The Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria is under existential attack from Turkey and their mercenaries. This has been a week of broken ceasefire agreements and of difficult negotiations. The Administration has put forward proposals and compromises, but is ready for total resistance, while Erdoğan has restated his neo-Ottoman ambitions.…

Debbie Bookchin, Salih Muslim and Jeremy Corbyn took part in an online panel on Wednesday 18 December. The speakers discussed the escalation of violence against the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES), and the stance of political actors and forces operating in the post-Assad Syria. The panel analysed the relationship between H…

Sinam Mohamad, US Representative of the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), analyses the humanitarian situation amid fighting in Aleppo (Heleb) and Shabha (Şehba), with thousands, many already displaced Kurds, forced to flee. She stresses the need for a dialogue for peace involing all parties in Syria, including representatives of the region's minorit…

Turkey has continued their attack on democracy by ousting the DEM Party Mayor of Tunceli (Dersim) and the CHP Mayor of nearby Ovacık (Pulur), provoking mass resistance and employing heavy policing. A BBC documentary has highlighted Turkey’s weaponising of water against the people of North and East Syria. And Öcalan has again been refused access to …

Erdoğan’s chief advisor has declared that what is happening is not a “solution process”, but a "state initiative towards a terror-free Turkey". So far, this “state initiative” doesn’t look very different from the previous approach of eliminating the PKK through state violence, and the crushing of Kurdish politics. Elected mayors are being removed, …

Is the Turkish government genuinely open to negotiations with the Kurds? Or was Öcalan's fleeting prison visit just a war tactic? Tune in to listen to our panel of experts from various freedom movements around the world, to discuss the real prospects for peace. Sinn Fein MP Dáire Hughes, joining our panel of freedom fighters from various conflicts,…

Turkey’s political drama continues with the arrest of the Mayor of Esenyurt and his replacement by a government trustee - the first time these tactics have been used against the mainstream opposition CHP. The rationale for recent government actions is still unclear, but the movement for a solution to the Kurdish Question has taken on a certain mome…

After a momentous and rollercoaster week, today’s review sets out the key events – talks about a possible new peace process; the PKK attack on an Ankara arms producer; Turkish bombardment of North and East Syria; and the long-desired visit to Abdullah Öcalan after his 43 months of total isolation. It looks at comments by some of the key players, in…

While all eyes have been on Gaza and Beirut, tensions in Syria have become increasingly violent, as well as complicated by the variety of different countries all jostling for position and ready to take advantage of any opening that they can use to increase their own power and influence. This week’s review also looks at the run-up to tomorrow’s impo…

Rumours of peace appear to be belied by Turkey’s continued aggression towards the Kurds both inside and outside their borders. Meanwhile, actions have been carried out across the world calling Öcalan’s freedom; and an acrimonious election campaign may be the first step towards a new uncertain chapter for the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.…

Fréderike Geerdink discusses the recent rescue of a young Yazidi woman from ISIS captivity in Gaza and reflects on the divisive reactions to the story within the Kurdish community. She warns against blaming Palestinians collectively for the girl's ordeal and urges Kurds not to fall into the trap of divisions that serve the interests of oppressive s…

In their principled support of Julian Assange, the Council of Europe have acted according to their founding purpose. At the same time, they have proved incapable of meeting the challenges of the spreading war, or even of disciplining Council members who flout their own rules. The week’s review looks at the situation of Kurdish politics in a fast-ch…

Kurdish activist Elif Genç discusses the shared history of Kurdish and Palestinian solidarity, and how state leaders like Erdoğan and Netanyahu have pitted the two communities against each other.بقلم MedyaNews

Fréderike Geerdink’s article examines the Kurdish political reactions to the assassination of Hezbollah’s Hassan Nasrallah and the broader geopolitical implications. She highlights the PKK's unique analysis, suggesting the murder could fuel regional conflicts and advance Turkey’s strategic ambitions.…

As the world lurches towards further destruction, no one should dispute the validity of Erdoğan’s UN criticism of Western hypocrisy, but he can match the West with a hypocrisy of his own. This week’s Turkish authoritarianism focussed on the suppression of Kurdish culture – while a letter from a political prisoner described the reality of solitary c…

Musa Anter summed it up brilliantly when he said: “When my mother tongue is shaking the foundations of your state, it probably means that you built your state on my land.” He shook the foundations of the state by thinking this radically different. He shook the foundations so profoundly, that he was not only murdered but also denied a proper burial.…

Eric Hobsbawm’s “Age of Empire” covers the four decades that led up to the first world war. There are frightening parallels between that period and the imperial rivalry of the world today. This politics has no time for minority peoples unless they can be used as pawns in the bigger game, and Kurds find themselves again caught up in other people’s w…

While experts debate the significance of Iraq’s recent memorandum with Turkey, Iran’s newly elected president has visited Baghdad, where he has signed 15 co-operation agreements with Iraq. Such agreements are rarely good news for Kurds, who suffer at the hands of both Turkey and Iran. Although Turkey would also like an agreement with Syria, Assad h…

As human rights lawyers in Turkey proclaim, “There is no justice here”, this week’s review focuses on Turkish authoritarianism. It looks especially at its impact on political prisoners, but also at other abuses in the politicised justice system, and at the oppression of trade unionists and environmental activists…

Kurds face attacks on all fronts, including targetd assassinations in Iraq and Syria, but the world seems indifferent. In Turkey, journalists and political prisoners face oppression as the government attempts to distract citizens from dire economic circumstances. In Syria, Russian and Turkish joint patrols have resumed, to be confronted by resistan…

Fréderike Geerdink criticises the media's lack of coverage on Turkey's expanding occupations in Kurdish regions of Iraq and Syria, where Turkification and forced demographic changes are occurring. She argues that this neglect enables political inaction and shields Turkey from accountability, urging a new journalistic approach to better highlight th…

Forty years after the PKK took up the right of resistance, the Kurdish Freedom Movement has established an autonomous administration in northern Syria, and the PKK’s philosophy is inspiring people across the world; but the Turkish state continues their anti-Kurdish oppression, denying the Kurds a peaceful route to freedom.…

On the 40th anniversary of 15 August 1984, journalist Fréderike Geerdink reflects on the PKK's shift from seeking a Kurdish state to combating patriarchal nation-states, emphasising ideological evolution and guerrilla tactics to counter Turkey's advanced warfare while advocating for community and diversity.…

This week’s review from Sarah Glynn focuses on two places where civilians are fleeing for their lives: the IDP camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, where Yazidi genocide survivors are fearful of a new attack by their Sunni Muslim neighbours; and Deir ez-Zor in North and East Syria, where Syrian government forces and Iranian-backed militias are ca…

After a brief look at the new threats facing the Kurds following Israel’s assassinations in Beirut and Tehran, this week’s news review focuses on Turkey’s attempt to grind away Kurdish culture and identity and wear down Kurdish resistance – and at the even stronger determination to resist that this fosters. It also examines the report of the United…

What is the Rules-Based International Order, and how does it relate to international law? How does it affect international responses to Turkish aggression in Syria and Iraq, and to Iran? What is the role of the United States?بقلم MedyaNews

In a recent podcast interview with Medya News, Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Peace Prize winner. and chair of the Nobel Women's Initiative, speaks about the recent letter by 69 Nobel Peace Prize laureates to European and international human rights bodies expressing their “deep concern” about the conditions in which Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan is bei…

Fréderike Geerdink reflects on the commemoration of the Suruç bombing, emphasising the way dreams and struggles for a better future continue to inspire resistance and hope, exemplified by the Suruç victims and the Rojava revolution.بقلم MedyaNews

What might a Trump presidency mean for North and East Syria; what are the prospects for the much talked about reconciliation between Erdoğan and Assad; what is the situation with Turkey’s invasion into the Kurdistan Region of Iraq? Plus, Turkey’s normalising of human rights violations, and their attempt to barter Öcalan’s human rights.…

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Turkey is carrying out an invasion and “de facto annexation” in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and waging a low intensity war against the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. They also oppress Kurds within Turkey’s borders. So, how did destruction of Kurdish identity come to dominate Turkish politics?…

Academic Amy Austin Holmes has published 'Statelet of Survivors', exploring the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES). The book highlights regional minority collaborations against threats and urges the US to support AANES's democratic processes and postponed elections.…

The Grey Wolves, founded in the 1960s, and the hand gesture that emerged in the early 1990s, could only become as influential as they did because there was a fertile soil in which the seed was planted. That fertile soil is Turkish fascism since the foundation of the Turkish Republic in 1923.بقلم MedyaNews

Sarah Glynn examines the context of the attacks on Syrian refugees in Turkey and of the unrest in Turkish-occupied Syria, and catches up with new developments in Turkey’s ongoing invasion of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq.بقلم MedyaNews

As Turkey and Syria contemplate renewed diplomatic ties, the Kurdish perspective remains conspicuously absent from media coverage. Fréderike Geerdink explores why the Kurdish quest for liberation and autonomy is crucial to understanding the region's future, challenging readers to consider the broader implications of excluding Kurdish voices from pe…

Turkish tanks and soldiers are pouring into the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Turkey and Syria have moved a step closer to a rapprochement based on a joint attack against the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, and Turkey continues to oppress Kurdish politicians. Meanwhile the Council of Europe fails in its fundamental purpose of protect…

A relatively quiet week in Kurdish politics is still full of many ongoing problems, but it also allows us time to step back and look at the broader geopolitical context, and the new alliances that are forming with the decline of US hegemony and with the catalysts of war in Ukraine and genocide in Gaza.…

Fréderike Geerdink reflects on understanding the Kurdish issue, recalling a villager's remark that the state killed them "because we are Kurds" after the Roboskî massacre. This sentiment is paralleled with Palestinian experiences of Israeli aggression. Understanding suppression requires viewing from the perspective of the oppressed.…

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This week, the news from Diyarbakır serves as an illustration of the wider Kurdish condition. Here we find threats facing Kurdish co-mayors, the anger of those no longer getting perks from the government trustee system, state impunity in the deeply flawed trial of three police officers for the murder of Human Rights lawyer Tahir Elçi, the whipping …

Burhan Sönmez: ‘the Kurdish language is my home’بقلم MedyaNews

As Turkey once again imprisons an elected Kurdish mayor and puts a government trustee in their place, there have been strong and persistent protests. The CHP has also condemned the government’s actions, but the international response has been shockingly weak, and there are fears that this is just the beginning of another purge.…

Another week brings another round of bellicose statements from the Turkish government. And in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, the KDP is preparing to help Turkey continue their de facto occupation in the north. The KDP-dominated Kurdistan Regional Government has long since come to the end of its term and is now without official recognition, but the K…

As American universities are taken over by riot police, this week’s review looks at questions about the nature of power and liberal democracy; and at how some issues create world-defining moments while others fail to get picked up by international radar. It looks at the silence over Turkey’s ongoing and relentless attacks on the Kurds; and it looks…

Turkey is preparing to invade northern Iraq and northern Syria, and the “international community” remains silent. This week’s review focuses on Turkish plans for Iraq, where the Development Road Project may be used as an excuse to destroy autonomous administration in Makhmour and Şengal; on fears of Turkish invasion and ISIS revival in North and Ea…

Fréderike Geerdink notes how recent protests in Turkey are influencing government actions, notably the reinstatement of Abdullah Zeydan as Van's mayor. However, scepticism arises over Turkey's claimed suspension of trade with Israel amid allegations of ongoing ties, highlighting transparency concerns and political manoeuvring. These events undersco…

Acclaimed journalist Fréderike Geerdink warns that the oppressive shroud cast over Kurdish politics in Turkey continues to suffocate democracy and minority representation despite shards of light breaking through in the southeast during the country's recent local elections. Discussing her experience of the liberated atmosphere in Kurdish-run municip…

In her weekly news review, Sarah Glynn takes a dive into Turkey’s local elections, which took place last Sunday, exposing the undemocratic practices which took place as well as highlighting the hard-won victories of Pro-Kurdish Dem Party.بقلم MedyaNews

Since the 1940s, the KDP, led by the Barzani family, has prioritised its interests, leveraging power and wealth. Geerdink argues that the KDP's election withdrawal is intricately linked to these broader regional dynamics, indicating a continued alliance with Turkey against the PKK, and by extension, an alignment with Turkey's political and economic…

Turkey has announced that they will launch a new offensive against the Kurds in Iraq and that they still plan to take control of a 30-40 km corridor in Syria, but the world says nothing. Meanwhile, Turkish ministers have been trying to get wider support for these attacks. They have persuaded Iraq to define the PKK as a “banned organisation”, and th…