Tens of Thousands of Turkish Kurds Protest over Repression

Supporters of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) gather to celebrate Newroz, which marks the arrival of spring, in Diyarbakir, Turkey. (Reuters)
Supporters of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) gather to celebrate Newroz, which marks the arrival of spring, in Diyarbakir, Turkey. (Reuters)
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Tens of Thousands of Turkish Kurds Protest over Repression

Supporters of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) gather to celebrate Newroz, which marks the arrival of spring, in Diyarbakir, Turkey. (Reuters)
Supporters of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) gather to celebrate Newroz, which marks the arrival of spring, in Diyarbakir, Turkey. (Reuters)

لإens of thousands of people gathered in the city of Diyarbakir in southeast Turkey on Sunday to celebrate the Kurdish New Year and protest against the repression of a pro-Kurdish opposition party.

But this year the normal New Year festivities ran alongside a major protest in the Kurdish-majority city, coming just days after a Turkish prosecutor asked the Constitutional Court to shut down the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), parliament’s third-largest group.

Just hours before the event, Turkish authorities briefly detained prominent pro-Kurdish opposition MP Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, who had refused to leave parliament for several days after his seat was revoked.

“The HDP is the people and the people are here!” the crowd in Diyarbakir chanted, waving flags in the party’s colors.

If the HDP is banned “another party will replace it, it won’t change anything” Yusuf Celik, one of the protesters, told AFP.

“The Kurds, those who have honor, will support this cause to the death,” he added.

“One party wants to ban another party in order to stay in power, that’s not normal, or humane. No one can accept that,” said fellow protester Mursel Bakir.

The repression of the HDP also figured high in the celebrations to mark the Kurdish New Year in Istanbul Saturday.



Zelenskiy Says He Wants Half Ukraine’s Weapons to Be Produced Domestically

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy inspects newest samples of military equipment and weapons, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, April 13, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy inspects newest samples of military equipment and weapons, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, April 13, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
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Zelenskiy Says He Wants Half Ukraine’s Weapons to Be Produced Domestically

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy inspects newest samples of military equipment and weapons, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, April 13, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy inspects newest samples of military equipment and weapons, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv region, Ukraine, April 13, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that he was counting on his new incoming government to take measures to boost the proportion of weapons made at home to 50% within six months.

Zelenskiy has carried out a political reshuffle this week, nominating as his new prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko, the driving force behind a minerals deal with the United States. Outgoing prime minister Denys Shmyhal has been put forward as the new defense minister.

The nominations, which require parliamentary approval, came as diplomatic efforts to end the war with Russia, now in its fourth year, have stalled and as Ukraine seeks to revive its cash-strapped economy and build up a domestic arms industry.

Zelenskiy said he, Shmyhal and outgoing defense minister Rustem Umerov had decided at a meeting on Wednesday that the defense ministry would have "greater influence in the domain of arms production".

"Ukrainian-made weapons now make up about 40% of those used at the front and in our operations," Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address. "This is already significantly more than at any time in our country's independence. The production volumes are truly large, but we need more.

"Our goal is to reach 50% Ukrainian-made weaponry within the first six months of the new government, by expanding our domestic production. I am confident this is achievable, though not easy."

Zelenskiy has long stressed the importance of boosting domestic production of weapons and developing joint production of weaponry with Ukraine's Western partners.

It has focused on drone production and on providing air defenses to withstand intensifying Russian drone and missile attacks on Ukrainian cities. Zelenskiy has in recent weeks stressed the importance of developing drone interceptors as a rational way of tackling swarms of drones.

Kyiv's military authorities last week announced the allocation of $6.2 million for a drone interceptor program to defend the capital's skies from Russian drones.