KAYO and Gift of Hope Overseas Request for donations to bring medical help to people in Kurdish region of Turkey

Members of the Kurdish American Youth Organization (KAYO) are proud to initiate a fundraiser in collaboration with Gift of Hope Overseas, also a nonprofit organization founded by graduate students at VCU-Medical College of Virginia. In a series of relief efforts, the students have managed to deliver much-needed medications and have sent volunteers to Dogubeyazit, a city in the predominantly Kurdish southeast of Turkey. The children and women of the area suffer many health-related complications due to the lack of immediate medical attention.

In 2008, well over $200,000 worth of requested medications were delivered and distributed to the people in the region. Furthermore, a sonogram machine was purchased enabling the early detection of prenatal complications and allowing doctors to potentially save many lives. The delivery of the machine is pending upon the purchase of additional necessary laboratory equipment.

Now KAYO members plan to work together and with their communities to help raise funds to purchase mobile “lab in a suitcase” medical supplies and equipment. These mobile labs will then be sent to physicians and nurses in the Kurdish city of Dogubeyazit and its environs to enable them to conduct routine medical examinations onsite in the most rural areas. There is some urgency as many of the people in the region are in dire need of medical attention especially before the cold seasons approach.

KAYO hopes to raise the necessary funds for this cause in the next four weeks to help purchase and deliver mobile labs to Dogubeyazit.

We, the Kurdish American Youth, ask for your help in the form of donations and thank you in advance for your generosity.

To make donations via PayPal, please visit the KAYO website at the following address:

http://kurdyouth.org/articles/a0051.htm

Alternatively you make cheques payable “Kurdish American Youth Organization” at the following address:

KAYO (Lab in a suitcase)
1413 Commerce Drive
Plano, TX 75093

Over the coming months the UK Kurdish Studies and Student Organisation will be announcing its programme of events for the 2009/2010 academic year.

In October KSSO will host three events starting off with a seminar on statelessness titled “Citzenship and Statelessness in Syria” given by Robert Lowe, manager and research fellow for the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House, and Alan Shamoson. Mr Lowe is an expert on Kurdish issues with a special focus on Syria. The date of the event is October 8th at SOAS University, starting at 6pm in the Khalili lecture conference room.

On October 22nd Dr. Maja Cederberg of Oxford Brooks University will be holding a seminar on “Presences and absences in stories about racism and disadvantage.“ This seminar will take a broad look at issues of racism and disadvantage including the case of Kurdish communities.

KSSO will announce the times and exact room locations for these events closer to the event dates, but please do make a note in your diaries.

We welcome all new and old Kurdish and non-Kurdish students, as well as non-students, and hope to make 2009/2010 another successful year for KSSO.

For future events please see our new events calendar at the bottom of the page.

Details: An exhibition of paintings by Haydar Akboga and Cemo, book covers and texts on linguistic genocide – 4th September – 30th September 2009.
Admission: Free; Hours: Mon – Fri: 10 am – 5 pm; Sat: 10 am – 3.30 pm

Kurdish Book Fair (25th- 26th September 2009: 10am-5pm)

Both events are taking place at Stoke Newington Library Gallery, Stoke Newington Church Street, London N16 OJS. (see map at bottom of page)

To RSVP for this event you can do so via Facebook (please click here)

The book covers being exhibited are of children’s books in Kurdish that were seized by the Turkish authorities in Istanbul in 2006. As the Swedish news agency TT reported at the time:

“On the 25th August 2006, the Turkish authorities in Istanbul have seized 1,208 Kurdish versions of the books about Pippi Langstrump (Pippi Longstocking), the world’s famous fictional children’s character. They were sent on 7th August from Sweden by an organisation that runs an education
project for Kurds.The books had been sent for delivery to libraries in five Kurdish villages. As it is well known, Astrid Lindgren’s books about Pippi Longstocking have been translated into 85 languages and published in more than 100 countries”.

‘Human Writes and Kurds’ forms part of the Write to Ignite Hackney Word Festival 2009 that is taking place throughout September in Hackney, London. This year’s Festival, themed loosely around ‘Human Writes’, was launched on 4th September in this gallery space during an evening of spoken word with story-tellers, poets and performers Malika Booker, Baden Prince Jnr, Michael
Rosen and Neal Zetter.

The Kurdish Book Fair will also be taking place on 25th-26th September at this venue and within the surroundings of the ‘Human Writes and Kurds’ exhibition (Friday 25th – 10am-5pm; Saturday 26th – 10am-5pm). National and international publishers (from Sweden and Turkey) and independent bookshops will be participating in an event that will be of interest to many.

Artists profiles: Haydar Akboga: “I have studied at Istanbul Fine Arts University. I started painting when I was 7 years old and I was doing small sculptures … Since then, I have never stopped painting. I live in London at the moment. Everything around me is a source of inspiration for me. Since the geography l was born and raised in had no shortage of materials,

“l had to find a way of defining myself in order to make a stand: to be able to live, endure pain and still be on your own feet requires being very strong as well as adopting an artistic approach to events. At least, this is the case where l come from. l use almost all kinds of different materials:
oil, charcoal, acrylic and so on. Most importantly, l use myself in the process of making art. OR when the art makes me what l am”.

Cemo: Cemo started drawing while jailed. He was arrested on 12th September 1980 during the military coup that took place in Turkey and he was found ‘guilty’ because of his political views and Kurdish ethnic background. He was sentenced to two death penalties (in 1985 and 1987).

Born in Qulp/Idir in 1962, he commenced drawing with charcoal portraits. At the beginning, his style was in reaction to the government’s prohibited, restricted and neglectful stance. During his custody (he was released in 1991), he worked with pastels and his work became increasingly political. Between the years 1992-1997, his works, which were an artistic projection of
experiences under very difficult circumstances (including prison) continued to be exhibited.

From 1997, he started to do oil paintings on canvases. Between the years 1981-1995, he spent 12 years in prison (10 years with no closure) and 30 years of his life have been spent in exile. His contemporary works are mostly about ‘near-past events’. Since 1996, Cemo has been based in England. He currently resides in London. His paintings have been exhibited at various
festivals and venues including the Human Rights Association (HRA – Balikesir, Istanbul and Osmanbey branches in Turkey), the Ören Art and Culture Festival and the Mesopotamia Culture Centre in Istanbul.
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The texts on linguistic genocide academically examine the manner in which the Kurdish culture, language and literature has been subject to censorship,

The concert is being held in order to raise funds for the Halkevi Centre’s new building at 31-33 Dalston Lane, E8 1HE. Halkevi is one of the largest community centre’s in the UK serving the needs of Kurdish communities.

Tickets are available for £20 per person and the event will start at 6pm. For ticket sales and further information call on 07876146557.

Please see bottom of the page for a map of the venue.

For this special issue, contributors are invited to reflect on the present condition of the Kurds in Iranian Kurdistan in light of recent political developments domestically in Iran as well as in neighbouring Iraq. Whereas Iranians in the major cities of the country engaged in prolonged protests following the presidential elec-tion of 2009, the inhabitants of Iranian Kurdistan did take part in the protests. How is this phenomenon to be interpreted? Iraqi Kurdistan and the rest of Iraq are in the midst of a restructuring along federal lines, the outcome of which is still uncertain, however. At the same time, the United States has declared that it will withdraw its forces from Iraq by the end of 2011. How and in which way are the trends and future develop-ments in Iraq going to affect the Kurds in Iranian Kurdistan?

You are kindly invited to submit your proposal with title and a short summary (approximately 1000 characters with breaks) until 30th of September 2009. The summaries can be sent to the following addresses: kurdishis-sue.iran@gmail.com

Submitting Papers
Abstract Deadline: Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Full Paper Deadline: Saturday, October 31, 2009

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS
Submission
Manuscripts in English should be submitted electronically to The Journal of Iranian-Kurdish (K I 3) at
kurdishissue.iran@gmail.com . You will normally receive an acknowledgement within a few days.

Papers are accepted in electronic format, with Microsoft Word being preferred but other formats are accept-able, by prior arrangement. The editors reserve the right to make the style of presentation uniform prior to publication, whilst making every effort not to alter the content of an article. Paper submission will be
acknowledged via email.

UCU protests at the imprisonment of Kurdish politician Leyla Zana after SOAS speech

Prof. Mary Davis, Deputy-Director Working Lives Research Institute  and  Head of Centre for Trade Union Studies at London Metropolitan University, who chaired the seminar, brought a motion of solidarity with Leyla Zana to the UCU conference (27 May 2009) and the academics’ trade union UCU has unanimously passed an emergency motion of solidarity with Zana.

“Congress resolves:

- to instruct Executive to mount a campaign to secure the release of Leya Zana. This includes:

• raising the issue with other trade unions
• calling on MPs and MEPs to protest to the Turkish government
• calling on the Principal of SOAS and the Vice Chancellor of London University to defend the rights of academic freedom and to communicate this in the strongest terms to the Turkish Embassy
• participating in the newly formed solidarity campaign.

http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=3888

UCU protests at the imprisonment of Kurdish politician Leyla Zana after SOAS speech

On the back of a UCU Congress motion http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=3888) the union has written to the Foreign Secretary David Miliband outlining our concerns about the imprisonment of Kurdish politician Leyla Zana by the Turkish authorities. In December 2008 Leyla was sentenced to 10 years in jail under Turkish anti-terrorist laws. On 28 July 2009 she was also given a 15 month sentence for a speech she made at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London on 24 May 2008. UCU is particularly concerned that the latest assault on Leyla’s freedom of expression stems from a speech made at a UK institution.

Click on http://www.london-student.net/2009/07/31/kurdish-politician-leyla-zana-jailed-after-soas-speech for further details of the SOAS case and on http://www.ksso.org.uk/2009/06/01/call-for-solidarity-with-leyla-zana/ for the new solidarity campaign launched by the UK Kurdish Studies and Student Organisation (KSSO).

http://www2.le.ac.uk/institution/unions/ucu/news/ucu-campaigns-update-4-september-2009

UCU protests at the imprisonment of Kurdish politician Leyla Zana after SOAS speech

On the back of a Business of the strategy and finance committee UCU has written to the UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband with our concerns about the imprisonment of Kurdish politician Leyla Zana by the Turkish authorities. In December 2008 Leyla was sentenced to 10 years in jail under Turkish anti-terrorist laws. On 28 July 2009 she was also given a 15 month sentence for a speech she made at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London on 24 May 2008. UCU is particularly concerned that the latest assault on Leyla’s freedom of expression stems from a speech made at a UK HE institution. Click here for further details of the SOAS case and here for the new solidarity campaign launched by the UK Kurdish Studies and Student Organisation (KSSO). UCU has written to the UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband; download  UCU letter to David Miliband re Leyla Zana.”

http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=2408

August 11, 2009

Statement from the SOAS Students’ Union on the imprisonment of Leyla Zana

On July 28th, 2009, a court in Diyarbakir, Turkey sentenced Leyla Zana – the first Kurdish female to be elected into the Turkish Parliament in 1991 – to 15 months imprisonment for a speech given during a seminar held at SOAS. It was called ‘Obstacles and Options for a Political and Peaceful Solution of Turkey’s Kurdish Question’ and was organised by the SOAS Kurdish Society. The student society and the organisation it is a part of the Kurdish Studies and Students Organisation (KSSO), stresses their non-political stance and dedication to ensuring the representation of their culture in the UK by means of promoting research and providing a neutral-open platform for intellectual debate on Kurdish matters. The trial and verdict against Ms. Zana is directly opposed to the right of freedom of expression and her position as a 1995 European Parliament Sakharov Prize Laureate and former elected representative highlight the importance of this oppressive verdict.

The SOAS Students’ Union commits itself to a long standing tradition to defend and support any individual or group that has been persecuted for expressing their beliefs; we will highlight injustice anywhere and everywhere. By targeting a former elected representative the injustice being done is not limited to Ms. Zana but extends itself to the Kurdish people who elected her. In fact, the trials and continuing support for Zana is proof that she is a reflection of the Kurdish people and her sentence is ignoring the peoples’ decision to support her, thus neglecting the freedom of expression of a populace and condemning someone to prison solely for expressing his/her belief. This now has the potential to lead many to further question the actual desire of the Turkish government to allow for a Kurdish voice to be heard that is justly recognized to be different from the Turkish one. It is especially important to recognise how this contradicts Article 19 of the UN Declaration of Human Rights which says:

“Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference…”

Potential problems that arise from the current state of affairs vary in their severity but all point to a greater alienation of the Kurdish ethnic group in various ways. At best, criminalising the actions of a former elected representative will discourage people to engage with the state’s processes that determine their rights within the society they live in. This is especially possible in the current situation which is causing someone who has said and is felt to defend democracy, human rights, and brotherhood between peoples as long as she lives to be imprisoned. At worst the sentence can be interpreted as a declaration aimed to the Kurdish people that reinforces their belief that they will never be represented justly within the system as it stands and thus by default will encourage further illegal action. This will only cause more of the same problems that have existed between the groups involved and may result in similar conflicts re-emerging.

An open, public meeting dedicated to contextuatising and discussing the ‘Obstacles and Options for a Political and Peaceful Solution of Turkey’s Kurdish Question’ shows the dedication of the Kurdish people to resolve what ever conflict they feel still exists. The surveillance done to sentence Zana not only demonstrates that the level of distrust between parties is in fact escalating but also shows that Turkish Intelligence does not respect the pursuit of discussing controversial matters in a free environment that encourages new and progressive solutions to emerge. Merely the act of holding an event that invites Kurdish people to organise and speak amongst themselves could become a display of trust and confidence that they are part of a just system. If any other conclusion is made and officially recognised then the validity of the system will be undeniable. Only then can progressive engagement with any of the conflicting issues that prevent the peace between the Turkish people and the Kurdish people be addressed.

The SOAS Students’ Union is committed to challenging any government or institution that creates injustice or repression against people, their beliefs, their representatives or their environment. Indeed, it is a fallacy of many governments that seek to forcibly determine the identity and livelihoods of people living within a geographical area and it has been present during the growth of most nations and empires. Therefore the SOAS Students’ Union calls upon active steps to provide a viable, long-term peaceful solution to the Kurdish question instead of struggling to suppress the voices of those who are working towards this goal.

Turkey has the potential to show the world an example of what a just society is and rid itself from the legacy of the military junta. We call on the relevant representatives to help make this a reality.

Ben Sellers

On behalf of the SOAS Student Union Executive

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If you would like to carry this further and voice your opposition to Ms. Zana’s sentence, please contact the following:

Email the EU Commission responsible for enlargement and Turkey’s accession negotiations:

olli.rehn@ec.europa.eu (Commissioner)
taneli.lahti@ec.europa.eu (Member of Cabinet responsible for Turkey)
kariane.westrheim@iuh.uib.no (Eu Turkey Civic Commission)

Other people that would benefit to hear from you would be:

bimer@baskanlik.gov.tr – Turkish Prime Minister: Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdogan
sadullahergin@adalet.gov.tr – Turkish Ministry of Justice: Mr. Sadullah Ergin
cumhurbaskanligi@tccb.gov.tr – President of Turkey: Mr. Abdullah Gül

mc@ksso.org.uk – Kurdish Studies & Students Organisation

http://findyourmp.parliament.uk – Your Local Member of Parliament

http://www.ucu.org.uk/index.cfm?articleid=3771 – Your UCU Representative

August 2nd, 2009

EUTCC Patron Leyla Zana Sentenced to Prison by a Turkish Court

Leyla Zana, an internationally renowned Kurdish politician and spokesperson was Tuesday 28 July sentenced to 15 months imprisonment by a Turkish Court in Diyarbakir, a city regarded as the capital of the Kurds. The court claimed that Zana, when speaking at a conference in London last year, stated that the PKK and its jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan are “as important for the Kurdish people as the brain and the soul are for a human being.”

Leyla Zana was the first Kurdish woman to win a seat in the Turkish Parliament in 1991. Her decision to give the Parliamentary Oath in Kurdish led to immediate calls for her arrest. This was the first time Kurdish had been spoken in the Turkish Parliament. She was sentenced to 15 years in prison but was released in 2004 due to international pressure. While in jail, Zana published Writings from Prison detailing her cause and the hardship she faced fighting for the Kurdish people. Zana received the Rafto Prize in 1994 and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1995. She has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize several times. In May this year Leyla Zana was invited to speak at the Oslo Freedom Forum together with other former prisoners of consciousness such as Elie Wiesel, Palden Gyatso, Elena Bonner, and Václav Havel. Zana ended her speech by saying:

“The explosion of social awareness despite bans and prohibitions gives an excitement that the demand of Kurdish people for freedom is transforming both the Turkish people and the people in Turkey as a whole, with a positive interaction. The same results, courage and organized thoughts are also forcing a change in the laws, because now in Turkey, both the people are forcing the laws and the laws are forcing the people. From this vicious circle, only the people can come out as winners, and they must.”

Despite Leyla Zana’s personal sufferings and losses during her 10 years of imprisonment, she remains a strong advocate for democracy and claims that it can only be secured by a non-violent political solution.

In order to become a member of the European Union Turkey has to take considerable and positive steps towards a political and durable peaceful solution to the Kurdish question. In that regard the decision of the Diyarbakir Court is as shocking and unacceptable as it is inequitable.

The EUTCC hereby calls on the European Union and the international community to take political action and strongly condemn Turkey for having sentenced Leyla Zana to 15 months of imprisonment.

Kariane Westrheim, Chair of EUTCC, Bergen – Norway

Hans Branscheidt - BOD EUTCC, Frankfurt – Germany

Professor Michel Gunter, BOD EUTCC, Tennessee – USA

For further information please contact:

Kariane Westrheim – Menneskerettighetenes plass 1 – 5007 Bergen, Norway – Telephone: +47 976 42 088 – (www.eutcc.org )

Green MEP demands action on human rights in Turkey as Kurdish campaigner is sentenced

July 31st, 2009

Jean Lambert today expressed her concern and disappointment over the decision of the Turkish authorities to sentence Leyla Zana, a prominent Kurdish human rights activist, for fifteen months. Ms Zana, who has met with the Green MEP on several occasions, was the winner of the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize in 1995 for her work to improve human rights, and extend democracy and freedom of expression in Turkey.

Commenting on the announcement of Ms Zana’s sentence, Jean Lambert MEP said:

“It is a sad outcome for human rights and for the Kurdish people. Leyla Zana is an inspirational figure and has tirelessly fought against intolerance and oppression. I have written to the President of the European Parliament this week to urge that everything possible is done at the EU level to support her appeal and I will continue to follow this situation closely.”

Jean Lambert MEP continued:

“Leyla Zana has already served a 10 year prison sentence for speaking Kurdish in the Turkish Parliament, following her election as the first female Kurdish MP. Even now, the use of the Kurdish language is still banned in public places despite pressure from the EU to reform human rights law and comply with the Copenhagen criteria.

“I support Ms Zana’s calls for the need for dialogue and a political solution to the conflict. I hope that she will win her new appeal against this sentence so that she can continue her work towards a peaceful solution for Turkey and a better situation for the Kurdish community.”

Jean Lambert, London’s Green Party MEP

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July 30th, 2009

Jail sentence for Leyla Zana condemned-Liberal Democrat MEP for London Baroness Sarah Ludford

Liberal Democrat MEP for London Baroness Sarah Ludford has condemned the 15 month prison sentence imposed by Turkish court on Kurdish politician Leyla Zana for comments she made about the PKK and its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan.

Sarah Ludford, who is the Liberal Democrat European justice & human rights spokeswoman, has met Leyla Zana on several occasions and is an outspoken supporter of cultural and political rights for Kurdish people in Turkey and elsewhere. She said:

“As is well known, I am a firm advocate of Turkish accession to the EU. But the necessary reforms must include respect for free speech, an end to the criminalisation of legitimate if controversial political views, and the related ending of the role of the military at the heart of state power.”

“Only a political solution to the Kurdish question will path the way for vital democratic renewal in Turkey and enable it to step into line with international and European human rights standards.”

“I join the EU-Turkey Civic Commission (EUTCC) in calling on the European Union and the international community to take political action to try and stop Leyla Zana’s imprisonment and encourage the government to begin a real dialogue with Kurds at last.”

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July 28th, 2009

Leyla Zana has been sentenced to 1 year and 3 months imprisonment because of a seminar she gave organised by the Kurdish Society at SOAS university.

Bianet has published the following article on their website. We hope to get more updates soon!

SOURCE: Bianet.org

1 Year 3 Months Imprisonment for Leyla Zana

A Diyarbakır court has sentenced politician Zana for “organisational propaganda”.

A court in Diyabakır has sentenced Kurdish politician Leyla Zana to 1 year and 3 months imprisonment for allegedly spreading PKK propaganda in a speech made at a seminar at London’s SOAS University on 24 May 2008.

In her speech, she had likened the PKK and its imprisoned leader Abdullah Öcalan’s importance to the Kurdish people to the importance the brain and heart have to humans. “They have created a new life for the Kurdish people, so that a people that used to be ashamed of its existence gained a spirit of freedom and resistance.”

The former MP for the Democracy Party (DEP) was tried under Article 7/2 of the Anti-Terrorism Law and the prosecution demanded 5 years imprisonment.

The police had monitored recordings on the Kurdish satellite channel Roj TV and had filed a criminal complaint against her.

Previous long imprisonment

In 1994, Zana and several other Kurdish politicians were arrested for using Kurdish at the swearing-in ceremony for MPs. They were imprisoned for 15 years and released in 2004.

Supporters of Zana in Turkey and France organised campaigns after she was sentenced to ten years imprisonment last year for speeches she made. The case is currently at the Supreme Court of Appeals. The campaign in Turkey has called for the Supreme Court to overturn the sentence, and on MPs to lift legal obstructions to the freedom of expression. In France, a campaign started on 10 February was signed by many intellectuals.

In the report by the European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, problems regarding the freedom of expression, Leyla Zana’s court case under Article 301 was cited. The EU had awarded Zana the Sakharov Prize in 1995. (EÜ/AG)

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July 21st, 2009

Leyla Zana appeard in the Diyarbakir Heavy Penal Court on July 21st again to answer charges regarding another ‘press crime’!

The Turkish authorities have taken several legal actions against Leyla Zana speeches made in Turkey and abroad between 2007 and 2008. This includes the speech she made at the Kurdish Society’s seminar at SOAS in May 2008.

On December 2008, the Diyarbakir Heavy Penal Court has already sentenced Zana to 10 years’ imprisonment for violating the penal code and the anti-terror law in nine different speeches. Her file is at the Supreme Court of Appeals (Court of Cassation in Ankara)

Leyla Zana states at the Turkish court in Amed (Turkish: Diyarbakir) on 31st March 2009

“Respectable Judges, I would like first to point out that I consider it a disgrace for the democracy of Turkey that I am being tried because of my thoughts. The fact that expression of thought is being considered within the scope of the fight against terrorism underscores yet another topical and burning issue. It is a fact that to be able to express one’s thought is a guarantee of all other freedoms”.

Leyla Zana, March 31st, 2009

We, The Committee for Solidarity with Leyla Zana call on the Diyarbakir Heavy Penal Court to stop prosecuting Leyla Zana for expressing thought at SOAS and call on the Supreme Court of Appeals to overturn the 10-year prison sentence in considering the European Court of Human Rights’ case law and on the Turkish Parliament to lift all legal obstructions to freedom of expression in Turkey.

Please join us to campaign strenuously on her behalf; write to MPs and MEPS, to trade Unions, NGO in the UK to not allow this time her imprisonment!

Europe’s largest independent student newspaper – the voice of 120,000 students

* Friday, July 31, 2009
* By Hilary Aked

Prominent Kurdish politician Leyla Zana has been sentenced to 15 months in jail by a Turkish court following charges over a speech she made at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

The court ruled on Tuesday (28^th July) that she was guilty of disseminating “propaganda for a terrorist organization” because she is said to have called the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its jailed leader Abdullah Ocalan “as important for the Kurdish people as the brain and the soul are for a human being.”

The court cited “speeches made abroad between 2007 and 2008″ which included the comments made in May last year at a seminar organised by the SOAS Kurdish society on “the obstacles and options for a political and peaceful solution of Turkey’s Kurdish question”.

Her lawyers demanded acquittal, arguing that this did not constitute propaganda, but the court convicted her under Article 7 of the Anti-Terrorism Law. It is thought there will be an appeal.

Professor Mary Davis of London Metropolitan University, who chaired the seminar, called the charges “completely trumped up”.  She said: “The issue is one of freedom of speech and academic freedom. If she [Zana] mentioned him [PKK leader Ocalan] it has been deliberately misinterpreted and taken out of context.”

The academics’ trade union UCU has unanimously passed an emergency motion of solidarity with  Zana, which calls on the Principal of SOAS, and the Vice Chancellor of London University to “defend the rights of academic freedom and to communicate this in the strongest terms to the Turkish Embassy”.

The University of London did not comment. SOAS Vice Principal, Professor Nirmala Roa, said:

“Our Principal has written to the Turkish Embassy asking for clarification about the charges being brought against Ms Zana.

“SOAS is committed to the pursuit and dissemination of knowledge. This can only be done effectively in an atmosphere of openness, mutual tolerance and intellectual freedom, without fear of intimidation or reprisal. For SOAS freedom of speech is paramount and the notion that people should be prosecuted for things said in an academic seminar at SOAS is deeply worrying.”

Janroj Yilmaz Keles, the chairperson of the Kurdish Studies and Student Organisation, condemned the decision of the Turkish court as a “direct attack on freedom of expression, protected by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights”.

“Turkey has to take active steps to provide a viable, long term peaceful solution to the Kurdish question instead of struggling to suppress the voices of those working towards this goal,” he added.

He called the sentence a discriminatory decision, adding: “Not only is she Kurdish, she is a woman, up against a justice system dominated by men, a woman publicising taboo subjects. This is one of many, many legal actions they have taken against her.”

Zana previously spent 10 years in jail after being arrested for using the Kurdish language, which is severely restricted in Turkey, when being sworn in as the first female Kurdish MP to sit in the Turkish Parliament.

In 1994 a court convicted her of links to the PKK, listed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States, the United Nations and the European Union. She was released in 2004 following international pressure.

Zana is a former deputy of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) which the Turkish government alleges is linked to the PKK, a militant group which wants self-rule in the South-Eastern region of the country. They have been in conflict with the government for 25 years, over which time at least 40,000 people are thought to have been killed. But DTP leaders state that they support a unified and democratic Turkey.

Amnesty International UK spokesperson Steve Ballinger told London Student: ”The conviction of Leyla Zana is an unacceptable restriction of freedom of expression – something that we have sadly documented much of in Turkey.

“The Article under which she was convicted fails to distinguish between support for the political aims of an organisation and the violent means that it uses.”

The EU awarded Zana the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 1995, and she has twice been nominated for the Nobel Peace prize. Turkey’s human rights record and the Kurdish question remain major barriers to it joining the European Union.

http://www.london-student.net/2009/07/31/kurdish-politician-leyla-zana-jailed-after-soas-speech/

Kamal Rauf the editor in cheif of Hawlati newspaper will highlight the main issues in the recent elections which were held on July 25th, 2009.

Established in 2000, Hawlati is the leading independent newspaper in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, with a circulation of 150,000. In April 2009 Hawlati launched a London edition and became the first Kurdish newspaper to be published both in Kurdistan and the UK.

The seminar is in Kurdish (Sorani) language and there will be an open debate at the end of the seminar. English translation will be provided for those that request it.

Date and time:

Friday 31st July 2009 from 7.00 PM to 9.00 PM

Location:

Room G51
School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS)
University of London
Thornhaugh Street
Russell Square
London WC1H 0XG

Click here for map

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The UK Kurdish Studies & Student Organisation is a non-political body that strives to promote greater awareness of the Kurds, their political and cultural situation in the Middle East, and as a significant minority community in the UK.

Mr. Andrew Wilcox, a student at the University of Exeter, studying for an MA in Kurdish Studies under Professor Christine Alison and Dr Hashem Ahmadzadeh is looking for the Yezidis living in Britain to interview for his research project. His dissertation thesis is a study of Yezidis living in Britain, their experience and their sense of religious identity.

My interviews would be as informal as possible and all information would be used solely for the purpose of my dissertation and would be kept entirely anonymous.

We, KSSO support and promote research on, about or by Kurdish peoples and would really appreciate if you could participate in this research or help to find some participants for the above mentioned research

If you have any queries about the research, please contact:

Andrew Wilcox
Telephone: 07790 144 956
Email: andywilcox64@hotmail.com

Brief introduction of the research

Research into notions of identity among Yezidis in the U.K.

Yezidism is a unique religion perpetuated through a rich oral cultural tradition, its antiquity and adaptability to changing circumstances can scarcely be denied. However, having been until very recently a religion maintained by orality, its presentation to the academic world has been largely that of description by ‘outsiders’. These ‘outside voices’ have historically endeavoured to make Yezidism fit within the prejudices of their own ‘world view’. This research project hopes to give Yezidis themselves the opportunity to discuss what they consider to be the nature and detail of their religion, what is important and what is not, and ultimately to contribute to the ongoing work of redressing some of the prejudices held against this minority religious community.

Equally, and more specifically, the research seeks to discuss the experiences of Yezidis living in the United Kingdom. Not only do Yezidis constitute a minority group but, as Andreas Ackerman has said of the German Yezidi diaspora, they are in fact a ‘double minority’. A minority within a minority, and due to the even smaller numbers of Yezidis living in the UK this is more significant.

The focus of this research is upon the difficulties which may be encountered by Yezidis in conducting aspects of their religious practice and in assuring the continuance of their religion in the conditions of isolation implied by such a minority status.

The research thus proposes to talk with those Yezidis living in the United Kingdom who would be willing to discuss their experiences and their understandings of Yezidism. It is envisaged that this would consist of an informal one hour interview.