Turkey’s Kurdish question at a crossroads

Turkey has changed drastically over the last two decades. With respect to the Kurdish question, much has happened over the last two decades that have significantly changed the relationship between the Turkish state and the Kurdish people, including demands, concessions, and methods of dialogue. It cannot be disputed that the Kurdish people living within Turkey’s borders have more right to the expression of their identity than ever before. However, just as equally undeniable are the presence a number of draconian and selectively enforced laws remaining in place that effectively restrict the most basic rights.

Exclusive Interview: Bangi Yildiz, Kurdish MP in Turkish Parliament

Mr. Bangi Yildiz, Kurdish member of Turkish Parliament from Batman and a member of the Democratic Society Party (DTP), met with Sibel Akman of Kurdish Herald to discuss progress on work for a solution to Turkey’s Kurdish issue as well as the situation of the DTP. Mr. Yildiz is a lawyer by training with a great deal of journalistic experience. He was previously President of the Batman branch of the IHD (Human Rights Association).

Turkey’s GAP and its Impact in the Region by Ercan Ayboga

Turkey has implemented the GAP at the expense of the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people, one of the well-known archeological sites and the local biodiversity. By way of caution, malign influence created by water disputes can impede stablization and peace in the region. Thus, increased attention and concern in the international community is necessary and there must be efforts to foster constitutions and regulations to manage the direct distribution of water wealth.

Ms. Arian Arif - a woman's strength cannot be hidden by Haje Keli

Debating female genital mutilation is still something of a taboo issue in Kurdistan, but certain people, including Ms. Arif, and some groups such as the German-based Association for Crisis Assistance and Development Cooperation, or WADI, work hard to try to spread awareness of this horrible practice despite meeting resistance from many sides. Although focus on this topic in Kurdistan and elsewhere has increased over the last 7-8 years, Ms. Arif’s unfortunate introduction to this practice came much earlier.

Dohuk: The Protector of My Dialect by Sibel Akman

Duhok is a dream city of Kurdistan, or, more specifically, the dream city of Kurmanci Kurdistan. It carries and raises the flashing flag of the language, the most fundamental particle of the Kurdish national identity. The city is surrounded by mountains on all four sides, making it seem like a small valley in the vast world of Kurmanci-speaking Kurdistan. It is the smallest of the three provinces that make up the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan.

Letters of the Diaspora from San Diego, California: Activist and Community Organizer, Luqman Barwari by Vahal A. Abdulrahman

Luqman Barwari still remembers that night when his father deserted the Iraqi army and decided to become a peshmerga and flee to the sub-district of Galala where the Kurdish leadership was headquartered at the time. That ten-day journey from their village on the Turkish border to Gallala on the Iranian border, like so much else from his childhood, has accompanied him to America and still lives with him today. Ironically, these not-so-pleasant memories are what link this the successful family man, US citizen, and accomplished scientist to Kurdistan..