KURD RESISTANCE 

DEM Party MPs protest the usurpation of municipalities in front of the Ministry of Interior

Deputies of the DEM Party protested in front of the Ministry of Interior in Ankara against the removal of Kurdish mayors from Office, warning of increasing lawlessness in Turkey.


ANF
ANKARA
Thursday, 14 November 2024, 15:12

Following the appointment of trustees to the municipalities of Batman, Mardin and Halfeti by the Ministry of Interior on 4 November and removal of the co-mayors elected in the 31 March local elections, protests continue in many cities of Kurdistan.

The Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) members of parliament protested in front of the Ministry of the Interior in Ankara against the removal from office of elected mayors and the appointment of trustees to the municipalities.



DEM Party Group Deputy Chairperson Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit stated that the AKP government has been carrying out a ‘coup’ against the will of the people since 2016 and has virtually abolished the right to elect and to be elected, especially for the Kurdish population.

At the last municipal elections on 31 March, the majority of the population showed the government the ‘red card’, said Koçyiğit and continued: “More than 70 percent of the country's population, including in the metropolitan cities, voted out the AKP government at the local level. The government was thus called upon to come to its senses, to return to democracy and the rule of law, and to respect the will of the people. In response to the threat of losing power, the AKP has once again resorted to the method of undermining the will of the electorate and appointing trustees, which has been in use since 2016. It started in Hakkari on 3 June, continued on 31 October in Esenyurt, and on 4 November, the anniversary of the 2016 coup against the HDP, the AKP woke us up with a new coup against the peoples of Turkey.”

Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit noted that they had already warned back in 2016 that the illegal removal of mayors from office would not be limited to Kurdistan: “In this country, every lawlessness is first tested in the Kurdish regions. All unlawful acts are first committed against the Kurdish people. But it should be known that the deprivation of rights of the Kurdish population is never limited to this region. Lawlessness spreads from there to all provinces and the whole country.”

The fact that no one in Turkey has taken to the streets to protest against the usurpation of Kurdish municipalities has led to the appointment of a trustee to the CHP-governed district of Esenyurt in Istanbul, said Koçyiğit and added: “Everyone must see this fact. Lawlessness is being practised against all the peoples of Turkey. It is a coup d'état against democracy in Turkey and a threat to us all.”

Appealing to the opposition, Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit stated: “Today we must stand side by side against this government, unite and defend democracy together. On the one hand, they say peace, on the other hand, they appoint trustees. The road to peace does not go through trusteeship. If all the peoples of Turkey stand side by side, if we build bridges of fraternity from Esenyurt to Hakkari, then we will defeat this ruling power, this fascism, and build a democratic republic in this country despite the AKP. Let us stand side by side, let us smash fascism hand in hand and shoulder to shoulder. Let us create the peace that the peoples of Turkey long for. Let us find a way to live together in an equal, free and democratic country.”

DEM Party calls on the KDP to end restrictions on their representatives in Kurdistan Region

DEM Party reacted against KDP's repression on its representatives in Hewlêr and said, “There can be no legal, political and moral justification for the expulsion of our representatives from Hewlêr by force and pressure.”


ANF
ANKARA
Thursday, 14 November 202


Hikmet Hatip, Aydın Yalvaç, Sıtkı Vakar, and Nasır Yağız, the spokespersons and officials of the HDP's Kurdistan Region Office in Hewlêr (Erbil), were forcibly placed into vehicles by the KDP's security forces and driven outside the boundaries of Hewlêr on 6 November. Without any official notice, the HDP representatives were taken in two separate vehicles and dropped off near the borders of Sulaymaniyah.

The Central Executive Committee (MYK) of the DEM Party released a written statement denouncing the expulsion of their representatives by the ruling KDP.

“We define the forcible transfer of our representatives from Hewlêr to Sulaymaniyah by the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and its affiliated forces, which holds the powers of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), as a major setback for the future of Kurdish relations and democratic principles, and we follow this intolerant approach with regret. This dangerous step means sabotaging the ground for inter-party political dialogue and efforts towards national unity, which is the legitimate expectation of tens of millions of Kurds,” said the DEM Party statement, which further included the following:

“The DEM Party advocates the Kurdish people's struggle for freedom, democracy and peace under all circumstances. On this occasion, we need to remind that our predecessor HDP supported the independence referendum held in Southern Kurdistan (Northern Iraq) despite all kinds of pressure and criticism, while the regional states threatened it with starvation. Until just before the end of the resolution process, it was repeatedly stated that Hewlêr, like Amed (Diyarbakır), was the common home of the Kurds. Millions of Kurds do not expect political leaders to further divide and deepen the borders between Kurds as the hegemonic powers of the region want.

Relations between Kurdish political movements, wherever they are, must be based on mutual respect and direct dialogue. This is precisely the reason for the establishment of our office in Hewlêr. Unfortunately, the fact that our office in Hewlêr was made nonfunctional and its representatives were forcibly expelled from the city should be considered as a serious attack on the future of inter-Kurdish relations on the basis of unity.

We are always in favour of dialogue between political forces. On this basis, we call on the KDP to abandon this undemocratic and undiplomatic decision and to respect the political parties defending the democratic rights of the Kurdish people. There can be no legal, political and moral justification for the removal of our representatives from Hewlêr by force and pressure.

At the current stage, there has been no answer to our dialogue attempts with the KDP and KRG authorities for the solution of the problem, and no explanation has been made by those concerned as to why this anti-democratic attitude is preferred.”

The DEM Party listed their demands from the KDP and KRG as follows:

“Ending of the restrictions on our DEM Party and HDP representatives in Hewlêr,

Ensuring and guaranteeing the security of our official representation,

Keeping the channels of dialogue open without interruption on the basis of the principles of mutual respect and equality.”

HDP representatives in the Kurdistan Region expelled by the KDP

The spokespersons and representatives of the HDP's Kurdistan Region Office, who were forcibly expelled by the KDP, reported that the security forces told them, "You can no longer set foot in Hewlêr; go to Sulaymaniyah."


ANF
SULAYMANIYAH
Saturday, 9 November 2024, 08:33


Hikmet Hatip, Aydın Yalvaç, Sıtkı Vakar, and Nasır Yağız, the spokespersons and officials of the HDP's Kurdistan Region Office in Hewlêr (Erbil), were forcibly placed into vehicles by the KDP's security forces and driven outside the boundaries of Hewlêr.

Without any official notice, the HDP representatives were taken in two separate vehicles and dropped off near the borders of Sulaymaniyah.

The expelled representatives held a press conference at Azadî Park in Sulaymaniyah, sharing their experience with the public.

"They forced us into vehicles"

Hikmet Hatip, one of the HDP Kurdistan Region Office's spokespersons, said: "On 6 November, four of us from the HDP Kurdistan Region Office were summoned by the KDP security forces. They took our documents and placed us in two vehicles accompanied by 26 armed security personnel. They dropped two of us at the Simaqol checkpoint and the other two at the Dêgele checkpoint. We were told, 'You have no place in Hewlêr; go to Sulaymaniyah.' When we asked the reason for this treatment, we received no response."

Hatip continued: "The HDP Office was present in South Kurdistan within a legal framework. We have no legal or social problems. We recently had meetings with KDP officials, where we sat together. Even if there are any problems, we prefer to resolve them through dialogue and return to Hewlêr. We have families and have established our lives and businesses in Hewlêr. A delegation from the HDP will come to South Kurdistan to meet with KDP officials regarding this issue."

Rojava: Olive harvest threatened by Turkish attacks

The olive harvest has begun in Northern and Eastern Syria. Farmers in the Firat canton cannot go to their fields due to Turkish attacks, and the olives are in danger of rotting on the trees.


ANF
NEWS DESK
Thursday, 14 November 2024

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The olive harvest has begun in Northern and Eastern Syria. Olives are harvested in the autumn after the first rain. Farmers in the Firat canton are very worried due to the ongoing attacks by the Turkish army.

Meryem Mihemed, a farmer from the village of Bûban near Kobanê, has already started harvesting in her olive grove. She has 600 olive trees. This plantation is enough to support a family. However, this year's yield is lower, she told ANHA.

Olive trees can be harvested every two years. Therefore, strong and weak harvests always alternate. This year should actually be able to have a good harvest. But due to the storms in the spring, the blossoms of the olive trees were torn off and only a few blossoms survived.

"Because of the attacks, we cannot harvest our olives"

The olive plantations in the Kobanê region are often located near the Turkish border with Northern Kurdistan. Due to the proximity to the border, Turkish soldiers prevent people from entering the plantations. Meryem Mihemed's field is also located in such an area. Mihemed told ANHA that people do not dare to go to their fields for fear of their lives. The constant Turkish artillery shelling is putting massive pressure on farmers and is aimed at forcing them to migrate.

ÖHD Amed Ecology Commission condemns ecocide in Cudi and Gabar Mountains


ANF
AMED
Thursday, 14 November 2024, 

In a written statement, the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) Amed Ecology Assembly condemned the destruction in the Cudi and Gabar Mountains of Şirnak (Şirnex). The statement said that expanding mining and oil drilling operations in the Cudi and Gabar mountains are contributing to escalating environmental degradation. The daily use of explosives for these activities is flattening mountaintops, destroying ecosystems, and threatening endangered species.

Large quantities of dynamite are used each day, resulting in significant damage to both land and water sources. Explosions have polluted underground water reserves, felled trees, and endangered local wildlife, particularly wild goats that rely on these mountains as a habitat.

'We will follow the ecocide'

The statement said that it was no coincidence that these regions, which have been depopulated and are often declared "Special Security Zone" since the 1990s, were subjected to ecocide, added: "The ecocide Qileban, Elkê and other regions and the deforestation of Kurdistan are narrowing down the living spaces of the Kurdish people and the living beings in the nature of Kurdistan. We will closely follow the process against this ecocide taking place in Kurdistan, where there is an intervention in the right to access clean air and clean drinking water, and to live in a healthy and balanced environment."