Protest At Turkish Consulate Exposes Ankara’s Inhumanity to Children
By Contributor on Mar 25th, 2010

Human Rights Activists Demand Release of Falsely Accused Minor
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RAZMIG SARKISSIAN

LOS ANGELES – A coalition of Armenian and Kurdish organizations
gathered in front of the Turkish Consulate Wednesday afternoon to
demand the release of 15 year old Berivan, a young Kurdish girl
sentenced to 8 years in prison on trumped-up charges of terrorism in
Turkey.

Organized by the United Human Rights Council (UHRC), the protest
brought together several Armenian and Kurdish youth organizations,
including the Armenian Youth Federation, the ARF Shant Student
Association, American Kurdish Information Network, and the Kurdish
American Youth Organization.

Berivan was detained last October at a pro-Kurdish rally in Turkey for
allegedly shouting slogans and throwing stones. Berivan pleaded
not-guilty, contending that she was just watching the rally on the way
to her aunt’s house.

Throughout the protest, demonstrators read excerpts from letters
Berivan has written to friends and family, detailing her countless
beatings from officers, coerced confession of guilt, and other
hardships she facesin jail. Fact sheets, bearing her picture and
story, were passed out to pedestrians while poster boards with slogans
such as, `Turkey: Stop Jailing Kids,’ were held for rush hour
commuters on the crowded Wilshire Boulevard to see.

A Turkish flag and a sign reading, `Arrest the Oppressors, Free the
Victims’ hung inside a makeshift eight-by-eight prison cage
constructed by the protesters. The cage, placed on the sidewalk for
passers-by to see, represented the plight of Berivan and the more than
2,600 minors trapped in Turkish prisons.

`They should be home, just like my kids,’ said Parwaz Qaradaghi, a
Kurdish mother who brought along her 6 year old daughter Savia and 4
year old son Ara to show support for the imprisoned youth in Turkey,
which she said should be `enjoying their youth, not sitting in jail.’

`Berivan is just a kid,’ continued Qaradaghi. `a little kid, worried
and stuck between the four walls of a jail cell. She needs to be with
her family.’

Azad Moradian, Executive Board member of the Kurdish National
Congress, condemned Turkey’s brutal practices and said that if it ever
wants to be part of the international community, `it needs to start
respecting its minorities.’ Moradian saw the demonstration as a call
for the freedom of speech and expression for Turkey’s minorities. `How
else do they expect to join the European Union?,’ he asked, alluding
to the need for Turkey to remove its restrictions on free speech.

Ralph Fertig, a long time human rights activist and professor at USC,
was also present at the event, which he saw as an `opportunity to
speak out against Turkish oppression, which began with the Armenian
genocide and continues today with the genocide against the Kurdish
people.’

Fertig, who was the demonstration’s keynote speaker, explained that he
has been a proponent of Kurdish rights in Turkey ever since he was
President of the Humanitarian Law Project (HLP) when he was asked by
Kurds to investigate their claims of oppression from Turkish Armed
Forces. He traveled to Kurdistan and developed a report detailing the
abuses he witnessed and clarified that the Kurdish protests were a
legitimate liberation movement, thus subject to protection under
international law. He presented his findings to the United Nations
Human Rights Commissions, but was met with opposition in the United
States. Fertig was charged under the US Patriot Act for supporting a
terrorist organization. He is currently appealing to the Supreme Court
to end the curtailment to his freedom of speech. His appeal was heard
this past February and he is now awaiting the court’s ruling.

`This is the beginning of a movement that will grow and grow,’ said
Fertig as he spoke at the closing ceremony about the similarities
between the American Civil Rights Movement and the Armenian and
Kurdish liberation movements. `Movements like this grow because they
have a logic, a reason, and a purpose – because they serve justice.’

Echoing these sentiments, Chairperson of the UHRC, Sanan Shirininan
stated, `This is just one example of Turkish inhumanity, just one out
of the countless others who suffer in silence at the hands of Turkish
ultra-nationalism.’

`We will keep demanding Berivan’s freedom, we will keep fighting for
the freedom of the 2,600 other children who are in prison throughout
that country and we will keep demanding justice for all minorities who
are denied their basic human rights within Turkey,’ she exclaimed.

The protest ended with the releasing of doves, which Shirinian said,
represented freedom for Berivan and all the other minors currently
detained in Turkish prisons today.

The United Human Rights Council (UHRC) is a committee of the Armenian
Youth Federation. By means of action on a grassroots level the UHRC
works toward exposing and correcting human rights violations of
governments worldwide, and aims to foster dialogue and collaboration
between peoples who share this common vision.

More photos and videos from the protest can be found on the AYF’s
Haytoug Blog, HERE.