NEWS

In a recent article, Robert Fisk, the senior Middle East correspondent of the Independent compared Turkey to Pakistan in the 1980s and said that the recent air bombardment was no surprise given that all powers in the region have betrayed the Kurds. We spoke to Fisk both about the details of the matters he touches on in his article, and whether power balances have changed in the Middle East. Fisk comments that Turkey has become a market place and when seen from this perspective there are more important issues at stake besides whether or not Turkey will enter the war in Syria: “I believe that Syria has started penetrating Turkey. Suruç is an example of this. From this view, the Syrian War but not the Syrians have occupied Turkey. It is not the reverse.”

Following the Suruç Massacre, and the murder of two police officers in Ceylanpınar, military operations and clashes have resumed. A wave of police operations across Turkey continues. İHD (Human Rights Association) has announced that 41 people lost their lives in the week from 21 to 28 July, and that 1038 people have been detained. Reports of deaths continue to come in every day. President Erdoğan’s demand that the HDP MPs’ parliamentary immunity be lifted has caused further alarm. Human rights organizations and civil society organizations have expressed deep concern regarding recent developments.

HDP Co-Chairperson Selahattin Demirtaş has responded to journalists’ questions regarding operations targeting the PKK and ISIS.

Rally planned for Sunday in Istanbul by Barış Bloku, the Peace Block, has been banned by the Istanbul Governorate.

Turkish Armed Forces fighter jets departing from the Diyarbakır 8th Main Jet Base have targeted PKK camps located within the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq.

A selfie of three friends, Ezgi Sadet, Polen Ünlü and Dilan, taken at the celebrations in Bakırköy following HDP’s success in the general election when it won 80 seats in parliament, has become widely shared on social media following the Suruç Massacre.

(*We are not well, we shall not be well)

HDP Istanbul Member of Parliament Garo Paylan, speaking to Agos about the bomb attack in Suruç, reminded that the building that was targeted was a crisis centre for solidarity with Kobane, adding, “This solidarity was targeted today”.

SGDF, the Socialist Youth Associations Federation, the target of the bomb-attack in Suruç today, had made a list of its plans for Kobani: Building a hospital, school and a nursery, a memorial forest for those who died defending Kobani, and for Berkin Elvan.

An explosion has taken place at the Amara Cultural Centre in Suruç, Şanlıurfa, where 330 Socialist Youth Associations Federation (SGDF) members had gathered. The SGDF members were waiting to cross into Kobane where they were to support the reconstruction efforts of the town.