Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
Bulletin de liaison et d'information - Institut kurde de Paris
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Revue <strong>de</strong> Presse-Press Review-Berhevoka Çapê-Rivista Stampa-Dentro <strong>de</strong> la Prensa-Basm Öz<strong>et</strong>i<br />
American military hardware," much of it scribes the reciprocal escalation ofterror in<br />
used against Kurds insi<strong>de</strong> Turkey and in eastern Turkey during the nin<strong>et</strong>ies: the<br />
the so-called safe haven of northern Iraq. state terrorizing its Kurdish citizens (some-<br />
Randal is no i<strong>de</strong>ologue; he knows the tUnescalled "Armenians") while attacking<br />
Kurds have often held on to old tribal loyal- the guerrillas; the P.K.K..terrorizing Kurds<br />
ties and b<strong>et</strong>rayed each other, and he reports while attacking the state; the state consumwith<br />
disgust the 1996 civil war that led one ing itself with its expensive violence; the<br />
of the foremost Kurdish lea<strong>de</strong>rs, Massoud P.K.K. un<strong>de</strong>rmining itself with the cheap<br />
Barzani, to ally himself with Saddam. But mur<strong>de</strong>r oftourists.<br />
even "after such knowledge," Randal re- Both Turkish politicians and the P.K..K..<br />
fuses "forgiveness" to U.S. governments are, implies Rugman, Ataturk's children<br />
that have contributed to the Kurds' his- . intheir single-min<strong>de</strong>d <strong>de</strong>votion to a single<br />
torical repression and present plight. goal. He represents the resulting polarity<br />
Randal treats Abdullah "Apo" Ocalan- in two 1994 interviews-with Presi<strong>de</strong>nt<br />
lea<strong>de</strong>r of the Marxist-influenced Kurdistan Suleyman Demirel and P.K..K..spokesman<br />
Workers' Party (p.K..K..),which has waged Kani Yilmaz. Shorter comments in a secguerrilla<br />
war in Turkey since 1984-as a tion called "Voices from the Crossfire"-<br />
posturing clown, safe in his Syrian hi<strong>de</strong>- and Hutchings' s photographs, which illusaway.<br />
InKurdistan, vanBruinessenismore trate the text-tip Rugman's neutrality<br />
measured toward Ocalan. For a <strong>de</strong>tailed toward sympathy for the P.K..K.The thirty<br />
study of the P.K.K., the only Kurdish or- pages of stark black and white photos<br />
ganization with wi<strong>de</strong>spread support and grouped at the book's end have a nowpower<br />
in Turkey, one needs Rugman and familiar narrative line: military and police<br />
Hutchings's Atatürk's Children. After ex- surveillance, Kurds driven from the land,<br />
amining Ocalan's background and the rise new squalid conditions, political protest,<br />
of the P.K.K.. in the eighties, Rugman <strong>de</strong>-<br />
•<br />
more refugees, trials ofKurds and, final~<br />
ly, Ataturk's statue from the rear, father<br />
of Tur~ey standing tall <strong>de</strong>spite his exposed<br />
flank.<br />
Atatürk's Children is almost all terror.<br />
~xcept for one map,After Such Know/edge<br />
IS all text. As for Meiselas's Kurdistan, my<br />
only complaint is the partial misnomer of<br />
her title. Most of the photos are of Kurds.<br />
Wesee little of the land or the Kurds' landhugging<br />
culture, the.reasons Kurds have<br />
worn~eir bandoliers, fought against overwhelmingforces<br />
and, ironically, become a<br />
refugee people. For more photographs of<br />
Kurdistan's beauty, you may need interlibrary<br />
loan to fmd a 1990 book Meiselas<br />
doesn't mention in her bibliography-another<br />
Kurdistan, with photos by N. Kasraian.<br />
The introduction is in garbled translated<br />
English, but the large color platesof<br />
pueblo-like villages and nomadic camps,<br />
Kurds in their homes, with their families,<br />
attheirceremonies, mountains in the background<br />
and foreground--are further reasons<br />
to mourn the terrible <strong>de</strong>vastation that<br />
Meiselas documents. Mourn and then celebrate<br />
the culture that KÙrdsand Kurdistan<br />
have managed to preserve.<br />
_<br />
-<br />
IraqiKurds<br />
exchange<br />
•<br />
prIsoners<br />
Ankara - Turkish Daily News March 23, 1998<br />
Rival Iraqi Kurdish groups that control much of northern Iraq exchanged dozens of prisoners<br />
Saturday to commemorate their new year, one of the groups said in a statement.<br />
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) said it released 75 members of the rival Patriotic Union<br />
of Kurdistan (PUK) to commemorate the Kurdish new year, which began Saturday, the first day<br />
of spring. The PUK released 67 KDP members in turn, said the KDP statement.<br />
The exchange took place in the areas of Koysinjaq and Deigala in northern Iraq, the statement<br />
said.<br />
The groups reached an agreement last month to exchange all their prisoners. PUK and KDP<br />
officials exchanged lists with names of prisoners who were supposed to be swapped a week<br />
later, but the exchange never took place.<br />
Three bilateral me<strong>et</strong>ings b<strong>et</strong>ween the KDP and the PUK aimed at creating b<strong>et</strong>ter relations<br />
b<strong>et</strong>ween the rival groups took place in northern Iraq with the participation of high level<br />
members of both parties. Confi<strong>de</strong>nce building measures, the initial one of which was the<br />
exchange of prisoners, were wi<strong>de</strong>ly discussed during these me<strong>et</strong>ings.<br />
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