INSTITUT KURDDE PARIS E Information and liaison bulletin N° 410 MAY 2019 The publication of this Bulletin enjoys a subsidy from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Ministry of Culture This bulletin is issued in French and English Price per issue : France: 6 € — Abroad : 7,5 € Annual subscribtion (12 issues) France : 60 € — Elsewhere : 75 € Monthly review Directeur de la publication : Mohamad HASSAN Misen en page et maquette : Ṣerefettin ISBN 0761 1285 INSTITUT KURDE, 106, rue La Fayette - 75010 PARIS Tel. : 01-48 24 64 64 - Fax : 01-48 24 64 66 www.fikp.org E-mail: bulletin@fikp.org Information and liaison bulletin Kurdish Institute of Paris Bulletin N° 410 May 2019 • TURKEY: THE TURKISH PRESIDENT HAS ISTANBUL ELECTION RESULT CANCELLED, BUT MUST GIVE IN TO HUNGER STRIKERS • ROJAVA: DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST THE AUTONOMOUS ADMINISTRATION, ISIS DORMANT CELLS • IRAQI KURDISTAN: NECHIRVAN BARZANI ELECTED PRESIDENT; DESPITE BETTER RELATIONS WITH BAGHDAD, ARABIZATION GOES ON IN KIRKUK • IRAN: NEW DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST THE DETERIORATION OF THE ECONOMY • FRANCE: THE INVESTIGATION INTO THE MURDER OF THE THREE KURDISH ACTIVISTS RESTARTS • FRANCE: ARREST OF A LYON-BASED TURKISH MATHEMATICIAN • FRANCE: YEZIDIS ARRIVE IN TOULOUSE; POLEMIC ON FRENCH JIHADISTS’ FATE • SUSAN MEISELAS WINS THE 2019 AWARD FROM THE DEUTSCHE BÖRSE PHOTOGRAPHY FOUNDATION • TWO KURDISH WOMEN ELECTED TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIA- MENT • PUBLICATIONS: KURD’INALCO, JOURNAL OF THE KURDISH STU- DENTS OF THE PARIS INSTITUTE OF ORIENTAL LANGUAGES TURKEY: THE TURKISH PRESIDENT HAS ISTANBUL ELECTION RESULT CANCELLED, BUT MUST GIVE IN TO HUNGER STRIKERS his month began with the fundamental freedoms, this choice Turkish journalists in exile like repression of the May 1st raised some hope. He was quickly Ahval, or foreign channels in Turkish demonstrations: 119 peo- disappointed, as all appeals were like the BBC or Deutsche Welle... In ple who tried to march in dismissed. Arab Weekly recalled the 5 its 2019 report published precisely T Taksim (Istanbul) were how 92% of Turkish media are now on 3 September detained. Then on the 3rd, it was the directly controlled by the President (https://tgs.org.tr/basin- 26th “World Press Freedom Day”. Erdoğan, while a new ozgurlugu-raporu-nisan-2018-nisan- When the Turkish Constitutional Communications Directorate, locat- 2019/), the Turkish Union of Court announced, after 2 years, that ed directly in his palace, intervenes Journalists notes the following facts: it would examine on that date the in almost all pro-government from April 2018 to April 2019, 74 appeals submitted by 9 journalists in media... Citizens seeking objective journalists received a total of 256 the name of non-compliance with information look at sites created by years’ imprisonment, including 3 • 2 • Information and liaison bulletin n° 410 • May 2019 years for life; the total fines or com- güzel olacak), the government he had validated in writing the sub- pensation imposed reached 170 mil- banned on the 13th a banner bearing mission of their candidacy... Thus at lion lire ($28.4 million); 4 out of 5 these words during the parade com- Bağlar (Diyarbakir), Zeyyat Ceylan, journalists tried were convicted; memorating the Manisa mining dis- winner with 70.34% of the votes, during the last 3 years, 1.954 press aster which killed 301 people in had to leave the mayor’s office to cards were cancelled: one in four 2014... Several opposition parties the AKP candidate (25.46%), as well journalists is now unemployed. On announced their support to as to the elected HDP of Tusba in the same day, the “Mesopotamia İmamoğlu; the Communist Party Van (52.93%), the election of Platform of Women Journalists” withdrew its candidate. The HDP Caldiran, also in Van (53%), or (MKGP, Mezopotamya kadın gazetciler announced that again it would not Tekman (Erzurum)... The YSK also platformu) presented its own report present a candidate. On 28 June, invalidated the election of 10 covering the last 4 months in HDP Co-Chair Pervin Buldan said: moukhtars (village or district chiefs) Diyarbakir (Bianet). Published in “The June 23rd elections are also from Lice district (Diyarbakir), Turkish and Kurdish, it mentions 12 those of Şırnak, Muş, Bitlis and replaced by appointed administra- journalists imprisoned on hunger Bağlar. It was the elections of our six tors (Ahval)... strike, 14 women journalists impris- municipalities that were seized”. oned, 30 on trial, 2 acquitted, 2 beat- The CHP, for its part, tried to attract The “guerrilla” of the power against en and... 2 murdered. On this World Kurdish voters by mentioning the the HDP municipalities was not lim- Day, Amnesty International’s Turkish “fundamental right” to education in ited to the invalidation of elected branch asked journalists to describe its mother tongue.... officials. Already last month, AKP their situation. The contributions, administrators had handed over some sent from prison, were pub- The prospect is not in favour of the municipal buildings to the police or lished (in Turkish) on the Internet AKP, the economic situation being the provincial administration before (https://amnesty.org.tr/icerik/tutu particularly bad in this city which leaving their post. On 8 May, the klu-gazeteciler-yazdi). generates 31% of Turkish GDP. As of Bianet website announced that in the May 31, the consumer confidence districts of Cizre, İdil and Sılopi In addition, political events were index was down 13% from the pre- (Şırnak), taken over by the HDP, the dominated by the results of the vious month, and statistics show police had set up checkpoints with March 31 municipal elections, in that when this index falls, so too X-ray equipment or even guard which voters in the major Western does the pro-AKP vote... It seems posts in front of the town halls, as cities sanctioned power for the that in response, the authorities are well as in Kiziltepe (Mardin), in economic crisis, while in the East, trying to manipulate the voters list, front of the metropolitan town hall Kurdish voters rejected the while it should remain the same as of Mardin, and according to RojInfo “administrators” (kayyum) on March 31: Cumhuriyet reports in 26 municipalities. Reason given appointed by Ankara to elect can- that some voters have noticed that by the authorities for these illegal didates from the HDP (Democratic they have been removed and acts of intimidation, because with- Peoples’ Party, progressive and replaced (at the same address!) by out a written order: to prevent peo- “pro-Kurdish”). A decidedly bad complete strangers (Al-Monitor)... ple deprived of public office by loser, Mr. Erdoğan led the forcing decree-law “to interfere in the throughout April to obtain from The so-called independent YSK, administration of municipalities” the YSK (High Electoral who only cancelled the result of the (RojInfo)... The municipality of Commission) the cancellation of CHP, while conditions were the Tunceli, conquered on 31 March by the Istanbul result. He finally same in the other districts, publicly the country’s only communist obtained it on May 6 with an revealed himself as ordered by the mayor, Fatih Mehmet Maçoğlu, has “extraordinary objection” from the Turkish President. Even former AKP also attracted the wrath of ultrana- AKP based on the fact that some leaders Abdullah Gül and Ahmet tionalists: at its first session on 23rd, assessors of the counting of the Davutoğlu reacted negatively its municipal council decided to votes were not civil servants... The (Bianet). The HDP candidate for change the name on the town hall next day, the Ministry of the Interior Ankara, Filiz Keresecioğlu, said: by re-establishing its Kurdish name appointed the interim mayor, while “Now Turkey sees that what has of “Dersim», authoritatively the CHP candidate, Ekrem been done in the Kurdish provinces changed in 1935, and to offer its citi- Imamoğlu, announced that he can also be done in Istanbul and the zens services in Zazakî and would not give in and gave his vot- West”: the YSK has also declared Kurmancî (Bianet). MHP leader ers an appointment on June 23, the several new HDP mayors ineligible, Devlet Bahceli stigmatized a “com- date of the new vote. After on the pretext that they were dis- munist and separatist plot”, and the Imamoğlu declared in a meeting missed in 2016 by emergency Interior Ministry sent an inspector to “Everything will be fine” (Hersey decrees from Mr Erdoğan. However, the area (Ahval). n° 410 • May 2019 Information and liaison bulletin • 3 • In addition, during the week of the press conference in which their Prison (Hapishaneler’de ifade özgür- 13th, the Turkish Presidency lodged client called on fasters not to endan- lügü), the organization’s website no fewer than 33 complaints against ger their lives, stating also that appears to have been immediately 21 Kurdish MPs (and 1 from the “problems in Syria must be solved closed (links indicated: CHP opposition) to deprive them of far from the culture of violence and http://www.tcps.org.tr/sites/default/files their immunity and allow them to with the aim of establishing local /kitaplar/freedom_of_speech_in_prison_ be convicted or dismissed. democracy while respecting Syria’s report.pdf and According to Turkish state media, territorial integrity”. Extended http://www.tcps.org.tr/sites/default/files among the targeted MPs are the two hand? Öçalan added: “Turkey’s sen- /kitaplar/hapishanelerde_ifade_ozgurlug HDP co-chairs Pervin Buldan and sitivities must be taken into u_internet.pdf) Sezai Temelli, Leyla Güven account”... On the 20th, the police (Diyarbakir), initiator of hunger violently repressed again outside At the same time, the well-estab- strikes, and Ahmet Şık (Istanbul), a the Gebze women’s prison a rally lished repressive mechanism of former journalist known for his organised by mothers of political arrests, charges and convictions con- investigations into the Gülen net- prisoners; several demonstrators tinues to function.