Invitation to public meeting
Turkish election 2011: first step on the road to victory for the Kurds?
Independent election observers from the UK report back from the Turkish election of 12 June
Tuesday, 5 July, 6.30pm,
Wilson Room, Portcullis House, Westminster, SW1
Hosted by Jeremy Corbyn MP
It was supposed to have been an election where the sitting Prime Minister Erdogan dealt with the “Kurdish issue” on his own terms by denying that it was an issue. The independent voice of the Kurds was supposed to have been silenced by a combination of bribery and repression. This strategy utterly failed as Kurdish backed candidates were elected in increased numbers.
And while the AKP may have won the election, it failed to gain the overwhelming majority it was looking for to impose its will without needing to negotiate with other parties to achieve a new constitution.
The real winners in the election were undoubtedly the independent candidates in the Labour, Democracy and Freedom block supported by the pro-Kurdish BDP, who against all the odds and in the face of relentless state pressure, intimidation, violence and mass arrests, achieved a major victory in returning 36 candidates to the Turkish Parliament.
Their victory is a resounding vote in favour of a lasting peace and a massive expression of support from the Kurdish people for the programme of Democratic Autonomy and their civil and political rights.
The meeting will allow the UK independent observers to give their eyewitness reports about the conduct of the election and it will also provide an opportunity to discuss the way forward for resolving the Kurdish issue.
The report of the delegation will be available at the meeting.
UK delegates: Margaret Owen, barrister, member of Bar Human Rights Committee (BHRC), sponsored by Britain Peace Council; Ali Has, lawyer and a spokesperson for Britain Peace Council; Hugo Charlton, criminal barrister 1 Grays Inn; Zara Broughton, student film-maker; Jonathan Fryer, journalist, academic and Liberal International; Stephen Smellie, UNSION Scotland; Sherri Semsidini, human rights advisor at Trott and Gentry Solicitors; Omer Moore, human rights lawyer, Trott and Gentry Solicitors; Val Swain, activist, Network for Police Monitoring (NETPOL) & Fitwatch; Emily Apple, activist, NETPOL & Fitwatch, sponsosred by UNITE, London North West Branch 9708; Mithat Ishakoglu, PhD student Exeter University.
The meeting is supported by Kurdistan National Congress (KNK), Kurdish Community Centre (KCC), Kurdish Federation UK, Halkevi and Croydon Community Centres, Roj Women’s Assembly, Britain Peace Council, Liberation, International Committee Against Disappearances (ICAD) and Peace in Kurdistan Campaign
For information RSVP
Peace in Kurdistan Campaign: Campaign for a political solution of the Kurdish question
Estella Schmid – Tel: 020 7586 5892 or Rachel Bird – Tel: 020 7272 4131
Patrons: Lord Avebury, Lord Rea, Lord Dholakia, Baroness Sarah Ludford MEP, Jean Lambert MEP, Alyn Smith MEP, Hywel Williams MP, Elfyn Llwyd MP, John Austin, Gareth Peirce, Julie Christie, Noam Chomsky, Edward Albee, Margarlet Owen OBE, Mark Thomas, Bairbre de Brún MEP
