Journalist/writer/speaker focused on power structures and those who want to tear them down. Works in Kurdistan and NL. Knows the PKK from the inside.
Slemani and Utrecht
Joined February 2009
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💥 my #book about the #pkk, 'this #fire never dies', is out at @LeftwordBooks! i spent a year with the org in camps, caves and at the frontline, talked to many figters about their aspirations and ideology, lived their daily lives with them. order now! 💥
mayday.leftword.com/catalog/…
Een voertuig aanhouden op basis van een Turks kenteken is etnisch profileren en dus verboden. Sowieso vreemd kritiekloos verslag van een werkbezoek van de minister. nu.nl/politiek/6414734/uitge…
Frederike Geerdink retweeted
Firstly, the way that the male guest yelled at the Yezidi woman was deeply wrong.
However, it is wrong to reduce such complex identity discussions to “well they can choose their identity”: an argument that is devoid of any awareness of history, or the violent colonial policies used to systematically and deliberately re-engineer Kurdish identities (plural!) across Kurdistan for over a century.
The idea that identities can be re-‘imagined’’ is a Western, Colonial, Neoliberal construct used as a violent assimilationist policy against Indigenous peoples. A Turk with a DNA of 80% Armenian and 20% Kurd is not ethnically or genetically a Turk no matter what he imagines or his family have led him to imagine. The Yezidis are ethnically Kurdish and religiously Yezidi. Yezidism is a religion not an ethnicity- this is a scientific fact. Attempts to disintegrate Kurdish dialects or religious minorities from greater Kurdish identity, like the Lurs, Laks and now Yezidis, is a divide and conquer tactic used by the colonisers of Kurdistan.
Having said that, the grievances of the Yezidi community against failed Kurdish policies is legitimate (and the PKK guerrillas or YPG şervan coming to the rescue when hundreds of Peşmarga abandoned them is not enough incentive in the face of 74 historical genocides and ongoing racism the Kurdish Muslim majority impose on the Yezidis) and needs to be urgently addressed and reconciliation enacted and repatriation provided.
What is true is that segments of the Yezidi community, as a form of POLITICAL protest, resistance and self protection are willing to distance themselves from their Kurdish roots. Which is also a legitimate right they posses- no matter how painful it is for the rest of us democratic Kurds who will always want and deeply desire inclusion, safety and community with our Yezidi people.
Unfortunately this division serves the colonising objectives of Iranian, Turkish and Arab regimes.
A remarkable and heated exchange on Nuce TV, a pro-PKK Kurdish channel, between Riham Hassan, a representative of the pro-PKK Yazidi women’s movement in Sinjar, and Remezan Kerim, a Kurdish nationalist from Erbil.
Hassan insists that Yazidis are a distinct ethnic group, separate from Kurds. Kerim rejects this, repeatedly calls her Kurdish and accuses her of national treason.
Most notably, Kerim invokes the epic of Dewresh Evdi, a legendary Yazidi warrior who, in one documented version of the oral tradition, declares:
"I am neither Kiki nor Milan. I have been Yazidi for seventy generations."
Kerim then renders the line as: "I am Yazidi and I am Kurd."
Academic research firmly establishes Dewresh's Yazidi identity but does not record Kerim's formulation as a direct quotation from Evdi.
However, the epic survives in many oral variations, some of which explicitly place Yazidis within a broader Kurdish identity. A 2022 academic study comparing six versions found that those preserved by Yazidi communities often emphasise both a distinct religious identity and a shared Kurdish identity, while versions among Muslim Kurdish communities focus more on tribal relationships.
The epic is therefore more complicated than either side suggests. Dewresh's Yazidi identity is well established, and his association with Kurdishness also has a basis in the wider tradition.
The exchange is particularly revealing because Hassan herself belongs to the PKK-aligned network and embraces the ideology of jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan, while asserting a distinct Yazidi ethnic identity.
This may reflect a strand of Ocalan's thought that emphasises plural identities and the right of communities to define themselves, leaving room for Yazidis to identify as a distinct people rather than necessarily as Kurds. Kerim represents the more conventional Kurdish nationalist position, which regards Yazidis as an integral part of the Kurdish nation regardless of how individuals identify.
The confrontation exposes a basic difference in how the two approach identity: Hassan insists on the right to define her own, while Kerim insists on defining it for her. Even a shared epic becomes a vehicle for competing claims.
Frederike Geerdink retweeted
This appears to be the ultimate ambition of both the KDP and PUK in Iraqi Kurdistan: to dispense with “costly” and “useless” elections and govern their respective territories without the “headache” of a free press or an independent civil society and so on, effectively replicating the UAE and other gulf states model.
KDP’s Hemin Hawrami revealed that during negotiations the KDP proposed to the PUK, and to all other parties, that the two parties govern the Kurdistan Region together for ten years without elections #Kurdistan #KDP #PUK #Elections
peregraf.com/en/news/12788
Frederike Geerdink retweeted
It's positive that YJS are being integrated at all, and women's participation in internal security is important.
But what's this regional obsession with demoting women who have proven that they can fight to internal security roles by fiat? Why not let the women choose?
Long story short: imposing an identity on another person is just terrible. Hands off. There are Yazidis who identify as ethnic Kurds and those who consider their Yazidi identity as both religious and ethnic. Both fine, no wrong answers.
A remarkable and heated exchange on Nuce TV, a pro-PKK Kurdish channel, between Riham Hassan, a representative of the pro-PKK Yazidi women’s movement in Sinjar, and Remezan Kerim, a Kurdish nationalist from Erbil.
Hassan insists that Yazidis are a distinct ethnic group, separate from Kurds. Kerim rejects this, repeatedly calls her Kurdish and accuses her of national treason.
Most notably, Kerim invokes the epic of Dewresh Evdi, a legendary Yazidi warrior who, in one documented version of the oral tradition, declares:
"I am neither Kiki nor Milan. I have been Yazidi for seventy generations."
Kerim then renders the line as: "I am Yazidi and I am Kurd."
Academic research firmly establishes Dewresh's Yazidi identity but does not record Kerim's formulation as a direct quotation from Evdi.
However, the epic survives in many oral variations, some of which explicitly place Yazidis within a broader Kurdish identity. A 2022 academic study comparing six versions found that those preserved by Yazidi communities often emphasise both a distinct religious identity and a shared Kurdish identity, while versions among Muslim Kurdish communities focus more on tribal relationships.
The epic is therefore more complicated than either side suggests. Dewresh's Yazidi identity is well established, and his association with Kurdishness also has a basis in the wider tradition.
The exchange is particularly revealing because Hassan herself belongs to the PKK-aligned network and embraces the ideology of jailed PKK founder Abdullah Ocalan, while asserting a distinct Yazidi ethnic identity.
This may reflect a strand of Ocalan's thought that emphasises plural identities and the right of communities to define themselves, leaving room for Yazidis to identify as a distinct people rather than necessarily as Kurds. Kerim represents the more conventional Kurdish nationalist position, which regards Yazidis as an integral part of the Kurdish nation regardless of how individuals identify.
The confrontation exposes a basic difference in how the two approach identity: Hassan insists on the right to define her own, while Kerim insists on defining it for her. Even a shared epic becomes a vehicle for competing claims.
Frederike Geerdink retweeted
Waar eindigt objectieve verslaggeving en begint activisme? Maandag in De Balie: een gesprek over de rol van journalisten in een democratie onder druk. Met @NOS-hoofdredacteur Giselle van Cann, @fgeerdink, Eric Smit en Natasja Gibbs.
debalie.nl/programma/is-elke…
Frederike Geerdink retweeted
There are no elections in Turkey at the moment to excuse the AKP & Erdogan’s fears concerning Ocalan speaking to the journalists.
In fact, it is the right time for Ocalan to talk to them to address both Turkish and kurdish public to further clarify his democratic republic peace approach as the base for the new kurdish-Turkish “brotherhood”.
Ruşen Çakır (@cakir_rusen):
"Kandil'in ve galiba İmralı'nın beklentisi Öcalan'ın medyaya konuşması. Galiba kritik nokta burası. Öcalan bir şekilde, devletin onayıyla tabii, devletin nezaretinde gazetecilere, bir grup gazeteciye konuşursa, o zaman statü vs. gibi tartışmalarda çok önemli bir eşik aşılmış olacak. Öcalan'ın vereceği o mesajlarla, süreç ya hızlı gelişecek ya da çakılıp kalacak.
İktidarın AK Parti kanadı bu konuda tereddütlü, ürküyor. Çok da aceleye getirmek istemiyor. Benim bildiğim kadarıyla Öcalan'ın medyaya konuşmasında da mutabık kalınmış. Ama bunun zamanlaması diye bir sorun var.
Erdoğan özellikle fon kriziyle uğraşırken bir de böyle bir ek kriz çıksın istemiyor. Nitekim Bahçeli böyle düşünmüyor ve Bahçeli Öcalan'ın statüsü, konuşması gibi hususlarda sürekli ısrar ediyor. Fakat kararı Erdoğan veriyor ve orada dananın kuyruğu kopuyor."
Ronduit walgelijk. Genocide, bezetting, etnische zuivering, marteling - allemaal mooi maar je moet er wel wat bij drinken.
Daar zitten ze hoor. Lekker op CIDI schoolreisje in bezet gebied. Embedded tussen de Israëliërs in Ramallah, met @BartNijman en @VictorVlam.
Frederike Geerdink retweeted
Kurdish political prisoner Nihat Bertan, released from a Turkish prison after 31 YEARS behind bars, called for support for the peace process, saying freedom remains incomplete until all political prisoners are released.
Frederike Geerdink retweeted
The real and overwhelmingly disproportionate violence is the violence that cannibalistic capitalism uses to extract profit from the labour, bodies and health of people.
The real and overwhelmingly disproportionate vandalism is the vandalism that austerity policies have wrought on the lives and the communities that it siphoned money from to the benefit of the super-rich.
Frederike Geerdink retweeted
No words.
And many will only believe the crimes committed in Gaza when the snipers get on camera - hidden face, altered voice- to confess their atrocities.
Frederike Geerdink retweeted
Five Kurds arrested, four remain held at undisclosed locations. More arrests on a daily basis, people being disappeared, others executed, tortured, forced confessions. The situation of the Kurds in Iran is beyond dire.
kurdistanhumanrights.org/en/…
Fideel van @FrontaalNaakt dat hij ronduit stelt dat @DalesGeert63675 géén racistische nazi is. frontaalnaakt.nl/archives/ge…
Frederike Geerdink retweeted
Post-interview chat with Murat Karayilan?
Yes! For now I can say he loves Egyptian Um Kulthum's music.
Following my interview with Murat Karayilan, I had an informal chat with him for about 20 minutes. The informal conversation focused less on politics and war; it was more on how he joined the PKK, what music he likes, his connections with football and Amedspor, his life routine and work especially in the past 12 years in the caves, what books he read and write, and what has made him shed tears. Yes, he told me that, too!
Now that I have watched it again, my voice is not so good because of the echo in the cave with one camera and it seems my mic was off, but I believe @the_amargi readers and viewers would like to watch this, too!
Stay tuned for this!
#EXCLUSIVE: I spent ten days in the PKK headquarters and caves before finally reaching Murat Karayılan for this exclusive interview with The Amargi. We begin with the wars reshaping the Middle East and then break down the peace process, in which Mr. Karayılan clearly calls on the Turkish state to end policies of denial and annihilation, and on Kurds to abandon rebellion and work toward establishing a democratic state.
Mr. Karayılan has not spoken to any external media outlet for the past 12 years. We at The Amargi were lucky to be the first.
If you are following the Kurdish question, the peace process and Turkish politics, this interview is for you.
I will try to write my reflections on those 10 days after some rest when time allows.
Enjoy the interview for now.
youtube.com/watch?v=j_oP8Qrw… ,
Frederike Geerdink retweeted
Deze aankondiging werkt bij sommigen als rode lap op stier. Het regent beledigingen, verdraaiingen ('pro-Hamas') en beschuldigingen van anti-semitisme. Israel- lobby laat zich in de fascistische kaart kijken: rode lijn is nu al een succes.
amnesty.nl/agenda/rode-lijn-…
Frederike Geerdink retweeted
Het gedwongen moeten afdoen van een hoofddoek is even erg en even pijnlijk als het gedwongen moeten dragen. Het is machtsvertoon en een vorm van vernedering. Wie dit verdedigt, heeft niet de vrijheid van vrouwen voor ogen, maar wil bepalen hoe die vrijheid ingevuld moet worden.
Frederike Geerdink retweeted
I observed this trial in the courtroom in 2021 when it was decided and it was a mess. As the UN observed, there were massive due process problems. This new ruling further clouds the conviction and sentencing of the Badinan detainees.
ohchr.org/sites/default/file…
Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court has ruled Law No. 21 of 2003 of the Kurdistan Parliament unconstitutional. The law was used to sentence journalist Sherwan Sherwani and four other #Badinan journalists and activists to six years in prison in 2021.
#Iraq #Kurdistan #SherwanSherwani #PressFreedom
peregraf.com/en/news/12699
Er was geen pro-Hamasdemo in A'dam. Honderden mensen droegen een rouwdoek met 21.000+ namen van door Israël vermoorde Palestijnse kinderen door de stad. Er liepen een paar mensen met een Hamas-uiting, wat gewoon mag (en moet mogen). Meer ophef over iets legaals dan over genocide.
Wie is die vrouw in het begin met die grote zwarte kraag? (AI zegt Nelleke van der Krogt, Astrid Joosten, Saskia Belleman 🙃) En hoezo zouden Nederlandse jongeren geen boom kunnen opzetten over politiek, oorlog, ongelijkheid, militarisme, enz? Kunnen ze prima natuurlijk.
Kurds defend all lives coz that's what defending life means. I remember a military vehicle accident around Roboskî and the locals ran to help. Flash news! Kurds help soldiers! Yes, soldiers are human beings. It's the state that hasn't advocated for everybody's lives, remember?
