Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #Kurdistan

Most recents (19)

5 years ago today, the 2.5 year-long peace process between the Turkish state & the PKK ended.

Since then, tens of thousands have been killed & hundreds of thousands displaced.

The trigger was the unresolved and now unravelling assassination of 2 police officers [THREAD] Forensics at the house wher...
On the morning of 22 July 2015, officers in #Ceylanpınar police station, a town in Southeastern Turkey bordering Syria, grew suspicious after 2 of their colleagues who lived together didn't turn up to work. The officers went to their house but nobody answered the door.
When they entered with the help of a locksmith, they found their colleagues shot dead.

At around 11:00 am the news broke.

At 13:50, the PKK posted a press release endorsing the killings as a revenge for the ISIS #Suruç bombing which happened 2 days before in the same province.
Read 12 tweets
IMPORTANTE

La #Turchia bombarda #Sinjar ed uccide Mam Zaki, uno degli eroi che salvò decine di migliaia di #ezidi dal genocidio dell'#ISIS.

#thread
1) Una notizia terribile, l'ennesimo crimine atroce e disumano della #Turchia contro il popolo curdo.
Ieri intorno alle 16 un raid turco ha colpito alcuni veicoli (pare 3) delle forze di autodifesa ezide #YBS che stavano tornando dalla commemorazione del massacro di #Kocho.
2) Tra il 3 ed il 15 Agosto 2014 il villaggio di #Kocho nei pressi di #Sinjar rimane sotto assedio da parte dell'ISIS.
Tra il 15 Agosto e le prime ore del 16 Agosto i miliziani dell'#ISIS entrarono nel villaggio. Radunarono tutta la popolazione, circa 1700 persone, nella scuola.
Read 24 tweets
Thread: Some rare good immigration news came today. Last yr, as part of a deal to get Iraq off the list of countries in Muslim Ban 1.0, ICE began rounding up 100s of Iraqi nationals who had old, unexecuted deportation orders—nearly all of whom came as refugees. #NashvilleKurds /1
Nashville is home to the largest population of Kurds outside of #Kurdistan. At least 12 and as many as 20 #NashvilleKurds were targeted. amp.tennessean.com/amp/379582001 ICE sought to detain these men in far-flung, for-profit prisons and deport them without hearing to torture/death /2
But @ACLUofMichigan @mjschlanger @CivilRightsCH Code Legal, and partners across the country stepped up and filed class-action habeas litigation that successfully halted these deportations, given people time to find lawyers and file for fear-based protection, and seek bonds /3
Read 7 tweets
It’s extraordinary just how much BS gets created in people’s minds.

I never once expressed “support” for #Turkey’s #Afrin operation.

- Did I say it was inevitable? Yes.
- Did I observe it & comment on its advance vis-a-vis broader #Syria dynamics (i.e. my job)? Yes.
My critique has always been about the imbalance/s created in northern #Syria by U.S. counter-#ISIS policy.

The #YPG was/is the #PKK - all U.S. officials admit that in private. That didn’t necessarily have to preclude working with them, but ignoring it caused big, big problems.
#pt: As an analyst of terrorist groups, I did see a certain irony & short-sightedness in the words of one top, serving U.S. official, “allying with a terrorist group (#PKK) to fight another terrorist group (#ISIS).”

It’s got nothing to do with any position on #Kurds, whatsoever.
Read 7 tweets
"Sometimes, I look at myself in the mirror and wonder, 'How am I still alive?'"
Yazidi mother opens up about escape from Islamic State, building a life in Canada
(1/ ) #YazidiPlight #Iraq #Canada
At 18, when she was eight months pregnant, Faeza Mejo was captured in August 2014 by members of the Islamic State terror group when she, her husband and his family tried to flee from the invaders in northern Iraq.
(2/ )#YazidiGenocide #Sinjar #Iraq
Faeza was separated from her husband and taken to a place where about 50 other young #Yazidi women and girls were held. She soon learned they were in a warehouse and they were the goods to be sold, and she would literally be marked for life.
(3/ ) #YazidiPlight #Sinjar
Read 10 tweets
[1] I am a #Yazidi and not yet 17, but I have a story to tell the world. My people have always been peaceful and non-aggressive. We believe in God and humanity and respect other religions. I grew up in a village called Wardia, near #Sinjar, #Iraq. We lived with honor and dignity.
[2] We were a very close community and pretty much kept to ourselves. When I was only 13, we heard that ISIS was headed toward us and also that they were doing very bad things. #YazidiPlight
[3] We fled to the mountain, but ISIS intercepted all of us and forced us back to our village. By that time many of our very own #Muslim neighbors had joined in with ISIS and were also killing many #Yazidis.
Read 17 tweets
1. I urge young #Kurds across the US to be more politically active. No excuses. Know your elected representatives, get in touch with their offices & educate them on the Kurdish plight. Kurds with access to Capital Hill in DC have more responsibility, we can influence policy.
2. We don’t need fancy offices. We know what brings Kurdistan down, we know who those are that work with Turkey, Iran. We can provide lawmakers with a different voice, one that is for the sole interest of Kurdistan. For how long will you complain but do nothing to change it?
3. Take advantage of the institutions that exist, they’re for us to utilize. Don’t allow corrupt individuals & offices to push party agendas. You have access to members of Congress, as Kurdish officials do. It’s very simple. Call👉make an appointment👉educate.
Read 6 tweets