Turkish government’s attacks against its own Kurdish citizens bring criticism and protests. After the general elections in June the government escalated its attacks against the Kurds for several reasons. Erdogan’s lifelong dream to re-establish the Islamic Ottoman Empire by grabbing land from Iraq and Syria is being prevented by the Kurdish forces in those countries. Not able to tackle the Kurds in the neighboring Syria or Iraq, Turkish government is trying to exert pressure on its own Kurds hoping that would put pressure on the external Kurdish community.
Gaining more than 10% of the general votes, the pro-Kurdish party HDP was able to grab around 80 seats in the last election, mostly from the ruling Erdogan’s AKP party. The government feels this victory calls for a punishment on the Kurds to teach them a lesson on who to vote in the “democratic” country of Turkey, a US ally.
Kurds have been the only serious force that challenged the Islamic terrorist gangs on the ground when ISIS miraculously (!) was on a victorious mission. The secret behind this expansion of a rag-tag jihadist terrorist organization were the forces behind them supporting these gangs with arms, training, financing, tactical and strategic help. Fighting Israel’s wars in the Middle East, the US wanted to get rid of Syrian President Assad and relied on these terrorist gangs to topple him. The US was joined by the Saudis, Qatar and other fascist Arab regimes as well as Israel and Turkey.
Turkey played the middlemen role to transport the arms sent by the US captured from Libya after the US murdered Gaddafi. The arms traveled to Turkey and were handed over to the jihadist rebels. Kurds were fighting the Islamic terrorists during this time and Turkey, to help the jihadists, was constantly bombing the Kurds.
Then the ISIS terrorists started to lose when Russia took things seriously against the Muslim gangs. With the help of Syrian forces the Kurds started to beat back the gangs and re-capture the land from the terrorist ISIS so-called state.
Turkish government, now under the notice of Russia and unable to bomb the Kurds inside Syria, switched its rage against its own Kurdish population. After downing a Russian jet with the help of US and the Saudis, Russia challenged Turkey, saying, “Let’s see if you can fly any planes on Syria now?” after deploying anti-aircraft defense system on the Turkish border with Syria. Turkey stopped all flights immediately.
However the Kurds in Turkey were now the scapegoats to pay the price for Turkey’s many failures in the region.
Military forces, police, special units were all sent to the eastern provinces where the Kurdish population is the majority. However, to make the oppression effective illegal curfews were declared forcing entire populations to stay inside sometimes 24 hours for days on end.
Turkish snipers on rooftops killed anybody who would defy the curfew and step outside. Several people were shot by the police when they went to their backyard to use the toilet. Old people who stepped out to find something to eat for their families were also shot. Due to the imposed curfew many bodies of the killed are left on the streets, sometimes for a whole week. Pregnant women, mothers of five kids, children 3 months old and sleeping in their mothers arms in their homes were not spared by the Turkish government forces.
Children are also targeted by the Turkish military, police and the special units. Blasting homes with military tank artillery, uncounted numbers of civilians are murdered. Tanks are now roaming the residential streets in Turkish Kurdistan, as documented in many videos, shooting at residential homes while the soldiers laugh in delight.
Calling for help, the Kurds are trying to reach out to the world to stop this carnage. While the mainstream media ignores the bloodbath occurring daily in the country, leftists, progressives and humanists are standing up for solidarity. Many journalists who attempted reporting the truth are arrested, killed or jailed.
The Alewite population who have had their share of fascist attacks are reacting to the latest fascist massacre against the Kurds.
The Alewite Bektashi Federation started a hunger strike 4 days ago to protest the indiscriminate killing of the Kurds by the Turkish government. Those who participate in the hunger strike said they will continue their protest while calling, “Stop the war; Don’t kill the children!”
Baki Duzgun, the head of the Federation said, “There is no winner or loser in the war being waged in this part of the country. Tens of people were killed in the massacres in Suruc and Ankara. The youth that went to Suruc had humane goals of helping the children; however they were all killed barbarically. They tried another massacre In the meeting called by the (pro-Kurdish) HDP party. The gangs exploded a bomb there. The bombing attack in Ankara was a massacre against the Kurds, Alewites, youth and the laborers, against everybody. They tried giving a message, ‘we will not let you mention peace here’“ However, thousands went to the funerals of the murdered and defied that threat.
“In the face of the attacks against the Kurds we formed a group and went to visit the Kurdish cities and towns. We wrote a report on the events there. This hunger strike is something that came up after all these efforts. We are on strike to prevent any more children suffering in these wars. We are on hunger strike to say, ‘No more wars; no more child deaths!’ “
“We do not accept the denial of the most basic rights that are the basis of our brotherhood from the Kurdish towns and cities, such as education, housing or life. We do not accept the destruction of their worship places, historical places, even their graveyards.”
