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Turkey
Three Kurdish political parties hold a press conference in Amed on December 20, 2022. Photo: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Three Kurdish political parties on Tuesday jointly condemned the recent police raids on their offices in Amed (Diyarbakir), southeast Turkey (Northern Kurdistan) for celebrating Kurdistan Flag Day. Four people were briefly detained for alleged involvement in the celebrations.
December 17 has been designated by the Kurdistan Region’s parliament as the Kurdistan Flag Day but Kurds from other parts of the Greater Kurdistan and diaspora also celebrate the day.
Kurdistan Socialist Party (PSK), Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) and Freedom Movement (Hereketa Azadi) - three small Kurdish parties based in Turkey - celebrated the occasion by displaying the Kurdistan flag from the balcony of their offices in Amed. The move was highly appreciated by Kurds on social media but angered some Turkish nationalists who took to Twitter and asked for the removal of the flag.
Police on Monday raided the offices of the three parties, removing all Kurdistan flags as well as confiscating all computers, documents, and books which were available in the offices, said the parties in a joint statement on Tuesday, condemning the raids.
The parties displaced a Kurdistan flag at the hall in which they held the press conference on Tuesday, defying the ban.
“We will not bow down to any attacks. The Kurdistan flag is our ethnic value,” they stressed.
Deputy Leader of PAK, Nurullah Timor, and Freedom Movement Leader Metin Pirani were detained for their alleged involvement in the celebrations. They were later released.
Pirani said in a tweet after his release late Tuesday that he has been banned from travelling abroad. “[Raising] the Kurdistan flag is not a crime.”
The Nationalist Youths of Kurdistan (CNK), a group of youths promoting Kurdish nationalism in Turkey, flew the Kurdistan flag through balloons in Amed on Saturday.
Two of its members were also briefly detained.Roja Alayê Kurdistanê pîroz be !
— Ciwanên Netewî yên Kurdistanê - CNK (@ciwanen_netewi) December 17, 2022
Amed pic.twitter.com/A0zwj8jj6O
When Diyarbakir-based Amedspor club scored a victory during a match in September, the members of CNK raised the Kurdistan flag in the stadium. A number of them were briefly detained for what the authorities called “provocative” actions.
The Turkish state has at times denied the existence of Kurds, with the use of the word “Kurdistan” also often creating controversy in the country. The raising of the Kurdistan flag has often been suppressed by Turkish authorities as well.
The flag of Kurdistan has previously been displayed at Turkish airports when welcoming official delegations from the Kurdistan Region, which has also drawn a lot of controversy.
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