On #WorldPressFreedomDay remember Nagihan Akarsel, a Kurdish feminist journalist and academic assassinated by alleged Turkish intelligence agents in Iraqi Kurdistan in 2022. The research center she was working to establish before she was killed opened its doors last year.

Would you like to explain why you have more to say about irrelevant old music than the fact that your NATO ally is systematically destroying civilian infrastructure in NES, including infrastructure your USAID colleagues spent American taxpayer dollars on?kurdishpeace.org/research/human…

None of the people who try to tell you that Turkey is targeting “terrorists” will go to the region and prove their allegations, because they know they’re lying.

We can prove that they’re targeting civilian infrastructure. I’ve seen it myself. Here’s our report back:

Two civilian infrastructure sites in northeast Syria that received USAID support — an oxygen bottling plant and a power station supplying the critical Alouk Water Station — were destroyed in Turkish drone strikes in December 2023 and January 2024.
kurdishpeace.org/research/human…

U.S. law prohibits arms transfers to any government that “prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance.”

Can a country bombing USAID projects legally get F-16s?

civiliansinconflict.org/publications/p…

So:

- Turkey pressures U.S. not to provide aid to Kurdish regions.
- Turkey blows up two U.S.-supported civilian infrastructure projects in Kurdish regions.
- Attacks discourage further assistance.

Might we consider this 'restricting the delivery of US humanitarian aid'?

'Since 2017, following the liberation of Raqqa, [Department of State] figures who observe and lead stabilization programming have intentionally avoided support for projects located in the northern, mostly Kurdish-majority areas,' a local NGO worker said.
kurdishpeace.org/research/human…

Your NATO ally Turkey bombed this station in January. The attack severed Alouk Water Station from the grid, creating a massive water crisis. You’ve said nothing about it.

Read the exclusive Kurdish Peace Institute report from on the ground in NES ⬇️
kurdishpeace.org/research/human…

Will you condemn attacks on civilian infrastructure in Northeast Syria that your USAID colleagues spent U.S. tax dollars to restore? kurdishpeace.org/research/human…

NEW: Among the targets of Turkey's campaign of attacks on critical civilian infrastructure in northeast Syria were two facilities that received USAID support — an escalation for Turkey's policy of opposition to international assistance to Kurdish areas.
kurdishpeace.org/research/human…

New It Could Happen Here 🇹🇷

James talks to Meghan Bodette of the Kurdish Peace institute about the recent elections in Turkey, the Van uprising, and aggression against Kurdish people in Europe and in Kurdistan.

james stout Meghan Bodette

iheart.com/podcast/105-it…