Forty peasants from Ortasu (Roboski) in the Uludere region,  between the ages of 15 to 20 who were returning to their village from where they had been working were brutally killed by F-16 war-craft bombings. According to the statement of the wounded peasants who survived the bombings,  “When we came back the jets started bombing us. A bitter smell was in the air during the bombing. Suddenly people started to burn and were killed. 5-6 people hid between the rocks to escape the bombing. The airplanes have also bombed there. They all died there at the rocks”. As a result of the bombings large number of burned and mutilated corpses of many people were taken to the county.

The policy of destruction and denial against the Kurdish nation since the founding of the Turkish Republic State is continuing with massacres and mass arrests. Racism is being instigated in all layers of society by imposing the mentality of any Kurdish in movement is ‘guilty’. Within the last month, lawyers and journalists have been arrested, detention periods have been prolonged, their homes and offices have been raided, extrajudicial executions, mass killings have taken place. These are a continuation of the atrocities of the nineties in a different form.

Turkey that has a history filled with massacres has added a new one to its history. The Turkish state killing, massacring forty very young people at Şirnak Uludere, will opt to deny this massacre in all its forms, they have already started making various statements.

As ATİK we strongly condemn this open massacre and the atrocities which took place in Roboski and extend our condolences to the families of those killed.   We will not allow this massacre to be covered up, by widely exposing this crime against humanity and its atrocities by the Turkish state, we declare that we will carry our reaction against this massacre out on to the streets in all areas.

We Strongly Condemn the Uludere, Roboski Massacre!

Long Live The Self Determination Right of the Kurdish Nation!

Around 50 civilians, some of them believed to be borders smugglers, were targeted by F-16 warplanes on Wednesday night at around 21.20 local time. Among the dead are young boys.

According to the information received, wounded survivor Servet Encü came to the village and informed villagers after the assault. Encü said the followings; “We were bombed on our way back to the village. A bitter smell spread during the bombardment, people all at once died burning. Around five people escaped from the bombing and hid themselves amidst rocks but the warplanes dropped bombs on them as well.

While no news is received from many villagers, two wounded civilians were taken to Şırnak State Hospital with ambulances arriving at the scene after the assault.

Soon after being informed about the event, BDP Şırnak Provincial Chair Baki Sondak and BDP administrators went to the scene.

Şırnak City Council Deputy Chair Erşet Ediş said the followings from the scene; “The bodies were burnt to a crisp. Vehicles cannot go into the area due to severe snow. People are trying to reach the area by their own means.”

Remarking that soldiers acted as if nothing had happened and didn’t interfere in the event, BDP Şırnak Provincial Chair Baki Sondak said the followings; “Villagers were bombarded after passing the border with the supplies they bought from the border. It is possible that napalm bombs were used in the assault. There are still some bodies between rocks. We can’t reach the bodies and casualties.”

The names of the 19 confirmed dead are as follows; Özcan Uysal, Nevzat Encü, Salih Encü, Ferhat Encü, Şervan Encü, Osman Kaplan, M. Ali Tosun, Nadir Almak, Yüksel Ürek, Salih Ürek, , Adem And, Hamza Encü, Cemal Encü, Sivan Encü, Bedran Encü, Hüseyin Encü, Selam Encü, Aslan Encü, Celal Encü.

On the other hand, Turkish media are reluctantly beginning to give the news of the massacre in Uludere only hours after it happened. (D.F. ANF)

ATÖF being at the beginning of many firsts in Europe, was the first democratic mass organisation established by students from Turkey. ATÖF continued to grow as a democratic federation expanding its focus from students issues to workers issues, a federation which was able to organise them and thus expanding it’s body over the German borders to other countries and transformed it into the mass organisation ATIF.

When ATIF was founded, it operated as the single and most strongest mass organisation with thousands of members and supporters in Germany and upto 1986 practically operated with its activities as a confederation. ATIF, who has supporters outside of Germany in countries such as France, Switserland, Australia, Austria, Holland and UK, has gained considerable experiences as a federation by achieving significant successes that cannot be underestimated.  Hence, as a need of this expanding body, ATIK was founded on 19th December 1986 in Germany in Franfurt with the participation of delegates from many different countries in Europe at it’s first Congress and was announced to the public.

ATIK, has essentially formed itself as a democratic mass organisation, resulting from the acccumulation of experience gained, on three main programs; firstly; to struggle for the ecomomic, democratic demands and  rights of workers from Turkey in Europe. Secondly; to advance on an anti-imperialist path and thirdly; to move in the international arena with the spirit of solidarity. ATIK has never deviated from this and has sustained and carried its legacy, spirit and excitement to contemprary times.

ATIK, maintaining a reputable line in the anti-imperialist struggle, has been able to ongoingly inform the masses on the roots of repression and suppression regardless where it originates from. ATIK has continously kept its international spirit; where ever in the world, it has defended, propagated the rights of suppressed peoples and the toiling masses with great solidarity. With pamflets and mass activities, it has brought many massacres, workers struggles, students movements and national liberation struggles of oppressed peoples to the attention of the European public opionion. By supporting the social liberation struggle in Turkey, the struggle for rights of student and oppressed peoples and opposing the assimilatory state oppression on the Kurdish nation, the repression and masscres towards the Alevites, ATIK has been carried to present times as a respected and trusted mass organisation.

With the new program adapted during the last congress ATIK has also expanded it’s field of activities. The new program which is based on the acceptance of the reality that the migrants from Turkey will be staying permanently in Europe, has brought about important changes in the activity areas. ATIK has been courageous in every step taken and has not shyed away from truth and reality. With 25 years of struggle experience and learning, there are no barriers for ATIK to achieve even greater successes. Congratulations to the community that possessed the skills and talents to carry forward the experiences and learning of 25 years.

We congratulate all our friends who have contributed to ATIK being carried into these 25 years.

UNITY-STRUGGLE-VICTORY

LONG LIVE ATIK,  NEW WOMEN, NEW DEMOCRATIC YOUTH

Resist commodification, modern-day slavery and other imperialist attacks on migrants and the people!

Statement of the International Migrants Alliance on the International Migrants Day 2011

The International Migrants Day 2011 is commemorated amidst intensified attacks on the livelihood and rights of migrants under the worsening global economic and financial crisis brought about and intensified by imperialist globalization and war. At the same time, the day is remembered amidst an upsurge of people’s movements against imperialism and the advancement of the militant migrants’ movement worldwide.

For migrants, immigrants, refugees and other displaced peoples, the global crisis has resulted to even more severe, exploitative and oppressive condition as both the countries of destination and countries of origin try to squeeze the maximum of profits and benefits from the commodification and modern-day slavery of migrants.

Such imperialist framework on migration is best exhibited in the Global Forum on Migration and Development that remains now as the multilateral venue for the more powerful countries to shape migration and migration policies according to their own interests. They use mantras of development and cooperation, and pay lip service on migrant’s rights to muddle the waters and hide the exploitative agenda of imperialism and the ruling class of countries of destination and countries of origin.

While already discredited among the grassroots migrants and advocates, the GFMD is still being used to counter the exposition of the grassroots migrants on the inhumanity, injustice and indignity brought about by commodification and modern-day slavery.

In countries of destination, especially the capitalist countries, migrant workers are relegated to the gutters of the society in terms of their economic, political, social and cultural rights. To resolve the raging crisis and the resultant impacts of the bailout packages given to the monopolists, countries of destination further exploit the cheap and docile migrant labor with the erosion of wage, denial of benefits and repression of the civil and political rights of migrants to organize and resist.

The vulnerable groups among migrants such as the domestic workers, industrial workers, agricultural workers, low-ranking service workers, marriage migrants, youth and children, and the undocumented migrants experience some of the worst forms of exploitation and oppression as they suffer the brunt of wage cuts, job insecurity, physical and sexual abuse, and criminalization. While using migrants as sources of cheap labour, countries of destination whip up or fan xenophobia and discrimination to divide the ranks of the working people, weaken the resolve of migrants to fight with threats of backlash, and most of all, cover up the culpability of the government and the ruling class to the people’s miseries with their faithful adherence to neo-liberal globalization and imperialist wars of aggression and intervention.

Founded in June 2008, the International Migrants Alliance is an international alliance of 112 grassroots migrant organizations and institutions working for migrant workers.

Countries of origin, meanwhile, rely more heavily on labour export programs to prop up their economies that are pushed further to the brink of collapse by imperialist control and, at the same time, contain the social ferment brought by grinding poverty, massive dislocation of people, and military actions against those who dare resist.

These countries scramble to compete with each other in the constricting overseas labour market by making their export labour force even cheaper and more skilled. They whip up monstrous fees to instantly generate income from migrants and would-be migrants. They further downsize the already miniscule service and protection mechanisms available for migrants and families as part of national austerity measures.

As we commemorate the International Migrants Day made possible by the struggles of migrants around the world, the International Migrants Alliance calls for all migrants of the world to step up resistance against the imperialist agenda of commodification and modern-day slavery of migrants.

Migrants must continue to forge and develop and unities with each other to build an even stronger national, regional and international movement of grassroots migrants and advocates. Migrants must also always bear in mind the interconnections of migrant’s issues with our respective people’s issues and thus, migrant’s struggles must always and ever be linked with people’s concerns. We must unite with the workers and people of the host country, and not let imperialism and the ruling class drive a wedge among
all the exploited and oppressed.

We are workers. We are not commodities. We are not slaves.

On this International Migrants Day, migrants around the world will make our mark against imperialism and for genuine freedom, democracy, justice, peace, and development

Reference: Eni Lestari, chairperson

This convention, defined the migrant rights and the minimum international status and regulation in compliance with the framework of universal declaration of human rights. Since it was signed there was a justified criticism towards the convention which stressed that ‘it does not adequately reflect the personal and humanitarian rights of migrants and instead it is designed to uphold the interests of states’. Nevertheless, not signing the agreement and preventing the entry into force as an international standard is a scandal in itself as being industrialised countries with hundreds of thousands of migration each year.

Today, according to the 2011 figures of the UN 213.6 million migrants live outside the country they were born in and the social issues brought by migration is growing vastly. And the 2/3’s of migrants consist of women and children. The undocumented, asylum seekers, refugees, citizens and those immigrants born in the country they migrated are not included in these figures.

Given an objective point of migration; it is the search of a relatively honourable life of those people whose lives have been restricted by capitalism and its derivatives. Migration is shaped and directed in accordance with the periodic interest of the states and by the capital of the barons in the host and sending countries. Migration, is at the same time is a shift in favour of bosses from ‘high waged toil‘ to the disadvantage of workers to ‘low waged toil‘. Migration is a sociological and social issue with international and intercultural dimension as being a mobilised toil and mass human movement.

Migration is sometimes an adventure, sometimes a drama, or sometimes it is a social tragedy. Each year, thousands of asylum seekers in the process of migration lose their lives in this adventure on the high seas, borders, or to be deported or murdered in the cells.

Although migration is categorised as ‘voluntary’ or ‘forced’, we cannot talk about volunteering in the case where human living conditions and spaces have been narrowed. In today’s world, the main elements which restrict the living conditions and space of people are the monopolist capitalism and semi-colonialism. Who would voluntarily leave the country they were born, grew up and were living happily if there weren’t injustices, iniquities, and inequalities due to wars, plunder, oppression and exploitation in the sending countries? Thus, when struggling with the issues of migration, the struggle should be against the conditions which form the basis of migration not ‘against migrants’ as the rulers do. Only when the injustice inequality and impossibility conditions which form the basis of migration disappear, the damage which is caused by mass migration to the people can be disposed. Migration a humanitarian imperative and not is not voluntary when people have to migrate in order to seek more prosperous, more just and a relatively more free living conditions. However, forcing people to migrate via direct or indirect methods and making trillions through this process is inhumane.

Once again, on the International Migrants Day, we declare that we will continue our struggle against those who deny, undermine and usurp the rights and freedom of migrants. Let’s join the struggle to create a more liveable world with the struggle to win, protect and advance the migrant rights. Let’s not give up on unification and merging the national/social liberation struggles of workers and toilers, regardless of their national, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Because, the liberation struggles of oppressed nations and exploited world people’s are not separate from the equality and political participation struggle of migrants. Women’s emancipation struggle and migrants struggle for equality and political participation have the same common interests. Youths struggle for freedom and migrants struggle for relatively more dignified lives has much to learn from each other. Let’s shout the slogan ‘migrants rights are also human rights’ together in advancing the struggle to create a sharing, cooperative, egalitarian and emancipatory world.

During this period where neo-fascist, chauvinist and racist bourgeois policies under state auspice is growing via ‘deep and dirty relations’ and the aggression towards migrants openly turn into massacres, we must speak of international unity of workers and toilers more and claim the principle of people’s brotherhood. Let’s defend ultimate peace and justified wars against the unjust wars.

Down with imperialism, fascism, chauvinism and all kinds of reaction!

Long live international solidarity!

ATIK-Migrantrights – DOC

ATIK-Migrantrights – PDF

ATIK | 02 – 11 – 2011 | Around the world millions of Kurds are watching the Kurdish satellite TV channel ROJ TV. ROJ TV is not only the biggest Kurdish TV station but also the one with the highest viewing rates among all TV channels in Turkey.

Despite this and maybe rather because of this the Turkish Government keeps putting pressure on the Danish government for closing down ROJ TV under the pretext of ‘struggling against terrorism’.

However it’s clear that the Turkish Government’s efforts are associated with the oppression of the Kurdish language which de facto is still forbidden as ROJ TV is broadcasting its news and cultural programmes in this particular language.

At the same time, the pressure on Denmark as licenser demonstrates Turkey’s dismissive attitude towards the freedom of press as it tries to close down a critical media coverage.

ROJ TV is our free voice and ROJ TV is enlightens our view on the world and on what is going on in Kurdistan.

On October 2008 in the early morning hours Suzan Zengin’s house was raided by special police forces and she was arrested and later on imprisoned. For more than half and a year Suzan was held at the Bakirkoy women’s’ prison in Istanbul without any reason. During her imprisonment she suffered from chronic illness and was not allowed to receive any treatment or the needed medicine. Just like many other democratic-progressive political prisoner Suzan was eye to eye with death behind the dark prison walls every day.

Comrade Suzan, was with her revolutionary-socialist identity always shoulder on shoulder with the workers and the toiling masses and took side with them during mobilizations and resistances. With her photo camera and her pens she was a inseparable part of  the workers and the toiling masses districts she wrote about their anger, their aspirations and hopes; she was the voice of those who organized the many occupations and strikes for a better live and free future.

She also was a great internationalist who participated in many international events and she translated a series of books and documents into Turkish in order to inform the people in Turkey about the national and social liberation struggles all over the World.

With her 52 years she many times faced oppressed, inequality but also struggled against it she was arrested and tortured many times but she never bowed down to the suppressive system. She believed in the struggle for a free future and she knew that this can only happened if there is a organized struggle.

Comrade Suzan will always live in our hearts as we are continuing the struggle!

On Friday October 14th 2011 at 12:00 o’clock her funeral will be held in Tuzla behind the leather trade union Office.

PARTIZAN

The funeral ceremony took place at the Cemevi (Place oft he Alevits to pray and gather) in Tuzla Aydinli. Many press institutions and individuals joined the ceremony. Also a representative of ATIK, CHD (Contemporary Laywer’s Association), Ozgur Gelecek (the paper she worked for), DDSB (Revolutionary Democrat Trade Union), BDSP, Partizan, IHD (the human rights association), Yeni Demokrat Kadin (New Democrat Woman Organisation), DHF, TGDP, ESP and many other representatives of political parties and democratic mass organisations. Her woman comrades carried her coffin, they were marching next to the masses who were chanting slogans and who carried posters and banners. Banners writing „The Martyr’s oft he Revolution are Immortal- Suzan Zengin is Alive!“ was signed by the Magazine Partizan and another banner said, „Isolation-tretman policies continue to kill“. In front oft he banners there were wreathes from ATIK, Partizan and Ozgur Gelecek.

During the march slogans like “Human Honur will defeat Torture!”, “ The Socialist Press cannot be Silenced!”, “Long Live Revlolutionary Solidarity!”, “Not o Isolation-Isolation Kills!” were chanted besides this, posters of communist leader Ibrahim Kaypakkaya were seen too.

A representative of Partizan said: „comrade Suzan was always shoulder on shoulder with her press identity her photo camera and her pen on the side with the striking and resisting workers and toiling masses. She wrote about their hopes and aspirations, she became the voice of those that struggle and demand a better tomorrow. Of course this situation was also „noticed“ by the state. On August 28th 2009 in the early morning hours the police special team forces raided her house and took her under arrest in front oft her sons eyes. During her imprisonment she was not allowed to get a regular check up from a doctor. After she was released she started to get heart pains, which she didn’t before entering prison. Suzan we will never forget you and will not let you be forgotten, we pledge.” Also it was said that the “real murder of Suzan was the state because he did provide the need health care for her.“

Also the husband of Suzan Bekir Zengin said that Suzan was arrested as a result of conspiracy and he said, „when my wife was imprisoned she had some health problems but not that big as it became during her imprisonment and the state did not allow her to get the needed treatment. Her health conditions got worse. When she came out from prison it was already to late. My wife was besides being a journalist a great human rights activist. What ever there was in live she became concerned with it, she had morality and ideals, we lost her to early“

Musician Pınar Sağ also said that „revolutionaries are the travellers of the very superior tradition oft he idiom ‚don’t’ breath a word about it’ the struggle and resistance given by Suzan will be carried by the next generation under the name of a better tomorrow of a free future“.

After the ceremony she was brought tot he cemetery of Aydinli.

According to the information of news agencies about 4 thousand soldiers participate in this broad counter-guerrilla offensive that uses the most advanced technological equipment’s.

Since last week in the foregoing provinces and areas encounters of guerrilla forces of the PKK and the TKP/ML between the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) occurred. In these encounters more than two soldiers died and three were injured. Regional special educated police and Gendarmeries commandos are part oft he operation too.

During the last weeks the HPG together with the TIKKO guerrillas initiated a couple of actions against the regional police stations and the state army headquarters in where police got injured.

In many districts in Dersim people are protesting and rallying against the state oppression and the measures, which are used by the Turkish state against the people in the region.

Until this hour there is no clear information on the specific results oft he operations.

-Dersim is a region in Turkey-Kurdistan in Turkey it is called South-East Anatolia and Dersim is named in the map as Tunceli.