Thousands Kurdish protestors clashed against Turkish police and Erdogen agreed to reopen negotiation under pressure

[hellheaven1987]

Thousands of Kurdish protesters have clashed with police in Turkey on what they called a day of resistance in towns and cities across the country.

The protesters aimed to draw attention to more than 650 Kurdish prisoners who have been on a six-week hunger strike.

The worst clashes were at Diyarbakir prison, in south-eastern Turkey, but they also took place in Istanbul.

Tensions between the Kurds and the Turkish majority are higher now than for more than a decade, analysts say.

The hunger strikers are demanding:

- The right to use the Kurdish language in Turkey's education and legal systems

- An end to the solitary confinement of Abdullah Ocalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdish armed movement, the PKK

Mr Ocalan was sentenced to death in 1999, though that was later commuted to life imprisonment following the abolition of the death penalty in Turkey in 2002.

The hunger strikers are refusing solid food, but allow themselves to drink water mixed with small amounts of sugar and salt.

The Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has blamed the PKK's leaders for the hunger strike.

"As they eat lamb kebabs, they order prisoners to die," Mr Erdogan told a meeting of his ruling AK Party. "You cannot blackmail the state by dying," he declared.

The Kurdish minority are thought to make up more than 20% of the population of Turkey.

The PKK has waged a guerrilla campaign in south-east Turkey for more than 25 years, attempting to establish an ethnic homeland for the Kurdish people.

It has attacked military checkpoints and convoys, and carried out bombings in cities. Some 40,000 people, including civilians, have died in the conflict.

Source

And to please our fellow Turkish members, I would post alternative source from Turkey.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

There were clashes between Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) supporters and police forces on Tuesday in the cities of several provinces of the predominantly Kurdish Southeast, as residents supporting several hundreds are on hunger strikes throughout Turkish prisons demanding an end to the isolation of terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) chief Abdullah Öcalan staged unauthorized demonstrations.

Stores didn't open, garbage wasn't collected and children didn't go to school in many provinces as residents supported a call from the BDP to “stop life” in support of inmates who are on hunger strikes.

The BDP planned to hold its parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday not in Parliament but in front of Diyarbakır Prison, which is not in use but remains famous for atrocities committed against its inmates during the Sept. 12, 1980 coup period. There were clashes in the city ahead of the planned group meeting, as a group of about 500 pro-PKK demonstrators attempted to march to the prison. Police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the protestors, who responded by throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at security forces.

Local police said only the deputies would be allowed to approach the prison, as per the governor's orders. However, it was permitted for a statement to be made to the media near a building called the Dicle Yasevi (the Tigris House of Mourning).

BDP Co-Chairperson Selahattin Demirtaş, who spoke during the chaos, recalled Mazlum Doğan, a convict who set himself ablaze during the Sept. 12 coup period at Diyarbakır Prison to protest abuse and torture in prisons. “This prison, where Mazlum Doğan put up great resistance, will not be a school, and there will be a monument to Mazlum Doğan,” Demirtaş said, in a reference to the government's plans to turn the prison building into a school.

He said the BDP was ready to fulfill its responsibilities to end the hunger strikes, but noted that the government has not taken a single step towards this end, although the Ministry of the Interior had allowed Öcalan's brother Mehmet Öcalan to visit him on İmralı Island, where the PKK chief is being held, backpedaling from an unofficial ban on family visits. But Demirtaş said, “We don't want Mehmet Öcalan to go to İmralı, we want Abdullah Öcalan to come here [Diyarbakır].”

Demirtaş later went to the BDP's Diyarbakır branch building, as clashes continued between police and protestors, during which dozens were detained.

Later, the BDP co-chairperson thanked those who had boycotted schools or refused to open their businesses, saying, “I thank all who have stopped life.” Demirtaş said no power could stop the will of the people. “We congratulate our people who brought the screams for freedom from behind prison walls to public squares, in spite of all oppression and obstruction in every field, by heeding our call for boycotts and our campaign to stop life.”

In Diyarbakır, municipal buses did not run on Tuesday, as part of the BDP's campaign. The only open businesses were pharmacies and bakeries. Residents trying to get to work in the morning had tremendous difficulty, reports from the region said. School buses did not run, causing many students to miss school against their will.

Hakkari, the central district as well as Yüksekova, Çukurca and Şemdinli, also supported the BDP's boycott. A majority of parents kept their children back from school, and in addition to public minibuses, private transport vehicles stayed off the roads. There were also sit-ins and demonstrations in various parts of the city. Security was tight throughout the day.

The province and city of Batman had the appearance of a ghost town. Storeowners did not open their business, and the BDP municipality did not collect garbage. Most public transport did not operate. Having been active for several days already, a sit-in protest by 12 civil society groups in front of the Yılmaz Güney movie theater continued.

A similar situation was observed in Şırnak, where most people didn't leave their homes, city buses didn't run and garbage was not collected. Security was tight around the BDP building. Police officers conducted ID checks on suspicious individuals. The Cizre and Slopi districts were also deserted. Police implemented tight security measures around the province.

In Mardin, most children failed to attend school, particularly in the peripheral districts of Nusaybin, Kızıltepe, Mazıdağ and Derik. There were also demonstrations and several clashes with security forces in this city.

However, the appeal to “stop life” found little support in the province of Şanlıurfa, although a group of BDP supporters gathered to read a press statement.

There were further protests in Mersin, İstanbul and several other cities.

Source

The reason of protest is because of the on-going hunger strike of 700 Kurdish prisoners in prisons all over Turkey, many are BDP members who called the disarm of PKK.

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

THE Turkish government is under increasing pressure over how to tackle a hunger strike by hundreds of Kurdish prisoners across the country as the protest nears its eighth week and their health deteriorates. Around 700 detainees at more than 50 prisons are surviving on salted or sweetened water and vitamins alone in a strike that has gained momentum since it began with several dozen detainees last month.

Among the strikers are several leaders of the chief Kurdish party, the Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party (BDP). They are accused of ties to the outlawed rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has for decades sought autonomy for the Kurds. “The strikers’ situation is deteriorating with every day,” a Human Rights Association (IHD) official said, saying the inmates had been mistreated but without providing details. He said the government needed to act to bring about an end to the protest, a call that was echoed in the press and by main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who implored the strikers to abandon their action while also addressing the government’s role.

“I am asking the party in power to be more sensitive to these people’s requests,” he was quoted as saying in Friday’s English-language Hurriyet Daily News. Several dozen Kurdish detainees began the strike on September 12, the anniversary of a military coup in 1980, with a host of demands including the release of PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and an end to Kurdish language restrictions.

‘Give up this action’: With the pressure on, Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin paid an unexpected visit Wednesday, on the eve of the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, to an Ankara prison where strikers are being held and called on them to halt their action.

“For the well-being of your body, your health, your families: give up this action,” he said. He said the conservative Islamist-rooted government was listening to the strikers and that it could allow Kurds appearing in court to have the right to defend themselves in their mother tongue, which is one of their demands. But he offered no concessions on another demand: the authorisation of the use of Kurdish in all public places. This is a tough demand for the government to satisfy, even if there have been big steps forward in recent years in the area of Kurdish cultural rights as Turkey bids to join the European Union.

The strikers are also calling for the release of Ocalan, who has been serving out a life sentence in a remote island prison since 1999. On Friday, BDP leaders sought permission from officials to visit Ocalan. The party’s co-chair Selahattin Demirtas said “a major step would be taken” toward putting an end to the hunger strike if they were able to ask Ocalan to intervene. Demirtas said the hunger strikes would come to an end if his party is allowed to prepare the ground for negotiations with Ocalan. “There will be no solution unless a leader of a people is set free, and mother-tongue education is allowed,” Demirtas was quoted as saying by the Hurriyet newspaper on Sunday.

Reached by AFP, the justice ministry declined to comment on the possibility of such a visit, which would be a first, but a source close to the government said the authorities were doing all they could to end the hunger strike, adding that none of the strikers’ lives are in danger. “The government must put an end to Ocalan’s isolation and immediately, without wasting time, take the necessary steps to end this tragedy,” columnist Oral Calislar wrote in the Radikal daily.

The strike comes amid a major escalation in fighting between Kurdish rebels and the army, with no political solution in sight to a dispute that has spanned decades. The PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey and by much of the international community, took up arms for autonomy in Kurdish-majority southeastern Turkey in 1984, sparking a conflict that has claimed some 45,000 lives.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who hardened his position on the Kurdish issue following deadly attacks by the PKK last year, has also said his government was ready to resume negotiations with the rebel group that were launched in 2010. Since 1980 at least 144 prisoners in Turkey have died in hunger strikes, according to an IHD statement, 28 of them during the government’s brutal crackdown on an inmate strike against new prison conditions in 2000.

Source

Consider our Turkish members' favored source report Erdogan is promising to reopen the negotiations of Kurdish problem, we probably can conclude the information itself is true. It probably suggests that Erdogan, after the sharp increasing of violence between Turkey and PKK since last summer, recognizes that Turkish military alone probably cannot solve the Kurdish question and decides to open, or at least allow a possible alternative solution to remain on table before the conflict endangers his position. Furthermore, since CHP has started using Kurdish issue to attack AKP and the increasing of secularist opposition recently, Erdogan may want to maintain initiative on Kurdsih issue before CHP can offer its own solution and use it to gain secularists support. Finally, the hunger strikes of Kurdish prisoners may also bring some international pressure on Erdogan, force him to offer compromise that would defuse this crisis without pushing too much.

Overall, despite some promises are given, Kurdish issue probably would not be solved unless solutions suggest by International Crisis Group be applied:

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

To the Turkish government and the leaders of the Kurdish movement:

1. Work toward a ceasefire, urge insurgents to stop attacks, avoid large-scale military operations, including aerial bombings, and stand up to pressure for ever-stronger armed responses.

2. Urge the PKK to rein in factions that attack and kidnap civilians, plant bombs and trash property or throw Molotov cocktails in demonstrations, and to pledge not to use a ceasefire to rearm, resupply or relocate. The security forces must limit aggressive crowd control methods, including tear or pepper gas, to an absolute minimum.

Even in the absence of a ceasefire

3. Address the legitimate, broad demands of Kurdish society for mother-language education, the lowering of national election thresholds, more decentralised local government and removal of discriminatory ethnic bias in the constitution and laws.

4. Change the Anti-Terror Law, Penal Code and other legislation to end the practices of indefinite pre-trial detention and prosecution of thousands of peaceful Kurdish movement activists as “terrorists”, and ensure that non-violent discussion of Kurdish issues is not punished by law.

5. Help inform public opinion about the international legitimacy of multi-lingualism in education, ethnic diversity and wider powers for local government.

6. Use the parliament and, in particular, its constitutional reform commission to facilitate discussion between political parties on reform and assure wide buy-in.

7. Make public a package of measures for reintegration and retraining of former Kurdish insurgents, once the time comes to agree on full demobilisation.

To leaders of the Kurdish movement:

8. Clarify what reforms Kurds want in language, education and public life; codify ideas for decentralisation or devolution; identify precisely which laws and constitutional articles should be changed; commit to these reforms, advocate for them in parliament and make a determined effort to explain them to mainstream Turkish opinion.

9. Stop demanding a “self-defence militia” in Kurdish-speaking areas, end any kind of illegal political organisation in Turkey that could be construed as a parallel state and remain committed to ending the fighting and disbanding insurgent units.

To Turkey’s allies and friends, notably the U.S., Canada, UK, Ireland and Spain:

10. Engage with the Turkish government and opinion leaders to share experiences of defusing ethnic, linguistic, and regional tensions, including through travel programs for officials, politicians and opinion-makers from all relevant sides and parties in Turkey.

11. Continue to encourage Turkey to abide by its international commitments to protection of minority rights, freedom of expression and access to a fair trial without extended periods of pre-trial detention.

Obviously, such terms require the understanding and cooperation between both sides; hopefully Erdogan's reopening of negotiation would be the first step of this process.

[PointOfViewGun]

Today's Zaman is not Turk's favored source. Your sarcasm concerning that is baseless. It does however still beat a Pakistani source.

Regardless of the cause, the way BDP went about is self-destructive. They only hurt themselves by shutting down Kurdic businesses. It does seem to be in line with the idea that they want the local Kurdic population to remain poor so that they'll be easier to control. The irony of their protest however is that they opposed the Republic Day gatherings from a day earlier but then went ahead with their own gatherings.

[white-wolf]

I think your title is wrong and misleading.

Are you sure Erdoğan agreed to reopen negotiation under pressure and with whom?

[John ''True Grit'' Wayne]

Just declare war and wipe them out.Why is Turkey so weak on the Kurds.The old Ottomin Empire had ways of dealing with rebels.
Big strong men would drive a nail into the brain of a man with their fist.

[s.rwitt]

Since 1980 at least 144 prisoners in Turkey have died in hunger strikes

Wow, that's ed up

[Odenat]

Wow, that's ed up

Do you know that more than 7000 people a year die at US prisons ? Most are from the mental disorders left undiagnosed and diseases left untreated ?

so, what's ed up now ?

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2006/12/7/25054/9472

[athanaric]

Do you know that more than 7000 people a year die at US prisons ? Most are from the mental disorders left undiagnosed and diseases left untreated ?

so, what's ed up now ?

http://www.talkleft.com/story/2006/12/7/25054/9472

Of course, a media channel called "talk left" is entirely trustworthy and credible...

Also, what do the US have to do with the topic of this thread?

[PointOfViewGun]

Of course, a media channel called "talk left" is entirely trustworthy and credible...

Also, what do the US have to do with the topic of this thread?

But you find Today's Zaman totally trust worthy?

[athanaric]

But you find Today's Zaman totally trust worthy?

Can't say since I don't read it. And again, that's not related to US issues. I was just replying to another lame attempt to detract from some other country's humantitarian record.

[YukonTrooper]

Of course, a media channel called "talk left" is entirely trustworthy and credible...

If you'd read the article you'd know the information comes from the Baltimore Sun, not the TalkLeft blog.

[s.rwitt]

In the US we don't allow our prisoners to starve to death.

[PointOfViewGun]

In the US we don't allow our prisoners to starve to death.

Reuters - Convicted murderer dies while on hunger strike in California

[s.rwitt]

six days after he and 31 other inmates in the Corcoran State Prison's administrative segregation unit began refusing food

There was no immediate word on the cause of death

Cisneros said prisoners in the segregation units have access to nurses and doctors "24 hours a day."


Prisoners on hunger strike are weighed and their vital signs are taken every day, and they are not allowed to starve, she said. "I don't think they could," she said. "We have a process to prevent that."

And this, children, is what happens when you don't read your own sources.

[PointOfViewGun]

And this, children, is what happens when you don't read your own sources.

Nothing you quoted undermines the point that he died while on a hunger strike. I know you've tried hard to come up with a smart-ass post to somehow mock me but it doesn't really work.

While in realty, Utah is even trying to pass a bill to be able to force feed prisoners after a 19 year old died due to starvation.

Let's see how you spin that...

[s.rwitt]

In reality, and I'm being completely honest here, when I posted about hunger strikes in the US I did exactly zero research on the subject before hand. I had no idea if US prisoners were capable of starving themselves to death or not. I just wanted to see if something as simple as "wow that's ed up" would inspire an instant effort by you and your buddy to protect the Turkish utopia from any and all criticism. Because 144 people dying in a hunger strike is common throughout the developed world, yes? I wish you well on your obsessive defense of Turkish honor lol.

But I will point out this obvious flaw in your argument/typical attempt to move the goal posts:

Nothing you quoted undermines the point that he died while on a hunger strike. I know you've tried hard to come up with a smart-ass post to somehow mock me but it doesn't really work.

Except we weren't talking about people dying while on hunger strike. You posted his story as a rebuttal to my saying that people in US prisons don't starve to death...not people in the US don't die while on hunger strike. You don't starve to death in 6 days.

But the important thing, to you, is that we're now talking about an issue besides 144 people dying in Turkish prisons as a result of hunger strikes, yes? TURKEY NEVER DOES ANYTHING BAD EVER WITHOUT JUSTIFICATION lol. By all means, continue the comedy show.

[Prosaic Visitant]

In reality, and I'm being completely honest here, when I posted about hunger strikes in the US I did exactly zero research on the subject before hand. I had no idea if US prisoners were capable of starving themselves to death or not. I just wanted to see if something as simple as "wow that's ed up" would inspire an instant effort by you and your buddy to protect the Turkish utopia from any and all criticism. Because 144 people dying in a hunger strike is common throughout the developed world, yes? I wish you well on your obsessive defense of Turkish honor lol.

But I will point out this obvious flaw in your argument/typical attempt to move the goal posts:



Except we weren't talking about people dying while on hunger strike. You posted his story as a rebuttal to my saying that people in US prisons don't starve to death...not people in the US don't die while on hunger strike. You don't starve to death in 6 days.

But the important thing, to you, is that we're now talking about an issue besides 144 people dying in Turkish prisons as a result of hunger strikes, yes? TURKEY NEVER DOES ANYTHING BAD EVER WITHOUT JUSTIFICATION lol. By all means, continue the comedy show.

Careful, Mr. s.rwitt, it is illegal to insult Turkishness. Don't insult the graytast countree evah.

[PointOfViewGun]

In reality, and I'm being completely honest here, when I posted about hunger strikes in the US I did exactly zero research on the subject before hand. I had no idea if US prisoners were capable of starving themselves to death or not. I just wanted to see if something as simple as "wow that's ed up" would inspire an instant effort by you and your buddy to protect the Turkish utopia from any and all criticism. Because 144 people dying in a hunger strike is common throughout the developed world, yes? I wish you well on your obsessive defense of Turkish honor lol.

Hahahahahaha, boy that was funny how you tried to move around your failure. Despite doing zero research on this subject you managed to make a definitive claim that U.S.A. doesn't let prisoners starve themselves to death and you had no problem with that. So typical.

But I will point out this obvious flaw in your argument/typical attempt to move the goal posts:

Except we weren't talking about people dying while on hunger strike. You posted his story as a rebuttal to my saying that people in US prisons don't starve to death...not people in the US don't die while on hunger strike. You don't starve to death in 6 days.

But the important thing, to you, is that we're now talking about an issue besides 144 people dying in Turkish prisons as a result of hunger strikes, yes? TURKEY NEVER DOES ANYTHING BAD EVER WITHOUT JUSTIFICATION lol. By all means, continue the comedy show.

Oh Turkey does plenty of bad. The comedy show is your pathetic failure to acknowledge when you're wrong and that these bad things is not something special to Turkey. Nobody said hunger strike deaths are something ok but if people feel like you're using loaded language they're gonna make sure you live by your own standards.

If you die during a hunger strike and it's not due to external factors then it means that you've died because of starvation. Your heart could have ave in due to malnutrition or due to any other factor. It doesn't matter how many days have passed. The guy was not stabbed to death. He was found dead 6 days after he started a hunger strike. That means he was starved to death if the autopsy doesn't reveal anything like an infection or something unrelated to malnutrition. Moreover, he could go on for 6 days without eating anything. It was enough to show that prisoners could starve themselves to death.

[Odenat]

But the important thing, to you, is that we're now talking about an issue besides 144 people dying in Turkish prisons as a result of hunger strikes, yes? TURKEY NEVER DOES ANYTHING BAD EVER WITHOUT JUSTIFICATION lol. By all means, continue the comedy show.

Bah, we never say that Turkey never does anything wrong.

But what pissed us most is that you call yourself a developped country with over 7000 deaths in prison a year and you accuse countries like Turkey for 144 people dead in 32 years.

After reading about Guantanamo, i really think that Turkey is much more developed country with better human rights records. At least, we don't torture our prisoners and they can have trials. I hope one day USA will accept this basic human right too.

[Prosaic Visitant]

Bah, we never say that Turkey never does anything wrong.

But what pissed us most is that you call yourself a developped country with over 7000 deaths in prison a year and you accuse countries like Turkey for 144 people dead in 32 years.

After reading about Guantanamo, i really think that Turkey is much more developed country with better human rights records. At least, we don't torture our prisoners and they can have trials. I hope one day USA will accept this basic human right too.

Nationalism is so funny.

[Vanoi]

Bah, we never say that Turkey never does anything wrong.

But what pissed us most is that you call yourself a developped country with over 7000 deaths in prison a year and you accuse countries like Turkey for 144 people dead in 32 years.

After reading about Guantanamo, i really think that Turkey is much more developed country with better human rights records. At least, we don't torture our prisoners and they can have trials. I hope one day USA will accept this basic human right too.

Of all countries Turkey has no room to talk about human rights. Lets not turn this into a "who has better human rights" thread.