Van University Student Association YÖDER needs help

I got an e-mail from Van University Student Association YÖDER:

"Some 40 students, members of Van 100th Year University Students' Association (YÖDER), were detained during house raids conducted on 5 March in Van..... Van Security Director Mehmet Salih Kesmez announced that the students were detained for throwing molotov cocktail to a shop."

2004 YÖDER started a campaign to improve the position of Kurdish language in Turkey. Since that more than two thousand students have been target for police investigation because of "separatism". 700 of them have been punished. 135 of them got YÖK-punishment (Yüksek Ögretim Kurulu, the Higher Committee for Education) which means that they are thrown away from Yüzüncü Yıl Üniversitesi in Van and they can never apply to any university in Turkey, not even to the private ones.

Students in Van urgently need contacts abroad to other student associations. If any reader of this blog can help YÖDER, please write to me and I forward the message to them. You can write also in English, there are people in YÖDER who can English. If you read this later than spring 2007 (when I write this message) it is still important to get in touch with YÖDER.

My e-mail address is: k_kristiina@hotmail.com

Such false prosecutions are not a new thing in Turkey. For example DIHA (Dicle Haber Ajansi) correspondent Rodja Kizgin was arrested in Bingöl due to similar claims. After being many months in prison she was released. Some activists told me last time when I was in Turkey that they look all time carefully after their bags. They are afraid that Jitem agents will secretly place some weapons to their bags and then call for police.

Serhat castles and UNESCO World Heritage Program

Hosap Castle 60 km east from Wan.

The valleys of Euphrat and Tigris are the cradle of humankind. When our nomad ancestors thousands years ago settled down and learned to cultivate land it happened here. The history of the civilizations which existed in this area is heritage of the whole world.

There is a program to protect the most valuable historical monuments in the world. It is UNESCO World Heritage Program. UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Guess whether such places where the Kurds live nowadays are on the list of World Heritage Program! Correct - there is almost none of them. I found one: Nemrut Dag which is in Turkey. Seven years ago Harran and Sanliurfa were accepted on the proposal list of World Heritage Program. From Iraq there is in the program for example the fortified city Hatra which is near Ninawa.

Instead of one column I would like to write a book about the historical places in Kurdistan which should be in the UNESCO World Heritage Program. And it would be a thick book!

But here is space to present only one topic so I tell about the castles in Serhat area. For me they have been very impressive but they are not well known even among the Kurds. Serhat is one the Kurdish districts in Turkey. It is located around Wan lake, west from Zagros mountains.

In Wan there is the castle of Wan. The castle area is huge, it covers almost two kilometres long mountain. Once whole the mountain was surrounded by walls but now only parts of them remain. Wan castle is three thousand years old, it has its origin in the Urartuan civilization. Castle mountain dominates the landscape in Wan. It is so huge that I almost did not believe my eyes when I saw it for the first time.

But even bigger surprise was to see how many castles there are in Serhat. Only 25 kilometres east from Wan by the Hakkari road is the next castle, Cavustepe castle. And 35 km east from Cavustepe is the huge Hosap castle. No one knows how old Hosap castle is but it was renovated 1643 by Süleyman Bey. Serhat is an area for ancient castles. I do not know whether there is dozens or hundreds of them.

The castles are creatures of many civilizations. Ani is famous for being the ancient capital of Armenians. But Ani has its roots also in many other civilizations, like the Urartuan, Bysant, Selchuk and Georgian cultures.

I do not know whether the decision makers in the UNESCO World Heritage Program have ever heard about the castles in Serhat. Each castle is unique but even more important aspect to them is the entity what they constitute. This historical heritage must be protected and there must be archaeological research in every castle! Also Kurds and other people who live in Serhat must learn to respect the value of the castles and other historical monuments. Now peasants take their sheep and goats even to most valuable places. They spoil ancient ruins by burning fires to make tea and taking stones to build houses.

Protection of Serhat castles is not a threat to the Republic of Turkey. Rather the opposite, the multicultural history of the country is a richness to all Turkish citizens.

Newroz in Helsinki

Kurds from whole Finland gathered in Helsinki to celebrate newroz

But not for one newroz party. Like earlier, Kurds from Turkey had one party and Kurds from Iran and Iraq had another party.

I went to both of them. Also some young Kurdish people enjoyed the possibility to listen good music and dance and went to both newroz celebrations.

These pictures are taken yesterday (the 24th March 2007) in the South Kurdish newroz party. Left on my side is Weeja who makes Kurdish programs in Helsinki local radio.

Adventure traveller’s guide to Southeast Turkey

Road from Cizre to Midyat. This picture is taken by me like pictures in this blog usually are.

In many international news about my deportation from Turkey it was told that I have written PhD thesis and two books about the Kurds. My doctoral dissertation (The Invisible War in North Kurdistan) is in internet: http://ethesis.helsinki.fi/julkaisut/val/sospo/vk/koivunen

But as the two other books are in Finnish language, there is no information about them. So I better explain a little bit. The names of the books are Sankarimatkalijan Kaakkois-Turkki (Adventure traveller’s guide to Southeast Turkey) and Teetä Kurdistanissa (Tea in Kurdistan).
I present now the travel guide and then some other time “Tea in Kurdistan” which is a collection of travel stories.

I tried to paste here the cover page of the book but as I am a beginner in using blogger I don't know how to do it. I will add it later.

As I have been many times in Southeast Turkey I wrote down my experiences and practical information so that people can read the book instead of asking me. The book has 301 pages, and as I know there is until now there is only one other travel guide book about Southeast Turkey, it has two parts. (Azer Bortaçina: Doğu Anadolu, Yayınlayn Ekin Grupu 2005; Güneydoğu Anadolu 2005). Lonely Planet and other guide books which present whole Turkey tell very little about the Southeast despite it is the most rich area in Turkey in culture and history.

My book was published August 2006. When I was arrested in Van December 2006 the police claimed me that the Turkish Ministry of Internal Affairs had done in August 2006 the decision that I am not permitted to enter Turkey due to the security of the state.

Adventure traveller's guide to Southeast Turkey has tree parts, they are:

1. Common travel information, like how to find a hotel and travel by bus etc (91 pages)

2. Kurdish districts and towns (124 pages):
Amed: Diyarbakır, Kahta
Botan: Mardin, Batman, Siirt, Hasankeyf, Cizre, Sırnak, Midyat
Dersim: Tunceli
Serhat: Van, Doğubayazit, Kars, Hakkari, Yüksekova, Semdinli

3. Information about Kurdish culture and the Kurdish question (79 pages):
Culture: History, Kurdish language, newroz, Mem û Zin, yezidis, ramazan, Kurdish festivals, Kurdish women

The Kurdish question: The history of the Republic of Turkey from Kurdish perspective, Military coup 1980, Human Rights, Turkey vs. European Union, USA and its neighbour countries, Kurdish nationalism, Kurdish civil society

(Also the two other sections are written with special attention to the Kurdish culture and human rights.)

With this book also people who can speak neither Kurdish or Turkish and have no previous knowledge about Turkey can travel to these Kurdish towns. In addition to practical information (like hotel telephone numbers and web pages where is information about Kurdish festivals) there are also lots of tips and links for those who want to find further information.

My two books are published by LIKE and it will also publish my third book next autumn. It tells about life in Van, my favourite city in Turkey. LIKE and I haven’t yet agreed the name of the book.

LIKE has a serie of travel guide books for courageous travellers: Southeast Turkey, Tallinn, St Petersburg, Warzaw, Krakow, Sofia, Vilna, Far Island, Arkangel. Next year is coming also guide book to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

LIKE is preparing a brochure in English about the travel guide books. They will participate both London Book Fair this spring and Frankfurt Book Fair next autumn. If someone is interested in publishing in English (or other language) the guide to Southeast Turkey, please contact me or LIKE.

http://www.like.fi/kauppa/index.php?v=5&sid=3

Newroz

Van 21.3. 2006


Newroz piroz be!

Gulan: "YouTube" and the battle about internet

http://www.gulan-media.com/h627/g37.pdf

There has been no progress in Turkey in amending Article 301. It limits freedom of expression as it makes it criminal “to insult Turkishness”. Instead the development has gone to the opposite way. The eight March an Istanbul court banned Internet page “YouTube” claiming that it insults the memory of Kemal Atatürk. Turk Telecom cut immediately access from Turkey to this web page.

“YouTube” is a web page where people can put anonymously videos and music about any topic they want. Turkish court banned “YouTube” because there was one program about Atatürk what it did not like. The decision caused abroad lots of protests. “YouTube” page removed the Atatürk piece which had caused the problem. Then the court in Istanbul removed the ban. Now “YouTube” is open again in Turkey.

What do we learn from this episode? Turkey does not want to increase freedom of mass media. Instead it tries to bring Turkish censorship also to other countries. With poor results, “YouTube” was closed only two days.

Internet has provided a forum for discussion across boarders and censorships. It builds global civil society as it gives people a channel to get in touch with each others in a cheap and effective way. “YouTube” is just one example but it is a good example. It has about 3800 videos and other programs where Saddam Hussein is mentioned. Information about Kemal Atatürk is available in one thousand programs in “YouTube“. There are also nine videos about Jalal Talabani but nothing about Masoud Barzani.

Internet gives opportunity for anonymous discussion. For example American soldiers explain in many chat pages their frustration for being in Iraq. Turkish soldiers criticize their government for the battles in Southeast Turkey. In neither of these cases the soldiers could tell their experiences and opinions with their real names. This is very valuable. Such inside information is not available in the mass media in America or Turkey. In both countries governments want to give an image that the situation is under their control. Chat pages are discussion groups in internet where people can write their opinions without telling their real names.

For the Kurdish movement in Turkey Internet has been for years a channel to distribute and receive information despite the state’s policy of censorship. The state aims now to censor internet the same way as the traditional mass media. This happens also in other countries which oppress freedom of expression, like China. Microsoft and other companies in electronic media have double moral. First they sell to internet users software. Then they sell to authoritarian governments equipment to hinder the use of programs what they have sold to their other clients.

Turkey has managed to cut access from Turkey to many Kurdish web pages, like Kurdishinfo.com, Kurdmedia.com and Netkurd.com. This is of course frustrating to Kurds but I am sure they will found new ways to distribute information. Many examples show that people in the Kurdish movement in every part of Kurdistan are very creative. In Turkey Kurdish activists are always one step ahead the state censorship system in creating new methods. When the state finds out a way to close one activity something new is already going on.

http://www.youtube.com

Shopping in Van

Those readers who are so lucky that they do not have a ban to enter Turkey (like I have) travel there maybe for newroz or for summer holidays.

Because women do shopping where ever they go I give here some tips to Van, my favourite city in Turkey.
Dolls in Kurdish dresses are available in Kesrevan, the restaurant of Van Women’s Association (Van Kadin Dernegi, VAKAD)
Kesrevan, Milli Egemenlik Cad. Sanat Sitesi (just behind vali’s office)

Locally made ceramic by Mavi Kent Kilim Atölye from their souvenir shop which is in the Municipality House in Cumhuriyet Caddesi.

Dünyada Van is an interesting magazine about Van. It is in Turkish but even non-Turkish speakers can enjoy it’s lovely pictures. Ask for it from the bookshops, for example Star 2000. This shop has also a bookshell for Kurdology.
Star 2000, Sanat Sok. 2

Kurdish music (both CDs and cassettes) is available in
Serhat Kültür ve Sanat Merkezi, Hastanhane 2. Cad. Belediye Is Merkezi, Kat 5

Mala Dengbejan, Cumhuriyet Cad. Özgür Center Kat. 3

Gulan: Who gains when Kurds protest in Turkey?

http://gulan-media.com/h626/g31.pdf

Some months ago I wrote an article about Turkey’s EU membership negotiations to Finnish journal Kosmopolis. It is an academic journal published by Finnish Peace Research Association. While writing the article I went systematically through Turkey’s political development since summer 2005.

This triangle repeated many times: Prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan wants to introduce to parliament new reform laws. Then occurs restlessness in the Kurdish area, caused by provocation of unknown actors. This gives the Turkish army a reason to demand harder actions. The consequence is that the parliament changes the laws towards opposite direction than Erdogan wanted.

Erdogan went to Diyarbakir August 2005 and spoke about the Kurdish question and need for democratization process in Turkey. Soon a serie of bomb attacks started in Hakkari province. PKK said it was not their work. Then in November 2005 JITEM and Deep state were cached in the scene of the crime in Semdinli. But what happened to Erdogan’s reform laws? They were put on ice.

Still he tried spring 2006 to give the parliament new democratization laws. And what happened? PKK guerrillas were killed by chemical weapons in Bingöl and Kurdish anger turned towards violent riots in Diyarbakir. What was the consequence of this? Erdogan’s reform package failed. Instead the parliament accepted hardening of the anti-terror law 3713. The chances removed many of the reforms done due to pressure of the European Union.

Turkey’s EU membership negotiations were put partially on ice December 2006 but this is not enough for the Deep state. Erdogan has not given up his aim to change Turkey. He has promised to amend Article 301 of the Turkish Penal code. This article makes it criminal to insult Turkishness and restricts crucially freedom of expression in Turkey.

The parliament will vote the new president after one month and Erdogan is on the threshold to enter president’s palace - against the will of the generals. It is easy to guess that something will happen in Southeast Turkey. Claims that Abdullah Öcalan is slowly poisoned is like throwing a burning match to petrol.

Newroz has been very tensed in Turkey during recent years. 2005 there was flag crisis which is also known as flag provocation. One child burned Turkish flag in Mersin which led to a paranoia reaction among Turks. At the end of March 2006 guerrilla funerals turned into riots in Diyarbakir. But both these things happened only after newroz. This year problems seem to start already before it.

Will parliament amend or abuse Article 301? Will it vote Ergodan to be Turkey’s next president?

Who gains when Kurds protest in Turkey? It is easy to say who loses: Prime Minister Erdogan and the reform process of Turkey. Kurds campaign for their rights. But they are also used as a tool in the battle about power between Turkish reformists and the Deep state. But it seems that the Deep state underestimates the resources and abilities of the Kurdish movement. Kurds do not accept any more to be a tool for others in their fight against each other. Instead they use the situation for their own benefit.

Kurds demonstrated also in Helsinki

During recent days Kurds have been protesting in many countries due to claims that Abdullah Öcalan is being poisoned. They marched the 8th March through Helsinki down town from Parliament House to Foreingn Ministry. There was about 350 people which is big proportion of the Kurdish community in Helsinki.

Here are some pictures from the demonstration:

The demonstration was very similar than many other Kurdish demonstrations. Only children have grown bigger and new babies and asylum seekers have arrived. This is really frustrating! Despite so many efforts by the Kurds their situation has not improved in eight years either in Turkey or in the diaspora communities in Europe.

Gulan: Time to use mediator

http://www.gulan-media.com/h625/g28.pdf

According to news agency AFP the leader of the Kurdistan Regional Government Masoud Barzan invited in a television interview the 26th February Turkey for face-to-face talks to end tensions over Kurdish rebels from Turkey based in northern Iraq.

Earlier in February, army chief General Yasar Büyükanit accused Iraqi Kurds of "fully" supporting the PKK. He rejected dialogue with them, but both Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Abdullah Gül have said the government would be open to talks. But when the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice used the word ”Kurdistan" also the government of Turkey lost its will to discuss about the problem. Minister of Justice and the Government Spokesman Cemil Cicek said that Turkey's southern neighbour is Iraq.

Sooner or later both the Government of Turkey and General Büyükanit must admit that there is no other way than to start negotiations with Kurds who represent Kurdistan, not Iraq. Until now Kurds have had no other friends than the mountains, but now they finally have one friend: America. Their new friend is a strong friend. This friendship has been a bitter surprise for Turkey. Now it must decide from two choices: either it follows the will of America and starts searching political solution. Or it attacks Kandil and Kerkuk which unites Kurds.

Now Turks are campaigning for the elections and nationalists bluster ”to go and destroy Kandil”. Due to self-censorship of the mass media Turkish people are not aware of the growing unity of Kurds and their increasing will to make co-operation with each others. According to newspaper The New Anatolian Ibrahim Aydogdu said the 22nd February that "we consider an attack on Kirkuk as the same as one on Diyarbakir". Mr Aydogdu is Democratic Society Party (DTP) Diyarbakir branch head.

When Turkey will accept to start negotiations with Turkey there will be very much tension around this negotiating table, that is sure! How to solve the conflict by speaking in one room instead of fighting in the Kurdish mountains?

September 2005 Dicle News Agency (DIHA) interviewed in Finland advocate Matti Wuori, former member of the European Parliament and former chairman of Greenpeace Europe. Greenpeace is one the biggest environmental organizations in the world. DIHA asked Wuori’s advices in solving the Kurdish problem. He answered:”If the sides want to resolve the problem they should use the help of mediators. The Turkish government should listen to Kurds and Kurds should listen to the Turkish government. Moreover an international commission can serve as a go-between for the resolution.”

Finland is a small country but it is super power in diplomacy, especially in peace negotiations. Matti Wuori died to cancer one month after this interview. But there are other experienced Finnish people. Former president Martti Ahtisaari negotiated 2005 the peace agreement between the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM). Now Mr Ahtisaari is busy solving the Kosova crisis.

So when Turkey accepts to starts negotiations with Kurds I advise that also Martti Ahtisaari and his organisation Crisis Management Initiative are invited to this meeting table.