Nil眉fer Ko莽 writes that imprisoned Kurdish leader Abdullah 脰calan has become a symbol as well as an effective actor for progressive change in the Middle East 鈥 and must be freed.
Kurdish diaspora
Supporters of the Kurdish struggle took to the streets of Ecuador's capital, Quito, on February 4 to protest against Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdo臒an, who is in Ecuador on an official two-day visit. At the protest, one Erdo臒an's bodyguards broke the nose of Ecuadorean member of parliament Diego Vintimilla.
About 70 people, mainly from the Australian Kurdish Association, organised a peaceful protest inside and outside the ABC Ultimo Centre on January 14. They were protesting against the national broadcaster's bias and slander against the Kurds, despite the Turkish government's attacks on Kurdish areas in Turkey and Syria.
Australians for Kurdistan (AFK) committee has launched a campaign for the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to be removed from the Australian government鈥檚 list of terrorist organisations.
The PKK was first listed in 2005; its listing comes up for review this August.
In the light of the frontline role the PKK has played in fighting the Islamic State killers in Syria and Iraq and in mobilising support within Turkey for Rojava (the Kurdish-majority liberated zone in northern Syria), to label the PKK as 鈥渢errorist鈥 is simply ridiculous.