Buffalo workers launch drive to become 1st Tesla union



Issued on: 14/02/2023 -

New York (AFP) – A group of workers at Tesla's Buffalo, New York plant announced a campaign Tuesday to form the first union at Elon Musk's electric car company.

The group, calling itself Tesla Workers United, established a website where workers could fill in union e-cards, a first step in gathering signatures to potentially qualify for holding a union election.

The initiative comes as workers and unions target large companies including Apple and Amazon for labor organizing drives, encountering mixed results thus far.

The Tesla campaign is affiliated with the same union that launched Starbucks Workers United in Buffalo, which became the first US cafe under the chain to vote to form a union.

"Tesla has demonstrated that as a company, it stands out among the rest in the industry," the group said on its website.

"We are organizing a union, with Workers United Upstate New York, that looks to be as innovative as the company we work for and to build an even more collaborative environment that will strengthen the company," the group added.

Tesla employs about 800 workers at its "Gigafactory 2" in Buffalo, where it manufacturers solar cells and components for Tesla electric car chargers and energy storage products, according to the company's website.

Like other leading figures associated with Silicon Valley, Musk is known for resisting union drives.

In 2021, the National Labor Relations Board concluded that the electric car company had illegally fired a worker for organizing at Tesla's California plant and that Musk had illegally threatened workers with loss of stock options if they unionized.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

© 2023 AFP

New Banksy spotted as mystery street artist claims Valentine's Day mural

Elusive street artist Banksy has claimed his latest piece of work that appeared at the beginning of the week in Margate, Kent, alluding to domestic violence


By Tristan Cork
Kieren Williams

News Reporter
14 Feb 2023


Banksy has unveiled a new Valentine’s Day ‘Mascara’ artwork, focusing on domestic violence.

The infamous street artist has revealed his latest work which appeared in Margate, Kent, at the beginning of the week.

It shows a woman dressed in 1950s-style clothing wearing cleaning gloves.

She’s pushing someone, presumably her husband, into a discarded freezer but all you can see is his legs poking out the end.

However, the piece is a commentary on the massive issue of domestic violence in the UK and abroad.

On closer inspection, the woman can be seen to be sporting a black eye and has seemingly had a tooth knocked out.

Further inspection of the art shows the housewife has a black eye and lost a tooth - presumably due to domestic abuse 

The image, also shared to his almost 12 million Instagram followers, also shares the artwork’s name ‘Valentine’s Day Mascara’.

This marks the first work the elusive artist has claimed since his surprise stint working in Ukraine in October and November last year.

It is his first back in Britain for over a year since he produced thousands of t-shirts to raise money for the Colston 4 in Bristol when they were being taken to court at the end of December 2021.

The work is typical of Banksy’s style and pairs together the environment, an overturned dumped freezer, with his art to make a commentary on social or political issues.

It first appeared Monday morning and was spotted by locals, kickstarting speculation that it might be another Banksy - but it wasn’t claimed until today.

Local resident Amy Richardson told BristolLive she first saw it first thing on Monday morning after a broadband van was driven away from the spot, and it was there behind.

It is not the first time Banksy has created art in Kent, back in 2017 he made a piece which depicted a man on a ladder chipping away a star from the EU flag.

Nor is it the first time the celebrated street artist has marked Valentine’s Day either as three years ago he released a new take on The Girl with the Balloon - one of his most renowned pieces.

This time, on a wall on a house in Bristol, he showed the girl bursting the balloon with a catapult which shed rose petals down the wall.

A Valentine's Day message from Banksy comments on violence against women

February 14, 2023
BILL CHAPPELLTwitter

People gathered to see a Banksy artwork on the side of a house in Margate, England, on Valentine's Day. The work depicts a 1950s housewife with a swollen eye, missing a tooth — and apparently shutting a man in a freezer. The freezer was later removed by council workers.

William Edwards/AFP via Getty Images

At first glance, she could be a prototypical 1950s housewife, wearing an apron over a smart gingham dress, complete with yellow cleaning gloves. But this is a Banksy artwork on the side of a building we're talking about, and the woman is pushing a freezer door closed — and a man's legs are jutting out the other end.

The woman is also hurt. She appears to be missing a tooth, and an eye is swollen shut. And that's where the title comes in: "Valentine's Day mascara," according to a post to Banksy's Instagram account on Tuesday.

Abusive relationships are disturbingly common. Here's how to support a loved one

The most-liked reply to Banksy's post reads: "Fighting violence used against women. Even on Valentines Day. Always!"

The artwork appeared in Margate, a city in southeastern England, becoming the latest locale for a graffiti installation by one of the world's most famous living artists. It reportedly appeared on Monday; one day later, local officials dismantled parts of the tableau.


A new Banksy mural adorns a destroyed building in Ukraine

The original work had incorporated an actual freezer and a toppled chair, following Banksy's tradition of mixing everyday items with paint and other media. As word of the artwork spread, people flocked to snap photos of themselves posing alongside the woman — resilient, triumphant and injured.

Then the freezer was taken away, leaving a void.

Workers remove a chest freezer that was part of an artwork by street artist Banksy, along the side of a house in Margate, southeast England.

William Edwards/AFP via Getty Images

The local Thanet District Council said that while the graffiti art is a genuine Banksy, and it was on the wall of a privately owned property, the chest freezer "has been removed by council operatives on the grounds of safety as it was on public land."

The council added, "The fridge freezer is now in storage and will be returned once it has been made safe to the public. We will be contacting the owner of the property to discuss the options to preserve the artwork for the district."



Some local residents mocked the council for invoking the need to keep public spaces tidy as a rationale for taking the art work apart.

"The council saying it was removed for safety reason is a bit short sided, considering that there is a side road next to the Banksy with a pile of rubbish and wood full of nails," resident Davide Restifo told The Isle of Thanet News, submitting a photo of unsightly debris to prove his point.

Uzbekistan draft law addresses sextortion
Young people are falling prey to new scams that their parents’ generation could never have imagined.

Niginakhon Saida

Feb 14, 2023

With expanding access to the internet, courtship rituals have changed radically in this socially conservative country. (Shutterstock)

The young woman must have thought she had met someone special. As their casual chats on the Telegram messaging app grew more intimate, she sent Ghiyas, as he called himself, nude photos and videos.

But he wasn’t looking for love. Instead, Ghiyas demanded 5 million sum (about $450) to keep her secrets.

Stories like this, released by the Interior Ministry in Tashkent, are growing more common and prompting the Justice Ministry to propose criminalizing sextortion – extorting money or favors from someone by threatening to reveal their sexual activity.

Ghiyas was arrested in a December 2022 sting. Police found compromising photos of another 10 women on his phone.

Internet penetration in Uzbekistan has jumped in recent years, from 16 percent in 2010 to an estimated 70 percent last year. With expanding access to the internet, courtship rituals have changed radically in this socially conservative country. Whereas members of older generations often had their marriages arranged by their families, and even chaste dating was uncommon, today social media networks, especially Telegram messenger (with over 18 million active users in Uzbekistan), give young people the space to meet and talk.

For some, it’s a chance to explore in secret what traditionalists call shameful and even sinful behavior before marriage.

Though cyberspace has transformed habits, it has not reformed patriarchal mores. Girls still carry their family nomus (honor) between their legs. Many families insist the bride’s virginity be medically examined before the wedding; rape victims are considered sullied.

Such attitudes make women more vulnerable for targeted sexual extortion. And based on press and police reports, the victims are often young women. Dreading the judgement and disapproval of parents and police, they are the most reluctant to seek help.

When an underaged Nigina met Jalil (their names have been changed) on Telegram and naively shared intimate photo and videos, Jalil threatened to send copies to her family. To buy his silence, she gave him a $350 gold ring, probably part of her future dowry. After receiving the ring, Jalil reportedly went on to sextort money from four other young women before returning to Nigina, this time demanding $450. She finally filed a complaint with the police. When the story was published on the website of the Ministry of Internal Affairs by a district judge, he heaped blame on the victims: girls “who are not ashamed to send naked pictures and videos by their own choice.”

Under Article 165 of Uzbekistan’s current Criminal Code, defendants charged with extortion face three to five years in prison (up to 10 for repeat offenders). The proposed law defines leaking nude photos as a crime, adding language about disclosing personal secrets and humiliation. In addition to jail time, the accused would face a fine up to $15,800. More severe punishment is envisioned for repeat offenders or if the victim is under age 16.

Official statistics are not available for sextortion verdicts; were they, the numbers would almost certainly be undercounts, since shame likely prevents many people from reporting the crime. But Statistics Committee figures for extortion more generally show a 250 percent increase in cases with women as defendants between 2007 and 2021; where men stand accused, the figures, though several times higher, rose 25 percent.

Female sextortion generally targets married men, sometimes after an affair.

Police in Samarkand last month arrested a woman who had successfully extorted money from a man while promising to delete his nude photos from internet.

Such police reports are part of a government effort to educate the public about the risks to sharing personal information online amid growing cases of cybertheft and online fraud.

“Cybercrime is on the rise in terms of phishing messages and stealing money from people's debit cards,” said Rashid Gabdulhakov, an assistant professor at the Research Center for Media and Journalism Studies at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. “What is unknown is how much people are being blackmailed for other things. For instance, since homosexuality is still criminalized and there is no state support, this creates a fruitful environment for police to blackmail people.”

A 2022 law charged the State Security Service, the KGB successor agency, with policing cybersecurity in Uzbekistan and raising awareness of online dangers. So far, the draft law remains the only specific measure to address sexual extortion. There are few public awareness campaigns that would reach broad segments of society. “Whether they are effective or not is too premature to say,” Gabdulhakov said. “We need time as these are rather recent measures. It is refreshing to see that something is finally being done here.”

Scholar nominated to follow Kuroda as BOJ chief

February 15, 2023

TOKYO (AP) – An economist was nominated yesterday to head Japan’s central bank and take on the daunting task of guiding the world’s third-largest economy to stronger, stable growth.

The government’s choice of Kazuo Ueda (AP; pic below), who earlier served on the central bank’s policy board, to succeed Haruhiko Kuroda came as a surprise to many when it was leaked to Japanese media last week. Most Bank of Japan (BOJ) governors have hailed from the Finance Ministry or the bank itself.

Kuroda will be stepping down on April 8 after serving two five-year terms, during which he pushed an unprecedented ultra-easy credit strategy meant to vanquish deflation, or chronically falling prices. While other major central banks have aggressively raised interest rates to cool decades-high inflation, the BOJ has stuck to monetary easing. Its key interest rate remains at minus 0.1 per cent.

Some observers see choosing Ueda, 71, as a way for Kishida to differentiate his policies from the “Abenomics” strategy of former prime minister Shinzo Abe, mainly centred around near-zero interest rates and massive asset purchases by the central bank meant to combat stagnation.

Much of the burden for trying to jolt Japan out of its doldrums has fallen to the central bank.

The Abenomics strategy also involved heavy government spending, but it made limited headway in enacting sweeping reforms to help Japan raise productivity and streamline bottlenecks in the economy.

The economy continued to meander between spells of modest growth and recession and then the pandemic and slowdowns in other major economies hobbled growth.

The government reported yesterday that the economy grew at an annual pace of 0.6 per cent in October-December, after contracting 0.3 per cent in previous quarter.

Disruptions from the pandemic, a shortage of imported parts from China and rising prices – especially for energy – have weighed on Japan’s recovery even after Tokyo loosened precautions meant to keep COVID-19 outbreaks under control, allowing foreign tourists to enter after more than two years of stringent controls. The economy grew at a 1.1 per cent pace for full-year 2022.

The government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, whose support ratings have sagged, presented Ueda and other nominees for top BOJ posts to Parliament yesterday.

Ueda will face questioning by lawmakers, but approval of his nomination is likely given that both Houses of Parliament are controlled by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

“I plan to do my best to properly answer all the questioning in Parliament,” Ueda said on nationally televised news.

Ueda is a graduate of the prestigious University of Tokyo and holds a doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

He has taught at Japanese and foreign universities and has connections in international academic circles. Ueda was on the BOJ’s board of governors from 1998-2005.

Opposition parties raised objections, saying Ueda will likely stick to the Abenomics approach.

“What needs to be confronted instead is that Abenomics was a big mistake,” opposition lawmaker Akira Nagatsuma said on public broadcaster NHK TV.

DOTTY SENATOR MAKES OVERDUE MOVE

Veteran California Senator Dianne Feinstein says she won't seek re-election

With concerns about her cognitive health, she will serve two more years after three decades as senator

Senator Dianne Feinstein in the Capitol Building on February 13. 

Getty / AFP

The National
Feb 14, 2023

US Senator Dianne Feinstein said on Tuesday that she would not seek re-election at the end of her term in 2024, ending a groundbreaking political career spanning six decades.

It also clears the path for a hotly contested race among California Democrats for her seat.

The announcement was widely expected as Ms Feinstein, who turns 90 in June, is the oldest member of Congress.

In recent years, questions have been raised about her cognitive ability and memory, although she has defended her effectiveness in representing a state that is home to nearly 40 million people.

Ms Feinstein said she intended to remain in Congress until the end of her term.

“Even with a divided Congress, we can still pass bills that will improve lives," she said. "Each of us was sent here to solve problems.

"That’s what I’ve done for the last 30 years, and that’s what I plan to do for the next two years."

Ms Feinstein is a trailblazer in US politics. She was the first female mayor of San Francisco, first woman to serve on the Senate judiciary committee and is now the longest-serving female senator.

She was expected to serve this year as president pro tempore, the ceremonial head of the Senate and third in line to the presidency, a position typically given to a senior senator of the majority party.

But she declined to seek election for the position, months after Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, a fellow Democrat, would not say whether he had confidence in her ability to serve.

Instead, Senator Patty Murray, 72, was installed in the job.

Last year, media outlets reported that Ms Feinstein's memory was rapidly deteriorating.

California reliably votes Democratic and the state is home to many up-and-coming politicians who will be looking at her seat.

Several Democrats had already announced or hinted at runs even before her announcement, including Representatives Katie Porter and Adam Schiff.

California will hold its primary elections on March 5, 2024.

Russian businessman guilty in hacking, insider trade scheme


By ALANNA DURKIN RICHER

 This image provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office shows the Russian passport of Vladislav Klyushin, part of the U.S. government's evidence entered into the record during Klyushin's trial. Klyushin, a Russian millionaire with ties to the Kremlin was convicted Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2023, of participating in an elaborate $90 million insider trading scheme using secret earnings information from companies such as Microsoft that was stolen from U.S. computer networks. (U.S. Attorney’s Office via AP, File)

BOSTON (AP) — A Russian millionaire with ties to the Kremlin was convicted Tuesday of participating in an elaborate $90 million insider trading scheme using secret earnings information from companies such as Microsoft that was stolen from U.S. computer networks.

Vladislav Klyushin, who ran a Moscow-based information technology company associated with the Russian government, was found guilty on all charges against him, including wire fraud and securities fraud, after a two-week trial in federal court in Boston.

He was arrested in 2021 in Switzerland after he arrived on a private jet and just before he and his party were about to board a helicopter to whisk them to a nearby ski resort. Four alleged co-conspirators — including a Russian military intelligence officer who’s also been charged with meddling in the 2016 presidential election — remain at large.

An email seeking comment was sent to Klyushin’s attorney on Tuesday.

Klyushin was owner of a Moscow-based information technology company that purported to provide services to detect vulnerabilities in computer systems. It counted among its clients the administration of Russian President Vladimir Putin and other government entities, according to prosecutors.

Tesla workers in NY launch campaign to organize a union

Klyushin was also close friends with a Russian military officer who was among 12 Russians charged in 2018 with hacking into key Democratic email accounts, including those belonging to Hilary Clinton’s presidential campaign chairman, John Podesta, the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Ivan Ermakov, who worked for Klyushin’s company, was a hacker in the alleged insider trading scheme, alleged prosecutors. They haven’t alleged that Klyushin was involved in the election interference.

Prosecutors say hackers stole employees’ usernames and passwords for two U.S.-based vendors that publicly traded companies use to make filings through the Securities and Exchange Commission. They then broke into the vendors’ computer systems to get financial disclosures for hundreds of companies — including Microsoft, Tesla and Kohls, Ulta Beauty and Sketchers — before the were filed to the SEC and became public, prosecutors said.

Armed with this insider information, they were able to cheat the stock market, alleged prosecutors, who said Klyushin personally turned a $2 million investment into nearly $21 million, and altogether, the group turned about $9 million into nearly $90 million.

Klyushin’s attorney denied that his client was involved in the scheme, telling jurors in his opening statement that the government’s case was filled with “gaping holes” and “inferences.”

Kremlin-Linked Leader Of Wagner Mercenary Group Acknowledges Ownership Of 'Troll Factory'

Yevgeny Prigozhin (file photo)

The leader and co-founder of the Russian mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who is known to have close ties to President Vladimir Putin, has acknowledged for the first time that he owns the Internet Research Agency -- a so-called "troll factory" in St. Petersburg specialized in creating fake social-media accounts and spreading disinformation and propaganda.

In February 2018, the Justice Department indicted the Internet Research Agency and two other companies controlled by Prigozhin -- Concord Management and Concord Catering -- as well as Prigozhin himself and 15 other Russian individuals for alleged fraud "for the purpose of interfering with the U.S. political and electoral processes, including the presidential election of 2016."

In a written response to a group of Western journalists' questions, Prigozhin said on February 14 that "I planned it, I created it, and I used to direct it for a long time," adding that the agency was created "to defend Russian information space from the blatantly aggressive propaganda of anti-Russia slogans of [the] West."

Prigozhin also acknowledged that he provided premises for another troll factory, Cyberfront Z, that was created right after Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Answering a question about his possibly being the owner of the Lobaye Invest company that operates gold and diamond mines in the Central African Republic, Prigozhin said the company was liquidated three years ago, but added that it was led by Dmitry Syty and had been involved in geological research in Africa, not mining.

Prigozhin noted that Syty, who is officially the head of the Russian House culture center in the Central African Republic, had spent some time in hospital in December after a parcel he received by mail exploded.

Prigozhin called on the Western journalists to offer apologies to Syty for "the terrorist activities of the Western countries."

Prigozhin is known for his vocal condemnation of the West over sanctions imposed on Russia over its full-scale aggression against Ukraine and for accusing the United States and European Union of supporting what he called the "neo-Nazi" government of Ukraine.

Koh-i-noor diamond not part of King Charles III’s coronation

The Koh-i-noor diamond won’t be used during King Charles III’s coronation, allowing Buckingham Palace to sidestep the controversy surrounding a gem acquired during the age of Empire

By DANICA KIRKA 

Associated Press
February 14, 2023, 

LONDON -- The Koh-i-noor diamond won’t be used during King Charles III’s coronation, allowing Buckingham Palace to sidestep the controversy surrounding a gem acquired during the age of Empire.

Camilla, the queen consort, will not to use the diamond in her coronation crown. Rather than commission a new crown, as is customary, Camilla will modify Queen Mary’s crown using diamonds from Queen Elizabeth II’s personal collection, the palace said in a statement Tuesday.

Some observers had speculated that Camilla would be crowned with the crown made for Queen Elizabeth, the queen mother, in 1937, which had the Koh-i-noor diamond as its centerpiece.

That reportedly sparked concern from some people in India, who said using the Koh-i-noor in the coronation could be an uncomfortable reminder of Britain’s oppressive past.

Seized by the East India Company after its victory in the Second Anglo-Sikh War of 1849, the gem was given to Queen Victoria and has remained part of the Crown Jewels ever since. But countries including India, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan have all claimed ownership.

Queen Consort Camilla to reuse Mary crown without insetting Kohinoor diamond at coronation

The palace says the use of the Mary crown is "in the interests of sustainability and efficiency".

(Reuters: Toby Melville)
Queen Consort Camilla will break from tradition and refashion an old crown for the coronation, notably avoiding the use of the Kohinoor diamond that is clouded by colonialist controversy.
Rather than commissioning a new crown, Buckingham Palace said Camilla would wear a modified version of Queen Mary's crown for the coronation of King Charles III in May.
Key points:It will be the first time in modern history that a consort has not had a new crown commissioned for the coronation
Camilla's crown will be modified to include some of Queen Elizabeth II's personal diamonds

The Indian government has repeatedly requests the Kohinoor diamond be returned
The Queen Mary crown was commissioned for the 1911 coronation of King George V.
It will be the first time since the 18th century that an existing crown will be used in a coronation.
The choice to reuse a crown was made "in the interests of sustainability and efficiency", the palace said.
Some changes will be made to the Mary crown to reflect Camilla's personal style and to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II, the palace said.
Notably, the Kohinoor diamond at the centre of a dispute with India will be removed from the crown.

The coronation will be on May 6.(AP: Carl Court)
The Cullinan III, IV and V diamonds, which were previously part of Queen Elizabeth's personal jewellery collection, and were frequently worn by the late monarch as brooches, will be inset into the crown.
The Cullinan diamonds have been set into Queen Mary's crown on previous occasions.
Cullinan III and IV were set temporarily in the crown for the 1911 coronation, and the Cullinan V was inserted when the crown was worn as a regal circlet at King George VI's coronation in 1937.

Kohinoor was set in the front middle cross-pattee of Queen Mary's crown

.(Wikimedia Commons: Cyril Davenport )

Four of the crown's eight detachable arches will also be removed, the palace said.
The crown was taken off display at the Tower of London for the modification work to be carried out.
Controversy over Kohinoor diamond
The decision against the Queen consort wearing the Kohinoor diamond, worn by Queen Mary in 1911 and the queen mother in 1937, comes amid rumblings about the jewel.
The Kohinoor is among the largest cut diamonds in the world, worth $591 million, and has a long history with the royal family, having been worn on crowns by generations of queens.
It is believed the diamond was taken from India by the East India Company during the colonial era and presented to Queen Victoria in 1850.
The precious diamond has been fought over for centuries, so much so that British royal legend says the diamond will bring bad luck to any man who wears it.
It currently is set in a crown last worn by Charles's grandmother during her coronation alongside King George VI in 1937.
The diamond India wants the royal family to return
The world's most expensive diamond, the "Kohinoor" is set in the crown made for the Queen Mother. With the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, Indians are asking for its return.

That the diamond remains in the possession of the British royals is, according to the Indian government, a mark of continuing colonialism more than 75 years after India declared independence from British rule.
Since 2000, India's government has repeatedly requested Britain return the Kohinoor.
The royal family claims the diamond is its property, though it acknowledges it "probably" originated in India.
Following the death of Queen Elizabeth last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi warned that any plans for the Queen Consort to wear the Kohinoor at the coronation would bring back "painful memories of the colonial past".
As is tradition, King Charles will wear St Edward's Crown, which has now returned to public display at the Tower of London following the completion of minor modification work.
ABC/Reuters

BDS 

European allies condemn Israel's plan to build more housing units in the West Bank

February 14, 2023
DANIEL ESTRIN

NPR

A picture taken from the Palestinian village of Aqraba shows the Israeli settlement outpost of Gevat Arnon, near Nablus city in the southern occupied West Bank.

Jaafar Ashitiyeh/AFP via Getty Images

In a rare move, key European allies — France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom — joined the U.S. on Tuesday in condemning Israel's plans to build 10,000 more housing units in existing settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Israel's right-wing government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also set to legalize nine smaller Jewish outposts on land the Palestinians want for a future state.

Israel occupied the West Bank and Jerusalem in a war in 1967 and has since build more than 100 settlements there — which much of the international community opposes. The U.N. Security Council has called settlements a violation of international law, which Israel denies.

The joint U.S. and European statement said the countries "strongly oppose these unilateral actions which will only serve to exacerbate tensions between Israelis and Palestinians and undermine efforts to achieve a negotiated two-state solution."

"We were not surprised by the U.S. position," a senior Israeli official said in a statement to reporters. "We have disagreements for tens of years about these issues ... these disagreements did not and will not harm the strong bond between Israel and the U.S."

Some Arab states also condemned the decision. Qatar, which has no formal ties with Israel, called it a flagrant violation of U.N. resolutions and an assault on the rights of Palestinians. Egypt, the first Arab country to establish ties with Israel, said these measures will inflame tensions and violence already spiking in the West Bank.

Turkiye Doesn’t Need F-16s.  It Needs Humanitarian Aid.

BY JACOB BATINGA

Less than a week after two earthquakes killed 35,000 people, the Turkish government has resumed bombing Kurdish forces in Syria. Now President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is spending $20 billion on F-16 jets — money that would be better spent on earthquake aid.

Turkish soldiers stand next to collapsed buildings on February 13, 2023, as rescue teams continue to search for victims and survivors of the earthquake on the border region of Turkey and Syria. (Ozan Kose / AFP via Getty Images)

The earthquake in Turkey and Syria is one of the worst natural disasters of this century. The death toll has now risen to a staggering thirty-five thousand people — though that number is expected to rise significantly. Tens of thousands more have been injured, overwhelming the already-strained hospitals in Syria and Turkey. Large swaths of Northern Syria and Southern Turkey have been reduced to rubble, and millions are in desperate need of humanitarian relief.

Yet even in the immediate aftermath of this humanitarian crisis, at a time when resources, personnel, and state assistance is gravely needed, Turkey continues to attack the Kurds. According to reports from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and statements from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), on February 12 (less than one week after the earthquake), Turkey bombed an SDF vehicle in Kobanî, a Kurdish-majority city in Northern Syria, and bombed Kurdish forces in Tel Rifaat, north of Aleppo. There is no indication that these bombings are going to stop.

In sharp contrast to Turkey’s abysmal, dysfunctional initial response to the earthquake, Turkish militarism seems as functional as ever.

Though these recent attacks highlight the particular brutality of bombing communities suffering and grieving in the wake of a natural disaster, Turkish attacks on the Kurds are by no means new. Turkey’s record of atrocities against the Kurds is long and well-documented. Though ostensibly fighting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) — a militant organization pushing for greater autonomy and civil rights for Kurds — Turkey has killed scores of Kurdish civilians in Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. In the 1990s, Turkish forces killed tens of thousands of Kurds in Southern Turkey and in recent years has bombed Northern Iraq hundreds of times.

In Northern Syria, Turkish treatment of Kurds has been particularly brutal. Turkey frequently bombs Kurdish communities in Syria, targeting the PKK-linked People’s Protection Units (YPG) and SDF, Western allies largely responsible for the defeat of ISIS in Syria. In a single weeks-long bombing campaign in January of 2018, Turkey killed over a thousand Kurds in the city of Afrin alone. Over the course of repeated invasions over the last seven years, Turkey has occupied extensive territory in Northern Syria, and Turkish forces have committed widespread and systematic war crimes against the Kurdish population, including ethnic cleansing.

Crucially, a map of Turkish air strikes in Syria produced by Airwars, an organization that tracks explosive weapon use in conflicts around the world, shows that the area most affected by the earthquake is also the area most frequently bombed by the Turkish Air Force in recent years.

Given that Turkey has demonstrated its refusal to terminate its attacks on the Kurds even in the midst of one of the worst natural disasters of this century, should the United States continue supplying the very equipment used to carry out this aggression?

The United States — and other Western countries — have a long history of arming Turkey with weapons subsequently used directly on the Kurds. Currently, the Biden administration is attempting to advance a massive arms transfer to Turkey. This arms package includes a new fleet of F-16s as well as upgrades to Turkey’s existing F-16s — the same jets used to conduct air raids on Kurdish cities.

Some members of Congress are objecting to this sale. Notably, Senator Bob Menendez has declared that he intends to block the arms transfer to Turkey due to Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s continued efforts to “undermine international law, disregard human rights and democratic norms and engage in alarming and destabilizing behavior in Turkey and against neighboring NATO allies,” namely Greece. Other members of the Senate, however, are less adamant in their opposition to the sale. In a letter to President Joe Biden, a bipartisan group of twenty-nine senators have conditioned the arms transfer, stating that they would not support the deal unless Turkey agrees to approve Sweden and Finland’s accession to NATO. Even if Congress decided to block the arms sale, however, a two-thirds supermajority is necessary to overcome a presidential veto.

But in light of the earthquake, the Biden administration should consider whether they want to support and supply further Turkish aggression in the aftermath of a natural disaster, or use this moment to encourage reconstruction and diplomacy.

The United Nations estimates that over five million people became homeless as a result of the earthquake, and millions more are in dire need of humanitarian assistance — including several million children. According to experts at the Australian Earthquake Engineering Society, it could take years — or even a decade — to rebuild the infrastructure and houses destroyed by the earthquake. This F-16s arms package is estimated to cost an astonishing twenty billion dollars, money which should be diverted toward humanitarian relief and reconstruction.

Furthermore, this moment can be used to support diplomacy, rather than aggression. In light of the earthquake, the PKK issued a unilateral cease-fire, stating that since “thousands of our people are under the rubble,” they would terminate all operations “as long as the Turkish state does not attack.” Instead, the PKK spokesperson stated, “[e]veryone should mobilize to save our people from the rubble.” The Turkish government has not responded.

During a time of unimaginable death, destruction, and suffering, it is unconscionable for the Turkish state to divert critically needed resources away from humanitarian assistance and reconstruction, and toward funding its continued militarism. The United States should use this moment to encourage Turkey to accept the olive branch offered by the PKK, rather than send it advanced weaponry that will be used on a population already suffering from the devastating consequences of a natural disaster. This earthquake should be the final nail in the coffin of the Biden administration’s proposed F-16 arms sale. The United States has betrayed the Kurds many times before — this time should be different.

CONTRIBUTORS
Jacob Batinga is a writer, human rights activist, and JD candidate at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, concentrating on issues related to economic coercion, the arms trade, and international law.