I once met Kurdistan. He said to me: I am denied my existence and my identity by heartless oppressors. I am treated as trash by indoctrinated adherents. I am mocked, molested and murdered by those who do not understand that I am a human being.

Yes, I answered understandingly, you are oppressed because you are Kurdistan. Your oppressors are Turkey, Iran and Syria.

No, no, no! Kurdistan shook his head violently, then sighed. I am oppressed because I am gay. My oppressors are Kurds.

Ahmet Yildiz – A Starflower

A freedom fighter once said: Kurdistan is like a garden. Every flower has its special colour; every flower has its special scent. This diversity makes the garden even more beautiful.

Ahmet Yildiz was a flower in this garden; he was a borage, the purple starflower that symbolises strength and courage. Ahmet needed courage: He was not only a Kurd from Riha living under a Turkish regime that violates human rights, he was also gay.

He loved his family but they would not him accept him being a homosexual. He moved to Istanbul where he could be honest and open about his sexuality, although even in Istanbul the LGBT community (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual) is not treated as equals with heterosexuals.

The family wanted Ahmet to come back home so he could be cured by a doctor and an imam for his “disease” (his sexual orientation) and married off to a girl. Ahmet rejected this proposal because why should he suppress his identity, how could he be his own oppressor?

His family did not take this well. In 2008 Ahmet felt compelled to go to the Turkish prosecutors and tell them that he had received death threats from his family but the authorities dismissed his worries.

On the 15th of July 2008 Ahmet was taking a break from his studies and went out to buy ice cream when he was shot in the street. Ahmet managed to get into his car and flee the assailants but because he was injured, he crashed and later died in hospital.

Ahmet’s friends say his family did not come to claim his body from the morgue, a clear indication of his family’s disownment. His father, who is suspected of killing Ahmet to uphold the family honour, is said to have left Turkey and to be hiding in Iraq.

Kurds Oppressing Kurdistan

No one understands better what it is like to be oppressed than the Kurd. He has been denied his identity – just like Ahmet Yildiz. He has been denied his rights – just like Ahmet Yildiz. He has been treated like an outcast – just like Ahmet Yildiz.

Then how does one outcast dare oppress another outcast? Ahmet Yildiz had to endure discrimination in Turkey based on both his ethnicity and his sexual orientation. How does a Kurd dare join the Turkish regime in the oppression of a homosexual Kurd?

Oh, freedom would taste as sweet as a pomegranate from Amed, Kurds say, we just want to be free. We want freedom! freedom! freedom!

It has become a word with a hollow sound, this freedom. It is used lightly among Kurds and has lost its meaning. Freedom for Kurdistan is not only freedom for Kurds, it is freedom for mankind. I once defined Kurdistan as follows:

To be a Kurd is not a question about ethnicity. Kurdistan is freedom for it is borderless and those who fight for freedom are Kurds.
To be a freedom fighter is to be alive because being constant aware of death makes you kiss the earth softly, rest your cheek on the scabrous bark of a tree and lay your head on sweet smelling moss.
To be alive is what the rest of world fails to be because being safe and comfortable is to be dead. You are dead if your life tastes like sushi, beer and turkey. You are alive if it tastes like the salty sweat that evaporates from your body when you are fighting in what seems to be Hell.
This definition includes all: everyone who fights for freedom is a Kurd. Every Kurd is a freedom fighter. Every gay, bisexual and transsexual fighting for the right to be himself is freedom fighter and a part of Kurdistan.

When I ask Kurds what they think about people with another sexual orientation than heterosexuality, many wrinkle their forehead and say: That is not normal. That is not how God intended it to be, not how nature intended it to be.

If God truly did not intend for homosexuals, bisexuals and transsexuals to be on this Earth, then he did not intend for Kurds to be on it, either. The Kurdish and the LGBT community share the same struggle: the right to their identity and existence. Both are considered second-rate people by the world and both fight to the death for freedom in its truest, purest and sweetest form, a form of freedom of which the rest of the world is oblivious.

The intolerance towards people who are not heterosexuals is probably more widespread among the elder generations while the Kurdish youth (especially in the diaspora) is more open-minded.
Still, I am surprised and disgusted when I hear young people in the Kurdish community say: I do not mind homosexuals but I could not be friends with them.

I am surprised because this position on the LGBT community is an indication of the Kurdish youth’s unawareness of what the Kurdish struggle is truly about: acknowledgement of an individual’s right to be who he is.

I am disgusted because homosexuality, bisexuality and transsexuality should not be something that one has to come to terms with. It is a natural thing like breathing and eating – it is love and to deny love is a sin. Ask religious people, who use their God’s words as a reason for not tolerating other sexual orientations, if denying love is not a sin.

A minister in Turkey said in 2010 that homosexuality was a disease. It is not a surprise that a member of the Turkish government would say such a thing seeing as the state is known for its violation of human rights. But it is a problem that people within the Kurdish community share this belief. They argue that homosexuality is not normal, that only a man and a woman should be together because that is the way it has always been.

This is a notion out of touch with today’s world. The objective of the human being has from the beginning of mankind been survival, and reproduction was an important way of securing this. Before, that could only happen when a man and a woman were together. By forming a family they secured their survival in two ways: by living in groups and having children. Today, one does not have to form a family to survive and one can have children in other ways than in the old days.

Homosexuality is a disease? No, the only thing that is harming the human being is people believing it is a disease.

The Responsibility Of The Kurdish Youth

The last few months I have repeated together with other Kurds: Ez li virim. I am here.
But so is the gay man. The gay man is here, the lesbian is here, the bisexual is here and the transsexual is here! They are supporting the Kurdish fight for freedom and the Kurds should support their fight for freedom.

I am not asking the Kurdish people to accept only the Kurdish LGBT community. I am asking the Kurdish people to accept, understand and support every human being calling for freedom.

When politicians and activists fight for the Kurdish people, it should not only be a fight against discrimination of an ethnicity. It should also be a fight against discrimination of sexual orientation. Freedom is freedom; a Kurd cannot demand to be free and yet at the same time deny the LBGT community to be free and the right to express their sexuality.

Every Kurd has a responsibility: Do not only call for freedom, do not only fight for freedom but give it! Give it to those who are oppressed like you.

Remember always what the Kurdish freedom fighter said: Kurdistan is like a garden. Every flower has its special colour; every flower has its special scent. This diversity makes the garden even more beautiful.

Act in accordance with his vision. If you do not, Kurdistan will hold you responsible for its division:

“You have marched back and forth upon me, crushing the red roses, the yellow dandelions and the green grass beneath your feet. You have claimed to defend me when in reality you have inflicted more pain upon me than your worst enemy.”

It was a wicked invention; everything good and beautiful became revolting and disgusting when reflected by the mirror.

One day, the Devil flew around in the air with his mirror, reflecting the divine sky but it was too much beauty for the mirror to handle. It broke into millions of pieces, some as small as grains of sand. They fell onto the ground, but also into the hearts and eyes of men, women and children whose heart froze to ice and whose eyes could now only see that which was unpleasant and evil.

The Verdict Of ROJ TV

Not many miles away from the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen and merely 137 years and a few months after his death, the verdict of the trial of the Kurdish TV-channel ROJ TV was announced.

We were 500 snowmen outside the court in Copenhagen, paralysed and silenced by the cold gushes of wind. Then, we heard a scream of joy; we all melted and became a sea of flames.

I was burning and freezing when I turned my back to the dancing crowd, bowed my head and tweeted ”we won.”

We did not win. Yes, ROJ TV was allowed to keep broadcasting from Denmark but only because of formalities in the Danish penal law; a penal law so vague and obscure that the satellite provider, Eutelsat, suspended its agreement with ROJ TV and shut down its satellite signal to avoid being part of ”terrorist activities.”

The Danish court ruled that ROJ TV has acted as a mouthpiece for terror. This ruling was based on the judge’s conviction that ROJ TV is controlled by PKK, a Kurdish rebel group listed as a terror organisation by the European Union, the United States and Turkey, in regard to both finance and content. Therefore, the court sentenced the two companies behind ROJ TV to pay a fine of approximately 900,000 dollars, a verdict that was appealed to High Court three days later.

The verdict of ROJ TV is 190 pages long. The following section will present the essential conclusions that were summarised by the Danish newspaper, Jyllandsposten.

1 – From February 7, 2008 to February 10, 2010 ROJ TV has acted as a mouthpiece for the terror organisation, PKK.

2 – The TV-station has repeated messages from PKK without presenting other views. The guerrilla is portrayed in a positive way and manner that indicates more than sympathy for PKK.

3 – There is however no proof of these links between ROJ TV and PKK in the period June 10, 2006 to February, 2008 which had also been a count in the charge against ROJ TV.

4 – PKK has ”to a great extent” supported ROJ TV financially from 2006 to 2010

5 – The decision about what ROJ TV is allowed to broadcast is made by a media company in Belgium. The department in Denmark has no influence on what programmes to broadcast.

6 – Documents found in Belgium show that individuals with close relations to PKK have had the final word in regard to what ROJ TV should or should not broadcast about PKK.

7 – The two companies, ROJ TV A/S and Mesopotamia Broadcast A/S, have promoted PKK activities and are therefore sentenced to pay a combined fine of approximately 900,000 dollars.

8 – The companies are acquitted prosecutors’ demand of suspending the broadcasting license in Denmark. The Danish penal law cannot on legal basis confiscate the rights of companies, associations, etc.

One Man’s Terrorist

When the trial of ROJ TV started in August 2011, the court not only had to decide whether ROJ TV was a mouthpiece for terror or not, but also if PKK was indeed a terror organisation as Turkey, the European Union and the United States have listed it to be.

The judge looked at the terror lists, she looked at the extracts from ROJ TV’s programmes selected by the prosecutors and then found herself enlightened enough to declare PKK a terror organisation.

Now, this can nothing but enrage people seeking justice and expecting nothing but justice from a court in Denmark that holds its freedom so dear, so dear.

How can anyone regard Turkey’s terror list trustworthy when Turkey is infamous for its treatment of journalists and its restrictions on freedom of press and freedom of speech all the while referring to its terror law?

How can anyone regard the US’ terror list trustworthy when the US only removed Nelson Mandela from the list 4 years ago, when the US is ignorant enough to think that “by killing people who has killed people we can teach people not to kill people” and when the US still has not closed the most terrifying man-made institution on this Earth, Guantanamo Bay?

How can anyone regard the EU terror list trustworthy when the European Union Court in 2008 annulled its ruling that PKK was a terror group?

How can anyone regard terror lists trustworthy when it is common knowledge that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter?

How can anyone regard terror lists trustworthy when it is always the ”state”, ”the richest and the biggest” that has enough money and power to make up a list, put people on it and say: ”There you go, one terror list, please follow it or I will make your life a living Hell.”

How?

The judge did not even allow for ROJ TV lawyer, Bjoern Elmquist, to present his material about ROJ TV to the same extent as the prosecutors. This has given the prosecutors, who have been criticised for their close and friendly relationship with the authorities in Ankara, plenty of opportunities to portray ROJ TV and PKK as terrorists without the risk of being proven wrong by Elmquist.

An Unjust Law

The entire trial of ROJ TV has been a curious one. This has caused many experts to comment upon the fact that the judge did not take into consideration that she was dealing with a TV-channel and should therefore judge ROJ TV by the rules that apply for the media.

If the media is not allowed to interview the part in a conflict called the terrorist, then who is? Yes, ROJ TV may have portrayed the Kurdish guerrillas as freedom fighters, but PKK is after all the resistance movement that was formed as a re-action to Turkey’s oppression of the Kurdish people, a tyranny and brutality only condemned in vague words by the rest of the world.

The Kurdish people and ROJ TV are puppets in a play dominated by world leaders. If the Kurdish people do not speak up, it is massacred by the Turkish state, but if it does speak up, it is silenced by the European Union and United States.

Henry David Thoreau (1817 – 1862), author of the essay “Civil Disobedience”, wrote:

Must the citizen ever for a moment, or in the least degree, resign his con science to the legislator? Why has every man a con science, then? I think that we should be men first, and subjects afterward. It is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. […] Law never made men a whit more just; and, by means of their respect for it, even the well disposed are daily made the agents of in justice.

If the law is seeking to silence the rightful rebellion of the Kurdish people against the barbaric and heartless oppression, then the law is unjust; then the governments are what Thoreau calls the agents of injustice.

ROJ TV has a conscience that cannot remain silent under Turkey’s oppressive regime and is therefore offering itself as being the mouthpiece for the Kurdish people, dwell on this for a moment: mouthpiece for the Kurdish people.

The Kurdish people consist of freedom fighters, only freedom fighters. Kurdistan is freedom for it is borderless and those who fight for freedom are Kurds.

We Face Death

Everything is relative and has to be seen in its context. ROJ TV is not the average TV-channel whose viewers are safe at home and free to speak the language they want, read the books they want, sing the songs they want or even wear the clothes they want.

There was an incident during one court session. The prosecutors were showing an excerpt from ROJ TV and they pointed out that the journalists were wearing PKK-clothing. The looks from the Kurdish audience in the courtroom must have been those of incredulity and astonishment; this was merely another ignorant comment from the prosecutors who, if they had done their research properly and if the judge had not dismissed all Elmquist’s witnesses including Leyla Zana, would have known more about the Kurdish culture and understood that the ROJ TV journalists were wearing Kurdish clothes.

ROJ TV is much more than the average TV-channel; it gives the Kurdish people a sense of unity that one rarely feels because of the brutal division and oppression of Kurdistan. It is the symbol of the peaceful Kurdish struggle for freedom; it is a mouthpiece for freedom, a mouthpiece for our freedom fighters like members of BDP, the pro-Kurdish party in Turkey, and the passionate Kurdish youth fighting for its identity.

ROJ TV is perceived a mouthpiece for terrorism because the world does not know what terrorism is.

ROJ TV is perceived a mouthpiece for terrorism because the human being is a suppressor of oppression.

ROJ TV is perceived a mouthpiece for terrorism because it is alive, it is not afraid of man-made institutions or death.

To be a freedom fighter is to be alive because being constant aware of death makes you kiss the earth softly, rest your cheek on the scabrous bark of a tree and lay your head on sweet smelling moss. To be alive is what the rest of the world fails to be because being safe and comfortable is to be dead. You are only alive if life tastes like the salty sweat that evaporates from your body when you are fighting in what seems to be Hell.

Boiling Blood

Denmark is the kingdom of the Snow Queen and the West is her empire; she reigns it with a coldness that renders her vassals motionless and speechless. The cold winds carry flakes of snow, which the Snow Queen weaves into the clothes of her subjects, thereby hindering the small pieces of the Devil’s wicked mirror from leaving the eyes and hearts of men.

The Snow Queen’s most loyal servant, the vicious and despicable troll, the worst of trolls, the Devil is laughing, his plan is working: Every single one of the cold, dead vassals see only a distortion of that which is beautiful, stunning, ravishing, alive!

The troll and his empress have a weakness, though, Hans Christian Andersen revealed: the small pieces of the troll’s wicked mirror can be melted and oh, who is better to melt ice than the burning Kurd with the boiling blood?

The Snow Queen and the wickedest of trolls can easily be defeated. Every Kurdish freedom fighter has flames shooting from his fingertips, flames kept alive by the blazing, roaring Sun.

As long as the Sun is burning so long will ROJ TV burn; because ROJ TV is the mirror in which the Sun reflects itself.

Kurdistan kisses my eyelids, gently singing
I am your mother, I let you see no evil

Kurdistan caresses my hands, gently singing
I am your mother, I let you bear only branches of olive

In a Wan Minute she lies beneath the blanket of my black hair

I lean against the headstone of Kurdistan
and the snow asks me: may I warm myself by your fire?

My heavy head falls forward onto the shoulder of the snow
and the snow brushes my hair, kisses my eyelids and caresses my hand, gently singing

My arms are a scarf around your neck
but they will become a noose

My shoulder is a place of rest for your head
but my body will become your graveyard

My mouth breathes warm revenge upon your cheek
but my tongue will become a preacher of your sin

In a Wan Minute I raise my head and I raise my pen
I write on the headstone of Kurdistan

I am Kurdistan.

Once upon a time the human being knew nothing and it scared him. Therefore, he created knowledge in order to feel safe. This knowledge consisted of a story about a man and a woman who was shunned from a haven called Heaven and forced to live on Earth, just like their descendant, the scared human being. But this story did not make the scared human being feel safe.

No, he concluded that knowledge had done him more harm because it had made him realise that only Heaven was safe. The scared human being decided to ignore knowledge, ignore the fact that he was living on Earth and planted a thick and tall privet hedge around his home so as to make his own haven of which he had control.

It is not what you fear that is important, it is why you fear; it is the fear of loosing what you know.

It is the fear of loss that makes you lock the doors at night, it is the fear of loss that makes you draw the curtains and it is the fear of loss that makes you grow the thickest privet hedge around your home.

I do not speak of material loss. If that was what you thought, then you have already suffered great loss despite your protected haven. No, I speak of your fear of loosing the ability to suppress the same knowledge that your ancestor suppressed, which is the knowledge of the unsafe world.

Suppressors of Oppression

A human being can be a freedom fighter or an oppressor, but there is someone much more dangerous than the dictators and it is he who is fearful, he who is the suppressor of oppression.

Have you ever switched channels because the news showed mutilated bodies of opponents to a dictatorial regime? If yes, then you are a suppressor of oppression. Your unwillingness to confront the reality of life is not only harmful to yourself, but the entire human race, seeing as you are a part of it.

How can you be made to recognise the truth about the situation of the human being? You are not willing to let them into your haven, but how would you react if they sought to live in your peaceful haven? You, who are fearful, what would you do if the oppressed people found the hole in your hedge, broke down your door and tore away your curtains?

you fumble for the white
the price is reduced so you buy black tennis socks

you throw yourself behind the metal shopping cart, you hide your shining head
you tuck your progeny into your armpit, you pray to your dead projection

dark disguised heads are gobbed onto the white floor colourful knitwear drag the dust away black curls scrub the white floor brown feet black nails slip on the white floor yellow plastic sandals somersault on the white floor thick brows fall upon eyes black fingers on metal, on your metal

today’s sample
black fingers with a side of red sauce served on the white floor

You are not living when you are in hiding. If you realise that you are indeed a dead soul in a moving body, then you will not die if you step out from behind your privet hedge, into the street and face the world.

If you recognise the fact that you are dead but are willing to burn the hedge and live, then you will be at the risk of dying. But your death is not a loss because that moment before death, the moment you face that, which takes away everything, you are alive. You are alive, because you are not afraid and because you are aware.

Paradise of Cinderella

Is your Paradise filled with sunlight, flowers, peaceful animals, red apples and sparkling water and are you clad in clothes woven with threads of gold?

Paradise is where you have no worries and a Paradise on Earth is what the descendants of the scared human being are desperately trying to create. Then all will be well.

It may seem well, but it is not. No matter how thick your privet hedge is, no matter how thick your curtains are, your haven will always be under constant threat. This is a simple fact because even though you cannot see the world outside, it sees you clearly.

Your Paradise on Earth is merely a product of your imagination. Bad things do not seize to happen because you do not hear about it. Unawareness makes you scared, not knowing makes you even more scared of that which goes on in the world.

You would realise this if you pulled the curtains away and looked at your reflection in the windows. Look! Look closely and you will see that you are in truth wearing worn-out, dirty clothes, your face is wrinkled and your hair is grey. You are Cinderella.

You are Cinderella because you have defeated your fear and now there is just one obstacle left for you to overcome: the obstacle of rising from obscurity.
You are Cinderella, because she was thought to be obscure when she in fact was anything but. She was made obscure, but she did not believe it herself.

Your Judgement Day

It is as if we are waiting for something to happen, something that will clean up the world, nicely vacuum it and neatly dust it off. Some would say it is Judgement Day and let it only be Judgement Day. Seeing as God is merely the projection of what the human being wants to be, let us judge ourselves the way God would have judged us.

The accusation: You thought yourself obscure.
You plead guilty but insist that you committed the crime while being afraid and therefore claim insanity.
Your punishment: You must grow taller, you must speak louder and you must believe in the difference you can make for the oppressed people.

You must rise from obscurity. You have to rise from obscurity. It is easy once you realise that there is no such thing as obscurity.

A philosopher once said that a belief is true if it is of use, so I ask of you: Do not be fooled into thinking that you are doing yourself a favour by suppressing the fact that millions of people are oppressed and need your help.

You must rise from obscurity like Cinderella.

A Tale of Two Worlds

The booing and the sudden realisation happened during a debate about Turkey and Kurdistan at my university not many days ago. The evening is well described by the words of Charles Dickens:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way.

It was the season of darkness when a Turkish girl agreed with the Turkish Minister of Women and Family Affairs that homosexuality is a disease that needs to be treated.

It was the winter of despair when a young Turkish woman insisted that the Kurdish people is not oppressed in Turkey and demanded we prove our claims of the opposite.

It was the age of foolishness when a young Turkish man stood up, demanded that Turkey was not to be likened with Israel and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

It was the worst of times when I told them the truth about Turkey’s state terrorism and they answered: BOO!

I had to restrain myself from getting up, grabbing my bag and dignity and saying, “Boo me? BOO YOU!” seeing as I would have probably just fallen down the stairs and thereby ruined the dramatic and eloquent exit.

So I stayed and therefore entered the age of wisdom because I came to realise that I was not the slightest bit angry with them, quite the contrary: I was excited.
The reason for this inappropriate reaction of mine (it is not ethical to get excited when the subject is violation of the human rights) is as simple as the minds of my hecklers.

You remember when Leyla Zana, the Kurdish freedom fighter, was elected to the Turkish parliament in 1991 and was yelled and booed at because she wore the Kurdish colours? Well, that is what happened that evening. I, too, was booed at for presenting the truth to the Turkish audience and so is everyone else who is not afraid to reveal the truth regardless of what it holds.

Happy is he

If you are booed at, you know you have done something right, for those who boo are either ignorant or afraid or afraid because they are ignorant and my dear friends, we know that to be ignorant is to always have the season of darkness upon you.

So I was excited because now I had the brainwashed Turkish youth surrounding me whose ignorance my fellows and I could fight and whose humanity we could try to bring out. I know that these young Turks are only oblivious to the oppression because they are raised to think, “Happy is he who can call himself a Turk.”

But we can change their minds. We can teach them that happy is he who can call himself a human.

We are the world

Unfortunately it is not only the minds of the Turkish youth we need to change; apparently not every Kurdish youngster is ready to reach out to those Turks who are in denial about the oppression of the Kurds.

Some are Kurds before they are human beings and to them everything associated with Turkey is subjected to pure hatred. It is ridiculous, sometimes downright laughable seeing as these Kurds do not know a word Kurdish and use all their energy on getting into heated discussions with the Turkish youth, thus making those who were not even that anti-Kurdish say: “Kurds? You mean the Mountain Turks?”

That is a no-go. We must change this despicable attitude and not scare anyone away. We have to engage both Kurds and Turks in talks, we have to open our arms and embrace them, though if you act all lovey-dovey that will definitely scare them away, trust me.

I am a human being first and then I am a Kurd. I am not demanding that Kurds should not be oppressed; I am demanding that no one should be oppressed and I am demanding that the Turkish youth help us raise our voice against injustice by fighting ignorance. Then perhaps we will bring about the season of Light.

Are you booable?

If not, you should consider becoming booable. I promise you that once someone has booed at you and you walk in constant fear that the heckler will egg you, then you know you are living!

It was Paradise. The grass was lush and trimmed; the flowers had all the colours in the world; white statues shone in the beds; the winding paths with shimmering stones ended by a gleaming white bench where you could sit surrounded by the alluring nature.

When I was done watching the picturesque scenery I always returned with a deep sigh to my racked garden. I was disappointed and I found it odd: Why did my Kurdish garden look like it had been subjected to God’s wrath rather than being the Paradise that Kurdistan is?

The Kurdish Graveyards

What is Tigris and Euphrates made of?
Water, naturally,
but even though water is without colour they are always crimson.
Water has no taste but their lingering taste
is that of the fires of history.
Water has no smell, yet there is this scent
from the hair of our murdered daughters and sons.

The rivers of Euphrates and Tigris are as beloved friends of the Kurdish people as the mountains. They stretch all through the Kurdish land, surrounding and protecting the heart of Kurdistan: living and giving life to nature with its foaming waters.

But if you look closely, if you bend your head and look closely you will see that Euphrates and Tigris have suffered defeat.

Şêrko Bêkes who wrote this poem sees the red waves of Euphrates and Tigris, red with the blood of thousands of Kurds.

This is what I see and what you will see: The rivers are the graveyards of Kurdistan. When you kneel down by Euphrates or Tigris, you will see the faces of dead Kurdish children, women and men just beneath the surface.

Though, one must remember: Şehîd namirin (martyrs never die) and neither will Euphrates and Tigris. They live on in the children who carry their Kurdish names, Firat and Diçle.

According to myths Euphrates and Tigris are the rivers of Paradise and the same myths tell of the Kurdish Mount Ararat as being the place where Noah’s Arc landed after the Great Flood.
The tales passed down through generations have led to a romantic conception of the Kurdish land being a part of Paradise.
Ask any Kurd for his or her description of Kurdistan and I promise you, it will be a description of Paradise.

But there is one crucial difference: Paradise has boundaries, Kurdistan has not.

To be

Kurdistan is more than the sweet soil of Amed, Mehabad, Hewler and Qamishlo that our elders treat like gold. Neither the lands of the Kurds nor the Kurds are defined by boundaries; where there is a Kurd, there is Kurdistan.

To be a Kurd is not a question about ethnicity. Kurdistan is freedom for it is borderless and those who fight for freedom are Kurds.

To be a freedom fighter is to be alive because being constant aware of death makes you kiss the earth softly, rest your cheek on the scabrous bark of a tree and lay your head on sweet smelling moss.

To be alive is what the rest of world fails to be because being safe and comfortable is to be dead. You are dead if your life tastes like sushi, beer and turkey. You are alive if it tastes like the salty sweat that evaporates from your body when you are fighting in what seems to be Hell.

Once upon a time when the heart of Kurdistan lay between the rivers of Euphrates and Tigris. But not long ago a freedom fighter dug up the heart from the ground, put it in his pocket and brought it with him to the mountains. There he hid the heart in an echoing valley so he and all the other freedom fighters of the world would always hear and feel it beating.

If you are alive, you will hear it. Put your ear down to the ground and listen. If you are alive, you will feel it: the beating of the Kurdish heart.

The Kurd is a flame.
The Kurdish family is a fire.
The Kurdish people are a conflagration.
Scattered all over the world are countless fires, but when they near each other, they will burn like the sun itself, like the sun on the Kurdish flag.

I am alive, I am a freedom fighter and I am Kurdistan.

He introduces himself as Nasim, but I do not think that it is his real name. He hesitated when I asked him his name.

“Nasim” is Kurdish for “I am known. And indeed, I do know him even though this is the first time I meet him. I know him, the others in the classroom know him and the entire Kurdish people know him, because Nasim is a Kurdish freedom fighter.

“I was a guerrilla,” he says with a smile that does not disappear from his face during the two hour-long meeting.
He explains how he came down from the mountains due to an injury and because a Kurdish guerrilla is regarded a terrorist he has since been in jail for 13 years.

Nasim has not given up his fight for the freedom of the Kurdish people. He is working to implement the Kurdish manifesto, which is the ideology of the Kurdish leader, Apo Abdullah Öcalan; an ideology that is neither discriminating nor oppressive towards the Turkish people as the Turkish regime has been towards the Kurdish people.

In his book “Declaration on the Democratic Solution of the Kurdish Question” Öcalan says that he during a press conference on 15 March 1993 responded to President Turgut Ozal’s call for ceasefire with the following words:

“We are not demanding an immediate separation from Turkey. We are realists on this subject. Do not interpret this [ceasefire] as a simple tactic [serving a hidden agenda]. There are many reasons as to why [we are realists]. Those who understand the historic, political and economic situation of the two peoples [the Kurds and Turks] know well that separation could not take place. They [the Kurds and Turks] are intertwined like flesh and bone.”

The Kurdish Cause

Nasim is a member of KCK, a Kurdish organization founded by Öcalan that seeks to carry out the leader’s vision of a Kurdish democratic confederation. The executive leader of KCK is Murat Karayilan who together with Kongra-Gel, the board consisting of 300 elected council members, is acting according to Öcalan’s ideology.

“Apo’s ideology puts the human before everything, his ideology is a matter of love,” Nasim tells us. “We want the world to learn about our cause and ideology.”

“I have been raised in the spirit of the Kurdish cause. I never went to the Turkish schools, I was never taught to think and be like a Turk. I was raised in the school of the Kurdish cause.”

“My comrades are like me. We live a minimalistic life. We have clothes and bread so as not to be naked and hungry. This is all we need. We are fighting for our ideals and our people. This is our motivation.”

The Conception of the Kurdish Freedom Fighters

“Some has joined our fight for their own benefits,” Nasim says. He explains that the agendas of these individuals can be damaging to the Kurdish fight against oppression, something the Turkish regime is using to their advantage.

Nasim shakes his head. “The Kurdish spirit has grown weary.”

It is a reality that parts of the Kurdish people are sceptical towards PKK, KCK and even local Kurdish organisations. Nasim explains that KCK recognises this scepticism and is trying to eliminate it.

“The problem is the mentality. We, who work actively with the cause every day, are ahead of our people when it comes to making decisions and executing them. We hope that our people are ready but it calls for great efforts on our part.”

“The people have to become conscious of our cause, how far we have come, how we are fighting. This must be done wisely through dialogue. We may have achieved many great things and we may be ready to take even bigger steps, but it is not certain that all Kurds are ready.”

“Therefore we must wait until the people are ready. Otherwise we might cause more damage to the Kurdish mentality, which will be fatal for Kurdistan. We must not force the people to think and act a certain way. They must choose themselves when they are ready.”

“It is important to ask oneself: “What can I do? What do I want to do?” One must want to participate in the struggle for freedom.”

Nasim emphasises the necessity of enlightenment of the Kurdish people.

“The four parts of Kurdistan are to be represented by delegations at a conference in the autumn. Hopefully, this will ensure future co-operation on important issues. There is a place for everyone under our great umbrella.”

“Kurdistan is like a garden. Every flower has its special colour; every flower has its special scent. This diversity makes the garden even more beautiful. This is how I see the Kurdish movement,” Nasim smiles.

The Turkish Agenda

But the Turkish regime regards the embracing movement as a threat and is intent on putting KCK in a bad light, Nasim adds, still with a smile on the lips but with indignation in the eyes.

Despite this the Kurdish organisations have been an eye-opener for the Turkish regime.

“Everything we have achieved today has been because of the organisation work. Only recently has the Turkish regime admitted some of their mistakes.”

“The Turkish regime no longer denies the existence of the Kurds,” Nasim says, “but they consider them as part of the Turks, which is not the case! The recognition of the Kurds is only a part of the state’s agenda.”

“40 guerrillas were allowed to leave the mountains and there have been held meetings regarding the possible release of Apo from Imrali, all this is thanks to PKK.”

Kurdistanê Mine Delal

“We want to create a movement against war. We have learned from our mistakes and are more compliant. We seek to create a Kurdish identity and awareness.”

Nasim compares the Kurdish cause to Jesus. Jesus was crucified by the Roman Empire because his messages were seen as a threat to the Empire, the same way the Turkish regime regards Öcalan’s ideology a threat.
In the end Jesus was recognized and is today present in the lives of many people around the world.

“We believe that our cause will be recognised the same way, even though it will take a long time. Perhaps Kurdistan will be the utopia that will persist.”

“We are all products of an ideology. Some Kurds are in the mountains, some Kurds in the parliament, some Kurds in schools and some Kurds in prison. The most important thing is that we stand united.”

Nasim stands up to leave but before he goes, he says:
“Our hearts beat for Kurdistan.”

The meeting with Nasim took place in July 2011, about one and a half month before the bombing of Qendil.

I use the quote whenever I am in the company of less intelligent people and the fact that they do not understand the quote only confirms its meaning.

But ignorance is not fun.

Ignorant people, who either cannot or will not learn, are easily influenced by intelligent people willing to use ignorance in their favour.

Ignorance is especially dangerous for the human being seeing as it is a creature of habit and safety. The human being is willing to give up enlightenment in order to prevent development, seeing as development would mean being forced to give up the well-known, sheltered life.

Ignorance causes prejudices; prejudices that are passed on to the next generation and the next generation and the next generation. These prejudices are hard to fight, almost impossible.

But where there is a will, there is a way, and I will do my part to enlighten.

The terrifying UN Definition

The trial of Roj TV continues. It is expected that the prosecutors must prove that PKK is indeed a terror organization, but in order to prove this one must know what terrorism is.

The question is: do we?

At the UN General Assembly on December 9th 1994 the following definition of terrorism was agreed upon:

“Criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in the general public, a group of persons or particular persons for political purposes are in any circumstance unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or any other nature that may be invoked to justify them.”

So, a terrorist causes terror through illegal actions, the illegal actions being to kill people, imprison children, denying people their rights, etc.
According to the dictionary terror is “extreme fear, dread, horror, fear and trembling, fright, alarm, panic” and all other adjectives you associate with horror movies and nightmares.

In the case of the Kurdish people and in the case of all other oppressed people in the world who is afraid? Who causes terror and who suffers terror?

It is not the oppressor who shivers in the office: it is the Kurdish mother in the village.
It is not the oppressor who is trembling with fear: it is the Kurdish girl in the prison.
It is not the oppressor who is fearful: it is the Kurdish youngster speaking Kurdish in public.

Therefore it is the Kurdish people and all other oppressed minorities who suffer terror and the Turkish, Syrian, Iranian and all the other oppressors who are the terrorists.

The Terror was a period during the French Revolution when Robespierre and his companions executed those who opposed to their regime.

We oppose! We, who are oppressed by a regime whether it is the Gabooye people in Somaliland, the Jewish people in Saudi Arabia or the Kurdish people in Turkey, Syria and Iran, oppose!

Therefore it is the Kurdish people who suffer terror and the Turkish, Syrian and Iranian regimes who terrorize.

Not afraid of men and women in suits

Subsequent to the same UN General Assembly in 1994 this, too, was agreed upon:

“Acts, methods and practices of terrorism constitute a grave violation of the purposes and principles of the United Nations, which may pose a threat to international peace and security, jeopardize friendly relations among States, hinder international cooperation and aim at the destruction of human rights, fundamental freedoms and the democratic bases of society.”

According to this, Turkey, Syria and Iran can be considered terrorists as well or do these rules not apply when you are a “recognized” nation?

The Turkish, Syrian and Iranian treatment of the Kurdish people is not only aiming at the destruction of human rights but doing it!

The Turkish, Syrian and Iranian treatment of the Kurdish people is not only aiming at the destruction of fundamental freedoms but doing it!

The Turkish, Syrian and Iranian treatment of the Kurdish people is not only aiming at the destruction of the democratic bases of the Kurdish society but doing it!

Why then are the Turkish, Syrian and Iranian regimes not listed as terrorists by the US and the European Union?

The acts of the regimes are provoking states of terror (fear, fright, alarm and panic) for political purposes but apparently these acts are justified because the regimes are nations “with friendly relations” to the other nations.

It seems to me as if terrorism is defined as violent acts executed by non-governmental people, the key word being non-governmental.

The former UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan said in 2005 the following: “It is time to set aside debates on so-called “State terrorism”. The use of force by states is already thoroughly regulated under international law.”

That may be true but that does not mean the regimes are acting according to the law. It is a fact that Kurdish children are imprisoned for throwing rocks, it is a fact that Kurdish politicians are imprisoned for wearing Kurdish clothes and it is a fact that even publishing an interview with a member of PKK is enough to get you thrown in prison.

Why dismiss “so-called state terrorism” and why does Kofi Annan say “so-called”?

It is terrorism and it is state terrorism. For the love of God, just look around you! There is state terrorism everywhere, “my-position-is-higher-than-yours-“ terrorism everywhere.

Every single person in this world may speak the language they want, practice the religion they want, be of the sexual orientation they want, dress the way they want, eat the food they want, dance the way they want. No one must say this is the right definition of a religion, this is the right way to dance.

Ask yourself this:
Who is the terrorist and who is the terrorized?

Who frightens whom?

The trial of the Kurdish satellite channel Roj TV begins Monday in Copenhagen, Denmark and will end with a verdict that either confirms or repudiates the alleged links between Roj TV and PKK (Kurdistan Worker’s Party or Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan).

Seeing as the USA, EU and Turkey have listed PKK as a terror organization, they are not thrilled that Roj TV broadcasts interviews with members of PKK.

In 2005 the Turkish embassy in Denmark reported Roj TV to the police for propaganda but not until the end of August 2010 did the public prosecutor in Denmark charge the channel with encouragement and support of terror.

The same year, in 2005, the Prime Minister of Turkey, Erdogan, was to hold a press conference with Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who was then the Prime Minister of Denmark. But when Erdogan saw two journalists from Roj TV in the conference room he demanded that they should be excluded from the press conference.

This happened not even two months after the Danish newspaper Jyllandsposten printed the drawings of the Muslim prophet, Mohammed. This international crisis did not exactly make Denmark and Turkey the best of friends, seeing as Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party did not get an apology from Denmark for publishing the “blasphemic cartoons.”

Fogh, who had been advocating the freedom of speech, denied excluding the two Kurdish journalists and so Erdogan left in rage.
Fogh shrugged his shoulder and did not run after him, offering excuses and apologies.

Roj TV for sale

The question is: why did it take Denmark 5 years to act upon the allegation against Roj TV from Turkey?

Well, the government does not quite know, but it does blame the massive amount of paperwork that had to be taken care of by the (only!) one person who worked on the case of Roj TV.

What we do know is that WikiLeaks confirm that an agreement about Roj TV was made between a Turkish representative and Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

You see, our dear Fogh wanted to resign as Prime Minister to take over the job as Secretary General of NATO. Unfortunately, Erdogan and Turkey were still mad about the Roj TV incident in 2005, so they were not keen on helping Fogh to the post as head of NATO.

Subsequent to Fogh, Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy’s failure at convincing Erdogan and President Abdullah Gül that Fogh was the right man for the job, Obama swooped in and with a phone call was able to change the minds of Erdogan and Gül.

We do not know what was exactly said in the conversation but we have an idea.

When Obama presented Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the new Secretary General on the 4th of April 2009 he said: “I will especially thank Turkey for raising attention to matters regarding the safety of their country and for their trust in the new Secretary General and his determination to address these issues.”

The following is an extract of a summary from the meeting between Turkey and the US Vice Secretary of State on February 18 2010, almost a year after Fogh was elected Secretary General of NATO:

“Tacan Ildem (Turkish ambassador in the US) added that, as part of the 2009 POTUS-brokered deal that had overcome Turkish objections to the appointment of Anders Fogh Rasmussen as NATO Secretary General, Denmark had promised to clarify its legal requirements prerequisite to acceding to Turkey’s request for the closure of Roj TV, a PKK mouthpiece. This still needed to be done, Ildem said.”

Freedom of speech

Is Roj TV really “a PKK mouthpiece”? Does it encourage terrorism and violence?

No, not according to the Danish Television and Radio Board that subsequent to investigations lead by lawyer Christian Scherfig (chosen by Fogh’s government) in 2005, 2007 and 2008 has rejected any encouragement to violence in the Roj TV broadcasting. The board has quite on the contrary concluded every time that the broadcasting considers all parts in the Turkish-Kurdish conflict and allows them to express their views and opinions without encouraging hatred.

Scherfig said that the news broadcast on Roj TV reminds of those broadcast on Danish news channels. He is therefore surprised that the Danish public prosecutor is taking the matter to court.
And only a few days ago the board once again dismissed the accusations about Roj TV broadcasting programs, which encourages terrorism.

In my opinion these 4 investigations are enough to dismiss the last part of the indictment by the Public Prosecutor.

The indictment reads that Roj TV several times “from 2006 to 2010 has broadcast programs and interviews with PKK sympathizers and PKK leaders and aired reports from clashes. The station has become a mouthpiece for PKK with encouragements to join the PKK and participate in terror actions carried out by PKK.”

Well, are the Danish news channels facing lawsuits, too, seeing as they have broadcast several interviews with members of the PKK?

Or is it just the Kurdish news channels?

I find that it is natural for a Kurdish channel to interview members of a Kurdish rebel group fighting against the oppression of the Kurdish people.

I am Kurdish, the PKK is Kurdish and Roj TV is the link between us that provides me with knowledge about them and I do want to know about every aspect of the Kurdish culture, history and people even if they are considered terrorists by some.

A couple of days ago I stumbled upon this article from 2010:

“Human rights defender Tahmaz, Birgün newspaper editorial manager Çeşmecioğlu and Yılmaz, owner of the daily, stand accused of “publishing statements of PKK/KONGRAGEL” according to article 6/2 of the Anti-Terror Act (TMY). Reason for the prosecution is the interview entitled “Unilateral Ceasefire Amplifies the Problem” published in the Turkish left-wing daily on 9 August 2008.”

You can read the rest of the article here.

In my opinion it is not an anti-terror act when you force human beings to be quiet. No, that is terrorism. These human right defenders did not join the PKK, they merely interviewed the leader of KCK, the umbrella organization to which PKK belong.

Everyone should have a voice, an opportunity to express his or her views and be heard, even if some considers them “evil”.

It is through communication and dialogues that one solves problems, not by isolating and with force silencing the opponent.

It begins Monday and will never end:

The discussion about when you are a terrorist or a freedom fighter.

[This article is cross-posted from KurdishRights.org.]