‘Echo Gods and Silent Mountains’ by Patrick Woodcock – a review

Source: Kurdistan Tribune

"Echo Gods and Silent Mountains, in this reader’s opinion, is the best book ever written on Kurds: unique in both form and content. The book is a proof of Woodcock’s exceptional ability to commiserate with a nation invisible to the rest of the world; he becomes a Kurd, feels the plight, and carries the weight of a century of massacre, of endless pain. Woodcock is a genuine voice." writes Ava Homa

Read the full review ‘Echo Gods and Silent Mountains’ by Patrick Woodcock – a review

New Statistics Reveal the Size of Turkey's Kurdish Population

Source: Rudaw in English

key
The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) recently published the birth records of Kurdish citizens in Turkey.

According to these records, there are 22,691,824 Kurds in Turkey, mostly born in Kurdish cities in the southeast of the country. Therefore, out of Turkey’s 74.7 million citizens, more than 30 percent are Kurds. These records only include people who have been registered at official government institutions.

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Ultra Left critique of the PKK

Source CPGB

Northern Kurdistan,
Rejection of Marxism

Continuing his examination of the various programmes of the Turkish and Kurdish left, Esen Uslu looks at the new-found ‘democratic confederalism’ of the Workers’ Party of Kurdistan

After perusing the programmes of the legal TKP and ÖDP, we will now take a look at the programme of the Workers’ Party of Kurdistan (PKK).

Contrary to the view of many, who regard the PKK as a nationalist guerrilla movement, at its inception the founding members of the PKK were not Kurdish nationalists - at least not in the sense that the term could be applied to several remarkable Kurdish organisations in Iraq and Turkey, first and foremost among them the Kurdistan Democratic Party.

The initial bunch of PKK leaders, including comrade Abdullah Öcalan, had their roots in the revolutionary Marxist organisations of the late 60s and early 70s. However, since its foundation the PKK has passed through several political and ideological bottlenecks resulting in a change of programme - among the Turkish left there is a tendency to despise such programme changes.

We must bear in mind that the PKK has been engaged in open warfare since 1985, and despite suffering heavy losses it has still maintained substantial support among the population of Kurdistan. Considering the frozen nature of the Turkish left’s positions on the national question, the PKK’s attempts to understand the rapidly changing realities of the region and adjust its programme accordingly is actually commendable.

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Note. THE CPGB area minute ultra left sect in the UK, previously The Leninist tendency in the Communist Party, they have been linked to Trotskyist facts in Turkey. I decided to poublish it because it is quite an interesting take on the PKK

Turkey should resist urge for war with Kurdish militants -ICG

Source: Chicago Tribune News

More than 700 people have been killed since parliamentary elections in June last year, making this the deadliest period since the capture of the PKK's leader, Abdullah Ocalan, in 1999, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said in a report.

"Stepping up the struggle to wipe out the insurgency by physical frontal assault, even if understandable, will never be enough to solve the conflict and will bring thousands of deaths that will push more Kurdish youths to take up arms," it said.

"The government and mainstream media should resist the impulse to call for all-out anti-terrorist war and focus instead, together with Kurds, on long-term conflict resolution."

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Party Insiders Warn of Divisions Inside PUK

Source Rudaw in English

Gorran
After the dramatic split of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which led to the formation of the Change Movement (Gorran), many people thought the PUK would adjust its lines and become more unified to prevent further splits in the party.
However, senior officials in the party are warning about an ongoing "struggle and polarization within."

Mala Bakhtiyar, chairman of the executive committee of the PUK political bureau, admits, "Unfortunately, there is a struggle within the PUK,” he said.
PUK spokesperson Azad Jundiyan agrees that there are signs that polarization exists within his party. “This is a contest within the PUK over winning the trust of Jalal Talabani. Talabani has intervened twice now between the struggling groups. Only he can deal with this problem."


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Bashar al-Assad’s other problem: Peter Fragiskatos on Syrian Kurds

Source National Post via eKurd

"In 1962, an estimated 120,000 Kurds suspected of crossing into Syria illegally from Turkey and Iraq had their citizenship revoked. This group, along with their descendants, was given the status of “ajanib” or “foreigner.” While many did enter from outside — they were anxious to flee unrest in their own communities — Kurds who had been born and raised in Syria and whose families had resided in the country for hundreds of years also lost their citizenship.

The results for the ajanib were devastating. They could not purchase property, businesses or land and were excluded from a range of professions including engineering, medicine and law. They were even prevented from accessing state hospitals. Leaving was not an option since they were not permitted a passport. In a cynical move designed to quell unrest, Bashar promised to reverse the situation and restore citizenship shortly after mass protests began in March 2011, but most are still classified as ajanib — a number hovering around 300,000." writes Peter Fragiskatos


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Gulenists’ Kurdishphobia

Source Kurdistan Tribune

"A phobia is defined as the unrelenting and irrational fear of a situation, activity or thing that causes one to want to avoid it. Today the Gulenists’ media is bombarding audiences with a series of flatly untrue stories that render the Kurdish elected BDP party and the Kurdish rebel PKK within a framework of hostility, if not terror. The Gulenists’ mediascape arguably does not represent the Kurdish cause in a fair and true light; stereotypes that deem the BDP as a dangerous and disruptive force pervade the media" writes Dr Aland Mizell

Dr. Aland Mizell is with the University of Mindanao School of Social Science, President of the MCI and a regular contributor to The Kurdistan Tribune, Kurdishaspect.com, Mindanao Times and Kurdish Media.You may email the author at:aland_mizell2@hotmail.com


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