written by Blade Runner 

Various parts of the article have been published before in Freedom News.

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The battle for Tishrin Dam in Syria

For almost two months, Tishrin Dam, a vital infrastructure for water and electricity in northeastern Syria, has been subjected to continuous drone and warplane attacks. The likelihood of a catastrophic failure grows each day, and if the dam collapses, it could release approximately 2 billion cubic meters of floodwater, causing widespread destruction to villages, farmland, and lives downstream. Beyond the immediate humanitarian crisis, this would significantly threaten Rojava’s revolutionary project.

On January 8, thousands gathered to create a human shield in defence of the dam. Ongoing drone strikes have already resulted in 25 deaths and numerous injuries, including journalists. Despite the relentless attacks, vigils persist as convoys of supporters have been arriving from various parts of northern Syria. The damaged yet still-standing dam has become a powerful symbol of Rojava’s resistance, inspiring solidarity actions worldwide.

Tishrin Dam is not only a crucial source of water and electricity but also a strategic gateway between contested territories. To the east, it links areas controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who are resisting attacks by the Turkish-backed former ISIS group, the Syrian National Army (SNA)—a militia infamous for looting, robbery, and kidnappings. Supported by Turkish artillery, drones, and fighter jets, the SNA’s offensive on the dam is part of a larger strategy: the assault on Kobani, a key centre of Rojava’s resistance against the Islamic State (ISIS). This renewed aggression seeks to dismantle the autonomous Kurdish-led region.

In recent developments, the Turkish-backed offensive has escalated—a pumping station has been damaged, leaving over 200,000 people without drinking water. This follows weeks of shelling of villages in the countryside area south of Kobani, as the aggressors continue to spread terror in an effort to break the resistance.

Brief history of Rojava’s radical self-governance experiment

The Arab Spring of 2011 was part of a larger global wave of uprisings, beginning with the Zapatista movement in the 1990s, and sparked mass protests across the Arab world. In Syria, governed since 1963 by the Ba’ath party, a political movement blending secular Arab nationalism and Arab socialism that evolved into a family loyalist dictatorship, the initial uprising quickly escalated into a full-scale revolution and civil war. In the northeast, the Kurdish population seized the opportunity to launch their own autonomy project in the Rojava region.

The Kurds are a stateless nation, numbering around 30-45 million people today, and have lived since the Neolithic era scattered across regions currently controlled by Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. With a long history of struggles for independence and social justice, the Kurdish movement in Rojava (the Syrian part of Kurdistan) formed an alliance with Arabs, Assyrians, and Turkmen, creating the Democratic Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria (DAANES).

This marked the onset of the Rojava social revolution, a movement aligned with the revolutionary ideology of Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned founder and ideological leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the Kurdish political organisation that has been fighting for Kurdish autonomy within Turkey. Öcalan, during his imprisonment in Turkey shifted away from Marxist-Leninist nationalism to a form of libertarian socialism known as democratic confederalism.

Rojava’s project is grounded in decentralisation, gender equality, and direct democracy. These principles have led many to idealise Rojava as an anarchist or anti-capitalist utopia. However, it remains a complex endeavour: while it rejects the centralised state model, it retains certain government structures, such as prisons, and continues to engage in trade and monetary exchange. In Rojava, there are some of the most fertile lands in Syria as well as significant oil fields, the exploitation of which has been one of the main sources of revenue.

The military forces defending Rojava include the Kurdish liberation militias of the People’s Protection Units (Yekîneyên Parastina Gel, YPG) and Women’s Protection Units (Yekîneyên Parastina Jin, YPJ). These were the primary forces that halted the advance of the Islamic State (ISIS or ISIL) early in the Syrian civil war, safeguarding an autonomous Rojava and allowing the revolutionary experience of democratic confederalism to develop.

YPG and YPJ led the formation of the SDF, a coalition of military and political organisations of which they are the largest. The SDF have increasingly relied on military and political support from the US, entering into realpolitik compromises that have limited the spread and development of the Rojava revolution and its potential for global revolutionary solidarity.

The Kurdish movement remains in tension between the historically entrenched authoritarian Marxist currents that constitute the old guard of the PKK and the anti-authoritarian current developed by Öcalan, as well as the women’s organisations, local communes, and much of the younger generation. Nonetheless, SDF-controlled areas remain by far the safest for women, ethnic minorities like the Yazidi, and atheists and religious minorities.

In Syrian Kurdistan the people were prepared and knew what they wanted. They believed that the revolution must start from the bottom of society and not from the top. It must be a social, cultural and educational as well as political revolution. It must be against the state, power and authority. It must be people in the communities who have the final decision-making responsibilities. These are the four principles of the Movement of the Democracy Society.¹

Radical leftists and anarchists who have travelled to Rojava—whether to fight alongside the local forces or to volunteer in communities—view it as a significant experiment in self-organisation. People from diverse backgrounds, including Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, Muslims, Christians, and Yazidis, have worked together in solidarity. The region is structured through a federation of towns and cantons, where local communes, councils, and committees manage governance at all levels.

Rojava’s revolution has significantly transformed society. Women hold leadership positions in governance, the military, and civil institutions. Ethnic and religious minorities enjoy greater protections and representation than in surrounding states. While challenges and contradictions persist, Rojava’s model stands as an alternative to the authoritarianism, sectarianism, and capitalism prevalent in the region.

How the Middle East crisis entered its new phase and the re-ignition of the Syrian war

On October 7, 2023, Hamas launched a surprise offensive against Israel. Despite millions invested in surveillance technology, settlement expansion, and the construction of a massive separation wall, the Israeli state was caught off guard. In response, Israel has waged over a year of genocidal warfare against the people of Gaza while escalating a US-backed proxy war against Iranian-aligned forces, to secure regional dominance.

Both Israel and Iran have framed their aggression in nationalist and religious terms, justifying military operations as necessary for national security and ideological preservation. Israeli leadership has openly declared its intention to reshape the Middle East by neutralising regional adversaries while advancing a doctrine of Jewish supremacy. Meanwhile, Iran presents the conflict as a “holy war against the forces of evil,” using it to consolidate regional influence with support from China and Russia.

In December 2024, the Syrian civil war, which had been in a period of relative stasis, reignited when a coalition of jihadist rebel groups led by Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a rebranded offshoot of Al-Qaeda in Syria, launched a surprise offensive in northwest Syria. The insurgents advanced rapidly, facing zero resistance and seizing major cities such as Aleppo and Hama within two weeks before capturing Damascus. Initially, the fall of the Assad regime sparked cautious optimism among Syria’s diverse communities, but this quickly turned to fear as HTS imposed fundamentalist rule.

In response to this renewed jihadist offensive, the DAANES declared a state of “total mobilisation.” The SDF have faced coordinated attacks on power stations and vital infrastructure, prompting calls for unity among Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs, Assyrians, Armenians, and Circassians to defend their communities against both ISIS-aligned groups and Turkish military incursions.

In the meantime, Israel’s own military operations diverted Iran and Hezbollah’s focus, and together with Russia’s preoccupation with its war in Ukraine, created a power vacuum in Syria, which Turkish-backed forces have exploited. The timing of Turkey’s military offensive appeared strategic, aligning with the return of Donald Trump to the US presidency and shifting geopolitical priorities. With Iran and Russia facing their own challenges and uncertainty surrounding US policy under the new administration, Turkey positioned itself as a key beneficiary of the region’s shifting power balance.

The diplomatic chessboard and Neo-Ottoman idealism

In this context, Israel’s ongoing destruction of Gaza and its expanded operations in Syria further demonstrate the alignment of regional power plays. Israel, backed by the US and UK, has used the crisis to bomb Syrian military infrastructure, ensuring that the new Syrian regime does not re-emerge as a regional threat. Netanyahu’s declaration that “The Golan Heights will remain forever under Israeli sovereignty” reflected Israel’s broader strategy—securing military and intelligence advantages while cutting off Hezbollah’s critical supply routes between Lebanon and Syria.

The future of Syria has been contested. HTS is putting forward a centralised authoritarian regime similar to Assad’s Ba’athist rule. In contrast, the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC), the political wing of the SDF, advocates for a federal democratic model based on decentralised governance and democratic confederalism. The SDC’s vision includes local autonomy for Kurds, Armenians, Assyrians, Druze, and other communities, fostering cooperation rather than sectarian rule. 

The US administration faces a complex diplomatic challenge. It must continue supporting the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in their fight against ISIS while simultaneously appeasing NATO ally Turkey, which has the second-largest military force in the alliance. Israel and France are pressing for the former scenario, while Erdogan wants the US troops to leave so that he can freely strike Rojava. A 2,000-strong US force remains stationed in Kobani, maintaining a red line that deters Turkey from launching a full-scale invasion. The SDF also retains its own leverage—holding tens of thousands of ISIS fighters and their families in the Al-Hol refugee camp and serving as the only force capable of containing ISIS’s resurgence. 

Erdogan was threatening an imminent invasion while waiting for the Trump inauguration. A full-scale invasion did not happen, and the SDF forces have been successful in repelling the SNA attacks on the ground. However, the Kurds’ grave concern is based on the previous experience of Turkey’s invasion in Afrin in 2019, and the Erdogan regime’s Neo-Ottoman ambitions, with officials asserting that cities like Aleppo are “Turkish” and signalling broader territorial aspirations. While the US has threatened sanctions in response to potential Turkish aggression, past patterns suggest that Erdogan could proceed regardless, especially in the scenario of US troops’ withdrawal, escalating to one of the most brutal conflicts in the region since the height of ISIS’s rule.

Initially, Israel, Russia, and Saudi Arabia all had a strong interest in preventing the spread of HTS or the installation of a Turkish-backed government in Damascus. However, the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad and the rise of HTS leader Ahmed al-Sharaa as de facto and self-proclaimed president have altered regional dynamics. Saudi Arabia, which previously balanced clandestine support for various factions, is now engaging directly with Syria’s new leadership, signalling a shift toward stabilisation rather than proxy support. 

Meanwhile, Turkey remains deeply involved in shaping Syria’s future, continuing its backing of the SNA and working diplomatically with al-Sharaa’s government. The role of Israel remains ambiguous, but the likelihood of increased support for the Kurdish-dominated SDF from both Saudi Arabia and Israel remains, especially as the SDF seeks a decentralised and secular post-Assad Syria. Russia, however, faces challenges in navigating this new order, as open support for the SDF would provoke Iran and complicate its relations with Turkey.

With Assad’s removal two months ago, Syria’s conflict entered a new phase and a clear resolution appears to be distant. The country is divided along the lines of the SNA (Turkish-backed mercenaries and Sunni fundamentalists) and the SDF (multiethnic democratic forces with U.S. and possible Saudi and Israeli backing). Given that the U.S. and Turkey remain NATO allies, an open proxy war remains unlikely. Instead, Syria could face a long-term partition between these two factions, with the new regime attempting to navigate a fragile balance between Turkish, Saudi, and Western interests. 

The pressure on the Kurdish-led forces to abandon their revolutionary aspirations will only grow in this environment, reinforcing the lesson that global movements have to unavoidably contend with the tension between capitalist state democracy and radical change.

Negotiations between Damascus and SDF continues but it’s clear that any agreement is out of reach. With Trump in the White House and his calls for US forces to withdraw, Rojava’s autonomy is very uncertain. Other minorities in Syria are slowly being bent under the authority of the new centralised rule, as international states support and assist the new government to establish its power. Any revolutionary dreams of democratisation and federalisation of Syria fade away, as the new administration gets integrated into the ranks of capitalist nation-states.

The imperialist influence that Russia and Iran had over the Assad regime is being exchanged for the imperialist influence of Turkish Neo-Ottoman dreams, with support from Turkey’s NATO partners, which are western countries. The Islamic fundamentalist politics of the self-proclaimed president of Syria are now kept hidden, waiting to consolidate the power grip before starting any moves that could scare their newly acquired western partners. The promises of protection for ethnic minorities and women’s rights probably will only last until economic sanctions are lifted, but after that, nothing will remain between the new centralised state and any resistance against their authoritarian measures.

The revolution of Rojava is funnelled into a very difficult position, forced to accept the integration of SDF into a new Syrian state under the rule of an islamist force, or the annihilation under the bombs of the Turkish army. But after more than a decade of revolutionary developments in Syria, and more than four decades of efforts and struggle of the Kurdish Liberation Movement, a historic announcement by Abdullah Öcalan is expected on the 26th anniversary of his imprisonment. In the background, there have been diplomatic efforts to resolve the decades long Turkey-PKK conflict. A proposal for Öcalan’s release and a $14 billion development plan for Kurdish regions have been widely promoted in Turkey, in exchange for PKK disarmament. However, trust issues persist, especially with ongoing Turkish military strikes against PKK positions in Iraq and as Turkey views the U.S.-allied SDF as a PKK extension. 

The Kurds have historically faced oppression from all states within whose borders they have lived. Unlike other minorities such as Armenian and Assyrian Christians, which the Assad regime allowed to preserve their languages, Kurds were forced to run schools in Arabic. PKK has been designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US, the EU, and NATO allies. This includes the UK, which raided the Kurdish Community Centre in North London on November the 27th, the 46th anniversary of the PKK’s founding.

Turkey’s expansionism targeting the Kurds and other minorities echoes the atrocities of Ottoman-era ethnic cleansing. The Armenian genocide was carried out by the Ottoman Empire primarily between 1915 and 1916, and resulted in the systematic extermination of up to 1.5 million Armenians. The mass killings were carried out through death marches into the Syrian desert, resulting in widespread starvation, disease, executions, and the destruction of Armenian cultural and religious heritage. This played a key role in the ethnic and demographic changes that facilitated the emergence of modern Turkey in 1923.

In the autumn of 2023, following Azerbaijan’s military offensive supported by the Turkish government, nearly 120,000 Armenians were forcibly displaced from Nagorno-Karabakh, exacerbating the region’s long-standing ethnic conflicts. Entire communities were displaced and Armenian cultural heritage sites were destroyed, while the international community turned a blind eye. Netanyahu’s government in Israel was no doubt paying attention, and Erdogan must also be tempted to “cleanse” Rojava of Kurds if he believes the entire world will empower him to do so.

Brief update on the situation in the Palestinian territories

The situation in Gaza and the West Bank remains highly volatile, marked by significant political developments and ongoing military actions. 

In early February 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump proposed a controversial plan to “take over” the Gaza Strip, suggesting the relocation of its Palestinian inhabitants to neighbouring countries like Egypt and Jordan. He described Gaza as a “demolition site” and envisioned transforming it into a luxurious destination, akin to the “Riviera of the Middle East.” 

This proposal has been rejected by the Palestine leaders and was met with widespread condemnation from international organisations and various governments, with Amnesty International labelling the plan “appalling and unlawful”. In the West Bank, Israeli military operations have intensified, resulting in casualties among Palestinians. 

The humanitarian situation in Gaza remains dire, as international organisations continue to call for immediate ceasefires and the provision of essential aid to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people.

A war waged on the bodies of the weak and the marginalised

The proxy wars devastating the Middle East are driven by patriarchal and nationalist power struggles that prioritise capital and domination over freedom, diversity, and communal life. These conflicts have systematically erased historical memory, destroyed communities, and deepened cycles of division and hopelessness.

Nations and cultures predating modern state borders—such as the Armenians, Palestinians, and Kurds—have been repeatedly targeted for elimination when asserting their right to autonomy. Women, children, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and ethnic and religious minorities are treated as expendable, facing extreme violence and exploitation. The global system, dominated by hegemonic states, presents the marginalised with two options: assimilation or destruction.

In just one year, the devastation in Palestine has been staggering: since Hamas massacred 1,200 Israelis, Israel’s military onslaught has retaliated thirty-fold, with over 41,000 Palestinians killed, including 13,000 children and 115 infants born after October 7. More than 10,000 Gazans remain missing, buried under rubble. The entire population of Gaza—2.3 million people in an area smaller than 360 square kilometres—has been displaced, forced into extreme deprivation, and denied access to basic healthcare, food, and services.

83,000 tonnes of explosives have been dropped on Gaza, four times the explosive power used to obliterate Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Around 80% of homes in Gaza have been destroyed. It has systematically obliterated all universities, more than 70% of schools, 34 out of 36 hospitals, and countless other essential facilities: 165 health units, 137 ambulances, 611 mosques, all three churches, and 178 shelters in Gaza.

In Lebanon, over 2,000 people have died, and one million have been displaced. Another 600 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank. Israel has lost an additional 350 soldiers in Gaza, and 200,000 Israelis have been forced to abandon their homes near Gaza and along the northern borders with Lebanon. Hezbollah rocket fire has killed around 50 Israeli soldiers and civilians.

In Syria, According to the Jineolojî Academy thousands of women and children have been raped since the civil war began, with at least 353,900 people killed since 2018. Another 56,900 are missing or presumed dead. Women and children make up 40% of the victims. Many Syrian women fleeing to Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan have been forced into prostitution or sold into marriage under economic desperation. Non-binary and gender-nonconforming individuals face systematic violence due to rigid gender norms and the absence of legal protections.

Call for international solidarity

The developments in Syria highlight the broader consequences of US-led proxy wars, such as Israel’s campaigns in Gaza and Lebanon, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. The current Middle East crisis unfolds within a global power shift, where key actors compete for influence amid economic strain, climate collapse, and growing instability. Warfare, which has been a persistent feature of the 21st century, has accelerated into a higher gear.

As financial crises and social unrest intensified in the last decades, ruling elites capitalised on rapid technological advancements and the lingering fear cultivated by the “War on Terror” to expand military budgets, surveillance, and repression. These resources were not deployed to ensure peace but to fuel ongoing conflicts, reinforcing a global restructuring process driven by militarisation and state violence.

In the meantime, the “Rojava Experiment” has reinvigorated the Kurdish movement across Kurdistan and in the exile communities of Europe, as well as inspired anti-authoritarian and anti-capitalist movements across the world.

The fighting people of Northeastern Syria are calling on allies worldwide to rise in solidarity. Their revolutionary project stands for autonomy, direct-democracy, feminism, and social ecology, challenging authoritarian regimes across the region. As drone strikes intensify and an invasion looms, grassroots action and international solidarity may prove to be crucial to deter another state-led ethnic cleansing in this tormented region.

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READ ALSO

1. Zaher Baher, The experiment of West Kurdistan (Syrian Kurdistan) has proved that people can make changes (August 26, 2014, libcom.org) ︎

The post Rojava in the shadows of war and ethnic cleansing appeared first on Void Network.

As my friends and I climb the old staircase to a bar in Istanbul’s vibrant Taksim district, I’m surprised to hear the establishment’s name. I thought Şahika had shut down but it seems my friends had just stopped going. ‘Queer managers took over,’ they explain, ‘so we have all migrated back!’

Passing familiar faces in colourful outfits, laughing and kissing, we enter a room overflowing with life. Akış Ka, a drag artist, performs to a cheering crowd. People from the LGBTQI+ community come here to be with each other as they are, true to themselves, despite the hate that the government spreads.

In February 2021, president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told the nation: ‘LGBT – there is no such thing.’ There are continuous attempts to exclude the LGBTQI+ community, as well as the feminist movement, from the public sphere. But in underground spaces such as Şahika, it’s clear that Erdoğan is wrong.

Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) has been ruling Turkey for almost two decades now. Since a sweeping electoral win in 2002, the AKP has slowly and meticulously made the transformation from being a conservative rightwing party to becoming an authoritarian far-right regime. When Erdoğan was re-elected as president in 2014, winning 51 per cent of the vote, the most populist chapter of his leadership began. It has been marked by attacks on minority groups and increased suppression of the political opposition in academia, media and civil society.

Istanbul’s annual Pride March has been running since 2003 and has been steadily growing in popularity. In 2013, almost 100,000 people attended and by 2014 it was the biggest LGBTQI+ event in Turkey’s history. But in 2015 Pride was officially banned by The Istanbul Governor’s Office, citing security concerns. Although it still takes place, the event is brutally attacked by police every year. In 2021, officers fired tear gas into the crowd and around 20 people were arrested.

Making minority groups ‘enemies’ is a useful tactic for Erdoğan as he deepens his grip on power. It’s a strategy that has proved effective in the past. ‘AKP has been systematically violent towards Kurds, Alevis, working-class people and women. The LGBTQI+ community is the easiest to attack. In a way it is mathematical: individuals from all social, ethnic or class backgrounds can be united by homophobia and transphobia,’ Akış Ka says.

Crucial solidarity

In the face of increased oppression, solidarity has grown, often fostered in spaces like Şahika. This solidarity is crucial for the LGBTQI+ community in Turkey where discrimination often begins within the family and expands into all areas of the society.

This solidarity appears in different forms: listening to each other’s troubles, being there for support when someone has suffered from violence, or sharing creative work to help queer groups and individuals to reach a bigger audience.

‘The solidarity in the LGBTQI+ community made me the person who I am today,’ says Akış Ka, whose stage name comes from the word ‘Akışkan’, meaning ‘fluid’ in Turkish.

Akış Ka points to the core of solidarity and its importance on an emotional level: ‘It is, first of all, being together. And crying together. It means the world. Crying with someone, for the same thing.’

Stronger ties have been made with other social justice movements. Co-operation between the queer movement, political parties, and human rights organizations increased in 2013 when anti-government protests swept the country. These coalitions have made it easier for the LGBTQI+ community to voice their concerns and demand recognition and acceptance. ‘Suddenly we were labelled a “threat” because we had so much support and we were very visible. Erdoğan’s conservative supporters were scared their children would also come out as gay!’ Akış Ka comments.

‘Absurd and scary’

In 2021, a six-month-long student protest movement calling for the democratic election of a university rector turned into a fight for LGBTQI+ rights, with many detained and arrested for offences including ‘displaying rainbow flags’.

Students at Boğaziçi University opposed the appointment, by Erdoğan himself, of rector Melih Bulu. One of the AKP’s parliamentary candidates in 2015, Bulu had remained a close ally of the party and the President.

‘Those who joined the protests are not students,’ said Erdoğan in January 2021. ‘This is something involving terrorists.’

Hazar is an activist and artist from Istanbul and a former student of Boğaziçi University. She was one of the founders of BOUN Art Collective (Boğaziçi University Art Collective) which, as part of the protest, organized a campus-wide exhibition displaying over 400 works submitted by artists across the world.

One piece entitled ‘Yılanı Güldürseler’ (To make the serpent laugh) showed a picture of Kaaba, the most sacred site in Islam, with various LGBTQI+ solidarity flags in each corner. Hazar says that conservative students posted a photo of it on Twitter, saying ‘it is insulting Islam’.

Erdoğan divisively commented: ‘We will lead our young people to the future not as the LGBT youth but as the youth that existed in our nation’s glorious past.’ Following him, interior minister Süleyman Soylu tweeted that ‘the government would not tolerate the LGBT perverts who attempted to occupy the rector’s office’.

Hundreds of students were detained, including Hazar and six others from the Collective. They were charged with ‘provoking the public to hatred and hostility.’ Hazar, who now lives in Berlin, was put on trial – a process she describes as ‘absurd and scary’.

‘The judge asked me if I’m serving for LGBT. As if being LGBTQI+ means that you belong to some kind of illegal organization that you could serve for!’ explains Hazar. She was sentenced to house arrest for a month.

The finger of blame

‘Attempts to present the LGBTQI+ movement as a terrorist organization have a lot to do with the state’s increasingly militarist, transphobic and homophobic ideology,’ says lawyer and activist Eren Keskin, who is the founder of the Legal Aid Office Against Sexual Harassment and Rape in Detention.

This terrifying trend is led by the President but echoed by many others, including anti-LGBTQI+ ministers and corrupt media platforms that continue to spread hate.

LGBTQI+ people have even been made scapegoats for the Covid-19 pandemic. In April 2020, Ali Erbaş, the head of Turkey’s Religious Affairs Directorate, delivered a sermon in which he said that homosexuality caused disease. ‘Let’s come and fight together to protect people from this kind of evil,’ he said. President Erdoğan backed him up, stating that Erbaş was ‘totally right’ in what he said.

Erbaş was also massively influential in relation to Turkey’s withdrawal from the Istanbul Convention on Combating Violence Against Women in March 2021. As the most comprehensive agreement to tackle gender-based and domestic violence, it bothered some conservatives because it recognized the abuse of a husband, boyfriend, father or a brother.

According to Keskin, ‘Erdoğan’s government and its supporters are terrified by the feminist and LGBTQI+ movement because both are bravely fighting against so-called “traditional Turkish family values”.’

At least 280 women were murdered in 2021 according to the ‘We Will Stop Femicide Platform’ – the majority killed in their homes. In 2020, Turkey was ranked by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association as the second worst place in Europe for LGBTQI+ rights out of 49 countries. Turkey was also ranked as having Europe’s highest trans murder rate in 2016.

Space for expression

‘Most of my clients who have experienced human rights violations are trans people. Even when they are wandering the streets, police come to them and charge them with “polluting public areas” or “abusing public spaces”,’ says Keskin.

In prison trans people face a double punishment; if they haven’t had gender-affirming surgery they are held in solitary confinement. Although it is legal to apply to undergo gender reassignment whilst in prison the Turkish state will usually refuse, illegally claiming that ‘gender-reassignment surgery is a type of plastic surgery’.

In 2018 Buse Aydin, a trans woman inmate, applied and went through all the necessary processes to get surgery. She ended up on a 38-day long hunger strike for the approval of a human right that’s covered in the 8th and 14th articles of the European Convention on Human Rights. Even after that, the Ministry of Health refused to cover the costs of the necessary surgeries. ‘After all Buse was forced to go through, she cut her penis in solitary confinement in 2019. With the incredible work of women’s and LGBTQI+ organizations, she finally had her gender-affirming surgery and the state covered the costs. She is happy now, recovering,’ says Keskin, Buse’s lawyer.

Despite all the oppression that Turkey’s LGBTQI+ community has been facing, its existence is more visible than ever. Asserting themselves in various state and non-state spaces, queer people continue to resist, especially through creative works and a growing arts and culture scene in big cities.

‘We’re expressing ourselves through art, music, performance… We’re telling our own empowering stories out loud, writing our own history. If we don’t, then there will be no memory or evidence of a LGBTQI+ community in Turkey,’ says Akış Ka.

‘Our stories inspire and empower others. The state doesn’t support us, but what can they really do? As long as the world keeps running, we’ll be here. If we lose our hope for equality, justice and freedom, there is nothing to hold on to.’

Turkey’s LGBTQI+ community is more resilient than vulnerable. And, the fight will go on.

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Tuğçe Özbiçer is a journalist from Istanbul. She worked for several Turkish left-wing newspapers before moving to London in 2020, Due to the increased oppression of the media in Turkey. She covers mostly LGBTQI+ issues, women, arts and culture, and human rights stories.

This article is from the May-June 2022 issue of New Internationalist.

The post LGBTQI+ people in Turkey – As long as the world keeps running we will be here appeared first on Void Network.

Merve teaches religion to elementary school children in Turkey. She used to be a radical believer of Islam.

“Until recently, I would not even shake hands with men,” she tells me in an Istanbul cafe. “But now I do not know whether there is a God or not, and I really do not care.”

In the 16 years that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party has been in power, the number of religious high schools across Turkey has increased more than tenfold.

He has repeatedly talked of bringing up a pious generation.

But over the past few weeks, politicians and religious clerics here have been discussing whether pious young people have started to move away from religion.

One day, Merve’s life changed when, after waking up very depressed, she cried for hours and decided to pray.

As she prayed, she realised to her shock that she doubted God’s existence. “I thought I would either go crazy or kill myself,” she says. “The next day I realised I had lost my faith.”

She is not alone. One professor has been quoted as saying that more than a dozen female students wearing headscarves have come up to him to declare they are atheists in the past year or so.

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Bekir, theology student

Until recently I was a sympathiser of radical groups such as the Islamic State or Al Qaeda. Today, I am an atheist. I initially wanted to find some logic in Islam, but I could not. Then I started questioning God too. I used to support the Islamist government here. But oppression breeds revolution. They wanted to oppress us and we started to react.
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But it is not just atheism that students are embracing.

At a workshop in Konya, one of Turkey’s most conservative cities, there have been claims that students at religious high schools are moving towards deism because of what they referred to as “the inconsistencies within Islam”, according to reports in opposition newspapers.

Deism has its roots back in Greek culture. Its followers believe that God exists, but they reject all religions.

Education Minister Ismet Yilmaz says this workshop had no scientific basis and he has denied all reports that Turkey’s so-called pious generation is changing course.

While there are no statistics or polls to indicate how widespread this is, anecdotal evidence is enough to worry Turkey’s leaders.
____________________

Leyla, college student

One day, as I was going down the road to the market, I took my headscarf off and never put it back again. My father does not know I am a deist. If he knew, I fear he might prevent my little sister from having a graduate degree. ‘Your sister went to university, and this is what happened to her,’ he might say. I didn’t ask God to create me, so God cannot ask anything from me in return. I have a right to live as free as a bird.

_____________________

Turkey’s top religious cleric, the head of Religious Affairs Directorate Ali Erbas, has also denied the spread of deism and atheism among the country’s conservative youth. “No member of our nation would ever adhere to a such a deviant and void concept,” he said.

Theology professor Hidayet Aybar is also adamant that there is no such shift towards deism.

“Deism rejects Islamic values. It rejects Koran and it rejects the prophet. It rejects heaven and hell, the angels, and reincarnation. These are all pillars of Islam. Deism only accepts the existence of God,” he says.

According to deist philosophy, God created the universe and all its creatures but does not intervene in what has been created, and does not lay out rules or principles.

“I can assure you that there is no such tendency towards deism amongst our conservative youth,” he argues.

Turkey under Erdogan
How evolution disappeared from Turkey’s curriculum
When Turkish high schools challenged Erdogan

___________________

Omer, sacked public worker, unemployed

I used to be a public worker. After the attempted coup in 2016, I was sacked. I used to be a religious, conservative young man who strongly supported the governing party and its policies. When I got sacked, I started questioning God. I became estranged. I do not categorise myself as a deist yet. I hope to rebuild my relationship with Islam, but I do not know whether that is possible any more.

__________________

Turkey’s only atheism association believes Prof Aybar is wrong about the current trend and claims that even atheist imams exist.

“Here, there are television shows that debate what to do to atheists,” says its spokesman Saner Atik. “Some say they should be killed, that they should be sliced to pieces.”

“It takes a lot of courage to say you are an atheist under these circumstances. There are women in niqabs who secretly confess they are atheists, but they cannot take them off because they are scared of their family or their environment.”

I meet Merve for a second time at home. She greets me without her headscarf. She has decided to let her hair down when she is at home. Even if there are men around.

“The first time I met a man without my headscarf, I felt really awkward,” she tells me. “But now it comes all very naturally. This is who I am now.”

All the names of the atheists and deists interviewed for this piece have been changed.

source: BBC News

The post The young Turks rejecting Islam-by Selin Girit BBC News, Istanbul appeared first on Void Network.

Το Libby Sacer Foundation παρουσιάζει
Κοίτα Δίπλα: φεστιβάλ σινεμά & πολιτισμού από την Τουρκία Παρ. 29, Σαββ. 30/9 & Κυρ. 1/10
στο Θέατρο Εμπρός, Ρ. Παλαμήδη 2, Ψυρρή

Ένα τριήμερο αφιερωμένο στη Τουρκία, γεμάτο ταινίες, μουσικές, συζητήσεις, περφόρμανς και πολλά ακόμη. Το φεστιβάλ είναι κατά κύριο λόγο κινηματογραφικό, αφού θα προβληθούν πάνω από 15 μικρού ή μεγάλου μήκους ταινίες, μυθοπλασίας και ντοκιμαντέρ, όλες με αγγλικούς και ελληνικούς υπότιτλους. Επιπλέον κάθε μέρα έχει και πρωινό πρόγραμμα: από μαθήματα Τουρκικών, ως έναν περίπατο στα οθωμανικά κτήρια της Αθήνας, και έναν Τούρκο μάγειρα που ανοίγει την κουζίνα του για να μοιραστεί συνταγές και ιστορίες, όποια πρωινή δράση κι αν διαλέξει κανείς θα «κοιτάξει δίπλα» με έναν άλλο τρόπο.

.Οι προβολές ξεκινούν μετά τις 5:30μμ, ενώ παρεμβάλλονται συζητήσεις με σκηνοθέτες που θα είναι μαζί μας, και μέλη κινηματογραφικών ομάδων που σχηματίστηκαν στην Τουρκία μετά τα γεγονότα του Γκεζί. Περιλαμβάνονται ακόμα δύο μικρές διαλέξεις-περφόρμανς, ενώ το Σαββατοκύριακο οι βραδιές κλείνουν με ζωντανή μουσική: το Σάββατο ο Τζιχάν Τούρκογλου με το σάζι του και την Κυριακή το ντουέτο Beraber.
.

                                      Και όλα αυτά, όπως πάντα, με δωρεάν είσοδο.

Το Libby Sacer Foundation στράφηκε στην Τουρκία όταν στο αρχείο της Σάκερ βρέθηκαν επιστολές που μαρτυρούν ότι είχε πραγματοποιήσει τουλάχιστον τρία ταξίδια εκεί στις αρχές της δεκαετίας του ’70.

“Η επίσκεψή μου σ’ αυτή την […] γη με κράτησε πολύ απασχολημένη. Τελικά έμεινα πολύ περισσότερο απ’ όσο είχα υποθέσει αρχικά. […] Ο τόπος που γεννήθηκε η προγιαγιά μου είναι πολύ πιο μαγικός απ’ όσο φανταζόμουν.  Ωστόσο, όπως με είχες προειδοποιήσει, είναι δύσκολο να είσαι γυναίκα εδώ. 

Στις επιστολές μιλάει με θαυμασμό για τη χώρα, τον πολιτισμό και τις πολλές διαφορετικές κουλτούρες (Κούρδοι, Εβραίοι, Έλληνες, Αρμένιοι, Αχπάζιοι, Αλβανοί , Άραβες, Ασσύριοι, Βόσνιοι, Κιρκάσιοι, Γεωργιανοί, Χεμσίν, Λαζούς, Τατάροι, Πομάκοι, Ρομά) που συναντά. Η μίξη Δύσης και Ανατολής αναδύει έναν κοσμοπολιτισμό που την γοητεύει. Στην Κωνσταντινούπολη περνά χρόνο με τον φίλο της James Baldwin, ο οποίος της γνωρίζει τον Yaşar Kemal. Οι δυο τους έρχονται γρήγορα κοντά κι ο συγγραφέας τη βοηθά να δει όσα κρύβονται κάτω από το «μαγικό χαλί» της Ανατολής. Οι μεγάλες αντιφάσεις, ο ρόλος του στρατού, η θέση των γυναικών, η καταπίεση των μειονοτήτων, οι διώξεις και τα βασανιστήρια, η φτώχεια αλλά και οι ελπίδες του τόπου αρχίζουν να εμφανίζονται στα γράμματα της μετά τη γνωριμία με τον Γιασάρ. Η σχέση της μαζί του δεν φαίνεται να κρατάει πολύ, όμως παραμένουν φίλοι ως το τέλος της ζωής τους.

“Ε το ξεπέρασα όταν συνειδητοποίησα ότι οι διαφυλετικές σχέσεις δεν είναι αποδεκτές σ’ αυτό το μέρος του κόσμου[..] Δεν έχει μείνει πικρία ανάμεσα σ’ εμένα και τον Γιασάρ. Θα μείνει πάντα στη μνήμη μου ως κάποιος που έχω αγαπήσει.”

Με αφορμή αυτό το υλικό-παρακαταθήκη, το Libby Sacer Foundation* αποπειράται ένα πορτραίτο της Τουρκίας σήμερα. Κινηματογραφιστές, καλλιτέχνες, μουσικοί και ακτιβιστές συμπληρώνουν μια εικόνα της Τουρκίας, και ταυτόχρονα συνδέονται, επικοινωνούν, μοιράζονται μαζί μας όσα θα μένουν πάντα έξω από τα δελτία ειδήσεων…

—————————————————————————————————————————–

The Libby Sacer Foundation presents
SIDE LOOK
a festival of cinema & culture from Turkey
September 29, 30 & Otober 1
Empros Theater, Riga Pallamidi 2, Athens, Greece

Three days focusing on Turkey, full of films, music, discussions, performances and more. The festival is mainly cinematic, with over 15 short or feature films, fiction and documentaries, all screened with English and Greek subtitles.

Each day also has a separate morning program: From Turkish language lessons, to a walk in the Ottoman buildings of Athens, or a Turkish cook who opens his kitchen to share recipes and stories, no matter what you choose, you get a different “side look” to Turkey.

Screenings begin after 5:30pm, along with discussions with directors who will be with us, and members of cinema collectives formed after Gezi’s events. The festival also includes two small performances, and weekend evenings end with live music: on Saturday, Cihan Turkoglu with his saz and on Sunday the Ottoman music duet “Beraber”.

                                               All this, as always, with free entrance.

The Libby Sacer Foundation turned to Turkey when several letters found in Sacer’s papers, revealed she had made at least three trips there in the early 1970s.

“My visit to this […] land has kept me so busy. I ended up staying a lot longer than I had originally assumed. […] My great grandmother’s birth place is much more magical than I had imagined. However, as you had warned me, it’s difficult to be a woman here.“

In these letters she speaks with admiration for the country, the civilization and the many different cultures (Kurds, Jews, Greeks, Armenians, Achaemenians, Albanians, Arabs, Assyrians, Bosnians, Kirkasians, Georgians, Hessians, Lazarus, Tartars, Pomaks) that she encounters. The cosmopolitan mix of West and East fascinates her. In Istanbul, she spends time with her friend James Baldwin, who introduces her to Yaşar Kemal. The two quickly become close and the writer helps her see what’s hidden under the “magic carpet” of the East. The country’s great contradictions, the role of the army, women’s position, the repression of minorities, persecutions and torture, poverty and people’s hopes begin to appear in Libby’s letters after meeting Yasar. Her relationship with him does not seem to last long, but they remain friends until the end of their life…

“Ah well I got over that as I realize interracial relationships are not accepted in this part of the world. […] There are no hard feelings left between me and Yasar. He will always stay in my memoirs as someone I have loved. “

On the opportunity of the discovery of this new part of Sacer’s archive, the Libby Sacer Foundation* is attempting a portrait of today’s Turkey. Cinematographers, artists, musicians and activists compose an image of Turkey, and at the same time they connect, communicate and share with us everything that will forever stay outside prime-time news…

*For more on the L.S.F., here. For Empros Theater http://embrostheater.blogspot.gr/

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

ΠΡΟΓΡΑΜΜΑ | PROGRAM

ΠΑΡΑΣΚΕΥΗ | FRIDAY 29/9 

12:00-1:30: Μαθήματα Τουρκικών για αρχάριους* | Turkish Language Classes for beginners*

5:30 Καλωσόρισμα | Welcome

6:00 Προβολές | Screenings:

Μία άφεγγη νύχτα | One moonless night
Pelin Kirca (2016), 3’

→ Η ταινία εμπνέεται από τα πουλιά που μιλάνε στο περίφημο μυστικιστικό ποίημα «Η Συνέλευση των Πουλιών» (Mantiq ut-Tayr), σουφικό έργο του Πέρση ποιητή Farid ud-Din Attar. Οι επτά κοιλάδες διασχίζουν διαδοχικά δωμάτια που ανοίγουν το ένα μέσα στο άλλο. Υπάρχουν τείχη, παράθυρα και μια παπαρούνα που αιωρείται…

ΕΝ One moonless night is inspired from the mystical poem of the birds speaking at the assembly in Mantiq ut-Tayr, the sufic work by Farid ud-Din Attar. The seven valleys cross through rooms opening onto one another; there are walls, windows and a poppy hanging in the air..http://www.pelinkirca.com/

Νόλια | Nolya
M. Cem Öztüfekçi (2011), 26’

→ Δύο άνδρες που συχνάζουν στο ίδιο μπαρ ερωτεύονται μια μυστηριώδη κοπέλα που βλέπουν από το παράθυρο. Και οι δύο θα την αγαπήσουν με διαφορετικούς τρόπους…
Έχοντας αποσπάσει πολλά βραβεία, το 2016 η ταινία ψηφίστηκε ως μια από τις δέκα καλύτερες τουρκικές μικρού μήκους της δεκαετίας.

ΕΝ Two men who attend the same bar fall in love with a mysterious young lady they see through the window. Both will love her in different ways…
Multi-awarded Nolya was selected as one of the best 10 Turkish short films of the last decade, by Antalya Cinema Association in 2015.

Ο Αηάν κι εγώ | Ayhan and me
Belit Sag (2016), 14’

→ Η ταινία αφορά τη λογοκρισία που η ίδια πέρασε και μέσω της οποίας διαμορφώθηκε. Η ιστορία της λογοκρισίας πλέκεται με εικόνες πολέμου στις κουρδικές περιοχές της Τουρκίας, και θέτει ερωτήματα σχετικά με την ορατότητα, την ιεραρχία των εικόνων και την ελευθερία του λόγου

ΕΝ >> Ayhan and Me is about the censorship that it went through, and through which it was shaped. The story of censorship is woven with images of war in Kurdish geography in Turkey, and asks questions about visibility and hierarchy of images, and freedom of speech.

[Συνέντευξη της σκηνoθέτη.]

Μαχφούζ | Mahfuz
Baris Hanciogullari (2014), 20’

→  Ο Mahfuz, ένας συνηθισμένος τριαντάρης, διαπιστώνει ότι υπάρχει ένα κενό στη μνήμη του…Η ταινία αφορά την έλλειψη συλλογικής μνήμης και το συλλογικό τραύμα λόγω των φοβερών γεγονότων του παρελθόντος. Η Τουρκία είναι ίσως η μόνη χώρα στον κόσμο που το επίσημο αλφάβητό της άλλαξε τελείως (το 1923 άφησαν το αραβικό, υιοθετώντας το λατινικό). Έτσι οι Τούρκοι δεν μπορούν να διαβάσουν ένα κείμενο που γράφτηκε πριν από 100 χρόνια πχ. Η τραυματική απώλεια μνήμης (lacunar amnesia) του Μαχφούζ συνδέεται συμβολικά με την μαζική αμνησία που εμφανίζει σήμερα η τουρκική κοινωνία.
ΕΝ>> Mahfuz, an ordinary man in his thirties, finds out that there is a blank spot in his memory…

The film is about the lack of collective memory and the collective trauma due to the awful events of the past. Turkey is maybe the only country in the world where the official alphabet was completely changed (in 1923 from arabic alphabet to latin alphabet). So the Turks can’t read a text that’s written 100 years ago for instance. A symbolic correspondence connects Mahfuz’s traumatic memory loss (lacunar amnesia) is symbolically connected to Turkish society’s mass memory loss.
SEE Trailer 

7:10 Συζήτηση με τους σκηνοθέτες | LIVE Q & A w/ directors Belit Sag & Baris Hanciogullari.
7:45 Διάλειμμα| Break

8:00 Προβολές | Screenings:
 
Κόκκινο μαντήλι | Red Handkerchief
Leyla Toprak (2015), 15’
 
→  Η σκηνοθέτης, πρώην χορεύτρια και χορογράφος, παρακολουθεί τις αφηγήσεις πέντε Κούρδων που καταδικάστηκαν με φυλάκιση 14-25 ετών όταν ήταν εικοσάχρονοι. Ελεύθεροι πλέον, μιλούν για το πώς επέζησαν την κακοποίηση και τα βασανιστήρια μέσω ενός ομαδικού παραδοσιακού κούρδικου χορού. Ο χορός τους έδινε θάρρος, κρατούσε το πνεύμα τους ακμαίο και τους οργάνωνε. Ήταν γι’ αυτούς, ένα εργαλείο επιβίωσης.

ΕΝ Former dancer-choreographer Toprak, in this film tells the story of five Kurds that were sentenced with 14-25 years imprisonment in their twenties. Today free, they talk about how they survived abuse and torture through the Kurdish collective folk dance,”Govend”. The dance gave them courage, kept their spirits up and made them organize. It was used as a tool for surviving.

Μπαγλάρ | Baglar
Melis Birder and Berke Bas (2016), 80’

→ Mια αουτσάιντερ ομάδα μπάσκετ, με την καθοδήγηση ενός ιδεαλιστή δασκάλου από το φτωχικό Ντιγιαρμπακίρ στη Νοτιοανατολική Τουρκία, όχι μόνο φέρνει νίκες αλλά πασχίζει να  ξεπεράσει τις προκαταλήψεις, τη φτώχεια και την πολιτική αναταραχή που έχουν προκαλέσει οι συγκρούσεις δεκαετιών μεταξύ τουρκικού κράτους και Κούρδων ανταρτών που αγωνίζονται για τοπική αυτονομία και πολιτιστικά δικαιώματα.

ΕΝ An underdog basketball team under the helm of an idealist school teacher from hard scrabble Diyarbakir in Southeastern Turkey goes beyond winning games in their mission to rise above prejudice, poverty and political turmoil created by the decades long conflict between the Turkish state and Kurdish rebels who are fighting for local autonomy and cultural rights.

9:30 Διάλειμμα| Break

9:45 Προβολή | Screening: Οι Νύφες του Μάλτεπε, Επεισόδιο 1 | The Brides of Maltepe, Episode 1
Εύα Γιαννακοπούλου & Περσεφόνη Μύρτσου (2016), 13’

→ Το φιλμ περιστρέφεται γύρω από τέσσερις οικογένειες στην Ελλάδα, την Τουρκία και τη Γερμανία. Η Εύα και η Περσεφόνη μοιράζονται τη ζωή τους ανάμεσα σ’ αυτές τις χώρες και επιχειρούν μια ενδοσκοπική διαδικασία. Εμπνευσμένες από ελληνικά και τουρκικά “reality shows” και σαπουνόπερες, οι δύο γυναίκες βρίσκονται σε μια συνεχή διαδικασία κινηματογράφησης της προσωπικής τους ζωής, εκθέτοντας με σαρκαστική διάθεση τη στάση τους απέναντι στον εθνικισμό, τη σεξουαλικότητα, τον φεμινισμό και τους συμβατικούς συμβολισμούς.

ΕΝ The Brides of Maltepe revolves around four families in Greece, Turkey and Germany. Eva and Persefoni share their lives between countries, and attempt an introspective process. Inspired by Greek and Turkish reality shows and soap operas, the two women are in a constant process of filming their personal lives, exposing with sarcastic moods their attitudes on nationalism, sexuality, feminism and conventional symbolisms.

10:00 Διάλεξη-Παράσταση «Αγαπητό παρελθόν σ’ ευχαριστώ για ό,τι μου έμαθες, αγαπητό μέλλον είμαι έτοιμη», Μαρία Σαρρή  | LIVE Lecture–performance “Dear past thanks for all thelessons, dear future I am ready” by Maria Sarri (30’)

→ Από το φιλόξενο και οικείο περιβάλλον της κουζίνας μου που προβάλλεται πίσω μου, παρουσιάζω την ιστορία της Cilem Dogan, μιας τουρκάλας γυναίκας που σκότωσε τον βίαιο σύζυγό της και έγινε σύμβολο των τούρκων φεμινιστριών  . Η ιστορία της Cilem συνδυάζεται με άλλες ιστορίες της ελληνικής, τουρκικής και αμερικανικής ποπ κουλτούρας που προβάλλονται από μια τηλεόραση στην προβαλλόμενη κουζίνα.

ΕΝ >> From the hospitable and intimate projected environment of my kitchen, I am presenting the story of Cilem Dogan, a turkish woman that killed her violent husband and become a symbol for Turkish feminists. The story of Cilem is combined with other stories of Greek, Turkish and American pop culture that are projected from a tv at the projected kitchen.

10:30 Διάλειμμα

10:45 Προβολή: 

Φθινόπωρο | Autumn,
Özcan Alper (2008), 99’

 →  Η ταινία ακολουθεί τον Γιουσούφ, έναν Αρμένη πολιτικό κρατούμενο που μετά από 10 χρόνια βγήκε από τη φυλακή, για λόγους υγείας. Επιστρέφει στο χωριό του στα βουνά της ανατολικής Μαύρης Θάλασσας, όπου τον καλωσορίζει η γριά και άρρωστη μητέρα του. Στο χωριό μένουν σχεδόν αποκλειστικά ηλικιωμένοι και  Γιουσούφ βλέπει μόνο έναν παιδικό του φίλο, τον Μίκαηλ. Καθώς το φθινόπωρο δίνει τη θέση του στο χειμώνα, ο Γιουσούφ γνωρίζει την Έκα, μια όμορφη νεαρή γεωργιανή πόρνη…

ΕΝ The film follows Yusuf, an Armenian political prisoner, who has been released from prison after 10 years, for health reasons. He returns to his village in the mountains of the eastern Black Sea, where he’s welcomed by his sick and elderly mother. Almost exclusively old people live in the village, and the only person Yusuf sees is his childhood friend Mikail. As autumn gives way to winter, Yusuf meets Eka, a beautiful young Georgian hooker…

SEE Trailer

ΣΑΒΒΑΤΟ | SATURDAY 30/9 

11:30-12:30: Ο Ντέργκο μαγειρεύει και λέει μια ιστορία* | Dergo cooks&shares a story*

→  Ξέρετε τι είναι τα Analikiz, τα içli köfteκαι τα Fellah Köftesi; Αν θέλετε να μάθετε όχι μόνο τι είναι, αλλά πώς φτιάχνονται και ποιός τα φτιάχνει, δηλώστε συμμετοχή για να είστε εσείς οι καλεσμένοι στην κουζίνα του Ντέργκο.

ΕΝ  What is Analikiz, içli köfte and Fellah Köftesi? If you want not only to know what they are but also how they are made and who is the one who makes them, book your seat for Dergo’s kitchen.

 1:00-2:30: Μαθήματα Τουρκικών για αρχάριους* | Turkish Language Classes for beginners*


6:00 Προβολές | Screenings:
 
Μουστάκι | Moustache
Umut Delimehmet (2013), 7’

 →  Ένα μουστάκι, όπως και το κάθε τι, μας θυμίζει ό,τι εμείς θα επιλέξουμε να μας θυμίσει…
Tην ταινία, που αγάπησαν θεατές απ’ άκρη σ’ άκρη της Τουρκίας, γύρισε ένας 15χρονος μαθητής γυμνασίου από την Τραπεζούντα. Η πόλη του έχει ίσως τα υψηλότερα ποσοστά ακραίων εθνικιστών στη χώρα. Ο Ουμούτ, 20 χρονώνσήμερα, είναι πια φοιτητής στο πανεπιστήμιο.

ΕΝ A mustache, like any other thing, reminds us what we choose to be reminded of…
The film, which has been loved from viewers all across Turkey, was directed by a 15-year high school student from Trebizond. His city probably has the highest percentages of extreme nationalists in the country. Umut, 20 years old today, is now a university student.

Προσοχή! | Attention!
Onur Bakir & Panagiotis Charamis (2016), 50’

→  Ο 32χρονος υποψήφιος διδάκτορας Ονούρ βρίσκεται σε δίλημμα: Να πληρώσει για να απαλλαγεί από τη στρατιωτική του θητεία ή να παρουσιαστεί για το υποχρεωτικό εξάμηνο; Για τον βοηθήσουν στην απόφασή του, στρέφει την κάμερα σε οικογένειά και φίλους που δίνουν ανάμικτές απαντήσεις για τις ηθικές και πολιτικές διαστάσεις αυτής της επιλογής. Αντιμετωπίζοντας ένα δύσκολο θέμα με ένα χιουμοριστικό τόνο, η ταινία δίνει μια εικόνα του κοινού αισθήματος για τις ένοπλες δυνάμεις της χώρας, που παραμένουν από τις μεγαλύτερες στον κόσμο. Βραβείο καλύτερου ντοκιμαντέρ στο 35ο Φεστιβάλ Ταινιών Κωνσταντινούπολης.

ΕΝ>>  The 32-year-old PhD candidate Onur finds himself in a dilemma: Should he pay to be exempted from military service or should he enlist for the compulsory six month period? To help him with the decision, he turns the camera on his family and friends who provide mixed responses on the ethical and political aspects of this choice. Tackling a controversial subject with a humorous tone, “Attention!” offers an insight into the Turkish psyche with regard to their own armed forces, which remain of the biggest in the world. Best Documentary Award at the 35th Istanbul Film Festival, 2016

SEE Trailer

Καλωσόρισες Λένιν | Welcome Lenin
Collective: Aylin Kuryel, BegümÖzden Fırat, Emre Yeksan, AhmetMurat Öğüt, Fırat Yücel (2016), 20’ 

→ Κωμική και ιδιόρρυθμη, η ταινία εξετάζει την αλλόκοτη περίπτωση ενός αγάλματος του Λένιν που εμφανίστηκε μυστηριωδώς στις βόρειες ακτές της Τουρκίας τον Ιούλιο του 1993, αφού ταξίδεψε για χρόνια στη Μαύρη Θάλασσα από κάποιον άγνωστο προορισμό μετά την κατάρρευση της Σοβιετικής Ένωσης.

ΕΝ Droll and quirky, the film looks at the curious case of a Lenin statue that mysteriously appeared on the Northern shores of Turkey in July 1993, having travelled for two years across the Black Sea from an unknown destination after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Trailer
7.30 Διάλειμμα| Break

7:45 Διάλεξη-Παράσταση «Κοίτα μέσα», Άκης Γαβριηλίδης
|LIVE Lecture–performance “Look within” by Akis Gavriilidis (30’)

→ Η Τουρκία δίπλα αλλά και μέσα μας, συχνά ξεπηδάει με απρόσμενο τρόπο εκεί που δεν το περιμένουμε: για παράδειγμα, στο τραγούδι, και ειδικότερα στο ρεμπέτικο, όπου βλέπουμε να επιζούν απομεινάρια από δομές σκέψης και ηθικούς κώδικες που παραμένουν ενεργοί παρότι κανείς δεν τους επικαλείται πλέον.

ΕΝ>>  Turkey, beside but also within us, often springs unexpectedly where we least it: for example, in songs, and especially in rebetiko, where we can see remnants of thought structures and moral codes that remain active even though nobody is aware on them.

8:15 Διάλειμμα| Break

8:30 Προβολή | Screening:

Διασκευές, ανασκευές & άφθονες κλοπές | Remake, remix, rip–off
Cem Kaya (2014), 95’

 → Στις δεκαετίες του 1960 και ’70, η Τουρκία είχε μία από τις μεγαλύτερες κινηματογραφικές παραγωγές στον κόσμο, παρότι η βιομηχανία της δεν διέθετε αρκετό συγγραφικό υλικό. Για να συμβαδίσουν με τη ζήτηση, σεναριογράφοι και σκηνοθέτες αντέγραφαν σενάρια και ανασκεύαζαν ταινίες απ’ όλο τον κόσμο. Όποια γνωστή δυτική ταινία κι αν σκεφτείτε, έχει την τουρκική της εκδοχή, είτε μιλάμε για τον Ταρζάν, το Δράκουλα, το Ράμπο, τον Σούπερμαν ή το Σταρ Τρεκ. Αυτές οι γρήγορες και φτηνές παραγωγές, προσαρμόζονταν στο γούστο των τοπικού κοινού με τεράστια επιτυχία στην ενδοχώρα της Ανατολίας. Ό,τι τους λείπει σε εξοπλισμό και προϋπολογισμό αντισταθμίζεται με υπερβολική χρήση ανθρώπινου δυναμικού, πίσω και μπρος από την κάμερα.

ΕΝ >> Turkey in the 1960s and 70s was one of the biggest producers of film in the world even though its film industry did not have enough written material to start with. In order to keep up with the demand, screenwriters and directors were copying scripts and remaking movies from all over the world. Name any Western hit film, there is a Turkish version to it, be it Tarzan, Dracula, Rambo, Superman or Star Trek. These quickly and low budget produced lookalike movies were adapted to the taste of local audiences with huge success in the Anatolian hinterland. What they lacked in equipment and budget they compensated through excessive use of manpower both behind and in front of the camera.

SEE Trailer  & site 

10.00 Διάλειμμα| Break

10: 15 Προβολή | Screening:

Έλα στη Φωνή μου | Come To My Voice,
Hüseyin Karabey (2014), 105’

→  Σε ένα χιονισμένο κουρδικό χωριό στα ορεινά της Τουρκίας, μια ηλικιωμένη γυναίκα και η μικρή της εγγονή ανησυχούν όταν ο μόνος άντρας στο σπίτι, ο Τέμο, γιος της μιας και πατέρας της άλλης, συλλαμβάνεται από τη χωροφυλακή. Ο Διοικητής έχει πληροφορηθεί ότι οι χωρικοί κρύβουν όπλα. Ανακοινώνεται ότι όλοι οι άνδρες του χωριού θα παραμείνουν συλληφθέντες ώσπου να παραδώσουν οι οικογένειές τους τα όπλα που κρύβουν. Το πρόβλημα όμως είναι ότι δεν υπάρχουν όπλα. Οι γυναίκες ξεκινούν ένα μακρύ ταξίδι αναζητώντας ένα όπλο, το οποίο θα μπορέσουν να ανταλλάξουν για τον αγαπημένο τους Τέμο. Η ταινία σάρωσε τα βραβεία: Best movie in Mar Del Plata Film Festival, Audience Awards Milano Film Festival, Istanbul Film Festival, Best Foreign Film award at Sofia Film Festival and more.

ΕΝ>>  In a snowy Kurdish mountain village, in Turkey, an old woman and her young granddaughter are troubled when the only man in the household, Temo, the son of one and the father of the other, is arrested by the local gendarme. The Commanding Officer has got the information that the villagers are hiding guns from them. It is announced that all the men in the village will be kept arrested until their family hand over the guns they are hiding. But the real trouble is there are no guns. The women embark on a long journey in search of a gun which they could exchange for their beloved Temo.
Best movie in Mar Del Plata Film Festival, Audience Awards Milano Film Festival, Istanbul Film Festival, Best Foreign Film award at Sofia Film Festival and more.

12:00 LIVE Μουσική | Music:
Βραδιά σάζι με τον Τζιχάν Τούρκογλου

Cihan Turkoglu in a saz concert
→  Η σχέση μου με ένα παραδοσιακό όργανο, το σάζι, άρχισε από τα δεκατέσσερά μου χρόνια. Έπειτα όμως στο πανεπιστήμιο θα ξύπναγε μέσα μου ένα μεράκι για την κλασσική μουσική και το τσέλο. Η ταλάντευση ανάμεσα στους δυο αυτούς πόλους θα συνεχίζονταν αργότερα με την τζαζ, σε δικές  μου συνθέσεις και ερμηνεία…

ΕΝ Cihan Turkoglu began studying the Turkish folk lute (saz) when he was 14 years old. Later at the Marmara University in Istanbul he focused on the cello and was classically trained. His work between these two worlds would lead him later to jazz and the creation of his own band. Site

ΚΥΡΙΑΚΗ| SUNDAY 1/ 10

10:00-1:00: Bιωματικό Εργαστήριο – Περίπατος στα οθωμανικά κτήρια της Αθήνας
«Ακολουθώντας τα ίχνη του Λόρδου Βύρωνα» Χαρίκλεια Χάρη, Αρχιτέκτων-πολεοδόμος |WALK: “Following Lord Byron’s steps; an experiential tour in Ottoman Athens.” By Hariklia Hari, architect-urbanist in collaboration with the Athens University History Museum (en.historymuseum.uoa.gr) and SOMA (soma.org.gr)

→  Ο Λόρδος Βύρων, ρομαντικός, φιλέλληνας και περιηγητής, συνδέεται με τη σύσταση ενός νέουφαντασιακού και μίας νέας ταυτότητας του ελληνικού έθνους. Σε όλους τους τόπους που πέρασε ή λέγεται πως πέρασε, υπάρχουν ίχνη της παρουσίας του. Θα ανασυστήσουμε την πρώτη του επίσκεψή στην Αθήνα το χειμώνα του 1810, και τη δεύτερη το 1811 επιστρέφοντας από την Κωνσταντινούπολη, μέσα από αφηγήσεις δικές του και άλλων. Ο περίπατος θα διεξαχθεί στα ίχνη της Οθωμανικής πόλης των Αθηνών του 1810 όταν την επισκέπτεται ο ποιητής, ξεκινώντας από το οικόπεδο στην οδό Αγ.Θέκλας 4, θέση της οικίας της “Κόρης των Αθηνών” και καταλήγοντας στο Παλιό Πανεπιστήμιο– οικία Βαλιντέ Χανούμ. [Μία συνεργασία του Μουσείου του Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών και του Μουσειακού πρότζεκτ SOMA (Scattered Open Museum of Attica)].

ΕΝ Lord Byron, a romantic, philhellene and traveler, is associated with the creation of a new imaginary and a new identity of the Greek nation. Wherever he passed or is said to have passed, there are traces of his presence. We will reconstruct his first visit to Athens in the winter of 1810, and the second one in 1811, returning from Constantinople, through his own and others’ narratives. The walk will take place in the traces of the Ottoman City of Athens in 1810 when the poet visits it, starting from the plot of land at Ag. Theklas Street, the location of the house of “Daughter of Athens” and ending at the Old University – home of Validate Chanuum. [A collaboration of the Museum of the University of Athens and SOMA (Scattered Open Museum of Attica)].

1:00 – 2:30: Μαθήματα Τουρκικών για αρχάριους* | Turkish Language Classes for beginners

6:00 Προβολές | Screenings:

Γρηγορότερα, Δυνατότερα, Σκληρότερα | Faster StrongerHarder
Melisa Uneri (2012), 8’

→  Με τα λόγια της σκηνοθέτη: «Γεννήθηκα και μεγάλωσα στη Φινλανδία, όπου οι Τούρκοι και οι Έλληνες συχνά ταυτίζονται με στερεότυπα όπως «οξύθυμος άντρακλας» και «επικίνδυνος γυναικάς». Ήθελα να ρίξω μια ματιά στο μυαλό νέων ανδρών που μεγαλώνουν σε μάτσο κουλτούρες. Αντί να προσπαθήσω να αμφισβητήσω τη συμπεριφορά τους, ήθελα να δω τα ειλικρινή τους  αισθήματα για τη σεξουαλική επιθυμία, την πολιτισμική πίεση και την αρσενική ταυτότητα. Είναι ένα φιλμ για το γαμήσι και την μάχη, και την προσπάθεια να ανταποκριθεί κανείς στις προσδοκίες του να είναι άντρας». [Γυρίστηκε ως μέρος της πρωτοβουλίας North Aegean Narratives, μια συνεργασία Ελλάδας-Τουρκίας.]

ΕΝ “I was born and raised in Finland, where Turkish and Greek men are often identified with stereotypes such as “short tempered macho” and “dangerous ladies’ man”. I wanted to take a peek into the minds of young men growing up in macho cultures. Rather than trying to question their behavior, I wanted to bring forth sincere feelings about sexual desire, cultural pressure and male identity. This is a documentary about fucking and fighting, and trying to live up to the expectations of being a man.” [The project was produced as a part of The North Aegean Narratives initiative, a workshop which was a collaboration between Greece and Turkey.]

Παράξενοι καιροί | Weird Times
Mehmet Emrah Erkani (2015), 10’

→  Παρόλο που οι ειδήσεις στο ραδιόφωνο αναφέρονται σε εγκλήματα μίσους εναντίον τραβεστί, ο Χαλντούν, ένας μεσήλικας τραβεστί, εξακολουθεί να νυχτοπερπατά στους δρόμους μιας αστικής περιοχής της Κωνσταντινούπολης που βρίσκεται υπό ανάπλαση. Αλλά αυτό το βράδυ τα πράγματα παίρνουν μια παράξενη τροπή.

ΕΝ Though the radio reports on hate crimes against transgenders, Haldun, a middle-aged transvestite, still goes out at night to walk the streets of an urban transformation district of Istanbul. But that night things gets weird.

Wild Pleasures | Άγριες απολαύσεις
Halil Yetiş (2017), 15’

→   Βασισμένο στα δοκίμια του Τολστόι «Άγριες Απολαύσεις», το ντοκιμαντέρ μας οδηγεί μέσα από ηχογραφήσεις φρικαλεοτήτων των σημερινών πολέμων σε μια συνηθισμένη στιγμή κυνηγιού. Αποτελούμενο από 3 μέρη, το φιλμ διερευνά την οπτική και διανοητική σχέση μεταξύ του φόνου ενός ανθρώπου και ενός ζώου, και τους χώρους όπου έχει εξαπλωθεί η κουλτούρα του φόνου.

ΕΝ Originating from Tolstoy`s essays “Wild Pleasures”, this documentary takes us from the recordings of the horrors of today`s wars to an ordinary hunting moment. Composed of 3 parts, the film questions the visual and intellectual relation between killing a person and an animal, and areas where the kiling culture has spread.

Το κοινό χειραφετείται: Ο αγώνας για το σινεμά ΕΜΕΚ | Audience Emancipated: The Strugglefor the Emek Movie Theater
Emek Bizim collective (2016), 45’

→ Η ταινία αφηγείται τον πρωτοφανή αγώνα για να σωθεί ο κινηματογράφος Emek, ένα από τα σημαντικότερα ιστορικά μνημεία της Κωνσταντινούπολης, και να μην μετατραπεί σε εμπορικό κέντρο. Ξεκινώντας το 2010, όταν το σινεμά είχε προγραμματιστεί να κατεδαφιστεί παρά την τεράστια κατακραυγή του κόσμου, ο αγώνας για το Emek υπήρξε κεντρικό γεγονός στην πρόσφατη πολιτική ιστορία της Τουρκίας, ανοίγοντας τελικά το δρόμο για τις διαμαρτυρίες στο πάρκο Γκεζί. Χρησιμοποιώντας βίντεο που συλλέχθηκαν από διάφορους ακτιβιστές, η ταινία είναι μια ισχυρή μαρτυρία όσων προσπαθούν να ανακτήσουν το δικαίωμα στην πόλη τους.

ΕΝ The film chronicles a phenomenal fight to save the Emek Theatre, one of Istanbul’s key historical landmarks, from being turned into a shopping mall. Starting in 2010, when the venue was scheduled for demolition despite a huge outcry from the public, the struggle for Emek has been a pivotal event in Turkey’s recent political history, one that eventually paved the way for the Gezi Park protests. Using footage collected from various activists, the film offers a powerful testimony for those who are striving to reclaim the right to their city.

7:30 LIVE Συζήτηση με μέλη κινηματογραφικών κολεκτίβων από την Τουρκία| Discussion with members of the collectives Emek Bizim and seyr-i sokak 

→ Aρκετές κινηματογραφικές κολεκτίβες στην Τουρκία (όπως οι Seyr-i Sokak , bak.ma, Artikisler, Emek Bizim,) ξεκίνησαν καταγράφοντας τα γεγονότα στο Γκεζί ή νωρίτερα στο σινεμά Εμέκ. Κάποιες άρχισαν να φτιάχνουν ταινίες και άλλες συνέχισαν οργανώνοντας οπτικά αρχεία λαϊκών κινημάτων, προσβάσιμα σε όλους (καταγραφή κινηματικής μνήμης σε on–line τράπεζες βίντεο).  Μαζί μας θα είναι κάποια μέλη από αυτές τις κολεκτίβες.

ΕΝ “Our aim is to bring together different struggles and discuss the strategies of anti-gentrification movements, in Turkey and around the world. This way, we open up a space for the struggles to think about their strategies, achievements and mistakes.”

8:30 Προβολή | Screening: 

#ΑντίστασηΚαλέ | #Resistayol,
Rüzgâr Buşki (2016), 50

→  Το ντοκιμαντέρ ακολουθεί την τρανς ακτιβίστρια Şevval Kılıç κατά τη διάρκεια της 21^ης ΛΟΑΤ  Εβδομάδας Υπερηφάνειας Κωνσταντινούπολης, ενώ επικεντρώνεται στις αντανακλάσεις του καρναβαλικού ξεσηκωμού στο Γκεζί. Το #αντίστασηκαλέ είναι ένα ταραγμένο οπτικοακουστικό ταξίδι που μαρτυρά τον άνεμο ελπίδας, το χιούμορ και την αλληλεγγύη που θα θέλαμε να μείνει στην μνήμη της πολιτικής σκηνής της Τουρκίας σήμερα.

ΕΝ #direnayol accompanies trans activist Şevval Kılıç during the 21st Istanbul LGBTI Pride caught up in the reflexions of carnivalesque Gezi Park Uprising. #direnayol is a turbulent audiovisual journey witnessing a wind of hope, humour, and solidarity wished to be remembered in the politics of Turkey today.

9:20 Διάλειμμα | Break

9.30 Προβολή | Screening: 

Τουλάι Γερμάν: Χρόνια της Φωτιάς και της Τέφρας |Tulay German: Years of Fire and Cinders,
Didem Pekün & Barış Doğrusöz (2010), 50’

→  Η ταινία επικεντρώνεται στην θρυλική τραγουδίστρια Τουλάι Γερμάν, σε μια περίοδο κοινωνικών αναταραχών κατά την οποία η μουσική της έγινε έναυσμα πολιτικού ακτιβισμού. Δυνατή,  αφοσιωμένη και ασυμβίβαστη, η Γερμάν πήγε κόντρα στην οικογένειά της και στις κοινωνικές τους προσδοκίες απ’ αυτήν, με τις επαγγελματικές, τις πολιτικές και ερωτικές της επιλογές…

ΕΝ The film focuses on the influential singer Tülay German in a time of social unrest in which her music became the launch pad of political activism. A vigorous and committed woman, German defied family and social expectations with her professional, political, and love choices…

10:20 Συζήτηση με τη σκηνοθέτη | LIVE Q & A w/ director  Didem Pekün
10:30 LIVE Μουσική | Music
Βραδιά οθωμανικής μουσικής με τους Beraber | Ottoman music concert with the group Beraber

→ Beraber σημαίνει “μαζί” στα Τούρκικα. Χρησιμοποιείται επίσης και σαν ορολογία για το ομαδικό ταξίμι, όπου ο ένας συμπληρώνει τον άλλον. Η Σοφία Ευκλείδου (τσέλο) και ο Ταξιάρχης Γεωργούλης(ούτι, yayli tanbur),  παίζουν συνθέσεις Τουρκικής και Αραβικής μουσικής, κρητικά συρτά, καθώς και συνθέσεις από Αρμένιους, Αζέρους και Έλληνες συνθέτες από τον 11ο αιώνα μέχρι σήμερα. Δεν λείπουν επίσης και οι συνθέσεις των ίδιων.

________________________________

Όλες οι προβολές και οι δράσεις είναι ΔΩΡΕΑΝ // All screenings and events are FREE

Όλες οι ταινίες έχουν ΑΓΓΛΙΚΟΥΣ και ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΟΥΣ ΥΠΟΤΙΤΛΟΥΣ //
All films have EN & GR SUBTITLES

*Οι πρωινές δράσεις θα γίνουν σε διαφορετικούς χώρους. Για πληροφορίες και δηλώσεις συμμετοχής στα τμήματα γλώσσας ή στην κουζίνα του Ντέργκο: Λίνα, τηλ 6932190370
| For info and seat reservations for the morning program (Turkish language classes, Dergo’skitchen), call Lina at 6932190370

Libby Sacer Foundation

The post Κοίτα Δίπλα: Φεστιβάλ Σινεμά & Πολιτισμού από την Τουρκία Παρ.29-Σαββ. 30/9 & Κυρ. 1/10 στο Θέατρο Εμπρός // Festival of Cinema & Culture from Turkey at EMBROS/Athens appeared first on Void Network.

In May 2015, Corporate Watch researchers travelled to Turkey and Kurdistan to investigate the companies supplying military equipment to the Turkish police and army. We talked to a range of groups from a variety of different movements and campaigns. Below is the transcript of our interview with three members of the anarchist group Devrimci Anarşist Faaliyet (DAF, or Revolutionary Anarchist Action) in Istanbul during May 2015.

DAF are involved in solidarity with the Kurdish struggle, the Rojava revolution and against ISIS’ attack on Kobane, and have taken action against Turkish state repression and corporate abuse. They are attempting to establish alternatives to the current system through self-organisation, mutual aid and co-operatives.

The interview was carried out in the run-up to the Turkish elections, and touches on the election campaign by the HDP, the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party. Soon after the interview took place, the HDP passed the threshold of 10% of the total vote needed to enter the Turkish parliament.

The DAF members – who all preferred to remain anonymous – began the interview by talking about the history of anarchism in the region:

DAF: We want to underline the relationship between the freedom struggle at the end of Ottoman times and the freedom struggles of Kurdistan.

In Ottoman times anarchists organised workers’ struggle in the main cities: Saloniki, Izmir, Istanbul and Cairo. For example [the Italian anarchist, Errico] Malatesta was involved in organizing industrial workers in Cairo. The freedom struggles of Armenia, Bulgaria and Greece had connections with anarchist groups. Alexander Atabekian, an important person in the Armenian freedom struggle, was an anarchist, translating leaflets into Armenian and distributing them. He was a friend of [the Russian anarchist, Peter] Kropotkin and distributed Kropotkin’s anarchist leaflets.

We are talking about this as we want to underline the importance of freedom struggles and to compare this to the importance of support for the Kurdish struggle.

Corporate Watch: What happened to anarchists after the Ottoman period?

DAF: Towards the end of the Ottoman Empire, at the end of the 19th century, Sultan Abdul Hamid II repressed the actions of anarchists in Turkey. He knew what anarchists were and took a special interest in them. He killed or deported anarchists and set up a special intelligence agency for this purpose.

Anarchists responded by carrying out attacks on the Yildiz Sarayi palace and with explosions at the Ottoman bank in Saloniki.

The government of the Ottoman Empire didn’t end at the Turkish republic. The fez has gone since but the system is still the same.

At the beginning of the [Kemalist] Turkish state [in 1923] many anarchists and other radicals were forced to emigrate or were killed. The CHP, Mustafa Kemal’s party, didn’t allow any opposition and there were massacres of Kurds.

From 1923 to 1980 there was not a big anarchist movement in Turkey due to the popularity of the socialist movements and the repression of the state.

The wave of revolutions from the 1960s to the ’80s affected these lands too. These were the active years of the social movements. During this period, there were revolutionary anti-imperialist movements caused by the Vietnam war, youth organizations, occupations of universities and increasing struggle of workers. These movements were Marxist-Leninist or Maoist, there were no anarchist movements.

In 1970 there was a long workers’ struggle. Millions of workers walked over a hundred kilometres from Kocaeli to Istanbul. Factories were closed and all the workers were on the streets.

CW: Was there any awareness of anarchism in Turkey at all at this time?

DAF: During these years many books were translated into Turkish from European radicalism but only five books about anarchism were translated, three of which were talking about anarchism in order to criticize it.

But in Ottoman times there had been many articles on anarchism in the newspapers. For example, one of the three editors of the İştirak newspaper was an anarchist. The paper published [Russian anarchist, Mikhail] Bakunin’s essays as well as articles on anarcho-syndicalism.

The first anarchist magazine was published in 1989. After this many magazines were published focusing on anarchism from different perspectives; for example, post structuralism, ecology, etc.

The common theme was that they were written for a small intellectual audience. The language of these magazines was too far away from the people. Most of those involved were connected with the universities or academia. Or they were ex-socialists affected by the fall of the Soviet Union, which was a big disappointment for many socialists. That’s why they began to call themselves anarchists, but we don’t think that this is a good way to approach anarchism, as a critique of socialism.

Between 2000 to 2005 people came together to talk about anarchism in Istanbul and began to ask: “how can we fight?”. At this time we guess that there were 50-100 anarchists living in Turkey and outside.

CW: Can you explain how DAF organises now?

DAF: Now we get 500 anarchists turning up for Mayday in Istanbul. We are in touch with anarchists in Antalya, Eskişehir, Amed, Ankara and İzmir. Meydan [DAF’s newspaper] goes to between 15 and 20 cities. We have a newspaper bureau in Amed, distributing newspapers all over Kurdistan. Until now, it is in Turkish but maybe one day, if we can afford it, we will publish it in Kurdish. We send Meydan to prisons too. We have a comrade in İzmir in prison and we send copies to over 15 prisoners.

A few months ago there was a ban on radical publications in prisons. We participated in demos outside prisons and we managed to make pressure about this and now newspapers are allowed to go into prisons again.

The main issue for DAF is to organise anarchism within society. We try to socialize anarchism with struggle on the streets. This is what we give importance to. For nearly nine years we have been doing this.

On an ideological level we have a holistic perspective. We don’t have a hierarchical perspective on struggles. We think workers’ struggle is important but not more important than the Kurdish struggle or women’s struggles or ecological struggles.

Capitalism tries to divide these struggles. If the enemy is attacking us in a holistic way we have to approach it in a holistic way.

Anarchy has a bad meaning for most people in society. It has a link with terrorism and bombs. We want to legitimize anarchism by linking it to making arguments for struggles against companies and for ecology. Sometimes we try to focus on the links between the state, companies and ecological damages, like the thing that Corporate Watch does.

We like to present anarchy as an organised struggle. We have shown people on the streets the organised approach to anarchism.

From 1989 to 2000 anarchism was about image. About wearing black, piercings and Mohicans. This is what people saw. After 2000, people started to see anarchists who were part of women’s struggles and workers’ struggles.

We are not taking anarchism from Europe as an imitation. Other anarchists have approached anarchism as an imitation of US or European anarchism or as an underground culture. If we want to make anarchist a social movement, it must change.

DAF’s collectives are Anarchist Youth, Anarchist Women, 26A cafe, Patika ecological collective and high school anarchist action (LAF). These self-organisations work together but have their own decision-making processes.

Anarchist Youth makes connections between young workers and university students and their struggles. Anarchist Women focuses on patriarchy and violence to women. For example, a woman was murdered by a man and set on fire last February. On 25 November there were big protests against violence against women.

LAF criticises education and schooling in itself and tries to socialize this way of thinking in high schools. LAF also looks at ecological and feminist issues, including when young women are murdered by their husbands.

PATIKA ecological collective protests against hydro electric dams in the Black Sea region or Hasankey [where the Ilisu dam is being built]. Sometimes there is fighting to prevent these plants from being built.

26A Café is a self organization focusing on anti-capitalist economy. Cafes were opened in 2009 in Taksim and 2011 in Kadıköy [both in Istanbul]. The cafes are run by volunteers. They are aimed at creating an economic model in the place where oppressed people are living. It’s important to show people concrete examples of an anarchist economy, without bosses or capitalist aims. We talk to people about why we don’t sell the big capitalist brands like Coca Cola. Of course the products we sell have a relation to capitalism but things like Coke are symbols of capitalism. We want to progress away from not-consuming and move towards alternative economies and ways of producing.

Another self organisation, PAY-DA – ‘Sharing and solidarity‘ – has a building in Kadıköy, which is used for meetings and producing the Meydan newspaper. PAY-DA gives meals to people three times a day. It’s open to anarchists and comrades. The aim of PAY-DA is to become a cooperative, open to everybody. We try to create a bond which also involves the producers in the villages. We aim to have links with these producers and show them another economic model. We try to evolve these economic relations away from money relations. The producers are suffering from the capitalist economy. We are in the first steps of this cooperative and we are looking for producers to work with.

All of these projects are related to DAF’s ideology. This model has a connection with Malatesta’s binary model of organization.

These are anarchist organizations but sometimes people who aren’t anarchists join these struggles because they know ecological or women’s struggles, and then at the end they will learn about anarchism. It’s an evolving process.

As DAF we are trying to organise our lives. This is the only way that we can touch the people who are oppressed by capitalism.

There is also the Conscientious Objectors’ Association, which is organised with other groups, not just anarchists. Our involvement in this has a relation with our perspective on Kurdistan. We organize anti-militarist action in Turkey outside of military bases on 15 May, conscientious objector’s day. In Turkey the military is related to state culture. If you don’t do your military duty, you won’t find a job and it’s difficult to find someone to marry because they ask if you’ve been to the army. If you have been to the army, you’re a ‘man’. People see the state as the ‘Fatherland’. On your CV they ask whether you did military service. ‘Every Turk is born a soldier’ is a popular slogan in Turkey.

CW: Is Kemalism [the ideology associated with Mustafa Kemal] as strong a force as it used to be?

DAF: Kemalism is still a force in schools but the AKP has changed this somewhat. The AKP has a new approach to nationalism focused on the Ottoman Empire. It emphasises Turkey’s ‘Ottoman roots’. But Erdoğan still says that we are ‘one nation, one state, one flag and one religion.’. There is still talk about Mustafa Kemal but not as much as before. Now you cannot criticize Erdoğan or Atatürk [the name used for Kemal by Turkish nationalists]. It’s the law not to criticize Atatürk and the unwritten rule not to criticize Erdoğan. The media follows these rules.

CW: Can you talk about your perspective on the Kurdish freedom struggle?

Kurdish freedom struggles didn’t start with Rojava. Kurdish people have had struggles for hundreds of years against the Ottoman Empire and the Turkish state.

Since the start of DAF we have seen Kurdistan as important for propaganda and education.

Our perspective relates to people’s freedom struggles. The idea that people can create federations without nations, states and empires. The Turkish state says the issue is a Kurdish problem, but for us it is not a Kurdish problem, it’s an issue of Turkish policies of assimilation. It’s obvious that since the first years of the Turkish republic the assimilation of Kurdish people has not stopped. We can see this from the last Roboski massacre [of 34 Kurdish cross-border traders by Turkish F16s on 28 December 2011] by the state during the ‘peace process’. We can see this in the denial of Kurdish identity or the repeated massacres. Making people assimilate to be a Turk and making the propaganda of nationalism.

The AKP [the ruling Justice and Development Party] say they have opened Kurdish TV channels, allowed Kurdish language and that we are all brothers and sisters, but on the other hand we had the Roboski massacre which occurred during their government. In 2006 there was government pressure on Erdoğan at a high level. Erdoğan said that women and children would be punished who go against Turkish policies. Over 30 children were murdered by police and army.

The words change but the political agenda continues, just under a new government. We do not call ourselves Turkish. We come from many ethnic origins and Kurdish is one of them. Our involvement in conscientious objection is part of this perspective. We want to talk to people to prevent people from going to the army to kill their brothers and sisters.

After the 2000s there has been an ideological change in the Kurdish freedom struggle. The Kurdish organizations no longer call themselves Marxist-Leninist and Öcalan has written a lot about democratic confederalism. This is important, but our relation to Kurdish people is on the streets.

CW: Can you talk about DAF’s work in solidarity with people in Rojava?

In July 2012 at the start of the Rojava revolution, people began saying that it was a stateless movement. We have been in solidarity from the first day of the revolution. Three cantons have declared their revolution in a stateless way. We try to observe and get more information. This is not an anarchist revolution but it is a social revolution declared by the people themselves.

Rojava is a third front for Syria against Assad, ISIS and other Islamic groups. But these are not the only groups that the revolution is faced with. The Turkish republic is giving support for ISIS from its borders. The national intelligence agency of the Turkish republic appears to be giving weapons to ISIS and other Islamic groups. Kurdish people declared the revolution under these circumstances.

After the ISIS attack on Kobane began [in 2014] we went to Suruç. We waited at the border as Turkish forces were attacking people crossing. When people wanted to cross the border to or from Kobane they were shot. We stayed there to provide protection.

In October, people gathered near Suruç, and broke through the border. Turkish tanks shot gas over the border at them.

From 6 to 8 October there were Kobane solidarity demonstrations across Turkey. Kader Ortakya, a Turkish socialist supporter of Kobane, was shot dead trying to cross the border.

We helped people. Some people crossed the border from Kobane and had no shelter. We prepared tents, food and clothes for them. Sometimes soldiers came to the villages with tear gas and water cannons and we had to move. Some people came through the border searching for their families and we helped them. Other people came, wanting to cross the border and fight and we helped them. We wore clothing that said we were from DAF on it.

The YPG and YPJ [‘People’s Protection Units’ of Rojava, the YPJ is a women’s militia] pushed ISIS back day by day. Mıştenur hill was very important for Kobane. After the hill was taken by the YPG and YPJ some people wanted to return to Kobane. When they went back their houses had been destroyed by ISIS. Some houses were mined and some people have been killed by the mines. The mines need to be cleared, but by who and how? People need new houses and help. We have had conferences and talked about how to help Kobane. There was a conference two weeks ago in Amed.

CW: What is your position on the elections?

DAF: We do not believe in parliamentary democracy. We believe in direct democracy. We do not support the HDP in the election, but we have links in solidarity with them on the streets.

Emma Goldman said that if elections changed anything they would be illegal. There are good people in the HDP who say good things, but we think that the government can’t be good because the election system isn’t equal.

In Rojava they do not call it an anarchist revolution, but theres no government, no state and no hierarchy, so we believe in it and have solidarity with it.

Can you tell us about the bombing in Suruç [we asked this final question by email weeks after the original interview

Over 30 young people who wanted to take part in reconstruction of Kobane were killed by an ISIS attack. This attack was clearly organised by the Turkish State. They did not even do anything to stop it although they got the information of the attack one mounth before. Moreover, after the explosion the Turkish State has attacked Rojava and made operations against political organisations in Turkey. Now there are many operations and political pressures on anarchists and socialists and Kurdish organisations. They are using the explosion as a reason to make this political repression on both the domestic and international levels.

We have lost our 33 comrades, friends who struggled for the Rojava Revolution against the state’s repression, denial and politics of massacre. There are people who are killed by state, ISIS and other powers. But our resistance won’t stop, our struggle will continue, as always in history.

source: https://corporatewatch.org/news/2015/aug/27/building-autonomy-turkey-and-kurdistan-interview-revolutionary-anarchist-action

FURTHER READING:

Two interviews—one offering general background on the struggle in Kobanê, the other delving into analytical detail about the geopolitical implications.
http://www.crimethinc.com/texts/r/kobane/

Resources on the Rojava Revolution—A broad selection of coverage and reference material
http://anarchism.pageabode.com/andrewnflood/resources-rojava-revolution-kurdistan-syria

An Interview with Revolutionary Anarchist Action (DAF) on Kobanê: “We are Kawa against Dehaks”—Another interview with the DAF
https://anhsyxia.wordpress.com/2014/11/04/an-interview-with-revolutionary-anarchist-action-on-kobane-we-are-kawa-against-dehaks/

DAF Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/anarsistfaaliyetorg

Revolution Will Win in Kobanê!—a DAF report from Boydê Village on the Syrian border during the first month of the struggle in Kobanê
http://www.anarkismo.net/article/27457

Rojava’s Communes and Councils—An overview of how the structures of direct democracy function in revolutionary Rojava
http://kurdishquestion.com/index.php/kurdistan/west-kurdistan/rojava-s-communes-and-councils.html

The Experiment of West Kurdistan Has Proved that People Can Make Changes—A report by a member of the Kurdistan Anarchists Forum who spent two weeks in Syrian Kurdistan
http://libcom.org/news/experiment-west-kurdistan-syrian-kurdistan-has-proved-people-can-make-changes-zaher-baher-2

Bookchin, Öcalan, and the Dialectics of Democracy—On the relationship between the former anarchist Murray Bookchin and Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of the PKK
http://new-compass.net/articles/bookchin-%C3%B6calan-and-dialectics-democracy

The Kurdish Question: Through the lens of Anarchist Resistance in the Heart of the Ottoman Empire 1880–1923—A deep background on anarchism in the region
http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/michael-schmidt-lucien-van-der-walt-the-kurdish-question-through-the-lens-of-anarchist-resistan#fn5

The post Building autonomy in Turkey and Kurdistan: an interview with D.A.F.- Revolutionary Anarchist Action appeared first on Void Network.

Today, we were on streets for Alexis who was murdered by Greek State and for Nikos Romanos who  has been on  hunger strike for 26 days against the repression of the same state.

Today, we were on streets for our sisters and brothers who have been murdered while resisting in Greece, in Ferguson, in Mexico, in Kobanê.

Today, we were on streets for Berkin, Ali İsmail, Ethem, Arin, Kader, Suphi Nejat.

As  states kill our sisters and brothers all over the world; we, revolutionary anarchists were onthe streets with our anger against states, capitalists, companies and murderers. Despite of the fact that the police held up our way and attacked us with  plastic bullets, tear gas bombs and batons; they couldn’t achieve to supress our anger. We resisted with our black flags while rising out our slogans.

This passion for freedom is getting bigger today; the anger for those  who have been murdered by state flare up our riot.

Revolutionary Anarchist Action 
salutes comrade Nikos Romanos’ and his resistance.
Video of this action:
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1565161617033056&set=vb.1480916092124276&type=2&theater

Statement that read after police attack:

Today, with all the range against powers that seizes lives, with the conviction to a free world, the black flags are waved all around the world. Against companies that exploit our labour to profit more; against states that murders many of us in the name of the borders they drew; against all powers that fill their pockets with our lives that they destroy, making us poorer and making the rich richer; rebellion is alive in the rage of anachism. The rage against bosses, companies, murderers and states, is propagating in full flood with the black flags. The sorrow of being neglected, dissapeared and murdered, is now turing into anger, and the street are burning with the rage all over.

Exactly 6 yers ago, in Exerchia neignourhood of Athens, murdered because he was an anarchist, at the age of 16, was Alexandros Grigoropulos. Murdered by a cop, with the bullet from his gun, because he transformed his anger into rebellion and went on the street, calling to account for the lives being seized, becuase he didn’t obey the powers and he was resisting at all costs for freedom. On the day of December 6, 2008, The bullet that ran into Alexis’s chest turned in the fire of revolt in the streets. Even though the murderers continued their attacks, the rage against the ones that silenced a heart that was beating for freedom, burned the streets into flames in Athens, in Thessaloniki, in Istanbul and everywhere.

Nikos Romanos, who was with Alexis the day he was murdered and who also had the same conviction for a free world, is now captivated because he is an anarchist. Romanos is captivated because he was not silent against injustice, because he didn’t give up despite state oppresion, because with the same conviction of his murdered comrade, he kept on the struggle against all powers. The ones who think they can terminate this struggle by murdering Alexis, are now captivating Nikos hoping to stop another heart that is beating with the conviction for anarchism. Just like in 2008, the steets are filled with anger against the state that continue to attack Romanos with all its isolation, oppresion and torture. As Romanos continues his hunger strike since 10th of Novembre, other anarchist comrades in captive also start hunger strikes in solidarity; universities are occupied; and the same voice echoes in burning streets, in cells resisiting captive: “As long as we are alive and we breate, long live anarchy!”

The powers that murdered Alexis in 2008 and that captivate Nikos today think that they can silence the rage against injustice that is growing in every part of the world. They continue to captivate, attack and murder under this illusion.

In Mexico, 43 students resisting politics of the powers seizing their future, had disappeared by the hand of state; and their bodies are found in mass graves after many days. Just because they are black, the people targeted by fasist repression of the power, become the targets of bullets shot by the police; and the ones who resist being taken to custody are strangling and murdered by the police. Many of our brothers like Berkin, Ethem Ali, Ahmet who resisted for their lives, were murdered by the state police.  While the ones resisting in Kobanê to create a new life, like Arin, like Suphi Nejat, like Kader, are murdered by the gangs, military and soldiers of the state; the ones who are on the streets in every corner of the region embracing Kobanê resistance, like Hakan, like Mahsun, are the targeted by the murderer police of the same state…

Wherever the ones who call to account for injustice, who resist to win their lives, who struggle with their conviction of freedom are on the streets; there is the adress for oppression, torture and massacre. The oppressors who think that they can discourage the ones who don’t obey them by captivating, kidnapping or murdering; a cry of freedom raised in one place is echoed from every direction. From the cells of Athens to Mexico, from the streets of Ferguson to Istanbul, to the free lands of Kobanê, the convision for a new world is propagating in full flood. Now, this passion for freedom is getting bigger; the rage for the murders is flaring up the fire of revolt in hearts.

This revolt is against the powers that seize our lives, that intend to destroy our freedom, that murder us. This revolt is against capitalism and the states. This revolt is against all kinds of captivity.

With this revolt for freedom in our hearts, anarchism is growing in every part of the world.

And our struggle is growing from one corner of the world to another, carried by the waves of the black flags.

Long live Revolution, long live anarchy!

Revolutionary Anarchist Action (DAF)

Lycee Aanrchist Action (LAF)

Anarchist Youth (AG)

Anarchist Women

MAKI

TAÇANKA

The post 6 December 2014, Solidarity with Nikos Romanos in Turkey appeared first on Void Network.

This is a youtube channel with videos from revolted Turkey
Download them, share them, see them before the censorship delete them from internet!

The social uprising in Turkey continues and our friends and comrades in Turkey need the help from all of us.
Share the authentic news from underground media sources, express your solidarity with all possible ways,
help the message of revolted Turkish people to travel as further as possible    

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGjPubr5L5c&list=PLtMSwy96r2CaQstcSN2eJl13w9mnR3aTE
suggested videos: 5 7 14 18 25 27 31*

The post Video Channel from insurrected Turkey. Spread the News / Never Trust Mass Media! appeared first on Void Network.

VOID NETWORK EXPRESSES SOLIDARITY FOR THE PEOPLE IN TURKEY AND THEIR STRUGGLE. 
THE INTERNATIONAL STRUGGLE AGAINST GLOBAL TOTALITARIANISM CONTINUES!
WE SHALL OVERCOME!




The occupation of Taksim Gezi Park in İstanbul began on May 28th, 2013. Following the police raid in the park area on May 30th, hackers from the RedHack sabotaged the website of the Beyoglu police headquarters in response to the morning attack.

The occupation continued, and thousands of people gathered to resist the government’s plans (to build a shopping centre and destroy the green area). It soon became one of the largest mobilizations for years, with various different participants (from radical activists to NGOs, etc.), resembling the worldwide Occupy movement.

On May 31st, street clashes started from 5am in İstanbul. The resistance grew wider, while the police fired an incredible amount of tear gas bombs. Before yet another crackdown, supporters from three major football teams (Besiktas, Galatasaray, Fenerbahce) took to the streets united. Clashes continued late in the evening. The number of people in the streets was enormous. In every way, thousands were trying to reach Taksim square. After 16 hours of street fighting, the struggle went on.

Meanwhile, one man died of heart attack, but it was circulated that his death was not directly related to the police gas bombing. According to unconfirmed reports, two more persons were killed in Taksim: one young woman was reported dead after she was hit by cops on the head with gas bomb, while another young woman is said to have been crushed to death by a police panzer (anti-riot vehicle with water cannon).

At least 6 protesters suffered head injuries and were admitted to intensive care unit. In addition, more than 100 protesters were injured (among them, one congressman as well as journalists, who were also hospitalized).

Meanwhile, dozens have been detained by cops in Istanbul. Throughout the day, police forces constantly searched and detained people that had gasmasks, antacids, lemon juice to protect themselves from the effect of the huge amount of tear gas. For a better understanding of what is happening, it must be noted that the military does not act against protesters.

These protests have turned into a popular uprising, far beyond an environmentalist claim. At the same time, the developments have been completely gagged by the local mainstream media (one of the “alternative” communication channels currently used is twitter under #occupygezi and other hashtags).

Protests have spread nationwide, with several rallies at Turkish cities in solidarity with people repressed in İstanbul. Demonstrations were also scheduled in Holland, Germany and elsewhere in Europe.

Comrades in Turkey estimate that this is one of the biggest uprisings in recent years. Street clashes are ongoing tonight (31/5) from every direction to Taksim square. Nobody goes back home. It seems like everyone is determined to remain on the streets till morning.

Spread the word.




source: http://en.contrainfo.espiv.net/2013/05/31/istanbul-turkey-raw-updates-from-the-occupation-at-taksim-gezi-park/#more-17379

The post Turkish police has started a war against the people. Many people are dead. appeared first on Void Network.