Oh honey, please.

Some countries, however, are better manipulators than others. No one puts their hands on their hips for them. For some reason, their rhetoric, sometimes plain propaganda, is accepted at face value, or at least, not questioned that deeply. Turkey, as a moderate-Islamic not Arab-or-European democracy cloaks itself very well, both in the European and Arab world. Straddling two continents and thousands of years of history, Turkey is regarded as a model for the Arab world. But the 34 civilian Kurds killed in the Uludere massacre, and the 1,500 Kurds arrested under terrorism charges just this year are putting their hands on their hips, and countless other victims of extreme Turkish nationalism and racism, are saying, “Oh honey, please.”

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has said many admirable things related to the defense of human rights, when those human rights are conveniently outside of his borders. From Somalia, to Syria, to Palestine, the defense of human dignity, freedom, and self-determination are incredibly important to Erdogan; as long as Kurds are not demanding the same values in his backyard.

In October, as a response to the severe famine in Somalia that continues to this day, Erdogan promised that Turkey would “redouble its efforts” to end the suffering of the Somali people.

“Regardless of which culture we come from or where we live, I am confident that our common heritage as human beings will motivate us to ease the suffering of Somalia.”

Later that month, after a devastating 7.2 magnitude earthquake leveled the Kurdish region of Wan, Erdogan apparently wasn’t able to find enough of a “common heritage as human beings” with the Kurdish people, as inadequate aid to an already impoverished region turned a natural disaster into a humanitarian crisis, with a death toll over 600.

Erdogan could not find a "common heritage" with this Kurdish boy.

From the beginning, Turkey emerged as a leader in diplomatic negotiations with the Assad regime. One of the first countries to condemn the violence, and already held in high esteem for its supposed support of the Egyptian and Libyan revolutions, Turkey has enjoyed a positive reputation as an advocate and a model for democracy. Erdogan himself has had very strong words for Syrian dictator Bashar al -Assad. When talking to Turkish reporters, Erdogan relayed a conversation they had, calling him a lier and saying,

“I asked him how many political prisoners there were. He [Assad] told me 83 and said ‘I can send you a list’. But I found out from various other sources that there are thousands of political prisoners.”

Thousands of political prisoners in Syria. It is brave of Erdogan to stand up for these thousands, often subject to torture or lifelong imprisonment. Or is it so brave of him? Again, Erdogan’s hypocrisy cheapens his comments about Syrian prisoners, when Turkish and Kurdish political prisoners and journalists languish by the thousands in Erdogan’s own prisons.

Over 1,500 people arrested under Turkey’s oppressive “terrorism” charge just this year, as in less than two months. 36 journalists were sent to prison in December, bringing the total number of journalists in prison in Turkey to over 100.

While Syrians take to the streets and die for political freedom, Erdogan claims to support them while silencing the same ideals Syrians are fighting for in his own country. Turkey’s anti-terrorism law unjustly targets any Kurdish voice of dissent, and Turkey cannot truly be a democracy, nor support emerging democracies, until its own repressive tactics are called out and stopped.

The deafening silence of the international community when it comes to Turkey’s crimes is still noticeable, despite how loud Turkey is regarding human rights elsewhere. The silence against Kurdish oppression is the most noticeable when Erdogan defends the Palestinians, another stateless people. Ironically, over the last few years Turkey has become famous for its defense of Palestine (despite enjoying warm relations with Israel prior to Israel killing several Turkish civilians during the 2010 Gaza flotilla raid). During Palestine’s UN bid for statehood last September, Erdogan had strong words for Israel, calling it a spoiled child, and saying,

“The legitimate demands of the people cannot be repressed with force and in blood… The Palestinian cause is the cause of human dignity.”

No one could deny the truth of Erdogan’s statement, and the Palestinians have certainly suffered at the hands of the Israelis. The Israeli occupation of Palestinian land has prevented Palestinians from taking claim to their own heritage, to having agency over their own fates, to enjoying the dignity of their own country. But Palestinians are not the only stateless people. Kurds have long suffered because imperialist powers and oppressive governments did not give them the authority to take charge over their own destiny. The legitimate demands of the people cannot be repressed with force and in blood. If Palestinian demands parallel Kurdish demands, then Kurdish demands are legitimate demands, being repressed by Erodgan himself with force and in blood.

Victims of the Uludere massacre

On December 28th, Turkish warplanes killed 34 Kurdish civilians in the small border town of Uludere. The military even knew that these Kurds were civilians, and the excuse that Turkey thought it was bombing a PKK base cheapens the lives of the Kurds that died in vain.

That is not to say that even if were a PKK base, it would a justified death. Turkey has responded with exponential force to every PKK attack, and any Kurdish resistance is vilified both by the Turkish government and society. Interestingly enough, Erdogan does not oppose all armed resistance on principle. His opinions on Palestinian resistance to the Israeli occupation are quite different:

“I do not think that Hamas is a terrorist organization…They are Palestinians in resistance, fighting for their own land.”

This is not meant to cast judgement either way on Hamas, or the PKK. But since Erdogan made his position so clear on the acceptability of an oppressed people fighting for their own land, the vilification of the PKK can’t make sense. The way Erdogan manipulates struggles for justice to suit his own foreign policy agenda are a blatant exploitation of these struggles. Human rights aren’t selective to certain favorable humans. Freedom isn’t a privilege that only special groups are allowed to strive for. But Erdogan continues to look keenly out for the human rights and freedom of others, and keep the biggest, darkest set of blinders on his eyes when it comes to those struggles in his own country.

For an imagination exercise that truly reveals Erdogan’s double standards, imagine for a moment, if every one of Erdogan’s quotes listed above, all direct quotes, were spoken on behalf of the Kurdish people. What would that sound like?

“Regardless of which culture we come from or where we live, I am confident that our common heritage as human beings will motivate us to ease the suffering of Kurdistan. The legitimate demands of the people cannot be repressed with force and in blood. The Kurdish cause is the cause of human dignity. They are Kurds in resistance, fighting for their own land.”

Suddenly, using his own words, the primary oppressor of the Kurdish people sounds like their hero. If it sounds absurd coming from Erdogan when it comes to the Kurds, then is it really that legitimate when it comes to the Somalis, Syrians, Palestinians?

Oh honey, please.

When an entire people are systematically oppressed and marginalized, small actions to make their story heard can have dramatic consequences. Similarly, small actions to silence their voice can have dramatic and tragic consequences.

RojTV is one of the only international Kurdish language channels available to Kurds. It broadcasted everything from children’s programmes to Kurdish music and film. But most importantly, it filled the large gap of Kurdish news and politics, information that is ignored or censored from mainstream media. For over a year, RojTV had been embroiled in a long legal battle after being accused of violating Danish anti-terrorism laws. Perhaps you’ve read an article related to the case over the last year, or had been following it avidly. Or maybe the first time you ever heard of RojTV and its legal battle was when the case was closed. Kurds celebrated when RojTV kept its license, despite being found guilty of “terrorism” and charged a hefty fine.

Kurdish celebration was short lived, however. On January 19, Eutelsat Communications decided to stop broadcasting RojTV, effectively shutting down one of the biggest sources of Kurdish news in the world.

With the closing of RojTV, Kurds lose a powerful voice, one that frequently was the only one on their side. With the closing of RojTV, Turkey will no longer be held accountable for the arrest of hundreds of journalists, activists, academics, and even children. Iran can continue to hide the murder of Kurdish migrant workers on the Iranian border, and the arbitrary detention and execution of Kurdish activists. Images of Turkish massacres, like the most recent in Roboski, will no longer flicker across the screens of thousands of people, who can then mobilize to demand justice for their dead.

To you, perhaps, the only emotion you felt was “good riddance”. RojTV was provocative, some say. Or worse, an incitement to terrorism. Its messages had no place in anyone’s living room, you claim.

Dear reader, we’re here to tell you your claims are wrong.

Differences in political opinions should flourish. We’re not telling you to think exactly like us. But the dangers in silencing any political opinion are always more dangerous than any political opinion itself. The censorship of RojTV by the Danish courts, Eutelsat Communications, and by the pressures of Turkey itself extend far beyond the closure of this one Kurdish station. With the closing of RojTV, the voice of the Kurds has been silenced, and because Kurds are humans, who proudly claim their basic human rights, a voice of humanity has been silenced.

For you see, the Kurdish struggle isn’t just the Kurdish struggle, just like the Palestinian struggle isn’t just the Palestinian struggle, and the Egyptian struggle and Bahraini and Syrian. Wherever people sacrifice their time, and their lives, for greater freedom for their people, all of us who are invested in human rights and social justice gain. We, the authors of this letter, aren’t Kurds. One of us is Bahraini, the other Syrian. We’re from two countries run by dictatorships. Our people understand very sharply how valuable freedom is. It is only because we value freedom in our own countries that we feel a duty to stand with the Kurds. We cannot advocate for our own voices while we accept the silencing of others.

This is what motivates us. This is our cause. We are not terrorists, nor advocates of terrorists. Odds are, the word doesn’t mean what you think it means anyway. But either way, there is no political agenda behind our efforts. We merely speak up against violations of human rights, something the Kurds suffer far too often.

And because we speak up, we, as Arabs, are the target of some of the same attacks that Kurds face themselves. We receive hate mail and threatening comments, usually in the name of extremist Turkish nationalists. Our site has faced numerous hacking attempts. All because we stand up for Kurds. If we, as non-Kurds, face this abuse, then what do our Kurdish brothers and sisters have to put up with, simply for claiming their right to their rich historical and cultural background? For asking to live with dignity?

We realize we are reaching out to an unfamiliar audience. You may have never met a Kurd, or have your own opinions regarding the Kurdish struggle. Regardless of anything else, everyone has a basic human right to a voice, and a voice that is heard. Despite centuries of abuse, despite their very language being banned, the Kurdish voice has never been louder. At the very least, you have an obligation to hear them out. Banning TV stations and imprisoning journalists won’t silence the Kurds, but it will lay the foundations for a dangerous world where we all surrender our basic human rights to the people in power, where surveillance and censorship are valued more highly than dignity and liberty.

The Kurds are facing a painful battle for their freedom, one they’ve paid for with their lives. With your support, crimes against the Kurdish people will no longer weigh on humanity’s conscience. Speak up for a world where everyone can be heard regardless of ethnicity or faith. Freedom is non-negotiable. If these crimes are allowed to go unnoticed and unpunished, you could be next.

In solidarity,
S. Boulad
E. Al Shafei
The Alliance for Kurdish Rights

The involvement of the Arab League, and its recent dispatch of observers to different regions in Syria, have fueled protests throughout the country, including in the Kurdish region. On December 23rd, named “the Friday of the Protocol of Death” in a mockery of the “protocols” that Bashar al Assad supposedly agreed to with the Arab League, Kurdish protesters filled the streets of Qamishlo, waving giant Kurdish flags and Syrian independence flags. This last Friday, the Friday of “God Will Grant Us Victory”, resulted in protests in essentially every Kurdish region of Syria, from Amûdê, Kobanî, Dirbêsî, Hasakeh, Dêrik, Tirbesipî, to Qamişlo.

In this clever protest from Amûdê, a protester dressed as the late Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi in a mockery of him.

Also in Amûdê, protesters had criticism for both the Syrian regime and for the crimes of Turkey after an air strike killed 35 Kurdish villagers.

The Kurdish cities of Syria have also been enthusiastic participants in the Dignity Strike, which continues to unfold in various stages. In Qamishlo, entire streets have been completely shut down at different points, and even some merchants in Aleppo (which has been the most reluctant city in participating in the protests) shut down their businesses at great risk to themselves, especially in the Kurdish region of Kobanî (Ein al-Arab).

Although Kurds have been enthusiastic participants of the Syrian revolution, the question of the Kurdish role in a future free Syria remains to be seen. The main opposition group, the Syrian National Council, displayed some problematic tendencies in its supposed inclusion of Kurds, including a disturbing statement by SNC president Burhan Ghalioun where he compared Kurds in Syria to immigrants in France. Since then, however, the Syrian National Council has made explicit overtures to Kurdish organizations, including the Kurdish youth organizing committee. The SNC also made a strong statement during its first congress in Tunisia that it will seek constitutional recognition of the national Kurdish identity, and stated that it will seek a democratic resolution to the issue of the denial of Kurdish human rights.

As the Syrian opposition takes shape, a second Kurdish opposition coalition has been formed, explicitly outlining their position on many key issues. Some of their positions are to ensure “dialogue with all Kurdish political powers outside of the coalition, coordination of the efforts to ensure the unity of the Kurds” and “[rejecting] violence and the encouragement of forgiveness, reconciliation, and tolerance among all citizens, as well as respect for all international treaties and conventions, as well as for human rights”.

Protest in support of the Kurdish National Council in Kobanî (Ein al-Arab):

One of the highlights of Kurdish participation in the Syrian revolution has been the emergence and celebration of the Kurdish identity within Syria. Protesters continue to chant in both Kurdish and Arabic, and wave Kurdish and Syrian independence flags. As the regime weakens, Kurdish involvement in a new and free Syria should be of upmost importance.

beautiful hoisted flags in Derbasiyeh sit-in protest

Crowdvoice’s page “Kurdish Protests Against Assad” contains a comprehensive collection of the latest videos, pictures, and blogs from Kurdish protests in Syria.

This post was cross-posted from our website KurdishRights.org. For ongoing updates follow us on Twitter @KurdishRights.

The arrests came under the premise of alleged links to the Union of Committees in Kurdistan (KCK). Turkish “anti-terrorism” police specifically targeted pro-Kurdish media, mainly DIHA and ETHA news agencies, the Özgür Gündem daily newspaper, the Demokratik Modernite magazine and the Gün printing press. Turkish state media alleged that the recent wave of arrests was part of a two year long investigation into the KCK and its members. In addition, French Kurdish photographer Mustafa Ozer, who works for the French news agency Agence France Presse, was detained, smiling as he was carried away by security officers.

This wave of arrests is only the latest in Turkey’s sustained assault against the KCK and all those affiliated with it. The new arrests brings the number of journalists alone in Turkish prisoners over 90, making Turkey one of the worst countries in the world for imprisoning members of the media. Along with journalists, Turkey has been undertaking a systemic campaign of arresting children, activists, academics, politicians, and arguably any other powerful voice of dissent in the country.

Although for the most part Turkey’s unjust actions against the Kurds go unnoticed, the arrest of 40 Kurds, most of whom are journalists, has received some of the criticism is deserves. Hundreds of journalists gathered in Taksim Square in Istanbul to protest the arrests and demand that freedom of the press in Turkey be preserved and protected. “The imprisonment of journalists means the usurpation of our right for information” read the statement released at the demonstration. “We are here today to defend both our colleagues and the right of information.”

In addition, the international organization Reporters Without Borders released a statement saying they were “very concerned” by the latest arrests, and called on the Turkish government and authorities to “stop trying to criminalize journalism, including politically committed journalism.”

The Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) also released a statement, calling on all those who support the right of information and freedom of the press to protest Turkey’s many human rights abuses.

The detention of 40 journalists, all seeking to reveal the same truth about the situation of Kurds in Turkey, is in fact affecting the entire profession of journalism. With 40 less people reporting on Turkey’s marginalization of the Kurdish community, Turkey is further quashing voices of dissent in the name of anti-terrorism and clearing the path for even more human rights abuses in the future.

This article first appeared on our website KurdishRights.org.

Mass Arrests of Kurdish Intellectuals in Istanbul:

My father-in-law was one of fifty people arrested on Friday morning, and while the police were civil at his house—calling him beyefendi (sir) and taking care not to break anything—in other parts of Turkey they kicked in doors and turned homes inside out. Read more.

Low-Level Torture—A Letter From An Istanbul Prison:

My father in law has been transferred to Kandıra prison in Izmit. They’ve split all the prisoners, sending them willy nilly to different high security prisons around the country. We had hoped for a visit this holiday, but were told that there would be no visits at all this week. Read more.

BDP threatens to boycott Parliament:

Turkey’s main Kurdish political party has threatened to withdraw from parliament due to arbitrary arrests of its MP’s in the past months. Read more.

Offices of Kurdish lawyers raided:

The offices of Asrin Hukuk Burosu in Istanbul were raided by Turkish police, and elsewhere in Turkey 70 people were taken into custody, 48 of them were lawyers. Among them is BDP’s former executive lawyer Huseyin Calisci. Read more.

Busting Moves for the Revolution: Kurdish Songs Against Assad:

As the Syrian revolution runs into its ninth month, protesters on the ground in Syria have yet to run out of ideas to creatively express their discontent with the regime and their demand for freedom. Read more.

Kurdish girl arrested in Iran:

A Kurdish Med student has been arrested in Iran. Rojin Mohemedi was arrested upon her return to Iran. She studied at Manila Medical School of Philippines and has been transferred to Evin prison.

The charges against her include incitement of propaganda against the regime. She is a Human rights activist, and has been vocal about the Iranian regimes horrendous human rights record. Read more.

Kurdish workers attacked by Nationalists in Turkey:

Kurdish workers were attacked in Tokat city, Turkish nationalists chanted “We don’t want Kurds here” as they continued their verbal abuse of Kurdish workers. Read more.

Turkey sanctions Syria for Human Rights Abuses:

Turkey wants to create the illusion that it upholds Human Rights, lets take a look at Turkey’s treatment of Kurds. Read more.

European Lawyers federation urge Turkey to release Kurdish lawyers:

European lawyers federation AED and ELDH have urged the Turkish government to release Kurdish lawyers imprisoned in the KCK investigation. Read more.

76 Kurds put on trial for attending politics classes in Turkey:

Legal action has been taken against 76 Kurdish politicians, including 30 detainees who were taken into custody for taking part in political classes. The detainees are charged with “spreading propaganda for an illegal organisation”. The classes were organised by BDP, which is a legal Pro-Kurdish political party, with 36 seats in parliament. Read more.

More Kurdish politicians arrested in Turkey:

Police raided the houses of many Kurdish politicians in Diyarbakir and Bitlis today. According to ANF, 21 people have been taken to custody. In the past 6 months alone, hundreds of Kurdish politicians, activists and journalists have been detained by Turkish police. Today’s arrests is a reminder of Turkey’s brutal and systematic discrimination against Kurdish people. Read more.

21-year old Kurdish student killed by Turkish police:

Thousands of people turned up to a meeting in Amed, with BDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş, BDP deputies and Sur Mayor Abdullah Demirbaş, as well as civil society organisations. Security forces in Amed used tear-gas and live ammunition to disperse an open-air meeting between Kurdish activists. Murat Elibol was shot in the back, and died later in hospital. Read more.

121 Kurdish activists arrested this week — new arrests!

In a new wave of arrests, 24 people have been taken to custody today. Among them five BDP executives, association chair Evrim Konak and executives Murat Kur, Deniz Kırbağ and Hıdır Yıldız.

Earlier this week, 21 people were taken into custody, and 76 were arrested for attending politics classes — a total of 121 have been arrested this week alone in Turkey. Read more.

Kurdish Politician Mahmut Alınak arrested:

Kurdish politician Mahmut Alınak has been arrested on suspicion of being associated or having links with KCK. Last month, he was arrested in Istanbul and later released because it could not be established that he had secret ties with KCK. Read more.

Children jailed for being part of KCK in Turkey:

Dicle News Agency reports that 7 people have been detained, among them 2 children with alleged links with KCK. Earlier this month, 121 Kurdish activists were detained on similar grounds, including a prominent Kurdish politician and former MP Mahmut Alınak. Read more.

Kurdish prisoners forced to say Turkish national anthem:

New report released by IHD Adana branch highlights the Human rights violations of Kurdish activists in prison. The report concludes the following; Children prisoners forced to say Turkish national anthem. Expired or rotten food were given to both children, and women. Read more.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is one of the leading contenders for the position of Person of the Year, supposedly for his hand in the democratic aspirations of the Middle East uprisings and for his moderate Islamist leadership. Not one mention of the Kurds and of the years of discrimination against Kurds is ever brought up. Should TIME magazine name Erdogan Person of the Year, they would once again be denying the Kurdish people the suffering that they felt under Erdogan’s government, and would contribute to a major step backwards to activists passionate about the Kurdish cause everywhere.

The following is a statement that the Alliance for Kurdish Rights has compiled in protest of the nomination. Please endorse this statement, and then pass it on to TIME magazine, at letters(at)time.com. We cannot let the Kurdish struggle once again be sidelined.

Official Statement:

TIME magazine’s Person of the Year award is an internationally recognized achievement that despite its original intention, awards a certain amount of honor and prestige onto its recipient. At the very least, it is an indication that the recipient has changed the world, usually for the better, but always in a significant and deep way. The nomination of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as TIME’s Person of the Year is not an innocuous statement. Erdogan has been nominated for supposedly being an icon of the Arab Spring, a protector of justice and human dignity, and a strong leader not just in Turkey but in the Middle East.

However, for Turkey’s Kurdish population, Erdogan is recognized for overseeing the countless crimes committed against human dignity by his government. Erdogan’s reputation as a positive leader contradicts the fact that there are presently thousands of Kurds in Turkish prisons, and that the Turkish army, under the policies of his government, regularly carries out military assaults in Iraq and Iran, which often result in civilian casualties and the destruction of innocent people’s livelihoods. Additionally, Turkey’s anti-terrorism laws remain among the strictest in the world, and are often used to target Kurdish activists and censor both Kurdish and non-Kurdish journalists, professors, and even those that merely choosing to defend the Kurdish people’s rights. Under Erdogan’s leadership, anti-terrorism laws have been strengthened rather than overturned. In fact, according to the International Press Institute, Turkey imprisons more journalists than any other country in the world, including China. Despite assuming power on a platform of democratic reform for the entire country and an open dialogue with regards to the Kurdish question, Erdogan’s eight years in office have proven to be a step backwards for human rights and dignity.

Considering how rarely the plight of the Kurds is acknowledged in mainstream media, the nomination of Erdogan for the Person of the Year award will further normalize his image as a proponent rather than a frequent abuser of human rights. Erdogan’s crimes are already concealed behind a reputation of innovation and change. In fact, Foreign Policy magazine nominated him as one of the top 100 Global Thinkers of our time, waxing poetic about his influence in the region and his supposed stance on behalf of freedom in the Arab world without a single mention of the Kurds. If TIME were to join the ranks of Foreign Policy Magazine in singing Erdogan’s praises, 15 million Kurds in Turkey will again see their voices silenced, their suffering invalidated, as the person responsible for their injustice once again gets rewarded.

This article first appeared on our website KurdishRights.org, which documents the persecution against the Kurdish people in the Middle East.

In the interview with Democracy Now!, Hess explained that despite false allegations that he was working for the PKK, Turkish interrogators showed more concern about the articles and writings he was publishing. Hess stated, “[They] asked me why I have written about things like torture, or violence against Kurdish women, or the Turkish army’s use of forest fires as a tool of counter-insurgency. [..] Basically, I was only asked about my writings and [contact with] perfectly legal human rights organizations.”

Hess was taken to the anti-terror section of the police station in Diyarbakir and was held there for 4 days where he was interrogated by a total of about 10 to 15 Turkish officers. He had just recently returned from a trip to the Iraq-Turkish border where the PKK is based. Hess interviewed members of the PKK as a journalist and also visited the villages along the border inside Iraq to document the conditions of Kurdish civilians who have been displaced by the ongoing Turkish military bombardments of the region.

Despite his contact with PKK members during the trip to the border, Hess stated that the interrogators did not ask him about the trip. He said that they were more concerned with his writings and stated to Democracy Now!, “They claimed the things I had written were inaccurate and they accused me of waging a smear campaign against the Turkish Republic and also asserted that my writings had negatively impacted Turkey’s international image.”

Hess has worked in Turkey as a journalist extensively and has continuously published work for Inter Press Service, a global news agency based in Rome. He has also participated in activist work to raise awareness of human rights violations in Turkey. Hess said that interrogators were also concerned with his contact with various legal human rights groups.

In the interview, he stated, “They asked me why I had relations with human rights group both within Turkey and in London, and why I had collected signatures to support the release of Mr Muharrem Erbey, the chairman of the Diyarbakir office of the Human Rights Association [IHD], and other such things.”

The human rights lawyer, Erbey, was arrested in December 2009 and the government has accused him having links with the PKK. Thus far, Turkish prosecutors have included his writings of human rights reports and his entry of political lawsuits on behalf of victims of human rights abuses as evidence against him. Hess explained that even the work that he did with Erbey to raise awareness about the current human rights situation in southeastern Turkey was presented as evidence against Erbey. For reasons such as this one, Hess explained, he will not return to Turkey for some time to avoid endangering his colleagues.

Hess explained that the human rights abuses in Turkey are continuing at a “very disturbing level”. Despite a recent PKK ceasefire, Turkish military operations have continued. Hess asserted that these operations have included the intentional burning of rural areas by the military to prevent Kurdish villagers from resettling the lands they were displaced from since the 1990s. Hess explained that the use of military force as been falsely viewed as a way to solve the Kurdish issue.

Hess blamed his own government for encouraging this policy.

Jake Hess was offered help by US government shortly following his arrest to which he refused. He told Democracy Now!, “It would be hypocritical for the United States to send me support while at the same time encouraging Turkey to use military means to solve this issue [and] supporting Turkey’s policy of annihalating Kurdish political activists through mass arrests and criminalization. Simlarly, it would probably be hypocritical of me to accept their help after spending so much time denouncing their policies in Turkey.”

The entire interview at Democracy Now! can be viewed here.