strange piece about #kurdistan in #iraq. the 2017 referendum was a political calculation of the #barzani clan to distract from domestic problems and rally people around the flag, the clans in charge are extremely nepotist and corrupt, and not progressive. blogs.lse.ac.uk/mec/2022/11/11…
the #kurdistan region in #iraq is *not* a model of democracy, and also not of religious freedom: christians, yezidis or others who don't align with the ruling #clans and mainly the #barzani clan (posing as political party #kdp) have nothing to say.
whenever i think of #kurdistan in #iraq breaking away as just one piece of a much larger kurdistan, i can't stop but thinking of what repercussions it may have for #kurds elsewhere in authoritarian states. ultimate repercussion, i mean, as an echo from history.
when #turkey was founded, a 'population exchange' was arranged between #turks and #greeks, remember? it was a nice word for ethnic cleansing. if #kurdistan in iraq breaks away, turkey (also post-erdogan) can say: go there, kurds, if not voluntarily then we'll make you go.
also, the piece is strangely timed. after the referendum, the barzani (and talabani, which reluctantly went along with the referendum) clan rushed to claim their positions in #baghdad again. breaking away isn't at all on the table.
also breaking away doesn't equal #independence. the #barzani clan fully depends on #turkey, both economically and politically. even now the #krg is only autonomous in name, turkey is working on (violently) taking over the region. the piece doesn't acknowledge any of that. ufff.

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More from @fgeerdink

Nov 14
for your information: #pkk attacks military targets in the rural southeast of #turkey. and kurdistan freedom hawks (tak)? tak hits military/police targets in cities. yesterday's bombing was aimed at innocent civilians, which fully rules out pkk and tak.
and ypg and ypj in #syria? that's, if possible, even bigger nonsense. they defend the autonomously administered regions in #syria, they don't do cross-border ops, only extremely occasionally retaliation at turkish military targets outside civilian areas in border provinces.
ask yourself: who profits from this #bombing in #istanbul? it's fully against the interest of the #kurds in #syria, they will actually be targeted now. this bombing is exactly what erdoğan needs: a reason to invade syria again.
Read 9 tweets
Nov 13
quite horrific footage coming from #istiklal street in #istanbul, reportedly 5 people killed and several wounded in an explosion. geçmiş olsun! #turkey
wild speculations about what or who caused the explosion in #istanbul aren't helpful at all.
Read 4 tweets
Aug 31
reuters story about how #erdogan tamed #turkey's newsrooms. it boggles the mind why #kurdish #media are not even mentioned, despite them playing a big role in getting important stories out. #journalism reuters.com/investigates/s…
it's an institutionalized story from @reuters. example: if you check which papers don't get state advertising anymore as a financial punishment, you won't stumble upon #kurdish #media because they never got it in the first place - and would refuse it. #journalism
also the piece lacks historical perspective. it only says '... the turkish mainstream #media, once a more lively clash of ideas'. not really. some reporters have covered real stories about the #kurdish issue but the editorial lines always followed the state narrative - willingly.
Read 9 tweets
Aug 27
'trouble makers without future perspective', dutch so-called quality newspaper puts on its front page today, about young people from mainly north-african countries asking for asylum in the netherlands. it's pure hate speech, and anti-journalism. @volkskrant, you are disgusting.
dutch asylum authorities call these people 'veiligelanders', meaning 'coming from a safe country', like tunesia or morocco, countries considered safe and giving small chance to get accepted as asylum seeker. nobody even considers looking at them differently, not even journalists.
'holding power to account' is what #journalism should do. copying the authorities' perspective is the opposite of that, especially when these authorities have created this crisis in which asylum seekers don't have a roof over their heads in ons of the richests countries on earth.
Read 12 tweets
Aug 26
de zin: 'werken of een woning vinden zonder verblijfsvergunning onmogelijk is in nederland' doet me denken aan een verhaal dat ik vorig jaar maakte over oudere ongedocumenteerden. #nederland is volledig dichtgetimmerd, biedt geen kans op een bestaan als je geen documenten hebt.
een deel van de mensen die ik sprak, kwam 30, 40 jaar geleden naar nederland, vaak uit noord-afrika. ze stapten gewoon op de boot naar spanje met paspoort en toeristenvisum. ze waren jong, wilden reizen, werken, wat van de wereld zien, dan terug naar huis. vrij normaal, toch?
ze werkten een tijdje in spanje, reisden naar frankrijk, italië, tijdje in nederland, duitsland. ze konden makkelijk twee jaar ofzo in nl blijven, konden sofi-nummer (nu: bsn) aanvragen, werken en kamer huren. na een tijdje gingen ze dan weer, of ze bleven (vaste baan, trouwen).
Read 10 tweets
Aug 24
a 3-months old baby died in the application center for asylum seekers in the netherlands. a 3-months old baby died in the application center for asylum seekers in the netherlands. a 3-months old baby died in the application center for asylum seekers in the netherlands.
the dutch government has consciously, knowlingly and willingly made a total mess of the care and shelter of asylum seekers. hundreds of people have been sleeping outside the application center for weeks now, in open air because tents not allowed. a 3-months old baby died today.
most parties in parliament manipulate the story, say 'too many asylum seekers' are coming to the netherlands but that's a lie: the government is just not prepared, and inciting this sentiment. as a result, a 3-months old baby died today.
Read 7 tweets

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