Fréderike Geerdink criticises the media's lack of coverage on Turkey's expanding occupations in Kurdish regions of Iraq and Syria, where Turkification and forced demographic changes are occurring. She argues that this neglect enables political inaction and shields Turkey from accountability, urging a new journalistic approach to better highlight the struggles of oppressed peoples.

Forty years after the PKK took up the right of resistance, the Kurdish Freedom Movement has established an autonomous administration in northern Syria, and the PKK’s philosophy is inspiring people across the world; but the Turkish state continues their anti-Kurdish oppression, denying the Kurds a peaceful route to freedom.

On the 40th anniversary of 15 August 1984, journalist Fréderike Geerdink reflects on the PKK's shift from seeking a Kurdish state to combating patriarchal nation-states, emphasising ideological evolution and guerrilla tactics to counter Turkey's advanced warfare while advocating for community and diversity.

This week’s review from Sarah Glynn focuses on two places where civilians are fleeing for their lives: the IDP camps in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, where Yazidi genocide survivors are fearful of a new attack by their Sunni Muslim neighbours; and Deir ez-Zor in North and East Syria, where Syrian government forces and Iranian-backed militias are carrying out attacks, and where eleven civilians were killed by a Syrian Army bombardment on Thursday night.

After a brief look at the new threats facing the Kurds following Israel’s assassinations in Beirut and Tehran, this week’s news review focuses on Turkey’s attempt to grind away Kurdish culture and identity and wear down Kurdish resistance – and at the even stronger determination to resist that this fosters. It also examines the report of the United Nations Committee Against Torture, which emphasises concerns about the treatment of Abdullah Ocalan and the other prisoners in İmralı.

What is the Rules-Based International Order, and how does it relate to international law? How does it affect international responses to Turkish aggression in Syria and Iraq, and to Iran? What is the role of the United States?

In a recent podcast interview with Medya News, Jody Williams, 1997 Nobel Peace Prize winner. and chair of the Nobel Women's Initiative, speaks about the recent letter by 69 Nobel Peace Prize laureates to European and international human rights bodies expressing their “deep concern” about the conditions in which Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan is being held.

Fréderike Geerdink reflects on the commemoration of the Suruç bombing, emphasising the way dreams and struggles for a better future continue to inspire resistance and hope, exemplified by the Suruç victims and the Rojava revolution.

What might a Trump presidency mean for North and East Syria; what are the prospects for the much talked about reconciliation between Erdoğan and Assad; what is the situation with Turkey’s invasion into the Kurdistan Region of Iraq? Plus, Turkey’s normalising of human rights violations, and their attempt to barter Öcalan’s human rights.