Saturday, October 27, 2007

After a little time spent in Diyarbekir...

After a little time spent in Diyarbekir, and the region in Turkey known as Kurdistan that has been completely under seige by a state bent on forced assimilation and destruction of an entire culture and language, I can only cheer when I read something from Briton's Times Online like this:

From The Sunday TimesOctober 28, 2007

Britons join Kurdish rebels to fight TurksHala Jaber, Qandil mountains, northern Iraq
BRITONS are among foreigners fighting Turkish troops with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, The Sunday Times can reveal.

According to PKK fighters holed up in one of the natural fortresses of the Qandil mountain range which runs along Iraq’s Turkish and Iranian borders, several Europeans have joined forces with their group.

At least three Britons were in the PKK’s 3,000-strong force, boasted one fighter as he and a group of men huddled in a room discussing the latest clashes with the Turkish army. Others include Russians, Germans, Greeks, Iranians and Arabs. The PKK is labelled by both Europe and America as a terrorist organisation.

As diplomatic efforts to avert war falter, the PKK’s fighters now lie in wait for the mechanised Turkish divisions gathering menacingly along the border. Previous Turkish incursions have failed to deal a mortal blow to the PKK and geography again conspires against them.

The path to the PKK’s mountain redoubt winds along a cliffside track so bumpy that our Jeep crawls along at walking pace, its wheels inches from the edge of a precipice. The view of the jagged peaks is spectacular.
to read the whole article click link below:


Britons Join Kurdish Rebels to Fight the Turks

2 comments:

grokked said...

Found you through your YouTube 'Taner Akcam at Columbia' videos, and thus the link to your blog. I have been compiling a playlist on my own youtube account - placing videos there (mostly from AlJazeera English, by virtue that they have been doing more to follow and try to present fairly the developing latest phase in Turkey-PKK-Kurdish relations). The cultivated nature of Turkish Nationalism being stirred up over the current situation is amazing to follow. This playlist is at youtube /grokked ... you may wish to use some of the material.

Behdad Bordbar said...

I wish to have the tranlation of the song Jenin Azad in English,I am kurd from Iran but not able to undrestand lyrics .would u please Email it or write it as a comment in my weblog.