ISTANBUL // For more than 30 years, the singer Sivan Perwer has been the "voice of freedom" for Turkey's Kurds - and a potentially dangerous separatist in the eyes of the Turkish state. But in a sign of fundamental shifts that are changing Turkey's long-running Kurdish conflict, Perwer, one of the most respected figures in the Kurdish scene, has publicly distanced himself from rebels fighting Ankara.
For many years, the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, a rebel group that has been fighting for Kurdish self-rule since 1984 in a guerrilla war that has cost tens of thousands of lives, had a tight grip on Kurdish politicians and artists. Now that grip appears to be loosening.
This week, 41 Kurdish intellectuals living in exile issued a declaration rejecting threats by the PKK against Perwer and several Kurdish writers and journalists.
"That is a new phenomenon," Can Fuat Gurlesel, head of the Institute for Strategic Studies, or Turksae, a think tank in Istanbul, said in an interview. "The PKK can no longer say it is speaking for all Kurds."
In January, Perwer met with Bulent Arinc, a Turkish deputy prime minister, in Germany. The meeting triggered a wave of criticism directed against Perwer in media close to the PKK. Among other things, Perwer was called a traitor. A militant group close to the PKK is said to have put Perwer and other dissidents on a death list. Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed PKK leader, has been quoted as saying this month Perwer should not allow himself to be used by the government.
The singer, who has lived in exile in Germany since he was forced to flee Turkey 35 years ago, reacted with an angry speech he posted on YouTube after the PKK said he betrayed the Kurdish people by meeting Mr Arinc. "You don't have the right to declare anyone a traitor," he said, addressing the PKK and its followers. "If there is a traitor, it is he who accuses others of treason," Perwer added according to a Turkish translation of his speech, which he made in Kurdish.
The condemnation of the PKK by one of the most prominent and revered artists of Kurds in Turkey has been widely debated in the Turkish and the Kurdish press. The Turkish government and Kurdish intellectuals have praised Perwer and called on the public to support him. But some Kurdish politicians have derided the singer as the "good Kurd" in the service of Ankara.
Public criticism of the PKK by a prominent Kurd in Turkey has been rare, but is becoming more widespread as more and more Kurds question the rebels' reluctance to give up violence even though the Turkish government has started to take steps to end the conflict by political means. The rebels have killed Kurdish dissidents in the past, and one of Perwer's aides told Turkish media in February the singer had cancelled a concert in Switzerland after receiving threats. The concert did not take place.
In his video, Perwer said the PKK would not be succeed in intimidating him. "They should know one thing: Sivan Perwer will never give up what he believes in."
Perwer, 55, fled from Turkey in 1976, at a time when the Turkish state did not allow the public use of the Kurdish language. In exile, the "voice of freedom", as Perwer calls himself on his website, became a living symbol of the Kurdish resistance.
"We have to always struggle for our freedom, Turks always want to occupy and finish us," he said in an English language interview in 2006, posted on the website of Freemuse, a Danish organisation campaigning against censorship in music. At that time, more than 60 per cent of his songs were still banned in Turkey, he said.
But times have changed since. Many restrictions on the use of the Kurdish language have been lifted, and Turkey introduced a state-run television station broadcasting in Kurdish in 2009. Perwer has welcomed the reforms and talked about a possible return to Turkey in his meeting with Mr Arinc, the deputy prime minister.
Crucially, Perwer offered his support for the government's programme of political reforms for the Kurdish conflict, known as the Democratic Opening, which the government says is the first chance in decades to end the guerrilla war between the PKK and the Turkish state, but which is rejected by the PKK and Turkey's main Kurdish party.
"We spoke about the Kurdish question and we agreed that it can be resolved by the current policy of reforms," Perwer told the Turkish news channel NTV after his meeting with Mr Arinc. "I offered to contribute what I can as an artist to support these reforms."
This week, TRT, Turkey's state-run television, broadcast a documentary about Perwer's life, a step that would have been unthinkable only a few years ago. According to reports in the Turkish press, Perwer praised Mr Arinc, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the prime minister, and Abdullah Gul, Turkey's president, as "sincere and clean people".
Orhan Miroglu, a Kurdish intellectual and newspaper columnist who has received threats from the PKK as well, said Perwer had helped to overcome a "blockage" that had kept Kurdish artists from criticising the Kurdish rebels. "Sivan is the honour of the Kurdish people."
tseibert@thenational.ae
Awar Qalb
Director: Jamal Salem
Starring: Abdulla Zaid, Joma Ali, Neven Madi and Khadija Sleiman
Two stars
Who are the Sacklers?
The Sackler family is a transatlantic dynasty that owns Purdue Pharma, which manufactures and markets OxyContin, one of the drugs at the centre of America's opioids crisis. The family is well known for their generous philanthropy towards the world's top cultural institutions, including Guggenheim Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, Tate in Britain, Yale University and the Serpentine Gallery, to name a few. Two branches of the family control Purdue Pharma.
Isaac Sackler and Sophie Greenberg were Jewish immigrants who arrived in New York before the First World War. They had three sons. The first, Arthur, died before OxyContin was invented. The second, Mortimer, who died aged 93 in 2010, was a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma. The third, Raymond, died aged 97 in 2017 and was also a former chief executive of Purdue Pharma.
It was Arthur, a psychiatrist and pharmaceutical marketeer, who started the family business dynasty. He and his brothers bought a small company called Purdue Frederick; among their first products were laxatives and prescription earwax remover.
Arthur's branch of the family has not been involved in Purdue for many years and his daughter, Elizabeth, has spoken out against it, saying the company's role in America's drugs crisis is "morally abhorrent".
The lawsuits that were brought by the attorneys general of New York and Massachussetts named eight Sacklers. This includes Kathe, Mortimer, Richard, Jonathan and Ilene Sackler Lefcourt, who are all the children of either Mortimer or Raymond. Then there's Theresa Sackler, who is Mortimer senior's widow; Beverly, Raymond's widow; and David Sackler, Raymond's grandson.
Members of the Sackler family are rarely seen in public.
Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
Nayanthara: Beyond The Fairy Tale
Starring: Nayanthara, Vignesh Shivan, Radhika Sarathkumar, Nagarjuna Akkineni
Director: Amith Krishnan
Rating: 3.5/5
Disclaimer
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Stars: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Lesley Manville
Rating: 4/5
Company%20profile
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Company%20Profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
What is a Ponzi scheme?
A fraudulent investment operation where the scammer provides fake reports and generates returns for old investors through money paid by new investors, rather than through ligitimate business activities.
Electoral College Victory
Trump has so far secured 295 Electoral College votes, according to the Associated Press, exceeding the 270 needed to win. Only Nevada and Arizona remain to be called, and both swing states are leaning Republican. Trump swept all five remaining swing states, North Carolina, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, sealing his path to victory and giving him a strong mandate.
Popular Vote Tally
The count is ongoing, but Trump currently leads with nearly 51 per cent of the popular vote to Harris’s 47.6 per cent. Trump has over 72.2 million votes, while Harris trails with approximately 67.4 million.
Indoor cricket World Cup:
Insportz, Dubai, September 16-23
UAE fixtures:
Men
Saturday, September 16 – 1.45pm, v New Zealand
Sunday, September 17 – 10.30am, v Australia; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Monday, September 18 – 2pm, v England; 7.15pm, v India
Tuesday, September 19 – 12.15pm, v Singapore; 5.30pm, v Sri Lanka
Thursday, September 21 – 2pm v Malaysia
Friday, September 22 – 3.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 3pm, grand final
Women
Saturday, September 16 – 5.15pm, v Australia
Sunday, September 17 – 2pm, v South Africa; 7.15pm, v New Zealand
Monday, September 18 – 5.30pm, v England
Tuesday, September 19 – 10.30am, v New Zealand; 3.45pm, v South Africa
Thursday, September 21 – 12.15pm, v Australia
Friday, September 22 – 1.30pm, semi-final
Saturday, September 23 – 1pm, grand final
Kanguva
Director: Siva
Stars: Suriya, Bobby Deol, Disha Patani, Yogi Babu, Redin Kingsley
Fixtures and results:
Wed, Aug 29:
- Malaysia bt Hong Kong by 3 wickets
- Oman bt Nepal by 7 wickets
- UAE bt Singapore by 215 runs
Thu, Aug 30: UAE v Nepal; Hong Kong v Singapore; Malaysia v Oman
Sat, Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong; Oman v Singapore; Malaysia v Nepal
Sun, Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman; Malaysia v UAE; Nepal v Singapore
Tue, Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore; UAE v Oman; Nepal v Hong Kong
Thu, Sep 6: Final
Guns N’ Roses’s last gig before Abu Dhabi was in Hong Kong on November 21. We were there – and here’s what they played, and in what order. You were warned.
- It’s So Easy
- Mr Brownstone
- Chinese Democracy
- Welcome to the Jungle
- Double Talkin’ Jive
- Better
- Estranged
- Live and Let Die (Wings cover)
- Slither (Velvet Revolver cover)
- Rocket Queen
- You Could Be Mine
- Shadow of Your Love
- Attitude (Misfits cover)
- Civil War
- Coma
- Love Theme from The Godfather (movie cover)
- Sweet Child O’ Mine
- Wichita Lineman (Jimmy Webb cover)
- Wish You Were Here (instrumental Pink Floyd cover)
- November Rain
- Black Hole Sun (Soundgarden cover)
- Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)
- Nightrain
Encore:
- Patience
- Don’t Cry
- The Seeker (The Who cover)
- Paradise City
Specs%3A%202024%20McLaren%20Artura%20Spider
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
GREATEST ROYAL RUMBLE CARD
The line-up as it stands for the Greatest Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia on April 27
50-man Royal Rumble
Universal Championship
Brock Lesnar (champion) v Roman Reigns
Casket match
The Undertaker v Rusev
Intercontinental Championship
Seth Rollins (champion) v The Miz v Finn Balor v Samoa Joe
SmackDown Tag Team Championship
The Bludgeon Brothers v The Usos
Raw Tag Team Championship
Sheamus and Cesaro v Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy
United States Championship
Jeff Hardy (champion) v Jinder Mahal
Singles match
Triple H v John Cena
To be confirmed
AJ Styles will defend his WWE World Heavyweight title and Cedric Alexander his Cruiserweight Championship, but matches have yet to be announced
Small Victories: The True Story of Faith No More by Adrian Harte
Jawbone Press