Ianyanmag - Inspired by an ongoing “Arab Spring” in countries throughout the Middle East and North Africa, Kurds in Turkey, which number around 20 million, have taken to the streets in Istanbul and elsewhere in the country to protest against political repression, cultural suppression, discrimination and a decision by Turkey’s election board to ban prominent Kurdish politicians from upcoming elections.

Hostile Turkish-Kurdish relations have been ongoing for more almost a century, but with aggressions mounting this year, and recent news of Turkey launching major air raids on Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) bases in northern Iraq in response to landmine attacks by the party that left dozens of Turkish soldiers dead in Turkey’s Hakkari province, the conflict and increasing violence have reemerged stronger than before.

Outside of Turkey,  Kurdish Diasporans are also determined to call attention to another example of what they say is the “Turkish states repression of the Kurdish people.” From Tokyo to Nashville, Tennessee, Amsterdam and Rome, Kurdish leaders have been mobilizing protest demonstrations in recent weeks.

Kurds in the United Kingdom have also participated in protests, assembling in front of  the Turkish Embassy in London for an “emergency demonstration” against “Turkish bombardment of Kurdish regions indiscriminately and disproportionately,” said a press release to “Stop Turkey’s War Against the Kurds” on the site of Kurdish blogger and activist, Hevallo.

Read the rest here – Kurds Stage Worldwide Protest Condemning Turkish Raids