Kurdish TV Survey

A interesting research project to learn more about TV habits of Kurdish speakers in Turkey. Who watches which channels? See link below for survey.

Eger hûn li Tirkîyeyê dijîn û di televizyonê de li bernameyên Kurdî temaşe dikin, ji kereme xwe vê lêpirsînê bersiv bidin. Gelek spas.

Eğer Türkiye’de yaşıyor ve Kürtçe televizyon programlarını izliyorsanız, lütfen birkaç dakikanızı ayırıp bu anketi tamamlar mısınız? Teşekkürler.

If you live in Turkey and watch Kurdish-language television programming, please take a few minutes to complete this survey. Thank you.

https://tr.surveymonkey.com/s/televizyona_kurdi

AJ Stream: Turkey confronts Kurdish separatists

With Kani Xulam and Ziya Meral

TRT6 bans 60 Kurdish words

The banned words

TRT6 has a ban on 60 Kurdish words. These words may not be used in broadcasts on the Turkish government’s much-vaunted Kurdish-language station. Are these words offensive? Perhaps akin to the late US comedian George Carlin’s seven words you can never say on television? No, not in the least. These 60 Kurdish words are banned says TRT management because Roj-TV uses these words!

Hmm. Roj-TV broadcasts in Kurdish, right? So doesn’t it make sense that there’s going to be some overlap in word usage? Roj-TV says ‘navnetewî’ (international) so TRT6 can’t? Roj-TV says ‘tenduristî’ (health) so TRT6 says to use the Turkish word ‘sıhhat’ instead? Bizarre.

The proscription of these words was revealed by former TRT6 employee Rengin Elçi, who ended up quitting because of the situation. Elçi argued that you simply cannot ‘replace’ words in Kurdish for others of Arabic, Persian, or Turkish origin, as TRT6 was insisting.

When Elçi began to talk to TRT6 management about the grammatical structure of the language and the spelling of words, for example how you cannot put double letters together in Kurdish (so sıhhat cannot be Kurdish), a staff member of TRT6 shouted, ‘And you have an Oxford Kurdish dictionary!’

Former TRT6 coordinator Sinan Ilhan, who doesn’t even know two words of Kurdish, also claimed that the general Kurdish public wouldn’t understand these 60 words. He knows no Kurdish and was making the decisions on behalf of the native speakers of the language. A rather demeaning assumption and totally off the mark.

But there is a more insidious reason for this ban. The idea that these words have been pulled from TRT6 for their usage on Roj-TV or that ordinary Kurds won’t understand them is a smokescreen. The government, rather, is trying to prevent the Kurdish language from flourishing.

I contacted Deniz Ekici, Kurdish linguist and expert on the Kurdish language, and now an Assistant Professor at Middle Tennessee State University, for his opinion about this. Said Ekici via an email to Kurdistan Commentary:

The TRT authorities banned the said words on the pretext that these words are used by Roj-TV, as if Roj-TV had coined these words. These are pure Kurdish words used by Kurds from all four parts of Kurdistan. It seems like the real reason behind this outrageous decision is that the Turkish government wants to compel the TRT6 staff and the production companies to use the Turkish equivalents of these words, for instance ‘tarîx’ instead of ‘dîrok’; ‘ordu’ instead of ‘artêş’; ‘savci’ instead of ‘dozger’; ‘direktor’ or ‘yonetmen’ instead of ‘derhêner’ and so forth. It is important to note that none of the supposedly Turkish equivalents are really Turkish words. They are all Arabic except for ‘yonetmen’ and the French word ‘direktor’ (from ‘directour’). However, the audience thinks that these are pure Turkish words for they do not speak Arabic or French or other foreign languages, for that matter, from which Turkish has borrowed extensively. By forcing the TRT staff to use ‘Turkish’ words the Turkish state aims to humiliate and make a mockery of the Kurdish language, which in turn reinforces the Turkish state discourse on Kurdish that claims that it is not really a language for it has only a few hundred words of its own and that other words are borrowed from Turkish and other languages and, by extension, the claim that Kurdish is a dialect of Turkish. What is more, in this way the Turkish state tries to invalidate the most vital attribute of Kurdish nation, that is the Kurdish language.

Additionally, TRT6 will not let broadcasters use Kurdish pronunciations of Kurdish towns either. Announcers must say Mardin instead of Mêrdîn, for example.

In a recent survey conducted by the Turkish government to find out who is watching what, Roj-TV won out. TRT6 didn’t even appear in the top ten channels watched by Kurds in Turkey. The survey found that Kurds would rather watch TV in Turkish than tune in to TRT6.

Here is the list of the banned words:

aram: quiet, calm
arîşe: problem, challenge, issue
artêş: army
asayî: normal
asteng: obstacle
belavok: flyer, pamphlet
bijîşk: physician
bûyer: event
çalakî: activity
dadgeh: court (of law)
damezrandin: to establish
darayî: financial, monetary
derhêner: producer (cinema)
dîmen: view, landscape, scenery
dîrok: history
dozger: public prosecutor
ewleyî: security
erdnîgarî: geography
êrîş: attack
fermî: official
gerdûn: universe
girîng: important
helwest: attitude, standpoint
hîndekar: teacher, trainer
komar: republic
kovar: magazine
maf: right
merc: condition, circumstances
mijar: topic
nakokî: conflict, dispute, discrepancy
navnetewî: international
netewe: nation
nexşe: map
nijad: race
niqaş: discussion, debate
nûjen: contemporary, modern
parêzger: lawyer, advocate
pejirandin: to accept
perwerde: education, schooling
pîşesazi: industry
pêşkeş: present, gift
pêvajo: process
pêwîst: necessary, requisite
pirtûk: book
pispor: expert, specialist
qedexe: forbidden
raman: to think, idea
raya gel: public opinion
rexne: criticism
rêxistin: to organise
rizgarî: liberty
şano: theatre
şaredarî: municipal government
tawanbarî: allegation, accusing
taybetî: specialty, genius
têkoşîn: to try, attempt; to struggle
tenduristî: health
wêje: literature
zanîngeh: university
zanyarî: information, knowledge

sources:

Sterk, Rewîn. TRT 6, 60 Kürtçe kelimeye yasak getirdi. ANF, 07 December 2010.

Roj-TV trial to begin on Tuesday

 

Protest in Berlin: 'Hands off Roj-TV'

 

The trial against Roj-TV is set to begin on Tuesday, 19 October in Copenhagen at the City Court.  As reported earlier in a case overview by Kurdistan Commentary an indictment was issued against the Kurdish satellite TV station and its parent company, Mesopotamia Broadcast A/S METV. The indictment against the station was filed by the Danish Prosecutor General’s office for violation of Penal Code §114e. Under this provision in Danish law, it is an offence for a person, group, or association to promote the affairs of a terrorist organisation. The indictment is for ‘promoting the affairs of the terrorist organisation, PKK’ (Kurdistan Workers’ Party or Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan in Kurdish).

Protests in support of Roj-TV have been held in Europe and Turkey during the past week.  Demonstrators took to the streets in Izmir (Turkey) and Berlin (Germany). In Brussels last week, more than 100 members of the Roj-TV staff staged a demonstration to vocalise their displeasure with the case against their station.  They held up a red, green and yellow banner in French reading ‘Roj-Tv est la voix du peuple Kurde’ (Roj-TV is the voice of the Kurdish people).

video clip of Roj-TV employees demonstrating in Brussels

In a press release by Roj-TV staff they say the case against Roj-TV is

in line with the request of [the] Turkish state and the international forces, is not only an injustice committed against Kurds but also a big blow to the freedom of thought and information. It is a massacre against thought and more importantly, it is an intervention, which does not regard the will, language, culture, art and political identity of the Kurds whose population has reached 40 million in the world.

…

The Turkish state is persecuting the Kurdish media within its borders, whilst at the same time doing its utmost to try to silence the Kurdish press and media outside of its borders. With its policy of persecuting Kurdish press and media, freedom of thought, Turkey is well-known around the world for its disrespect for the freedom of speech, free media and thought. Using every diplomatic opportunity both locally and internationally, the Turkish state has always stated that criminalising the Kurdish cause and bringing onboard international support is directly link to the ineffectiveness of Kurdish media and press and in particular ROJ TV. The Turkish state war against Kurdish media and press is somewhat significant. In this war, it firstly censors the Kurdish media after which it issues millions of pounds and issues years of prison sentences, and if these do not work it results to the full closure. In essence, alongside its diplomatic attempts the Turkish government has utilized millions of dollars at trying to close down ROJ TV. When it could not defeat the consciousness of the international community, Turkey has tried to gain the support of individual countries. Clearly, The Danish Prosecutor indictment against ROJ TV is an indication of these dirty politics based on self-interest. As indicated above, The Turkish state has utilized all its attempts to try to silence ROJ TV both within Europe and Denmark. The Copenhagen Prosecutor contains the complaints directly advocated by Turkey.

For the full press release see Libre News, Roj-TV employees staged protest in Brussels.

In response to a question posed on Twitter by one of his followers, senior Roj-TV official Amed Dicle (@AmedDcle) said the chances of the closure of Roj-TV are ‘fifty-fifty.’

 

Street demonstrations in support of Roj-TV in Izmir

 

Partial timeline of events in Roj-TV’s history:

• 09 December 2003: Roj-TV receives broadcasting licence in Denmark

• 01 March 2004: Roj-TV begins broadcasting

• July 2005: Investigation begins

• November 2005: Turkish PM Erdoğan refuses to attend press conference with Danish counterpart Rasmussen because Roj-TV was present

• May 2007: Danish Radio and Television Board announces that Roj-TV has not violated any laws regarding incitement to hatred or violence

• 24 February 2008: Belgian officials fine Roj-TV €4.25m (later annulled)

• 19 June 2008: Germany bans Roj-TV broadcasts

• mid-2008: Zonoozi steps down from position as head of Roj-TV in Denmark

• 01 April 2009: Danish prosecutors sent to Ankara to investigate links between Roj-TV and the PKK

• 04 April 2009: Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen selected to be NATO’s next Secretary General

• 01 August 2009: Rasmussen becomes NATO Secretary General

• 24 February 2010: German ban on Roj-TV abolished

• 04 March 2010: Roj-TV offices raided in Belgium

 

Copenhagen City Court

 

• May 2010: Zonoozi goes to Berlingske Tidene to give his story

• 31 August 2010: Danish Prosecutor General’s office announces indictment against Roj-TV; offices raided; bank accounts confiscated

• 07 October 2010 Prosecutor Lise-Lotte Nilas asked the Copenhagen district court to revoke Roj-TV’s broadcasting licence

• 19 October 2010 Trial begins in Copenhagen

Case overview: Denmark indicts Roj-TV for supporting terrorism

Screenshot from Roj-TV

On 31 August 2010 an indictment was issued against Kurdish satellite TV station, Roj-TV, and its parent company, Mesopotamia Broadcast A/S METV.

Roj-TV began operations in March 2004 and broadcasts in Kurdish and several other languages to more than 70 countries. Administrative offices are located in Denmark where its operating licence was issued. The station’s broadcasting centre is in Denderleeuw, Belgium and was raided by police and security forces in March of this year. The studios in Denderleeuw are operated by ROJ NV, a separate broadcast production company that supplies programming to Roj-TV.

From the time the Danish Radio and Television Board granted the licence to Roj-TV there has been ever-increasing tension between Copenhagen and Ankara. Turkey has continuously pressured Denmark and other European allies to stop Roj-TV transmissions, lodging complaint after official complaint.

The current indictment against the station was filed by the Danish Prosecutor General’s office for violation of Penal Code §114e. Under this provision under Danish law, it is an offence for a person, group, or association to promote the affairs of a terrorist organisation. The indictment is for ‘promoting the affairs of the terrorist organisation, PKK’ (Kurdistan Workers’ Party or Partiya Karkerên

Kurdistan in Kurdish). The press release from PG Jørgen Steen Sørensen (see press release in Danish) specifically mentions repeated broadcasts of interviews with PKK sympathisers and leaders, saying that a number of programmes, according to their content, are ‘propaganda activities supporting the PKK and that this propaganda activity is likely to promote the activities of the PKK.’ The press release also mentioned that ‘cases of violation of Penal Code §114e are rare.’  (see the Danish Security and Intelligence Service website for complete details on Section 114 and its clauses).

This code clearly indicates that a ‘person’ is liable, not an organisation. However, a ‘person’ has not been indicted in this case against Roj-TV. Danish State Prosector Lise-Lotte Nilas said that her office decided to go after the companies rather than individuals. The prosecutor’s office felt that the investigation would have taken longer had they chosen to bring an indictment against the people involved in the case rather than the companies.

And more delays were what they did not want. The case against Roj-TV has taken long enough as it is, with only one investigator assigned to it. An investigation into alleged ties with the PKK began in July 2005, making it five years and a month to indict Roj-TV and Mesopotamia Broadcast A/S METV. Mesopotamia is the parent company for Roj-TV, Mezopotamya TV (ME TV) and the Mesopotamia Music Channel (MMC).

The case is complicated, pitting press freedoms against illegal financing and support of terrorism. But the deck is stacked against Roj-TV with Denmark being called Europe’s weak link, bringing with it enormous pressure on Danish courts to shut the station down and prove Denmark can be a partner in the global fight against terrorism.

Former managing director of Roj-TV’s administrative offices in Denmark, Manouchehr Zonoozi, went public in the spring claiming that Roj-TV had substantive connections to the PKK. He turned over photographs showing meetings between senior management at Roj-TV and members of the PKK. Photographs were from meetings in Belgium as well as at PKK training camps in the Qandil Mountains. He says he learned of the Roj-TV/PKK connections back in 2004 at a meeting at a PKK camp in Hewlêr (Erbil).

Zonoozi was director of the station until mid-2008. Some reports say Zonoozi resigned from his position due to threats from members of the PKK in Belgium. Other reports indicate he was fired by a representative from the PKK. He is now cooperating with Danish national intelligence (PET) and has been given a new identity. He lives in a safe house under police protection after several threats were made against his life. Yilmaz Imdat is the new head of Roj-TV in Denmark.

Lise-Lotte Nilas, Danish Public Prosecutor in the case, said that contact with PKK in and of itself is not forbidden by law. So this does not constitute a crime. What is important, she underscored, and what was the scope of the investigation, is whether Roj-TV supports terrorism and incites further terrorist actions. The investigation focused mainly on the organisational and economic structure of the TV station.

If the past is any indication, then the answer is that the station does not incite terrorist actions. In response to three complaints by Turkish authorities in 2006, the Danish Radio and Television Board determined in May 2007 that Roj-TV had not violated any broadcasting rules (ruling memo, .pdf) nor had they incited violence or hatred.

Danish Radio and TV board chairman, Christian Scherfig, says that from what he has seen from Roj-TV, their programming is similar to the objective news coverage from other stations such as DR or TV2 [Danish television stations].

Another piece of the investigative puzzle was the discovery back in May 2010 that Ibrahim Ayaz, a Kurdish Swede who sits on the Roj-TV board of directors, held a 20% stake in Roj-TV. Ayaz was Abullah Öcalan’s bodyguard and personal assistant. Henrik Winkel, chairman of the Roj-TV board, has reportedly said in private that he is no longer making decisions for the station since Ayaz’s accession to the board.

In the Belgian offices of Roj-TV: Seated is Chairman of the Board, Henrik C. Winkel; third from the left is former head of Roj-TV, Manouchehr Zonoozi.

Berlingske Tidene, a Danish newspaper with a conservative bent, has extensive coverage of Roj-TV. It came under fire from Kurdish organisations across Europe for its coverage of alleged connections between the station and the PKK. Henrik Winkel, Roj-TV chairman, said that despite the ‘insulting’ and ‘defamatory’ articles published in Berlingske Tidene, Roj-TV would not file a lawsuit against the newspaper. Winkel said it would be ‘a wasted effort and would not lead to anything.’

Part of Berlingske Tidene’s investigation revealed that Roj-TV has received 118,000,000 Danish Kr. (appx. €16m) since 2004 in ‘illegal’ funding from the Copenhagen-based Kurdish Culture Foundation (KCF). Monies from the KCF are deemed illegal because there is no clarity as to where the KCF receives the funds that it then donates. The prosecution’s case will try to prove that the funding comes from the PKK, linking ‘terrorist’ money to the TV station.

The Danish Justice Ministry’s Civil Affairs Agency (CAA) in the past has threatened the Kurdish Culture Foundation with fines (once in 2004 and again in 2008) due to its untraceable largesse. No sanctions were ever levied against the KCF, however Danish Justice Minister Lars Barfoed has now prohibited the organisation from any further donations to Roj-TV without explicit approval from the CAA.

After the indictment was announced, police arrived at the offices of Roj-TV at H.C. Andersens Boulevard, 39 in Copenhagen. They drilled out the lock in the door, entered, and took away five desktop computers and several boxes. Everything was then loaded into a white van parked outside the doors.

Berki Dibek, Turkish Ambassador to Denmark: 'I have confidence that the Danish judicial system will find Roj-TV guilty of promoting terrorism. Roj-TV is part of the PKK, which has killed thousand of people in Turkey.'

Turkey’s ambassador to Denmark, Berki Dibek, was obviously pleased with the indictment and made his feelings known in an announcement in which he said he was confident that the Danish judicial system would do the right thing.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry welcomed the decision in a statement saying it expects ‘that these media organisations…will get the punishment they deserve.’

The Turkish press, too, welcomed the decision with headlines such as ‘Finally, Denmark’ and ‘Good morning, Denmark’, referring sarcastically to the length of time it took for the indictment to be handed down.

Line Barfod, a Danish member of parliament and legal affairs spokesperson from the Red-Green Alliance (Endhedslisten) calls the indictment against Roj-TV a serious curtailment of freedom of expression in Denmark. She said that if the media is no longer free to broadcast interviews and reports from areas of conflict, then it is a very serious limitation on freedom of expression. She added that Danish authorities are bowing to pressure from Turkey and the US and laments the fact that millions of Kurds may no longer be able to watch TV in their native language. Barfod also stated that Denmark’s anti-terrorism laws must be amended to avoid further reductions in press freedoms and freedom of speech.

No date has been set yet for the trial, which is expected to be followed closely across Europe and in Turkey. The trial will take place at the Copenhagen Municipal Court. Should Roj-TV and its parent company be found guilty, prosecutors will ask that Roj-TV’s broadcast licence be revoked.

Denmark’s leading criminal law expert, University of Copenhagen professor Jørn Vestergaard, believes the prosecution has fairly good odds of winning the case. In the meantime, and much to the frustration of Ankara, Roj-TV continues on the air.

Partial timeline of events in Roj-TV’s history:

• 09 December 2003: Roj-TV receives broadcasting licence in Denmark

• 01 March 2004: Roj-TV begins broadcasting

• July 2005: Investigation begins

• November 2005: Turkish PM Erdoğan refuses to attend press conference with Danish counterpart Rasmussen because Roj-TV was present

• May 2007: Danish Radio and Television Board announces that Roj-TV has not violated any laws regarding incitement to hatred or violence

• 24 February 2008: Belgian officials fine Roj-TV €4.25m (later annulled)

• 19 June 2008: Germany bans Roj-TV broadcasts

• mid-2008: Zonoozi steps down from position as head of Roj-TV in Denmark

• 01 April 2009: Danish prosecutors sent to Ankara to investigate links between Roj-TV and the PKK

• 04 April 2009: Danish PM Anders Fogh Rasmussen selected to be NATO’s next Secretary General

• 01 August 2009: Rasmussen becomes NATO Secretary General

• 24 February 2010: German ban on Roj-TV abolished

• 04 March 2010: Roj-TV offices raided in Belgium

• May 2010: Zonoozi goes to Berlingske Tidene to give his story

• 31 August 2010: Danish Prosecutor General’s office announces indictment against Roj-TV

Sources:

Denmark: Roj-TV at the heart of Turk-Danish relations. Information and Liaison Bulletin, Institut Kurde de Paris, No. 289, April 2009.

Doğan, Yonca. NATO’s new chief Rasmussen offers no apology on cartoons. Today’s Zaman, 07 April 2009.

ROJ TV’s head says it won’t be shut down. Hurriyet Daily News, 08 April 2009.

Jelbo, Michael, Simon Bendtsen, and Karl Stougaard. PKK-leders livvagt medejer af ROJ TV. Berlingske Tidene, 29 May 2010.

More PKK connections to Kurdish station exposed. The Copenhagen Post Online, 31 May 2010.

Roj TV vil ikke sagsøge Berlingske. Politiken.dk, 01 June 2010.

Danish investigation on Roj-TV will soon draw to an end. ANF News Agency, 04 August 2010.

Ex-Roj TV head in hiding. The Copenhagen Post Online, 16 August 2010.

Danish Daily reveals one officer handling Roj-TV inquiry. Today’s Zaman, 27 August 2010.

Olsen, Jan. Denmark alleges Kurdish TV station promoted terror. AP News, 31 August 2010.

Roj-TV charged under anti-terrorism laws. Politiken.dk, 31 August 2010.

Ingen risikerer fængsel i ROJ-sag. Politiken.dk, 31 August 2010

Danîmarka qedexebûna Roj tv xwest. Rojeva Kurd, 31 August 2010.

Bendtsen, Simon, Karl Stougaard, and Lene Frøslev. Historisk terrortiltale mod ROJ TV. Berlingske Tidene, 31 August 2010.

Bendtsen, Simon. Enhedslisten: ROJ-sag er trussel mod ytringsfrihed. Berlingske Tidene, 01 September 2010.

Turkey Welcomes Denmark’s Case against Roj-TV. Journal of the Turkish Weekly, 01 September 2010.

Stougaard, Karl and Simon Bendtsen. ROJ-tiltale trækker overskrifter. Berlingske Tidene, 01 September 2010.

Stougaard, Karl and Simon Bendtsen. Terrorsag uden terrorister. Berlingske Tidene, 01 September 2010.

Racisme og terror sløres bag ytringsfriheden. Politiken.dk, 02 September 2010.

Danish prosecutors charge ROJ-TV with promoting terrorism

Prosecutors in Denmark cave to Turkish pressure!

Danish prosecutors charge ROJ-TV with promoting terrorism

Jan M. Olsen, Associated Press

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A Kurdish-language TV station with a Danish broadcasting license has been charged with promoting a group linked to terrorism, Danish prosecutors said Tuesday.

Top prosecutor Joergen Steen Soerensen said that Roj-TV is helping promote the PKK, or the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which is considered a terrorist group by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union.

PKK rebels have been fighting for autonomy in southeastern Turkey in a conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people since 1984. Turkey accuses Roj-TV of being a mouthpiece for the PKK.

According to Soerensen, Roj-TV has “persistently” aired shows with interviews of PKK members and supporters but also about skirmishes between Kurds and Turkish forces. The station’s content was “aimed at promoting and supporting the activities of the terrorist organization PKK” and its political wing, Kongra-Gel, the prosecutor said.

The programs “must be regarded as having the characteristics of propaganda in support of PKK,” Soerensen said. The charges came after “extremely comprehensive investigations” of the connections between Roj-TV and PKK, he added.

The charges also include Mesopotamia Broadcast A/S METV, a company behind Roj-TV.

Roj-TV has a Danish broadcasting license but has no studios in Denmark. Calls to the station were not answered, but Roj-TV officials have previously denied terror links.

In Turkey, a senior Foreign Ministry official called the decision “a very positive development” and said “it’s something Turkey has been asking for all along.”

The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with Turkish rules that bar civil servants from speaking to journalists without prior authorization.

Under Denmark’s anti-terror law, a person can face prison up to 10 years for supporting a terrorist organization.

Justice Minister Lars Barfoed welcomed the decision, saying it now was up to a court of law to consider Roj-TV’s activities.

No date has been set for the trial, which will take place at Copenhagen City Court.

Prosecutors also said they would ask the Danish Radio and Television Board to revoke the station’s license, which was issued over six years ago, based on criminal violations.

Danish-Turkish relations have long been strained over Kurdish groups based in Denmark.

In 1995, a political arm of the PKK opened its fourth European office in Copenhagen, sparking protests from the Turkish Embassy. The office later closed because of a lack of funding.

In 2000, Turkey protested that a Kurdish-language satellite TV station, Mesopotamia TV, was allowed to broadcast from Denmark to Europe, the Middle East and northern Africa.

And in 2005, Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan boycotted a news conference in Copenhagen to protest the presence of Roj-TV journalists.

__

Associated Press writer Susan Fraser in Ankara contributed to this report.

ROJ-TV offices raided in Belgium

Reminiscent of operations carried out in Turkey, Belgian police yesterday raided ROJ-TV offices in Denderleeuw, smashing computers and broadcasting equipment. Balaclava-hooded agents handcuffed ROJ-TV staff and removed them from the premises.  Those arrested include head of ROJ-TV Gülşen Emsiz, and journalists Burhan Erdem, Devrim Akçadağ and Murat Yaklav. The rest of station’s staff gathered outside of the building to protest the degrading raid.  Some reports say several of the balaclava-clad police that took part in the raid were Turkish-speaking.

ROJ-TV, an international Kurdish satellite station, began operations in 2004 and broadcasts with a licence from Denmark.

Police outside ROJ-TV offices in Denderleeuw

The international satellite station’s management said that they were informed that the raid was carried out in the framework of anti-terror operations, which have swept through Italy and France in recent weeks. There are two primary allegations directed against the station.  One is financial fraud and tax evasion while the other is distributing PKK propaganda, educating PKK members, and recruiting members for the PKK.

An AFP correspondent in Diyarbakir, largest city in the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey where ROJ-TV is widely watched, said that the channel’s broadcast was cut on Thursday.  ROJ-TV has now begun broadcasting from Sweden.

Amid Dicle, a ROJ-TV journalist, claimed that this raid was carried out at the behest of the Turkish government. Turkey has long sought to silence ROJ-TV in Europe, using diplomatic pressure to force European governments to stop its broadcasting. This operation was, in fact, launched in coordination with Turkish intelligence.

Last month ROJ-TV won its court case today against the German government, which had tried to close down the channel after a request from the Turkish government.  Germany and Denmark have had strained relations with Turkey in recent years over ROJ-TV.

Police and ROJ-TV supporters clash

Belgian public radio RTBF said some 300 officers took part in raids in Denderleeuw, Brussels, Antwerp and other Belgian cities, raiding 24 Kurdish community centres and  arresting a number of prominent Kurdish politicians including Dr. Remzi Kartal, Zobeyer Aydar, Adem Ozun and Ayub Doru.

In a statement carried by Firat News Agency ‘all Kurds living in Europe’ were urged to ‘come together in Brussels and mount actions of protest against this hostile attack.’

sources:

Belgian police swoop on high-profile Kurds, AFP, 04 March 2010.

ROJ-TV raided, Remzi Kartal and colleagues arrested. Rojhelat, 04 March 2010.

ROJ-TV wins case in Germany

Kurdish satellite television channel, ROJ-TV, won its court case today against the German government, which had tried to close down the channel  after a request from the Turkish government (click here for background information on the case).  A tribunal in Leipzig effectively suspended the ban, asking the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg to rule on the case instead. Roj TV is based in Denmark, but its main audience comprises immigrants in Germany.

Germany’s Interior Ministry had earlier warned Roj TV it had no legal right to beam its satellite broadcasts down into the country because it backs the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK), a group defined as terrorist under both Turkish and German law.

The tribunal said those allegations were valid – but it transpired Germany had no power under European Union law to interfere in operations of a broadcasting enterprise incorporated in Denmark.

Judges said EU broadcasting law meant that it was up to Denmark to supervise Roj, which means “day” in the Kurdish language. Germany could only have shut down the channel if it had issued the broadcast licence in the first place.

The interior ministry had argued that legislation outlawing associations of terrorists made it possible for Berlin to seize the channel’s German assets and prevent its camera teams filming ethnic Kurdish rallies in Germany.

Authorities charged that Roj regularly gave blanket coverage to cultural festivals organized by PKK front organizations.

Turkey, which fought a long and bloody war against Kurdish separatists in the 1990s, has been urging EU nations to crack down harder on offshoots of the PKK, which draws a significant part of its funding from Kurdish migrants working in rich nations.

Source: Kurdish satellite TV channel overturns German ban, Earth Times, 25 February 2010.

Germany: Stop deportations of Syrian Kurds!

Wolfgang Schäuble

Perhaps someone should send Wolfgang Schäuble a copy of Human Rights Watch’s most recent report, ‘Group Denial’, which outlines Syria’s systematic abuse and torture of its Kurdish population.

Schäuble, then Germany’s Federal Minister of the Interior, signed an agreement with Syria back in July 2008 that paved the way for deportations from Germany of Syrian nationals.  The agreement went into effect on 01 January 2009 and deportations are underway.

Who is this ‘repatriation treaty’ affecting most?  Answer: Kurdish immigrants.  There are presently 7,000 refugees from Syria living in Germany.  Most of them belong to minority groups (Kurds, Yezidis, Christian Assyrian-Aramaeans) facing discrimination and worse back in Syria.  The Kurds seem to be given top priority for deportation.

Who is Herr Dr. Schäuble, the initiator of this agreement?  Well, he was Federal Minister of the Interior from 22 November 2005 until 27 October 2009.  He now serves as Minister of Finance. Schäuble is a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), a centre-right party, and the largest political party in Germany.

Khalid Kanjo

Back in 1999 Schäuble initiated the CDU/CSU campaign against citizenship reform in Germany, which made it easier for foreigners to obtain German citizenship and allowed for dual nationality.

In 2008 Schäuble banned ROJ-TV from operating in Germany saying the television station was a mouthpiece for the PKK.

Schäuble is a strong proponent of using biometric data to track citizens and also favours outlawing access to telephone and Internet for anyone who sympathises with terrorists.  (So I guess if ROJ-TV is a mouthpiece for a ‘terrorist’ organisation, you could lose your telephone and Internet privileges by watching the station?)

Based on his record he doesn’t seem to like ‘foreigners’ on German soil and he is particularly obsessed with internal security.

The most publicised recent case of deportation has been that of 31-year-old Khalid Kanjo.  Kanjo is a Kurd from the northeast part of Syria who arrived in Germany in 2002.  He was deported back to Syria on 01 September 2009, unable to convince German authorities of the risk of torture awaiting him in Syria.

Back in March of 2004 Kanjo’s twin brothers, Ahmed and Hussein, were detained by Syrian authorities.  Ahmed was tortured and severely beaten before being released three months after his detention.  He died shortly thereafter as a direct result of the torture.  The other brother, Hussein, spent more than a year in ‘Adra prison.

Even knowing all this, the Germans shipped Khalid Kanjo back to Damascus.  On 13 September, Kanjo was summoned to Syrian State Security offices in Qamişlo, a mostly Kurdish city in the northeast.  First reports said that he had been transferred to the Damascus Branch of State Security on 25 September.  As of 08 October, Amnesty International reported that Kanjo was in prison in Qamişlo.  He has been charged under Article 287 of the Syrian Penal Code with spreading ‘false’ news abroad that could harm the reputation of the state.  He spoke with a lawyer on 06 October.

Deportations from Germany had been uncommon in the past decade.  This was especially true after the widely publicised case of Hussein Daoud, a Syrian Kurd who applied for political asylum in Germany in 1996.  His petition was denied and he was sent back to Syria in 2000, accompanied by German police officers.  Daoud was arrested upon his arrival at Damascus Airport. He was questioned about his and other Kurdish activists’ activities in Germany.  He was charged with belonging to a secret organisation and tortured.  In March 2002 Daoud was sentenced to two years imprisonment and released in December 2002.

Kurds in Germany protest the agreement (click for larger image)

One difference now with deportations to Syria is that Bonn can now deport those who only have a Syrian residence permit.  Prior to the 2008 Syria-Germany agreement, Kurds in Germany who did not have Syrian identification documents were protected from forcible return even if they lost their plea for amnesty.  This is no longer the case.

Many Kurds were stripped of the Syrian citizenship back in the 1960s and are considered foreigners within Syria.  It was this group that had been given the protection under German law.  Now German authorities have the means to ‘repatriate’ these Kurds too.

Last month a family of Yezidi Kurds were deported back to Syria.  A woman, aged 55, and her four children were arrested upon returning to Syria for participating in anti-Syrian protests in Germany.

Currently Tarek Rasho is being held in detention in Germany awaiting deportation.  He is a 32-year-old Kurdish Yezidi activist who has been in Germany for the past 13 years.

Tilman Zülch: An agreement with totalitarian Syria to surrender members of minority groups to their oppressors is nothing short of disgrace, when torture and imprisonment await those deported back to Syria.

Tilman Zülch, General Secretary of the Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV), a German-based human rights organisation, has strongly criticised Wolfgang Schäuble.

‘It is irresponsible to send these persecuted, humiliated and discriminated people back to dictatorship and torture.  Many refugees have lived in our country for ten years. Their children have grown up in Germany, they go here to kindergarten or school and are well integrated. Schäuble should distance himself from the agreement on the taking back of refugees between Germany and Syria.’

Kurds in Syria have protested this new agreement between Bonn and Damascus.  Kurds have taken to the streets to voice their anger with the German government.  Some ten Kurds went on a hunger strike in March in front of the Ministry of the Interior.

sources:

Deportations to Syria are inhuman. KurdMedia, 18 January 2009.

Deported Kurd arrested and disappeared; Schäuble bears some of the responsibility! GfBV, 01 October 2009.

To His Excellency foreign minister, Dr. Frank Walter-Steinmeier. GfbV, 06 July 2009.

Germany Returns Kurds to Uncertain Fate.  Middle East Transparent, 27 November 2009.

Syrian Kurdish man no longer incommunicado. Syrian Human Rights Information Link.

السلطات السورية تلقي القبض على المواطن السوري الكردي خالد كنجو المرحل من ألمانيا . Free Syria, 24 September 2009.

ROJ-TV’s licence in Germany

ROJ-TV today received news that it had won a temporary stay against the removal of its operating licence in Germany.

ROJ-TV, a transnational Kurdish satellite station, began broadcasting on 01 March 2004 with a licence issued by the Danish Radio and Television Board. Like its predecessors, MED-TV and MEDYA-TV, ROJ-TV has been accused by Turkey of being a mouthpiece of terror. In 2006 a Turkish Foreign Ministry official said of the station ‘We know for sure that ROJ-TV is part of the PKK, a terrorist organisation.’ As proof, the government official said that the station had direct links to the PKK because the TV station released the names of slain PKK fighters before Turkish authorities had.

In response to three complaints by Turkish authorities in 2006, the Danish Radio and Television Board determined in May 2007 that ROJ-TV had not violated any broadcasting rules (see ruling memo, .pdf) nor had they incited violence or hatred.

Last summer, however, Germany declared ROJ-TV illegal following more complaints from Turkey that it was ‘broadcasting

Pro-ROJ TV demonstration in Germany

rebel propaganda.’ The German Interior Ministry said that ROJ-TV was a mouthpiece of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is outlawed in Germany, and had encouraged viewers to become guerrillas.

Today’s decision by the federal administrative tribunal in Leipzig, Germany said the ban would not come into immediate force, because it could not rule out a legal challenge to the ban being successful when it comes to full trial. No date has been set yet for the main hearing.

Watch ROJ-TV live online here.

sources:

Kurdish television channel Roj wins stay in Germany, monstersandcritics.com, 18 May 2009

Schliefer, Y. Denmark, again? Now it’s under fire for hosting Kurdish TV station. Christian Science Monitor, 21 April 2006

Kurdish broadcaster banned in Germany, Deutsche Welle, 24 June 2008

Arrests target DTP

'The operation is a manifestation of the government's intolerance to the local election results.' Ahmet Turk, DTP Leader

Coming just weeks after local elections saw the DTP trounce the ruling AK Party in southeastern provinces, Turkish authorities conducted a massive operation in which they rounded up dozens of members of the DTP.

Police arrested some 50 people across 13 provinces in a simultaneous sweep of offices, homes, and municipality guest houses, which will surely lead to more polarisation across the country.

Those arrested included DTP vice chair Kamuran Yüksek, DTP vice chair Bayram Altun, DTP vice chair Selma Irmak, PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan’s lawyers Seracettin Irmak, Ebru Günay and Şinasi Tur, and Batman municipality building director Heval Erdemli.

Security forces also raided the private Kurdish Gün TV channel in Diyarbakır. A search warrant related to channel director Ahmet Birsin led to materials being confiscated from the TV station.

This was a two-pronged attack on the DTP and Kurdish broadcasting as well. The AKP, sinking in popularity, seems now desperate to rid itself of the political opposition. TRT6 did not work. In fact, Kurdish pop star Rojin has resigned as host of the popular ‘Rojinname’ complaining that ‘no guest she suggested was accepted by the producers, that many things she said were edited out before the show went on the air and that there was too much meddling into the show’s content.’

This, the raid on Gün TV, and Ankara’s current efforts to force ROJ-TV to close, show the Turkish state’s unwillingness to allow freedom of (Kurdish) speech in the country. Any access to uncontrolled Kurdish broadcasting is intolerable and the state will do whatever it can to stop it.

By arresting the DTP members, authorities are attempting to link them (as it has tried with ROJ-TV) to the PKK, and weaken, if not kill, the party. Do they really believe that in this day and age of new media they can still accomplish this without anyone seeing the true motives? Apparently so.

sources:

Çakir, Bawer. Operation Targeting the DTP: 40 People Detained. BİA News Center – Diyarbakır, 14 April 2009

Jones, Dorian. Turkey Arrests Dozens of Members of Pro-Kurdish Party, DTP. VOA News, Istanbul, 14 April 2009.

Kurdish pop star Rojin parts ways with state broadcaster TRT 6, Today’s Zaman, 15 April 2009.

Tu bi xêr hatî TRT 6 (Şeş)

While TRT 6 claims “we are under the same sky” (Em di bin eynî esmani de ne*), it reminds us quite visually that we are also under the same flag…and don’t forget whose flag it is. State-run Turkish Radio and Television’s (TRT) new multi-language channel, TRT 6, has gone live in Kurdish with an image of the Turkish flag flapping in the breeze to the sound of the Turkish national anthem.Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan became the first Turkish leader to speak Kurdish publicly when he said, “May TRT 6 be beneficial.” You can search YouTube for clips of Erdoğan’s address.

Kurdish broadcasting on TRT began back in 2004 with weekly 30-minute Kurdish broadcast. The move was widely seen as a response to European Union pressure to strengthen the rights of the Kurdish minority. Now with TRT 6 it’s a 24/7 operation.

The government has called the launch a democratic new era for minority Kurds and it was largely welcomed as a move that could strengthen unity between Turks and Kurds.

But with less than a week of broadcast programming such as xeber (news), dengbêj (traditional singing), şevberk (evening entertainment), and fîlme karton (cartoons), disparate opinions of the new station abound.

Mustafa Akyol, a Turkish columnist and political commentator, says that the political establishment in his country appears to have realized that Turkey’s obsession with being a “homogenous” nation-and the idea that the country should have one common “Turkish” culture-has backfired. “The state has seen its mistake. And for a while, especially under the current government [of the] Justice and Development Party (AKP) and thanks to [joining] the European Union process, the Turkish state has started to change its policy and embrace Kurdish citizens [along] with their identity,” Akyol says. “Having a Kurdish channel in TRT, it’s a very important thing. It would have been unthinkable 10 years ago,” he adds. “And I know that many Kurds are happy to see this.”

Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Deniz Baykal, known for his pro-status quo (and to some, ethnocentric) approach to state policy, has a different opinion, which he described as a move that went against the “basic understanding of the state.”

“Everybody can air broadcasts in their own language. This is their right. But it is not right to spend the money of the state and 70 million people in line with the ethnic demands of a certain group of our citizens. The duty of the state is not to encourage ethnic identities. Turkey is heading in the wrong direction. They [the government] either know they are doing a very dangerous thing, or don’t know what they are doing,” he had said.

Yıldıray Oğur, a columnist for the Taraf daily, called Baykal’s approach to the new Kurdish channel “discriminatory and exclusionist.”

Experts in Turkey say the launch of TRT 6 is the first step in a comprehensive Turkish government strategy aimed at winning more Kurdish hearts and minds by addressing their genuine problems and thus trying to undercut the popular support base for the PKK and “radical nationalists.”

TRT 6 is being promoted as a culture and family channel that will mainly use the Kurmanji dialect of Kurdish. There will also be shows in the Kurdish dialects of Zaza and Sorani, it was noted on TRT’s Website.

But is there an underlying political agenda? Elections are at the end of March. The AKP and the DTP will be battling for votes in the southeast. Culture and family channel or state propoganda?

The pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party, or DTP, and the AKP are seen as the only national parties with any political presence in the southeast. In the local elections in 2004 and the general elections in 2007, the AKP and the DTP were the only parties that won any posts.

TRT 6 is seen by the DTP as a ruse by the AKP to win votes on the eve of the local elections.

“If the aim of the channel is propaganda then the government will lose, but if it pursues an independent policy then people will watch it. If it is not impartial Kurds would feel deceived,” said Cemil Genc, a 32-year-old self-employed man.

Selahattin Demirtas, an MP for the Democratic Society Party (DTP), the largest Kurdish party, said the channel had political aims. The DTP and AKP have traded bitter words as polls near. “Even the singers invited to the opening ceremony [of TRT 6] were chosen because they are DTP opponents,” Demirtas said.

“There is a need for a broadcasting policy that understands Kurds and meets their demands. We are carefully observing the process. We will see in time whether this is something that was initiated with the elections in mind,” said Ahmet Turk, leader of the Democratic Society Party, which seeks Kurdish autonomy but participates in electoral politics.

The party boycotted the official launch ceremony.

Currently, the Denmark-based Roj TV is the most popular station among Kurds living in Turkey. Roj-TV is an international Kurdish satellite station broadcasting across Kurdish areas, including diaspora communities in Europe (except in Germany where it was banned last summer).

Many in Turkey consider Roj-TV a mouthpiece for the outlawed PKK-a group fighting for Kurdish autonomy since 1984 that Ankara, Washington, and the European Union have declared a terrorist organization.

Turkish columnist Akyol says countering the message of Kurdish nationalist satellite channels such as Roj TV is one obvious reason the new Kurdish station was launched, because official attempts to stop people from watching the broadcasts failed. He says the TRT programs will be aimed at providing “Kurdish broadcasts, which would not be supporting radical Kurdish nationalism and would be supporting a more unifying message.”

A mixture of attempts at political gain, European pressure, a linguistic olive branch, and efforts to make Roj-TV irrelevant have all come together to put TRT 6 on the air. It will certainly be of interest to watch the programming and political commentary as we get closer to election day: 29 March.

If you’re watching TRT 6, let us know what you think. Do you enjoy it? How’s the Kurmancî they’re using? Do you think the station is all about state propaganda or is it a genuine attempt to right the wrongs of the past?

Sources:

–Demirbaş, B.A. (2009, January 5). CHP leader Baykal center of criticism for stance on Kurdish TV. Today’s Zaman, http://www.todayszaman.com.
–Playing Kurdish card (2009, January 2). Hürriyet Daily News, http://www.hurriyet.com.
–Siddique, A (2009, January 2). Turkey’s New Kurdish TV Hopes To Win Hearts And Minds. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, http://www.rferl.org.
–TRT.Televizyon website, http://www.trt.net.tr Villelabeitia, I (2009, January 2).
–Turkey’s Kurdish TV channel opens to mixed reviews. Reuters, http://www.reuters.com.

[Frekans: Türksat 3A Frekans: 12685 HSR : 30000 FEC : 5/6]

*TRT 6 tagline