BIA² Media Report: Army Shadow on Press

59 years imprisonment demanded for 7 reporters covering conscientious objection and the Kurdish issue during the last three months. Number of 301 victims has reached 65. 5 people are on trailed under charges of violating the Law to Protect Ataturk.

BIA News Center

20/11/2006 Erol ONDEROGLU BİA (Istanbul) - The 2006 3rd Quarterly Media Monitoring Report prepared by the BIA² Media Monitoring Desk and covering the months of July, August and September has been released.

The 14-page report discloses factual details on the situation of the media in relation to rights and freedoms showing the growing burden on the Turkish press under the new Anti-Terror Law which has expanded the scope of offenses. The media also suffers from the debate around a possible peaceful solution to Turkey's Kurdish problem.

The "normalization" and "democratization" processes under the European Union reforms are subject to about-turn with military strategies and practices being enforced.

Interviewing representatives of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), allowing a voice to opposition Kurdish politicians, defending the right of being against war and conscientious objection are all regarded as offenses punishable with prison terms. The situation in its most recent form has turned journalism into a more dangerous occupation.

The 3rd Quarterly Media Monitoring Report attracts attention not only to the destructive effects on the media of the conflict environment but also to the plight of 65 people who, in the past year alone, have been put on trial under controversial penal code article 301 just for expressing their opinions. 25 of these 301 cases were launched in the past three months.

Back to the DGM days!

With the recent amendment to Turkey's Anti-Terror Law (TMY), the punishment of journalists covering conscientious objection and/or the non-violent aspects of armed organizations has been increased.

The cases are being heard not at courts of first instance but at "Specialized High Criminal Courts" that have replaced the State Security Courts (DGM) that were abolished in 2004 under the EU reforms.

Sebati Karakurt, Hasan Kilic and Necdet Tatlican of the mass circulation "Hurriyet" newspaper, "Milliyet" newspaper reporter Namik Durukan, "Birgun" newspaper employees Gokhan Gencay and Ibrahim Cesmecioglu and "Ulkede Ozgur Gundem" newspaper reporter Birgul Ozbaris are those now facing the resurrected "DGM days". A total of 59 years imprisonment is being demanded for them.

No change in a year

The BIA² Media Monitoring Desk which had previously disclosed that as of July 1, 2006, a total of 40 people faced charges under article 301, now states that the figure has increased to 65 defendants as of October 1. An increase of 25 new suspects charged under this controversial article in 3 months alone.

According to the Desk, there is no change in the situation compared to the same period of last year and pressures on the freedom of expression still continue.

163 people appear at courts, 77 of them journalists

The report focused on the situation of 163 people of which 77 are journalists and 84 are publishers. The remaining include mayors, writers, unionists and activists under trial as well as two people who have applied to the European Court of Human Rights.

The desk's previous report contained information on 56 cases launched against 67 individuals and the increase in the number of cases is attributed to the "aiding and abetting the PKK" charges brought forth against 56 mayors. There is also an increase in the number of trials.

The 3rd Quarterly Media Monitoring Report covers current issues under the titles "attacks and threat", "detentions and arrests", "trials and attempts", "European Court of Human Rights", "RTUK practices", "regulations and seeking rights" and "reaction to censorship".

According to the report, there are attempts to exert pressure on the Turkish media through high compensation demands coming from various circles including the Koza Gold Company, OYAK, MOPAK Paper Company, politicians and local authorities.

A total of 6 million 396 thousand YTL in damages is being demanded in cases filed against 30 journalists while 4 journalists have been put on trial charged with "insult" and threatened with prison terms, one of whom has already been sentenced.

Fate of arrested unknown under TMY secrecy

* In three months a total of 12 attacks took place against journalists and media institutions out of which 3 were against the www.ihdist.org , www.solgazete.net and www.bianet.org İnternet sites and 3 others targeted local journalists.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's unfounded allegations against the media were also referred to as attacks in the recent report. The number of attacks in this year's 3rd Quarterly Media Monitoring Report reflect a drop compared to the same period of last year where there were 23 attacks but an increase compared to the previous three months in 2006 where only 10 attacks were listed.

* While no detention incident was reported, there have been a number of arrests. "Ozgur Radyo" Broadcast Director Fusun Erdogan and "Atilim" newspaper Editor in Chief Ibrahim Cicek were among 6 journalists who were placed under arrest on charges of "having relationships with the Marxist Leninist Communist Party (MLKP) organization.

But because the Anti-Terror Law has imposed a six month secrecy on the case file, details of the allegations are not known.

* While "Isci Koylu" (Workers Peasants) magazine Editor in Chief Memik Horuz who was arrested in 2001 was the "only journalist held in prison in the capacity of press freedoms", the arrest and imprisonment of Dicle News Agency (DIHA) reporters Evrim Dengiz, Nesrin Yazar and Rustu Demirkaya has increased this figure to 4 in the past six months.

Increase in "Organization Cases"

* There is an increase in the number of cases opened against journalists and other political and civil society representatives who focus on the Kurdish issue. The increase is reflective in trials based on "aiding and abetting the PKK" charges.

"Ulkede Ozgur Gundem" newspaper Editor in Chief Huseyin Aykol is subject to a trial where a prosecutor demands 10 years imprisonment for him on allegations of "organizational membership" based on his interviews with PKK leaders on Kandil mountains. 56 mayors, on the other hand, are on trial for sending a letter to Danish Prime Minister Rassmusen urging him not to close down the Kurdish "Roj TV" under Turkish pressure.

301 targets associations

* In the past three months not only journalists but association members have also been charged under article 301. 25 new cases under this article include charges against Mersin 78's Foundation member Ethem Dincer and Ozgur Der official Burhan Kurbanoglu.

* Article 216 of the Penal Code which covers the offense of "incitement to hatred and enmity" was used in court cases launched against 6 people in the same period.

Again, in the same three months, Ankara Public Prosecutor Huseyin Boyrazoglu filed an appeal to overturned the previous acquittal decision for Professor Dr. Ibrahim Kaboglu, the former head of the Human Rights Advisory Board of the Prime Ministry and board member Prof. Dr. Baskin Oran on grounds that their views in the "minority report" subject to trial were not in the scope of freedom of expression.

"Ataturk" cases against five

* Prosecutions launched under the "Insulting the memory of Ataturk" law are targeting not only publishers and journalists but also translators.

Journalist-writer Ipek Calislar is on trial for interviews related to her bestseller book "Latife Hanim" together with "Hurriyet" newspaper editor Necdet Tatlican.

Publisher Fatih Tas, translators Lutfi Taylan Tosun and Aysel Yildirim are on trial and face 4.5 years imprisonment each for the Turkish language version of John Tirman's "Spoils of War: The Human Cost of America's Arms Trade".

12 "Intervention in Justice" cases

* Allegations made against journalists and activists under Penal Code articles 277 and 288 as well as Press Law article 19 charging them with "intervention in justice" have increased in the past three months.

12 journalists are still on trial under this allegation including Milliyet's Lube Ayar, Yeni Asya's Faruk Cakir, Agos's Hrant Dink and Aydin Engin.

Censorship and bans

* "Legal censorship" against newspapers and magazines continued between July and October 2006. "Ulkede Ozgur Gundem" newspaper was banned from print for 15 days on grounds of "continuously giving room to PKK statements".

A court ordered the seizure of Kaos GL magazine's summer issue on the theme of pornography ruling that it was against "general public moral" and Kaos GL is now taking the verdict to the ECHR.

* Ozgur Der member Bahadir Kurbanoglu, Mersin 78's Association Chairman Ethem Dincer, "Agos" newspaper Editor in Chief Hrant Dink and Sarkis Seropyan, editor Arat Dink were subject to new charges alongside the "Birgun" newspaper for a report on Saudi businessman Yasin El Kadi and "Leman" magazine as well as its cartoonist Mehmet Cagdag.

The number of court cases which was three last year in the same period was recorded as 7 in 2006.

* Long-term pressure related to published cartoons also reached its conclusion with the "Penguen" magazine fined 5,000 YTL in damages in a suit filed against it by Culture and Tourism Minister Atilla Koc.

And now the good news...

* The Beyoglu 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance acquitted "Father and Bastard" novel author Elif Safak who was put on trial for "publicly denigrating Turkishness" under article 301.

* The Bagcilar 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance dismissed charges against "Radikal" newspaper journalist Murat Yetkin for his article titled "Turkey will be on trial in the case launched against Orhan Pamuk" basing its verdict on statue of limitations.

The same court took the same decision for journalist Nese Duzel who was on trial for "propaganda" due to an interview she conducted with Democratic Society Party (DTP) founding member Orhan Dogan.

* Due to it being the summer months, the number of cases dealt with at the European Court of Human Rights was lower than usual and Turkey was sentenced to pay 7,000 YTL in damages in two cases brought before the court based on verdicts passed under penal code article 312. (EO/II/EU)

Armenia: Yezidi Identity Battle

Caucasus Reporting Service

Armenia: Yezidi Identity Battle
New textbooks highlight division within Armenia's Yezidi community.

By Onnik Krikorian in Yerevan (CRS No. 364 02-Nov-06)Yezidis in the western Aragatsotn region of Armenia have taken a dim view of government efforts, supported by the UN children's agency, UNICEF, to bolster minority education in the republic.

At the beginning of September, at an event staged in the Yezidi village of Alagyaz, government officials said that new textbooks in minority languages would be distributed to schools in minority-populated villages, while UNICEF said it would provide stationary and other supplies.
Less than a month later, however, Yezidis in Alagyaz and ten surrounding villages were complaining. Their language is the Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish, but the books funded and provided by the government were instead written in Ezdiki. While the latter is still Kurdish by another name, the alphabet chosen for publication was in the unaccustomed Cyrillic alphabet instead of the more usual Latin or Arabic scripts.

"All schools have at present is old Soviet-era textbooks," said Gohar Saroava, a young journalist with the Mesopotamia newspaper in Yerevan and one of the few Muslim Kurds remaining in Armenia. Others, however, are more outspoken. "These [new] books are a shame and we don't want to have this rubbish," said Torkom Khudoyan, vice-president of the National Committee of Yezidis of Armenia.

Speaking to IWPR, both UNICEF and Hranush Kharatyan, head of the Armenian government's department for national minorities and religious affairs, confirmed reports that the new textbooks are being rejected, but said that it was outside their remit to intervene. Critics, however, argue that the situation should never have arisen in the first place and allege it is part a continuing attempt to promote a non-Kurdish identity among Armenia's Yezidis.
Yezidis are the largest ethnic minority in Armenia, with most having arrived in the country in the mid 19th and early 20th centuries. Widely dismissed as devil worship, Yezidism in fact combines elements from Zoroastrianism, Islam, Christianity, and Judaism. Although the Yezidis are generally considered to be Kurds who resisted pressure to convert to Islam, there have been attempts to identify them as a separate ethnic group in Armenia since the last years of Soviet rule.

In 1988, an appeal was made to the Soviet authorities by some Yezidi leaders requesting that they be designated as an ethnic group. This coincided with the beginning of the Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict over Nagorny Karabakh, as a result of which, thousands of Muslim Kurds fled Armenia, alongside ethnic Azerbaijanis. Yezidis, however, were spared.

In 1989, the request was granted, and in the last Soviet census conducted the same year, out of approximately 60,000 Kurds who had been formerly identified as living in Armenia, 52,700 were for the first time given a new official identity as Yezidis. The 2001 census put the number of Yezidis and Kurds in the republic at 40,620 and 1,519 respectively.

Hasan Tamoyan, editor of the Armenian-language Yezidikhana newspaper and head of the Yezidi programme on Armenian Public Radio, eagerly cites the last census as evidence that Yezidis are not Kurds. Tamoyan is also one of the authors of the controversial new school textbooks.
"There are over 40,000 people who identified themselves as Yezidis and only around 1,500 that identified themselves as Kurds," said Tamoyan. "Aren't you inclined to believe the official data? Is Kurmanji listed as a language in the census? The Kurdish language is not even mentioned. There is only the Yezidi language, Ezdiki."

However, few specialists on the Yezidis outside of Armenia agree.
"The Yezidi religious and cultural tradition is deeply rooted in Kurdish culture and almost all Yezidi sacred texts are in Kurdish," said Philip Kreyenbroek, head of Iranian studies at the University of Goettingen in Germany and a leading specialist on the Kurds and the Yezidis of Turkey and northern Iraq.

Dr Christine Allison, a lecturer at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, INALCO, in Paris currently conducting fieldwork among Yezidis in Armenia, agrees. "I have met more Yezidis in Armenia who believe they are also Kurds," she said, "and with the exception of two villages in Iraq, Yezidis speak Kurmanji Kurdish. Their oral and material culture is typical of Kurdistan and pretty much identical to non-Yezidi Kurds."

Nahro Zagros, an ethnic Kurdish PhD student from Iraq studying the ethno-musical traditions of Yezidis at the University of York, concurs. Zagros says that he also stumbled upon what many consider to be the artificial division of the community on a recent visit to Armenia. "The school in Shinkani has refused these textbooks, and teachers from Rya Taze, Alagyaz, Dirik, Orta Chia, Amri Taze and Jamushlow have also rejected them," he said.
The situation in Armenia also differs markedly from that in neighbouring Georgia, home, according to official statistics, to 18,000 Yezidis.

"There are problems in Georgia, but we [Kurds] are one nation," said Pir Dima, a Yezidi religious leader from Tbilisi visiting Armenia in September. "It's just that our religion is different. However, the problem in Georgia is nowhere near as serious as it is in Armenia. Yezidis here [in Armenia] don't want Armenians to know that they are Kurdish because Muslim Kurds killed Armenians as well as Yezidis [during the 1915 genocide]."
Rostom Atashov, president of the Union of Yezidis in Georgia, told IWPR his community uses the Kurmanji dialect and the Latin script. "We are both Yezidis and Kurds," he said. "We have one language and it is Kurdish, and if you look at where the Yezidis came from geographically, it is Kurdistan. In Georgia, we've never even debated this problem. Yezidis are Kurds, and we all believe that."

Atashov also says he believes that the division has opened up Armenia's Yezidi community to the appeal of organisations such as the Kurdistan Workers Party, PKK, currently fighting a guerrilla war in Turkey. "The Armenian government doesn't want to recognise Yezidis as Kurds so the only people willing to help Yezidis in Armenia with establishing their identity are groups such as the PKK," he said.

And that certainly seems to be the case in at least six Yezidi villages in the Aragatsotn and Armavir regions of Armenia visited by IWPR this autumn. While many Yezidis openly identified themselves as such, all also said they were Kurmanji-speaking ethnic Kurds. They additionally expressed support for the PKK and displayed portraits of Abdullah Ocalan, the organisation's imprisoned leader, in their homes, cultural centres and schools.

In recent years, several PKK representatives have also openly visited Armenia to tour Yezidi villages. Last year, Yusuf Avdoyan, a Yezidi from the Armavir region of Armenia, was killed along with six other PKK members fighting in Batman, Turkey. According to the Kurdistan Committee in Armavir, his sister has now also joined the PKK and is currently fighting with them.

Some experts believe that the government has only succeeded in alienating the Yezidis through its education policies. One academic from Europe speaking to IWPR on the condition of anonymity said, "The state seems to be distinctly encouraging the Ezdiki faction and has not latched on to the fact that Kurmanji and Ezdiki, which were the same language for the entire Soviet period, are still the same. The most obvious and cost-effective compromise would be to produce Ezdiki-Kurdish schoolbooks in a mutually agreed alphabet."

Kharatyan says that she proposed a solution such as this to resolve this conflict over language, but was threatened by both sides of the Yezidi community instead. The government has since said it will monitor the distribution of the controversial textbooks, but the Kurdistan Committee is now printing its own textbooks in the Latin script for distribution to Yezidi schools during the second half of November.

Knyaz Hassanov, head of the Kurdish community in Armenia, told IWPR, "These books do not concern us. They are not important and we have decided to publish our own. The overwhelming majority [of Yezidis in Armenia] consider themselves Kurds, so if 1-2,000 do not feel the same it's not significant enough of an issue for us. Besides, it's also their right."

Source :Onnik Krikorian is a British-born journalist and photojournalist who has written on Yezidis in Armenia since 1998. He has a blog from Armenia at http://oneworld.blogsome.com/.
For Andrei Liankevich's vivid photo essay on the Yezidis, visit IWPR's Galleries of War & Peace.

Kurdish Human Rights Activist Saif Badrkhan's message to ROJ TV

ROJ TV is the voice of the Kurdish people. It is the voice of peace, human rights, Kurdish culture and the oppressed people. The programs ROJ are professional and represent all aspects of life and needs of the Kurdish people. It is what the Kurdish nation needs to develop its culture and Identity. I feel very proud every time I watch or talk about ROJ TV.

Saif Badrkhan
USA

Report: The Yezidis Kurds from Tbilisi

Article published in 20/12/2006 Issue


By Nicolas LANDRU in Tbilisi

Translated by Christian Nils LARSON (originally in French, first appearing in the December 12, 2006 edition)

On a sloping backstreet of Mtatsminda in Tbilisi , a basement marks the entryway of the Kurdish International Centre of Culture and Information. In this office, if any part of the community happens to gather for the holidays, it is often the guardian, Erika Mouradian, alone. This time, expectations of musicians to come from Armenia to liven up the Centre will have been in vain: visible and active during Soviet times, today's Yézidis Kurdish community in Tbilisi has severely diminished. Unstructured and divided, the community is without a doubt the weakest minority in Georgia.


The entryway to the Centre has only two tables and a television, but it is rich in decoration: a Kurdish flag and star; an iconic photo of Lalish—the Yézdis religious center in Iraq—containing religious symbols (a snow-flake, a peacock, three cupolas and an eternal flame); and immense portraits of Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the charismatic figure behind the movement for the liberation of Kurds in Turkey, who was arrested by the Turkish secret service in 1999, condemned to death and then pardoned thanks to international pressure.

The events that occurred in Georgia at the same time as Öcalan's 1999 arrest are revealing of the Kurdish situation there. Several hundred people went out into the streets of Tbilisi in demonstration of their support for Öcalan, leader of the Kurdish cause. Another part of the community, otherwise having no interest in this fight, was opposed to the mobilization.

As for an illustration of the manner by which the Georgian society understands the problems of Kurds, the following incident should shed some light: it is often said that when the Chief of Police in Tbilisi learned that because of Öcalan's arrest the Kurds were protesting in the suburb of Samgori, the Chief of Police gave his forces the order to free the bandit. Criminals or street sweepers, the women who clean the streets of Tbilisi at dawn are almost exclusively Kurdish, the profession is so designated. Herein lies the universally confirmed image of Kurds in Georgian society. Moreover, whether it be a mere sad coincidence or not, in Georgian, the word Kurd is pronounced "kurti" and thief is pronounced "kurdi."

To the sound of Kurdish television

In the Centre, Erika has access to six Kurdish television stations including ROJ TV—which is broadcast from Denmark, and MMC-TV, which is based in Belgium . She is often brought news from Armenia, written in Armenian, Russian and Kurdish. There is no Kurdish newspaper published in Georgian. The Centre is entirely devoted to the Kurdish international cause: One Russophone newspaper is called Free Kurdistan, another is called Friendship and subtitled, "Öcalan, our leader."

While facing the constantly blaring television, Djemal explains the injustice Kurds face while all other nations have obtained a territory. The construction of a Kurdish State is her dream. At the announcement of Saddam Hussein's death sentence, who is accused of executing thousands of Kurds, Erika expressed a joy without limits. Justice had been done.

Another identifying mark of the international Kurdish cause among the Yézidis of Tbilisi is the name the Kurdish team took during an interfaith football tournament organized by the Georgian Football Federation and UNDP in December 2006. The Yézidi team called itself "Barzani" in reference to the greatest Kurdish tragedy in Iraqi history.
Kurds or Yezidis?

All the same, this Caucasian population's identification with the international Kurdish cause is far from apparent. The Center's main room, among Kurdish flags and portraits of Öcalan, Yézidi symbols are also proudly displayed. In the rear room there is a temple where adherents come to celebrate the saint's days. "It's our Kurdish religion" says Erika.

Moreover, the religious differences among Kurdophones, particularly in the Caucasus, seriously shake up identities. While the majority of Kurds in Turkey, Iraq or Syria are Sunni Muslins, the Yézidis practice an ancient religion which venerates the peacock, a symbol of the demon which became in angel, the flame and the sun, and curious syncretism of Zoroastrianism, Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

Because the collective identities were formed long ago around religious principals, two distinct communities developed. In Georgia the 1926 census counted approximately 10,000 Kurds and 2,000 Yézidis. The Soviet authorities only recognized one Kurdish community. All the same, the majority of were deported by Stalin in 1944 and the Yézidis were counted at 18,329 versus 2,514 Muslims according to the 2002 census. Additionally and separate from the religious factor, Muslim Kurds, like those in Armenia, are well integrated in the Azeri community. They have often been counted as Azeris, and some of them currently present in Georgia even hold Azeri citizenship.

At the heart of the Yézidi community however, rifts are still important. Between "Ethnically Yézidi", "of Kurdish ethnicity and Yézidi religious", or simply "ethnically Kurdish", different groups, organizations and individuals represent all three options. In the small Centre of Mtatsminda, if the word "Yézidi" were not used, the principal cultural organization of the community in Georgia would be "The Union of Georgian Yézidis", which does not recognize a link with Muslim Kurds or the PKK movement. Armenian scholarly manuals mention the "Yézidi nation", but for this reason, several Tbilisi organizations have complained to the Armenian embassy. The community has little chance of arriving at a consensus.

Marginalization and weakening

With nearly 40,000 souls, Armenia is host to the most important Yézidi Kurish community in the Caucasus, which is also the most organized and most visible. In Georgia, they were counted at 33,331 in 1989 and 20,843 in 2002. Local associations however, estimate no more than 6,000.

Are these figures inflated to mask the disastrous emigration from Georgia? In the 1980's, the community was still highly visible in Tbilisi. The city contained one of the most reputed theatres of the Kurdish world. Excluded from public positions and the majority of professional tracks, without a port-parole or federal organization, the Yézidi Kurds, according to a report by the International Federation of Human Rights, occupy the most fragile social position in the country.

In the Mtatsminda Centre, the women speak of their sons in Russia and their daughters in Germany, France or Canada. In reality, the community literally melted after 1989 and the rate of emigration is the highest among Georgian minorities.

Another sign of the community's weakened state is that Yézidi Kurdish youth, without any future in Georgia, often try their hand in Armenia , although the economic situation there is in many regards worse than in Georgia .


Source : © CAUCAZ.COM | Article published in 20/12/2006 Issue | By Nicolas LANDRU

A young Kurdish film maker's impression about her visit to ROJ TV

Recently I visited Roj TV at Denderleeuw, nearby Brussels in Belgium. If you'd close your eyes, you'd think you're in Kurdistan. True Kurdistan , because of the embracing mixture of Kurds from all parts of Kurdistan. Roj TV is like a free Kurdish isle in the heart of Europe. The catering is Kurdish as well as the music that fills the room from television right up to the soul. Nevertheless every culture is welcome: in the middle of all those Kurds, the make up-artist was from Belgium and a part of the guests are non-Kurdish as well.

Hesen Ghazi invited me to "Ruwange". I enjoy watching his program, especially when he invites young, inspiring individuals. So, being invited to the show was a great honour. We talked about my studies, my work and the future. But, to me, it was not just about myself. It was about the young Kurds, in Kurdistan and abroad. I wanted to inspire them. In the same way other guests at "Ruwange" inspired me. I wanted to show them that it's possible to follow your heart, that it's possible to focus on Cinema and that it's truly worth the hard work.

In Cinema, I'm just a nobody, at least: not anybody yet. But the believe in the things that I'll be able to do someday keep me going. And being able to talk about that "someday", in a show on Roj TV is a big encouragement into the right direction. Not only for me, but certainly for all those young people who think about a cultural or art study. Showing the possibilities can make a big difference.

My compliments to Roj TV, who's got an eye for cultural moving within Kurdish society. Because nothing exists, until you share it. Shows as "Ruwange" help making Kurdish (or Kurdish-related) culture exist, by sharing the existence of it with the viewers. And, by doing so, Kurds get more and more aware of the beautiful colours that are hidden within the darkness that overshadows their culture.

In life, you get nothing for free. However there are things that can make it easier, such as family, friends, following your heart and fighting for your final goal. Whether that's a free Kurdistan, opening a store, becoming a professional sports player, a doctor, or just to have the opportunity to tell your own story, I believe that you can achieve it as long as you keep on working for it. It's time to focus on the colours. Sure, that sounds like a big cliché, though it's nothing but the truth.

Ghazi gave me the opportunity to tell all Kurds what I believe in: Cinema. We showed the audience a short film, "Delalo", in rough cut. So, the version as it was broadcast

is different from the final version. That gave viewers the possibility to send me their comments. A few weeks after the recording of the show I finished the "Delalo". I would like to share the final version of "Delalo", as it was shown on the London Kurdish Film Festival, with all of you. I will upload it to the Internet this week.

Thanks to whole crew of Roj TV, for their warm welcome in Denderleeuw and of course the delicious food.

Regards,

Beri

Enjoyed much to see Gudrun Schyman on ROJ TV

Feminism and the Kurds ! I think this initiative of ROJ TV to introduce The Feministisk Initiative, which is a new movement in Sweden was very timely and informative for Kurdish viewers. Most of the unresolved issues in the Middle-East to great extend depend on misunderstanding and misinterpretation. In Rengê Jiyanê, Gudrun Schyman explained in a very simple and reasonable way the true meaning of feminism. A new approach to the rights and plight of Kurdish women could be a guarantor for Kurds achieving their rights.

Nanewa

13.12.2006

A Message From Gudrun Schyman

I was very inspired of my visit to you and I was happy to have the opportunity to take part in the TV-show for women. I hope the interest for feminism will grow in all countries and that more people will understand feminism as a global mow for democracy. Education is necessary and your program is an important part in this.

Regards

Gudrun Schyman

12.12.2006

Gudrun Schyman visited ROJ TV

She was a guest of exclusively women Program RÊNGÊ JIYANÊ

The renowned Swedish feminist Gudrun Schyman appeared on ROJ TV's RÊNGÊ JIYANÊ, which is exclusively produced And presented by our women colleagues on Monday evening , December 4.

Gudrun Schyman is a former leader of The Swedish Left Party, and has Been a member of Swedish parliament for 18 years. In 2003 Gudrun Schyman Left, Left Party in order to devote all her energy and intellectual capacity to defending the women rights over party politics.

In April 2005 Gudrun started a new movement ;Feminist Initiative. In Sweden's last elections the formation failed to win any sit in parliament.

For further information visit Gudrun Schyman's homepage: http://www.schyman.se