U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meets with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkey, on March 30, 2017. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]

ANTALYA, TURKEY - NOVEMBER 15: (Front row L-R) South African President Jacob Zuma, Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, US President Barack Obama, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Russian President Vladimir Putin, South Korean President Park Geun-hye, (2nd Row L-R) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Argentina's Economy Minister Axel Kicillof, (3rd row L-R) World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevedo , International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde, Guy Ryder, Director General of International Labour Organisation (ILO), UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, Angel Gurria (L), Secretary-General of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Bank of England Governor and Financial Stability Board (FSB) Chairman Mark Carney pose for a family photo during the G20 Turkey Leaders Summit on November 15, 2015 in Antalya, Turkey. Kayhan Ozer / Anadolu Agency

Mehrere Dutzend Menschen haben sich an einer Kundgebung am Fuße des Berliner Brandenburger Tores beteiligt, um die Belagerung und die Angriffe der türkischen Polizei auf die Stadt Silvan zu verurteilen. Zudem wird Freiheit für den PKK-Führer Abdullah Öcalan gefordert.

Die Protestierenden sehen die Auseinandersetzungen in Silvan in einer Reihe mit Angriffen des türkischen Staates auf Kurden und kurdische Organisationen seit Staatspräsident Recep Tayyip Erdogans AKP ihre absolute Parlamentsmehrheit verloren hatte. Im Gegenzug hat auch die kurdische Arbeiterpartei PKK ihre Waffenruhe aufgekündigt und turkische Einrichtungen angegriffen.

Auf der Kundgebung wird auch dem Schicksal der Jesiden im irakischen Shingal gedacht. Die Jesiden sehen sich massiver Gewalt ausgesetzt, seit der sogenannte Islamische Staat ihr Gebiet im Irak überrannt hat. Zur Zeit versuchen kurdische Milizen den IS mit einer Großoffensive aus dem Shingal zurückzudrängen.

Rund 300 Menschen beteiligen sich an einer Demonstration, zu der die HDP in Berlin aufgerufen hat. Vom Alexanderplatz zieht der Demonstrationszug zum Potsdamer Platz. Dabei solidarisieren sich die Teilnehmer in Sprechchören und in Redebeiträgen mit der syrisch-kurdischen Stadt Kobane in der nordsyrischen Provinz Rojava. Zudem sprechen sie sich gegen den sogenannten Islamischen Staat (IS) gleichermaßen, wie gegen den türkischen Präsidenten Recep Tayyip Erdogan und seine AKP aus.

Die Demonstration findet unter dem Eindruck einer Welle der Gewalt gegen Kurden und linke Gruppen in der Türkei, sowie den gleichzeitig stattfindenen Wahlen in der Türkei statt.

Rund 50 Kurden demonstrieren auf dem Breitscheidplatz am Fuße der Gedächtniskirche gegen die anhaltende Aggression der türkischen Regierung gegen Kurden, die zu bürgerkriegsähnlichen Zuständen in Städten wie Cizre und Diyarbakır geführt haben.

Rund 350 Kurden und Anhänger linker Gruppen ziehen in Berlin vom Brandenburger Tor zum Bundeskanzleramt und dann weiter zur türkischen Botschaft.

Hintergrund ist die Tötung von 60 Menschen in der türkisch-kurdischen Stadt Cizre (kurdisch: Cizir) am Vortag. Seit Monaten beschießt die türkische Armee und Polizei vorwiegend kurdisch bewohnte Städte als Reaktion auf den Verlust der absoluten Mehrheit bei der letzten Parlamentwahl durch den Einzug der pro-kurdischen HDP und einiger Angriffe der PKK.

Die Situation in den betroffenen Gegenden kommt inzwischen einem Bürgerkrieg gleich.

In Reden wird die gleichzeitig stattfindene, wiederholte Reise der Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel in die Türkei scharf kritisiert. Die Aktivisten werfen Merkel vor, zu den anhaltenden Menschenrechtsverletzungen auf Geheiß von Präsident Recep Tayyip Erdogan und seiner AKP-Regierung zu schweigen.

ANTALYA, TURKEY - NOVEMBER 15: (Front row L-R) Senegalese President Macky Sall, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, South African President Jacob Zuma, Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, US President Barack Obama, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Russian President Vladimir Putin, South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, (2nd Row L-R) Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Argentina's Economy Minister Axel Kicillof, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (3rd row L-R) World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevedo , International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde, Guy Ryder, Director General of International Labour Organisation (ILO), UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, Angel Gurria (L), Secretary-General of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Bank of England Governor and Financial Stability Board (FSB) Chairman Mark Carney pose for a family photo during the G20 Turkey Leaders Summit on November 15, 2015 in Antalya, Turkey. Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Turkish Presidency Press Office / Anadolu Agency

ANTALYA, TURKEY - NOVEMBER 15: (Front row L-R) Senegalese President Macky Sall, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, South African President Jacob Zuma, Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, US President Barack Obama, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Russian President Vladimir Putin, South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, (2nd Row L-R) Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Argentina's Economy Minister Axel Kicillof, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (3rd row L-R) World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevedo , International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde, Guy Ryder, Director General of International Labour Organisation (ILO), UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, Angel Gurria (L), Secretary-General of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Bank of England Governor and Financial Stability Board (FSB) Chairman Mark Carney pose for a family photo during the G20 Turkey Leaders Summit on November 15, 2015 in Antalya, Turkey. Volkan Furuncu / Anadolu Agency

Mehrere hundert Kuren protestieren in Berlin gegen die anhaltenden Angriffe des türkischen Militärs und der Polizei gegen kurdische Städte. Die Demonstration führt vom Potsdamer Platz zum Brandenburger Tor.

Die Teilnehmer und Redner verurteilen die Politik und das Vorgehen des türkischen Präsidenten Recep Tayyip Erdogan und seiner AKP-Regierung als terroristisch.

Vereinzelt gibt es Sympathie-Bekundungen für die kurdische Arbeiterpartei PKK. Am Ende gab es mindestens eine Festnahme, offensichtlich wegen einer Fahne mit dem Porträt des Führers der PKK, Abdullah Öcalan.

Kurdish emigres protest Paris murders at Turkish & French embassies : London 11.01.2013

On 11.01.2013 Kurdish emigres in London protested at the Turkish embassy and then marched to the nearby French embassy to protest about the shocking mass murder on 09.01.2013 in Paris of three female Kurdish political activists including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz in what French police believe to be an execution a targeted assassination. The bodies of the three women - Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress’ (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doan, political activist Leyla Söylemez and Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) co-founder and Women's Movement organiser Sakine Cansız - were discovered behind several combination-locked doors in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris on Wednesday by friends who had been trying since the previous evening to contact the women and who had broken into the centre after discovering bloodstains on the outer doors.

Very shortly after French police were called to the scene (and with what many claim to be suspicious haste), Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party claimed that the murders were the result of “an internal feud” within the PKK. Celik did not offer any evidence to substantiate his assertion, yet also went on to suggest that the slayings were an attempt to derail the peace talks which have been taking place in the notorious high security prison on mralı Island between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan - sentenced to death for treason against the Turkish state in 1999 but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when Turkey was forced to abolish the death sentence as part of it's application to join the EU - and the Turkish government.

The PKK have waged an often violent war against the Turkish government for the last 34 years as part of their campaign to establish an autonomous Kurdish enclave in South-East Turkey. Kurds make up almost 20% of the Turkish population, yet are forbidden by law to even speak their own language and have suffered greatly under Turkish suppression. Since the insurrection began in 1978 it is estimated that over 40,000 people on both sides have lost their lives in violent actions perpetrated in this conflict, and even though the PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, the EU, NATO, Syria and others, the cause of Kurdish nationalism enjoys a huge level of support in the region. Turkish authorities have been concerned about PKK fighters entering Turkey from the autonomous Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria.

Kurdish populations are present in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and have experienced many decades of suppression by their respective states as the Kurds attempt to loosely re-establish their traditional Kurdistan, eradicated during the Ottoman reign, and it is against this long background of armed struggle that has seen large numbers of ethnic Kurds fleeing to Europe to find sanctuary. The Kurdish people I spoke to in Haringey last night said that they no longer feel safe anywhere in Europe after this execution which they lay firmly at the door of what they describe as the "dark, ultra-nationalistic shadow government" operating behind the scenes in Turkey who are violently opposed to any form of settlement or discussion with the Kurds.

Huddled around tables in the large hall adorned with photographs of fallen comrades and a large centrepiece display of their political figurehead, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurds were subdued and in a measured, reflective mood. During the day it had been established by French police that the women had all been shot in the head through the throat using weapons with suppressors (silncers), and it is initially thought that there was possibly more than one gunman. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, so it seems that they were known to at least one of the women - two of whom were slaughtered as they were organising suitcases for their journeys back to Belgium and Germany.

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to license an image, please Email me directly.

Standard industry rates apply.

about.me/peteriches

Die Berliner Piraten unter der Führung ihres Landesvorsitzenden Bruno Kramm protestieren vor der Botschaft der Türkei in Berlin Tiergarten gegen Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Dabei sprechen sich diverse Redner, unter ihnen Mitglieder des Berliner Abgeordnetenhauses, für Demokratie und Presse- sowie Meinungsfreiheit in der Türkei aus. Sie kritisieren den türkischen Präsidenten Recep Tayyip Erdogan für seinen dikatatorischen Führungsstil und seine Haltung gegenüber Bürgerrechten, sowie sein Vorgehen gegen die kurdische Bevölkerung.

Neben Bruno Kramm sprechen auch das Mitglied des Abeordnetenhauses Simon Kowalewski und die ehem. Mitarbeiterin von RT Deutsch und jetzige Piratin Lea Frings.

Anlass ist der Wirbel, den ein satirischer Videoclip des ARD-Magazins "extra3" verursacht hat. Der sich offensichtlich beleidigt fühlende Erdogan ließ den deutschen Botschafter einbestellen. Inzwischen ist das Video zu einem internationalen, viralen Hit geworden.

With Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu looking on, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is greeted by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan before their bilateral meeting at the Presidential Complex in Ankara, Turkey, on March 30, 2017. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]

ANTALYA, TURKEY - NOVEMBER 15: (Front row L-R) Senegalese President Macky Sall, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, South African President Jacob Zuma, Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, US President Barack Obama, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Russian President Vladimir Putin, South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, (2nd Row L-R) Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Argentina's Economy Minister Axel Kicillof, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (3rd row L-R) World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevedo , International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde, Guy Ryder, Director General of International Labour Organisation (ILO), UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, Angel Gurria (L), Secretary-General of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Bank of England Governor and Financial Stability Board (FSB) Chairman Mark Carney pose for a family photo during the G20 Turkey Leaders Summit on November 15, 2015 in Antalya, Turkey. Volkan Furuncu / Anadolu Agency

Kurdish emigres protest Paris murders at Turkish & French embassies : London 11.01.2013

On 11.01.2013 Kurdish emigres in London protested at the Turkish embassy and then marched to the nearby French embassy to protest about the shocking mass murder on 09.01.2013 in Paris of three female Kurdish political activists including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz in what French police believe to be an execution a targeted assassination. The bodies of the three women - Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress’ (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doan, political activist Leyla Söylemez and Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) co-founder and Women's Movement organiser Sakine Cansız - were discovered behind several combination-locked doors in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris on Wednesday by friends who had been trying since the previous evening to contact the women and who had broken into the centre after discovering bloodstains on the outer doors.

Very shortly after French police were called to the scene (and with what many claim to be suspicious haste), Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party claimed that the murders were the result of “an internal feud” within the PKK. Celik did not offer any evidence to substantiate his assertion, yet also went on to suggest that the slayings were an attempt to derail the peace talks which have been taking place in the notorious high security prison on mralı Island between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan - sentenced to death for treason against the Turkish state in 1999 but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when Turkey was forced to abolish the death sentence as part of it's application to join the EU - and the Turkish government.

The PKK have waged an often violent war against the Turkish government for the last 34 years as part of their campaign to establish an autonomous Kurdish enclave in South-East Turkey. Kurds make up almost 20% of the Turkish population, yet are forbidden by law to even speak their own language and have suffered greatly under Turkish suppression. Since the insurrection began in 1978 it is estimated that over 40,000 people on both sides have lost their lives in violent actions perpetrated in this conflict, and even though the PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, the EU, NATO, Syria and others, the cause of Kurdish nationalism enjoys a huge level of support in the region. Turkish authorities have been concerned about PKK fighters entering Turkey from the autonomous Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria.

Kurdish populations are present in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and have experienced many decades of suppression by their respective states as the Kurds attempt to loosely re-establish their traditional Kurdistan, eradicated during the Ottoman reign, and it is against this long background of armed struggle that has seen large numbers of ethnic Kurds fleeing to Europe to find sanctuary. The Kurdish people I spoke to in Haringey last night said that they no longer feel safe anywhere in Europe after this execution which they lay firmly at the door of what they describe as the "dark, ultra-nationalistic shadow government" operating behind the scenes in Turkey who are violently opposed to any form of settlement or discussion with the Kurds.

Huddled around tables in the large hall adorned with photographs of fallen comrades and a large centrepiece display of their political figurehead, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurds were subdued and in a measured, reflective mood. During the day it had been established by French police that the women had all been shot in the head through the throat using weapons with suppressors (silncers), and it is initially thought that there was possibly more than one gunman. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, so it seems that they were known to at least one of the women - two of whom were slaughtered as they were organising suitcases for their journeys back to Belgium and Germany.

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to license an image, please Email me directly.

Standard industry rates apply.

about.me/peteriches

ANTALYA, TURKEY - NOVEMBER 15: (Front row L-R) Senegalese President Macky Sall, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, South African President Jacob Zuma, Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, US President Barack Obama, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Russian President Vladimir Putin, South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, (2nd Row L-R) Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Argentina's Economy Minister Axel Kicillof, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (3rd row L-R) World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevedo , International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde, Guy Ryder, Director General of International Labour Organisation (ILO), UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, Angel Gurria (L), Secretary-General of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Bank of England Governor and Financial Stability Board (FSB) Chairman Mark Carney pose for a family photo during the G20 Turkey Leaders Summit on November 15, 2015 in Antalya, Turkey. Kayhan Ozer / Anadolu Agency

ANTALYA, TURKEY - NOVEMBER 15: (Front row L-R) Senegalese President Macky Sall, Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, South African President Jacob Zuma, Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, US President Barack Obama, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Russian President Vladimir Putin, South Korean President Park Geun-hye, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, (2nd Row L-R) Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, British Prime Minister David Cameron, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Argentina's Economy Minister Axel Kicillof, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (3rd row L-R) World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Roberto Azevedo , International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde, Guy Ryder, Director General of International Labour Organisation (ILO), UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, Angel Gurria (L), Secretary-General of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Bank of England Governor and Financial Stability Board (FSB) Chairman Mark Carney pose for a family photo during the G20 Turkey Leaders Summit on November 15, 2015 in Antalya, Turkey. Volkan Furuncu / Anadolu Agency

Berlin. 2016.

"Freiheit für die HDP Vorsitzenden und Abgeordneten".

Thorsten Strasas. - Wien | Berlin. - Photographers in Solidarity.

Kurdish emigres protest Paris murders at Turkish & French embassies : London 11.01.2013

On 11.01.2013 Kurdish emigres in London protested at the Turkish embassy and then marched to the nearby French embassy to protest about the shocking mass murder on 09.01.2013 in Paris of three female Kurdish political activists including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz in what French police believe to be an execution a targeted assassination. The bodies of the three women - Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress’ (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doan, political activist Leyla Söylemez and Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) co-founder and Women's Movement organiser Sakine Cansız - were discovered behind several combination-locked doors in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris on Wednesday by friends who had been trying since the previous evening to contact the women and who had broken into the centre after discovering bloodstains on the outer doors.

Very shortly after French police were called to the scene (and with what many claim to be suspicious haste), Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party claimed that the murders were the result of “an internal feud” within the PKK. Celik did not offer any evidence to substantiate his assertion, yet also went on to suggest that the slayings were an attempt to derail the peace talks which have been taking place in the notorious high security prison on mralı Island between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan - sentenced to death for treason against the Turkish state in 1999 but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when Turkey was forced to abolish the death sentence as part of it's application to join the EU - and the Turkish government.

The PKK have waged an often violent war against the Turkish government for the last 34 years as part of their campaign to establish an autonomous Kurdish enclave in South-East Turkey. Kurds make up almost 20% of the Turkish population, yet are forbidden by law to even speak their own language and have suffered greatly under Turkish suppression. Since the insurrection began in 1978 it is estimated that over 40,000 people on both sides have lost their lives in violent actions perpetrated in this conflict, and even though the PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, the EU, NATO, Syria and others, the cause of Kurdish nationalism enjoys a huge level of support in the region. Turkish authorities have been concerned about PKK fighters entering Turkey from the autonomous Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria.

Kurdish populations are present in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and have experienced many decades of suppression by their respective states as the Kurds attempt to loosely re-establish their traditional Kurdistan, eradicated during the Ottoman reign, and it is against this long background of armed struggle that has seen large numbers of ethnic Kurds fleeing to Europe to find sanctuary. The Kurdish people I spoke to in Haringey last night said that they no longer feel safe anywhere in Europe after this execution which they lay firmly at the door of what they describe as the "dark, ultra-nationalistic shadow government" operating behind the scenes in Turkey who are violently opposed to any form of settlement or discussion with the Kurds.

Huddled around tables in the large hall adorned with photographs of fallen comrades and a large centrepiece display of their political figurehead, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurds were subdued and in a measured, reflective mood. During the day it had been established by French police that the women had all been shot in the head through the throat using weapons with suppressors (silncers), and it is initially thought that there was possibly more than one gunman. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, so it seems that they were known to at least one of the women - two of whom were slaughtered as they were organising suitcases for their journeys back to Belgium and Germany.

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to license an image, please Email me directly.

Standard industry rates apply.

about.me/peteriches

Kurdish emigres protest Paris murders at Turkish & French embassies : London 11.01.2013

On 11.01.2013 Kurdish emigres in London protested at the Turkish embassy and then marched to the nearby French embassy to protest about the shocking mass murder on 09.01.2013 in Paris of three female Kurdish political activists including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz in what French police believe to be an execution a targeted assassination. The bodies of the three women - Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress’ (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doan, political activist Leyla Söylemez and Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) co-founder and Women's Movement organiser Sakine Cansız - were discovered behind several combination-locked doors in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris on Wednesday by friends who had been trying since the previous evening to contact the women and who had broken into the centre after discovering bloodstains on the outer doors.

Very shortly after French police were called to the scene (and with what many claim to be suspicious haste), Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party claimed that the murders were the result of “an internal feud” within the PKK. Celik did not offer any evidence to substantiate his assertion, yet also went on to suggest that the slayings were an attempt to derail the peace talks which have been taking place in the notorious high security prison on mralı Island between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan - sentenced to death for treason against the Turkish state in 1999 but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when Turkey was forced to abolish the death sentence as part of it's application to join the EU - and the Turkish government.

The PKK have waged an often violent war against the Turkish government for the last 34 years as part of their campaign to establish an autonomous Kurdish enclave in South-East Turkey. Kurds make up almost 20% of the Turkish population, yet are forbidden by law to even speak their own language and have suffered greatly under Turkish suppression. Since the insurrection began in 1978 it is estimated that over 40,000 people on both sides have lost their lives in violent actions perpetrated in this conflict, and even though the PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, the EU, NATO, Syria and others, the cause of Kurdish nationalism enjoys a huge level of support in the region. Turkish authorities have been concerned about PKK fighters entering Turkey from the autonomous Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria.

Kurdish populations are present in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and have experienced many decades of suppression by their respective states as the Kurds attempt to loosely re-establish their traditional Kurdistan, eradicated during the Ottoman reign, and it is against this long background of armed struggle that has seen large numbers of ethnic Kurds fleeing to Europe to find sanctuary. The Kurdish people I spoke to in Haringey last night said that they no longer feel safe anywhere in Europe after this execution which they lay firmly at the door of what they describe as the "dark, ultra-nationalistic shadow government" operating behind the scenes in Turkey who are violently opposed to any form of settlement or discussion with the Kurds.

Huddled around tables in the large hall adorned with photographs of fallen comrades and a large centrepiece display of their political figurehead, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurds were subdued and in a measured, reflective mood. During the day it had been established by French police that the women had all been shot in the head through the throat using weapons with suppressors (silncers), and it is initially thought that there was possibly more than one gunman. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, so it seems that they were known to at least one of the women - two of whom were slaughtered as they were organising suitcases for their journeys back to Belgium and Germany.

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to license an image, please Email me directly.

Standard industry rates apply.

about.me/peteriches

Rund 350 Kurden und Anhänger linker Gruppen ziehen in Berlin vom Brandenburger Tor zum Bundeskanzleramt und dann weiter zur türkischen Botschaft.

Hintergrund ist die Tötung von 60 Menschen in der türkisch-kurdischen Stadt Cizre (kurdisch: Cizir) am Vortag. Seit Monaten beschießt die türkische Armee und Polizei vorwiegend kurdisch bewohnte Städte als Reaktion auf den Verlust der absoluten Mehrheit bei der letzten Parlamentwahl durch den Einzug der pro-kurdischen HDP und einiger Angriffe der PKK.

Die Situation in den betroffenen Gegenden kommt inzwischen einem Bürgerkrieg gleich.

In Reden wird die gleichzeitig stattfindene, wiederholte Reise der Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel in die Türkei scharf kritisiert. Die Aktivisten werfen Merkel vor, zu den anhaltenden Menschenrechtsverletzungen auf Geheiß von Präsident Recep Tayyip Erdogan und seiner AKP-Regierung zu schweigen.

Die Berliner Piraten unter der Führung ihres Landesvorsitzenden Bruno Kramm protestieren vor der Botschaft der Türkei in Berlin Tiergarten gegen Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Dabei sprechen sich diverse Redner, unter ihnen Mitglieder des Berliner Abgeordnetenhauses, für Demokratie und Presse- sowie Meinungsfreiheit in der Türkei aus. Sie kritisieren den türkischen Präsidenten Recep Tayyip Erdogan für seinen dikatatorischen Führungsstil und seine Haltung gegenüber Bürgerrechten, sowie sein Vorgehen gegen die kurdische Bevölkerung.

Neben Bruno Kramm sprechen auch das Mitglied des Abeordnetenhauses Simon Kowalewski und die ehem. Mitarbeiterin von RT Deutsch und jetzige Piratin Lea Frings.

Anlass ist der Wirbel, den ein satirischer Videoclip des ARD-Magazins "extra3" verursacht hat. Der sich offensichtlich beleidigt fühlende Erdogan ließ den deutschen Botschafter einbestellen. Inzwischen ist das Video zu einem internationalen, viralen Hit geworden.

Kurdish emigres protest Paris murders at Turkish & French embassies : London 11.01.2013

On 11.01.2013 Kurdish emigres in London protested at the Turkish embassy and then marched to the nearby French embassy to protest about the shocking mass murder on 09.01.2013 in Paris of three female Kurdish political activists including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz in what French police believe to be an execution a targeted assassination. The bodies of the three women - Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress’ (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doan, political activist Leyla Söylemez and Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) co-founder and Women's Movement organiser Sakine Cansız - were discovered behind several combination-locked doors in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris on Wednesday by friends who had been trying since the previous evening to contact the women and who had broken into the centre after discovering bloodstains on the outer doors.

Very shortly after French police were called to the scene (and with what many claim to be suspicious haste), Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party claimed that the murders were the result of “an internal feud” within the PKK. Celik did not offer any evidence to substantiate his assertion, yet also went on to suggest that the slayings were an attempt to derail the peace talks which have been taking place in the notorious high security prison on mralı Island between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan - sentenced to death for treason against the Turkish state in 1999 but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when Turkey was forced to abolish the death sentence as part of it's application to join the EU - and the Turkish government.

The PKK have waged an often violent war against the Turkish government for the last 34 years as part of their campaign to establish an autonomous Kurdish enclave in South-East Turkey. Kurds make up almost 20% of the Turkish population, yet are forbidden by law to even speak their own language and have suffered greatly under Turkish suppression. Since the insurrection began in 1978 it is estimated that over 40,000 people on both sides have lost their lives in violent actions perpetrated in this conflict, and even though the PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, the EU, NATO, Syria and others, the cause of Kurdish nationalism enjoys a huge level of support in the region. Turkish authorities have been concerned about PKK fighters entering Turkey from the autonomous Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria.

Kurdish populations are present in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and have experienced many decades of suppression by their respective states as the Kurds attempt to loosely re-establish their traditional Kurdistan, eradicated during the Ottoman reign, and it is against this long background of armed struggle that has seen large numbers of ethnic Kurds fleeing to Europe to find sanctuary. The Kurdish people I spoke to in Haringey last night said that they no longer feel safe anywhere in Europe after this execution which they lay firmly at the door of what they describe as the "dark, ultra-nationalistic shadow government" operating behind the scenes in Turkey who are violently opposed to any form of settlement or discussion with the Kurds.

Huddled around tables in the large hall adorned with photographs of fallen comrades and a large centrepiece display of their political figurehead, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurds were subdued and in a measured, reflective mood. During the day it had been established by French police that the women had all been shot in the head through the throat using weapons with suppressors (silncers), and it is initially thought that there was possibly more than one gunman. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, so it seems that they were known to at least one of the women - two of whom were slaughtered as they were organising suitcases for their journeys back to Belgium and Germany.

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to license an image, please Email me directly.

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about.me/peteriches

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, with U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden, right, delivers remarks in honor of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on May 16, 2013. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]

Kurdish emigres protest Paris murders at Turkish & French embassies : London 11.01.2013

On 11.01.2013 Kurdish emigres in London protested at the Turkish embassy and then marched to the nearby French embassy to protest about the shocking mass murder on 09.01.2013 in Paris of three female Kurdish political activists including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz in what French police believe to be an execution a targeted assassination. The bodies of the three women - Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress’ (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doan, political activist Leyla Söylemez and Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) co-founder and Women's Movement organiser Sakine Cansız - were discovered behind several combination-locked doors in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris on Wednesday by friends who had been trying since the previous evening to contact the women and who had broken into the centre after discovering bloodstains on the outer doors.

Very shortly after French police were called to the scene (and with what many claim to be suspicious haste), Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party claimed that the murders were the result of “an internal feud” within the PKK. Celik did not offer any evidence to substantiate his assertion, yet also went on to suggest that the slayings were an attempt to derail the peace talks which have been taking place in the notorious high security prison on mralı Island between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan - sentenced to death for treason against the Turkish state in 1999 but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when Turkey was forced to abolish the death sentence as part of it's application to join the EU - and the Turkish government.

The PKK have waged an often violent war against the Turkish government for the last 34 years as part of their campaign to establish an autonomous Kurdish enclave in South-East Turkey. Kurds make up almost 20% of the Turkish population, yet are forbidden by law to even speak their own language and have suffered greatly under Turkish suppression. Since the insurrection began in 1978 it is estimated that over 40,000 people on both sides have lost their lives in violent actions perpetrated in this conflict, and even though the PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, the EU, NATO, Syria and others, the cause of Kurdish nationalism enjoys a huge level of support in the region. Turkish authorities have been concerned about PKK fighters entering Turkey from the autonomous Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria.

Kurdish populations are present in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and have experienced many decades of suppression by their respective states as the Kurds attempt to loosely re-establish their traditional Kurdistan, eradicated during the Ottoman reign, and it is against this long background of armed struggle that has seen large numbers of ethnic Kurds fleeing to Europe to find sanctuary. The Kurdish people I spoke to in Haringey last night said that they no longer feel safe anywhere in Europe after this execution which they lay firmly at the door of what they describe as the "dark, ultra-nationalistic shadow government" operating behind the scenes in Turkey who are violently opposed to any form of settlement or discussion with the Kurds.

Huddled around tables in the large hall adorned with photographs of fallen comrades and a large centrepiece display of their political figurehead, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurds were subdued and in a measured, reflective mood. During the day it had been established by French police that the women had all been shot in the head through the throat using weapons with suppressors (silncers), and it is initially thought that there was possibly more than one gunman. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, so it seems that they were known to at least one of the women - two of whom were slaughtered as they were organising suitcases for their journeys back to Belgium and Germany.

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to license an image, please Email me directly.

Standard industry rates apply.

about.me/peteriches

Kurdish emigres protest Paris murders at Turkish & French embassies : London 11.01.2013

On 11.01.2013 Kurdish emigres in London protested at the Turkish embassy and then marched to the nearby French embassy to protest about the shocking mass murder on 09.01.2013 in Paris of three female Kurdish political activists including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz in what French police believe to be an execution a targeted assassination. The bodies of the three women - Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress’ (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doan, political activist Leyla Söylemez and Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) co-founder and Women's Movement organiser Sakine Cansız - were discovered behind several combination-locked doors in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris on Wednesday by friends who had been trying since the previous evening to contact the women and who had broken into the centre after discovering bloodstains on the outer doors.

Very shortly after French police were called to the scene (and with what many claim to be suspicious haste), Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party claimed that the murders were the result of “an internal feud” within the PKK. Celik did not offer any evidence to substantiate his assertion, yet also went on to suggest that the slayings were an attempt to derail the peace talks which have been taking place in the notorious high security prison on mralı Island between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan - sentenced to death for treason against the Turkish state in 1999 but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when Turkey was forced to abolish the death sentence as part of it's application to join the EU - and the Turkish government.

The PKK have waged an often violent war against the Turkish government for the last 34 years as part of their campaign to establish an autonomous Kurdish enclave in South-East Turkey. Kurds make up almost 20% of the Turkish population, yet are forbidden by law to even speak their own language and have suffered greatly under Turkish suppression. Since the insurrection began in 1978 it is estimated that over 40,000 people on both sides have lost their lives in violent actions perpetrated in this conflict, and even though the PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, the EU, NATO, Syria and others, the cause of Kurdish nationalism enjoys a huge level of support in the region. Turkish authorities have been concerned about PKK fighters entering Turkey from the autonomous Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria.

Kurdish populations are present in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and have experienced many decades of suppression by their respective states as the Kurds attempt to loosely re-establish their traditional Kurdistan, eradicated during the Ottoman reign, and it is against this long background of armed struggle that has seen large numbers of ethnic Kurds fleeing to Europe to find sanctuary. The Kurdish people I spoke to in Haringey last night said that they no longer feel safe anywhere in Europe after this execution which they lay firmly at the door of what they describe as the "dark, ultra-nationalistic shadow government" operating behind the scenes in Turkey who are violently opposed to any form of settlement or discussion with the Kurds.

Huddled around tables in the large hall adorned with photographs of fallen comrades and a large centrepiece display of their political figurehead, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurds were subdued and in a measured, reflective mood. During the day it had been established by French police that the women had all been shot in the head through the throat using weapons with suppressors (silncers), and it is initially thought that there was possibly more than one gunman. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, so it seems that they were known to at least one of the women - two of whom were slaughtered as they were organising suitcases for their journeys back to Belgium and Germany.

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to license an image, please Email me directly.

Standard industry rates apply.

about.me/peteriches

Kurdish emigres protest Paris murders at Turkish & French embassies : London 11.01.2013

On 11.01.2013 Kurdish emigres in London protested at the Turkish embassy and then marched to the nearby French embassy to protest about the shocking mass murder on 09.01.2013 in Paris of three female Kurdish political activists including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz in what French police believe to be an execution a targeted assassination. The bodies of the three women - Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress’ (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doan, political activist Leyla Söylemez and Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) co-founder and Women's Movement organiser Sakine Cansız - were discovered behind several combination-locked doors in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris on Wednesday by friends who had been trying since the previous evening to contact the women and who had broken into the centre after discovering bloodstains on the outer doors.

Very shortly after French police were called to the scene (and with what many claim to be suspicious haste), Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party claimed that the murders were the result of “an internal feud” within the PKK. Celik did not offer any evidence to substantiate his assertion, yet also went on to suggest that the slayings were an attempt to derail the peace talks which have been taking place in the notorious high security prison on mralı Island between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan - sentenced to death for treason against the Turkish state in 1999 but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when Turkey was forced to abolish the death sentence as part of it's application to join the EU - and the Turkish government.

The PKK have waged an often violent war against the Turkish government for the last 34 years as part of their campaign to establish an autonomous Kurdish enclave in South-East Turkey. Kurds make up almost 20% of the Turkish population, yet are forbidden by law to even speak their own language and have suffered greatly under Turkish suppression. Since the insurrection began in 1978 it is estimated that over 40,000 people on both sides have lost their lives in violent actions perpetrated in this conflict, and even though the PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, the EU, NATO, Syria and others, the cause of Kurdish nationalism enjoys a huge level of support in the region. Turkish authorities have been concerned about PKK fighters entering Turkey from the autonomous Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria.

Kurdish populations are present in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and have experienced many decades of suppression by their respective states as the Kurds attempt to loosely re-establish their traditional Kurdistan, eradicated during the Ottoman reign, and it is against this long background of armed struggle that has seen large numbers of ethnic Kurds fleeing to Europe to find sanctuary. The Kurdish people I spoke to in Haringey last night said that they no longer feel safe anywhere in Europe after this execution which they lay firmly at the door of what they describe as the "dark, ultra-nationalistic shadow government" operating behind the scenes in Turkey who are violently opposed to any form of settlement or discussion with the Kurds.

Huddled around tables in the large hall adorned with photographs of fallen comrades and a large centrepiece display of their political figurehead, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurds were subdued and in a measured, reflective mood. During the day it had been established by French police that the women had all been shot in the head through the throat using weapons with suppressors (silncers), and it is initially thought that there was possibly more than one gunman. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, so it seems that they were known to at least one of the women - two of whom were slaughtered as they were organising suitcases for their journeys back to Belgium and Germany.

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to license an image, please Email me directly.

Standard industry rates apply.

about.me/peteriches

Rund 350 Kurden und Anhänger linker Gruppen ziehen in Berlin vom Brandenburger Tor zum Bundeskanzleramt und dann weiter zur türkischen Botschaft.

Hintergrund ist die Tötung von 60 Menschen in der türkisch-kurdischen Stadt Cizre (kurdisch: Cizir) am Vortag. Seit Monaten beschießt die türkische Armee und Polizei vorwiegend kurdisch bewohnte Städte als Reaktion auf den Verlust der absoluten Mehrheit bei der letzten Parlamentwahl durch den Einzug der pro-kurdischen HDP und einiger Angriffe der PKK.

Die Situation in den betroffenen Gegenden kommt inzwischen einem Bürgerkrieg gleich.

In Reden wird die gleichzeitig stattfindene, wiederholte Reise der Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel in die Türkei scharf kritisiert. Die Aktivisten werfen Merkel vor, zu den anhaltenden Menschenrechtsverletzungen auf Geheiß von Präsident Recep Tayyip Erdogan und seiner AKP-Regierung zu schweigen.

Die Berliner Piraten unter der Führung ihres Landesvorsitzenden Bruno Kramm protestieren vor der Botschaft der Türkei in Berlin Tiergarten gegen Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Dabei sprechen sich diverse Redner, unter ihnen Mitglieder des Berliner Abgeordnetenhauses, für Demokratie und Presse- sowie Meinungsfreiheit in der Türkei aus. Sie kritisieren den türkischen Präsidenten Recep Tayyip Erdogan für seinen dikatatorischen Führungsstil und seine Haltung gegenüber Bürgerrechten, sowie sein Vorgehen gegen die kurdische Bevölkerung.

Neben Bruno Kramm sprechen auch das Mitglied des Abeordnetenhauses Simon Kowalewski und die ehem. Mitarbeiterin von RT Deutsch und jetzige Piratin Lea Frings.

Anlass ist der Wirbel, den ein satirischer Videoclip des ARD-Magazins "extra3" verursacht hat. Der sich offensichtlich beleidigt fühlende Erdogan ließ den deutschen Botschafter einbestellen. Inzwischen ist das Video zu einem internationalen, viralen Hit geworden.

Kurdish emigres protest Paris murders at Turkish & French embassies : London 11.01.2013

On 11.01.2013 Kurdish emigres in London protested at the Turkish embassy and then marched to the nearby French embassy to protest about the shocking mass murder on 09.01.2013 in Paris of three female Kurdish political activists including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz in what French police believe to be an execution a targeted assassination. The bodies of the three women - Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress’ (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doan, political activist Leyla Söylemez and Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) co-founder and Women's Movement organiser Sakine Cansız - were discovered behind several combination-locked doors in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris on Wednesday by friends who had been trying since the previous evening to contact the women and who had broken into the centre after discovering bloodstains on the outer doors.

Very shortly after French police were called to the scene (and with what many claim to be suspicious haste), Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party claimed that the murders were the result of “an internal feud” within the PKK. Celik did not offer any evidence to substantiate his assertion, yet also went on to suggest that the slayings were an attempt to derail the peace talks which have been taking place in the notorious high security prison on mralı Island between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan - sentenced to death for treason against the Turkish state in 1999 but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when Turkey was forced to abolish the death sentence as part of it's application to join the EU - and the Turkish government.

The PKK have waged an often violent war against the Turkish government for the last 34 years as part of their campaign to establish an autonomous Kurdish enclave in South-East Turkey. Kurds make up almost 20% of the Turkish population, yet are forbidden by law to even speak their own language and have suffered greatly under Turkish suppression. Since the insurrection began in 1978 it is estimated that over 40,000 people on both sides have lost their lives in violent actions perpetrated in this conflict, and even though the PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, the EU, NATO, Syria and others, the cause of Kurdish nationalism enjoys a huge level of support in the region. Turkish authorities have been concerned about PKK fighters entering Turkey from the autonomous Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria.

Kurdish populations are present in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and have experienced many decades of suppression by their respective states as the Kurds attempt to loosely re-establish their traditional Kurdistan, eradicated during the Ottoman reign, and it is against this long background of armed struggle that has seen large numbers of ethnic Kurds fleeing to Europe to find sanctuary. The Kurdish people I spoke to in Haringey last night said that they no longer feel safe anywhere in Europe after this execution which they lay firmly at the door of what they describe as the "dark, ultra-nationalistic shadow government" operating behind the scenes in Turkey who are violently opposed to any form of settlement or discussion with the Kurds.

Huddled around tables in the large hall adorned with photographs of fallen comrades and a large centrepiece display of their political figurehead, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurds were subdued and in a measured, reflective mood. During the day it had been established by French police that the women had all been shot in the head through the throat using weapons with suppressors (silncers), and it is initially thought that there was possibly more than one gunman. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, so it seems that they were known to at least one of the women - two of whom were slaughtered as they were organising suitcases for their journeys back to Belgium and Germany.

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to license an image, please Email me directly.

Standard industry rates apply.

about.me/peteriches

Rund 50 Kurden demonstrieren auf dem Breitscheidplatz am Fuße der Gedächtniskirche gegen die anhaltende Aggression der türkischen Regierung gegen Kurden, die zu bürgerkriegsähnlichen Zuständen in Städten wie Cizre und Diyarbakır geführt haben.

Kurdish emigres protest Paris murders at Turkish & French embassies : London 11.01.2013

On 11.01.2013 Kurdish emigres in London protested at the Turkish embassy and then marched to the nearby French embassy to protest about the shocking mass murder on 09.01.2013 in Paris of three female Kurdish political activists including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz in what French police believe to be an execution a targeted assassination. The bodies of the three women - Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress’ (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doan, political activist Leyla Söylemez and Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) co-founder and Women's Movement organiser Sakine Cansız - were discovered behind several combination-locked doors in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris on Wednesday by friends who had been trying since the previous evening to contact the women and who had broken into the centre after discovering bloodstains on the outer doors.

Very shortly after French police were called to the scene (and with what many claim to be suspicious haste), Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party claimed that the murders were the result of “an internal feud” within the PKK. Celik did not offer any evidence to substantiate his assertion, yet also went on to suggest that the slayings were an attempt to derail the peace talks which have been taking place in the notorious high security prison on mralı Island between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan - sentenced to death for treason against the Turkish state in 1999 but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when Turkey was forced to abolish the death sentence as part of it's application to join the EU - and the Turkish government.

The PKK have waged an often violent war against the Turkish government for the last 34 years as part of their campaign to establish an autonomous Kurdish enclave in South-East Turkey. Kurds make up almost 20% of the Turkish population, yet are forbidden by law to even speak their own language and have suffered greatly under Turkish suppression. Since the insurrection began in 1978 it is estimated that over 40,000 people on both sides have lost their lives in violent actions perpetrated in this conflict, and even though the PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, the EU, NATO, Syria and others, the cause of Kurdish nationalism enjoys a huge level of support in the region. Turkish authorities have been concerned about PKK fighters entering Turkey from the autonomous Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria.

Kurdish populations are present in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and have experienced many decades of suppression by their respective states as the Kurds attempt to loosely re-establish their traditional Kurdistan, eradicated during the Ottoman reign, and it is against this long background of armed struggle that has seen large numbers of ethnic Kurds fleeing to Europe to find sanctuary. The Kurdish people I spoke to in Haringey last night said that they no longer feel safe anywhere in Europe after this execution which they lay firmly at the door of what they describe as the "dark, ultra-nationalistic shadow government" operating behind the scenes in Turkey who are violently opposed to any form of settlement or discussion with the Kurds.

Huddled around tables in the large hall adorned with photographs of fallen comrades and a large centrepiece display of their political figurehead, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurds were subdued and in a measured, reflective mood. During the day it had been established by French police that the women had all been shot in the head through the throat using weapons with suppressors (silncers), and it is initially thought that there was possibly more than one gunman. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, so it seems that they were known to at least one of the women - two of whom were slaughtered as they were organising suitcases for their journeys back to Belgium and Germany.

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to license an image, please Email me directly.

Standard industry rates apply.

about.me/peteriches

Mehrere Dutzend Kurden protestieren in Berlin am Kottbusser Tor in Kreuzberg gegen die fortgesetzten Angriffe des türkischen Staates mittels Polizei und Armee auf überwiegend kurdisch bewohnte Städte wie Cizre. Zudem fordern sie zu einem Dialog mit Abdullah Öcalan, dem Führer der PKK, auf , um einen Friedensprozess zwischen den Kurden und der türkischen Politik zu erreichen.

Auf Transparenten fordern sie Frieden für Rojava, sowie eine Beendigung der Isolierung von Abdullah Öcalan. Mit Blechen und Kochlöffeln erzeugter Lärm soll die Passanten auf die Lage der Kurden aufmerksam machen.

Kurdish emigres protest Paris murders at Turkish & French embassies : London 11.01.2013

On 11.01.2013 Kurdish emigres in London protested at the Turkish embassy and then marched to the nearby French embassy to protest about the shocking mass murder on 09.01.2013 in Paris of three female Kurdish political activists including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz in what French police believe to be an execution a targeted assassination. The bodies of the three women - Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress’ (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doan, political activist Leyla Söylemez and Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) co-founder and Women's Movement organiser Sakine Cansız - were discovered behind several combination-locked doors in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris on Wednesday by friends who had been trying since the previous evening to contact the women and who had broken into the centre after discovering bloodstains on the outer doors.

Very shortly after French police were called to the scene (and with what many claim to be suspicious haste), Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party claimed that the murders were the result of “an internal feud” within the PKK. Celik did not offer any evidence to substantiate his assertion, yet also went on to suggest that the slayings were an attempt to derail the peace talks which have been taking place in the notorious high security prison on mralı Island between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan - sentenced to death for treason against the Turkish state in 1999 but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when Turkey was forced to abolish the death sentence as part of it's application to join the EU - and the Turkish government.

The PKK have waged an often violent war against the Turkish government for the last 34 years as part of their campaign to establish an autonomous Kurdish enclave in South-East Turkey. Kurds make up almost 20% of the Turkish population, yet are forbidden by law to even speak their own language and have suffered greatly under Turkish suppression. Since the insurrection began in 1978 it is estimated that over 40,000 people on both sides have lost their lives in violent actions perpetrated in this conflict, and even though the PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, the EU, NATO, Syria and others, the cause of Kurdish nationalism enjoys a huge level of support in the region. Turkish authorities have been concerned about PKK fighters entering Turkey from the autonomous Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria.

Kurdish populations are present in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and have experienced many decades of suppression by their respective states as the Kurds attempt to loosely re-establish their traditional Kurdistan, eradicated during the Ottoman reign, and it is against this long background of armed struggle that has seen large numbers of ethnic Kurds fleeing to Europe to find sanctuary. The Kurdish people I spoke to in Haringey last night said that they no longer feel safe anywhere in Europe after this execution which they lay firmly at the door of what they describe as the "dark, ultra-nationalistic shadow government" operating behind the scenes in Turkey who are violently opposed to any form of settlement or discussion with the Kurds.

Huddled around tables in the large hall adorned with photographs of fallen comrades and a large centrepiece display of their political figurehead, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurds were subdued and in a measured, reflective mood. During the day it had been established by French police that the women had all been shot in the head through the throat using weapons with suppressors (silncers), and it is initially thought that there was possibly more than one gunman. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, so it seems that they were known to at least one of the women - two of whom were slaughtered as they were organising suitcases for their journeys back to Belgium and Germany.

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to license an image, please Email me directly.

Standard industry rates apply.

about.me/peteriches

Kurdish emigres protest Paris murders at Turkish & French embassies : London 11.01.2013

On 11.01.2013 Kurdish emigres in London protested at the Turkish embassy and then marched to the nearby French embassy to protest about the shocking mass murder on 09.01.2013 in Paris of three female Kurdish political activists including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz in what French police believe to be an execution a targeted assassination. The bodies of the three women - Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress’ (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doan, political activist Leyla Söylemez and Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) co-founder and Women's Movement organiser Sakine Cansız - were discovered behind several combination-locked doors in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris on Wednesday by friends who had been trying since the previous evening to contact the women and who had broken into the centre after discovering bloodstains on the outer doors.

Very shortly after French police were called to the scene (and with what many claim to be suspicious haste), Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party claimed that the murders were the result of “an internal feud” within the PKK. Celik did not offer any evidence to substantiate his assertion, yet also went on to suggest that the slayings were an attempt to derail the peace talks which have been taking place in the notorious high security prison on mralı Island between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan - sentenced to death for treason against the Turkish state in 1999 but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when Turkey was forced to abolish the death sentence as part of it's application to join the EU - and the Turkish government.

The PKK have waged an often violent war against the Turkish government for the last 34 years as part of their campaign to establish an autonomous Kurdish enclave in South-East Turkey. Kurds make up almost 20% of the Turkish population, yet are forbidden by law to even speak their own language and have suffered greatly under Turkish suppression. Since the insurrection began in 1978 it is estimated that over 40,000 people on both sides have lost their lives in violent actions perpetrated in this conflict, and even though the PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, the EU, NATO, Syria and others, the cause of Kurdish nationalism enjoys a huge level of support in the region. Turkish authorities have been concerned about PKK fighters entering Turkey from the autonomous Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria.

Kurdish populations are present in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and have experienced many decades of suppression by their respective states as the Kurds attempt to loosely re-establish their traditional Kurdistan, eradicated during the Ottoman reign, and it is against this long background of armed struggle that has seen large numbers of ethnic Kurds fleeing to Europe to find sanctuary. The Kurdish people I spoke to in Haringey last night said that they no longer feel safe anywhere in Europe after this execution which they lay firmly at the door of what they describe as the "dark, ultra-nationalistic shadow government" operating behind the scenes in Turkey who are violently opposed to any form of settlement or discussion with the Kurds.

Huddled around tables in the large hall adorned with photographs of fallen comrades and a large centrepiece display of their political figurehead, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurds were subdued and in a measured, reflective mood. During the day it had been established by French police that the women had all been shot in the head through the throat using weapons with suppressors (silncers), and it is initially thought that there was possibly more than one gunman. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, so it seems that they were known to at least one of the women - two of whom were slaughtered as they were organising suitcases for their journeys back to Belgium and Germany.

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to license an image, please Email me directly.

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about.me/peteriches

Rund 800 Türken versammeln sich am Brandenburger Tor in Berlin, um gegen Terror zu protestieren. Gemeint sind dabei Gruppen wie die PKK, die syrisch-kurdische PYD und Daesh. Die Teilnehmer waren überwiegend glühende Anhänger des türkischen Präsidenten Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Dieser wurde auch in den Redebeiträgen gelobt. Vereinzelt wurde von Teilnehmern der Wolfsgruß der ultra-nationalistischen, rechtsradikalen Grauen Wölfe gezeigt.

Die Polizei sperrte den Bereich ab, um ein Aufeinandertreffen mit einer zeitgleich stattfindenden kurdischen Gegenkundgebung zu verhindern.

Kurdish emigres protest Paris murders at Turkish & French embassies : London 11.01.2013

On 11.01.2013 Kurdish emigres in London protested at the Turkish embassy and then marched to the nearby French embassy to protest about the shocking mass murder on 09.01.2013 in Paris of three female Kurdish political activists including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz in what French police believe to be an execution a targeted assassination. The bodies of the three women - Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress’ (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doan, political activist Leyla Söylemez and Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) co-founder and Women's Movement organiser Sakine Cansız - were discovered behind several combination-locked doors in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris on Wednesday by friends who had been trying since the previous evening to contact the women and who had broken into the centre after discovering bloodstains on the outer doors.

Very shortly after French police were called to the scene (and with what many claim to be suspicious haste), Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party claimed that the murders were the result of “an internal feud” within the PKK. Celik did not offer any evidence to substantiate his assertion, yet also went on to suggest that the slayings were an attempt to derail the peace talks which have been taking place in the notorious high security prison on mralı Island between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan - sentenced to death for treason against the Turkish state in 1999 but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when Turkey was forced to abolish the death sentence as part of it's application to join the EU - and the Turkish government.

The PKK have waged an often violent war against the Turkish government for the last 34 years as part of their campaign to establish an autonomous Kurdish enclave in South-East Turkey. Kurds make up almost 20% of the Turkish population, yet are forbidden by law to even speak their own language and have suffered greatly under Turkish suppression. Since the insurrection began in 1978 it is estimated that over 40,000 people on both sides have lost their lives in violent actions perpetrated in this conflict, and even though the PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, the EU, NATO, Syria and others, the cause of Kurdish nationalism enjoys a huge level of support in the region. Turkish authorities have been concerned about PKK fighters entering Turkey from the autonomous Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria.

Kurdish populations are present in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and have experienced many decades of suppression by their respective states as the Kurds attempt to loosely re-establish their traditional Kurdistan, eradicated during the Ottoman reign, and it is against this long background of armed struggle that has seen large numbers of ethnic Kurds fleeing to Europe to find sanctuary. The Kurdish people I spoke to in Haringey last night said that they no longer feel safe anywhere in Europe after this execution which they lay firmly at the door of what they describe as the "dark, ultra-nationalistic shadow government" operating behind the scenes in Turkey who are violently opposed to any form of settlement or discussion with the Kurds.

Huddled around tables in the large hall adorned with photographs of fallen comrades and a large centrepiece display of their political figurehead, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurds were subdued and in a measured, reflective mood. During the day it had been established by French police that the women had all been shot in the head through the throat using weapons with suppressors (silncers), and it is initially thought that there was possibly more than one gunman. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, so it seems that they were known to at least one of the women - two of whom were slaughtered as they were organising suitcases for their journeys back to Belgium and Germany.

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to license an image, please Email me directly.

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about.me/peteriches

Zum dritten Mal protestiert der Berliner Landesverband der Piraten vor der Botschaft der Türkei in Berlin für Presse- und Meinungsfreiheit. Anlass sind die Diskussionen um den satirischen Beitrag des ARD-Magazins "extra3", welches zur Einbestellung des deutschen Botschafters in der Türkei geführt hat, sowie die Anzeige von Recep Tayyip Erdogan gegen den deutschen TV-Moderator Jan Böhmermann. Mit letzterem solidarisieren sich die Berliner Piraten ausdrücklich. Überschattet wird die Kundgebung von der erst Stunden zuvor bekannt gegebenen Entscheidung der Bundesregierung ein Verfahren wegen "Beleidigung eines Staatsoberhauptes" zuzulassen.

Unter den Rednern sind der Berliner Landesvorsitzende Bruno Kramm, die ehem. Mitarbeiterin von RT Deutsch und jetzige Piraten-Kandidatin Lea Frinds und ihr Lebensgefährte Marsili Cronberg. Außerdem das Mitglied des Abeordnetenhauses Simon Kowalewski.

Teilgenommen haben ebenfalls Kurden und Jesiden.

Kurdish emigres protest Paris murders at Turkish & French embassies : London 11.01.2013

On 11.01.2013 Kurdish emigres in London protested at the Turkish embassy and then marched to the nearby French embassy to protest about the shocking mass murder on 09.01.2013 in Paris of three female Kurdish political activists including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz in what French police believe to be an execution a targeted assassination. The bodies of the three women - Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress’ (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doan, political activist Leyla Söylemez and Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) co-founder and Women's Movement organiser Sakine Cansız - were discovered behind several combination-locked doors in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris on Wednesday by friends who had been trying since the previous evening to contact the women and who had broken into the centre after discovering bloodstains on the outer doors.

Very shortly after French police were called to the scene (and with what many claim to be suspicious haste), Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party claimed that the murders were the result of “an internal feud” within the PKK. Celik did not offer any evidence to substantiate his assertion, yet also went on to suggest that the slayings were an attempt to derail the peace talks which have been taking place in the notorious high security prison on mralı Island between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan - sentenced to death for treason against the Turkish state in 1999 but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when Turkey was forced to abolish the death sentence as part of it's application to join the EU - and the Turkish government.

The PKK have waged an often violent war against the Turkish government for the last 34 years as part of their campaign to establish an autonomous Kurdish enclave in South-East Turkey. Kurds make up almost 20% of the Turkish population, yet are forbidden by law to even speak their own language and have suffered greatly under Turkish suppression. Since the insurrection began in 1978 it is estimated that over 40,000 people on both sides have lost their lives in violent actions perpetrated in this conflict, and even though the PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, the EU, NATO, Syria and others, the cause of Kurdish nationalism enjoys a huge level of support in the region. Turkish authorities have been concerned about PKK fighters entering Turkey from the autonomous Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria.

Kurdish populations are present in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and have experienced many decades of suppression by their respective states as the Kurds attempt to loosely re-establish their traditional Kurdistan, eradicated during the Ottoman reign, and it is against this long background of armed struggle that has seen large numbers of ethnic Kurds fleeing to Europe to find sanctuary. The Kurdish people I spoke to in Haringey last night said that they no longer feel safe anywhere in Europe after this execution which they lay firmly at the door of what they describe as the "dark, ultra-nationalistic shadow government" operating behind the scenes in Turkey who are violently opposed to any form of settlement or discussion with the Kurds.

Huddled around tables in the large hall adorned with photographs of fallen comrades and a large centrepiece display of their political figurehead, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurds were subdued and in a measured, reflective mood. During the day it had been established by French police that the women had all been shot in the head through the throat using weapons with suppressors (silncers), and it is initially thought that there was possibly more than one gunman. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, so it seems that they were known to at least one of the women - two of whom were slaughtered as they were organising suitcases for their journeys back to Belgium and Germany.

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to license an image, please Email me directly.

Standard industry rates apply.

about.me/peteriches

Kurdish emigres protest Paris murders at Turkish & French embassies : London 11.01.2013

On 11.01.2013 Kurdish emigres in London protested at the Turkish embassy and then marched to the nearby French embassy to protest about the shocking mass murder on 09.01.2013 in Paris of three female Kurdish political activists including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz in what French police believe to be an execution a targeted assassination. The bodies of the three women - Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress’ (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doan, political activist Leyla Söylemez and Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) co-founder and Women's Movement organiser Sakine Cansız - were discovered behind several combination-locked doors in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris on Wednesday by friends who had been trying since the previous evening to contact the women and who had broken into the centre after discovering bloodstains on the outer doors.

Very shortly after French police were called to the scene (and with what many claim to be suspicious haste), Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party claimed that the murders were the result of “an internal feud” within the PKK. Celik did not offer any evidence to substantiate his assertion, yet also went on to suggest that the slayings were an attempt to derail the peace talks which have been taking place in the notorious high security prison on mralı Island between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan - sentenced to death for treason against the Turkish state in 1999 but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when Turkey was forced to abolish the death sentence as part of it's application to join the EU - and the Turkish government.

The PKK have waged an often violent war against the Turkish government for the last 34 years as part of their campaign to establish an autonomous Kurdish enclave in South-East Turkey. Kurds make up almost 20% of the Turkish population, yet are forbidden by law to even speak their own language and have suffered greatly under Turkish suppression. Since the insurrection began in 1978 it is estimated that over 40,000 people on both sides have lost their lives in violent actions perpetrated in this conflict, and even though the PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, the EU, NATO, Syria and others, the cause of Kurdish nationalism enjoys a huge level of support in the region. Turkish authorities have been concerned about PKK fighters entering Turkey from the autonomous Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria.

Kurdish populations are present in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and have experienced many decades of suppression by their respective states as the Kurds attempt to loosely re-establish their traditional Kurdistan, eradicated during the Ottoman reign, and it is against this long background of armed struggle that has seen large numbers of ethnic Kurds fleeing to Europe to find sanctuary. The Kurdish people I spoke to in Haringey last night said that they no longer feel safe anywhere in Europe after this execution which they lay firmly at the door of what they describe as the "dark, ultra-nationalistic shadow government" operating behind the scenes in Turkey who are violently opposed to any form of settlement or discussion with the Kurds.

Huddled around tables in the large hall adorned with photographs of fallen comrades and a large centrepiece display of their political figurehead, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurds were subdued and in a measured, reflective mood. During the day it had been established by French police that the women had all been shot in the head through the throat using weapons with suppressors (silncers), and it is initially thought that there was possibly more than one gunman. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, so it seems that they were known to at least one of the women - two of whom were slaughtered as they were organising suitcases for their journeys back to Belgium and Germany.

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to license an image, please Email me directly.

Standard industry rates apply.

about.me/peteriches

Kurdish emigres protest Paris murders at Turkish & French embassies : London 11.01.2013

On 11.01.2013 Kurdish emigres in London protested at the Turkish embassy and then marched to the nearby French embassy to protest about the shocking mass murder on 09.01.2013 in Paris of three female Kurdish political activists including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz in what French police believe to be an execution a targeted assassination. The bodies of the three women - Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress’ (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doan, political activist Leyla Söylemez and Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) co-founder and Women's Movement organiser Sakine Cansız - were discovered behind several combination-locked doors in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris on Wednesday by friends who had been trying since the previous evening to contact the women and who had broken into the centre after discovering bloodstains on the outer doors.

Very shortly after French police were called to the scene (and with what many claim to be suspicious haste), Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party claimed that the murders were the result of “an internal feud” within the PKK. Celik did not offer any evidence to substantiate his assertion, yet also went on to suggest that the slayings were an attempt to derail the peace talks which have been taking place in the notorious high security prison on mralı Island between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan - sentenced to death for treason against the Turkish state in 1999 but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when Turkey was forced to abolish the death sentence as part of it's application to join the EU - and the Turkish government.

The PKK have waged an often violent war against the Turkish government for the last 34 years as part of their campaign to establish an autonomous Kurdish enclave in South-East Turkey. Kurds make up almost 20% of the Turkish population, yet are forbidden by law to even speak their own language and have suffered greatly under Turkish suppression. Since the insurrection began in 1978 it is estimated that over 40,000 people on both sides have lost their lives in violent actions perpetrated in this conflict, and even though the PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, the EU, NATO, Syria and others, the cause of Kurdish nationalism enjoys a huge level of support in the region. Turkish authorities have been concerned about PKK fighters entering Turkey from the autonomous Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria.

Kurdish populations are present in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and have experienced many decades of suppression by their respective states as the Kurds attempt to loosely re-establish their traditional Kurdistan, eradicated during the Ottoman reign, and it is against this long background of armed struggle that has seen large numbers of ethnic Kurds fleeing to Europe to find sanctuary. The Kurdish people I spoke to in Haringey last night said that they no longer feel safe anywhere in Europe after this execution which they lay firmly at the door of what they describe as the "dark, ultra-nationalistic shadow government" operating behind the scenes in Turkey who are violently opposed to any form of settlement or discussion with the Kurds.

Huddled around tables in the large hall adorned with photographs of fallen comrades and a large centrepiece display of their political figurehead, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurds were subdued and in a measured, reflective mood. During the day it had been established by French police that the women had all been shot in the head through the throat using weapons with suppressors (silncers), and it is initially thought that there was possibly more than one gunman. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, so it seems that they were known to at least one of the women - two of whom were slaughtered as they were organising suitcases for their journeys back to Belgium and Germany.

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to license an image, please Email me directly.

Standard industry rates apply.

about.me/peteriches

Kurdish emigres protest Paris murders at Turkish & French embassies : London 11.01.2013

On 11.01.2013 Kurdish emigres in London protested at the Turkish embassy and then marched to the nearby French embassy to protest about the shocking mass murder on 09.01.2013 in Paris of three female Kurdish political activists including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz in what French police believe to be an execution a targeted assassination. The bodies of the three women - Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress’ (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doan, political activist Leyla Söylemez and Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) co-founder and Women's Movement organiser Sakine Cansız - were discovered behind several combination-locked doors in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris on Wednesday by friends who had been trying since the previous evening to contact the women and who had broken into the centre after discovering bloodstains on the outer doors.

Very shortly after French police were called to the scene (and with what many claim to be suspicious haste), Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party claimed that the murders were the result of “an internal feud” within the PKK. Celik did not offer any evidence to substantiate his assertion, yet also went on to suggest that the slayings were an attempt to derail the peace talks which have been taking place in the notorious high security prison on mralı Island between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan - sentenced to death for treason against the Turkish state in 1999 but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when Turkey was forced to abolish the death sentence as part of it's application to join the EU - and the Turkish government.

The PKK have waged an often violent war against the Turkish government for the last 34 years as part of their campaign to establish an autonomous Kurdish enclave in South-East Turkey. Kurds make up almost 20% of the Turkish population, yet are forbidden by law to even speak their own language and have suffered greatly under Turkish suppression. Since the insurrection began in 1978 it is estimated that over 40,000 people on both sides have lost their lives in violent actions perpetrated in this conflict, and even though the PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, the EU, NATO, Syria and others, the cause of Kurdish nationalism enjoys a huge level of support in the region. Turkish authorities have been concerned about PKK fighters entering Turkey from the autonomous Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria.

Kurdish populations are present in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and have experienced many decades of suppression by their respective states as the Kurds attempt to loosely re-establish their traditional Kurdistan, eradicated during the Ottoman reign, and it is against this long background of armed struggle that has seen large numbers of ethnic Kurds fleeing to Europe to find sanctuary. The Kurdish people I spoke to in Haringey last night said that they no longer feel safe anywhere in Europe after this execution which they lay firmly at the door of what they describe as the "dark, ultra-nationalistic shadow government" operating behind the scenes in Turkey who are violently opposed to any form of settlement or discussion with the Kurds.

Huddled around tables in the large hall adorned with photographs of fallen comrades and a large centrepiece display of their political figurehead, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurds were subdued and in a measured, reflective mood. During the day it had been established by French police that the women had all been shot in the head through the throat using weapons with suppressors (silncers), and it is initially thought that there was possibly more than one gunman. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, so it seems that they were known to at least one of the women - two of whom were slaughtered as they were organising suitcases for their journeys back to Belgium and Germany.

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to license an image, please Email me directly.

Standard industry rates apply.

about.me/peteriches

Rund 800 Türken versammeln sich am Brandenburger Tor in Berlin, um gegen Terror zu protestieren. Gemeint sind dabei Gruppen wie die PKK, die syrisch-kurdische PYD und Daesh. Die Teilnehmer waren überwiegend glühende Anhänger des türkischen Präsidenten Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Dieser wurde auch in den Redebeiträgen gelobt. Vereinzelt wurde von Teilnehmern der Wolfsgruß der ultra-nationalistischen, rechtsradikalen Grauen Wölfe gezeigt.

Die Polizei sperrte den Bereich ab, um ein Aufeinandertreffen mit einer zeitgleich stattfindenden kurdischen Gegenkundgebung zu verhindern.

Rund 800 Türken versammeln sich am Brandenburger Tor in Berlin, um gegen Terror zu protestieren. Gemeint sind dabei Gruppen wie die PKK, die syrisch-kurdische PYD und Daesh. Die Teilnehmer waren überwiegend glühende Anhänger des türkischen Präsidenten Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Dieser wurde auch in den Redebeiträgen gelobt. Vereinzelt wurde von Teilnehmern der Wolfsgruß der ultra-nationalistischen, rechtsradikalen Grauen Wölfe gezeigt.

Die Polizei sperrte den Bereich ab, um ein Aufeinandertreffen mit einer zeitgleich stattfindenden kurdischen Gegenkundgebung zu verhindern.

Rund 50 Kurden demonstrieren auf dem Breitscheidplatz am Fuße der Gedächtniskirche gegen die anhaltende Aggression der türkischen Regierung gegen Kurden, die zu bürgerkriegsähnlichen Zuständen in Städten wie Cizre und Diyarbakır geführt haben.

Kurdish emigres protest Paris murders at Turkish & French embassies : London 11.01.2013

On 11.01.2013 Kurdish emigres in London protested at the Turkish embassy and then marched to the nearby French embassy to protest about the shocking mass murder on 09.01.2013 in Paris of three female Kurdish political activists including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz in what French police believe to be an execution a targeted assassination. The bodies of the three women - Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress’ (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doan, political activist Leyla Söylemez and Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) co-founder and Women's Movement organiser Sakine Cansız - were discovered behind several combination-locked doors in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris on Wednesday by friends who had been trying since the previous evening to contact the women and who had broken into the centre after discovering bloodstains on the outer doors.

Very shortly after French police were called to the scene (and with what many claim to be suspicious haste), Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party claimed that the murders were the result of “an internal feud” within the PKK. Celik did not offer any evidence to substantiate his assertion, yet also went on to suggest that the slayings were an attempt to derail the peace talks which have been taking place in the notorious high security prison on mralı Island between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan - sentenced to death for treason against the Turkish state in 1999 but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when Turkey was forced to abolish the death sentence as part of it's application to join the EU - and the Turkish government.

The PKK have waged an often violent war against the Turkish government for the last 34 years as part of their campaign to establish an autonomous Kurdish enclave in South-East Turkey. Kurds make up almost 20% of the Turkish population, yet are forbidden by law to even speak their own language and have suffered greatly under Turkish suppression. Since the insurrection began in 1978 it is estimated that over 40,000 people on both sides have lost their lives in violent actions perpetrated in this conflict, and even though the PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, the EU, NATO, Syria and others, the cause of Kurdish nationalism enjoys a huge level of support in the region. Turkish authorities have been concerned about PKK fighters entering Turkey from the autonomous Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria.

Kurdish populations are present in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and have experienced many decades of suppression by their respective states as the Kurds attempt to loosely re-establish their traditional Kurdistan, eradicated during the Ottoman reign, and it is against this long background of armed struggle that has seen large numbers of ethnic Kurds fleeing to Europe to find sanctuary. The Kurdish people I spoke to in Haringey last night said that they no longer feel safe anywhere in Europe after this execution which they lay firmly at the door of what they describe as the "dark, ultra-nationalistic shadow government" operating behind the scenes in Turkey who are violently opposed to any form of settlement or discussion with the Kurds.

Huddled around tables in the large hall adorned with photographs of fallen comrades and a large centrepiece display of their political figurehead, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurds were subdued and in a measured, reflective mood. During the day it had been established by French police that the women had all been shot in the head through the throat using weapons with suppressors (silncers), and it is initially thought that there was possibly more than one gunman. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, so it seems that they were known to at least one of the women - two of whom were slaughtered as they were organising suitcases for their journeys back to Belgium and Germany.

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to license an image, please Email me directly.

Standard industry rates apply.

about.me/peteriches

Kurdish emigres protest Paris murders at Turkish & French embassies : London 11.01.2013

On 11.01.2013 Kurdish emigres in London protested at the Turkish embassy and then marched to the nearby French embassy to protest about the shocking mass murder on 09.01.2013 in Paris of three female Kurdish political activists including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz in what French police believe to be an execution a targeted assassination. The bodies of the three women - Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress’ (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doan, political activist Leyla Söylemez and Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) co-founder and Women's Movement organiser Sakine Cansız - were discovered behind several combination-locked doors in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris on Wednesday by friends who had been trying since the previous evening to contact the women and who had broken into the centre after discovering bloodstains on the outer doors.

Very shortly after French police were called to the scene (and with what many claim to be suspicious haste), Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party claimed that the murders were the result of “an internal feud” within the PKK. Celik did not offer any evidence to substantiate his assertion, yet also went on to suggest that the slayings were an attempt to derail the peace talks which have been taking place in the notorious high security prison on mralı Island between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan - sentenced to death for treason against the Turkish state in 1999 but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when Turkey was forced to abolish the death sentence as part of it's application to join the EU - and the Turkish government.

The PKK have waged an often violent war against the Turkish government for the last 34 years as part of their campaign to establish an autonomous Kurdish enclave in South-East Turkey. Kurds make up almost 20% of the Turkish population, yet are forbidden by law to even speak their own language and have suffered greatly under Turkish suppression. Since the insurrection began in 1978 it is estimated that over 40,000 people on both sides have lost their lives in violent actions perpetrated in this conflict, and even though the PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, the EU, NATO, Syria and others, the cause of Kurdish nationalism enjoys a huge level of support in the region. Turkish authorities have been concerned about PKK fighters entering Turkey from the autonomous Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria.

Kurdish populations are present in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and have experienced many decades of suppression by their respective states as the Kurds attempt to loosely re-establish their traditional Kurdistan, eradicated during the Ottoman reign, and it is against this long background of armed struggle that has seen large numbers of ethnic Kurds fleeing to Europe to find sanctuary. The Kurdish people I spoke to in Haringey last night said that they no longer feel safe anywhere in Europe after this execution which they lay firmly at the door of what they describe as the "dark, ultra-nationalistic shadow government" operating behind the scenes in Turkey who are violently opposed to any form of settlement or discussion with the Kurds.

Huddled around tables in the large hall adorned with photographs of fallen comrades and a large centrepiece display of their political figurehead, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurds were subdued and in a measured, reflective mood. During the day it had been established by French police that the women had all been shot in the head through the throat using weapons with suppressors (silncers), and it is initially thought that there was possibly more than one gunman. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, so it seems that they were known to at least one of the women - two of whom were slaughtered as they were organising suitcases for their journeys back to Belgium and Germany.

All photos © 2013 Pete Riches

Do not reproduce, alter, re-transmit or blog my images without my written permission. I remain at all times the copyright owner of this image.

Hi-Res, un-watermarked versions of these files are available on application solely at my discretion

If you want to license an image, please Email me directly.

Standard industry rates apply.

about.me/peteriches

Kurdish emigres protest Paris murders at Turkish & French embassies : London 11.01.2013

On 11.01.2013 Kurdish emigres in London protested at the Turkish embassy and then marched to the nearby French embassy to protest about the shocking mass murder on 09.01.2013 in Paris of three female Kurdish political activists including PKK co-founder Sakine Cansiz in what French police believe to be an execution a targeted assassination. The bodies of the three women - Brussels-based Kurdistan National Congress’ (KNK) Paris representative Fidan Doan, political activist Leyla Söylemez and Kurdish Worker's Party (PKK) co-founder and Women's Movement organiser Sakine Cansız - were discovered behind several combination-locked doors in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris on Wednesday by friends who had been trying since the previous evening to contact the women and who had broken into the centre after discovering bloodstains on the outer doors.

Very shortly after French police were called to the scene (and with what many claim to be suspicious haste), Huseyin Celik, the deputy chairman of Turkey’s ruling party claimed that the murders were the result of “an internal feud” within the PKK. Celik did not offer any evidence to substantiate his assertion, yet also went on to suggest that the slayings were an attempt to derail the peace talks which have been taking place in the notorious high security prison on mralı Island between PKK founder Abdullah Öcalan - sentenced to death for treason against the Turkish state in 1999 but whose sentence was commuted to life imprisonment when Turkey was forced to abolish the death sentence as part of it's application to join the EU - and the Turkish government.

The PKK have waged an often violent war against the Turkish government for the last 34 years as part of their campaign to establish an autonomous Kurdish enclave in South-East Turkey. Kurds make up almost 20% of the Turkish population, yet are forbidden by law to even speak their own language and have suffered greatly under Turkish suppression. Since the insurrection began in 1978 it is estimated that over 40,000 people on both sides have lost their lives in violent actions perpetrated in this conflict, and even though the PKK has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the USA, the EU, NATO, Syria and others, the cause of Kurdish nationalism enjoys a huge level of support in the region. Turkish authorities have been concerned about PKK fighters entering Turkey from the autonomous Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria.

Kurdish populations are present in Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran, and have experienced many decades of suppression by their respective states as the Kurds attempt to loosely re-establish their traditional Kurdistan, eradicated during the Ottoman reign, and it is against this long background of armed struggle that has seen large numbers of ethnic Kurds fleeing to Europe to find sanctuary. The Kurdish people I spoke to in Haringey last night said that they no longer feel safe anywhere in Europe after this execution which they lay firmly at the door of what they describe as the "dark, ultra-nationalistic shadow government" operating behind the scenes in Turkey who are violently opposed to any form of settlement or discussion with the Kurds.

Huddled around tables in the large hall adorned with photographs of fallen comrades and a large centrepiece display of their political figurehead, Abdullah Öcalan, the Kurds were subdued and in a measured, reflective mood. During the day it had been established by French police that the women had all been shot in the head through the throat using weapons with suppressors (silncers), and it is initially thought that there was possibly more than one gunman. There was no sign of forced entry to the building, so it seems that they were known to at least one of the women - two of whom were slaughtered as they were organising suitcases for their journeys back to Belgium and Germany.

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