish to see how the new Turkish government, which will come to power after the December 24, 1995 elections, approaches the Kurdish question. It is a goodwill gesture on our part to give them the benefit of the doubt for new ways to deal with the issue."
Mr. Ocalan continued: "During the cease-fire, if the Turkish military does not attack PKK forces, then our guerrillas will halt all their offensive military actions."
Mr. Ocalan announced this cease-fire in response to attempts by the European Parliament to find ways for a political solution to the Kurdish question. Another factor was the desire to create more peaceful conditions for the upcoming general elections in Turkey.
He states: "If Turkey wishes to be a party to the political solution to the Kurdish question but does not want to enter into dialogue with our party, the PKK, some other Kurdish institution could act as an interlocutor, so long as the existence of the PKK is accepted as a fact and the reality on the ground is not misconstrued."
Mr. Ocalan, moreover, called upon the nations of Europe to establish a commission to oversee the cease-fire and to redouble their efforts for the cause of peace so that the momentum for a political solution is not wasted. He noted that Turkey's recent admission into the European Customs Union by definition has made the Kurdish question a European issue.
It is the duty, therefore, of European countries to bring an end to the war in Turkey. PKK Chair, Mr. Abdullah Öcalan called upon Turkey's political and military institutions to respect the cease-fire. He also called on the international community to acknowledge and give their support to this peace effort.
End of the ceasefire in May 1996
1998
2 September 1998
PKK Announces Ceasefire in Turkey
The PKK announced a unilateral ceasefire in its fight for Kurdish autonomy in Turkey. Mr. Abdullah Öcalan announced the ceasefire in a telephone interview on Kurdish MED-TV. In this interview he said that the ceasefire was timed to correspond with the September 1st World Peace Day.
"Terror and violence are not the best ways in human relations. For as long as we are not attacked by Turkish forces, we will not undertake any armed action," he said, adding that the ceasefire would last until April 1999. Kurdish sources said that although they would not initiate attacks on Turkish forces, they reserved the right to fight in self-defense.
The timing of the ceasefire announcement coincided with a changeover in the military, as Ismail Hakki Karadayi, chief of general staff, hands over command to General Huseyin Kivrikoglu. In addition, Turkey is looking toward the general election next April. Some analysts saw the ceasefire as an attempt by the PKK to renew its struggle in the arena of national politics.
In 1997, Mr. Abdullah Öcalan told Kurdish MED-TV that the PKK was ready for a unilateral cease-fire and wanted to begin negotiations with the Turkish government. Turkey has so far rejected all such offers and refuses to negotiate with the group. Recently Öcalan claimed that he no longer sought to separate the mainly Kurdish southeast from Turkey, saying that, "Following a realistic policy of Kurdish independence does not mean changing the borders."
Turkish government ignores ceasefire
This time, too, the Turkish government said that it would not respond to the ceasefire announcement. Turkish Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz said Turkey would never agree to negotiate with the PKK and called on Mr. Öcalan to surrender. Yilmaz added that the efforts of the PKK to create a political platform in Europe would be in vain.
November 13, 1998
Intending to solve the Kurdish question through the political dialogue with Europe, Mr. Abdullah Ocalan left the Middle East and flew to Europe in October 1998. His stay in Europe ended abruptly with his kidnapping on February 15, 1999 and his subsequent imprisonment on the Turkish prison island of Imrali.
November 14, 1998
PKK Central Committee
Current developments centred upon our leadership's person portend to be of real significance in determining our people's fate. The Turkish State responded to the announcement of a cease-fire by our Party's General Secretary, Mr. Abdullah Öcalan, and his attempt to realize a peaceful solution to the Kurdish question, on the occasion of World Peace Day, September 1, 1998, by hatching a plot with international dimensions.
Reacting to the cease-fire by intensifying the war, the peace offering met with the fiercest display of enmity. The entire efforts of the Turkish State have concentrated upon attacking us - whether militarily, politically, diplomatically or what-have-you. Now, the direct-targeting of our national leadership attains new dimensions in the attempted genocide of our people.
In response to this, our party and people, rallying behind our national leadership, have determinedly pursued our resistance on the basis of a legitimate defense of the cause of liberty.
Our voice has risen up loudly; a heavy price paid to realize freedom, democracy and human rights. It was for those same goals of our national freedom struggle that the General Secretary of our Party, Mr. Abdullah Öcalan, traveled to Rome, the capital of Italy, on 13 November 1998.
The visit, which took place with the knowledge of the Italian Government, is of a political character, and is not merely a matter of his seeking refuge or security. As far as our national leadership is concerned, both security and location can be secured, most important of all, in our own land. We have no doubt whatsoever on this issue.
BDP filed request to ICC on Roboski massacre
Abuse on children known to Turkish authorities
Write to UNICEF campaign launched to expose sexual abuses in prison
Newala Qesaba trial opened in Siirt
İbrahim Ayhan MP announced indefinite hunger strike
Kurdish paper distributor sentenced to 12 years in prison
"Wheeling and dealing" on Syria 28 February
The Local Coordination Committees in Syria
The number of martyrs has 102 thus far; among them 35 in a regime-conducted massacre in Halfaya in the Hama suburbs. In addition, 26 martyrs fell in a massacre by the regime in Baba Amr, including 3 women and 2 children; 37 in the Hama suburbs; 50 in Homs; 6 in the Aleppo suburbs; 5 in the Idlib suburbs; 3 in Deir Ezzor; and 1 in Daraa
Hama: Halfaya: The number of martyrs thus far today, as a result of the regime army’s shelling of the city, is 35, among them women and children. Many of them are still trapped under the rubble of buildings that were demolished with residents still inside.
22:13 The Syrian National News Agency on Tuesday reported that Syrian authorities “prevented an armed terrorist group from entering Syria through the Oyoun al-Shara-Halat crossing in Tall Kalakh along the Lebanese-Syrian border.” http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=370301
22:15 The Syrian military has sent elite reinforcements from a unit commanded by President Bashar al-Assad's brother Maher to the besieged rebel city of Homs, an activist on the ground said on Tuesday.
20:18, Security forces are heavily shelling the Homs village of Al-Zara, activists told Al-Jazeera.
18:22, Syria’s death toll has risen to 92 people, activists told Al-Jazeera.
18:02, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday an argument could be made for declaring President Bashar al-Assad a war criminal, but said such action could complicate a solution in Syria.
14:20 The Russian deputy foreign minister urged Syria to cooperate with the Red Cross, AFP reported.
13:18 Syrian forces on Tuesday opened fire in Aleppo’s University, Al-Jazeera quoted activists as saying, adding that casualties were reported.
13:15 UN rights chief Navi Pillay on Tuesday called for an immediate ceasefire to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to crisis-hit Syria during a special meeting of government ministers in Geneva.
The death toll in the Syrian government crackdown is now "certainly well over 7,500," a top UN official said Tuesday, adding that more than 100 civilians are now often killed each day.
Thousands of mourners took to the streets of the Syrian capital on Tuesday for the funerals of civilians killed in the regime's crackdown on dissent, activists said.
Idlib: Khan Sheikhoun: Hameeda Arakel was killed and her child got seriously injured due to shelling
Burying their dead is a tough challenge for Syrian rebels, as blasts and machinegun fire rock Qusayr, a town some 30 kilometers southwest of the besieged city of Homs, AFP reported.
-AFP/NOW Lebanon - No rest for Syrian rebels burying their dead in Qusayr
http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=370206
http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=253828
http://www.facebook.com/fnn.syria.english
https://www.facebook.com/RevolutionFreeSyria?sk=wall
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Lb1rJVCy5lU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmxWtn-lMFI&feature=player_embedded
http://youtu.be/0AVnsNICeX0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE_Pha9JgYo&feature=player_embedded
"Wheeling and dealing", a little piece of Syria 26, 27, 28 February
The death toll in Syria has risen to 57 people, Al-Arabiya television reported.
Hama: Halfaya: The number of killed has risen to 25 thus far, due to artillery shelling by the regime's army
Homs: Powerful explosions shook Karam Zaitoun and mortar shells are falling on al-Zahra neighborhood and the checkpoints close by.
Homs: Women from the same family were killed when their home was shelled in Bab Draib from army stationed in al-Zahra
Homs: 4 were killed from Al-Masry family after shelling their home in Bab Tadmur neighborhood. One of them is known: Omar Al-Masry
Homs: TelKalkh: Bahjet Ali al-Zaaby and Ahmed Dreed Aabas were killed during the random shelling on the town and the villages nearby
Aleppo University:Several students were injured in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering when the SF opened fire to disperse the demo #syria
Deir Ezzor: The citizen journalist Abdulrazeq Darweesh was tortured to death; he was transferred to the military hospital n Qoriah
@tweets4peace: "YA ALLAH I can't do this anymore 7 people from my family no names yet have been shot and run over with tanks. Please God."
CNN: Dozens of Syrian protesters lose residency permits in UAE
Jisr al-Shoughour: The British photographer Bradly Secker witnesses the harsh conditions in Jandodieh in Idlib: youtu.be/3TdP28AJYKE
Aleppo University: "Several students were injured in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering when the SF opened fire to disperse the demo."
Paul Conroy: Syrian activists killed during rescue, 3 journalists remain
The International Red Cross announced on Sunday that it was unable to enter Syria’s Baba Amr, Al-Arabiya television reported.
AFP - Efforts to evacuate foreign journalists from the rebel-held Baba Amr district of the flashpoint city of Homs failed on Monday, a Western diplomatic source in the Syrian capital said. A negotiator in the evacuation efforts said they fell through "at the last minute after ambulances had entered Baba Amr" but declined to specify if regime forces or rebels had blocked the operation.
An International Committee of the Red Cross spokesperson in Geneva, meanwhile, said the ICRC and the Syrian Red Crescent were both operating in Homs.
"The Syrian Red Crescent volunteers entered Baba Amr to carry out the evacuation of persons who needed it and to deliver medical assistance," the spokesperson said.
The diplomat in Damascus, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP earlier that talks and preparations were taking place to rescue two wounded Western reporters trapped in the besieged Baba Amr district. "It is extremely delicate and the process could be blocked at any moment," the diplomat said.
The ICRC has been negotiating to rescue the wounded Western journalists from Homs -- under assault by regime forces for more than three weeks -- and retrieve the bodies of two others killed there last week.
British photographer Paul Conroy and French reporter Edith Bouvier were wounded in the attack on Wednesday which claimed the lives of American war correspondent Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik.
Senators McCain and Graham: "People that are being massacred deserve to have the ability to defend themselves," McCain said.
Saudi Arabia Is Arming the Syrian Opposition - By Jonathan Schanzer, Foreign Policy: bit.ly/w0N6QV
Saudi says ‘complacency’ affecting Syria crisis http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2012/February/middleeast_February763.xml§ion=middleeast
AJ: Qatar's PM says help must be offered to the Syrian opposition, including arming it.
The European Union adopts sanctions against the Syrian Central bank. Syria’s health, information, industry and agriculture ministers are listed on the European countries’ list of sanctions on Syria, Al-Arabiya reported. European Union foreign ministers on Monday agreed fresh sanctions on Syria, including a freeze on the assets of the central bank, the EU said Monday.
Beijing on Monday hit back at Hillary Clinton over her criticism of China and Russia's stance on Syria, calling the US Secretary of State's comments unacceptable.
Canada on Sunday slammed as a farce Syria's controversial vote on a new constitution.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday warned against the United States arming rebels in Syria because such a move could inadvertently lead to support for Al-Qaeda and Hamas.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will meet with the Syrian opposition ahead of the second "Friends of Syria" meeting in Istanbul next month.
http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=369336&MID=149&PID=2
"There's a whole other massacre going on in Idlib near the Turkish border with deliberate incitement and gross atrocities."
"Turkey helping arming Assad and killing innocent Syrians:" "Turkey ‘turns blind eye’ to arms shipment to Syria." http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=272617
Turkey, Syria’s neighbor and long-time ally, is now backing Western actions, reportedly providing a base for training Syrian rebels and even discussing a no-fly zone with the US.
http://rt.com/news/turkey-syria-neighbors-policy-077/
http://rt.com/news/syria-us-arms-conflict-479/
http://rt.com/news/arming-syria-rebels-saudi-913/
http://rt.com/news/syria-opposition-weapon-smuggling-843/
There is "every possibility" that Syria could descend into a civil war which could be worsened by foreign intervention, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the BBC on Sunday. http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=369433
Security forces kill innocent people in the streets in Syria - Daraa city
The tragic situation in Homs continues. Homs is still besieged completely and the snipers are using their guns to prevent people from moving between neighborhoods. Communication services are cut off, the streets are deserted, bombs are falling on houses and people all day, electricity is cut off most of the time, drinking water is so scares it has almost become a treasure, fuel and food are scares as well in the city and the rural area.
S.N.N, Syrian Network for Human Rights
Report, Monday, 27 February, 2012
Casualties and Wounded: Homs,Talbeesah:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=323064844407964&set=a.176433502404433.39432.175386715842445&type=1
http://www.facebook.com/ShaamNewsNetwork
http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=253828
http://www.facebook.com/ShaamNewsNetwork/posts/394711063876914
http://www.facebook.com/baba.amar.revo?sk=wall
https://www.facebook.com/H.R.C.HOMS
Hama: Halfaya: The number of killed has risen to 25 thus far, due to artillery shelling by the regime's army
Homs: Powerful explosions shook Karam Zaitoun and mortar shells are falling on al-Zahra neighborhood and the checkpoints close by.
Homs: Women from the same family were killed when their home was shelled in Bab Draib from army stationed in al-Zahra
Homs: 4 were killed from Al-Masry family after shelling their home in Bab Tadmur neighborhood. One of them is known: Omar Al-Masry
Homs: TelKalkh: Bahjet Ali al-Zaaby and Ahmed Dreed Aabas were killed during the random shelling on the town and the villages nearby
Aleppo University:Several students were injured in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering when the SF opened fire to disperse the demo #syria
Deir Ezzor: The citizen journalist Abdulrazeq Darweesh was tortured to death; he was transferred to the military hospital n Qoriah
@tweets4peace: "YA ALLAH I can't do this anymore 7 people from my family no names yet have been shot and run over with tanks. Please God."
CNN: Dozens of Syrian protesters lose residency permits in UAE
Jisr al-Shoughour: The British photographer Bradly Secker witnesses the harsh conditions in Jandodieh in Idlib: youtu.be/3TdP28AJYKE
Aleppo University: "Several students were injured in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering when the SF opened fire to disperse the demo."
Paul Conroy: Syrian activists killed during rescue, 3 journalists remain
The International Red Cross announced on Sunday that it was unable to enter Syria’s Baba Amr, Al-Arabiya television reported.
AFP - Efforts to evacuate foreign journalists from the rebel-held Baba Amr district of the flashpoint city of Homs failed on Monday, a Western diplomatic source in the Syrian capital said. A negotiator in the evacuation efforts said they fell through "at the last minute after ambulances had entered Baba Amr" but declined to specify if regime forces or rebels had blocked the operation.
An International Committee of the Red Cross spokesperson in Geneva, meanwhile, said the ICRC and the Syrian Red Crescent were both operating in Homs.
"The Syrian Red Crescent volunteers entered Baba Amr to carry out the evacuation of persons who needed it and to deliver medical assistance," the spokesperson said.
The diplomat in Damascus, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP earlier that talks and preparations were taking place to rescue two wounded Western reporters trapped in the besieged Baba Amr district. "It is extremely delicate and the process could be blocked at any moment," the diplomat said.
The ICRC has been negotiating to rescue the wounded Western journalists from Homs -- under assault by regime forces for more than three weeks -- and retrieve the bodies of two others killed there last week.
British photographer Paul Conroy and French reporter Edith Bouvier were wounded in the attack on Wednesday which claimed the lives of American war correspondent Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik.
Senators McCain and Graham: "People that are being massacred deserve to have the ability to defend themselves," McCain said.
Saudi Arabia Is Arming the Syrian Opposition - By Jonathan Schanzer, Foreign Policy: bit.ly/w0N6QV
Saudi says ‘complacency’ affecting Syria crisis http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle09.asp?xfile=data/middleeast/2012/February/middleeast_February763.xml§ion=middleeast
AJ: Qatar's PM says help must be offered to the Syrian opposition, including arming it.
The European Union adopts sanctions against the Syrian Central bank. Syria’s health, information, industry and agriculture ministers are listed on the European countries’ list of sanctions on Syria, Al-Arabiya reported. European Union foreign ministers on Monday agreed fresh sanctions on Syria, including a freeze on the assets of the central bank, the EU said Monday.
Beijing on Monday hit back at Hillary Clinton over her criticism of China and Russia's stance on Syria, calling the US Secretary of State's comments unacceptable.
Canada on Sunday slammed as a farce Syria's controversial vote on a new constitution.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday warned against the United States arming rebels in Syria because such a move could inadvertently lead to support for Al-Qaeda and Hamas.
Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu will meet with the Syrian opposition ahead of the second "Friends of Syria" meeting in Istanbul next month.
http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=369336&MID=149&PID=2
"There's a whole other massacre going on in Idlib near the Turkish border with deliberate incitement and gross atrocities."
"Turkey helping arming Assad and killing innocent Syrians:" "Turkey ‘turns blind eye’ to arms shipment to Syria." http://www.todayszaman.com/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=272617
Turkey, Syria’s neighbor and long-time ally, is now backing Western actions, reportedly providing a base for training Syrian rebels and even discussing a no-fly zone with the US.
http://rt.com/news/turkey-syria-neighbors-policy-077/
http://rt.com/news/syria-us-arms-conflict-479/
http://rt.com/news/arming-syria-rebels-saudi-913/
http://rt.com/news/syria-opposition-weapon-smuggling-843/
There is "every possibility" that Syria could descend into a civil war which could be worsened by foreign intervention, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the BBC on Sunday. http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=369433
Security forces kill innocent people in the streets in Syria - Daraa city
The tragic situation in Homs continues. Homs is still besieged completely and the snipers are using their guns to prevent people from moving between neighborhoods. Communication services are cut off, the streets are deserted, bombs are falling on houses and people all day, electricity is cut off most of the time, drinking water is so scares it has almost become a treasure, fuel and food are scares as well in the city and the rural area.
S.N.N, Syrian Network for Human Rights
Report, Monday, 27 February, 2012
Casualties and Wounded: Homs,Talbeesah:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=323064844407964&set=a.176433502404433.39432.175386715842445&type=1
http://www.facebook.com/ShaamNewsNetwork
http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=253828
http://www.facebook.com/ShaamNewsNetwork/posts/394711063876914
http://www.facebook.com/baba.amar.revo?sk=wall
https://www.facebook.com/H.R.C.HOMS
Marie Colvin was witness in 'White Flag Incident' reiterated in the UN report for Sri Lanka.
http://bbc.in/zjlPDP - Marie Colvin killed in Syria, alongside award winning photojournalist Remi Ochlik, lost her eye in Sri Lanka when shot at by the military while entering government territory after filing a report to the Sunday Times from restricted Tamil Tiger held territory in April 2001.
Paying tribute to Mylvaganam Nimalarajan, of the BBC Sinhala service, in a public event in London in 2002 Marie spoke of the dangers faced by war correspondents who lived in war torn countries but could not leave like their international colleagues.
Marie Colvin on 'White Flag surrender'
Nimalarajan reporting the war in his native northern Jaffna to the outside world was killed in cold blood within a high security zone in 2000.
The battle waged by the Sri Lankan military against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) widely known as Tamil Tigers was coming to a bloody end in may 2009. As independent journalists and international organisations were barred from the northern battlefield, many international journalists had to rely on information provided by the Sri Lankan military or the LTTE.
"I feel very angry," Marie as the foreign affairs Editor of Sunday Times who was not prepared to withdraw from reporting on the war in Sri Lanka told me.
This was a day before the Sri Lankan government declared its military victory over Tamil Tigers and Marie was following the developments closely. She was angered that senior Tamil Tiger leaders who surrendered by arrangement with a very senior United Nations official to the Sri Lankan military were killed.
On the evening of 17th May 2009 she had recieved a 'desperate phone call' from the LTTE political head Balasingham Nadesan. "They were trying to surrender but anybody attempting to approach Sri Lankan army lines was been shot," Marie recalled what Nadesan told her.
She has then called the UN Secretary General's Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar who she said had been assured by the Sri Lankan president that Mr Nadesan would be safe in surrendering to the Sri Lankan Army.
The LTTE political chief Nadesan was with the head of the LTTE peace secretariat Seevaratnam Pulidevan and other injured people. 'British and Americans and United Nations, Mr Nambiar who was in Colombo were all aware that they wanted to surrender,' said Ms Colvin
Negotiations to surrender had been 'going on for days'. "What I find deeply, deeply distressing is that those negotiations was with the Sri Lankan government. British and Americans and United Nations, Mr. Nambiar who was in Colombo were all aware that they wanted to surrender," said Marie Colvin.
Marie was told by Mr. Nambiar, "that there would be no need for a third party to be there".
"I think, it would have been a lot better if there had been a third party there. If Mr. Nambiar in his position as UN envoy had gone to oversee, at least to witness the surrender." Marie told me.
However, according to Marie, Mr. Nambiar was given assurances by the Sri Lankan president that Mr Nadesan should hoist a white flag and he would be allowed to surrender. This was around 'one in the morning' in Sri Lanka.
A Tamil parliamentarian from eastern Sri Lanka was also involved in the negotiations.
Chandrakanth Chandranehru of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) who was speaking 'directly to the president and to the defence secretary' as well as the LTTE political chief has offered to witness the surrender, said Marie. However, on assurances given on the safety of the surrending Tamil Tiger leaders, MP Chandranehru stayed back.
1.06 am 18th May, According to Marie the Tamil MP was the last person to speak to Nadesan and it was minutes after the reported assurances by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the UN special envoy.
In the middle of the night, Marie called me, the two people, I've forgotten the names, one was on the Peace Commission, they wanted to surrender. We need to get assurance, free passage. I said OK, I'll do it. I took it up with foreign minster, the defense minister and the president. They would be treated like any surrendering prisoner
Vijay Nambiar
Marie had been told by MP Chandranehru that Nadesan speaking over the phone at 1.06 in the morning on 18 May 2009 said that they were walking towards the Sri Lankan military and, "I will hoist the white flag as high as I can".
"The next thing we heard which was hours later the Sri Lankan government announcement that they have all died".
It was six days before the Sunday Times published her story under the title 'Slain Tamil chiefs were promised safety' on 24 May 2009 that Marie related this to me. Such was her generosity and the commitment to tell the story.
Sadly, I had to bide my time until Marie herself met with a violent death in another Asian battlefield where she chose not to leave and Mr. Nambiar confirmed her account to Inner City Press (ICP) in New York.
"In the middle of the night, Marie called me, the two people, I've forgotten the names, one was on the Peace Commission, they wanted to surrender. We need to get assurance, free passage. I said OK, I'll do it. I took it up with foreign minster, the defense minister and the president. They would be treated like any surrendering prisoner," ICP quoted Mr Nambiar on Saturday.
Marie lost her eye in Sri Lanka. But they couldnt take away her vision. She lost her life in Syria. But they will never be able to take away what she lived for.
Investigations
Her account that later became to be known as the 'White Flag Incident' vehemently denied by the Sri Lankan government, featured prominently in a UN report which found that war crimes allegations were credible and warranted a full investigation.
The report said it found credible allegations that the Sri Lankan government 'violated the human rights of civilians and Tamil Tiger combatants'.
Furthermore, the report handed over to the UN Secretary-General on 31 March 2011 called to investigate the role of the UN during the war in Sri Lanka.
"The Secretary-General should conduct a comprehensive review of actions by the United Nations system during the war in Sri Lanka and the aftermath, regarding the implementation of its humanitarian and protection mandates," the panel of experts report on accountability in Sri Lanka recommended.
Both the UN and the Sri Lankan government are yet to make their findings, if any, public.
Paying tribute to Mylvaganam Nimalarajan, of the BBC Sinhala service, in a public event in London in 2002 Marie spoke of the dangers faced by war correspondents who lived in war torn countries but could not leave like their international colleagues.
Marie Colvin on 'White Flag surrender'
Nimalarajan reporting the war in his native northern Jaffna to the outside world was killed in cold blood within a high security zone in 2000.
The battle waged by the Sri Lankan military against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) widely known as Tamil Tigers was coming to a bloody end in may 2009. As independent journalists and international organisations were barred from the northern battlefield, many international journalists had to rely on information provided by the Sri Lankan military or the LTTE.
"I feel very angry," Marie as the foreign affairs Editor of Sunday Times who was not prepared to withdraw from reporting on the war in Sri Lanka told me.
This was a day before the Sri Lankan government declared its military victory over Tamil Tigers and Marie was following the developments closely. She was angered that senior Tamil Tiger leaders who surrendered by arrangement with a very senior United Nations official to the Sri Lankan military were killed.
On the evening of 17th May 2009 she had recieved a 'desperate phone call' from the LTTE political head Balasingham Nadesan. "They were trying to surrender but anybody attempting to approach Sri Lankan army lines was been shot," Marie recalled what Nadesan told her.
She has then called the UN Secretary General's Chief of Staff Vijay Nambiar who she said had been assured by the Sri Lankan president that Mr Nadesan would be safe in surrendering to the Sri Lankan Army.
The LTTE political chief Nadesan was with the head of the LTTE peace secretariat Seevaratnam Pulidevan and other injured people. 'British and Americans and United Nations, Mr Nambiar who was in Colombo were all aware that they wanted to surrender,' said Ms Colvin
Negotiations to surrender had been 'going on for days'. "What I find deeply, deeply distressing is that those negotiations was with the Sri Lankan government. British and Americans and United Nations, Mr. Nambiar who was in Colombo were all aware that they wanted to surrender," said Marie Colvin.
Marie was told by Mr. Nambiar, "that there would be no need for a third party to be there".
"I think, it would have been a lot better if there had been a third party there. If Mr. Nambiar in his position as UN envoy had gone to oversee, at least to witness the surrender." Marie told me.
However, according to Marie, Mr. Nambiar was given assurances by the Sri Lankan president that Mr Nadesan should hoist a white flag and he would be allowed to surrender. This was around 'one in the morning' in Sri Lanka.
A Tamil parliamentarian from eastern Sri Lanka was also involved in the negotiations.
Chandrakanth Chandranehru of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) who was speaking 'directly to the president and to the defence secretary' as well as the LTTE political chief has offered to witness the surrender, said Marie. However, on assurances given on the safety of the surrending Tamil Tiger leaders, MP Chandranehru stayed back.
1.06 am 18th May, According to Marie the Tamil MP was the last person to speak to Nadesan and it was minutes after the reported assurances by President Mahinda Rajapaksa to the UN special envoy.
In the middle of the night, Marie called me, the two people, I've forgotten the names, one was on the Peace Commission, they wanted to surrender. We need to get assurance, free passage. I said OK, I'll do it. I took it up with foreign minster, the defense minister and the president. They would be treated like any surrendering prisoner
Vijay Nambiar
Marie had been told by MP Chandranehru that Nadesan speaking over the phone at 1.06 in the morning on 18 May 2009 said that they were walking towards the Sri Lankan military and, "I will hoist the white flag as high as I can".
"The next thing we heard which was hours later the Sri Lankan government announcement that they have all died".
It was six days before the Sunday Times published her story under the title 'Slain Tamil chiefs were promised safety' on 24 May 2009 that Marie related this to me. Such was her generosity and the commitment to tell the story.
Sadly, I had to bide my time until Marie herself met with a violent death in another Asian battlefield where she chose not to leave and Mr. Nambiar confirmed her account to Inner City Press (ICP) in New York.
"In the middle of the night, Marie called me, the two people, I've forgotten the names, one was on the Peace Commission, they wanted to surrender. We need to get assurance, free passage. I said OK, I'll do it. I took it up with foreign minster, the defense minister and the president. They would be treated like any surrendering prisoner," ICP quoted Mr Nambiar on Saturday.
Marie lost her eye in Sri Lanka. But they couldnt take away her vision. She lost her life in Syria. But they will never be able to take away what she lived for.
Investigations
Her account that later became to be known as the 'White Flag Incident' vehemently denied by the Sri Lankan government, featured prominently in a UN report which found that war crimes allegations were credible and warranted a full investigation.
The report said it found credible allegations that the Sri Lankan government 'violated the human rights of civilians and Tamil Tiger combatants'.
Furthermore, the report handed over to the UN Secretary-General on 31 March 2011 called to investigate the role of the UN during the war in Sri Lanka.
"The Secretary-General should conduct a comprehensive review of actions by the United Nations system during the war in Sri Lanka and the aftermath, regarding the implementation of its humanitarian and protection mandates," the panel of experts report on accountability in Sri Lanka recommended.
Both the UN and the Sri Lankan government are yet to make their findings, if any, public.
2001, Turkish planes routinely attack Kurds in the so called no-fly zone to protect the Kurds over Kurdistan/Iraq and the U.S. was/is supporting it
By RANDALL RICHARD, Providence Journal, 03-25-2001
Pilots say U.S. allows Turkey to bomb Kurds.
ADANA, Turkey - The Turkish Air Force, with the apparent knowledge and acquiescence of the United States, has been routinely bombing Kurdish sanctuaries in northern Iraq since the end of the Gulf War.
Scott Ritter, the United Nations' former chief weapons inspector in Iraq, calls it "a secret, illegal war" a war that puts the United States in the untenable political position of abandoning the Kurdish people it says it wants to protect.
Among the eyewitnesses to these air strikes are the pilots who patrol the no-fly zones over Iraq almost every day, ostensibly to protect the Kurds in the north and the Shiite population in the south from Iraqi air attacks.
Until now, these pilots both American and British have remained largely silent about the Turkish incursions.
Even Ritter, who oversaw the dismantling of Iraq's top-secret effort to produce weapons of mass destruction, says he has no firsthand knowledge of the Turkish air attacks but has been told by a knowledgeable military source that they occur.
The enforcement of the no-fly zones and the impunity with which the Turkish Air Force violates them have now gone on for so long, however, that they have become an open secret among a number of the U.S. pilots who patrol northern Iraq from Incirlik Airbase, in Turkey.
In fact, they are so routine that some pilots now respond to questions about the Turkish attacks and the so-called "de-confliction" procedures practiced by U.S. pilots to avoid them as if they were common knowledge.
During interviews at Otis Air Force Base, on Cape Cod, and at Hancock Field, in Syracuse, N.Y., two pilots acknowledged, for example, that they are ordered to return to their Turkish airbase whenever the Turks launch an attack.
For veteran pilots like Col. Anthony Basile, vice commander of the 174th Air National Guard Fighter Squadron, in Syracuse, the Turkish air strikes are primarily a logistical concern.
What you don't want, Basile says, is to have lots of airplanes crisscrossing the no-fly zones when you're on patrol.
It is for this reason, he says, that U.S. and British warplanes are ordered back to their bases whenever the Turkish Air Force crosses the Iraqi border to attack the Kurds.
Referring to the AWACS planes that monitor all air traffic over the no-fly zones, Basile says "when they see them coming, they just send us home."
"Sometimes," he says, "we pass them. Sometimes we don't. But we are never in the airspace when the Turks are flying."
Asked if it troubles him that U.S. aircraft are ordered to clear the airspace so the Turks can safely go in to bomb the people he is risking his life to protect, Basile acknowledges that it sometimes leaves him shaking his head.
But it is his job, he says, to execute policy, not to make it.
"That's not the first time I ever raised my eyebrows," Basile says.
"During my military career I've raised them quite a few times. But, you know, when we're told to leave that something else is going on we leave. We can't really question the decisions that are being made for us."
At Otis Air Force Base, where more than 200 members of the Air National Guard returned last December after a two-week deployment in the no-fly zone, Major Marty Richard is slightly more guarded.
Asked if the no-fly missions over northern Iraq are still geared toward protecting the Kurds, Richard concedes, "The focus of that mission has changed drastically."
Shortly after the Gulf War, during Operation Provide Comfort, he says, the goal was to protect the Kurds, "but what we're doing now is no-fly-zone enforcement. The subtle nuance," he says, "I will leave to you."
Asked directly if U.S. patrols over northern Iraq get cancelled or cut short in advance of Turkish incursions into the no-fly zone, Richard says they do.
"Suffice it to say," he adds, "that when the Turks are involved with the Kurds well, we've got a political football."
TURKEY, a key member of NATO and an important staging area for the U.S. military in the Middle East, has struggled for years against Kurdish rebels who have taken up arms to establish self-rule in southeast Turkey. In an attempt to crush the rebel movement, the Turkish army has periodically launched cross-border raids against Kurdish sanctuaries in northern Iraq.
According to officials in Baghdad, Turkish air attacks in northern Iraq also are routine. Last August, a spokesman in Dubai for one Kurdish faction the Kurdish Democratic Party told Agence France- Presse News Service that in one such raid, 38 Kurdish civilians were killed and 11 were wounded.
Maj. Michael Caldwell, a spokesman for the Operation Northern Watch Command Task Force at Incirlik Airbase, said he could not confirm either the Turkish air strikes in northern Iraq or whether there are U.S. flight procedures to accommodate them.
"All I can confirm to you is what our ONW [Operation Northern Watch] mission is and it's pretty straightforward and that is to enforce the no-fly zone north of the 36th parallel. How we do that, when we do that, we don't talk about."
Calls last week to the Turkish Embassy in Washington were referred to the embassy's military attach, who could not be reached for comment.
According to retired Rear Adm. E. J. Carroll, it is no surprise that the U.S. military won't talk about its flight procedures during the Turkish air strikes.
"It's one of those inconvenient facts that are best ignored," says Carroll, a retired Navy aviator who now heads the Center for Defense Information, a Washington-based think tank. "It's something," he says, "they're not going to 'fess up to willingly."
The United States, Carroll says, "is caught in the middle."
"We're supposedly protecting the Kurds," he says, "but we're cooperating with the Turks in ways that permit the Turks to exploit the Kurds' vulnerability. The whole thing doesn't make any sense."
To Ritter, however, it makes perfectly good sense once it is understood that U.S. policy toward the Kurds is driven not by the desire to protect them, but "to get them out of Turkey."
"Frankly speaking," Ritter says, "if all the Kurds had fled to Iran [after the Gulf War], we wouldn't have cared. But they fled to Turkey ... I'm pro-Turkish I've lived in Turkey I have a lot of respect for that nation and I understand where they're coming from with their Kurdish problem."
Nonetheless, he says, "I cannot support their solution."
According to Ritter, the Turks not only are conducting air strikes against the Kurds, they are also "manipulating the internal political dynamic in northern Turkey by forging alliances" between various Kurdish separatist movements "using Kurd against Kurd sort of how we used the Apaches to take on the Apaches."
Iraq, he says, has complained repeatedly to the United Nations about the air strikes but "no one does anything. We have a definite double standard."
Like Admiral Carroll, who says "it simply defies belief" that the United States could be ignorant of the Turkish air strikes, Ritter says he is convinced American policymakers understand precisely what the Turks are trying to accomplish.
"It's not just about the United States being aware of it," Ritter says, "it's about the U.S. supporting it."
Pilots say U.S. allows Turkey to bomb Kurds.
ADANA, Turkey - The Turkish Air Force, with the apparent knowledge and acquiescence of the United States, has been routinely bombing Kurdish sanctuaries in northern Iraq since the end of the Gulf War.
Scott Ritter, the United Nations' former chief weapons inspector in Iraq, calls it "a secret, illegal war" a war that puts the United States in the untenable political position of abandoning the Kurdish people it says it wants to protect.
Among the eyewitnesses to these air strikes are the pilots who patrol the no-fly zones over Iraq almost every day, ostensibly to protect the Kurds in the north and the Shiite population in the south from Iraqi air attacks.
Until now, these pilots both American and British have remained largely silent about the Turkish incursions.
Even Ritter, who oversaw the dismantling of Iraq's top-secret effort to produce weapons of mass destruction, says he has no firsthand knowledge of the Turkish air attacks but has been told by a knowledgeable military source that they occur.
The enforcement of the no-fly zones and the impunity with which the Turkish Air Force violates them have now gone on for so long, however, that they have become an open secret among a number of the U.S. pilots who patrol northern Iraq from Incirlik Airbase, in Turkey.
In fact, they are so routine that some pilots now respond to questions about the Turkish attacks and the so-called "de-confliction" procedures practiced by U.S. pilots to avoid them as if they were common knowledge.
During interviews at Otis Air Force Base, on Cape Cod, and at Hancock Field, in Syracuse, N.Y., two pilots acknowledged, for example, that they are ordered to return to their Turkish airbase whenever the Turks launch an attack.
For veteran pilots like Col. Anthony Basile, vice commander of the 174th Air National Guard Fighter Squadron, in Syracuse, the Turkish air strikes are primarily a logistical concern.
What you don't want, Basile says, is to have lots of airplanes crisscrossing the no-fly zones when you're on patrol.
It is for this reason, he says, that U.S. and British warplanes are ordered back to their bases whenever the Turkish Air Force crosses the Iraqi border to attack the Kurds.
Referring to the AWACS planes that monitor all air traffic over the no-fly zones, Basile says "when they see them coming, they just send us home."
"Sometimes," he says, "we pass them. Sometimes we don't. But we are never in the airspace when the Turks are flying."
Asked if it troubles him that U.S. aircraft are ordered to clear the airspace so the Turks can safely go in to bomb the people he is risking his life to protect, Basile acknowledges that it sometimes leaves him shaking his head.
But it is his job, he says, to execute policy, not to make it.
"That's not the first time I ever raised my eyebrows," Basile says.
"During my military career I've raised them quite a few times. But, you know, when we're told to leave that something else is going on we leave. We can't really question the decisions that are being made for us."
At Otis Air Force Base, where more than 200 members of the Air National Guard returned last December after a two-week deployment in the no-fly zone, Major Marty Richard is slightly more guarded.
Asked if the no-fly missions over northern Iraq are still geared toward protecting the Kurds, Richard concedes, "The focus of that mission has changed drastically."
Shortly after the Gulf War, during Operation Provide Comfort, he says, the goal was to protect the Kurds, "but what we're doing now is no-fly-zone enforcement. The subtle nuance," he says, "I will leave to you."
Asked directly if U.S. patrols over northern Iraq get cancelled or cut short in advance of Turkish incursions into the no-fly zone, Richard says they do.
"Suffice it to say," he adds, "that when the Turks are involved with the Kurds well, we've got a political football."
TURKEY, a key member of NATO and an important staging area for the U.S. military in the Middle East, has struggled for years against Kurdish rebels who have taken up arms to establish self-rule in southeast Turkey. In an attempt to crush the rebel movement, the Turkish army has periodically launched cross-border raids against Kurdish sanctuaries in northern Iraq.
According to officials in Baghdad, Turkish air attacks in northern Iraq also are routine. Last August, a spokesman in Dubai for one Kurdish faction the Kurdish Democratic Party told Agence France- Presse News Service that in one such raid, 38 Kurdish civilians were killed and 11 were wounded.
Maj. Michael Caldwell, a spokesman for the Operation Northern Watch Command Task Force at Incirlik Airbase, said he could not confirm either the Turkish air strikes in northern Iraq or whether there are U.S. flight procedures to accommodate them.
"All I can confirm to you is what our ONW [Operation Northern Watch] mission is and it's pretty straightforward and that is to enforce the no-fly zone north of the 36th parallel. How we do that, when we do that, we don't talk about."
Calls last week to the Turkish Embassy in Washington were referred to the embassy's military attach, who could not be reached for comment.
According to retired Rear Adm. E. J. Carroll, it is no surprise that the U.S. military won't talk about its flight procedures during the Turkish air strikes.
"It's one of those inconvenient facts that are best ignored," says Carroll, a retired Navy aviator who now heads the Center for Defense Information, a Washington-based think tank. "It's something," he says, "they're not going to 'fess up to willingly."
The United States, Carroll says, "is caught in the middle."
"We're supposedly protecting the Kurds," he says, "but we're cooperating with the Turks in ways that permit the Turks to exploit the Kurds' vulnerability. The whole thing doesn't make any sense."
To Ritter, however, it makes perfectly good sense once it is understood that U.S. policy toward the Kurds is driven not by the desire to protect them, but "to get them out of Turkey."
"Frankly speaking," Ritter says, "if all the Kurds had fled to Iran [after the Gulf War], we wouldn't have cared. But they fled to Turkey ... I'm pro-Turkish I've lived in Turkey I have a lot of respect for that nation and I understand where they're coming from with their Kurdish problem."
Nonetheless, he says, "I cannot support their solution."
According to Ritter, the Turks not only are conducting air strikes against the Kurds, they are also "manipulating the internal political dynamic in northern Turkey by forging alliances" between various Kurdish separatist movements "using Kurd against Kurd sort of how we used the Apaches to take on the Apaches."
Iraq, he says, has complained repeatedly to the United Nations about the air strikes but "no one does anything. We have a definite double standard."
Like Admiral Carroll, who says "it simply defies belief" that the United States could be ignorant of the Turkish air strikes, Ritter says he is convinced American policymakers understand precisely what the Turks are trying to accomplish.
"It's not just about the United States being aware of it," Ritter says, "it's about the U.S. supporting it."
Such as Hezbollah?
"Syrian authorities “prevented an armed terrorist group from entering Syria through the Oyoun al-Shara-Halat crossing in Tall Kalakh along the Lebanese-Syrian border.”
"Syrian official insists regime cares about civilians as 57 more die" - CNN February 28, 2012
"Syrian official insists regime cares about civilians as 57 more die" - CNN February 28, 2012
As much as CNN?
While psychopaths goes on and on month after month about the "rebels and civil wars", a whole lot of bullsh*t with the UN body on "stand by".
Efforts to evacuate foreign journalists from the rebel-held Baba Amr district of the flashpoint city of Homs failed on Monday, a Western diplomatic source in the Syrian capital said. http://nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=369895
"The Syrian army is shelling a city of cold, starving, defenceless civilians being mass murdered. There are no military targets, just some teenagers - young men with Kalashnikovs, trying to help wounded and get some medical treatment, aid."
Earlier today One source said: “They killed one man and burned the other. There are executions in many homes.” And a report circulating that at least 62 people, including entire families, were detained in from Baba Amr neighborhood. Now, the LCCS has confirmed this event, and is now reporting that at least 125 people have been killed across Syria.
"Yesterday night, the families of Baba Amr tried to leave the neighborhood. When they reached the security checkpoint between the Abil province and International Road they were stopped and loaded into 4 buses, with security forces claiming they would take them to a safe place. The buses departed, and shortly after the old men were let off. Afterwards, all 64 of the young men on the bus were killed."
"The Syrian army is shelling a city of cold, starving, defenceless civilians being mass murdered. There are no military targets, just some teenagers - young men with Kalashnikovs, trying to help wounded and get some medical treatment, aid."
Earlier today One source said: “They killed one man and burned the other. There are executions in many homes.” And a report circulating that at least 62 people, including entire families, were detained in from Baba Amr neighborhood. Now, the LCCS has confirmed this event, and is now reporting that at least 125 people have been killed across Syria.
"Yesterday night, the families of Baba Amr tried to leave the neighborhood. When they reached the security checkpoint between the Abil province and International Road they were stopped and loaded into 4 buses, with security forces claiming they would take them to a safe place. The buses departed, and shortly after the old men were let off. Afterwards, all 64 of the young men on the bus were killed."
Monday, February 27, 2012
"They very much want Syria and Iran regime change to assure them there against majorities in both countries."
Yeah...right..It would be sooooo much #¤#¤¤¤ differences from the last 30 years then..with psychopaths own interests spread every #¤#¤¤ where..
As if people all over the region have begged for havoc and crimes going on for decades with the UN body on "stand by"..#¤#¤¤¤ Psychopathic global mass genocidals! Fascists, Nazis!
"Occupying Iraq and Kurdistan" actually they have never left since the early 19th century!
THEY HAVE BEEN HERE THE WHOLE ¤%¤#¤¤¤ TIME!
As if people all over the region have begged for havoc and crimes going on for decades with the UN body on "stand by"..#¤#¤¤¤ Psychopathic global mass genocidals! Fascists, Nazis!
"Occupying Iraq and Kurdistan" actually they have never left since the early 19th century!
THEY HAVE BEEN HERE THE WHOLE ¤%¤#¤¤¤ TIME!
'Private Borak was killed by other soldiers'
27.02.2012, (DİHA) – The family and friends of Private Çetin Borak who is claimed to have committed suicide during his military service on February 24 say they do not believe the claims and think that Borak was killed by other soldiers who were constantly threatening him. Borak’s uncle Turan Demir notes that Borak told him he was being threatened by soldiers from Istanbul and the Black Sea region.
“He called me a day before the incident and told me he was fine but was being threatened. We do not believe he committed suicide. Do only Kurdish soldiers commit suicide?” says Demir, noting that they do not think the autopsy report which states that Borak shot himself under the chin reflects the truth.
A friend of Çetin who wanted to remain anonymous tells, “Çetin told us he was being threatened every day but that he did not tell it to his family not to worry them. He had already completed his service of seven months. Why shall he kill himself so suddenly?”
Borak’s family’s lawyer Emrullah Şan states they will investigate the case further for the suspicion of murder after the prosecutor’s investigation.
According to data by Conscientious Objection Platform, 12 soldiers have been claimed to have committed suicide in the first two months of 2012.
http://www.diclehaber.com/2/
CORI Research Analysis Date: 20 January 2011 Country: Turkey ...
Syria: Kurdish conscripts killed while they serve in the army ...
Syria: November 2011 update on deaths of Kurdish conscripts ...
Kurdish conscripts killed in Syria : Support Kurds in Syria
Ramadan Mahmoud, Kurdish conscript is killed in Daraa : Support ...
Continued killing of Kurdish conscripts in Syria -
“He called me a day before the incident and told me he was fine but was being threatened. We do not believe he committed suicide. Do only Kurdish soldiers commit suicide?” says Demir, noting that they do not think the autopsy report which states that Borak shot himself under the chin reflects the truth.
A friend of Çetin who wanted to remain anonymous tells, “Çetin told us he was being threatened every day but that he did not tell it to his family not to worry them. He had already completed his service of seven months. Why shall he kill himself so suddenly?”
Borak’s family’s lawyer Emrullah Şan states they will investigate the case further for the suspicion of murder after the prosecutor’s investigation.
According to data by Conscientious Objection Platform, 12 soldiers have been claimed to have committed suicide in the first two months of 2012.
http://www.diclehaber.com/2/
CORI Research Analysis Date: 20 January 2011 Country: Turkey ...
Syria: Kurdish conscripts killed while they serve in the army ...
Syria: November 2011 update on deaths of Kurdish conscripts ...
Kurdish conscripts killed in Syria : Support Kurds in Syria
Ramadan Mahmoud, Kurdish conscript is killed in Daraa : Support ...
Continued killing of Kurdish conscripts in Syria -
"They want Syria and Iran regime change to assure them there against majorities in both countries." ¤#%¤#¤¤¤ Idiot!
#¤#¤¤¤¤ GENOCIDES GOING ON WITH THE UN BODY ON "STAND BY"!
http://www.facebook.com/ShaamNewsNetwork
Demirtaş: We demand negotiations, not operations
BROAD CASTED ALL OVER FACE BOOK FOR A YEAR, WITH THE MOST GROSS TORTURE, ABUSE AND BLOODY MASSACRES, WITH A WHOLE LOT OF BULL*HIT TALK AND THE UN BODY ON "STAND BY", WHILE KURDS DEMANDING DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS, RIGHT TO LIFE AND END OF A #¤#¤¤ INSTIGATED GENOCIDAL WAR-FARE WITH GENOCIDAL TACTICS APPLIED ALL OVER THE WHOLE REGION INTO IRAN, ARE BANNED!
WE MEAN..HEEEELLLLOOOOO! WORLD!
Demirtaş: We demand negotiations, not operations
BROAD CASTED ALL OVER FACE BOOK FOR A YEAR, WITH THE MOST GROSS TORTURE, ABUSE AND BLOODY MASSACRES, WITH A WHOLE LOT OF BULL*HIT TALK AND THE UN BODY ON "STAND BY", WHILE KURDS DEMANDING DEMOCRATIC RIGHTS, RIGHT TO LIFE AND END OF A #¤#¤¤ INSTIGATED GENOCIDAL WAR-FARE WITH GENOCIDAL TACTICS APPLIED ALL OVER THE WHOLE REGION INTO IRAN, ARE BANNED!
WE MEAN..HEEEELLLLOOOOO! WORLD!
While the UN body was "gone" Turkey represent NATO and has seats in its Security council
DİHA- People’s Defense Force (HPG) members Nebahat Demir (Mahabat Penaber) and Kenan Uruk’s (Bahtiyar) bodies were identified and taken by their families in Malatya today. Demir and Uruk had been killed in a gunfight in Şırnak on February 13.
Uruk’s and Demir’s funerals will take place in the Cevizli Belan (Kisor) Village of Van and the Silopi Town of Şırnak respectively.
DİHA) – Human Rights Association (İHD) Istanbul Branch Commission Against Racism and Discrimination stated the Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin who attended yesterday’s Khojaly demonstration including insults at Armenians watched a crime being committed, noting that they will denounce him and the organization committee of the demonstration.
“Masses have been encouraged to commit a crime on the pretext of the anniversary of the Khojaly Massacre. Banners written ‘You are all Armenians, you are all bastards’ and ‘Armenians, invaders, murderers’ were carried and slogans in favor of journalist Hrant Dink’s murderers were shouted out. A crime has been collectively committed in Taksim under the supervision of the Interior Minister,” said the written statement.
A criminal complaint will be filed in the Istanbul Courthouse tomorrow by the commission members. The Say Stop to Racism and Nationalism Initiative has declared they will support the action.
Twitter campaign against Facebook
More people arrested in “KCK” operations
Radar system in Malatya becomes operational
Demirtaş: We demand negotiations, not operations
BDP member arrested in Mersin
30 denounce themselves in Ağrı
Ralliers for mass grave Newala Qesaba on trial
BDP building raided in Bitlis, over 10 arrests in Aydın
Is Tiruva Village a mass grave?
Harassment claims in İskenderun Prison
Armenians insulted in demonstration in Istanbul
Pro-Kurdish daily distributor charged to 12 years
BDP İdil Branch Chair arrested
Demirtaş: Kurds suffer from covert assimilation
Turkish police assault hunger strikers
Political prisoner taken to unknown place
Uruk’s and Demir’s funerals will take place in the Cevizli Belan (Kisor) Village of Van and the Silopi Town of Şırnak respectively.
DİHA) – Human Rights Association (İHD) Istanbul Branch Commission Against Racism and Discrimination stated the Interior Minister İdris Naim Şahin who attended yesterday’s Khojaly demonstration including insults at Armenians watched a crime being committed, noting that they will denounce him and the organization committee of the demonstration.
“Masses have been encouraged to commit a crime on the pretext of the anniversary of the Khojaly Massacre. Banners written ‘You are all Armenians, you are all bastards’ and ‘Armenians, invaders, murderers’ were carried and slogans in favor of journalist Hrant Dink’s murderers were shouted out. A crime has been collectively committed in Taksim under the supervision of the Interior Minister,” said the written statement.
A criminal complaint will be filed in the Istanbul Courthouse tomorrow by the commission members. The Say Stop to Racism and Nationalism Initiative has declared they will support the action.
Twitter campaign against Facebook
More people arrested in “KCK” operations
Radar system in Malatya becomes operational
Demirtaş: We demand negotiations, not operations
BDP member arrested in Mersin
30 denounce themselves in Ağrı
Ralliers for mass grave Newala Qesaba on trial
BDP building raided in Bitlis, over 10 arrests in Aydın
Is Tiruva Village a mass grave?
Harassment claims in İskenderun Prison
Armenians insulted in demonstration in Istanbul
Pro-Kurdish daily distributor charged to 12 years
BDP İdil Branch Chair arrested
Demirtaş: Kurds suffer from covert assimilation
Turkish police assault hunger strikers
Political prisoner taken to unknown place
While the UN body was "gone"
Just like #¤#¤¤ Bosnia, Serbia, Halabja, Anfal campaign, Kurdish genocide into Iran, East Timor, Sri Lanka, 5 millions of exterminated Afghans, millions of Iraqis, Palestinians, Chechnya, Baluchistan, Kashmir, pure exterminations in Iran since 1979 or way before, 30 years of exterminations and genocides all over the whole #¤#¤¤ region and beyond! No UN body, No NGO´s, no medial supplies, doctors without borders, no UNICEF, nothing than a whole LOT of bullsh*ttalk, dragging out the time and the massacres.
Monday’s death toll in Syria has risen to 128 people, Al-Jazeera television quoted the General Commission of the Syrian Revolution as saying.
Yesterday night, the families of Baba Amr tried to leave the neighborhood. When they reached the security checkpoint between the Abil province and International Road they were stopped and loaded into 4 buses, with security forces claiming they would take them to a safe place. The buses departed, and shortly after the old men were let off. Afterwards, all 64 of the young men on the bus were killed. The women were kidnapped and taken to an unknown location.
47 corpses were found near Ghajar Village and Al-Tanouna
17 corpses were found north of the Shandakheya dam
Security reports were filed in the Governor's office, with the police chief and the heads of all the security branches 47 of the corpses were handed to the National Hospital in Homs and the signs of slaughter were very evident. Today, 14 corpses of young men were returned to Baba Amr from the Baath School checkpoint which is by the Tal Al-shor Dam (also known as Tahweela Bridge). The corpses were given to the Red Crescent which brought them to the hospital in Homs.
https://www.facebook.com/H.R.C.HOMS
Monday’s death toll in Syria has risen to 128 people, Al-Jazeera television quoted the General Commission of the Syrian Revolution as saying.
Yesterday night, the families of Baba Amr tried to leave the neighborhood. When they reached the security checkpoint between the Abil province and International Road they were stopped and loaded into 4 buses, with security forces claiming they would take them to a safe place. The buses departed, and shortly after the old men were let off. Afterwards, all 64 of the young men on the bus were killed. The women were kidnapped and taken to an unknown location.
47 corpses were found near Ghajar Village and Al-Tanouna
17 corpses were found north of the Shandakheya dam
Security reports were filed in the Governor's office, with the police chief and the heads of all the security branches 47 of the corpses were handed to the National Hospital in Homs and the signs of slaughter were very evident. Today, 14 corpses of young men were returned to Baba Amr from the Baath School checkpoint which is by the Tal Al-shor Dam (also known as Tahweela Bridge). The corpses were given to the Red Crescent which brought them to the hospital in Homs.
https://www.facebook.com/H.R.C.HOMS
Intention to destroy, Genocide, complicit in genocide and crimes against humanity actually sanctioned through the UN body and not the first, only one
February 27, 2012, Avaaz: Regime forces launch major offensive on Insha’at, Homs – residents fear the beginning of massacre.
HOMS — Troops loyal to Bashar al-Assad launched a major ground invasion into the Homs neighbourhood of Insha’at in the early hours of this morning. Residents fear a massacre as the ground assault — which they had warned of for weeks — gets underway. At least 21 people have been killed by shelling in Baba Amr so far today. Sources Avaaz reached inside Homs expect many, many more to die today.
Eyewitnesses speaking to Avaaz reported dozens of tanks entering the neighbourhood and shelling the besieged opposition stronghold of Baba Amr. Insha’at is much closer to Baba Amr, substantially heightening the impact of the shelling. One activist told Avaaz that he had counted 60 shells or mortars falling in 5 minutes.
One eyewitness said: “Insha’at borders Baba Amr so the regime is now very close to its main target. They are close enough to shell it with tanks. Baba Amr is full of resistance fighters so the regime knows it will be difficult to defeat them. So they want to destroy it completely from outside before they send in forces on the ground so they kill as many FSA fighters as possible.”
Like Baba Amr, Insha’at has been shelled consistently for the past month, to the point where at least 80 per cent of its inhabitants have fled – around 15,000 people – those with money to Damascus and Aleppo, others remain homeless in the countryside surrounding Homs.
Those few who remain in the neighbourhood struggle to survive in dire circumstances, living in the rubble of shelled houses with almost no food, fuel for heating or clean water.
Alice Jay, Campaign Director at Avaaz, said: “This is an announced, full-on massacre of an entire region."
"The international community must now step in to save men, women and children from the unfettered killing, or its complacency will leave blood on its hands. In the face of this devastating assault, the support that Russia, China and Iran have lent the regime is not just shameful, it is criminal — and it is time for them to call an end to the brutality.”
" We are calling for immediate help from the international community for the people of Homs, who urgently need water, food, baby formula and blankets, in addition to basic medicines as supplies have completely run out. The situation has never been more critical."
More than 5,000 refugees are still trapped in the outskirts of Jobar, after the army launched a major attack last night.
Two men from Jobar were executed by security forces last night, according to residents. One source said: “They killed one man and burned the other. There are executions in many homes.”
Baba Amr being shelled this morning http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4YK3zrzd4E&feature=youtu.be
Will Davies will@avaaz.org
HOMS — Troops loyal to Bashar al-Assad launched a major ground invasion into the Homs neighbourhood of Insha’at in the early hours of this morning. Residents fear a massacre as the ground assault — which they had warned of for weeks — gets underway. At least 21 people have been killed by shelling in Baba Amr so far today. Sources Avaaz reached inside Homs expect many, many more to die today.
Eyewitnesses speaking to Avaaz reported dozens of tanks entering the neighbourhood and shelling the besieged opposition stronghold of Baba Amr. Insha’at is much closer to Baba Amr, substantially heightening the impact of the shelling. One activist told Avaaz that he had counted 60 shells or mortars falling in 5 minutes.
One eyewitness said: “Insha’at borders Baba Amr so the regime is now very close to its main target. They are close enough to shell it with tanks. Baba Amr is full of resistance fighters so the regime knows it will be difficult to defeat them. So they want to destroy it completely from outside before they send in forces on the ground so they kill as many FSA fighters as possible.”
Like Baba Amr, Insha’at has been shelled consistently for the past month, to the point where at least 80 per cent of its inhabitants have fled – around 15,000 people – those with money to Damascus and Aleppo, others remain homeless in the countryside surrounding Homs.
Those few who remain in the neighbourhood struggle to survive in dire circumstances, living in the rubble of shelled houses with almost no food, fuel for heating or clean water.
Alice Jay, Campaign Director at Avaaz, said: “This is an announced, full-on massacre of an entire region."
"The international community must now step in to save men, women and children from the unfettered killing, or its complacency will leave blood on its hands. In the face of this devastating assault, the support that Russia, China and Iran have lent the regime is not just shameful, it is criminal — and it is time for them to call an end to the brutality.”
" We are calling for immediate help from the international community for the people of Homs, who urgently need water, food, baby formula and blankets, in addition to basic medicines as supplies have completely run out. The situation has never been more critical."
More than 5,000 refugees are still trapped in the outskirts of Jobar, after the army launched a major attack last night.
Two men from Jobar were executed by security forces last night, according to residents. One source said: “They killed one man and burned the other. There are executions in many homes.”
Baba Amr being shelled this morning http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4YK3zrzd4E&feature=youtu.be
Will Davies will@avaaz.org
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