Kurdish footballer Deniz Naki has been indicted by a Turkish court on 鈥渢errorist propaganda鈥 charges for sharing posts on Facebook and Twitter about Turkey鈥檚 destruction of Kurdish cities and killing of civilians and militants.
Naki, who plays as a striker and playmaker for Kurdish team Amedspor, in Turkey鈥檚 Second League, will face up to five years in prison if found guilty. Amedspor are based in Diyarbak谋r, the unofficial capital of Turkish Kurdistan.
Another round of international talks on Syria, and a ceasefire, have come and gone. The five-and-a-half-year-old civil war continues unabated, as do the competing military interventions 鈥 all ostensibly targeting ISIS 鈥 by various regional and global powers.
The direct involvement of foreign powers in the conflict was significantly increased with the August 24 occupation by Turkey of the previously ISIS-controlled border town of Jarabalus and the surrounding area.
A large minority in Turkey, at about 20% of the population, the Kurdish people have long faced systemic discrimination by the Turkish state. This has included massacres and violent repression of their culture, with even the Kurdish language banned until recently.
Such oppression led to the Kurdistan Workers鈥 Party (PKK) launching an armed struggle for national liberation in 1984. In recent years, the PKK 鈥 whose leader Abdullah 脰calan remains in solitary confinement in a Turkish jail 鈥 has declared its commitment to a peaceful solution to the conflict.
British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn told a meeting in London on September 15 that the Kurdish people鈥檚 right to self-determination needed to be recognised, said the next day. The meeting was organised by the British Kurdish People鈥檚 Assembly.
A video showing Turkish soldiers and state-sponsored Kurdish village guards torturing and abusing Saime Av艧in (Ava艧in Gabar), a female Kurdistan Workers鈥 Party (PKK) guerrilla fighter, has surfaced on social media, said on September 20.
Hunger strikers begin their fast for 脰calan in Diyarbak谋r on September 5.
A hunger strike was launched in Turkey鈥檚 Kurdish capital Diyarbak谋r on September 5 by politicians and activists demanding a meeting with jailed Kurdistan Workers鈥 Party (PKK) leader Abdullah 脰calan.
Protest against Turkish invasion and massacre of civilians. Girk锚 Leg锚, Rojava, August 28.
The statement below was released on September 1 and signed by a range of politicians, academics and activists from around the world. To sign, please send your name, organisation and country to mc@kurdishinstitute.be.
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Britain鈥檚 socialist Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn is campaigning for re-election as party leader in the face of sustained hostility from the right wing of Labour and the corporate media.
