NEWS CENTER – Calling on Kurdistan to defend it with the spirit of the Paris Commune and the resistance in Afrin, Defend Kurdistan said, “If the states are united in the fight against the revolution, we must also be more united for the revolution.”
Defend Kurdistan, ‘We see your crimes – stop the use of chemical weapons in Kurdistan!’ He called for international days of action on the anniversary of the Halabja Massacre (16 March – 19 March 2023). Defend Kurdistan’s statement is as follows:
“The first weeks of the new year already show that the attacks on the Kurdistan revolution will continue in full force and will intensify in the coming weeks and months. The AKP-MHP regime and its political supporters are already planning the next steps to crush self-rule in Kurdistan, as Turkish President Erdogan could not hold power without creating an image of the enemy and maintaining a constant state of war. In this way, the wars aim to hide the crisis of the Turkish state and to crush the democratic forces that constitute an alternative to the current chaos. The Turkish state receives the support of international forces that supply war equipment, where brutal crimes are committed every day, to protect its own interests with its massacre policies.
CONTINUATION OF GENOCIDE POLICY
Looking at recent history, it is seen that today’s attacks are a continuation of the genocidal policy towards the Kurdish society. The use of toxic gas has a sad tradition, especially in Kurdistan. In this sense, Atatürk, Saddam Hussein and Erdogan stand on the same line historically and this should be understood in this way. Atatürk used the planes and poison gas he bought from Nazi Germany in the Dersim Genocide in 1937-38. On March 16, 1988, Saddam Hussein murdered thousands of people in the city of Halabja, in Southern Kurdistan, with German-made poison gas. Erdogan is also committing major war crimes with chemical weapons in the mountains of Kurdistan today. As demonstrated by the brutal repression of revolution in Iran today,
IT IS NOT JUST MORNING, IT IS ALSO REVOLVED
Throughout history, March is full of days that should have caused not only mourning and anger, but also countless moments that were expressions of hope and revolt against oppression. The Paris Commune was proclaimed on March 18, about 152 years ago. After almost two years of war between the two nation-states that cost hundreds of thousands of lives, society rehearsed the uprising. The people of Paris turned their guns against their torturers and fought for self-government that set an important example for us and from which we can learn lessons. Just as a coalition of international powers tried to crush the people’s desire for self-determination and drown it in the blood of thousands of people, so now the states are coming together again to fight against the revolution.
In January 2018, the Turkish military launched a cross-border military operation, in violation of international law, just at a time when self-government was trying to survive the greatest challenges. Under the name of ‘Operation Olive Branch’, an invasion was launched against Afrin, the westernmost canton of self-government. Just as the US opened its airspace for a new invasion over Serêkaniyê and Girê Spî a year later, in 2018, Russia gave the Turkish state the opportunity to attack self-government with German-made Leopard 2 tanks, together with the jihadists. After two months of unmatched resistance, Afrin was occupied 5 years ago on March 18 and hundreds of thousands of people were forced to migrate.
OUR GOVERNMENTS ARE COMPLICTORS
We will not ignore the complicity of our governments in this war. Let’s defend Kurdistan today with the spirit of the Paris Commune and the resistance in Afrin! We call for action, starting from March 16, the anniversary of the Halabja Massacre, until March 18, the anniversary of the occupation of the Paris Commune and Afrin, and also the Day of Political Prisoners! If international states are united in the fight against revolution, we must also be more united for revolution. The war in Kurdistan, the international silence against the isolation imposed on Abdullah Öcalan, the representative of the freedom movement, and the attacks on the Kurdish women’s movement can only be broken together and with a common will.”
