EFD end of the year posts: with the Uludere massacre, Turkey’s Kurdish question comes back at full scale

pro-government circles recently argue that there is no going back to 1990’s in terms of Kurdish question. Now as in the old days Kurdish civilians are killed en masse as collateral damage…

Deputy gov attacked as BDP warns against official visits to Şırnak

from Hurriyet Daily News

The deputy governor of Uludere district where 35 civilians were killed in a botched air raid were attacked by a group of people.

 

Uludere investigation, or: the potholes in our minds

from Journalist in Turkey, background articles, news and weblog about by Fréderike Geerdink

Intense days it have been, totally taken up by the news around the killing of 35 civilians by the Turkish air forces. Chilling details, like: 28 of the 35 deceased had the same last name, and 17 of 35 were under the age of 18. The group of smugglers always took the same route, one

Questions grow over Uludere intel failure

from Hurriyet Daily News

As officials and the military express sorrow following Dec 28?s raid deaths, many in Turkey question the intelligence that led to the attack.

 

More than 20 killed in military operation

from Hurriyet Daily News
At least 20 people were killed in a Turkish air raid near the Uludere township of Turkey?s Şırnak province which borders Iraq last night, with claims that they were not members of the armed Kurdistan Workers? Party (PKK), but diesel smuggling peasants.

Turkey says deadly air strike was an ‘unfortunate accident’

from World news: Turkey | guardian.co.uk by James Meikle
Turkish official confirms 35 people killed in Iraqi border air raids were civilians working as smugglers, not Kurdish rebels
Turkey’s ruling party has called the killing of 35 people in an air attack along its south-eastern border an “unfortunate operational accident”.

2011 – a year of conflict for the Kurds

from World news: Turkey | guardian.co.uk by Paddy Allen, Nina Hymans
The battle between the Ankara government and the Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK), which wants an autonomous Kurdish homeland, has seen a year of increased bloodshed


People look at bodies lying on the ground after Turkey’s air force attacked suspected Kurdish rebel targets across the border in Iraq, killing some tens of people, many of them believed to be smugglers mistaken for guerrillas, near the Turkish village of Ortasu in Sirnak, Turkey, Thursday, Dec. 29. 2011. The Turkish military confirmed the Wednesday night raids, but said its jets struck an area of northern Iraq that is frequently used by Kurdish rebels to enter Turkey, after drones detected a group approaching Turkey’s border.(AP Photo)

As we exit 2011 (3)

from Today’s Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news :: Columnists by YAVUZ BAYDAR
Yesterday?s horrible news concerning the military airstrikes killing at least 30 civilian Kurds — many of them teenagers — can only be commented on with deep grief. It only confirmed concerns expressed by this columnist in earlier articles that tough military measures — declared with the tones of overconfident authority — can backfire like this. I share the sorrow of the Kurdish families whose members were added to the list of the victims of this dreadful warfare.

People mount bodies onto mules after Turkey’s air force attacked suspected Kurdish rebel targets across the border in Iraq, killing some tens of people, many of them believed to be smugglers mistaken for guerrillas, near the Turkish village of Ortasu in Sirnak, Turkey, Thursday, Dec. 29. 2011. The Turkish military confirmed the Wednesday night raids, but said its jets struck an area of northern Iraq that is frequently used by Kurdish rebels to enter Turkey, after drones detected a group approaching Turkey’s border.(AP Photo)

Turkish Airstrikes Kill Smugglers Mistaken for Kurdish Separatists

from NYT > Turkey by By SEBNEM ARSU


The Turkish military said that it had killed at least 35 smugglers in the Kurdish border region after mistaking them for separatist fighters.

People mount bodies onto mules after Turkey’s air force attacked suspected Kurdish rebel targets across the border in Iraq, killing some tens of people, many of them believed to be smugglers mistaken for guerrillas, near the Turkish village of Ortasu in Sirnak, Turkey, Thursday, Dec. 29. 2011. The Turkish military confirmed the Wednesday night raids, but said its jets struck an area of northern Iraq that is frequently used by Kurdish rebels to enter Turkey, after drones detected a group approaching Turkey’s border.(AP Photo)

?Turkish TV can?t cover the news?

from Journalist in Turkey, background articles, news and weblog about by Fréderike Geerdink
ISTANBUL ? Turkish journalists are getting more frustrated about the increasing censorship in their country. Whenever there is big news concerning the fight against the Kurdish PKK, immediately the phone calls from the government in Ankara start coming in with instructions. And so it was this morning, after the news that dozens of civilians were […]

Kurdish Smugglers Become Terrorists AFTER Being Killed?

by Emre Kızılkaya

Thirty-five people were killed in a Turkish military air raid along the Iraqi border on the night of Dec. 28.

Firstly, the Turkish army announced that it opened an investigation about the attack on the border area, which was close to several bases of the PKK, a terrorist organization according to Ankara, Washington and Brussels.

Then, the AKP government declared that it was ?an operational fault? and it was a large group of smugglers who were accidentally hit.

 

Angry Kurds bury victims of Turkish attack – Europe – Al Jazeera English

Turkish air strikes kill dozens of villagers near Iraq border

from World news: Turkey | guardian.co.uk by Peter Beaumont
Turkey’s government forced to admit victims of bombing were not Kurdish separatist fighters
The donkeys had been sent across Turkey’s south-eastern border with Iraq to ferry vats of smuggled diesel and cigarettes. On Thursday when they came back it was with bodies wrapped in carpets lashed to their sides: the victims of a Turkish air raid that killed up to 35 villagers from this remote region.

Gül uneasy with debates on his tenure, says has no political concerns

Today’s Zaman

The president also acknowledged that he has always distanced himself from the Syrian regime and believed that Turkey’s reconciliation with Syria may transform the country.WikiLeaks cables also revealed that Gül frequently expressed his uneasiness

The Year of Erdogan

by Acturca
The National Interest (USA) December 27, 2011 Morton Abramowitz * Few international leaders covered themselves with much glory this past year. Turkey?s prime minister did the trick. In a year in which the Middle East was dominated by uprisings, violence, the fall of dictators, the rise of Islamic parties and changing alignments, Recip Tayyip Erdogan

Efforts for a new constitution

from Today’s Zaman, your gateway to Turkish daily news :: Turkish Pre by FİKRET BİLA MİLLİYET
Parliament Speaker Cemil Çiçek seems like he has set his mind on creating a new constitution as is working heartily for it. But he is also having a little bit of trouble.

AKP favors Erdoğan as president in 2014

from Hurriyet Daily News
As Turkey closes out 2011, a senior official expresses the ruling party?s New Year?s wish…

Turkey: Has Gülen Movement Replaced Deep State?

from EurasiaNet.org – Turkey by akurtiev
The December 26 trial of arrested Turkish journalists Ahmet Şık and Nedim Şener has pushed a shadowy organization known as the Gülen movement to the forefront of public attention in Turkey. The group?s influence has long been an open secret. Now, its weight is being felt at a time when the country?s democratic credentials are increasingly being called into question.

Turkey revises anti-PKK strategy

from Hurriyet Daily News
It would not be an exaggeration to describe today?s National Security Board (MGK) meeting as one of the most significant of recent times

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