Since the invasion of southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) by 80,000 Turkish troops backed by tanks and helicopters on May 14, a series of protests have occurred around Australia.
Arty Killis and Maurice Sibelle write from Melbourne that more than 100 people picketed the Turkish consulate on May 30. The picket was organised by a coalition which includes the Victorian Kurdish Association, the Turkish Community Resource Centre and the Australian Turkish and Kurdish Union.
At Auburn Town Hall in Sydney on May 25, reports Rupen Savoulian150-200 people attended a seminar to hear associate professor Haluk Gerger, a veteran human rights activist, speak about the human rights situation in Turkey.
The seminar was organised by the Kurdish Association of Australia. Professor Gerger's other speaking engagements included seminars in Melbourne and Canberra. He taught international relations at Ankara University until he lost his position in 1980 after the military coup. He currently teaches at Darmstadt University, Germany, as a guest professor.
Gerger elaborated on the reactionary and terroristic nature of the Turkish regime, and said the latest military incursion into south Kurdistan was typical of the violent character of the Turkish state. He spoke of the increasing military role of Turkey (backed by the United States) in the region.
Gail Lord reports that 200 vocal demonstrators gathered outside the US consulate in Sydney on May 27 to denounce the Turkish invasion and US connivance, including the supply of weapons to the Turkish military.
In Perth, writes Michael Bramwell, up to 100 Kurdish people and supporters rallied on May 30 against the Turkish military attacks on the people of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
The protesters marched to Parliament House and the Human Rights Commission, presenting a protest letter asking for condemnation of the actions of the Turkish military and government. Part of the letter stated, "Unless international pressure is applied, the violation of human rights and civil liberties of the Kurdish people will continue".
Sue Bull reports from Canberra that democracy, human rights and the oppression of the Kurdish people by the Turkish government were the topics of a lively meeting attended by 50 people on May 27. The forum was organised by the Centre for Middle Eastern and Central Asian Studies at the Australian National University.
The meeting was addressed by Professor Haluk Gerger, who outlined the terrible human rights record of Turkey towards the Kurds.
The Turkish authorities have shown a complete unwillingness to find a peaceful political settlement to the Kurdish issue, he said. In recent years, 3000 Kurdish villages have been destroyed and some 3 million Kurds forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in the squalor of big cities.
The war against the Kurds distorts Turkish society, Gerger said. There is no official recognition of a Kurdish identity. People cannot criticise government actions for fear of punishment. There are many political murders.
Meanwhile, the US$10-15 billion dollars spent on the war every year helps corrupt Turkish institutions and intensifies militaristic and chauvinist values.
Gerger argued that there are close links between Kurdish self-determination and democracy in Turkey. One cannot be achieved without the other, he told the meeting.