Newsletter

Dear Sir or Madam, 
please find below our monthly newsletter. 

Kind regards 
Prof. Kariane Westrheim Chairperson 

Commentaries #15: Delisting the PKK as a terrorist organization By Prof. Michael Gunter, Tennessee Technical University, USDelisting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) as a terrorist organization would be a bold, imaginative move by Turkey, the European Union (EU), and the United States (US), among others, that might contribute to the peace process and benefit all concerned parties. However, Turkey presently does not want to acknowledge collective rights for its ethnic Kurds, and is willing to grant merely limited and begrudgingly individual rights such as mother-tongue language in the schools and a Kurdish TV channel, among a few others. Thus, there remains a very long way still to go, but delisting the PKK is surely one important start along this necessary journey. 

http://eutcc.net/?p=1044

The Parliamentary Committee on Constitution has passed the election bill Reduction of the election threshold from 10 to 7 percent; Exemption of the president from election silence; Changes in the calculation method for the distribution of deputies to the parties
https://m.bianet.org/5/94/259538-parliamentary-committee-on-constitution-passes-election-bill

Statement by HDP Foreign Affairs Co-spokespersons Feleknas Uca and Hişyar Özsoy on the police raids against women in DiyarbakırIt is no coincidence that these detentions took place after International Women’s Day and just before the Newroz celebrations. Citing these celebrations as a justification, the government criminalizes women who are fighting for women’s freedom and justice. 
https://hdp.org.tr/en/police-operations-have-targeted-women-in-diyarbakir/16233/

Report on violations of children’s rights, released by Diyarbakır Bar Association – 22 children lost their lives, 27 children were injured in armored vehicle crashes (21 in Kurdish majority provinces)- 45 children lost their lives as a result of war remnants
http://mezopotamyaajansi35.com/en/ALL-NEWS/content/view/163727

EU Turkey Civic Commission
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Twitter: @EUTCC1
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Dear Sir or Madam,
Please find below our monthly newsletter. 
Kind regards 

Prof. Kariane Westrheim 

Commentaries #14: Kurdish Allies and Kurdish Enemies: Turkey’s New War Against The PKK By Kamal Chomani and Dastan Jasim This paper focuses on the post-2015 Turkish warfare against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party PKK in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and the long-running relationship between the Turkish state and the ruling Barzani family. The commentary presents an overview of the interests behind the Ankara-Erbil coalition and the wider stakes in the current conflict It is argued that the Turkish military operations not only have taken a great toll on the civilian population of the KRI and the ecology of the region, but destabilizes the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. A full-blown civil war in the KRI between the PKK and KDP provoked by Turkey could be the final straw removing the last of the post-Islamic State stability in Iraq.
http://eutcc.net/?p=982

Statement by Peter Stano, Lead Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, on the Council of Europe decision launching infringement proceedings for non-execution of ECHR judgment It is regrettable that the Turkish authorities have refused to execute the respective ECHR’s ruling. Such attitude sets a worrying precedent and further increases the EU’s concerns regarding Turkish judiciary’s adherence to international and European standards.
https://eeas.europa.eu/headquarters/headquarters-homepage/110462/turkey-statement-spokesperson-council-europe-decision-launching-infringement-proceedings-non_en

Statement by HDP Foreign Affairs Co-speakers Feleknas Uca and Hişyar Özsoy on Turkey’s cross border operations against Kurdish majority areas of Syria and Iraq A return to peace negotiations in the context of the Kurdish issue is essential for Kurds, Turks, and other peoples of the Middle East and also beyond. It is also essential for the defeat of ISIS, which requires regional stability. Under these attacks, stability seems to be impossible.
https://hdp.org.tr/en/more-deaths-and-destruction-in-turkeys-cross-border-attacks-in-iraq-and-syria/16110/#.Yfu5ElwnfNU.twitter

Statement by HDP Foreign Affairs Co-speakers Feleknas Uca and Hişyar Özsoy on the decision of European Court of Human Rights regarding the immunity of HDP Deputies The Court ruled that the lifting of their immunities infringed their right of freedom of expression and freedom of assembly, in contravention of article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
https://hdpeurope.eu/2022/02/european-court-rules-that-lifting-mp-immunities-contravenes-human-rights/

EU Turkey Civic Commission
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Dear Sir or Madam, 
Please find below our monthly newsletter. 
Kind regards 
Prof. Kariane Westrheim Chairperson 

Mourning for EP’s PresidentThe EUTCC is saddened to hear of the passing of David Sassoli, President of the European Parliament. Our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones. 

Commentaries #13: Turkish Paramilitaries during the Conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ PartyBy Dr. Ayhan Işık Executive Summary: This paper focuses on how the paramilitary organisations of the Turkish state have transformed and been used over time as a ‘useful’ tool against dissidents, especially the Kurds. Paramilitary groups have been one of the main actors in the war between the Turkish state and the PKK, which has been ongoing for nearly forty years. These groups have sometimes been used as auxiliary forces and at other times made into death squads operating alongside the official armed forces, and they have mainly been used against Kurdish civilians who allegedly supportthe PKK, especially at the height of the war in unsolved murders, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings since the 1980. In this article, I argue that the Turkish state elites use this apparatus not only in domestic politics but also in conflicts in the Middle East and the Caucasus and that this paramilitary tradition of the state even extends to western Europe 
http://eutcc.net/?p=942

Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV): At least 18 people killed in armored vehicle crashes in four years, mostly in Kurdish majority southeast. 
https://m.bianet.org/5/97/256914-at-least-18-people-killed-in-armored-vehicle-crashes-in-four-years

Turkey ranks first in violations of freedom of expression again, show the 2021 annual statistics of the European Court of Human Rights 
https://m.bianet.org/english/law/256797-turkey-ranks-first-in-violations-of-freedom-of-expression-show-ecthr-statistics

Congratulations The EUTCC congratulates Roberta Metsola on the election as President of the European Parliament. The EUTCC also congratulates Tiny Cox on the election as President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. 

EU Turkey Civic Commission
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Please find below our monthly newsletter.
Kind regards 
|Prof. Kariane Westrheim Chairperson 

>Statement in memory of Archbishop and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Desmond Tutu, one of our patrons

http://eutcc.net/?p=920

>Statement by MEPs Nacho Sánchez Amor (Turkey Rapporteur) and Sergey Lagodinsky, Chair of the European Parliament’s Delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee on the decision to start infringement proceedings against Turkey at the Council of Europe
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20211202IPR18654/turkish-authorities-must-show-political-will-and-meet-international-commitments

>HDP Europe launches a letter campaign for Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) political prisoners in Turkey.
https://hdpeurope.eu/2021/12/a-letter-campaing-freedom-will-not-be-limited-to-prison-walls/

>68 women’s organizations demand the release of former HDP MP and ill prisoner Aysel Tuğluk (diagnosed with dementia)
https://m.bianet.org/english/women/255110-women-s-organizations-call-for-politician-ill-prisoner-aysel-tugluk-s-release

>Mail violence monitoring report December 2021
https://m.bianet.org/english/women/255739-men-kill-34-women-in-december

EU Turkey Civic Commission
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Twitter: @EUTCC1
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Dear Sir or Madam,
Please find below our monthly newsletter.
Kind regards 
|Dersim Dağdeviren Board member 

>EUTCC Commentaries #12 by Dr. Emre Turkut: On the Collateral Impact of Turkey’s Authoritarian Turn: Re-securitization of the Kurdish Issue and the Kurds’ Struggle for Minority Recognition and Self-Determination 

Executive Summary: Since the collapse of the peace process in 2015, the Turkish Government has sought to turn every move towards Kurdish rights into an existential threat – a process led to the re-securitization of the Kurdish question. Ever since the descent of Turkey into an authoritarian polity has begun in the aftermath of the June 2015 elections, the Kurdish minority has suffered a brutal crackdown marked by high of political imprisonment and greater restrictions on freedom of assembly and association and on electoral aspects of self-determination. This commentary will take a closer look at the dire consequences of the collateral impact of Turkey’s authoritarian turn on the Kurdish political movement from the perspectives of minority rights and self-determination.

http://eutcc.net/?p=894

>Press release by European Parliament’s Chair of the Delegation to the EU-Turkey Joint Parliamentary Committee Sergey Lagodinsky on the latest court decision regarding Osman Kavala It confirms once again that Turkey is in a deep judicial and democratic crisis.

https://lagodinsky.de/presse/kavala-remains-in-prison-missed-opportunity-for-a-fresh-start-for-eu-turkey-relations/

>Statement by the lawyers of the Kobanî CaseLegal defence is under grave threat!
https://hdp.org.tr/en/legal-defence-is-under-grave-threat/15918/

>Information note by HDP Foreign Affairs Co-Spokespersons Feleknas Uca and Hişyar Özsoy regarding the latest developments in the Kobanî caseIn dialogue with HDP’s lawyers and legal affairs commission, we are writing this statement to inform you about alarming unlawful developments that undermine the possibility of a fair trial in the Kobanî case, which was launched against 108 people, including former co-hairs as well as all other members of the party’s Central Executive Board in 2014, based on bogus terrorism-related charges.
https://hdp.org.tr/en/the-kobani-case-violating-the-right-to-a-fair-trial/15907/

EU Turkey Civic Commission
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Twitter: @EUTCC1
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