Turkish military advances 15 km into Iraqi Kurdistan, triggering mass evacuations

Ongoing operations have forced nearly 602 villages in Duhok province to evacuate, with villagers fleeing in fear of Turkish army shelling.

WHERE ARE THE PERSHMERGA, OR THE IRAQI ARMED FORCES TO FIGHT THIS ILLEGAL INVASION?

Dana Taib Menmy
Iraq
07 July, 2024
THE NEW ARAB

Ongoing operations have forced nearly 602 villages in Duhok province to evacuate, with villagers fleeing in fear of Turkish army shelling that has also scorched their farmland. [Photo by CPT Iraqi Kurdistan on the X platform]


The Turkish military has advanced 15 kilometers deep into Iraqi Kurdistan, targeting the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and forcing the evacuation of hundreds of villages, according to a conflict monitor's report on Sunday.

The incursion, which represents a significant escalation in Turkey’s military operations, has unfolded amid a conspicuous silence from both Iraqi and Kurdish authorities, raising concerns over Iraq's sovereignty and the safety of its citizens.

Ongoing operations have forced nearly 602 villages in Duhok province to evacuate, with villagers fleeing in fear of Turkish army shelling that has also scorched their farmland, according to a U.S.-based human rights organisation monitoring the conflict.

Maj. Gen. Tahseen Al-Khafaji, spokesperson for the Iraqi Joint Operations Command, told The New Arab that the Turkish operation is political and unrelated to the Iraqi Joint Operations Command. He directed further inquiries to Iraq's foreign ministry, which did not respond to requests for comment.

Efforts to contact Ahmed al-Sahaf, spokesperson for Iraq’s foreign ministry, were unsuccessful.

TNA also spoke with Sakfan Sindi, deputy head of the parliament's security and defense committee from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP). Sindi said he lacked information on the issue as parliament is on its summer break. He gave assurances that after the holiday, the committee would seek to understand the stance of Iraq’s prime minister and the commander-in-chief of Iraq’s armed forces.

Last month, Turkey dispatched hundreds of troops and military vehicles into the Kurdistan Region, setting up checkpoints and conducting military patrols in Duhok province’s Barwari Bala area. The recent escalation has instilled fear among local villagers, leading to the abandonment of at least one village.

“The new operation in the Barwari Bala area signifies the depth of Turkish military ground operations into Iraqi Kurdistan. Turkish Armed Forces have advanced 15 kilometers into Iraqi Kurdistan territory,” said the Community Peacemaker Teams (CPT), a U.S.-based human rights organization monitoring the conflict.

“Since the start of the new Turkish military operation, Turkey has conducted 238 bombardments in Iraqi Kurdistan, primarily in the Duhok governorate. As a result of Turkish bombardments, more than 20,000 dunams of agricultural lands have burned,” CPT added.

This incursion marks a significant escalation compared to Turkey's 2021 operation, dubbed Claw-Lightning, when Turkish forces advanced 7 kilometers into the Kurdistan Region, CPT reported. The campaign aims to curb threats from the PKK along the border.

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The PKK is designated a terrorist organisation by Ankara and much of the West, has waged an armed insurgency against Turkey for decades in a struggle for greater Kurdish rights.

Turkish operations have commenced near Kani Masi and Mount Metina in Duhok province. Turkish soldiers, armed with heavy weapons, have established several checkpoints, particularly near Balave and Belizani villages along the main road between Bamarni and Kani Masi subdistricts, about 57 kilometers northeast of Duhok city.

Clashes between Turkish forces and PKK fighters have ignited numerous wildfires, with each side blaming the other for the blazes. In Sargale village, about 55% of agricultural land has been burned by Turkish attacks. Turkish military actions in Iraqi Kurdistan threaten at least 602 villages with displacement, with 162 already evacuated, according to CPT.

Civilian infrastructure has also been affected, including the destruction of a school in Amedi district’s Mizhe village and an Assyrian church in the town of Mishka.

The Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) have yet to issue statements regarding the increased hostilities in Duhok province.

Earlier this year, Baghdad classified the PKK as a banned organisation before Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Iraq in April. Both nations signed several agreements, including those related to security.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan visited Baghdad on April 22, marking his first state visit to Iraq since 2011. During the visit, both countries signed a joint security agreement allowing Turkey to conduct military operations against the PKK deep within Iraqi territory. In return, Iraq will receive increased water flow from Turkey.

However, Ankara’s persistent military strikes and ground troop deployments have caused fear among the local villagers of Duhok province’s mountainous regions. Many residents fear displacement due to constant mortar shells and gunfire.

CPT data indicates that Turkey has conducted over 1,076 attacks on the Kurdistan Region and Nineveh province in 2024.

On Thursday, a Turkish defense ministry announcement confirmed that one of its soldiers was killed by the PKK in Duhok province.

 

The guerrilla is the hope of the people of South Kurdistan (Northern Iraq)

The greatest hope of the people of South Kurdistan, who are portrayed as if they were uncomfortable with the presence of the guerrilla there, is that the guerrilla emerges victorious from this war.


AMARGÎ ARHAT BA
BEHDINAN
Friday, 12 July 2024, 18:02


The KDP's biggest fear is that the growing anger of the people of Bashûr (southern Kurdistan, northern Iraq) will turn into an organised force, because it knows the people's rebellious tradition.

The Turkish state continues its occupation plan with all kinds of co-operation and support of the KDP. Neither the guerrilla nor the people have patience left for the KDP's sinister role in this war. The residents of Amediyê who witnessed the convoys of the Turkish army passing through the centre of the city; the villagers of Guherzê, whose vineyards and gardens are hit by howitzer and mortar shells every day; those who were forced out of the villages of Mijê and Spîndare; the residents of Sergelê, whose land is burning even today, are waiting for the day when they will get rid of the sinister KDP and the invading Turkish army. The greatest hope of the people, who are portrayed as if they were uncomfortable with the presence of the guerrilla there, is that the guerrilla will emerge victorious from this war.

The KDP's biggest fear today is that the growing anger of the people will turn into an organised force, because the KDP knows that the people of South Kurdistan are rebellious and come from a tradition of rebellion. We know how much the KDP fears the will of the people from the elections that it has postponed for years. The KDP, even afraid of organising the elections, which is the primary necessity of democracy, for years, will of course be on the side of the occupier, not on the side of the people in the days when these occupation attacks have become evident.

After the attacks of the Turkish army on 3 July, the KDP media resorted to lies in order to calm the reactions of the people and to make it seem as if everything is rosy in the region.

No country's media makes such an effort to normalise an occupation on its territory.

Today, while watching the news reported by the K24 channel in the city of Amediyê, we realise again that the KDP media knows no limits in lies and special warfare.

First of all, the K24 reporter talks about how many tourists the city of Amediyê attracts during the day, how majestic and beautiful the landscape is. I wonder if they see the occupying Turkish soldiers who roam in and around the city as tourists. What view are they talking about? Is it the view of the smoke and explosions from the chemical weapons fired against the guerrilla positions on the Amediyê Hill near the city? Or the view of the burning forests in Sergelê and other villages on the slopes of Amediyê? Which view? The view of the burnt bodies of Kurdish children hit by howitzers and mortars fired by the Turkish army?

The K24 reporter then shows a few street scenes to show how peaceful the city of Amediyê is. If he moved his camera a little to the side, he would have a good view of the lands set on fire by the Turkish invaders, and if he moved his camera a little higher, he would get the Amediyê Hill, which has been almost pulverised by the bombardments of the Turkish army, so the angle of the shots is very narrow, showing only a few people shopping in front of a shop. Then a few interviews with pre-prepared dialogue. The interviewee says that the city of Amediyê attracts thousands of tourists a day, that there is nothing extraordinary around and that they live in peace.

The KDP special warfare team is very adept at playing three monkeys.

However, can the people of Amediyê ignore the sounds of explosions even if they cover their ears? Can they not feel the heat radiating from their burning forests even if they never leave their homes? Even if they wear masks, how can they not smell the odour of chemical gases emanating from Amediyê Hill? How can they ignore the invaders who pass through the centre of their cities in convoys with their dirty boots?

Let's say that they do not see or hear, and they claim that they live in peace. Isn't this thanks to the guerrilla that has been resisting the occupation in that region for two years? Isn't it thanks to the heroes who faced all kinds of war crimes for two years on the Amediyê Hill, but still did not allow occupation so that the Turkish army would not turn towards the cities? Undoubtedly, if the guerrilla had not fought there for two years, no one could claim to live in peace in the city of Amediyê. If there is any peace, it is thanks to the guerrilla blood flowing on the hills above that city.

There is no peace in the Amediyê area, but the biggest occupation operation in the history of South Kurdistan. Turkish troops did not come there to watch the magnificent view of the city of Amediyê. They have brought nothing but blood, tears, death, rape and massacre wherever they have set foot in the Middle East, and they will not bring anything to Amediyê. For this reason, those who claim that the inhabitants of Amediyê live in peace today and try to justify the Turkish army's invasion operation will also be responsible for the suffering that will be experienced by those very people when this invasion operation cannot be stopped.

Leader Apo (Abdullah Öcalan), in his evaluation titled Southern Perspectives, said, "The KDP is a collaborative power and depends on the dominant will. When the dominant will wants, it is drawn into this conflict by various methods. It was indeed drawn in. In other words, it is a dependent power, it cannot do otherwise. On this basis, the Turkish regime both supported and protected the loyalty to a federal Kurdish state. Its aim in this was to isolate the PKK from the South and gradually turn the Kurdish collaborator forces in the South against the PKK." The collaborationist and treacherous character of the KDP was thus analysed decades ago.

Leader Apo's predictions and analyses on the political, military and social structure of the region offer a perspective for the guerrilla struggle even after decades. For this reason, it is the Kurdistan Freedom Guerrilla that best interprets the occupying character of the Turkish nation state, best analyses what the Turkish state has done and will do there, and with this foresight and consciousness, is the honour defender of the people of South Kurdistan.

The KDP's media can only deceive the Barzani Family's stooges by saying "There is peace in Amediyê, tourism is developing in Amediyê", but never the patriotic Kurdish people of South Kurdistan who come from the tradition of rebellion. Especially they can never mislead the Kurdistan Freedom Guerrilla.

Kalkan: We must turn every place into antifascist struggle and resistance areas

Duran Kalkan said that "the Kurdish question lies at the heart of everything."


ANF
BEHDINAN
Saturday, 13 July 2024

PKK Executive Committee Member Duran Kalkan spoke about the international campaign demanding freedom for Abdullah Öcalan, and the invasion attacks carried out by Turkey against South Kurdistan.

The agenda is busy, there are a lot of developments. Let’s start with the isolation and the struggle against isolation that gives this agenda its main character.

First of all, I greet Rêber Apo with respect. I greet everyone who is fighting for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo [Abdullah Öcalan] on the basis of our global freedom campaign. I wish them success.

The Kurdish question lies at the heart of everything. To understand the Kurdish issue, one must consider the seriousness of the torture, isolation, and genocide taking place on Imrali Island. Rêber Apo is being held under such harsh conditions; the circles that fuel the Kurdish conflict are terrified that even a word from Rêber Apo would be leaked. In this sense, isolation, torture, and genocide persist. Of course, the campaign against this continues. We have already determined that everything will be achieved through an uninterrupted struggle. This struggle is evolving, acquiring dimension. In this sense, there is a significant legal and popular movement against isolation. The guerrillas are also representing a historical struggle.

As a movement, as a people, and as all of our revolutionary, democratic, and left-wing socialist allies, we are fighting for Rêber Apo’s liberation physically and a resolution to the Kurdish issue. The legal aspect of this conflict is also growing.

As previously indicated, the Imrali system has no legal basis. It has flaws in all areas, but the legal element is the most lacking. This is becoming increasingly clear. In terms of the legal struggle against the Imrali system, certain information has been disclosed through the pressure of many circles, but particularly the legal community. The Paris Bar Association has taken initiative, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has issued a call for the freedom of Rêber Apo. But lawyers also provided the world with vital information concerning the CPT after we wanted to understand the situation better. The lawyers revealed that Azerbaijan has intervened. The information about Rêber Apo, which the CPT so adamantly claimed it cannot reveal due to legal issues, was discussed by the CPT with Azerbaijan. In this regard, the approach of the CPT, and hence the Council of Europe, is critical. Rather than pursuing a legal approach, they are pursuing a political approach.

Moreover, the lawyers explained, that since 2012, the decisions of the ECHR have not been implemented. So, the ECHR will become entangled in torture before it enforces its own rulings. The institutions responsible for the ECHR are not enforcing. In other words, the source of such reckless behavior by the fascist and genocidal AKP-MHP come from deliberate omission. The so-called international democratic and European human rights institutions, are not fulfilling their duties and responsibilities. They are acting neither legally nor democratically. They are not acting humanitarian. They are engaging in self-interested political behavior. Therefore, they are complicit in this crime.

The widespread opposition to this is becoming increasingly important. The struggle is growing in every field, and it is spreading worldwide. Undoubtedly, this struggle needs to be expanded, extended, and broadened. The popular campaign for Rêber Apo’s physical liberation must never be compromised. It cannot be eliminated. On the contrary, it must be continually enhanced and widened.

Of course, there are numerous problems being faced by people. Women, youth, workers, and laborers across the world all face issues. There are economic, political, democratic, and human rights issues. These are being confronted over. However, these problems are intertwined. A struggle against AKP-MHP fascism is necessary, particularly in Turkey. It is vital to establish antifascist efforts based on a variety of issues, but these fights must be centered around the struggle for Rêber Apo’s physical freedom. As a result, these issues cannot be segregated from one another. The root to all freedom problems is the freedom problem of Rêber Apo. Because everyone’s freedom and democratic governance depends on the struggle for the physical freedom of Rêber Apo. The freedom and democracy of the Kurdish and Turkish people, women, youth, and humanity depend on the demolition of the torture, isolation, and genocide system in Imrali, and consequentially Rêber Apo’s physical release.

Rêber Apo once said: “If I hadn’t been able to completely integrate my life with the existence and independence of the Kurdish people, I wouldn’t have been able to precisely grasp and address the difficulties, nor would I have been able to work as successfully.” Now, as Kurds, women, youth, and all peoples, we must fully merge our lives with the principles of freedom and democracy in the global campaign for Rêber Apo’s physical freedom. This is the way to success. This is undoubtedly the path to freedom and democracy. In this regard, all fights for freedom and democracy must include Rêber Apo’s physical liberation as a primary goal. We should all pay heed to this. We should not divide our forces or opportunities.

Everyone is struggling. There is a fight among youth. Young people are taking meaningful action, particularly abroad and recently in Paris. Of course, they should. The struggle for Rêber Apo’s physical freedom should be the primary priority of Kurdish youth, as well as youth throughout the region and around the world who are influenced by the paradigm of Rêber Apo.

The youth must be in a constant state of struggle because there is no other choice. Existence, freedom struggle, and prosperity cannot be achieved in any other way. In this regard, Kurdish youth, in particular, should be at the forefront of this resistance, and they are. They should also resolve the problems being faced in all parts of Kurdistan and around the world, but at the heart of these struggles is the struggle for Rêber Apo’s physical liberation. Because the existence of the Imrali system of torture, isolation, and genocide fosters the growth of this fascist, imperialist, genocidal mentality and politics that underlies all issues. The problem which underlies all problems is the torture and isolation being faced by Rêber Apo, it is the Kurdish problem. The problem is that genocide is being inflicted upon the Kurds, the problem is the lack of compliance on resolving the Kurdish question. For this reason, the physical freedom of Rêber Apo and the solution of the Kurdish question are like flesh and blood. Because the Kurdish youth are at the forefront of such a struggle, they must develop and broaden their actions in all areas within the framework of our global freedom campaign. They must also lead the struggles of all oppressed societies, and workers.

The war has intensified in the Medya Defense Zones, all eyes are on the regions of Zap and Metina. In Northern Kurdistan, we have also seen guerrilla activity increase in June. How can this be evaluated?

Yes, first and foremost, I commemorate with love and gratitude all of our fallen comrades, particularly the comrades Shexmus, Beritan, and Brusk, who were martyred in the resistance in the North. Indeed, it is crucial to comprehend them correctly and protect their memories.

This is not an ordinary struggle. Developing such a resistance in the North, under today’s conditions, has a different meaning. In this context, actions have taken place from Avashin to Gever in Zagros. There were clashes in Botan. Clashes broke out in Gabar and Mawa. Clashes broke out in Merdin’s Kerboran area. There is conflict in the Serhat region. With spring and summer approaching, the fascist AKP-MHP began operations in all areas. In other words, the entirety of the North is a battle zone. On the other hand, there is resistance in the cities. HBDH militias fight almost daily. Also the YPS militants are fighting.

In the North, an antifascist, united battle is brewing, and our united revolutionary struggle is taking shape in the North through guerrilla and militia actions. This is a novel and significant scenario, which is substantial when compared to the previous 1-2 years. It is crucial to comprehend this right. Of course, it needs to be developed and spread more. In this regard, I commend everyone who is resisting and striving. I applaud their efforts and resistance. We need to strengthen it more.

To successfully conduct the war against AKP fascism and accomplish results, it is critical that we engage in the language that they understand.

In this respect, we must turn all areas of the North and Turkey – from mountains, plains, and cities – into zones of antifascist battle and resistance.

We must understand how to confront fascist terror with revolutionary violence. If this does not occur, that is, if they are not held accountable for their conduct, if every attack is not retaliated against, it will be impossible to break fascism, halt fascist aggression, and unite the people. In this regard, particularly the revolutionary democratic forces, the left socialist forces, must radicalize and strengthen their struggle. This is what the current guerrilla and militia activities entail and progress to. HBDH has actually reached a significant level. In reality, it must be far more advanced and powerful, but this is a separate issue. The progress which has been made by the HBDH is quite significant. We must strengthen this further.

New attacks are to be developed against the Zap and Metina regions. What is the information about this invasion supported by the KDP and Iraq? What is the latest situation in the area?

On July 3rd, they were some developments. Our co-presidency has already shared the details and our standpoint on the war in Zap, Metina, and across the Medya Defense Zones. Every day, the relevant HPG structures release information to the public. As a result, the general public is becoming more aware of the current situation. Aside from that, this is what’s new: the Turkish Republic’s armored troops, tanks, and vehicles have easily transported across Iraqi and KDP-controlled routes and have established themselves in several locations. They have established new positions. On this premise, they want to carry out occupation attacks. The Iraqi government is complicit in this seeing that it has made no objections. The KDP already supports and actively helps in practice, evacuating its own positions for the Turkish army.

In other words, the Turkish army and Turkish troops have established positions in many places. This was decided upon in Baghdad with the visit of Masoud Barzani. After gaining Baghdad’s approval, these Turkish troops were transported on the night of July 3.

These invasion attacks are not new. On August 26, 2016, the Turkish army launched invasion attacks against Syria from Jarabulus and against Iraq from Cukurca, crossing the border. Almost 9 years have passed. Despite a 9-year war, this situation is re-emerging. During the day of the attack in 2016, Masoud Barzani was in Ankara with the same mentality that he was in Baghdad on July 3. They decided together, they gave orders together. Masoud Barzani’s name is signed under the invasion and annexation attacks against Kurdistan, more than anyone else. He works more than anyone else to achieve this. In other words, his signature is under all the dirty work.

So, these current attacks are nothing new, the attack on the basis of occupation gained a different level in 2020, 2021, 2022. Most recently, on April 16, 2024, AKP-MHP fascism launched a new attack on the Metina region. Our headquarters explained this: it is a piecemeal occupation attempt which means holding empty positions and extending to new places step by step like this. Like this, they try to enter many areas of Metina.

Since July 3, tanks and armored troops have been moving by land, over the asphalt roads of Bamerne, Enishke, Qadishe, Amediye, Dereluk and Sheladize. They have arrived and are trying to hold the Sergele and Dereluk line which accounts to the valley of Zap. They want to encircle the entire Metina and West Zap area from the south, via armored troops. On the other hand, they are carrying out air strikes. They are trying to deploy soldiers from air to establish positions on especially Bahar Hill in Zap and other hills in Metina.

Previously, a military attack entailed striking and deploying from the air while advancing on the ground by clearing a passage through the terrain. The Turkish army attempted this for years, even entering some areas, but was unsuccessful. This failed to yield results. For example, it has been trying to occupy a hill for three years now. Although it attacked so much, it suffered many blows from the guerrilla and faltered. The Turkish army has realized that this method is fruitless. Now, as a result of the diplomacy and negotiations being conducted with the KDP and Iraqi state since winter, the Turkish state wants to achieve results by entering these areas with armored troops to be able to occupy them.

In other words, they want to occupy the places they cannot occupy, enter the places they cannot enter, and break the guerrilla resistance. For this, they have even established check points. Everything there, including the administration, is gradually falling into the hands of the Turkish Republic. The Turkish army is scattered across the border. The north of this entire area is de facto under the administration of the Turkish state. Annexation is being developed de facto in these areas where neither the KDP nor the Iraqi government have much power left. This has been labeled by some as “annexation,” which is correct. Under the name of a buffer zone, the Turkish, Iraqi, and KDP administrations were to conduct joint patrols in the area 20 kilometers inwards of the Iraq-Turkey borders. In some places, this ‘buffer zone’ has been trespassed by a further 20 kilometers. In other words, they have sold off land to the Turkish state under the legal guise of a buffer zone. The Iraqi government had disclosed that the agreements it has reached with the Turkish state were purely economical, which is true in some aspects. They were conducting the sale of land rather than that of goods. The KDP is already a servant. There is no other way to put how it is acting.

Thus, a large region of Southern Kurdistan has been sold off to the Turkish Republic. Everyone needs to know this. The world public opinion, the people of the South, and of Iraq must see this. As of July 3, this has been officially approved. This is what the Iraqi and KDP administrations decided on July 3. On this basis, they are evacuating villages and bombarding them non-stop. They are evacuating villages in Metina, Berwari, all of them. Thus, the areas of Xakurke, Avashin, Zap, Metina, and Heftanin are completely under the military and administrative control of the Turkish Republic which wants to displace society from there. The Turkish state has been burning and destroying villages to achieve this, already having destroyed hundreds of villages. Now it is trying to drive people away by bombarding them every day, using forbidden weapons and terrorizing them. This is the current situation. The question is whether the Turkish state can hold this up.

This is what the Turkish state wants, it is what Iraq and the KDP have accepted. But they have overlooked the great resistance of the guerrilla against this. There are clashes and actions every day. There are 10-15 actions a day. The Turkish state is trying to get hold of new positions, namely Bahar Hill. The press also disclosed that the Turkish army have deployed a small force in another place. Helicopters are being shot down, they can’t land. So, there is resistance. What will be the attitude of the public? The outcome will be determined by the resistance of the guerrilla, the attitude of the people of the South and Iraq.

In terms of the buffer zone, Erdogan initially demanded 40 kilometers, he wanted to extend it to that level. This was part of the negotiations during the winter. Devlet Bahceli, on the other hand, says he will take all of Mosul and Kirkuk, he officially disclosed this. Both the people of the South and the people of Iraq need to know and see this. But it seems that, so far, that the Turkish state has not been able to find the strength or the means to carry out such an attack. They do not believe they will succeed. Erdogan had declared that by the summer of 2024, they would eliminate the PKK in Iraq. Here we are in the middle of the summer, and he is still struggling to land on a few hills and occupy them. In fact, they had vowed to attack many parts of the Media Defense Areas. He couldn’t do it; he couldn’t find the strength. We need to understand, firstly, that the Turkish Republic could not achieve that which it had planned for 2024. The current attacks are a speck of that which they had plan.

Secondly, what started on July 3rd is indeed annexation, a de facto annexation is developing. In other words, the administration and governance in a large area is being passed into the hands of the Turkish Republic under the name of a buffer zone. Thirdly, it is unclear what the outcome will be in this area. It has been unsuccessful with this ambitious method of occupying the land through the ground and deploying from the air.

Now, how much power could these armored troops possibly bring to this failing scenario? Of course, that remains to be seen. So, we need to see the strength and success of the resistance of the guerrilla. The revolutionary operations last winter really dealt the enemy a crushing blow. This can be clearly seen. On this basis, I would like to add the following:

First of all, I greet with all due respect and love the guerrillas who are heroically resisting on Bahar Hill, all the hills of Delil, western Zap and all of Metina. We will resist, everyone should know this. The guerrilla will resist. The guerrilla and the patriotic Kurdish people will resist to the end against the occupation of Kurdistan and genocidal attacks against Kurdish freedom. How the collaborators and traitors do, is up to them. Of course there will be a struggle against them too. But the patriotic people and the Kurdistan freedom guerrilla will resist regardless.

On the ground, the war continues as such. The Turkish army has armored troops, special forces, elite forces. In some areas, they are deploying ISIS mercenaries that they bring down to attack the people. In reality, the AKP-MHP has mobilized various ISIS ad KDP groups and mercenaries in these areas after having used these forces in Syria and other places. Now, in the South, these same gangs are present, they carry out attacks. They are the ones waging the war. The unsatisfied Turkish state also wants to bring in village guards to the conflict.

What can we say? Our Central Headquarters Command has warned these village guards, we agree. They should stop acting crazy, otherwise they will pay the price dearly. No one should be a tool of such a sinister, evil, dastardly scheme. Now that the guards have been warned, when they face the consequences of their choices, we cannot be criticized.

This is definitely an important situation. On the other hand, our administration released statements regarding Iraq and the KDP. The Iraqi administration has lost the qualifications of being an administration or a state by selling lands that were supposedly under its governance to others. They did badly. Especially the Iraqi administration did badly. Only recently was it praising our fight as a movement against ISIS. We also had relations. But now, in exchange for some benefits, for some interests, for simple material interests, it jeopardized its relations with friends.

For the people of Iraq and South Kurdistan, it must be seen that the situation is really very serious. Their own lands are being destroyed before their eyes and the people are being evacuated. Should the Turkish state succeed, they will not stop at this. They have always said that they “will take” Kirkuk and Mosul. The fascist AKP-MHP has set eyes on the entire South, stretching as far as Sulaymaniyah. So, the people should be reacting more, they must struggle more. Organizations, parties, political intellectuals, artist circles, youth, women; in other words, the entire people of the South should react more strongly, influencing the Iraqi peoples.

People in all regions of Kurdistan and around the world should vigorously oppose this latest occupation attack, which has progressed to the point of annexation, particularly against the perpetrators and those who participated in and authorized it. People should react, and this is our expectation.

Kurd Guerrillas shoot down a Sikorsky helicopter and two drones of the Turkish army

Kurdistan Freedom Guerrilla carried out a series of actions in memory of 14 July Martyrs. 1 Skorsky helicopter and 2 drones were shot down, 1 container and 1 tent were destroyed.


ANF
BEHDINAN
Thursday, 11 July 2024

The People’s Defense Forces (HPG) Press Centre released a written statement providing information on the latest situation and developments in the guerrilla-held Medya Defense Zones in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq).

The HPG Press Liaison Centre said, "The Kurdistan Freedom Guerrilla marked the anniversary of the 14 July Great Death Fast Resistance by carrying out effective actions in memory of our pioneers, comrades Kemal Pir, Mehmet Hayri Durmuş, Akif Yılmaz and Ali Çiçek who determined the resistance line of our party PKK. We express our determination to continue our struggle with the same Apoist consciousness and sacrificial spirit in the footsteps of our immortal pioneers, and we commemorate all our martyrs with respect and gratitude in the person of the 14 July Martyrs."

The HPG provided the following information about the latest actions carried out by the guerrillas and the attacks carried out by the occupying Turkish army in Medya Defense Zones:

"Şehîd Delîl Western Zap region;

On the 9th and 10th of July, guerrillas from YJA Star (Free Women’s Troops) shot down two drones of the Turkish army in Girê Cûdî Resistance Area.

On 9 July, YJA Star guerrillas targeted the invaders on the move in Girê Amediyê Resistance Area and stopped their movement.

On 9 July, YJA Star guerrillas struck the invaders in Girê Amediyê Resistance Area with heavy weapons, destroying a container and a tent.

On 10 July, guerrillas targeted the invaders on the move in Girê Amediyê Resistance Area and stopped their movement.

On 9 July, YJA Star guerrillas struck the invaders who attempted to take position in Girê Bahar Resistance Area twice.

On 10 July at 23:40, 1 Sikorsky helicopter belonging to the occupying Turkish army, which was set to land in Girê Bahar Resistance Area, was heavily hit and shot down by the guerrillas. The place where the helicopter crashed was bombed by the Turkish army with attack helicopters.

On 10 July, the invaders who attempted to take position in Girê Bahar Resistance Area were intervened three times.

Metîna region;

On 9 July at 22:30, guerrillas intervened in the helicopter activity in Serê Metîna Resistance Area.

On 10 July, guerrillas targeted the invaders in Golka Resistance Area with heavy weapons, damaging a container and a military position.

Attacks carried out by the Turkish army with banned explosives;

On 10 July, the guerrillas’ tunnels in Girê FM Resistance Area were bombed 12 times with chemical gases and 5 times with banned explosives.

On 10 July, the guerrillas’ tunnels in Girê Amediyê Resistance Area in Şehîd Delîl Western Zap region were bombed 2 times with banned tactical nuclear bombs.

On 10 July, the Şêlazê Resistance Area in Metîna region was bombed once by drones loaded with explosives.

Aerial attacks carried out by the Turkish army;

On 9 and 10 July, the Turkish warplanes carried out 21 strikes on guerrilla areas, targeting the areas of Şehîd Şerîf, Girê Şehîd Hawar, Girê Berbizinê in Xakurkê region 6 times, the Şehîd Îbrahîm in Zap region, the areas of Dêreşê, Mijê, Girê Zengil in Garê region, the areas of Gûzê, Girê Reşît, Xêrê, Yekmalê, Deşta Kafya, Şiyê 9 times, the Girê Bahar Resistance Area in Şehîd Delîl Western Zap region 4 times, the Bêşîlî Resistance Area in Metîna region.

On 10 July, the Girê Bahar Resistance Area in the Western Zap region was bombed by attack helicopters."

 On 10 July at 23:40, 1 Sikorsky helicopter belonging to the occupying Turkish army, which was set to land in Girê Bahar Resistance Area in Şehîd Delîl Western Zap region was heavily hit and shot down by the guerrillas. The place where the helicopter crashed was bombed by the Turkish army with attack helicopters.

Gerîla TV released footage of the helicopter shot down by the guerrillas.

Moving Beyond GDP Towards a Human Rights Economy

UN Human Rights Council Event Reflects Momentum for Paradigm Shift

Sarah Saadoun
Senior Researcher and Advocate, Poverty and Inequality

Click to expand Image
© 2024 Human Rights Watch

It’s time to change the metric by which much of the world traditionally measures economic wellbeing: gross domestic product (GDP). The drive for steadily higher GDP growth is fueling environmental disasters and worsening the lives of billions of people.

Instead of giving attention to GDP, governments should focus on developing a human rights economy which builds an economic system that enables all people to realize their human rights on a livable planet.

Fundamentally changing our economic system seems like an insurmountable challenge. But there are concrete actions states and international institutions can take to build an economic system that achieves progress for all, not just some, and safeguards our environment.

The missing ingredient from the international system is human rights. A human rights economy is experienced on a local level – by all people enjoying their rights like quality public services, universal social security systems, and fair and living wages and safe working conditions, not to mention a livable planet – but it is enabled on the global level by rewriting the rules of the global economic system to more equitably distribute global resources between countries.

Taking steps on a path towards a human rights economy was the theme of a July 2 event of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Governments from four regions – Malaysia, The Gambia, Chile, Panama, and Spain – joined with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and eight civil society organizations that work on economic justice, including Human Rights Watch, in the event on the sidelines of a UN Human Rights Council (HRC) session. It built on similar discussions that took place at the HRC session in October 2023 and at a HRC intersessional meeting in January 2024, reflecting momentum for change. Around 80 people attended, including representatives from 25 states.

At the July 2 session, the inadequacies of GDP alone as a measure for how countries and citizens are faring was a common theme. In her opening remarks, Malaysia’s ambassador to the UN, Dato’ Nadzirah Osman, said her country seeks to “collaborate with like-minded countries and international organisations to promote a fairer and sustainable global economic order, based on the principles of human rights. Malaysia is committed to playing its part in this transformation. By fostering an economy that values well-being over mere GDP growth, we can build a more just, equitable and sustainable world for all.”

Olivier de Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, struck similar notes. “For decades, GDP growth was the dominant approach for eradicating poverty, but it never fulfilled its promise and devastated our planet,” he said. One concrete step that can be taken to achieve a ‘human rights economy’ is to replace GDP and a focus on growth with measures of progress grounded in human rights: meeting the challenges of the climate crisis, addressing inequalities, and eradicating poverty.”

Surya Deva, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to development, told the gathering that the current economic development model has serious deficits, as poverty isn’t being reduced enough and inequality is rising: the benefits of economic growth are not getting shared equitably. He asserted that the right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment is as important as the right to development. Also, “there is not enough or meaningful participation of people in development policies, plans and projects, leading to social conflicts and attacks against human rights defenders. In view of these development deficits, we should look for a new model of economic development.”

Todd Howland, Chief of the Development, Economic, and Social Rights Branch at OHCHR, said that people hear the economy is growing, “but they see their opportunities, education, health and well-being negatively impacted. They see some doing well and many doing not so well. A human rights economy puts human rights back in the policy equation to ensure all benefit from the economy.”

THIRD WORLD U$A

Geographic regions aren’t “left behind” – they’re oppressed and exploited. Restoring them might mean reimagining progress.

Ann Eisenberg
July 12th, 2024

LSE


In the US, places that have experienced a lack of investment over a long period of time are often referred to as being “left behind”. Looking closely at the structural forces behind why some places struggle, Ann M. Eisenberg argues that the term is misleading. Calling places “left behind”, she writes, obscures the agency of the institutions and decision-makers who create and worsen rural disadvantage and of people in those locations who fight for better conditions. Rather than through market-based capitalist interventions and ideas about growth, restoring these places from decades of exploitation might involve new ways of looking at meeting needs and measuring progress.

We often hear people say that certain regions have been “left behind.” But what does it mean for a place to be “left behind”? If we dig deeper into the structural forces that have made some places thrive while others struggle, we can see that this label is misleading. Regions aren’t merely left behind; they are oppressed. More attention has turned to questions about so-called “left behind” regions due to rising geographic inequality in the United States and beyond. In my research, I study socioeconomically distressed rural regions in the United States, who are often labelled as left behind.

Looking more closely at “left behind” places

The notion that distressed rural regions have been left behind does have a basis in fact. Patterns of uneven development in the late-twentieth and early twenty-first centuries have exacerbated rural disadvantage. Since the 1980s, large cities like New York have accounted for a greater share of economic activity and population concentration.

Approximately 14 percent of the US population lives in rural areas—down from about twice that in 1980—while the 86 percent majority now lives in cities and suburbs. In 2019, rural counties accounted for 86 percent of counties the US Department of Agriculture designated as burdened with persistent poverty.

Distressed rural regions face unique challenges. Populations in these regions often struggle with higher rates of poverty and unemployment. They have to navigate population sparseness, distance from population centers, changing economic landscapes, and the specific stereotypes that undermine the political will for potential rural-focused interventions.

The need to move beyond “left behind” as a label

My critique of the left-behind label is that it obscures agency and proactiveness both for the supposed leavers and for the so-called left-behind. This masks institutional and policy decisions that have actively created and exacerbated rural disadvantage, and the local social movements that have often fought for better local and regional conditions.

Commentary on “left behind” places also often suggests that the problem of geographic inequality is unsolvable. We have tried everything and nothing has worked; efforts to intervene are doomed to fail, this narrative tends to say. But I argue that the weaknesses of prior efforts to better the fortunes of distressed places are rather predictable. Just as the “left behind” label is problematic, overly narrow definitions of the problem of geographic inequality have led to overly narrow interventions to address it.

When the expression, “left behind,” is used as an everyday idiom, the term implies movement and the creation of distance between two things. In the sentence, “He went to college and left his hometown behind,” the sentence’s protagonist goes on a journey away from the apparently rejected, static hometown.

When applied to geographic areas, the “left behind” designation implies a sort of failure to advance or move along on the journey toward development goals. Those places that have not been left behind, by implication, have advanced, or progressed. By contrast, those regions and localities that have been left behind are understood as stagnant in some way. Someone else—someone doing a better job, it’s implied—went on a journey. The left-behind regions did not get to go.

But the designation of left behind denies the agency of the institutions, policymakers, companies and other actors, that have actively facilitated the conditions associated with a place being left behind. Often, the better verbs for describing how US structural and institutional forces have treated socioeconomically distressed rural regions include the verbs, “ravaged”, “exploited”, “depleted”, “undermined” and “under-invested.”

Rural places have been oppressed – not left behind

A few places offer good examples of rural localities that would at first glance be deemed left behind due to their regional socioeconomic distress, but upon further investigation, are revealed to be subject to some form of subjugation by structural forces. Three examples of places that fit this description are the West Virginia coalfields, a remote California logging town referred to by the pseudonym “Golden Valley,” and Burke County, Georgia.

The West Virginia coalfields lie within rural central Appalachia, a region known for its coal economy. Golden Valley, the focus of an in-depth ethnography by sociologist Jennifer Sherman, sits at the heart of a rural, northwestern American region formerly known for timber extraction. And Burke County, Georgia, is about two hours inland from the coastal cities of Charleston and Savannah, and plays host to the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, which runs on nuclear power. The area of Burke County near the plant was the focus of an extensive ethnography by sociologist Loka Ashwood.


“Zenith 3” (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) by foxtail_1

Each of these areas would likely be considered left behind in some fashion, due to high rates of poverty, struggling local economies, and poor infrastructural conditions. However, they all have a story of being shaped by government and corporate institutions that actively created or made their disadvantages worse.

In West Virginia, federal and state policymakers and legal systems coordinated with coal companies to enable decades of ecological destruction, worker exploitation, economic inequity and the suppression of dissent. In Golden Valley, the designation in 1990 by the US Fish and Wildlife Service of the northern spotted owl as threatened under the Endangered Species Act devastated the regional economy. In Burke County, the local nuclear plant, operating under the auspices of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, is understood to dominate local land use, working conditions and political discourse, making it challenging for the local community to thrive.

Local resistance to under-development and exploitation

These institutional interventions were active players in creating challenging conditions in these regions. In turn, the “left behind” designation also denies the agency on the part of the people living there. Another common theme across these regions is that people there have attempted to secure better living conditions for themselves. Each place has a story of some form of local advocacy, uprising, or clash with the institutions and companies that sought to impose some condition on their community.

These are not stagnant regions that have failed to keep up with more dynamic places. These regions are home to populations who have fought for a better future and encountered overwhelming forces that sought to quash their efforts. The geographic, economic, and demographic diversity of these localities, alongside the diverse structural forces that created their conditions, make it start to seem like leaving rural places behind—by exploiting and undermining them—is a feature and not a bug of the American political-legal-economic system.

Skeptics of my argument may want to point out that some of the interventions that hurt rural regions have been pursued in the name of desirable policy goals, like protecting endangered species. But this analysis is not about what collective progress may or may not require. The question is whether passive forces of nature resulted in these regions’ under-development. And the answer to that question is, “No.”

Restoring places through alternative interventions

How might government interventions most effectively address an area’s left-behind status, especially since past programs have not worked very well? This is where diagnosis of the problem matters. If we say in one breath that distressed rural communities have merely been left behind, and in the next that large-scale investments in rural revitalization are doomed to fail, we frame rural regions as bottomless money pits that are beyond hope.

But, if we include the part of the story that involves more direct accountability for the institutions and policymakers that did the ravaging and the exploiting, it suddenly changes the remedy. Exploitation and ravaging require restorative efforts—a deeper reckoning for a deeper harm. Typical proposals for interventions—trying to create a few jobs or lure a company to relocate—start to sound half-hearted and silly.

If the policy mandate is to not merely “create jobs,” but rather to help counteract decades of exploitation, the intuitive policy prescriptions begin to contradict the capitalistic assumptions about competition and dynamism that seem to underlie the left-behind moniker. Capitalist treatment of waste people and waste places to be discarded in the name of progress created the crisis illustrated in the phenomenon of localities being “left behind.”

It is far from clear, then, that capitalist interventions—such as efforts to develop localities to be more like self-sustaining, for-profit businesses—offer something meaningful for efforts to create better futures for distressed localities. Another way to think about this is, if economists keep telling us they do not know how to solve this problem, maybe we should listen to people other than economists.

Rethinking progress in favor of meeting needs

It is true that no perfect suite of potential policy interventions has emerged as a silver bullet for improving living conditions in distressed rural regions. What would meaningful interventions look like we rejected the need for people and places to be “dynamic,” and always moving toward the nebulous target of “progress,” rather than to simply have their needs met?

The rejection of capitalistic assumptions opens the door to a whole new world of possibilities. We could pursue more public jobs in conservation; more aggressive antitrust enforcement alongside support for local business development; ambitious investments in education and healthcare; land reform and restorative racial justice; cooperative, sustainable agriculture; investments in essential infrastructure like high-speed rail; universal basic income; collective bargaining and worker protections; and other options.

 The possibilities abound.

The response to these proposals is likely to be that they are either not politically feasible or that they are too expensive. But radical new visions should at least be part of the conversation. These possibilities complicate the widespread embrace of the idea that “We have tried so much and nothing has worked.” We have, in fact, tried very little in the scheme of all that is imaginable.

This article is based on the paper, “What does it mean to be ‘left behind?’’, in the Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society.

Note: This article gives the views of the author, and not the position of USAPP – American Politics and Policy, nor the London School of Economics.
Shortened URL for this post: https://wp.me/p3I2YF-e5T

About the author

Ann Eisenberg
Ann Eisenberg is Professor of Law and Research Director at the Center for Energy and Sustainable Development at West Virginia University. Her research examines questions of law and sustainability, with particular emphases on rural development, property, energy law, and local government.
Posted In: Urban, rural and regional policies

Immigrants in Canada face worst job crisis in 10 years. Indians likely hit hard

The unemployment rate for recent immigrants to Canada in the last five years was 12.6% in June. This is the worst in a decade. Indians, at 30%, are on top of the list to have got permanent residency in Canada and are likely to have been hit by the job crisis.


The decade-high unemployment rate in Canada is a big challenge for recent immigrants. (Image: Instagram/heyiamnishat)

India Today World Desk
New Delhi,

UPDATED: Jul 12, 2024 
Written By: Priyanjali Narayan

In Short

Canada's unemployment rate for recent immigrants in five years was 12.6% in June

It is the worst rate among immigrants since 2014. Youth unemployment rate high too

Indians, the biggest cohort to get permanent residency, might have been hit hard

Immigrants who moved to Canada eyeing a better life are grappling with the worst job crisis in a decade. The unemployment rate for recent immigrants in the last five years was 12.6% in June, the worst in 10 years. Indians, being the biggest national cohort to get permanent residency in Canada, are likely to be the worst hit.

The unemployment rate of 12.6% is four percentage points lower than 2023, according to Statistics Canada.

The unemployment rate for those who were originally from Canada was 5.5%. In 2023, it was 5%.

These latest numbers show the unemployment rate among immigrants is the largest since 2014, according to a Globe and Mail report.

Indians are one of the largest group of immigrants who have become permanent residents(PRs) in Canada over the past five years.

WHY INDIAN IMMIGRANTS ARE LIKELY TO HAVE BEEN HIT

In 2023, out of the 471,810 new permanent residents, Indians were 139,785 or nearly 30%.

Since 2019, according to data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), of the new permanent residents, 1,841,250, Indians were 514,435 in number.

“There were 1.4 million unemployed people in June 2024, an increase of 42,000 (+3.1%) from the previous month," Statistics Canada revealed in a recent report.

The companies in Canada are struggling with high interest rates, and they have become more hesitant to hire in the last two years. The Canadian population has increased due to a strong influx of immigrants.

“The record surge in immigration has meant that even the healthy pace of job growth over the past year has fallen well short of what would have been needed to keep the unemployment rate steady,” Royce Mendes and Tiago Figueiredo, economists at Desjardins Securities, said in a research note on July 9.

YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT IN CANADA A CHALLENGE FOR INDIAN STUDENTS

The job market is not just harsh on newcomers. The youth unemployment rate is also at a high at 13.6%, the highest since 2016.

This has led to a decline in interest in Indian students coming to Canada. Indians made up the largest national cohort with 37% of study visas issued in 2023, but they are not applying to Canada in equally large numbers any more.

Although the number is declining, Indian students make up 41% of Canada's international students. Now, they will enter the job market and challenges await them.

Desjardins Economists are saying that the labour market is going well for people who are already employed but not for those who are seeking a job.

“Canada’s unemployment story is less about job losses and more about population growth. Immigration is rising much faster than the country’s economic capacity to create jobs, leading to much higher unemployment for new immigrants and young adults competing for similar roles," wrote Canadian outlet, Better Dwelling.

Macron’s neoliberalism moved country toward fascist abyss, leading to left’s surge in support

July 12, 2024

 BY DENNIS BROE

PEOPLES WORLD

Sophie Binet, general secretary of France's largest labor federation, the CGT. In an interview Thursday, July 11, 2024, with France Inter broadcaster, Binet called for massive protests against what she says is President Emmanuel Macron’s denial of legislative election results that entitle the labor-backed New Popular Front coalition the right to form a government. | Thibault Camu / AP


PARIS—“Things fall apart; the center cannot hold” wrote Yeats in “The Second Coming,” but he might as well have been covering the just completed French elections.

The mainstream media are describing the mixed results of the National Assembly, the principal French lawmaking body, as “hung” or even validating President Emmanuel Macron’s judgment to call a snap election after the defeat of his party in the European Parliament vote.

However, the fact of the matter is that the left – in the form of the New Popular Front coalition – now controls the most seats in the Assembly, standing approximately 100 seats away from having one of its leaders appointed Prime Minister. A remarkable turnaround from just a week before, when it looked as if the far-right candidate Jordan Bardella was on the threshold of heading the government on behalf of the Le Pen party, the National Rally (NR), in “cohabitation” with Macron.

A clear trend in the election is that the French are fed up with Macron’s neoliberal “reforms,” a program that under the guise of securing foreign investment and creating jobs amounted to a vicious and continuous attack on working people, those on the edge of the cities, and small businesses.

Macron’s major “reform” in his first term was rewriting the labor laws promoting precarity over work security by making it much easier to hire and fire. His major reform in his second term was extending the age of retirement from 62 to 64. In a society where, because of the earlier reform, workers are being laid off at an earlier age, many around 55, with a decreasing possibility of being rehired, they now have to scrape together a livelihood for two additional years, a drain on themselves and their families.

Macron also canceled the wealth tax, imposed a tax on gasoline that prompted the Gilets jaunes (yellow vests) rebellion, and continually used provision 49.3 to pass laws unilaterally, many of them budgetary, in the Assembly. The use of this provision upset all the other parties and was an abrogation of the main power of any legislative body dating back in European legal history to the Magna Carta, the power of the purse, that is to control the budget.


See our earlier report: Macron on the throne: French president takes neoliberal path

The far right has taken advantage of this neoliberal attack on so much of society in the name of increasing the wealth of the rich and the most powerful corporations, and now controls much of the countryside. The electoral map after both rounds of the current election outside the major cities is all brown, the NR color.

Much like far-right parties throughout the West, the NR has succeeded with an anti-immigrant platform that stirs hatred and animosity and promises little else, despite the fact that it is immigrants who constitute the workforce most likely to pay into the French welfare system. The party’s economic platform, such as it is, skews remarkably close to Macron’s and is, if anything, even more business friendly.

The NR gives the appearance of being concerned with ameliorating the worst effects of a still biting inflation, but it promises to raise the money for this protection by cutting France’s contribution to the European Union, whose subsidies benefit one of the NR’s core constituencies, farmers.

The party also, despite its policy of normalization, called “dédiabolisation,” still has at its core a racist, anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, anti-LGBTQ faction. During the campaign, violence was unleashed against these elements, violence that, had the NR dominated the legislature, would most likely have increased, along with a strengthening of police violence against these populations.

The program of the New Popular Front, on the other hand, rolls back many of Macron’s reforms, including resetting the pension age to 60 and abolishing his automated system for allocating spaces in Frances élite universities, accused of simply fostering inequality in education.

The left alliance consists also of the Communist, Socialist, and Green parties, along with Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s France Unbowed (La France Insoumise, LFI). Its three-phase program of technologizing the economy will raise the minimum wage and has already halted Macron’s attack on unemployment insurance and his Bill Clinton-style cutting of the welfare ranks.

The left will pay for these programs by increasing taxes on the wealthiest individuals and corporations, a program which the business press has termed “reckless” and “alarming.” The program also calls for a new constitution and more specifically annulling the extremely undemocratic 49.3.

It is becoming increasingly clear that Macron and the center’s—in reality center-right’s—main enemy is not the far right but the actual reforms of the left. Macron, after swearing this would never happen, even worked with the NR to pass his restrictive immigration “reform” and claimed that should the New Popular Front come to power its platform to correct his heightening of inequality in the country would lead to “civil war.”

While members of the three center parties helped form the dam or “barrage” to defeat the NR, both Macron and another centrist party leader Édouard Phillippe, the mayor of Le Havre, urged voters not to vote for the New Popular Front even in districts where the party opposed the NR.

A key accusation leveled against the LFI component of the alliance and its leader Mélenchon is that because of his criticism of the Zionist genocidal attack on Gaza he is anti-Semitic. Both centrist leaders, though, often ignored the open anti-Semitism of the NR, whose roots, despite the dédiabolisation, trace back to Pétain’s France which collaborated with the Fascist Germans in Jewish extermination during World War II.

Although the mainstream press is already quaking at the prospect of a France led by the New Popular Front, the numbers indicate that there is a chance, if the left coalition holds, for members of Macron’s Ensemble Party, some of whom are ex-Socialists, to join the coalition, which would then have the 289 members required to necessitate the appointment of its candidate as the Prime Minister, the figure who would direct the legislature and promote the left agenda. During the campaign, one Ensemble candidate claimed he still had a lot in common with the left, including favoring taxing the rich.

The left would not only then have snatched victory from the jaws of defeat but also halted the center-right trend that instead of aiding the country pushes it ever closer to the fascist abyss.

CONTRIBUTOR

Dennis Broe  a film, television and art critic, is also the author of the Harry Palmer LA Mysteries, the latest volume of which, The House That Buff Built, is about the real estate industry, dispossession, and appropriation in the shaping of “modern” Los Angeles.

 

Hatcheries can boost wild salmon numbers but reduce diversity, research shows

by Jeff Richardson, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Differences between two male pink salmon highlight morphological diversity in the species.

 Credit: Julia McMahon

The ability of salmon hatcheries to increase wild salmon abundance may come at the cost of reduced diversity among wild salmon, according to a new University of Alaska Fairbanks–led study.

The number of juvenile salmon released into the North Pacific Ocean by hatcheries increased rapidly in the second half of the last century and remains at over 5 billion each year. Salmon hatcheries have helped push annual pink salmon harvests in Prince William Sound from about 4 million fish prior to hatchery programs to roughly 50 million in recent years.

Using data collected from pink salmon streams in Prince William Sound, Alaska, through the Alaska Hatchery Research Project, researchers determined that many hatchery-raised fish are straying onto natural spawning grounds and interbreeding with wild populations. In a related study, researchers used simulations developed with the real-world data to ask what this continued input of hatchery fish might mean for wild populations.

"Even if only a small percentage of hatchery-origin fish stray into wild populations, a small fraction of a huge number can still be a lot," said Samuel May, lead author of the studypublished in the journal Royal Society Open Science.

"We were interested in exploring the long-term consequences of hatchery straying for wild population recruitment and resilience."

Life-history diversity is a distinguishing characteristic of wild salmon, which are specifically adapted to the local conditions of their home streams. Simulations showed that wild fish population sizes increased because more fish reproduced than would have without hatchery strays.

Those increases came at a cost: As hatchery-origin gene variants spread into wild populations, diversity among those populations was reduced.

"Wild populations can be very different from one another, but hatchery fish are often more alike. If many individuals with relatively similar traits are introduced into diverse populations, it can make those populations more alike. Lower diversity among populations can reduce resilience to future changes," said May, who conducted the study as a postdoctoral fellow at UAF's College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences.

Previous studies have shown that hatchery-origin salmon, which may be adapted to environments different from those they stray into and which don't face the same evolutionary pressures as fish born in natural streams, produce about half as many offspring as wild fish.

Introducing those gene variants into wild salmon populations could potentially affect their ability to adapt to future challenges in nature.

The simulations tapped into an ongoing project in Prince William Sound that has gathered tissue samples from hundreds of thousands of pink salmon since 2011. The Alaska Hatchery Research Program has collected samples from 30 streams in the region, providing a huge collection of DNA and other data for conducting research to inform Alaska policies and sustainable resource management.

This unprecedented sampling effort allows researchers to recreate the family trees of pink salmon from five of these sampled streams in the region and determine which fish can be traced back to hatcheries.

May cautioned that, as with any simulation, it can be difficult to fully capture all the complex relationships in nature. Modeling for the study was specific to pink salmon in Prince William Sound, he said, and overarching conclusions about other systems or species should be done with care.

"The same things that make these kinds of models incredibly useful in specific contexts—like their simplifying assumptions and being parameterized with empirical data—also make them misleading if applied in the wrong context," May said.

Other contributors to the paper included authors from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The Alaska Hatchery Research Project is a collaborative endeavor between the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, hatchery operators, nongovernmental organizations and academics.

"Salmon hatcheries in Alaska have become a flash point, making discussions of policy options mired in contention and acrimony," said Peter Westley, a UAF associate professor of fisheries and principal investigator for the project.

"Hopefully, this work can guide conversations by serving as an agreed upon reality—hatcheries can increase salmon abundance of both hatchery and wild individuals, but it comes with an inherent trade-off for wild fish ecological diversity such as run timing."

More information: Samuel A. May et al, Salmon hatchery strays can demographically boost wild populations at the cost of diversity: quantitative genetic modelling of Alaska pink salmon, Royal Society Open Science (2024). DOI: 10.1098/rsos.240455

Journal information: Royal Society Open Science 

Provided by University of Alaska Fairbanks Reproductive success improves after a single generation in the wild for descendants of some hatchery Chinook salmon

Let’s reduce poverty & deforestation via greater EUDR traceability requirements (commentary)

by Julia Christian on 12 July 2024
MONGABAY

The traceability requirement at the heart of the E.U.’s new deforestation law can also help lift smallholder farmers around the world out of poverty, a new op-ed argues.
This post is a commentary. The views expressed are those of the author, not necessarily of Mongabay.

The EU’s regulation on deforestation-free products (EUDR) was hailed as a watershed in the fight to protect the world’s forests when it came into force in 2023.

The world’s first law its kind, the EUDR requires companies selling certain high-risk goods on the EU market – including palm oil, cocoa and soy – to prove that they haven’t harmed forests.

The path to achieving this “global benchmark” in forest protection was long and arduous, and followed years of intense political debate, tireless campaigning, and behind-the-scenes lobbying by industry forces and member states, who were intent on weakening or entirely sabotaging the regulation.

Yet the challenges in passing the EUDR pale in comparison with those involved in implementing it – and making it work.

Communities around the world rely on the proceeds of crops such as cacao. Image courtesy of Mesoamerican Alliance of Peoples and Forests.

A thorny issue

One of the biggest hurdles is the vexing question of traceability.

The requirement for companies to trace goods’ supply chains back to where they were produced, to ensure they’re legal and deforestation-free, is at the heart of the EUDR.

How this traceability is done, by whom, and at what cost, is a major bone of contention for many governments in the tropical forested countries who will be impacted by the law. Indonesia and Malaysia, the world’s two biggest producers of palm oil, for instance, have described the EUDR as protectionist and discriminatory.

A persistent complaint from producer governments is that requiring smallholder farmers to demonstrate the origin of their goods will be too big a burden as it will require that they geolocate their farms. Advocates respond that this can be done in a few clicks via a map application on a smartphone, but admit it does require a smartphone and internet access.

It is also true that farmers’ cooperatives will face higher costs, as they must manage all the data collected – including geolocated farm boundaries – and ensure that cocoa grown in compliance with the EUDR is separated from that which isn’t.

Oil palm plantations on the edge of Tangkulap Forest Reserve in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Image courtesy of Sebastian Kennerknecht/Panthera.

Living on the edge

In many instances, these smallholders are already living on the edge.

In Côte d’Ivoire, where nearly six million people rely on the cocoa industry for their survival, and most of the cocoa beans the country produces are destined for Europe, half of cocoa farmers live below the extreme poverty line.

A similar situation prevails in Ethiopia where most coffee is produced by low-income smallholders and destined for Europe.

But if the EUDR is implemented in the right way, it can be an opportunity for smallholders. In Côte d’Ivoire, farmers’ organisations say they support the Regulation because it could help push their government to complete the national cocoa traceability system — which they have been demanding for many years, as a means of ridding the local cocoa sector of corruption. This corruption blights the lives of smallholders, who are regularly forced to sell below the government-set price, with multiple local middlemen taking cuts along the way.

In fact, the EUDR has directly pushed the Ivorian government to finalise their national traceability system, according to the head of the Ivorian Conseil du Café-Cacao. Since the EUDR was passed, the government has been handing out ID cards to farmers which will not only permit EUDR traceability, but also serve as a bank card to receive e-payments which will have a major impact on clearing up fraudulent under-payments to farmers. This has been received enthusiastically by farmers as, in the words of one farmer, “Now I can sell my cocoa at the guaranteed price.”

See related: E.U. passes historic law forcing companies to track deforestation

Dany Murillo, manager of the regenerative cacao program in Ecuador, harvesting cacao. Image courtesy of Third Millennium Alliance.

Supporting producer countries’ national traceability systems

As Côte d’Ivoire shows, such national traceability systems are the key to maximising the EUDR’s positive impacts for small farmers. And many other producer countries – such as Ghana, Malaysia and Indonesia – are also developing national systems to trace EUDR commodities, which they are asking for the EU to use in EUDR compliance.

A new report from my organization, FERN, found that if designed correctly, such systems could ensure that smallholders don’t bear the burden of complying with the law. Nation-wide traceability systems are more efficient than asking companies to each conduct traceability in their own supply chains, which often means farmer cooperatives producing data multiple times in different formats for different companies.

But national traceability mechanisms must be designed with smallholder farmers in mind, providing information that helps them strengthen their bargaining power and push for better prices. This will mean ensuring farmers and NGOs can access the data and tracking issues such as the prices paid at different points in the supply chain.

National systems also provide the chance to magnify the impact of the EUDR beyond supply chains destined for the EU, improving forest protection and transparency across a whole country.

The onus is now on the E.U. to signal its willingness to support nationally-owned traceability systems in producer countries: via financial support, but also by giving some weight to high-quality national traceability systems when it creates its deforestation risk-rating for producer countries.

Doing so will benefit those in the supply-chain who toil for little reward, while also assuaging some tropical forested countries’ key criticisms of the EUDR. More broadly, it would be a significant step towards slashing global deforestation.


Julia Christian is a lawyer trained in the U.K. and the U.S., and has worked for with FERN since 2014. She’s a co-author of FERN’s report, “Transformative traceability: How robust traceability systems can help implement the EUDR and fight the drivers of deforestation,” which can be read here.