Author: Anthea » Sun Mar 06, 2016 9:59 pm
NRTLONDON — Thousands of protesters held a demonstration on Sunday (March 6) against the ongoing Turkish military campaign in the southeast of Turkey.NRT correspondent Sarhang Hars said demonstrators raised banners and shouted slogans condemning Turkish military operations, urging a halt to the operations in the mainly Kurdish southeast of Turkey.
The activist group organizing the protest is known as Stop War on Kurds. In a press statement the group urged the public to break the silence describing the situation in the southeast as a “civil war.” The statement accused the Turkish state of engaging in a “murderous war” and targeting not only the PKK but civilians as well.
HDP co-chairman Selahattin Demirtas urged people to attend the demonstration in a video appeal according to the press statement.
Demonstrators gathered at the BBC Broadcasting House and marched to Trafalgar Square in the heart of London to hold a rally. The protesters were a mixed crowd including both Kurds and a large number of non-Kurdish supporters. The NRT correspondent reported a number of British members of parliament, politicians and activists participated in the demonstration.
The list of speakers at the rally included: Natalie Bennett Green Party Leader, Kate Osamor MP, Natalie McGarry MP, Lindsey German Stop the War Coalition, Mark Thomas Comedian (been a supporter of Kurds for many years), Jeremy Hardy Comedian, Tariq Ali, Peter Tatchell, Weyman Bennet, the organization Unite Against Fascism and many other speakers from Trade Unions and other organizations.
A handful of cities in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast have been engulfed in the worst violence since the 1990s following the breakdown of a two-year ceasefire with the PKK last July.
The autonomy-seeking PKK has sealed off entire districts of some towns and cities in the southeast, prompting the security forces to step up their operations.
Authorities partially lifted the curfew in the town of Cizre on Wednesday (March 2), allowing residents onto the streets between 5 a.m. and 7 p.m. An explosion soon after the curfew was lifted wounded a woman and a child, security sources said.
Diyarbakir’s Sur district has been under lockdown since December 2 as police and soldiers try to root out the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) who erected barricades and dug trenches in the neighborhood.
http://www.nrttv.com/EN/Details.aspx?Jimare=5708
My Name Is KURDISTAN And I Will Be FREE