https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdistan_Workers%27_Party
Former flag of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (1978–1995).
This is about all I need to know.
Posted on 09/19/2017 5:20:14 AM PDT by Texas Fossil
A Belgian appeals court on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling tossing out an 11-year old complaint against a number of Kurdish politicians because of their alleged ties to the Kurdish Workers Party, the PKK.
The 2006 complaint, filed at the behest of the Turkish government, sought to jail 36 Kurdish politicians, many of them living as political exiles in Belgium, under Belgium’s counter-terrorism laws.
A lower court tossed out the case last November, but the Belgian state prosecutor lodged an appeal following vigorous protests from the Turkish government, which leaks bullets whenever someone mentions Kurds.
The court found that the “PKK is an not a terrorist organisation but a party in a non-international armed conflict."
This is a huge finding for Kurdish groups not just in Turkey but all around the Middle East, given the fact that Turkey has consistently sought to brand just about every successful Kurdish organization, with the exception of the Kurdish Democratic Party of Iraq, as a “branch” or component of the PKK.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
The Kurdish independence referendum is set for next week in Iraq, opposed by many nations like Turkey, Iran, Iraq but supported by Israel as means of throwing a monkey wrench into arch enemy Iran.
US officially wants it delayed. I’m sure there are supporters in US government who support the referendum.
Now, this is only for the Iraq Kurd area.
Of course both Turkey and Iran oppose it. Both are trying to box in the oil fields in Iraq and Syria and take over the region. Both are totalitarian regimes.
>> US officially wants it delayed.
That’s only because Obama put so many Muslim Brotherhood members into our government.
The policy in this area has been messy and deadly in recent years.
The Syrian Civil War with Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Hillary Clinton, John McCain, the Neocons, Israel and the Israel Lobby aligned against Assad some more openly than others has disastrous consequences.
The war itself brought misery to Syria and the Al-Qaeda (Bin Laden sympathizers) funded by the Saudis and Qataris morphed into Islamic State.
IS atrocities and IS terrorism are in part the responsibility those who opposed Assad from the outside and promoted the war against his regime.
Yes, Obama set the entire ME on fire.
However, Assad is not one of the “good guys”.
And ISIS is truly a Great Evil. (that is about to end)
The core of ISIS was Saddams military. Saddam was Baath Party dictator as is Assad.
The Kurds are an Iranian people. They will be closely allied with Iran in any case.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdistan_Workers%27_Party
Former flag of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (1978–1995).
This is about all I need to know.
off topic but I absolutely detest Hezbollah and was shocked that:
“[T]he EU has never acknowledged Hezbollah’s so-called “political wing” as a terrorist group, despite its involvement in countless international terrorist acts...”
What a crock.
Let the Kurds have their way
Yes, I’m aware of that past. Also of more recent things.
“They will be closely allied with Iran in any case.”
There are Kurds in Iran. None of them are aligned with the Mullahs in Iran. Fact.
Kurds have been in what is not Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria for 1000 years.
I know some of them, did not read this in history books.
Nobody ever said the EU or the UN was smart. (or honorable)
I clearly distinguish between the Kurds as a group and the PKK. As a group, the Kurds are both smart and wise, long hence deserving of their own nation, despite what Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq think, and they have used their time as a semi autonomous region wisely. Likewise their close friendship with Israel is profoundly smart, and were they a separate nation, no longer burdened with the rest of Iraq, I see it as being in the US strong interest to be aligned with and supportive of them.
This being said, the PKK, formed as a communist rejection of the fascism of Turkey, is far more a problem than a solution. Were they to operate exclusively outside of Iraqi Kurdistan, they would be far less a problem to Kurdistan.
I would not find their efforts in Syria to protect the Syrian Kurds from the civil war by keeping out the combatants and maintaining neutrality to be laudable. Likewise, if they wanted to be pestiferous to the Iranians, by themselves or in concert with other oppressed minorities, this would also be tolerable.
Turkey is a far more subtle affair, which they could address by trying to Europeanize and even internationalize their situation there. Which would have to be done with the assistance of outsiders who could offer them protection.
Again, this is just the PKK acting as an independent group apart from the Kurdish government. However, they do not seem to be inclined to do these things.
I am familiar with the relationship between Syrian Kurds and PKK. (And with the PUK in Iraq.)
The relationship between the KRG and the Syrian Kurds is complicated. Tribal issues, plus other things.
I’m not a Leftist. Never have been, never will be. But I have deep respect for Syrian Kurds because of their kindness to others and bravery beyond belief. They are simply good people.
The Jews in Israel began as a communal organization. Now look at it.
Northern Syria is far from Damascus. That geographic fact has made the inhabitants interdependent. Different religions have coexisted for a long time.
Oppression by ISIS cemented them all together.
I was once asked to suggest a book title for a person there. I suggested (was not taken) “Beyond Damascus”.
Have friendships there that span over 3 years. Frequent communication.
Would accept them as neighbors without hesitation.
When were you there?
Was it PKK or TAK?
What did they burn in the mall?
The terrorists poured gasoline down the staircase and lit it.
That would have been bad enough, but the building violated Turkish fire codes, with no external fire escapes. High loss of life among the shoppers.
When?
I’m not defending Terrorists. I have mixed feelings about PKK.
I hear both sides from my Kurd friends.
—
These are sobering pictures. It is clearly genocide.
“Damning UN report slams Turkey, revealing the extent of its anti-Kurdish war”
It is not just Kurds. For the past 100+ years Turks have exterminated, massacred and plundered minorities. It is a fact, and not once have they admitted it.
Armenians, Jews, Greeks, Alevi, Kurds, Ezidi and more. It is a fact.
And now Erdogan the Islamist is Dictator of Turkey. The Kemalist are somewhat paralyzed by the Faux Coup, had they intended a coup, it would have succeeded. (I’m no fan of the Kemalist either)
More authoritative than an article:
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Report on the human rights situation in South - East Turkey
(for) July 2015 to December 2016
(published) February 2017
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/TR/OHCHR_South-East_TurkeyReport_10March2017.pdf
(I have little confidence in the UN solving problems, but documenting abuses is an important function.)
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