For two weeks the people of Afrin in Syrian Kurdistan have been under the most atrocious and merciless attacks and air strikes by the Turkish army. Turkish war jets, tanks, artillery and fully-armed soldiers continuously bombard the neighbourhoods, villages, and the cities. Several women, men, and children have so far lost their lives, many more have been injured and tens of thousands have sought refuge in mountains and open fields in harsh winter conditions.
Erdogan’s fascist and criminal regime’s excuse for these attacks is that the Kurdish organisations that are active in the region, in particular YPG, are linked to the PKK, which he calls a terrorist organisation. However, justifying and defending crimes against civilians is as detestable and disgusting as these crimes themselves. Raising the banner of “war against terrorism” by Erdogan’s regime, which has become disgraced internationally for its wholehearted support for ISIS murderers, is more like a ludicrous farce. The “fault” of the people of Afrin is that they have freed themselves from Bashar al-Asad’s dictatorship, and making use of the existing peculiar and unstable political situation are trying to experience a form of self-governance in their villages, cities, and their lives. The ruling Islamic reactionism in Turkey views this situation as something that favours its political opposition and undermines its own position. It is worried that the direct participation of the people in Syrian Kurdistan in determining their own political fate and the strengthening of the opposition forces in Turkey intensifies the politically unstable conditions in Turkey. Thus, it mercilessly punishes the people in Afrin.
It is clear that the criminal attack of the Turkish army on Afrin is being done with the approval of the states that are involved in the region. The USA and the EU, who are Turkey’s strategic allies, did not take any steps before the attacks to stop Erdogan, and now after two weeks that these crimes have been going on before their eyes, they are doing nothing but fraudulently “expressing their concern”. Bashar al-Asad’s detestable regime, Russia, and the Islamic Republic, who are directly responsible for the crimes against the people of the region, consider these crimes beneficial to themselves and thus are siding with Erdogan’s aims and the crimes of his army.
The inhabitants of Afrin, however, with the aid of existing organisations in the region, are resisting this bloody attack by the Turkish Army and are resolute in defeating this attack. Still, these people are in need of international solidarity and support. We should not allow a reactionary state to play the role of the major-domo of reactionism against the people of different countries. Defending the lives of the people in Afrin is the duty of all humanitarian, libertarian and progressive people, organisations and parties in the world. All these states should be condemned for their silence on the crimes of Erdogan’s regime in Syrian Kurdistan. The people of Afrin should be defended by any possible means. The Worker-communist Party of Iran stands by the people of Afrin and strongly condemns the crimes of Erdogan’s regime.
Worker-communist Party of Iran
February 2, 2018
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