CENTRAL NEWS – The Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) strongly condemned in a statement the new intensified cross-border offensive of Turkish armed forces against the Kurds.
The statement signed by Choo Chon Kai, Central Committee member of the PSM, said: “While the international news is dominated by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, we must not ignore the ongoing aggression against the Kurds by Turkey, a NATO member, with the latest aggression taking place in South Kurdistan (Northern Iraq). The Turkish military is also stepping up its attack on the liberated territories of Rojava (Northeastern Syria).”
The statement added: “Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the increasingly authoritarian Turkish President who hypocritically pretended to be a “peacemaker” in the Ukraine war, has ordered the latest round of cross-border attacks beginning on 17th April 2022, targeting areas controlled by Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) guerrillas in South Kurdistan (Northern Iraq). One of Erdoğan’s plans is to take over territories controlled by the PKK and establish its own military bases there. The Turkish military has already set up dozens of military bases in the region. Parallel to the Turkish invasion of South Kurdistan (Northern Iraq), the Turkish military continues to deploy drones to attack and kill people in Rojava (Northeastern Syria).
Domestically, the Erdoğan regime is pursuing systematic repression against the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). Since 2016, over 10,000 HDP members have been arrested on all kinds of trumped-up charges, with over 4,000 of them still in prisons, including members of parliament and democratically-elected mayors.”
The PSM issued a call, demanding “Turkey must immediately cease its military aggression on South Kurdistan (Northern Iraq) and withdraw all its troops from the region; renewal of negotiations – in which the PKK has shown their readiness to engage in such negotiations – to find a sustainable and just solution to restore peace in the Kurdistan region; Recognition of the democratic right to self-determination of the Kurds and all nationals in the Kurdistan region, as the basis to a political solution to the “Kurdish Question”; Free all political prisoners in Turkey; Stop the repression of pro-Kurdish political movements in Turkey.”
