The Australian Greens leadership pledged support to the Kurdish struggle for freedom, justice and peace at a well-attended function in the Democratic Kurdish Community Centre. Peter Boyle reports.
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The federal government has declared its intention to designate Hamas a terrorist organisation. Jacob Andrewartha reports.
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Current and former MPs and other prominent people have called for Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan's release to advance a peaceful solution to conflicts in the Middle East. Peter Boyle reports.
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NSW Supreme Court judge Lucy McCallum discharged the jury on December 6 after it failed to agree on a verdict in the trial of Kurdish journalist Renas Lelikan on “foreign fighter” charges under Australia’s draconian “anti-terrorism” laws.
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Greens MP Jamie Parker gave this speech at the Sydney rally for World Kobane Day on November 1. * * * I'm here in solidarity with the people of Kobane and with all Kurds. I have spoken about the YPG and YPJ before, but now I also want to speak about the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). In this country there is only one party in the parliament, the Australian Greens, which fully supports the unbanning of the PKK. The PKK is not a terrorist organisation and we have stood against its banning since 2005, when the government first sought to list the PKK as a terrorist organisation. -
The federal government relisted the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) as a terrorist organisation on August 11. This means it is illegal for Australian citizens to belong to it, actively support it or raise funds for it. The PKK was first placed on Australia’s list of terrorist groups in December 2005 by John Howard’s government after Turkey’s then Prime Minister — now president — Recip Tayyip Erdogan visited Australia. It was relisted by Howard in 2007, by Labor under Kevin Rudd in 2009 and by Julia Gillard in 2012.
