(February 13, 2025)
When Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ran for re-election in 2023, he told voters, it would be the last time. Under current provisions, Turkey’s President can only hold office for two five-year terms, but it now appears that Erdoğan will seek a (constitutionally prohibited) fourth term. To achieve this, he will need to find a way to change the constitution, but this can only happen if he succeeds in gaining the support of Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish party.
(March 5, 2025)
Drawing Kurdish political support away from the opposition and securing Kurdish backing for constitutional reforms would allow him to seek another presidential term.
With 57 parliamentary seats, DEM holds significant sway and can make all the difference if Erdoğan initiates a constitutional amendment process.
The Kurdistan Workers‘ Party (PKK) on Monday announced its decision to disband and end its armed struggle, following a call in February by its imprisoned leader Abdullah Ocalan.
The Kurdish armed group, which has waged a war against Turkey since the 1980s, said that it had completed its „historic mission“ and brought the Kurdish question to a point where it could be resolved through democratic politics.
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The DEM Party also expects the government to release thousands of its members imprisoned on non-violent charges and to end the practice of unseating its popularly elected mayors.
The deal is a major breakthrough that would bring most of Syria under the control of the government, which is led by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham that led the ouster of President Bashar Assad in December.
The deal was signed by interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa and Mazloum Abdi, the commander of the U.S.-backed, Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces.
(March 11, 2025)
The Kurdish Human Rights Network and its allied organizations have issued an urgent appeal for immediate action to prevent further atrocities. The coalition has demanded the following:
1- Immediate cessation of military operations in Syria’s coastal region, Kobani, and the Tishreen Dam area.
2- An end to all forms of ethnic cleansing and racial persecution against Syria’s diverse communities.
3- Withdrawal of military forces and armed factions from towns, villages, and residential areas, returning them to their bases.
4- The establishment of independent civilian bodies to maintain security, free from military coercion.
5- Revelation of the fate of missing persons and an end to the alarming increase in enforced disappearances.
6- Formation of an independent international investigation committee, with the participation of Syrian human rights organizations and direct oversight from the United Nations, to uncover the truth behind the violence.
7- Accountability for all parties involved in war crimes and sectarian-based violence.
8- Prosecution of individuals and entities spreading hate speech, while advocating for a comprehensive national dialogue that includes all Syrian factions, aiming to build a future based on justice and peace.
The final outcome in Syria appears stark: Assad’s regime has fallen, and the Syrian army has been entirely dismantled—an unprecedented event even compared to the 1967 war. Israel now firmly controls the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon. Turkish forces have seized more than 13 cities, cementing their influence. The United States has solidified its presence in oil-rich regions while extending legal protection to the Kurds and the SDF.
Turkey and their allies, collectively known as the Syrian National Army (SNA), hold territory in Syria’s northeast, but have gained considerable influence having backed the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) in the takeover of most of the country. HTS officials are already suggesting that stamping out Kurdish separatists is a near-term goal, and that Turkish involvement in Syria’s reconstruction is a priority.
US officials have been trying to reassure the Kurds that they don’t face any immediate threats to existence from Turkey’s allies, despite Turkish officials saying the “elimination” of the SDF’s largest faction, the YPG, is their strategic goal.
(December 19, 2024)
There is no talk of a ceasefire deal between Turkey and the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northern Syria, contrary to a U.S. announcement, a Turkish defence ministry official said on Thursday.
The State Department had said…
Turkey-backed rebel forces are continuing their advance to „clear terrorism“ in northern Syria, a Turkish defense ministry source said on Thursday, referring to the forces‘ battle against Kurdish forces in the region.
Turkey has been telling the United States repeatedly that „a terrorist organization cannot be eliminated by using another terrorist organization,“ the source also said.
The Kurdish-led administration says it is willing to „unite“ with the new administration in Damascus, as it raises the flag of the opposition in the territories it controls in northeastern Syria.
Northeastern Syria, which is controlled by the People‘s Protection Units (YPG) and their US-backed affiliate the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has been under attack by Turkish forces since the ousting of Bashar al-Assad on Sunday.
PYD Presidency Council Member Salih Muslim stated that Kurds are a part of Syria and want a solution: “They are not hostile to anyone. What Turkey should do is to act rationally.”
An official of the Autonomous Administration has informed the Agence-France Presse (AFP) that following the Turkish-backed armed groups’ takeover of Tall Rifat and the villages of the Shahba area, the Kurdish residents of those areas were forced to flee from their homes.
As the official disclosed, a group of displaced Kurds have arrived at the areas controlled by SDF.
The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) also declared that they will “attempt to move the displaced Kurds from Aleppo and its surroundings to areas under SDF’s control.”
(December 2, 2024)
Communications have been cut in Kurdish-majority areas, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, raising fears of possible “massacres” of Kurds.
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“Following the collapse and withdrawal of the Syrian army and its allies, we intervened to establish a humanitarian corridor between our eastern regions, Aleppo, and the Tal Rifaat area, with the aim of protecting our people from potential massacres.
“However, the attacks of the armed groups backed by the Turkish occupation have disrupted this corridor.”
Abdi said despite the offensive, “our forces continue to resist to protect our people residing in the Kurdish neighborhoods of Aleppo.”
(December 2, 2024)
US troops are steering clear of the fight between Islamist opposition factions led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and forces aligned with the government of President Bashar al-Assad in northwest Syria, Pentagon officials said on Monday. That, despite advances by the rebels in also driving out local Kurdish-led forces from key pockets in Tel Rifaat and Aleppo.
“Let me be clear that the US is in no way involved in the operations you see playing out in and around Aleppo in northwestern Syria,” Defense Department press secretary US Air Force Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder told a group of reporters on Monday.
Kurdish forces have also made deployments, moving into Aleppo International Airport and other areas of the city, according to the Britain-based conflict monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
On Saturday and according to reports by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) has entered into and gained control over the Aleppo International Airport.
According to the SOHR, the SDF has also taken control of two towns Nubl and Zahra near Aleppo as well.
(November 27, 2024)
Shamî stated that the attack in Aleppo was planned and coordinated by the Turkish state. He said that, by using groups like HTS, the Turkish state is trying to prevent peace in Syria and “realise its long-term occupation plans”. According to Shamî, the attacks are being carried out step by step and in an organised manner.
Farhad Shamî said that the SDF’s primary goal is to protect the people and the region, adding, “No matter who plans what, our only duty is to ensure the defense of our people.”
(November 30, 2024)
The Kurdish-majority neighborhood of Sheikh Maqsood in Syria’s Aleppo is bracing for a possible attack by rebels who have gained significant territory in a surprise offensive against the Syrian army.
The People’s Protection Units (YPG), which controls the neighborhood, published a video early Saturday morning that it said shows “civilians… preparing to defend their neighborhood in the event of an attack.”
Turkey called on the US to stop working with Kurdish YPG militants in Syria, vowing to maintain its cross-border offensives against America’s Kurdish allies in Syria after the US shot down a Turkish drone in the region.
Al Jazeera’s Sinem Koseoglu, reporting from Istanbul, said the UAV did not belong to the Turkish military, according to a statement.
“It is not only the Turkish military that conducts counterterrorism operations in northern Iraq and Syria,” she said.
She said that the Turkish intelligence and interior ministry’s gendarmerie also joined operations.
(4.November 2016)
Das Geheimdienst-Regime von M.I.T.-Präsident Hakan Fidan lässt die gewählten Volksvertreter der drittgrößten Parlamentsfraktion, der “Demokratischen Volkspartei” (H.D.P.) verhaften, darunter die Co-Vorsitzenden Figen Yüksekdag und Selahattin Demirtas. Fidan, der “für Nichtblinde die operative Schlüsselfigur des Militärputsches repräsentiert” und nach jedem Attentat von allen in der Türkei seine Tatversion abgekauft bekommt, sogar von denjenigen die er nun verhaften lässt, hält damit in einem weiteren typischen Schritt die Türkei im inneren und äußeren Terrorkrieg des “Westens”, der Hegemonie der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika, mit ihrem designierten Klon “Europäische Union”.
Presse, Opposition, Scheinopposition, die Bevölkerung begreifen nichts, wie überall. Und Tayyip Erdogan, der nach eigenen Angaben vom Militärputsch in der Nacht des 15. Juli von seinem Schwager erfuhr und anschließend Fidan trotzdem im Amt ließ, ist eine Witzfigur, eine lächerliche, irrelevante Puppe, ein Unterschriften- und Redeautomat, der unter externer Kontrolle steht und ansonsten keine Rolle mehr spielt.
Am Wahlabend gestand Kilicdaroglu zwar indirekt seine Niederlage ein und zweifelte auch die Ergebnisse nicht an, doch bekräftigte er, weiter an der Spitze des Kampfes stehen zu wollen, bis „echte Demokratie“ Einzug halte. Beobachter und Beobachterinnen befürchten, dass Erdogan fortan noch autoritärer regieren wird. Noch härteres Vorgehen gegen Kritikerinnen und Kritiker, weitere Einschränkungen der Meinungsfreiheit und auch Rückschritte bei Frauenrechte werden erwartet.
Da die türkisch-syrische Grenze bis auf einen Übergang für humanitäre Hilfe Richtung der syrischen Flüchtlingshochburg Idlib geschlossen ist, kamen bislang kaum internationale Hilfslieferungen in die Erdbebengebiete im Norden.
Die Situation der Erdbebenopfer in Syrien ist dramatisch. Es fehlt an allem. Trotz anderslautender Beteuerungen hat der syrische Machthaber Assad bislang keine Lieferungen in das von Rebellen kontrollierte Idlib zugelassen. Auch die Hilfe für die kurdische Autonomieregion läuft nur schleppend.
Bei den Toten handelt es sich laut dem kurdischen Verband CDK-F um kurdische Aktivisten, unter ihnen eine junge Frau und ein Musiker. Der Verband beschuldigte den türkischen Staat und dessen Präsidenten Recep Tayyip Erdogan, für die Tat verantwortlich zu sein.
Both were referring to the notorious triple murders of three Kurdish women activists almost 10 years ago in the same area of Paris that deeply shook the Kurdish diaspora in France.
In January 2013, three activists from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers‘ Party (PKK), including one of the group‘s founders, were shot dead at a nearby Kurdish centre in what resembled a targeted attack.
A Turkish man was charged with the suspected assassinations afterwards, but he died in custody in 2016 before being tried.
Siamand Ali, a spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, confirmed to The Associated Press that Lt. Gen. Alexander Chaiko met Sunday with Kurdish commander Mazloum Abdi in northeast Syria, adding that he has no details about what they discussed.
It appears that Turkey, despite the commitments it made to Russia, not only finds it very hard to impose its will on the militias but is in no hurry to do so. It sees control of Idlib as a bargaining chip it can use to win concessions from Moscow over other parts of Syria. Turkey argues that Russia hasn’t kept its end of the bargain to evacuate Kurdish forces from the border area between it and Syria, in particular from the cities of Manbij and Tell Rifaat. Thus, in response to Moscow’s demands to expel militants from Idlib, Ankara is demanding that the Russians move ahead with their pa
Soll der Flüchtlingsdeal mit der Türkei verlängert werden? Die Frage wird heute wieder neu aufgeworfen, da die Abmachung auf den Tag genau nun fünf Jahre zurück liegt und die politischen Schockwellen von 2015 zwar seit einem Jahr von der Corona-Krise überdeckt werden, aber dennoch unter der Oberfläche der Aktualität weiter präsent sind.
Der türkische Generalstaatsanwalt des Obersten Gerichtshofs, Bekir Sahin, hat das Verbot der zweitgrößten Oppositionspartei eingeleitet. Das Verbotsverfahren, mit dem das türkische Verfassungsgericht beauftragt ist, wurde von langer Hand vorbereitet. Telepolis berichtete Anfang März darüber: Türkei: Oppositionspartei HDP kurz vor dem Verbot?.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Friday accused Iran of “persistent impunity for human rights violations” in regions including Sistan-Baluchestan.
“In Iran, an apparently coordinated campaign has been targeting minority groups since December, including in Sistan and Baluchestan, Khuzestan, and in the Kurdish provinces,” Bachelet told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.