Kurdish protest at the Syrian Embassy in London

IMCer | 02.05.2008 20:09 | Repression | Birmingham | London

About 50 Kurds gathered at the Syrian embassy in London yesterday (Thursday, May 1st) to commemorate the forty-day anniversary of the killing of 3 Kurdish men at the hands of the Syrian security forces in the northern town of Qamishli while holding a street party to celebrate Newroz on March 20th. Protesters held up Kurdish flags and shouted anti-Syrian government slogans, while being penned in by the Met. The designated protest area was also 'shifted' down the road a little so protesters found themselves facing the Venezuelan embassy instead of the Syrian!

penned in

facing the wrong embassy!

shouting anti-Syrian government slogans

singing the Kurdish national anthem

posing for tv camera

rainy end

once again, a video camera spotted in the embassy windows filming protesters

Bribe? the cop guarding the embassy is offered Syrian cookies by embassy staff

On March 20th, at about 7pm, Syrian Internal Security forces opened fire on Kurds celebrating the Kurdish New Year (“Newroz”) in the largely Kurdish town of Qamishli in north east Syria. The shots killed Muhammad Yahya Khalil and Muhammad Zaki Ramadan immediately, while a third man, Muhammad Mahmud Hussein, died later from his wounds. All three were between 18 and 25 years old. The shots also wounded at least five people, including Muhieldin Hajj Jamil 'Issa, Karam Ibrahim Yusif, Muhammad Kheir Khalaf 'Issa, Riad Yussef Sheikhi and Khalil Sulayman Hussein.

About 200 people had gathered on a road in the western part of Qamishli. They lit candles on the side of the road and a bonfire in the middle, around which some performed a Kurdish traditional dance.

This is not the first time that the Syrian authorities have used force to break up a Kurdish celebration. In March 2006, security forces arrested dozens of Kurds and used tear gas and batons to stop a candle-lit night procession in celebration of Newroz.

For more details, see:

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/03/24/syria18332.htm

Video of the killings:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh9eZNKk8qw

Previous Kurdish protests at the Syrian embassy:

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/03/393634.html

http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2007/03/364941.html

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Kurdish protest at the Syrian Embassy in London

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