Victory To The Kurds!

[kurdeng at aps.nl]

------------------------ Forwarded from : ats at etext.org ------------------------

The Kurdish People Will Have Victory With Dignity And Pride

     On July 25, 1995 Kani Yilmaz, European representative of the
ERNK appeared in court for the fourth and final extradition
hearing at Belmarsh Magistrates Court. Kani has been confined to 
Belmarsh Prison in South East London as a 'Category A' prisoner
since January, following his October 26, 1994, arrest outside
Westminster tube station by Special Branch. Initially on his way
to address MPs and peers on a political solution to the Kurdish
question, and having previously entered Britain numerous times
unhindered, Kani soon found himself facing deportation on
supposed 'national security' grounds. On November 10 an
extradition request was made by the German government for
offences connected with Kani's membership of the PKK and related
activities. Having committed no crime, Kani, like many Kurds
before him, has faced torture and persecution at the hands of the
Turkish state for simply advocating civil and human rights for
the Kurdish peoples. Now, he languishes in a British prison under
a justice system and security service which has aligned itself
with Turkish state fascism.
     Since the arrest of Kani Yilmaz, the campaign for his
release and for a halt to the criminalisation of the Kurds in
Britain and Europe has gathered momentum. On July 14, 10,000
prisoners of war from Kurdistan went on indefinite hungerstrikes
in Turkish prisons in resistance to Turkey's escalation of the
war in Kurdistan and have demanded a negotiated political
solution to the Kurdish question. Solidarity hungerstrikes were
started on July 20 in cities all over the world including Berlin,
Frankfurt, Paris, Geneva, Stockholm, The Hague, Athens and
Washington DC. In London, Kurdish people are presently on
hungerstrike outside Westminster Cathedral in Victoria Street. On
July 25 Kani himself commenced a hungerstrike in solidarity with
the Kurdish people.
     On the day of July 25 a picket and demonstration was held in
London at Kani Yilmaz's committal hearing to bring the Kurdish
question into the public eye and continue the campaign for Kani's
release. 2,000 Kurds and their supporters, including the
hungerstrikers, were present on the day. At noon, an
overwhelmingly heavy riot police presence were on the scene as
protesters participated in traditional Kurdish dances and
listened to a variety of speeches. A few hours later an
announcement was made that Kani Yilmaz was to be deported. This
was returned by strong silence and an atmosphere of disbelief,
then the protest returned to Westminster Cathedral to bring the
situation of the Kurds in Turkey into focus. At this point a
sit-down protest took place, followed by a continuation of the
march which would have continued if not for the riot police who
formed a line against the confused demonstrators and Kurdish
families, lashing out against them with truncheons. Following
this sustained attack, enraged marchers fought back with sticks
and bottles. Running battles continued until police effectively
fenced-in the entire demonstration. Close to midnight, the
protesters dispersed themselves into the underground subway. The
press later claimed that twelve police were injured in the melee,
while downplaying the casualties on the demonstrator's side which
included a young woman and hungerstriker who had her leg broken
in several places by police batons. Considering the nature of the
demonstrators, who by and large restrained themselves against
police forces which from the outset sought to menace any display
of Kurdish protest, it seems quite hard to believe statements
from the police who claim that the Kurds had planned the
violence. One officer claimed his partner had been "stabbed in
the chest", while another claims to have caught demonstrators in
the possession of petrol bombs. None of these claims actually
came to ground.
     For the Kurds, Turkish state fascism has again shown its
interests met by the hands of the British authorities. An extract
from Abdullah Ocalan, PKK chairman, to the people of Britain
reads: "Our British friends must raise their voice to stop the
killings which are ten times worse than Saddam's atrocities
across the border. There was only one Halabja in Iraqi Kurdistan
but in Turkey, the whole southeast is becoming one enormous
Halabja. This war is worse than Chechnya, yet it is being
ignored. Can you possibly justify these double standards?"

Yesterday Vietnam, Today Kurdistan! - Yesterday Hitler, Today
Ciller! Release Kani Yilmaz - Victory to the Honourable Kurdish
Struggle! 

London, England - July 28, 1995

(Written by a comrade at Arm The Spirit)

 ++++ stop the execution of Mumia Abu-Jamal ++++
   ++++ if you agree copy these lines to your sig ++++
     ++++ see http://www.xs4all.nl/~tank/spg-l/sigaction.htm ++++

+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++===+++==
Arm The Spirit is an autonomist/anti-imperialist collective based
in Toronto, Canada. Our focus includes a wide variety of
material, including political prisoners, national liberation
struggles, armed communist resistance, anti-fascism, the fight
against patriarchy, and more. We regularly publish our writings,
research, and translation materials in our magazine and bulletins
called Arm The Spirit. For more information, contact:

Arm The Spirit
P.O. Box 6326, Stn. A
Toronto, Ontario
M5W 1P7 Canada

E-mail: ats at etext.org
WWW: gopher://locust.cic.net:70/11/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit
FTP: ftp.etext.org --> /pub/Politics/Arm.The.Spirit
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----------------------------- End forwarded message --------------------------