AYF CALLS ON COMMUNITY TO PROTEST TURKEY'S MURDEROUS POLICIES

[Yervant1]

AYF CALLS ON COMMUNITY TO PROTEST TURKEY'S MURDEROUS POLICIES

15 hours ago 17/12/15

A protest will take place on Saturday at the Turkish Consulate General
of Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES-On Saturday December 19, Kurds, Armenians, and
all defenders of human rights will come together to protest
the assassination of Tahir Elci, and support the struggle for
self-determination and peace that he represented.

The protest, organized by the Rojava Solidarity Committee of Los
Angeles and the Armenian Youth Federation, will also demand justice
for assassinations on Armenian community members such as Hrant Dink
and Sevag Balikci, as well as other victims of Turkish State violence
on minorities who struggle for freedom.

Elci was the president of the Diyarbakir Bar Association and one
of the most prominent Kurdish lawyers and human rights defenders in
Turkey. He was shot dead with a single bullet to the back of his head
on November 28th, 2015. Tahir Elci died as he finished delivering a
speech calling for an end to the ongoing state violence against the
Kurdish towns. The bullet that killed him came from the direction of
Turkish police who had started a gun battle with unknown men.

Elci was under threat from the AKP's government (the AKP is the ruling
party in Turkey) because on October 14th he went on television and
declared that "the PKK is not a terrorist organization." For this
he was arrested and charged with spreading 'terrorist' propaganda, a
crime that is punishable with a seven-and-a-half year prison sentence.

Tahir Elci was released pending his trial but was placed under judicial
supervision. During this time he was subject to many death threats
for his statement.

Elci is not alone in his fate - every day now Kurds are being murdered
by the AKP across the country's southeast. Cities are being placed
under siege by the military, power and electricity cut off, snipers
shooting randomly from minarets, helicopters dropping bombs on houses,
tanks blockading all the roads - a situation of total war against the
Kurdish people. These assaults come from the same ideology and state
structure that years ago on the same land carried out the Armenian
and Assyrian Genocides, and from the same guns that more recently
murdered the Armenian journalist and human rights defender Hrant Dink.

Elci was part of a strong movement to end that murderous racist and
nationalist state ideology, and to silence those guns. He relentlessly
represented victims and their families against the Turkish state in
cases of political murders, extrajudicial killings, and burning down of
villages. On December 28, 2011, Turkish warplanes bombed and killed 34
Kurds in Roboski, of whom 17 were children. Elci was one of the lawyers
representing the Roboski victims' families. Most recently, after years
of fighting, he won the case of the 38 people who were massacred in
Å~^ırnak in 1994. Thanks to him, many cases of forced disappearances,
bombings, and torture that had been delayed or ended with impunity were
reopened. Elci did not just work for the rights of Kurdish people -
he fought for the freedom of all oppressed peoples, recently working
for justice with the family of Sevag Balıkcı, an Armenian soldier
in Turkey's military who was murdered in a hate crime on April 24,
2011, the day Armenians demand justice for the Armenian Genocide.

We are coming together to honor his memory and to support the movement
that carries on his work, struggling for freedom for all ethnicities,
genders, sexualities, and religions in Turkey and the Middle East.

Below are a list of demands:

"We demand a fair and independent investigation of the death of
Tahir Elci.

We demand a fair and independent investigation of the death of Hrant
Dink, Sevag Balikci, and all other minority hate crimes in Turkey.

We call on the Turkish government to stop carrying out these massacres
of minorities - lift the sieges on Kurdish cities, stop the bombing
of guerilla camps, and stop supporting terror groups in Syria.

We call on the US government to stop its support of the Turkish
government - ban all arms sales to the AKP government, lift the ban
on the PKK, and suspend Turkey from NATO."

http://asbarez.com/143257/ayf-calls-on-community-to-protest-turkeys-murderous-policies/

 

[onjig]

This is their, the Kurds, payment for their part in the murder of Western Armenian.

[Yervant1]

AYF PROTESTS TURKEY'S MURDEROUS POLICIES

2 hours ago 21/12/15

AYF and community members in front of the Turkish Consulate

LOS ANGELES--Dozens of local activists and community members gathered
at the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles on Saturday December 19th to
protest the assassination of human rights activist and lawyer Tahir
Elci. Elci was the president of the Diyarbakir Bar Association, and
one of the most prominent Kurdish lawyers and human rights defenders
in Turkey. He was shot dead with a single bullet to the back of his
head on November 28th, 2015. Elci died as he finished delivering a
speech calling for an end to the ongoing military sieges of Kurdish
cities in southeastern Turkey.

Protesters demanded accountability from the Turkish government, namely
the ruling Justice and Development (AKP) party, lead by President
Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Members of various communities affected by the
Turkish government and the regime's atmosphere of racism, intimidation,
and fear came together in solidarity to honor Elci and other victims
of Turkish suppression. Kurdish, Armenian, and other Southwest Asian
and Northern African community members were in attendance, along with
various human rights organizations and community coalitions.

The protest, organized by the Rojava Solidarity Committee of Los
Angeles and the Armenian Youth Federation, called for: a fair and
independent investigation of the death of Tahir Elci, a fair and
independent investigation of the death of Hrant Dink, Sevag Balikci,
and all other minority hate crimes in Turkey, stopping government
sanctioned massacres of minorities including lifting the sieges on
Kurdish cities, stopping the bombing of guerilla camps, and stopping
support of terror groups in Syria. They also demanded that the United
States government stop its support of the Turkish government - banning
all arms sales to the AKP government, lifting the ban on the Kurdistan
Workers' Party (PKK), and suspending Turkey from the North American
Trade Organization (NATO).

Chalk-outlines of Tahir Elci and Hrant Dink's bodies outside the
Turkish Consulate's front steps symbolizing the transformation of
the protest into a crime scene. On top of Dink's chalk outline, a
newspaper was placed, since his body was left in a similar fashion
after being assassinated by a Turkish ultranationalist in 2007.

Organizers engaged in other forms of street theater, including covering
their mouths with duct tape to symbolize the silencing effect violence
has on communities, and created a memorial by posting pictures of
victims on the Turkish Consulate.

The Rojava Solidarity Committee of Los Angeles released a statement
following the protest, reading: "The tragic murders of Tahir Elci and
Hrant Dink have brought the Armenian and Kurdish communities together
in LA, along with other progressive defenders of human rights. This
unity is exactly what we need for for winning our fight - both the
fight for the freedom of oppressed peoples facing violence from the
Turkish state, and against the US government that has been militarily
and diplomatically supporting the Turkish state".

The Armenian Youth Federation also released a statement, stating that
"the assassinations of Tahir Elci, Hrant Dink largely represent what
is happening to Kurds, Armenians and other communities in Turkey right
now" They are a direct extension of the genocidal policies against
Armenians, Kurds, Greeks, Assyrians and others that gave birth to the
Republic of Turkey. We know that our demands for justice are stronger
when we come together in common cause. This is only the beginning
of our important work in fighting together for the betterment of our
communities in Turkey and our occupied homelands."

http://asbarez.com/143388/ayf-protests-turkeys-murderous-policies/

[Yervant1]

 

Asbarez.com

 

Murderer of Armenian Soldier in Turkey Sentenced to 17 Years

January 14, 2020

http://asbarez.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/word-image-9-1.jpeg

Ani and Garabet Balıkçı hold a photograph of their son Sevag (Photo: by Elsa Landard)

“I attach importance to this. At last, we have seen that a hate crime against Armenians in the country resulted in a court sentencing the defendant,” Garo Paylan, an Armenian member of the Turkish Parliament representing the People’s Democratic Party (HDP) told Bianet.

However, he said, Turkey needs a “climate” where such hate crimes would not happen and it has not achieved this yet. “We must make political openings and create a climate where no one is targeted by hate crimes.”

Paylan also mentioned the killing of Hrant Dink, the trial for which has been continuing for 13 years. He expressed hope the decision on Balikci’s s killing sets a precedent for other hate crimes cases.

http://asbarez.com/190455/murderer-of-armenian-soldier-in-turkey-sentenced-to-17-years/?fbclid=IwAR2e5QkbqjRbTXY5LdhVJP_i1rLYHw_cwv0x0mTqlZpyXPTeYd8tLIAUxYc