08/03/2012 17:20 BRUSSELS, March 8 (AKnews) - The Halabja genocide and the use of chemical weapons against Kurds were discussed today in the European Parliament by politicians, academics and Kurdish organizations. Halabja-conference-EU-ParliamentIn addition to covering the history and political background, the event also focused on responsibility and on the role of the international community for the recognition of the Kurdish massacres as genocide. The conference was opened this morning by Jürgen Klute, German Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from the European United Left/Nordic Green Left. "The European Parliament is good place for commemoration of the Halabja genocide, because here people from different countries come together and try to solve peacefully the conflicts," he said. "The origin of the European Union is in the wars all over Europe. Like in the Kurdish case, the tragedies, which happened, can not be undone, but we can remember the victims and restore some of their dignity". Klute pointed out that the daily life of Kurds in different regions is still marked by violence and suffering, giving as example the recent poison attacks by the Turkish army against Kurds in Kazan Valley and in the village of Robosky where 34 Kurdish youths were killed. "The European Union has responsibility not only to contribute to the peace in the region by political and economical means, but also to end the weapons' supply to countries in conflict", said the MEP, adding that "the poisonous gas used in Halabja massacre originated from Germany and other European countries". Minister from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Sabah Ahmad Mohammad could not attend personally the conference and instead sent a video message. Mohammad gave many examples of massacres committed against Kurds by the regime of Saddam Hussein, such as the deportation of Barzani tribes from their villages in 1983, the Anfal campaign in 1988 - which aimed to destroy the rural areas populated by Kurds - and the Halabja chemical gas attack in 1988. "Today these crimes are internally recognized by Iraq and the international community should also recognize them as genocides", said Mohammad. He explained that the KRG is working on the establishment of lobbies, groups for support and advisory committees which will work in cooperation with the Kurdish ministries to achieve international recognition of the atrocities committed against Kurdish people. Demir Celik, MP from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party in Turkey, spoke about the violence against the people of Mesopotamia from ancient times until today. "Kurds from the four parts of divided Kurdistan went through legendary sufferings, which still continue in many places today. The hegemonic, assimilation policies of the countries in the Middle East oppress the Kurdish people and deprive them from their fundamental human rights". Celik concluded that even in the twenty-first century thousands of Kurdish "thoughts prisoners" are forcibly removed from democratic participation in the life of the countries where they live and "it's the duty of all of us to fight for the rights of the Kurdish people". Nejeeba Omer from Women Movement for Freedom in the Kurdistan Region criticized the "Western countries, which care only about their own democratic and peaceful existence, but don't support oppressed people in other countries". Omer pointed out that "as history shows, often women are the main victims of the massacres against Kurds and they need moral and economical support to join the struggle for freedom and participate equally in all spheres of life". The discussion will continue until the adoption of a final declaration late this evening. By Roni Alasor and Lorin Sarkisian AKnews.com
i just would like to add "shame on the Arab countries" for not condemning these brutal atrocities done against Muslim kurds , if they are not prepared to defend us today why turn us Muslims back then and leave us for turks Persians Iraqis and Syrians to butcher us , we would have been better off been Zoroastrians . and i did not hear any Arab country condemn the recent killing by turkish tyrant army of 35 innocent civilian kurds in kurdistan region of turkey ..... but the EU parliament did. i hope my 40 million stateless nation wake up and reconsider their religion one last time .
Yes.. its a shame that so many Kurds suffered because some were changing sides more often than underwear. The were against Saddam Hussein, created problems for Iran.. worked as contractors for the Israelis and sometimes for the Soviets. Sounds like you just doubled the number of "stateless" Kurds.. Why doesn't Kurdistan seek statehood within Iraq???
your chauvinist views towards kurds has blinded you so much that your still living in the pre 1991 . South Kurdistan or what you call Iraqi Kurdistan is already separate just needs a flag in UN so we are done and dusted with that part , next as you very much know is western/Syrian part which want autonomy for their region , so will remain 2 more , and i am sure once iran is attacked the Iranians will raise including kurds arabs azheri and baluchi . dont tell me bed times stories next time cos your dull and lame view towards kurds is not going to stop us from seeking statehood in all 4 parts , whether its united or separate it dont matter . there are 22 arabs states , let there be 4 different kurdish ones too . and rest assured we will re-consider our religion (Islam) it has began already we will convert back to our old and sacred religion of Zoroastrians and worship our holy book of "Avesta" . you forgot Japan Tsunami and African starvation . and you sound like dictator regieme lover (Saddam and Iran) wft who gives a dam about them except for you obviously !! i wonder why you love "Saddam" so much lol. as for working for Israel lol this map should put you back in the hole
think before you type , if you do use that brain of course ! everyone knows how brutal Saddam was except you and few others obviously , what kind of sleeping tablet your taking ?. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvxGtPkchYA"]Saddam animal crimes against Kurds - YouTube[/ame]
Anyone can present wish map at any conference. Don't assume I thought highly of Saddam Hussein.. I just don't think well of the Kurdish minority that have betrayed all the Kurds. Why not ask for Statehood within Iraq? Like Texas or Oklahoma??
you are a king of contradiction , you said we were "Israel" contractors while we were asking for a state back in 1919 which when the word "Israel"? did not even exist , lol any more stories to tell !!! Iraq is a country for Arabs , Turkey is for turks (even their constitution says it) Syria is also a republic arab state and Iran is for Persians , we are Kurds and a different nation , we have our land the land of kurds Kurdistan and we form a majority in them , 2 parts are currently still under occupation by Turkey and Iran , we want self rule which we already got in 2 parts which was suppose to be granted to us at the "treaty of Sevres" but our Muslim iraqi turkish and Iranian brohters like always betrayed us . 2 part is free 2 more to go .
You sound as if every ethnic group has or must have a nation. Being a nation, instead of a group of people, is a quite complex social process which needs first of all a common background. There are numerous groups inside Turkish Republic like Lazs, Çerkez, Dadaş, Roman each has their own language but they dont have a nation revolted from time to time against Turkish Republic ( Çerkez Ethem Revolt http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Çerkes_Ethem ) but supressed. Turks established at least 16 different empire/states in the history, all represented with a star on our presidential seal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidential_Seal_of_Turkey Flags of the countries Turks established in the history. With your point of view Turkey must add all other countries which are established by and contain more than 95% of its population Turks; like Republic of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Özbekistan, Kırgızistan.... list is too long When a Kurdish standup artist visited Diyarbakır a few years ago he started his show in a certain dialect of Kurdish 10 mins didnt pass half of the crowd began to complain that they dont understand it very well. He began to with another dialect and then the other half complained. Im not proud of that but showman finished his show in Turkish. Not just in language both culturally and historically there are deep differences in Kurdish population. Two of my commanders in the Turkish Army was Kurd they were speaking Kurdish with Kurd kids from time to time do you think they would join a newly established Kurdish state ? Im sure they wouldnt just like my Kurd uncle who lives in a luxurious villa by the Bosphorous.
the post has been reported , off topic . and dont compare Laz to Kurds , what 500,000 vs 40,000,000 !!!??
10/03/2012 12:47 BRUSSELS, March 9 (AKnews) - AKnews coverage of the conference on the Halabja genocide in the European Parliament continues with the part two of Roni Alasor and Lorin Sarkisians special report. In the latter half of the conference, delegates called on the European Union and international community to recognize the 1988 chemical attack on Halabja as genocide and bring the Western companies that supplied Saddam Hussein with poisonous gas to court. The floor was given to victims and witnesses. Dana Halabjaiy from Property of Halabja Monument Foundation said that more than a hundred Western companies had been involved in supplying poisonous gas to Saddam Hussein and up to now only the Netherlands sentenced one company owner. After the fall of the Iraqi dictatorship regime in 2003, the United Nations (UN) had enough documents about the countries and the companies which had supplied Saddam, said Halabjaiy. Unfortunately, the international community not only failed to bring them to court, but the UN did not even recognize the massacres against Kurds as crimes against the humanity and genocide. Ana Miranda, a member of Group of the Greens in the European Parliament expressed her personal and political solidarity with the Kurds: We, from Catalonia, Galicia, Basque country in Spain, support the Kurdish people and their struggle for human rights, freedom and democracy. Miranda also called on the European Union to recognize the genocides against the Kurdish people and to take to court the European companies which sold chemical products to Saddams regime. Hans Branscheidt, German Board Member of the EUs Turkey Civic Commission, was one of the first foreigners who visited Halabja soon after the poisonous gas attack. At that time Branscheidt was Executive Director of Medico International, humanitarian organization, which work for human rights and health. Branscheidt said he was in shock from the devastation and the brutal extermination. He added that 56 German companies were involved at that time in the production of the toxic gas used by the Iraqi Baath regime. Karwan Saleh and Berevan Sharhank, Members of Federal Kurdistan Parliament, said that Federal Kurdistan is still bombed daily by neighboring countries such as Iran and Turkey. We dont want to be victims of these crimes because of the economical interests of other countries. Its time that Europe and the West take their responsibility, said Saleh. Delegates in the conference also discussed the recent poison attacks by the Turkish army against Kurds in Kazan Valley and in the village of Roboski where 34 Kurdish youths were killed. Professor Dirk Rochtus from the International University Lessius in Antwerp, Belgium analyzed the historical background and the current situation in Turkey, and made a comparison between the Armenian and the Kurdish genocides. Rochtus deplored the silence of the Western countries, which dont help Turkey to face its own history and apologize for the massacres against Armenians and Kurds. Genocide turns into a double genocide when it is being denied or minimized, pointed out Rochtus. He gave as a positive example Germany, which apologized for the atrocities, committed during the Second World War and regained its dignity and respect among other nations. Dr. Salar Basire from Sulaimaniyah University, a long-time researcher of the use of the chemical weapons in Kurdistan, condemned the support of Western countries for dictatorship regimes. In particular, the Wests weapons supply, which made the Halabja, Roboski and Kazan Valley massacres possible. Jan Bøer Vindheim, author and politician from the Green Party in Norway, also criticized the role of Western countries in massacres of the Armenians, Assyrians and Kurds. Vindheim advised the Kurdish organizations and authorities to work more professionally, to archive and describe by academic and scientific means the atrocities committed against the Kurdish people in order to achieve international recognition. Sevket Akdemir, Representative of IHD-Regional Office in Turkey, Sakir Caliskan from Mazlum-Der in Turkey and Clémentine Frances, a lawyer from Selarl Capjuris, presented their observation reports from the massacres in Roboski and Kazan Valley. The representatives from human rights organizations strongly criticism Turkey, which despite its membership in NATO, Council of Europe, United Nations and as candidate for membership in EU, didnt allow them to collect evidences and investigate the massacres. It is clear sign that Turkey is in war with its own citizens. The EU and the international community should help to stop this human tragedy in the twenty-first century, declared Caliskan. To conclude the conference, the participants adopted a final declaration demanding international recognition of the Halabja genocide and investigation of the recent attacks against Kurds in Turkey. By Roni Alasor and Lorin Sarkisian AKnews.com
11/03/2012 16:44 BRUSSELS, March 11 (AKnews) - International recognition of the Halabja genocide, material compensation for the victims and full investigation of the recent attacks against Kurds in Turkey were among the demands adopted in the final declaration of the international conference on the Halabja genocide and use of chemical weapons, which took place in Brussels on Thursday. Halabja conference declarationFollowing a day-long discussion in the European Parliament with more than fifteen speakers - politicians, academics and human rights workers from Europe, Kurdistan and Turkey - the participants adopted the following declaration: "We, the speakers and participants of the conference on the 8th of March 2012 on remembering the Halabja genocide and the use of chemical weapons against Kurds, have decided on the following as our final declaration. "Our conference was held on International Women’s Day (8th of March). All participants celebrated International Women’s Day and showed solidarity with the oppressed women and oppressed people of the world by expressing sympathy with the struggle for democracy and human rights across the globe. "The participants of our conference - which consisted of human rights activists, politicians, victims of the Halabja and Roboski massacres and academics from Turkey, Kurdistan and Europe - discussed the genocide policies applied throughout history and presently to the Kurdish people as seen in the massacres of Roboski and Kazan Valley. Halabja conference declaration"Our conference recognized that the most well known of the genocides against the Kurdish people was the genocide carried out by Saddam’s regime in Halabja in 1988. However, it was also said that the Kurds are currently facing policies of genocide on a daily basis. "Our conference has determined that the genocides suffered by the Kurdish people have derived from the denial and annihilation policies of the sovereign states under which the Kurds are living. "Our conference has inferred that these genocides have at times been carried out with the direct or indirect support of European states by overriding their own democratic values; therefore, the approach of EU states and international organizations to the Kurdish question has been condemned. It has been called upon the EU states and international organizations to cease helping these states on grounds of historical and democratic norms. "Our conference is calling on international organizations to recognize officially the Halabja massacre as genocide and move to ensure that the undertakers of the Roboski massacre will be held responsible and brought to account for their actions. Halabja conference declaration"Our demands to the EU, international organizations and Iraqi authorities regarding Halabja: 1. We call upon the EU and UN to formally recognize these crimes as genocide. 2. To be against any policy that may lead to a repeat of such crimes against the Kurdish nation or any other nation. 3. We call upon the Iraqi government to materially compensate the victims and the Kurdish nation. At the same time the Iraqi government should ensure a minute silence for the remembrance of the Halabja genocide every year on the 16th of March. 4. The European Parliament needs to work on requesting the Iraqi government to provide an official apology to the Kurdish nation and undertake steps for such action. 5. The EU governments need to cooperate with the Iraqi government and the Kurdistan Regional Government - who have already officially accepted Halabja as genocide - for international recognition of crimes against Kurds as genocide and through various policies to support the Kurdish identity in the neighboring countries where Kurds live. 6. We call upon the European Parliament to work for recognizing the 16th of March as an international day against chemical weapons and mass destruction "Our demands to the EU and international organizations regarding Roboski: "On the 28th of December 2011 between the hours of 21:30 and 22:30 Turkish Fighter Jets bombed a group of civilians in the village of Roboski, Sirnak, who were on their way back having earlier crossed the border into Iraq. As a result of this bombardment a total of 35 civilians, of which 17 were children, tragically lost their lives. One person was injured and two people escaped with no injuries. Although the massacre occurred 71 days ago the fact that the details of the massacre have not been fully disclosed shows that the state have played a part in this massacre. "At this present time we are no longer discussing the reality of the massacre, but rather, by who and why this massacre was carried out. "As a result of this attack 35 people’s right to life was taken from them. This, without a doubt, carries this message: if you do not accept the denial and annihilation policies of the Turkish state you will be annihilated. "We demand that the Turkish state finds the people responsible for this massacre and demand that international organizations investigate the incident and make sure the people responsible are brought to justice. "In accordance: 1. We demand that this attack is acknowledged as an extrajudicial killing and due to the numbers killed should be accepted as a mass killing. 2. That this is a continuation of the extrajudicial killings carried out under the name of “struggle against terror”. 3. That the insistence of force in the solution of the Kurdish question forms the basis of such dark acts of violence, and so the UN and EU should pressurize Turkey to adopt a more peaceful and democratic approach for the solution of the Kurdish question. 4. For national and international civil society organizations to show awareness by investigating further. 5. Finally, we call upon the human rights committees of the UN, EC and EU to send delegations to the region for full investigation." By Roni Alasor and Lorin Sarkisian AKnews.com
ISIS barbarity... Yazidi Victim of ISIS Genocide: ‘They Beheaded Children With Axes’ September 12, 2016 | A Yazidi mother and one of her sons who survived the Islamic State’s attack on Sinjar and surrounding villages in northern Iraq in August 2014, said that ISIS “shot and killed” many people, kidnapped young girls for sex, filmed the abuse and texted it to the girls’ families, and even “beheaded children with axes.” See also: Obama: ‘As We Mark Eid al-Adha This Year, We Are Reminded of the Millions of Refugees’ September 12, 2016 | President Barack Obama issued a statement today marking the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
