Subject: Flash Bulletin!!!
From: Internationale Initiative (info@freedom-for-ocalan.com)
Date: Fri Sep 29 2000 - 06:09:10 CDT
International Initiative
Freedom for Ocalan - Peace in Kurdistan
P.O. Box 100511, D-50445 Koeln
Telephone: +49 221 130 15 59
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E-Mail: info@freedom-for-ocalan.com
Url: www.freedom-for-ocalan.com
Flash Bulletin 29.September:
www.freedom-for-ocalan.com/bulletin
1. "PUK: We will not make Peace with the PKK", The PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) Party Assembly member Mele Baxtiyar that spoke in a panel broadcasted by PUK television, stated that they were able to make a cease-fire with the PKK, however they will never make peace.
2. "Turkey number one in ECHR", European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Turkey is at the top of the list in the most recorded total complaint applications.
3. "Military operations continue", It was reported that operations begun by the Turkish military in Bingol, Hakkari, and Siirt are continuing.
4. "Ecevit does not realize the war is over", Speaking to a small crowd in Siirt, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said: "Those who are calling for peace must first drop their weapons," repeating a speech he had made during the period of war.
5. "Brutality", The world is silent to the tribulations of women The spine-chilling murder of women and horrifying suicides in South Kurdistan (Iraqi Kurdistan) have now become a part of daily life.
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1. - Ozgur Politika - "PUK: We will not make Peace with the PKK":
The PUK (Patriotic Union of Kurdistan) Party Assembly member Mele Baxtiyar that spoke in a panel broadcasted by PUK television, stated that they were able to make a cease-fire with the PKK, however they will never make peace. Mele Baxtiyar, also stated that they were able to make peace with the KDP (Kurdistan Democratic Party). Mele Baxtiyar claimed that they were fighting against the PKK for the regional countries benefits and that all their efforts were to remove the PKK from the region.
2. - Yeni Gundem - "Turkey number one in ECHR":
STRASBOURG - European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Turkey is at the top of the list in the most recorded total complaint applications. The European Court of Human Rights President Luzius Wildhaber indicated that, in the recorded total complaint applications Turkey, is at the top of the list with 2 thousand 661.
3. - Kurdish Observer - "Military operations continue":
HAKKARI
It was reported that operations begun by the Turkish military in Bingol, Hakkari, and Siirt are continuing. According to Anadolu Agency, the OHAL (Emergency Rule) Governor's Office asserted in a written statement that military forces had confiscated large quantities of weapons during the course of operations against the PKK in the rural regions of Bingol, Hakkari, and Siirt.
Meanwhile, members of JITEM (the Gendarmerie intelligence service), who presented themselves as PKK members to the villagers of Salika, Bereket, Avanek, Silok, and Hacican in the Silvan district of Amed (Diyarbakir), detained 28 persons from the aforementioned villages. The 28 villagers were later released.
4. - Kurdish Observer - "Ecevit does not realize the war is over":
Speaking to a small crowd in Siirt, Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said: "Those who are calling for peace must first drop their weapons," repeating a speech he had made during the period of war.
NEWSCENTER
Prime Minister Ecevit traveled to Kurdistan for the inauguration ceremony of the Basagac village-city in Sirnak, whose construction has been recently completed. After an information-gathering meeting with Governor Nuri Okutan in Siirt, the first stop of his trip, Ecevit addressed a small group which had gathered in Republic Square.
Ecevit dwelt at length in his speech on the village-city project. Noting that the villagers in Kurdistan had suffered great pains over the past 15 years, Ecevit defended the view that it would not be right to reconstruct all the villages which had been forcibly evacuated. Ecevit said: "In their [the village-cities'] reconstruction, they will be tidily built. The state, while establishing these villages, will consult with the people and construct the villages in accordance with their opinions."
Cannot abandon the old style
Touching on the subject of the climate of peace, which is the result of the PKK ending the war on the order of PKK President Abdullah Ocalan, Ecevit said, "Those who are calling for peace must first drop their weapons," thus repeating his old views. Ecevit, who dwelt at length on the subject of "terrorism" throughout his speech, continued as follows: "There may no longer be a need for village guards. But we will not leave them hungry. We will take some of them into the Gendarmerie and some as security. Those who are elderly will be retired." Noting that the government has plans to make duty tours in Kurdistan mandatory for public servants, Ecevit said that there was a current shortage of 880 teachers in Siirt alone. Likewise noting that stock-raising had largely perished, Ecevit said: "We particularly want to develop stock-raising in this region. We will do this rapidly if village-cities are established."
Following his speech in Siirt, Ecevit set out for Sirnak over Eruh district, accompanied by a 20-vehicle convoy, to turn over the 106 residences in Basagac village to their new owners.
A thousand greetings to the Sun from Siirt
Prime Minister Ecevit was greeted by a group of Democratic Left Party (DSP) members and officials at the Siirt Airport. As for the roughly 1,000 People's Democracy Party (HADEP) members who gathered in Republic Square, they carried banners with messages such as, "We want to return to our own villages," "Long live the people's free union," and "The solution is not F-type prisons, but a general amnesty." Upon police officers' demands that there be no shouting of slogans and that the banners be lowered, the HADEP member deserted the square and marched towards the HADEP party building. They shouted slogans of "Biji HADEP" (Long live HADEP!), "Biji Asiti" (Long live peace!), and the Turkish of "Greetings, greetings, a thousand greetings to the sun" as they marched.
Provincial HADEP Chairman Ahmet Konuk condemned the police stance in a statement at the party building. Saying that they had gathered in order to forward their requests to the Prime Minister, Konuk said, "We wanted to say, 'We want to return to our villages, no to capital punishment, and peace, now'. We do not accept the Prime Minister's policies for the region or on the return to the village project. Realistic solutions must be found to the problems of the region if Turkey is to democratize."
Meanwhile, seasonal workers employed by Villages Services (a department of the government) met Ecevit with banners saying, "We want permanent staff employment." After they repeated this demand with the shouting of slogans, Ecevit said, "Especially the workers of Village Services have had more work since we became the government. Our goal is to make all of them permanent employees."
5. - Kurdish Observer - "Brutality":
The world is silent to the tribulations of women The spine-chilling murder of women and horrifying suicides in South Kurdistan (Iraqi Kurdistan) have now become a part of daily life.
PERWER BENGI
The increase in number of suicides and murder of women in South Kurdistan for reasons such as forced marriage, rape, economic difficulties, violation of tribal traditions, and other pressures has now reached spine-chilling proportions.
Thousands of women have been killed in the years 1992-1998 in South Kurdistan, where there is a vacuum of political authority and the traditions of the clans prevail, because they had been raped, because they opposed a forced marriage, or because they had deceived their spouses.
Despite the fact that the names and identities of a number of these victims has been determined, there is no serious prosecution of these murders, which have exceeded the thousands, just as there is no serious investigation into most of these incidents. Even more seriously, this great tragedy is considered "normal" and "usual" by tribal culture and customs.
Societal pressures leading to suicide
Societal pressure is the basic cause behind the striking number of suicides being experienced recently in North Kurdistan (Turkish Kurdistan), particularly in Batman. As for South Kurdistan, the pressure is both at a more violent level and there has been a greater increase in cases of suicide.
Human rights defenders remain silent
The Independent Women's Organization, which was established in South Kurdistan in 1992, researched the murder and suicide of women and published a list of the names of the women who were the victims of murder and who committed suicide. But they also noted that the number of such incidents was not limited to their list and that they had not been able to completely determine the number of women who were either killed or committed suicide.
The terrifying aspect revealed by the research was that most of the deaths were those of young women or of women and girls who had opposed being forced to marry men they did not love or had not even met. And then there are the cases such as that of 12-year-old Gulsum Ahmet Ibrahim, who was terrorized by rape. Gulsum's story began on October 22, 1994 in the Golaleh Diana Camp near Arbil when she was raped by a neighbor's son. When the news of this event spread, the local administrators and local land owners expelled Gulsum from the city. The order for Gulsum, who by now knew that something was terribly wrong, to be killed came from her brothers.
While it is the rapist who should be punished, it is instead Gulsum to had to pay with her life for this horrible event. The events that have befallen the other women are not much different from Gulsum' story.
Despite all the activities and calls of the Independent Women's Organization, the deafening silence of international women's organizations and human rights defenders continues. For those who have ears, the statements of PKK President APO concerning all of the following will have bearing on the cases cited below: the nature of love and male-female relationships (i.e., RESPECT and TRUE LOVE are ONLY experienced between true equals); the comparison of the unity of two peoples to a voluntary "marriage" of mutual respect (in this case, the Kurds and the Turks); and, the insistence that the old male mentality-dominated aggressive regime has exhausted its resources and that women will lead the way to true democracy, EMPATHY, and non-violence in the age ahead. Does anyone yet wonder why the South Kurdistani "lords" - and, indeed, the entire world - consider President APO to be a "terrorist"?
A few examples from the list of 112 murders determined by the Independent Women's Organization research:
* On August 25, 1993, Fatima, who lived in Arbil, was killed by her husband for a "crime" such as "defying her husband."
* On October 18, 1994, Pakhsan, a middle-school student in Arbil, was killed by her brother Serdar for the "crime" of being in love with a boy named Salih.
* In October 1993, Kazemeh Rasoul was killed near the village of Khalifan by her brother Salim. Her crime? She was seen speaking to a "foreigner" by the name of Hasan.
* On December 23, 1994, Shadieh Hasan Rasoul was killed by her cousin because she refused to marry him.
* Bayan Ali Sufi, a mother of six children, was savagely killed by her brother and her body thrown into the Seerven river because of allegations that she had committed adultery.
* On March 24, 1995, a 35-year-old mother of five was killed by her husband. Her crime? She had become angry with her husband because he was a thief.
* In January 1995, Nasek of the Marveh Shabazher village was killed by her father and brother-in-law, who had raped her and left her pregnant.
* On September 12, 1994, 60-year-old Rahimeh was killed by her brother because she opposed a marriage that had been arranged by a match-maker.
* In March 1995, Samirah Ali, accused of adultery, was killed by her own son. When the KDP could not convince her husband to kill her, they ordered her son to carry out the execution instead.
* On June 29, 1995, Tafgheh Jabbar was burnt to death by her husband in Koy. She had previously been brought to the hospital on numerous occasions as the result of beatings.
* On October 4, 1995, the unidentified body of a woman was found near Dookan. The autopsy showed that the woman had been tortured before being shot.
* 15-year-old Khaledeh Abdurrahman was beaten to death by her mother-in-law in Kerkuk after being forced to marry a man much older than herself.
* On August 15, 1995, Ronak was stabbed to death by her father and brothers after returning to her parents' home following her divorce.
* Chowarghorneh, who suffered from epilepsy, was beaten to death by a professor and Muslim student at university on the grounds of "exorcising demons."
* A woman in the Ghartamoor village of Chamchamal was killed by her brother because she refused to divorce her husband.
* In February 1996, a 50-year-old woman was shot by her son because she had remarried.
* In December 1995, Koosar was killed by her cousins because of allegations that she had entered a relationship with the man she loved. The cousins had previously killed her sister Payman on the same grounds.
* On January 12, 1996, S. Arab Sayed was beaten to death in the town of Daratoo by her husband, who was trying to get her to accept Islam.
* In June 1997, Ali Mineh Soor was stoned to death by the men of the clan, who wanted her to be killed "Islamic style" because she had refused to marry her cousin and was accused of entering a relationship with another man.
* In December 1996, Negar Noore was shot by her brother, who was jealous that his sister had married before he had.
* On June 10, 1996, Leyla, living in the Tayrava district near Arbil, was killed by her husband, who had refused to give her permission to visit her daughters, who were married off against their will.
* On June 11, 1996, Sheno, the daughter of the aforementioned Layla, was killed by her uncle after insisting that she be allowed to attend her mother's funeral.
* On the night of April 9, 1997, Badrieh Ali was killed by her cousin in the Doavan district of Bitovadeh. Bedrieh, refusing to marry the man her uncle had demanded and ran with her beloved to his parents' home. But his family sent her back to her own home.
* In July 1997, Tooba, a mother of five who subsisted by begging in the town of Kharmal, was "arrested" by the Islamic Movement. Her body was found the next day.
* On August 1, 1997, Golaleh Muhammed Amin was killed by a male relative after having been "detained" for three months on the grounds that she had walked together with a man and talked to him.
* On August 16, 1997, Roonak, residing in North Arbil,, was killed by her brother because she wanted to visit her husband, who was in prison.
* On December 12, 1997, 12-year-old Asiti was killed in the Pireh Magroon camp by her uncle, a member of the PUK with whom she had entered a political disagreement.
* On February 24, 1997, Golar Muhammed Ali was killed by her brother and another male relative. Golar had already been forced into two unwanted marriages and divorced.
* In May 1997, 21-year-old Amineh Omar was killed by her husband as soon as she gave birth to their child. Amineh had been pregnant at the time the two were married.
* In October 1994, G. Molana Sheykhal was killed by her brother Dervis because she supported her daughter's decision to marry the man she loved.
* On June 25, 1995, Deldar was killed because she requested alimony from
her husband, who had married another woman.
Just a few of the women who committed suicide:
* On January 18, 1994, Ikbal, who had been beaten innumerable times by her husband and mother-in-law, burned herself to death.
* On December 1, 1993, 12-year-old Afeen Rahman burned herself and died 12 days later after being forced to marry an older man.
* On November 15, 1994, Belgheeseh, the mother of two, burned herself after being pushed into a forced marriage.
* On March 27, 1995, G. Ghader, who had suffered the insults of her husband for 12 years because she had failed to produce a child, finally committed suicide by burning herself to death.
* A woman named Hannah living in Ammareh burned herself to death because she hated her husband.
* On June 27, 1995, Naser Ghader killed herself, after numerous previous attempts, because she had been forced to marry a man who in turn forced her to wear the veil.
* In May 1997, Fatima, whose mother forced her to work in the house like a slave, burned herself to death.
* 13-year-old student Hannan Salah Beegol killed herself after her teacher alleged to her parents that she had established relationships with boys at school.
* In July 1997, A. Shah, living in Diana, killed herself after her husband, with whom she was forcibly married, asked for a divorce.
* Vajeeheh Muhamed, who was married through a match-maker, killed herself following her February 19, 1998 wedding after suffering shock from realizing that she had not been married to the man she had previously been matched with. She burned herself to death when no one would listen to her and after refusing to eat for five days.
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