by Eve Vincent
One week after an official visit from Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan in December last year, the Australian Government listed the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) as a terrorist organisation.
In Turkey, Kurdish people are denied their distinct cultural identity and since the 1980s the PKK has maintained an armed insurgency against a repressive Turkish state. By 1999, when PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan — revered by Kurdish communities around the world — was imprisoned, the civil conflict had claimed 30,000 dead. Since then the PKK’s aspirations have changed, but the armed insurgency continues.
Kurdish refugees in Australia argue that the PKK is inextricable from Kurdish identity — as one Melbourne Kurdish man puts it “How can I denounce the PKK? It would be like denouncing myself” — and are worried that cultural expressions will be mistaken for terrorist activity.
The decision to proscribe the organisation is currently under review by a Parliamentary Committee. Signature spoke to VICKI SENTAS, who argued against the listing on behalf of the Federation of Community Legal Centres (Vic).
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by Sarah L'Estrange
 Picture this: tourists visiting Melbourne for the 2006 Commonwealth Games walk down Hosier Lane, a cobbled laneway decorated with graffiti and stencil art, which runs off busy Flinders Street, enjoying the city sites. As they walk they activate a sensory mechanism that sets off a chaotic audio ambush. They hear homeless people talking to each other, and invisible strangers, in whispers and shouts.
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by FIONA McGREGOR
Frank and Lili were boating on the harbour. They were so close to the foreshore they could see the pattern of lichen on the rocks. Looking up at Kirribilli Point, Frank reflected, “We could probably reach him with a hand grenade from here.”
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