TURKEY

As Hrant Dink said, “Every Armenian is a document”. However, we need to remind those who keep insisting, “Show us the documents” of two recent developments.

Öcalan’s written message was read out at the Newroz celebrations in Diyarbakır. Öcalan made call of farewell to arms on the basis of principles.

Planning permission has been issued for the historical site in Germüş village, a former Armenian settlement 10 kilometres away from Urfa city centre.

We spoke with journalist Fréderike Geerdink, whose book ‘Roboskî: Gençler Öldü (Roboskî: The Young Died)’ has recently been published, about many topics from State policies targeting struggles for identity to most recent political developments.

Celebrated novelist Yaşar Kemal died in Istanbul on Saturday at the age of 92.

Following the evacuation on the night of 21 February Saturday by military operation of the Suleyman Shah Tomb and the affiliated Commemoration Station, the only piece of land that belongs to Turkey that lies outside of its borders, attention is now focused on the Eşme region in Syria, officially announced as the new location for the tomb. However, the region Ankara has declared as the new destination of the “heritage of forefathers” was along the deportation route of the Armenian Genocide a century ago.

The Ankara Metropolitan Municipality has now ventured into the “Armenian Question”. On February 14, the Municipal Council issued a decision to purchase books and brochures on the “Armenian Question” to be distributed to various institutions.

The race code procedure implemented by the Ministry of National Education for student registration at non-Muslim schools has been subject to another lawsuit.

Following the land dispute involving the plot on which Diyarbakır Airport today stands, the land plot on which Batman Airport stands has also become the subject of a lawsuit. Zuart Sudjian has filed a case claiming that the State had built an airport on the plot she had inherited. Sudjian’s land in nearby Diyarbakır had also been appropriated by the State, and the Diyarbakır Airport was built on a part of her plot.

Assaulted in Parliament during the meeting for the internal security package, HDP Member of Parliament described the fight that broke out: “You cannot but run for help when a friend of yours is being assaulted by thugs. If there is a price to pay for that, we are prepared, but the real problem here is that the Parliament is increasingly resembling a slaughterhouse.”