In a small corner of East Turkey, just a stone’s throw from the Iranian border, exists a race of semi-nomadic folk called the Jelali. The Jelali follow a lifestyle founded on livestock farming across a mountainous landscape that includes Mount Ararat, the fabled resting place of Noah’s Ark; Little Ararat, a smaller version of its…
I know I’ve already posted information on this subject, along with Dave Perkins’ article “The Hills Have Eyes” but I received this email just a day or two ago, from a Journalist in New Jersey, requesting certain extra information on SE Turkey and N Iraq. My reply was, I believe, loaded with useful tips for…
Mustafa Kusman at Cavustepe. The small carpark on top of the hill, at the Urartian fortress ruins at Cavustepe, offers an impressive panorama of the surrounding countryside. A lush green plain, between two ridges, is laid out at our feet, sparsely punctuated with the occasional Kurdish village. A small hut at the entrance to the…
The Turkish government has blocked a press conference which was to be held in Belgium by the Kurdish organisation KONGRA-GEL on Friday (26th Aug 2005) in which the KONGRA-GEL was to announce a temporary cease fire as an answer to the peace calls by intellectuals in Turkey. The Belgian authorities stopped the press conference after…
Exploding Lamps Pose Lethal Danger Several people have died and others have been badly burned by exploding lamps filled with stolen aircraft fuel. Istiqlal hospital in Kabul’s Darulaman area is the city’s only medical centre with a ward reserved almost exclusively for victims of burns caused by exploding domestic lamps. Twenty injured people were lying…
This transcript arrived at Polo’s Bastards via an email from Khaleeq Ahmad, the Assistant Spokesman on International Affairs at the Office of The Spokesperson to the President of Afghanistan. It was presented by Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, in London’s Chatham House on 20th July 2005. I’ve taken the liberty of posting it in it’s entirety.…
