Posted on 03/22/2018 7:45:38 AM PDT by Texas Fossil
Tens of thousands of Kurds turned an annual cultural festival into a rare mass political protest on Wednesday against the government's two-month-old military campaign against Kurdish forces in neighbouring Syria.
At a rally to mark the spring festival of Newroz in the southern city of Diyarbakir, demonstrators said Ankara risked provoking violence at home if it pressed on with its Syria offensive.
The event was the first major public demonstration against the campaign in Syria, in which the Turkish army has battled Kurdish forces, the YPG, or Kurdistan Workers Party. It fell just days after Turkish forces stormed the Syrian city of Afrin.
In a city still scarred by fighting between the PKK and Turkish troops, young women and men linked hands and danced to traditional Kurdish music in the warm spring sunshine, chanting for Afrin and jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan.
"Long live the Afrin resistance," sang the crowd.
Political rallies are heavily restricted in Turkey's state of emergency imposed in the wake of an attempted coup in 2016. Hundreds of people were arrested across Turkey in the run-up to the Diyarbakir rally, accused of planning illegal protests.
Celebrating Newroz, the Persian New Year which falls on the Spring Equinox, has long been a mark of national pride for Kurds, who make up around a fifth of the population of Turkey, mainly in the southeast. Demonstrations for the holiday frequently led to violence during the PKK's 40-year insurgency.
(Excerpt) Read more at theregion.org ...
Blowback from Turkey's invasion and ethnic cleansing of Afrin will come.
Will it begin again inside Turkey?
Remember, Turkey has many bases in Iraq and almost as many in Syria.
Hard to imagine there is much room left in Turkish prisons. They already locked up thousands as a result of the “coup attempt.” Now incarcerating Kurds. The Kurds were instrumental in defeating Isil. Now the free world once again abandons them. Merkel did send a terse note to Ankara...
This is just happening:
AKP President and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a telephone conversation with US President Donald Trump
https://www.gercekgundem.com/siyaset/6457/erdogan-donald-trump-ile-telefonda-gorustu
(via translate.Erdogan interviewed Donald Trump on the phone
President Erdogan and US President Donald Trump made phone calls.
It was stated that the bilateral relations were discussed.
Presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said that bilateral relations and regional issues were discussed.
Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu explained that the meeting will be held.
Biden was right. Divide Iraq into 3. Kurds up north where there’s lots of oil. The rest of the Kurds in neighboring countries would have wanted in. Lots more fighting among Muzzies Not a bad thought.
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