TURIN – As part of the days of action against the use of chemical weapons, called for by the Defend Kurdistan campaign, Kurdish and internationalist youth met today, together with the population, in Piazza Castello in the Italian city of Turin. About 200 people met at 3pm and after a gathering started a spontaneous demonstration up to the headquarters of RAI (Italian state television) and tried to enter there to spread the news about the recent attacks in north-eastern Syria and in the mountains.
During the demonstration various banners with messages like “Defend Kurdistan. Against the fascist regime of Erdogan #WeSeeYourCrimes”, “Freedom for Öcalan” and “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî” and other banners displayed by Italian activists from different movements who also took part in the demonstration.
The call for the demonstration was made by the coordination Defend Kurdistann in Turin, a platform that includes various organizations from the city and the surrounding area.
Various activities took place throughout the week to mobilize the public for the demonstration, such as two performances at the Turin Film Festival and a gathering at the University of Turin.
Slogans such as “Freedom for Öcalan”, “Bijî Serok APO”, “Bijî berxwedana PKK” and “From the Kurdish mountains to the Italian cities: women, life, freedom” were shouted at the demonstration . Various people and collectives spoke out during the demonstration and the rally, e.g. B. Rete Jin, as well as the internationalists who just came back from Rojava and other activists. The Iranian community also took part in the demonstration and spoke about the Iranian regime’s attacks on the social uprising in Rojhilat and Iran. Afterwards, three Iranian activists sang a song in Persian for Kurdistan.
The flags of the PKK, YPG and YPJ were waved during the demonstration, which was accompanied by slogans and smoke bombs. When an attempt was made to inform Italian television about the chemical weapons attacks in Kurdistan, the police tried to obstruct the action, but the activists showed strong resistance.
