Turks and Kurds Must Prepare for 'Truth' - Al-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

Orhan Kemal Cengiz

Orhan Kemal Cengiz

Mar 11, 2013

Kurdish demonstrators hold up pictures of the three Kurdish activists shot in Paris, as they wait for the ambulances carrying their bodies in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, January 16, 2013. The bodies of the activists, including that of Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) co-founder Sakine Cansiz, arrived by plane on Wednesday evening in Diyarbakir ahead of a funeral ceremony on Thursday. REUTERS/Umit Bektas (TURKEY - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS OBITUARY TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY) — Kurdish demonstrators hold up pictures of the three Kurdish activists shot in Paris, as they wait for the ambulances carrying their bodies in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey's mainly Kurdish southeast, Jan. 16, 2013. — REUTERS/Umit Bektas

As a human rights defender, I was always quite sensitive to the Kurdish question. However, I had just begun to understand how tragic and and profound it was, when I started to work for the Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP) in London between 1997 and 1998. KHRP back then was taking cases before the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) on behalf of Kurdish victims.

PKK fighters stand guard during the release of eight Turkish prisoners in the northern Iraqi city of Dohuk, March 13, 2013. Turkish Kurd militants freed a group of Turkish soldiers and officials they had held in the mountains of northern Iraq for more than a year on Wednesday, the first concrete step in efforts to end their 28-year-old insurgency. The six soldiers, a police officer and a local official looked in good health and wore clean clothes as they were handed to a delegation of Turkish rights activi

Does Turkey Have a Roadmap For Peace With the PKK?

Orhan Kemal Cengiz

Orhan Kemal Cengiz

Protestors chant slogans against Israel and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad as they carry a mock coffinwith the mention "In Hule masacre 50 children killed by knives" during a rally on May 31, 2012 on Taksim Square in Istanbul, marking the first anniversary of the death of nine Turks, shot in May 2010 when Israeli naval commandos seized the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara that was part of a flotilla trying to break the Gaza blockade. The crowd gathered in iconic Taksim Square under the banner of the pro-Islamic

Turkey in No Position To School Israel on Human Rights

Orhan Kemal Cengiz

Orhan Kemal Cengiz

A couple holds hands for a wedding photo as they look at smoke rising over the district of Sur in Diyarbakir.

Regional View

No respite for Kurds as Turkey's security forces ramp up repression

A supporter holds a portrait of Figen Yuksekdag, detained co-leader of Turkey's pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) at a meeting at the Turkish parliament in Ankara, on November 8, 2016.
The arrest of 10 of the HDP MPs, including party leaders Selahattin Demirtas and Figen Yuksekdag, added to tensions as Turkey wages a relentless battle against Kurdish militants and deals with the aftermath of a July 15 failed coup. / AFP / ADEM ALTAN (Photo credit should read ADEM ALTAN/AFP/Getty

Pro-Kurdish HDP leader kicked out of Turkish parliament

Amberin Zaman

Amberin Zaman

In London, reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture