Kurdish Human Rights Impact Report for 2005

We are delighted to receive a copy of the Kurdish Human Rights Impact project

For year 2005. This impact report covers the period from January to December

2005.

Kurdish Human Rights Project is an NGO monitoring the human rights situation in Kurdish areas in Middle East and elsewhere.

To retrieve a copy of the report visit KHRP at:

www.khrp.org

Save ROJ TV Team

Ewroj is a weekly programme on ROJ TV presented every Sunday at 17:30

EWROJ


Ewroj is a weekly programme on ROJ TV presented every Sunday at 17:30

Central European time. Its duration is 30 minutes.


It is presented in Northern Kurdish ( Kurmanci) by our colleague Burhan Erdem
EwRoj means Today in Kurdish , but here it is meant to comply Europe today.
Ewroj follows the agenda of the European Union. In each programme two topics are chosen with background information and interviews.

The possible accession of Turkey is main theme in Ewroj. The programme keeps a close track of events in Turkey regarding EU.
Imparting information on EU to Kurdish viewers is considered highly important by ROJ TV.

Kurdistance : Finding Rebirth in Grief

Wednesday , may 17th, 2006

....This reminds me - and hence I am spreading the knowledge to you - that we need to remember the struggle of the Kurdish people to be in control of a homeland of their own. We need to support causes like Save RojTV as it playing a critical role in the continuence of Kurdish culture, language and media in the Diaspora; we need to think in different ways to find the support in the subtle as in Pearls of Iraq Purple Ribbon Campaign; we need to remember to keep the dialouge open.
Deborah Ann Dilley

Source : http://www.globalvoiceonline.org/author/delal/

Presentation of some ROJ TV programmes

AVRUPADAN

AVRUPADAN (from Europe) is a weekly programme on ROJ TV , it has been on air since the outset of ROJ TV's broadcasting.

In the program European politicians are interviewed. They take up issues related to various aspects of Union's development.

The duration of programme is 35 to 40 minutes and it is recorded in the studios of European Parliament both in Brussels and Strasbourg.







ROJ TV's journalists Hussein Almali and Senem Guneser produce and present the programme. The interview is done in French or English and then it is voiced over in Turkish.

The main aim of the show is to inform Kurdish and Turkish viewers about EU.

Graham Watson, Michel Rocard, Miroslaw Geramek, Nario Soares, Monica Frassoni , Luisa Morgantini- MEP, Vittorio Angeletto – MEP, Jean Lambert-MEP, Morgan Camre-MEP, Eric Jurgens- Lord Russel Johnston Council of Europe, Josst Lagendijk-MEP are among many other European politicians whom so far have appeared on the show.



Sent: Every Saturday at 22:10 hours Central European time

Roj TV Now Broadcasts in Sweden

05.12.2006 Friday - ISTANBUL 15:58

By Cihan, Istanbul
Published: Friday, May 05, 2006
zaman.com

The Denmark-based Roj TV has now started broadcasting in Sweden by cable TV.

The UPC company, the largest cable TV operator in Sweden, has reached an agreement to allow Roj TV to broadcast. The UPC has also some Turkish channels such as Show TV, TGRT and TRT-Int in their portfolio.

Saying that they had received "keen" interest regarding subscriptions to Roj TV, the Swedish TV company officials refused to give exact information about the number of subscribers due to their privacy policy.

Turkish Ambassador to Stockholm Necip Eguz said in relation to this fresh development that he would immediately investigate the issue before making further assessments.

Swedish officials have not made any formal statements regarding the issue so far.

The broadcasting of the Roj TV channel on Danish territory has caused a strain in relations between Turkey and Denmark.

Kurdish Writer ROJAN HAZIM,s petition to Danish Prime Minister

To:

Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen

Christiansborg
Prins Jørgens Gård 11
1218 København K

Dear Mr. Anders Fogh Rasmussen

In spite of the fact that Turkey is a candidate country for EU membership, and has started accession talks the 3rd of October this year, Olli Rehn, the EU commissioner in charge of enlargement, recently reported that Turkey still needs to implement reforms on a number of specific and significant areas. As it is today the Kurds do not hold the right to express themselves freely. Identifying yourself as a Kurd is still risky bussines, and poses a grave risk to your life.

Due to article 42 in the Turkish Constitution which bans the teaching of any mother tongue other than Turkish, no teaching or eduacation in Kurdish exists in Turkey. Equally, publishing and broadcasting in Kurdish is practically prohibited. Radio stations and tv stations established by Kurds are not allowed to air programs using the Kurdish language. In other words, one cannot speak Kurdish in Turkey without facing significant obstacles or flat out being punished.

Thus Turkey's usual anti-Kurdish policies based on the denial and rejection of the Kurdish identity continue on full scale.

A Kurdish diaspora of considerable size can be found in various european countries. Approximately one million Kurds live within EU's borders. And in a democratic system like the EU the Kurds naturally and rightfully consider themselves as Kurds and live in peace with their national identity. The Kurds have organized themselves and have become integrated in European life, and because of their need for social and cultural acitivities they have become involved in the media bussines. The Kurds of today are on a broad basis publishing newspapers and broadcasting radio or television programs in Kurdish. One of these channels is ROJ TV, which is established in full accordance with danish legislation. One thing is the fact that Turkey does not allow Kurdish broadcasting within its own borders, Turkey does not even tolerate the democratic states of Europe allowing it.

The number of Kurds who actually read and write Kurdish is not overwhelming. This is exactly why the electronic media are incredibly important instruments in developing and protecting the language, while maintaining the cultural formation and the authentic Kurdish folklore, but most importantly protecting the Kurdish identity. Television is especially effective in daming up the Turkish assimilation of the Kurds.

Television is the most significant means of education for every Kurd, whether it be in Kurdistan, Turkey or in the diaspora. In this context it becomes clear why the Turkish government pursues to terminate ROJ TV. Any Kurdish activity is being labelled by Turkey as terrorist activities, and with this approach the authorities are in fact harrasing the Kurdish population.

The Kurds are a people of victims. Not only are they being robbed of their human rights and their national rights in Turkey, the Turkish government also puts its claws in the Kurds living in EU member states. The Kurdish people only wishes to be able to express it self within the framework of the EU democracies. If this request is being rejected as a result of political pressure from the Turkish state it will trumatize the Kurds.

The Turkish government is currently putting a pressure on the Danish authorities in order to get ROJ TV's broadcasting license cancelled. Denmark is among the countries in which the freedom of press is upheld the best. But Turkey wants to export its antidemocratic and despotical regime to the democratic states of the EU.

Denmark, whose capital has given name to the democratic norms of the Copenhagen Criteria, should resist the pressure. 50 million Kurds all over the world hope that the Danish government will stand up for the Copenhagen Criteria, reflecting democracy and humanisme, and not give way for the Ankara Criteria which symbolize despotism and antidemocracy.

As a Kurdish writer in Denmark and a member of the Danish Writers Association I hope that your government will not deviate from the path of legal principals and justice, not allowing ROJ TV, the television station of the Kurdish people, to be closed. ROJ TV is the voice of the Kurds. I am asking you to listen to the prayer and appeal for conscience of the Kurdish people.


Kindest regards,


ROJAN HAZIM
Writer
13 November 2005


(images posted at : http://effat-sarwabad.persianblog.com)

Receb dances Kurdish dance in Amed (diyarbakir) !

The question is how long it takes him to learn the rules of the game?

Rave interviewed Joel Campagna

Rave interviewed Joel Campagna senior Program Coordinator of New York based Committee to Protect Journalists ( CPJ)

On Saturday 6 May 2006 , Hiwa Ebdulla the presenter of ROJ TV's Rave weekly program , interviewed Mr. Joel Campagna , about the situation of Journalists in Southern Kurdistan.

Here is the transcript of the interview.

Ebdulla : Good day to you Mr. Joel Campagna ! Could you please give us a general information about CPJ ?

Campagna : Good day ! The Committee to Protect Journalists was formed in 1981. It is based in New York . We are an international press freedom organisation . Our job is to defend the rights of journalists to do their jobs without fear for reprisals. Basically we use journalism to protect journalists, and that means exposing attacks against journalists , such as imprisonment of reporters for their work , censorship and violent attacks on journalists for their work. That is basically what we do. As I said we are an international organisation for freedom of the press.

Ebdulla : Could you elaborate on situation of journalists in Southern Kurdistan, because recently you have released statements concerning court cases against Kurdish journalists.

Here it seems , there are two problems unresolved, the first one is applying the clauses of Criminal Laws of ousted regime in the case of journalists and the second is the interpreting of journalists criticism as defamation. In your view how these problems could be dealt with ?

Campagna : I think how we deal with these problems is , to work with international standards , and today it has become widely accepted internationally , that journalists should never be jailed for what they write . Yet unfortunately today we see governments in the region , including Iraqi Kurdistan using laws that put journalists in jail for defamation.

We believe this is very dangerous for freedom of the press. Because, it causes a chill on the ability of journalists to report on governments, which is a major part of their job.

Therefore we are very troubled by a number of criminal defamation cases in Iraqi Kurdistan. As the case of Kamal Karim, the recent cases of Tuwana Osman and Asos Hardi , and the other case we have seen against Masture Mahmoud.

We think that the Kurdish authorities, likewise other governments, should do away with

these criminal laws and replace them with civil laws.

If some one feels their reputation has been harmed by a journalist , they should have a right to take that journalist to a court , but that should be a civil court.

Ebdulla : Thanks for your time.

Campagna : Thank you too.

Joel Campanga is

MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA SENIOR PROGRAM COORDINATOR Of CPJ

Campagna was a consultant to Human Rights Watch from 1993 to 1996 and traveled to Egypt and Lebanon as part of fact-finding missions in 1994, 1995, and 1996. Campagna has lived and studied in Egypt and has also worked as a researcher for the Cairo-based Center for Human Rights Legal Aid. He has a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs with a specialization in Middle East studies. Campagna earned a B.A. at Fordham University, where he majored in political science

Sweden Receives Warning from Turkey over Roj TV

05.07.2006 Sunday - ISTANBUL 21:47

Sweden Receives Warning from Turkey over Roj TV
By Anadolu News Agency (aa), Ankara
Published: Sunday, May 07, 2006
zaman.com

The Turkish government has asked for an explanation from the Swedish government as to why Roj TV now airs its programs on Swedish cable.

Since Roj TV cannot broadcast its programs by radio waves, the satellite network airs its programs in Sweden through cable in certain subscription packages.

According to Foreign Ministry officials, the Turkish government asked for information from the Swedish Foreign Ministry officials over the Roj TV issue.

Necip Eguz, the Turkish Ambassador to Stockholm, made contact with Swedish officials from the Foreign Ministry asking to be informed about the issue at hand, and said that the Turkish government will make every concerted effort to press the Swedish government to stop Roj TV from airing in Sweden.

The Turkish government is currently pressing for the closure of Roj TV, as the satellite network is believed to be broadcasting programs that entice as well as guide the terror activities of PKK; government officials in Turkey delivered a report citing such evidence to Denmark among other countries.

Source : Zaman on Line

Roj TV on air in Sweden

Saturday, May 6, 2006

ANKARA - Turkish Daily News

A Denmark-based television station that Turkey says is a mouthpiece for the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has started broadcasting in Sweden via a cable television network, CNN-Türk reported from Stockholm yesterday.

"We will soon investigate the issue of Roj TV broadcasting in Sweden. I'll make an assessment later," Turkey's ambassador to Sweden told the TV channel when he was asked about the issue.

Late last month Justice Minister Cemil Çiçek stated clearly that Danish authorities currently have sufficient evidence for the closure of Copenhagen-based Roj TV which Turkey accuses of provoking deadly street clashes in southeastern Anatolia earlier this year.

His remarks were a response to Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen saying that Denmark expected Turkey to present new evidence to finalize the ongoing police investigation into alleged ties between Roj TV and the outlawed PKK.

The CNN-Türk report on Roj TV came from Stockholm on the same day the Turkish Daily News reported from Washington that the United States is seeking the closure of European-based media outlets acting as mouthpieces for the PKK.

"We work very closely with Turkey to identify organizations associated with the PKK," said Kurt Volker, principal deputy assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, without citing the names of any such PKK-related media outlets.

UPC Sverige AB (UPC Sweden), which put Roj TV on its cable services, is one of the largest broadband companies in Sweden, providing television and broadband Internet services in the greater Stockholm area. Based on the companies operating statistics from Dec. 31, 2005, UPC Sweden's networks reached approximately 300,000 homes. These include 91,000 broadband Internet and 59,000 digital TV customers.

Company directors speaking to CNN-Türk noted that there has been a huge interest in Roj TV, but avoided giving specific numbers of subscribers due to their principle of secrecy.

UPC Sweden also provides broadcasting of Turkey-based public channel TRT-Int and also Turkey-based private channels TGRT and Show TV.

The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union, the United States and Turkey.

There was no official statement from authorities of EU member Sweden concerning the issue as of yesterday.

Roj TV has been a source of tension between Turkey and Denmark for the last two years. Denmark launched an investigation into whether Roj TV has links to the PKK only late last year and refuses to take action until their investigation is complete.

The Danish Radio and Television Board ruled last year that the station's programming could not be considered inflammatory but said it had asked police to look into alleged ties between Roj TV and the PKK.

Turkey had previously succeeded in ensuring the closure of two other European-based Kurdish television stations. MED-TV had its license revoked in Britain while France refused to grant a license to its successor, MEDYA-TV.

Turkiet kräver att Danmark stänger kurdisk tv-kanal

Flamman, vansterns Tidining
(2006-04-06)

Foto: Indymedia.

I östra Turkiet, norra Kurdistan, pågår just nu de mest våldsamma upplopp landet sett på flera år. Militärflyg och helikoptrar ständigt i luften. Ett flertal människor har redan mist sina liv. Den direkta bakgrunden är att 14 PKK-medlemmar dödades av turkiska trupper, vid stridigheter i Musprovinsen.

Bakomliggande orsak till upploppen är en ökad frustration över arbetslöshet, fattigdom och förtryck. Nyheter om begravning för fyra av de 14 dödade PKK-medlemmarna i Diyarbakir sändes ut i media av ROJ TV och kanalen har blivit beskylld för att uppmana till upplopp. Turkish Daily News går ännu längre och menar att kanalen uppmanar till inbördeskrig.
Bristen på mänskliga rättigheter i Turkiet är omfattande, och rapporterna om tortyr har inte upphört. Antiterroristlagarna, som skapades för att förhindra "kurdiska attentat", är väldigt långtgående och inskränker bland annat åsikts- och yttrandefriheten.

Turkifiering

I samklang med turkifieringspolitiken slår staten vakt om att landets enhet aldrig får ifrågasättas. På Reportrar utan gränsers hemsida kan man läsa om de turkiska lagarna. Staten har exempelvis rätt att bestraffa "propaganda mot nationens odelbara enhet". Flera kurdiska journalister har blivit dömda för "förödmjukande av staten och dess institutioner och hot mot den turkiska republikens enhet".
Den turkiska statens syn på denna fråga exemplifierar sig mycket väl i fallet med ROJ TV. ROJ TV började sända i mars 2004 från Danmark, med det uttalade målet att stärka den kurdiska identiteten hos kurder runt om i världen. Framför allt är kanalen viktig då den sänder på kurdiska. Turkiet har tidigare krävt av danska myndigheter att återkalla ROJ TV:s sändningstillstånd med argumentet att tv-stationen har kopplingar till PKK och att den "uppmanar till hat".

Tv från Danmark

Enligt publicaccess har även den amerikanska regeringen uppmanat Danmark att stänga ROJ TV. Danmarks motsvarighet till radio- och tv-nämnden har, med anledning av klagomål från den turkiska ambassaden, i nästan två år undersökt om ROJ TV har överträtt förbudet mot att sända program som på något sätt uppmanar till hat. Den har dock inte funnit något som med sans kan uppfattas som "uppmaning till hat". Inte heller har det påvisats något som helst samröre med PKK. Frågan inställer sig om det kanske är så att kanalen hotar den oomstridda enheten i den turkiska staten.
Varje morgon i Turkiet börjar skolbarnen med att ställa sig upp och säga "Vad lycklig jag är att vara turk!" Varje morgon kan kurdiska barn, tack vare ROJ TV, se barnprogram på sitt eget språk och lyssna på kurdiska sånger. Är kanalen ett hot mot den turkiska staten? Ja, i alla fall så som den ser ut idag. Nu ställer åtta kurdiska student- och ungdomsorganisationer i Sverige krav på regeringen, att sätta press på Turkiet, att sluta med våldet och fokusera på de reella orsakerna till stridigheterna.


Andreas Kotsadam

www.andreaskot.blogspot.com

Comments on Cosmic Duk's post

2 Comments:

Sophia said...

Turkey was always the darling of the united states. And this long friendship will be tested with the kurdish problem. All depends on the interests of both countries in matters of strategic cooperation in the middle east. Double standards in US foreign policy are routine. European countries are more and more aligning on US foreign policy and its double standards.

11:40 AM

Cosmic Duck said...
For some reason the Danish government has been resilient to the US in the matter of ROJ TV. Maybe there is backing from other EU countries who want to see Turkey reform before serious membership negotiations are undertaken.

Source : http://cosmcduck.blogspot.com

ERDOGAN GIVES LICENCE TO KILL KURDISH CHILDREN AND WOMEN

Statement by : YEK-KOM
ERDOGAN GIVES LICENCE TO KILL KURDISH CHILDREN AND WOMEN

In recent days violent confrontations and clashes between Kurdish citizens and the Turkish army and authorities have erupted in several Kurdish and Turkish cities including Diyarbakir, Batman, Siirt, Mardin, Kiziltepe, Istanbul and Yüksekova. Turkish police and military have attacked Kurdish civilians using tear gas, batons, firearms and tanks.

The names of the Kurds shot by Turkish police and military are as follows: Fatih Tekin (three years old), Enes Ata (six years), Abdullah Duru (nine years), Mehmet Akbulut (18 years), Mehmet Isikci (19 years), Tarik Atakaya (22 years) and Mustafa Eryilmaz (26 years).
Preceding these murders were the peaceful funeral and mourning processions for members of the Kurdish Peoples Defence Forces (HPG) who were killed with poison gas by the Turkish army during one of its most recent military operations in the region of Mus-Bingöl. Just days before these attacks, the Kurdish guerrilla forces announced another unilateral truce to ensure peaceful celebrations of the Kurdish New Year, Newroz.

In addition to these developments, it is alarming to see the Turkish state's response to legitimate demands and democratic actions of the Kurdish people. On the one hand special fighting units of the Turkish army are increasingly deployed in the Kurdish regions in order to crush the people's protest and uprising. On the other, attacks on Kurdish institutions, organisations and politicians are intensifying. Blaming the Kurdish TV-station ROJ-TV for the current developments and events, Turkish political and military authorities now try to achieve their long-standing goal of closing down the popular Kurdish TV-station. The repression of Kurdish political representatives is taken to another level as Turkey is threatening legal action and court cases as well as open violence against Kurdish mayors and parties such as the Party for a Democratic Society (DTP).

All this illustrates vividly the extent to which the Turkish state understands the Kurdish peoto a licence to kill, the green light for more massacres on the Kurdish civilian population. According to Erdogan's reasoning, murdering children is part of necessary intervention by the state in agreement with Turkish political authorities. With his words and actions Erdogan makes himself personally and politically fully responsible for the massacres of Kurdish civilians. ple as part of its own citizenship. That is, Kurds are still perceived and treated as 'terrorists, trouble makers and traitors'. Equally, reforms of linguistic, cultural and political rights of the Kurds, which were introduced hesitantly, were subsequently declared invalid by the Turkish authorities. Again, the Turkish government of minister president Erdogan demonstrates that so-called reforms and declarations of intent are a sole masquerade.

Responding to the recent events, Erdogan issued a statement in which there was not a single word lost about the murdered children and adolescents. The police and military forces responsible for the murders do not have to fear any legal or disciplinary consequences. On the contrary, the Turkish minister president said the following: 'Our security forces will use the necessary force and intervene against anybody who agrees to be a tool of terror, including children and women. I want this to be clearly understood.' This statement amounts These most recent events clearly demonstrate that Turkey is still a long way from democracy, human rights and the rule of law. It is highly questionable whether the current developments in Turkey can be squared with aspirations for membership of the European Union. All member states of the EU are called upon to intervene strongly against these forms of state terrorism practiced by Turkey. If Turkey's policies and attitudes do not change the prospect of EU-membership can not be upheld any longer.

YEK- KOMThe Association of Kurdish Organisation in Europe
09.04.2006

Turkey and Denmark Clash Again over Freedom of Speech

LAW &Justice

16 november 2005

Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan boycotted a joint press conference with his Danish counterpart in protest at the presence of a Kurdish TV station Roj TV, highlighting European values on free speech. Mr. Erdogan was visiting Denmark as the first stop in a tour around EU capitals to discuss Turkey's EU membership.

Turkey has repeatedly asked Denmark to close down the TV channel, which broadcasts to Kurds in Denmark. Turkey claims it is financed by the PKK, which is on the EU's list of terrorist organisations. Danish police have not found evidence of links to forbidden organisations so far.
The Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen reacted:"There is a fundamental difference between Turkey and Denmark in matters of freedom of expression" and added that he regretted that Mr Erdogan did not attend the press conference, but pointed out that excluding the Kurdish TV-station from the conference would have violated the principles of freedom of expression in the EU.

This is the second recent clash between Denmark and Turkey about the press freedom. In September, the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published twelve cartoons about the prophet Muhammad. According to the Islam it is blasphemous to make images of the prophet. Muslim fundamentalists threatened to bomb the paper's offices and kill the cartoonists. It escalated into a major international conflict between Denmark and the Muslim world. Mr. Erdogan even stressed that anti-Islamism must be treated as a crime similar to anti-Semitism. At a meeting of the Eurasian Islamic Council meeting in Istanbul, Erdogan said his government added an article to the declaration in the European Council regarding Islamophobia stipulating that anti-Islamism be accepted as a crime against humanity.

posted by Edwin Jacobs at 23:18

The harassment against mayors of three other Kurdish towns

The harassment and pressures against supportive mayors of ROJ TV

continues unabated.

The mayors of Cizirê, Qoser and Kerboran were introgated for their signatures under the letter to Prime minister of Denmark.

Aydin Budak the mayor of Cizire was summoned to Public Prosecuting Office . In the course of interrogation he pointed out the letter was a response to the demand of their electorates .

The mayors of Qoser, Cihan Sincar and the mayor of Kerboran Silêman Anik were summoned to the prosecuting office for the same reason.

They all indicated that they firmly stand behind what is conveyed in the petition.

Source . ROJ TV News Centre

27.04.2006

Gani MIRZO Kurdish Composer lends its support to ROJ TV

I am Xani Mirzo a Kurdish musician , living in Spain. Right now I am working with a very well- known Catalan Theatre group called ( Els Comediants ) . I have composed the music for the latest performance of the Group ( one thousand and a night ) .

For this contribution I got the Mini MAX price this year.

I support Kurdish Channel ROJ TV , for its most modern and effective role in promoting Kurdish music and culture . My works have been presented by ROJ TV.

For the survival of Kurdish culture and Music , ROJ TV must survive

Kurdish composer

Gani MIRZO

30.04.2006

www.ganimirzo.com