Musa Anter peace train

The Musa Anter Peace Train was a failed 1997 campaign organized by the German Hannover Appell for a peaceful solution for the Kurdish-Turkish conflict. It was named in honor of the Kurdish poet and writer Musa Anter.[1][2]

The original plan was for a chartered train to leave Brussels, Belgium on 26 August 1997 and arrive in Diyarbakır, Turkey on 1 September. The Turkish government opposed the campaign, and in response Germany and Bulgaria denied permission for the train to cross their territory. The peace activists then took airline flights to Istanbul and tried to travel together to Diyarbakir in a bus convoy.[3] They reached Urfa in southeast Turkey, where Turkish police denied them access to Diyarbakir.[4][5][6]

The hundreds of participants in the Peace Train included European and African members of parliaments. Among the supporters of the campaign were Nobel Peace prize laureates José Ramos-Horta of East Timor[4] and Desmond Tutu of South Africa.[6] The convoy included Frances D’ Souza from Article 19, political activist Bruce Kent, members of British socialist parties and was advised by the pro-Kurdish People's Democracy Party (HADEP).[3]

  1. ^ "Old wine into new wineskins?". Firat News Agency. 15 June 2021. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  2. ^ "U.S. Department of State - Turkey Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1997". US State Department. 1997. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  3. ^ a b Clark, William (1997). "The Musa Anter peace train" (PDF). Variant (4): 12–17.
  4. ^ a b "Belgium: European Peace Train journey to Kurdistan is cancelled". www.aparchive.com. 26 August 1997. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  5. ^ Paul, Reimar (1997-08-19). "Ein Sonderzug ins kurdische Diyarbakir". Die Tageszeitung (in German). p. 7. ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 2021-12-08.
  6. ^ a b Bowcott, Owen (25 August 1997). "Kurdish Peace Train hits the buffers in Bonn". The Guardian.