Wave your flag Kurdistan!

[Diri]

People, Ladies and Gentlemen... I have loong been thinking of doing some sort of "civil disobedience" in Turkey... There are of course many things you can do that will be percieved as such in a country like Turkey where almost nothing is allowed in matters of Kurds...

Till now I have come up with this:

If a person was to raise the American flag in Northern Kurdistan next to the Turkish... Lets say in Amed. He then the next day raises the American, Turkish and Israeli flag... And the third day he raises the American, Turkish, Israeli and Kurdish flags... What would happen??? Would the police come and burn the Kurdish flag??? Or would they take down all except the Turkish??? I mean - When Kurdistan officially becomes a state in Iraq - the right to raise its flag will be legetimate... Can the Turkish police then burn the Kurdish flag??? I mean wouldn't this stunt get an unusual amount of media coverage??? And this in return would highlight the Turkish states discrimination and mistreating of Kurds... If the Police takes down the American, Israeli AND the Kurdish -wouldn't this be an offence to the Americans and Israelis??? Do you think they would arrest that person if that person has a west European passport???
Hmmm... what do you think - guys???

Do you have other, maybe better ideas of how to provoke the Turkish state AND getting good publicity for Kurds???

[cheryl]

Diri, since the turkish flag burning incident, turkish flags have been covering everything. also, turkish nationalism is on the rise and that would make any flag situation more difficult.

on the other hand, i think some other kind of civil disobedience would be effective, and maybe in conjunction with egitim sen, the turkish teachers' union. in case you haven't seen it, here's the news on that:

Turkey closes teachers union Egitim Sen
07/06/2005 Peace in Kurdistan Campaign
With a membership of some 210,000 the teachers union Egitim Sen is the the largest education workers union in Turkey. The successor to two previous banned teachers unions, Egitim Sen has existed since 1995.

Since it’s foundation the union has had a clause in its constitution defending the right of every individual to be taught in their mother tongue and to observe and nourish their own cultural traditions. Ten months ago the Turkish state began a case against Egitim Sen which at the end of May 2005 resulted in the forced closure of the union based on the defence of language rights being an attack on the indivisibility and and unitary nature of Turkey.

The union now faces the choice of renouncing its commitment to mother tongue education or accepting permanent closure.

The issue underlying the closure of Egitim Sen is Turkey’s ceaseless struggle to both deny and destroy Kurdish identity within Turkish borders. With a Kurdish population of some 20 million most of whom still speak Kurdish and who resolutely identify themselves as Kurds Turkey’s attempts to crush symbols of resistance has merely served to increase Kurdish resolve.

The survival of the Kurdish language is largely due to the low priority Turkey traditionally gave to the provision of education. This meant that the education of Kurdish children fell mostly to their mothers who taught their children in Kurdish. As education has become more widespread and accessible so its utility as a means of social engineering has increased with all education being strictly in Turkish with the use of Kurdish by teachers being a dismissible offence.

Officials of the Diyarbakir branch of Egitim Sen believe that the attack on the union goes deeper than the issue of language rights. Egitim Sen is an example of a union which has successfully brought together Kurds and Turks in a single representative body against a state which remains hostile to workers rights. Recent developments in Turkey have seen an upsurge in chauvinist Turkish nationalism which has encouraged anti-Kurdish sentiment. This is illustrated by the Kemalists within the union who are pressing for the union to drop the offending clause, a condition for the lifting of the ban. A further issue is the politicisation of management within the education system. Egitim Sem has brought some 3000 cases against the government for political interference especially over the appointment of governing party sympathisers to key managerial positions.

At a time when Turkey is being groomed for EU membership the state’s behaviour is highly inappropriate and at odds with the values Europe claims to espouse. Egitim Sem is already in the process of appealing to Strasbourg and calls upon fellow teachers, trade unionists, politicians and concerned European citizens for support. The issues must be taken up by all those concerned with basic human rights and who believe that Turkey’s membership of the EU should be accompanied by genuine democratisation and respect for minority rights.

This press release is based on a meeting on 1 June 2005 between the Diyarbakir branch of Egitim Sem and a visiting delegation from England. For information contact: peace in Kurdistan Campaign on tel 020 7586 5892 or 020 7250 1315 e-mail: mailto:knklondon@gn.apc.org

http://www.kurdmedia.com/news.asp?id=7022


egitim sen needs the support of all who want to see kurdish language become an accepted language of education in the southeast.

[Diri]

I have read that article before Cheryl - It is very revealing - Turkey is saying NO to organizations that aren't purely Kurdish even - Like Egitim Sen... It is more like a "let Turks and Kurds become friends and live in harmony in Turkey"... It is that kind of thing--- you know it isn't a political Organization in its basic level... All they want to is teach people how to shoc tolerance - and even that is forbidden in Turkey...

But I don't want this civil disobedience to be a part of an organization - that would probably make it less Kurdish... They would simply say that it was this and that organization in the news... But if a person stands up and says "I am Kurd" - and if the person has a West European passport the person is in someway immune to abuse by the Turkish state... Don't you think???

ANY better ideas?? Something concrete...

[kassem]

w

[Diri]

Kassem - I didn't mention anything about the PKK - Of course people with links to the PKK will be jailed... But Norway isn't like Germany... They would be worried about their citizens - and the ARE if something happens - like the tsunami... Norwegians were worried sick over their citizens there - many whom were native Singaleese, Indian, Thai and Indonesian... So I am sure that Norway is much better at taking responsibility for its citizen... I believe it is because there are only 4,5 million people in Norway - so naturally they have better quality in relations with their population... Not like Germany where there are 60-70 million people...


Yes - Gandhi style is good... and that is the kind of thing I was thinking about - do you have any suggestions Kassem??? A normal demonstration isn't working anymore... we need to do something political... That is the only way the media will take our story...

I guess it depends on which European country you are from... But I am certain that Sweden and Norway are very protective of their citizen...

[kassem]

w

[Diri]

I dunno realy... It IS hard to come up with something smart... Maybe the best way to go is to lobby here in West Europe and get the Support of the states we can... This fall for example - there will be an election in Norway. There is a party here that usually wins about 20 % -but this year it stands even stronger and is expected to win ca 25-30 %... And this part has adopted a article claiming support for Kurds in all the states they live in in the MiddleEast...

It is Socialist Left Party - I have been supporting it even before they came upwith this resolution... I can interpret it for you:

"The Kurds are the worlds largest ethnic people without their own national state and are prosecuted in the states they do reside. SV (Socialist Left) has for many years been active in the case of the Kurds rights and we wish to resume this support.

The most important issue is to secure human rights in the states Kurds live today. The Kurdish question must be raised in international organizations where Norway and Turkey participate. In cases of Iran we must demand an end to the capture (throwing in jail - directly translated), torture and capital punishment, about securing the basic human rights and about the Kurds right to practice their own culture.

In Iraq it is non-the-less important to give support to the exhisting groups that work for womens rights in the Kurdish areas. In Syria the so-called-stateless Kurds must be given citizenship and the equal rights to (among others) education. Prisoners of counscience must be released!

The main political aim of this project is in foreseeable future to make the states more democratic. For Turkey and Syria it is central to secure minority rights in their Constitutions and also in practice!

For Iraq and Iran there has been released a solution based on FEDERATIONS. SV has supported regional self-determination for the Kurds and will be able to give support internationally recognized FEDERATIONS. "

Nice??? I LOVE this party...
Think about that for just a second - do you have any parties in your countries that specifically mentions the "KURDISH PEOPLE"?

[pepula]

i say go for it. we havent got anything to lose

[Diri]

Hey - Pepula - Welcome and hope you enjoy a good discussion

Would you be willing to do such a thing? I mean the flag inccident discribed in the first post...

[kassem]

w

[Diri]

Now you are talking Kassem - you are admiting that PKK is STILL a communist party... I believe so anyway... from the way they show things on ROJ TV... They never let people call and say THEIR oppinion when they have political discussions and they only promote people that are dear to them...

[kassem]

w

[Diri]

For its own sake I DO hope it has put away the red star for good... It was only leading to bad things anyway -AND much of the culture on the Northern Kurds - that valueable culture - was lost due to the Communist ideology of having a homogenous society... a society where everybody is the same...

[kassem]

w

[Diri]

I'll give YOU an answer tomorrow... I wanna sleep