The 2022 report of the southeastern Diyarbakır (Amed) branch of Turkey’s Human Rights Association (İHD) documents a significant increase in violations last year, reporting state violence against civilians, political opposition groups, Kurdish journalists and the Kurdish population in general.

Human rights violations documented in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority eastern and south-eastern provinces displayed an increase in 2022 against the backdrop of de facto state of emergency conditions, a recent report said.

The 2022 report of the southeastern Diyarbakır (Amed) branch of Turkey’s Human Rights Association (İHD) documents a significant increase in violations last year, reporting state violence against civilians, political opposition groups, Kurdish journalists and the Kurdish population in general.

According to the report released on Friday, some 2,143 people, including 110 minors, were taken into custody in the region last year, and around 200 of them were remanded in custody by the courts and sent to prison.

The use of excessive force by security forces resulted in the death of at least six citizens and the injury of at least 14 others, while 21 prisoners died in prisons in the region, 13 as a result of alleged suicides and eight of various illnesses.

The report also highlights cases of violence against women and children, with 39 women losing their lives due to domestic violence, and 18 women losing their lives due to various other forms of violence.

At least 260 children were subjected to sexual abuse, with eight committing suicide and eight dying as a result of violence in public places.

The murders of three people remained unsolved, the report said, adding that the authorities claimed that eight members of the security forces had committed suicide.

Some 114 members of the security forces died and 59 others were wounded in clashes in Turkey and in cross-border operations into northern Iraq and northern Syria, according to the report, while 267 Kurdish fighters and nine civilians lost their lives.

The report also highlights violations of prisoners’ rights, restrictions on meetings and demonstrations, and the sentencing of 127 citizens to various prison sentences and fines.

The İHD Diyarbakır branch called for swift action to address the human rights violations in eastern and southeastern Turkey and to ensure that the victims receive justice. The report urges the international community to pay attention to the ongoing crisis and to take action to support those affected by the violations.

Source: Medya News

The post Rights Violations Escalate in Turkey’s Kurdish Regions, Says Prominent Watchdog appeared first on Ankara Haftalik.

Turkey’s pro-Kurdish parties have reaffirmed their support for opposition unity candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu in this weekend’s run-off presidential election, one day after conveying their anger at a deal he struck on the expulsion of migrants in order to win the endorsement of a far right party.

Their discomfort at maintaining their backing for Kilicdaroglu was evident in the fact that they did not name him in their May 25 statement on whom they would advise their supporters to vote for in the May 28 showdown. Kurds make up around a fifth of Turkey’s 85mn-strong population and, given the fanning of nationalism seen during the campaigning, will fear a renewed crackdown under the regime, should it emerge unscathed from the election as most analysts expect it to do.

The alternative to Kilicdaroglu in the runoff is Turkey’s leader of two decades Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who officially defeated Kilicdaroglu in the election first round on May 14 by 49.5% to 44.9% and is widely expected to secure re-election in Sunday’s head to head.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) and its Green Left (YSP) ally explained on May 25 that they were still seeking a change of government in the runoff and would thus not change their stance on whom to vote for.

HDP co-chair Pervin Buldan told a news conference that party members would vote to end Erdogan’s “one-man regime”, which she referred to as a “freak regime”, saying: “The freak regime created by Erdogan and his partners is the cause of the societal problems that are being experienced. What will be voted on May 28 is whether this freak regime will continue or not.”

Kilicdaroglu on May 24 announced a deal with the anti-immigrant Victory Party (ZP), which secured him their endorsement. The ZP won 2.2% of votes in the parliamentary election that ran in parallel with the presidential poll first-round vote.

To secure the accord, Kilicdaroglu agreed to an article expressing support for the regime policy of replacing mayors with state-appointed trustees where a court ruled that they had terrorism links. Most HDP mayors elected in 2019 have been replaced by such officials.

Buldan was also critical of election campaign rhetoric in which migrants are used for political purposes, saying: “The refugee and migrant problem can only be solved with a strong struggle for peace against policies of war.”

The six-party Nation Alliance led by Kilicdaroglu previously said it would end the practice of replacing mayors with government-appointed trustees.

The endorsement of Kilicdaroglu by ZP leader Umit Ozdag goes some way to countering the endorsement Erdogan received on May 22 from Sinan Ogan, the presidential candidate of a ZP-led far right alliance, who came third in the first-round vote with 5.2% support.

Source: Intelli News

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Turkish police have detained at least 126 people suspected of links to a banned Kurdish militant group, ahead of an election that could bring down President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Turkish reports said those held across 21 provinces were suspected of financing and helping to recruit for the outlawed PKK.

The suspects included lawyers, journalists and politicians.

The main pro-Kurdish party said the arrests were timed to affect the vote.

Nineteen days before Turks vote in presidential and parliamentary elections, the HDP said those detained included lawyers who could scrutinise election security, independent journalists, who could cover potential voter fraud, and party campaign managers.

Turkey’s state news agency Anadolu said some of those held in Tuesday’s raids were linked to 60 street protests as well as child abductions, and were led by public prosecutors in the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir.

The HDP denies links to the militant PKK, which is considered a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and European Union. It is considered Turkey’s second largest opposition party but has seen thousands of its members jailed, including former joint leader Selahattin Demirtas.

In 2019, dozens of elected HDP mayors were removed because of “terror charges”, condemned by their party as a coup against voters.

In a bid to avoid a possible court ban on running for parliament on 14 May it has nominated its candidates under the banner of a new Green Left party.

The elections are being seen as Turkey’s most significant for years, with six opposition parties uniting behind a single candidate in Kemal Kilicdaroglu. The HDP is not part of that so-called Table of Six but has backed his candidacy.

Mr Kilicdaroglu leads the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and opinion polls give him a realistic chance of defeating Turkey’s long-time leader Mr Erdogan, who has been in power for more than 20 years.

He has accused Mr Erdogan’s ruling AK Party of stigmatising millions of Turkish Kurds as terrorists to consolidate nationalist votes.

President Erdogan has obtained sweeping powers in recent years, turning a largely ceremonial role into an elected post with the ability to appoint judges and declare a state of emergency, with the resulting power of ruling by decree.

His popularity has been dented by soaring inflation of over 50% and by his response to the double earthquake in February, which killed more than 50,000 people in 11 provinces and has left thousands homeless.

Earlier this month, Mr Erdogan accused the centre-left CHP of surrendering to the agenda of the pro-Kurdish party and the PKK “terror group”.

The first round of the presidential election takes places on the same day as the parliamentary vote. If no presidential candidate wins more than 50% of the vote, a second round run-off follows two weeks later on 28 May.

Source: BBC

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The spokesperson for the Turkish presidency has told Al Jazeera that Kurdish armed groups in Syria are “legitimate targets”, and accused them of exploiting ties with the United States to justify their presence along Turkey’s border with Syria.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Ibrahim Kalin said Ankara is after the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its offshoots the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Democratic Union Party (PYD) groups to protect its borders.

Ankara has blamed the outlawed PKK, YPG and their affiliated groups for the November 13 Istanbul blast as well as previous attacks. The PKK has been waging a decades-long bloody armed rebellion for autonomy in Turkey’s southeast. Ankara, along with its NATO allies – the US and European Union – have declared the PKK a “terrorist” organisation.

“For us, any and all PKK, PYD, YPG establishments, elements, posts, military points are legitimate targets for us,” Kalin said during the interview with the Talk to Al Jazeera programme, whether they are in Syria or Turkey.

“They are legitimate targets because they are terrorist organisations,” he continued. “We go after them to protect our borders. We don’t target Russian or American soldiers or military posts in Syria or anywhere else.”

Kalin went on to say that the PKK, PYD, and YPG “elements” have in the past used American and the Syrian regime flags to “protect themselves”.

“That itself shows the extent of the PYD and YPG using their alliance with the United States to legitimise their own presence in northern Syria,” he said.

The presidential spokesperson said that the recent “terrorist” attack on Istiklal Street in Istanbul prompted Turkey to respond. The perpetrator, a Syrian woman of Kurdish descent, was trained by Kurdish fighters there, the government said.

“Our initial response was to coordinate and conduct a number of air operations,” Kalin said. “And of course, depending on the threat level as assessed by our intelligence and our air defence ministry and the related agencies, we will go after these terrorists, whether from the air or from the ground.”

Turkey has ramped up its shelling and air raids on northern Syria in recent weeks and has been preparing a ground invasion against the YPG, a majority-Kurdish force that dominates the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) based in Syria. Ankara has reportedly targeted several military sites belonging to SDF in Syria’s Raqqa.

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Belghan Ozturk, a security analyst, said that the Istanbul bombing attack was “a red line for Turkey’s state stability and national security”.

“So the YPG carried out rocket attacks in retaliation of the Turkish air raids,” Ozturk said from Denver, Colorado. “Turkey wants to make sure the YPG was in no capacity to undertake further attacks – within Turkey and cross border rocket attacks.”

The delay could be because of the resistance Turkey has faced from several international powers involved in Syria, including Iran, Russia and the United States.

On Friday, SDF, which controls territory in northern Syria, said it would no longer participate in joint counterterrorism operations with the US and other allies in the wake of the Turkish attacks. The SDF says it has documented about 70 attacks since the operation was announced.

A spokesperson for the SDF said that “all coordination and joint counterterrorism operations” with the US-led coalition battling remnants of ISIL (ISIS) in Syria as well as “all the joint special operations we were carrying out regularly” had been halted.

Source : Aljazeera

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