Newspaper Confiscated for Reporting Allegations of Police Rape

Court ordered confiscation of Azadîya Welat newspaper because it reported 10 claims of women being raped by the police in Amed since the arrival of new police chief to the city. The full story is here.

Kurds not only are not allowed to defend themselves they also cannot talk about the crimes committed against them by the fascist state's security forces. I am curious as to what happened to the animal who smashed a zarokê roj's head with the butt of his weapon or the thug who broke Cuneyt Ertus' arm. Perhaps it's time Kurds should assume the state's role in delivering justice since state doesn't seem to be capable of it.

High Tribunal Court Approves of Killing Kurdish Children

On Sunday 21 November 2004 Ugur Kaymaz, a 12 years old child, was helping his father loading his lorry when the police shot both of them dead. His father was gunned down with 8 bullets. Ugur had 13 bullets in his body. The child was repeatedly shot from his back at very close range. Nine bullets entered his little body through his back. The fact that Ugur was shot from very close range was documented by forensics doctors of the Judiciary.

On 18 June 2009, the High Trubinal Court ruled that the police who shot Ugur from his back together with his father have acted in self defense. How is it acting in self defense, let alone being justifiable by any means, to shoot a child from behind at close range with 13 bullets? What kind of "law" would allow and tolerate such abomination?

Think again... Is PKK really a terrorist organization? Don't you think the real terrorist is the Turkish state that shoots Kurdish children from behind, breaks their arms, smashes their skulls with butt of a weapon, tries and imprisons them as adults, AND sees such abomination justifiable?

The Turkish state is determined that it will either assimilate Kurdish children or annihilate them.

I have a question for those people who insist the PKK should lay down arms unconditionally. Are they willing to protect these children if the Kurdish defence forces lay down their arms? I didn't think so.

More DTP Members Detained

While the Terrorist Turkish State and its supporters keep insisting the PKK should lay down arms and Kurds should "seek for their rights in parliament" the party of Kurds is under constant attack. I suppose what the fascist state and its supporters are saying to Kurds is "seek for your rights from the prisons". 19 More DTP members were detained on 18 June 2009. The full story is in Bianet:

On 14 April, members of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) were taken into custody. Since then, around 500 party members have been taken into custody and 267 have been arrested.

During operations in the provinces of Diyarbakır, Şırnak, Bitlis, Batman and Mardin, all in the southeast of Turkey on 17 June, 19 people were taken into police custody. Among them are municipal officials and academics.

The AKPasha Inc (which is having yet another crisis these says) is keeping on detaining key DTP figures. They are going to have to build more prisons because the ranks are being filled as we speak. Each time pashas and mullahs have a problem in their marriage, they attack Kurds. I say it's enough, Kurds shouldn't save the day for these thugs anymore.

State Disciplines Kurdish Children in Prison

Turkey has found a way to educate the Kurdish children. Zaroken Roj (The Children of Sun) are now being educated and disciplined in the prisons. They are tried as adults and subjected to adult sentences. Then the Turkish State and it's brain washed servants wonder why in the earth Kurds still won't feel as part of the state. Afterall the present Turkish state is a terrosit state and Kurds don't condone terrorism. The following article written on 22 April 2009, recently appreaded in Bianet.

[...]
The judges Menderes Yılmaz, Selahaddin Menteş and Ömer Adil Küçük hand down the sentences. Three children are convicted of "taking part in activities in the name of a terrorist organisation without being members of the organisation." This means they receive a sentence "as if" they were members: 6 years 11 months. Another child is also accused of spreading organisational propaganda and violating the law on demonstrations, leading to a sentence of 7 years and 5 months. The two children tried without detention receive a 10-month sentence each for violating the law on demonstrations. This is converted into a fine.
[..]

"Terrorism" and children

According to Article 250 of the Criminal Procedure Code, ratified in 2004, the State Security Courts were abolished and replaced by heavy penal courts with special authorities. These courts would deal with certain crimes. When the Anti-Terrorism Law was amended in June 2006, these special courts were given the authority to try children aged over 15 for crimes defined by this law.

An amendment to Article 13 of the Anti-Terrorism Law meant that sentences handed down to children aged over 15 could not be converted into other punishments or suspended. This meant that the Anti-Terrorism Law and the Criminal Procedure Code started treating children over 15 years old not as children, but allowing their trial and punishment just like adults.

Diyarbakır laws

When, after Öcalan's capture in 1999, fighting stopped, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), which came to power in 2002, seemed to offer a solution to the Kurdish question with a series of reforms aimed at attaining membership in the European Union through democraticisation. However, by 2006, the government seemed to have taken steps backwards even from those limited reforms. It had become clear that it would not make any efforts in the recognition of the Kurdish question or in a discussion of a solution with Kurds.

The changes in the Anti-Terrorism Law came after events in Diyarbakır on 28 March 2006, when the police started shooting into a crowd of thousands of people in a funeral procession for four PKK members. Within five days, ten people died, five of them children. Hundreds of people were taken into custody.

When MPs discussed allowing the trial of 15 to 18-year-olds as adults, they assumed that they could prevent them from joining the PKK. The expected reforms from the government did not happen, and it was clear that it would turn to violence, not sparing children.

Hundreds of children detained, tried, convicted

And this is what happened. Answering the motion of DTP MP Selahattin Demirtaş, Minister of Justice Mehmet Ali Şahin (who left office on 1 May) told parliament that 13 children aged 12-15 and 724 children aged 15-18 had been put on trial under the Anti-Terrorism Law in 2006 and 2007. 319 of them were being tried in Diyarbakır courts. A total of 120 children were convicted under this law in the two years, 88 of them in Diyarbakır.

During the same period, 422 children were put on trial for "founding an organisation with the aim of committing crimes", following Article 220 of the Turkish Penal Code. 107 of these children were in Diyarbakır. In two cases in Diyarbakır, 20 children were convicted. 413 more children, 268 of them in Diyarbakır, were put on trial under Article 314 of the Turkish Penal Code, for "membership in an armed organisation." 34 chidren, 28 of them in Diyarbakır, were convicted. Hundreds of children were handed down punishments with probation, a few were also acquitted.

The number of children affected grew in 2008 and 2009. For instance, a child was crushed by a police tank in Cizre in February 2008 and died. His friends, who took part in his funeral, were arrested. Children took part in Newroz celebrations, demonstrations to mark the birthday of Öcalan, funerals of PKK members or other protests concerning the Kurdish question; the police did not hesitate to act violently and to take them into custody.

[...]

After Adana, Diyarbakır...

According to the Adana branch of the Human Rights Association (İHD), 33 children have received a total of 129 years imprisonment for "membership in a terrorist organisation" in the first three months of this year. Now the Diyarbakır court has started handing down sentences. Lawyers fear that if the Supreme Court of Appeals does not take a different stance and ratifies the decrees, hundreds of children will spend a long time in prison.

Meanwhile, rights activists lobbying for children's rights have intensified. Many journalists have reacted to the issue in the media. The Call for Justice for Children gathered around 900 signatures in Istanbul, and the Justice for Children Initiative has united rights activists in Ankara, Izmir and Diyarbakır and the families of the children concerned. They continue to monitor cases and struggle for change.

During a visit of these activists to parliament in February, MPs from the AKP and the opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) promised to bring up necessary legal changes after the local elections. However, judging by the police operation against the DTP and statements by ministers and the Prime Minister, it seems that the attitude of the government towards the Kurdish question has not changed since the local elections, if it has not become more hardened. Today's 23 April, the "Festival of National Sovereignty and Children" shows those Kurdish children who dare go into the streets, the meaning of "National Sovereignty."

My previous post contained the following in it:

"I became more aware," says the 16-year-old boy, who asked not to be named because of his upcoming court case, where he could face seven years in prison if convicted.

The Prime Minister recently announced that they may lift the ban on speaking in Kurdish in the prisons. So it seems education in mother tongue will be possible in the prison.

Obama's Advanced Democracy: In Turkey, hundreds of minors imprisoned on 'terrorism' charges

This article appeared in CS Monitor:

In Turkey, hundreds of minors imprisoned on 'terrorism' charges
The 2006 antiterror law makes it a crime to take part in demonstrations supporting the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
By Yigal Schleifer | Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor

Diyarbakir, Turkey - Few would peg Hebun Akkaya, a 17-year-old with a high, nasal voice and polite manner, as a criminal convicted of supporting a terrorist organization.

But the criminal court here in Diyarbakir did. The crime: protesting the prison conditions of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed head of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Designated a terrorist organization by the European Union and United States, the PKK enjoys grass-roots support among citizens here in Turkey's predominately Kurdish southeast.

"I never thought I could go to prison for throwing a stone," says Hebun, who spent 10 months in an adult prison awaiting his initial trial. "I become really angry when I think that just for throwing a stone they were asking to put me away for 28 years. It's unjust." Now out on bail pending an appeal, he faces an amended sentence of seven years.

Hebun is one of hundreds of minors, some as young as 13, who have been arrested and jailed in Turkey over the past few years under strict new antiterrorism laws that allow for juveniles to be tried as adults and even be accused of "committing crimes in the name of a terrorist organization" for participating in demonstrations. Critics and rights defenders say the amended antiterrorism laws are deeply flawed and also violate international conventions on the detention of children.

"There is a lack of proportionality between the crime and the sentence," says Emma Sinclair-Webb, Turkey researcher for the New York-based watchdog group Human Rights Watch. "Counting what these children do, such as throwing stones or damaging property, as a terrorism offense is a problem."

"You are subject to a court system that doesn't see you as a child," adds Ms. Sinclair-Webb.

Over 1,500 minors prosecuted under antiterror law

As part of its European Union membership drive, Turkey has updated its penal code to more closely reflect European and international standards. But observers say the country took a step backward with a 2006 amendment to the country's antiterror law that made it possible to try minors between the ages of 15 and 18 as adults when the crime is deemed to involve terrorism.

That same year, Turkey's Supreme Court of Appeals ruled that children taking part in demonstrations supported by the PKK could be charged with aiding or acting in the name of the organization.

According to Turkish officials, 1,572 minors were prosecuted under the antiterror law and 174 of them were convicted during 2006 and 2007. Hundreds more court cases against minors have been launched since then.

"The court's decision is very dangerous for the rule of law and for individual freedoms," says Tahir Elci, a Diyarbakir lawyer who is defending several of the jailed children. "According to the high court's decision, prosecutors don't need evidence to claim that somebody committed crimes on behalf of the PKK. Just participating in a demonstration is evidence enough.

"We accept that these kids may have thrown stones, but they didn't do it in the name of the PKK," he adds. "They are children."

Turkish policy conflicts with UN, EU

The 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child deals specifically with the issue of the arrest and imprisonment of minors. According to the convention, which Turkey has signed on to, "The arrest, detention, or imprisonment of a child shall be in conformity with the law and shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time."

A European Union official in Ankara says the arrest and imprisonment of minors is a cause for "concern."

The official, who asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue, added, "They are not being treated as juveniles, and that is against international conventions. They are being treated as terrorists, and they are not even aware of what they have done."

Brussels has previously expressed concern about what it sees as deficiencies in Turkey's juvenile court system. An EU report last fall on Turkey's progress as a candidate country stated, "Despite some progress in the juvenile justice system, the number of child courts is still inadequate, there is a lack of social workers in these courts and their workload is heavy."

In Adana, for example, the lack of juvenile justice facilities has meant that even children under the age of 15, who by law were supposed to be tried in juvenile court, ended up having their court cases heard in an adult court.

For one boy, jail prompted 'awakening' to PKK views

Turkish prosecutors have defended the heavy sentences given to the children arrested in protests, saying they are a response to an effort by the PKK to mobilize Kurdish youth against the state.

But Sinclair-Webb, of Human Rights Watch, says that sending children off to jail could backfire.

"It's a very hardening process for children and psychologically very damaging," she says. "If you go in as a child who was just having a lark throwing some stones, you may come out as a full-fledged militant.

"If you are trying to win hearts and minds and get people to not join the PKK, this is not the way to do it," she adds.

One teenager, imprisoned for 13 months after participating in a demonstration and now out on bail while he awaits trial, says he was "changed" by his experience in jail.

"I became more aware," says the 16-year-old boy, who asked not to be named because of his upcoming court case, where he could face seven years in prison if convicted.

"The things I learned in prison about myself, about the Kurds, about the PKK, it was like an awakening."

Do I really need to add anything?!

Main Characteristics of the Regime --III

Dr. İsmail Beşikçi has written a nice article at Kurdistan Post which analyzes the double standard put in place against the Children of the Sun. The article makes good points on Fethullah Gülen's role in assimilating Kurdish children and how state supports his activities. Here is the relevant parts of the article translated for your pleasure:

Main Characteristics of the Regime --III

"The twelfth wave"

As part of the Ergenekon investigations, on 13 April 2009, some individuals were detained. The detained included some university presidents (current and retired) and some NGO workers. Some professors' homes were searched. Home of Prof. Dr.Türkan Saylan, the president of Association in Support of Modern Living (ASML), was searched and some documents were confiscated. Tijen Mergen, who administers "Father, Send me to School" campaign in Milliyet daily, was detained. Tijen Mergen, who is on the Board of Management for Dogan Holding, was released a few days later. ASML was searched, some documents were confiscated. CEO Gülseven Yaşar was nowhere to be found.

When we look at the Turkish press after 12 April, we see a great deal of support for those detained as part of the Ergenekon investigations. Starting 14 April 2009, there have been systematic detentions and arrests of Democratic Society Party (DTP) managers, members, and sympathizers. With raids in different cities, over 300 people associated with or sympathizing with DTP were detained, over 150 were arrested [the number of people detained so far is over 400]. While Turkish press showed great interest in those arrested for Ergenekon investigation, it didn't show any interest in DTP. It was stressed in the press that the Ergenekon detainees were under pressure and the operation unfair. The injustice done to DTP was overlooked, nobody spoke of it. It's clear that there is discrimination among the two cases [Ergenekon and the recent detainment and arrest of DTP-related individuals].

Articles praising President of ASML Dr. Türkan Saylan, "Father, Send me to School" campaign manager Tijen Mergen, and Gülseven Yaşar. The articles described how these individuals helped the needy families and provided scholarships for students. It was told "Ms. Türkan didn't deserve this". Dr. Saylan's poor health was brought up to discredit detainment of these ladies further.

In this article, I would like to touch on a subject the Turkish press didn't mention and tried to hide with diligence. The real intention of ASML, "Father, Send me to School" and "Girls Let's Go to School" campaigns, Multi Purpose Community Centre (MPCC), and Modern Education Association (MEA) can only be understood when these organizations and activities are considered within the context of the Kurdish Question. The Turkish press, Turkish intelligentsia mentions of people who work at such organizations as "modern" and "humane". The main purpose of these organizations and activities is to assimilate Kurdish girls into Turkishness. The understanding is that 'mother tongue is learnt from the mother. Therefore it's more important to assimilate the Kurdish girls who are future mothers'. This is the main reason why these organizations focus more on Kurdish girls. Assimilation is the main reason for the dormitories built for girls at Regional Boarding Primary Schools (RBPS) located in Kurdish regions.

It is a known fact that these efforts have support and collaboration from militarist organizations and entities and Turkish Industry and Businessmen Association (TIBA). There is no collaboration with Human rights' organizations or entities. These issues were analysed in an article titled "What is ASML Giving to Kurds?", which appeared in Kurdistan-post on 19 March 2008.

During the last 25 years, one of the important realities of Kurdish geography has been involving burning of houses, razing of villages, and destruction of sources of income [by the state]. People have been forced to leave their home and made homeless.

[Similar events have been at play for the border villages of South Kurdistan. Iran and Turkey have been constantly bombing the border villages and destroying livestock, farms, and infrastructure.]

The "unsolved homicides" have been an important and continuous phenomenon as well. The Gendarmerie Intelligence and Anti-Terror Unit (JITEM) has kidnapped and killed young Kurdish people, Kurdish villagers, traders, business men, etc. JITEM killed Kurds with torture, put their bodies in mass graves, throw into wells, destroyed in acid wells or incinerated them. It's stressed that number of such murders is over 17,000.

Neither any of the organizations like ASML, MPCC, MEA, etc. nor any of their workers has had the smallest criticism of state forces for the atrocities being committed against Kurds. They won't let such news [news related to persecution of Kurds by state forces] appear on their Internet sites or in the press. The systematic persecution of Kurds is ignored. The attention is given to the children of the families who are made homeless, poor, and in need of help. This attention is a requirement for applicability of assimilation policies; it's a necessity of the assimilation policies.

In the last few years, 7 & 8-year-old Kurdish children have been detained, tortured, arrested, and put into prisons because they throw stones at the police and armoured vehicles. They are tried for 25-year sentences. They are not tried at the children's court; with a modification in the anti-terror law, it is made possible to try the children who throw stones at police or armoured vehicles as adults. These children are placed into adult prisons. Even 6-year-old Kurdish children are detained and tortured. In Diyarbakir [Amed], Van [Wan], Batman [Êlih], Adana, and Mersin there are close to 300 children ages 8-15 who are already in prison and being tried. None of the organizations like ASML, MPCC, MEA, etc. has said anything about children being detained, tortured, put in prison, or tried [as adults]. These organizations [ASML etc] and people who work for them find the persecution policies against children as positive.

Considering the environment in which these children live, these actions [throwing stones at the police and armoured vehicles] could be considered as freedom of expression. These children's family homes have been incinerated and villages destroyed. They don't have a healthy life in the suburbs of cities where they live. No job, no food, no health services, no education... Security forces constantly curse at these children's parents and belittle them. Children's homes are raided often, mother, father, older brother, grandfather, etc, are harassed. Under these conditions, it should be accepted as natural that these children are angry at the police and express their anger by throw stones at the police.

[...]

Humanization

To be human, humanization, is an important goal for every individual, every society. How does one become human? How is humanization achieved? The basic indication of humanization, the main criteria of a human, is the way he treats others. Let's remember Bulgaria in 1985-1988. Bulgaria was pressuring its Turks to change their names. Turks were being told "if you change your name and get a Bulgarian name, you will have a chance to advance in Bulgarian Communist Part and in Bulgarian government. Otherwise you will face heavy difficulties...". Bulgaria's actions faced heavy criticism and blame in Turkey from the state, government, press, universities, and NGOs. Bulgarian authorities were blamed with being imperialist, colonialist, primitive, assimilating, backwards and fascist. Of course, the policy Bulgaria had in place for Turks was to assimilate Turks into being Bulgarians. This was causing big reactions in Turkey. Humanization shows itself right at this point. Organizations like ASML, "Father, Send me to School" and "Girls Let's Go to School" campaigns, MPCC, MEA, and people who work for them were forcefully against the process of assimilating Turks in Bulgaria but they voluntarily implement Turkish state's assimilation policies against Kurds. That's why, here, a process against humanization exists. It's obvious that this is a primitive and backwards process.

[...]

Destroying villages and sources of income, "unsolved" murders, hundreds of thousands of people being forced to leave their homes, denial of Kurdish identity, and assimilation policies, without a doubt, aim to destroy the Kurdish community and Kurdish national values. It goes without a doubt that these actions and policies have made life difficult for Kurds and hurt the Kurdish nation. However, it has to be stressed that these practices have been hurting Turkish society and Turkish community values as well. Propositions planned and put in place to destroy the Kurdish community are in fact destroying the Turkish communal values. Turkish universities and press are mouldering away. Hiding and twisting the facts about Kurdish question becomes academia's main purpose. Hiding the facts and events has turned into being main function of the press. JITEM bombed a book store on 9 November 2005. The perpetrators were caught at the scene. We know how the events developed after that. [the military made sure the bombers are set free.]

Firing the prosecutor who filed charges against these bombing suspects who were members of JITEM, Van [Wan] Court sentencing each of these perpetrators to 39 years in prison... Supreme court's voiding of these sentences and the case being forwarded to the military court... Military supreme court's letting these suspects walk away in one sitting...

What do such opposite interpretations of law between military and civilian courts show? It shows rotting of judicial organizations. Yasin Hayal, the person who had a major role in murder of Hirat Dink, was sentenced to three years in Trabzon because he bombed a work place. In Diyarbajir [Amed], the children who throw stones to police and armoured vehicles are being tried for 25 year sentences. These are indications of a rotten judicial system. It's known that the Turkish press generously praises the Palestinian children who throw stones at Israeli soldiers and tanks. Those children and their parents are praised constantly. When Kurdish children do the same, then it becomes "who is turning these children against us?". Having such double standard in thinking is nothing but a rotting of the conscience.

Kurdish Renaissance

The Turkish state, for the sake of destroying and assimilating the Kurds, is letting the main organizations of the state such as judiciary, education, and press go rotten. However, despite all these persecutions, the Kurds are still standing. In fact, Kurds are living a Renaissance today.

How is it that Kurds are living a Renaissance? There has been some criticism directed to Prof. Türkan Saylan from some right wing individuals who are close to Fethullah Gülen. These individuals blame Prof. Saylan with being a missionary and providing scholarship to PKK members. The perspective of these right wing individuals on the Kurdish question is similar to that of state's. Especially, Gülen's followers are trying to promote and spread Turkishness in Kurdish regions under the disguise of "religious and spiritual values". Just like how Kurdish is forbidden to children who are taken away from their families and sent to RBPS, Kurdish is forbidden in the Kur'an schools organized by Fethullah Gülen's followers. Spreading Kur'an schools in the region [Kurdish] is state's policy. Children who attend to these Kur'an schools stay at dormitories. While the state objects Kur'an schools and Islamic movements in the west [of Turkey], it encourages both in the Kurdish regions. State's policy is "to leave Kurds behind, to melt Kurdish demands within religious movements". That's why as far as Kurdish question is concerned, there is a great deal of similarity between Kemalism's Turkishness, which is disguised in 'education' and the Turkishness disguised in 'religious and spiritual values'. However, one can say that Fethullah Gülen's followers have a relatively more humane approach to the Kurdish question than Kemalists.

Rasim Ozan Kütahyalı, published an article titled “Fethullah Gülen and Abdullah Öcalan” in Taraf daily on 22 April 2009. The author says that both Fethullah Gülen and Abdullah Öcalan have support of masses in Turkey and the state and the public need to get used to the fact. This is not a complete view, however. Fethullah Gülen and Abdullah Öcalan are not in the same situation. The line Fethullah Gülen represents against Kurds and the Kurdish question is the line mobilized by the state and the deep state. The state is able to use anyone, any organization, any opportunity, and any means to weaken Kurds, Kurdish movement, and PKK. Left wing, right wing, liberals, religious movements, etc. It's a known fact that Hizbullah [in Turkey] was established by the state to fight PKK, in fact, the patriotic Kurds in the cities. [it seems now the state has openly assumed the role Turkish Hizbullah assumed in the past]. It's also a known fact that Fethullah Gülen's followers have distorted and published incomplete versions of Said-i Kurdi's writings about Kurds. [Said-i Kurdi, also known as Said-i Nursi was a Kurdish Imam who authored the books which Gülen movement republished distorted versions (all references to Kurds and Kurdishness have been removed or altered into Turks and Turkishness). These distorted books are used by the Gülen's movement for religious education]. No doubt, there are Kurds who publish Said-i Kurdi's writings without distortions and criticize the Gülen movement for their anti-Kurd stand.

I have stated above that Gülen's followers take advantage of Kurds' situation and accumulate Kurdish children into Kur'an schools and forbid them Kurdish language, make an effort to raise these children in an environment with Turkish language and culture. The clergy against these impositions are defending Kurdish language and culture. Despite all oppression, great interest in Kurdish language and culture is building among workers, traders, young people, students, clergy, women, and villagers. This can be considered as a Renaissance. There is no way this process can be stopped either. In this context, for sure there will be efforts to develop a consciousness of homeland.

[...]

İsmail Beşikçi

Amazed?

Village Guard System: yet another way to legally kill Zaroken Roj

The massacre of Zangirt (Bilge) village on 5 May 2009 resulted in killing of 44+3 people (3 babies were not yet born). 6 people were injured. DTP pointed out the failure of Village Guard system and requested it's halt. Deputy Prime Minister Cemil Cicek, who said "Kurds are now neighbors with Armenia" after DTP won local elections in Igdir, now says "DTP being against Village Guard system is enough reason to keep it in effect".

Dr. Ismail Beşikçi recently summarized the issue of village guards for Bianet:

Village guard system

At the basis of all the reasons listed above lies the denial of the existence of a Kurdish people. The state’s basic Kurdish policy is assimilation. When some insist on holding on to their Kurdish identity, a rise in state terror is common practice. The village guard system came about in this context. Forcing Kurds to kill Kurds is a systematic state policy. The state did not only give the village guards arms, they also gave them wide-ranging authority. All kinds of illegal activities carried out by village guards against their own people, Kurds, were met with tolerance or studiously ignored by the state.

Kidnapping young women, highway robbery, rape, racketeering, and taking over the land of those who left the villages when they refused to become village guards – all this became more common in the process.


State protecting feudalism

Feudal institutions like tribes, sheikhs, and large landholders have been protected by the state itself because the state can prevent national developments among Kurds with the tribes and sheikhs it has tied to itself. It is true that today’s Kurdish nationalist movement and social struggles and their leaders have emerged from the working classes and poor Kurds. The village guard system offered these feudal relations not only psychological but also material support. It is possible to see these people at public bids. Licences to open petrol stations are given to these people. The dealership rights for certain basic consumer goods are given to these people and their relatives.

The tribal leaders and sheikhs who were sent to the gallows for struggling against the state in the 1920s and 1930s were those who did not adopt the official position.

The state, with it's military can be quite convincing to sign people up to be village guards. Those who decline being a village guard simply have to move away leaving everything behind or their villages will be burnt, they will be shot, you name it. Once you become a village guard, it's not easy to leave being one either. Your "resignation" simply won't be accepted. After the massacre of Zangirt village, 26 village guards in Wan wanted to lay down their arms and wanted out. The military will not let them go. If you keep insisting then what happened at Zangirt village will happen and everyone will get massacred.

Mazlumder (the Association of Human Rights and Solidatiry for Oppressed People) just released it's report to the media. It turns out the people in Zangirt village wanted to lay down their arms and get out of the Village Guard system. (http://firatnews.com/index.php?rupel=nuce&nuceID=7523) According to Mazlumder's report, head of the village has argued with the commander of the military post, located 3 miles from the village. I suppose that explains why the soldiers arrived at the village two hours after the massacre although they were notified (and heard the gunshots too) as soon as the shootings started. But wanting to lay down arms was not the only reason. Some of the villagers wanted to come back home from the west, where they had to migrate because they had refused to be village guards at the time. Their lands were confiscated by the village guards who committed this massacre. These people wanted their lands back. On one hand you have the local military commander who wants to show everyone what it costs to lay down arms and refuse being village guards and on the other hand you have the brutal village guards who are slaves of their greed and want to take over other people's property. The result, 44 people plus 3 babies in their mothers' womb were killed and 6 people injured.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) in Turkey published the statistics associated with Village Guards for the past 17 years. HRW wants the village guard system to come to a halt. The report specifies the incidents annually. HRW built the data from applications made to them and the news. Here is a summary of atrocities committed from 1992 to 2009:

Number of villages burnt down: 38
Number of villages vacated: 14
Rape and harassment: 12
Kidnapping: 22
Assault with firearms: 294
Number of civilians killed: 183
Number of civilians wounded: 259
Number of people went missing at their hands: 2
Number of civilians executed: 50
Number of extortions: 70
Number of people tortured and mistreated: 562
Number of people detained: 59
Number of people forced to suicide: 9
Number of forest arsons: 17

Killing and wounding of civilians

1992-2002: 132 killed, 176 wounded
2003: 12 killed, 17 wounded
2004: 12 killed, 21 wounded
2005: 3 wounded
2006: 3 killed, 9 wounded
2007: 6 killed, 4 wounded
2008: 18 killed, 23 wounded
January-March 2009: 6 wounded
[Zangirt (Bilge) Village massacre included, 2009: 44+3 Dead (3 women were pregnant), 12 wounded as of May 7]

Torture and ill treatment of individuals

1992-2002: 454 people
2003: 30 people
2004: 17 people
2005: 21 people
2006: 11 people
2007: 14 people
2008: 14 people
January-March 2009: 1 person [does leaving 70 children as orphans cause ill treatment? You figure this one out!]

The act that defines village guards' power is kept secret and not shared with the public. A pretty convenient way to keep the heroin trade going, isn't it?