Kurdish youth murdered by police...

[Emre]

During recent protests against the prison conditions of the Kurdistan Workers Party General Secretary Abdullah Öcalan a Kurdish youth was murdered.

Some pictures of the demonstation:
yeniozgurpolitika.com/?bolum=haber&hid=54186

[Emre]

But he wasnt a vegan and didnt live in a squat, so it doesnt matter.

[bricolage]

Wow, trolling your own thread before anyone else even posts.

Way to remember the dead.

And of course it ALWAYS matters when someone is murdered by the state.

[Andropov]

Are the Left wing organisations in Turkey split on ethnic lines?

[FSL]

And more importantly is PKK still a workers' party? I thought it had made a pro-US turn in the recent years in the hopes of it pushing forward an independent Kurdistan state (or "independent" anyway).

[Red7]

The PKK has not sided with U.S. or coalition as far as I know. They're pretty devoted fighters. In fact, they have stepped away from a national independence movement and focused more on fighting Turkish militaristic pricks. My great grandfather is Kurdish. I hear news from time to time. Brave people.

[RedRise]

I did a school project on the Kurdish people once. Found out that the Turkish government has done some pretty terrible stuff to them. Is the situation getting any better?

[Devrim]

Are the Left wing organisations in Turkey split on ethnic lines?

No, obviously Kurdish nationalist organisations tend not to attract that many Turkish people, but even they do have members who are not Kurds. To a certain extent, there is no real 'ethnic' division between Turks and Kurds anyway, but more a matter of cultural identity. I know people with two Kurdish speaking parents who identify as Turks, and people with a Turkish father, (but Kurdish mother) who identify as Kurds.

People have argued on here repeatedly that race is purely a social construct. If that is the case then obviously this idea of an ethnic group is even more so.

That is not to buy into the Turkish states line that Kurds don't exist. Of course they do. There are people who speak Kurdish and identify as being Kurds. It is merely to say that there is no real ethnic division, which is reinforced by the fact that although you may sometimes see somebody and think "she looks Kurdish", you can't really tell Turks and Kurds apart physically.


And more importantly is PKK still a workers' party? I thought it had made a pro-US turn in the recent years in the hopes of it pushing forward an independent Kurdistan state (or "independent" anyway).

It changed its name from the PKK years ago, but it is still in general use. Yes, they have made a pro-US turn in recent years.


The PKK has not sided with U.S. or coalition as far as I know. They're pretty devoted fighters.

The fact that people are pretty devoted fighters has no connection to what they are fighting for.

The PKK has made moves towards the US, and it is well documented From a previous post:


Interestingly enough, although they are still referred to as the PKK, they changed there name to KADEK (Kurdistan Freedom and Democracy Congress) years ago. They have also dropped the Marxism, and prior to Obama's presidency were trying to move towards the US, though it now seems that the US has completely rejected these overtures.

The moves towards the US were initiated through PJAK, the Iranian section:


Later in November 2006 Hersh wrote that, "Israel and the United States have also been working together in support of a Kurdish resistance group known as the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan. The group has been conducting clandestine cross-border forays into Iran."

According to Hersh, Israel has been providing the Kurdish group with "equipment and training." The group has also been given "a list of targets inside Iran of interest to the US."
The Turkish government has also made insinuations about this sort of collaberation between PJAK and the US:


The session was no doubt prompted by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's complaints that U.S. explanations were unconvincing as to why "a serious amount" of weapons confiscated from the PKK were U.S.-made (NTV, July 16).Cemil Bayik, a senior commander and founder member of the PKK, just came out and said it though:


If the US is interested in PJAK, then it has to be interested in the PKK as well

After this comment was made PJAK leader, Haji Ahamdi's visited Washington in August 2007 to hold meetings with US officials, but only recieved limited acsess.

It is no surprise that these sort of nationalists try to get the backing of powerful states. They can't operate in any other way.
I did a school project on the Kurdish people once. Found out that the Turkish government has done some pretty terrible stuff to them. Is the situation getting any better?

It is not as bad as it once was, but that does not mean the situation for Kurdish people is wonderful in this country, or that there is no repression.

Devrim

[Emre]

Yes, Devrim is broadly correct. I should also add that many of the left organisations in Turkey have an awful position on the Kurdish question ranging from ultra leftism, 'smash all nations' to the nationalist 'we want an independent Turkey' as the TKP say. What about an independent Kurdistan?

[Andrei Kuznetsov]

But he wasnt a vegan and didnt live in a squat, so it doesnt matter.

The sad thing is, I've met far too many Anarchists who uphold such a line...


...regardless, my solidarity and greetings go out to my Turkish and Kurdish comrades.

[Kayser_Soso]

PKK seems to have sold out on almost every level- I'm not even sure exactly what they are fighting for at this time. However they have some very interesting views on feminism which is why I would like to learn from them.