HELSINKI – A demonstration organized by the internationalist youth together with the local Kurdish community took place today in Helsinki, Finland, under the motto “We will not bow down for Turkey”.
Police attack on demonstration
Two hundred people gathered to march from Senaatintori to the Turkish embassy to show their solidarity with the Kurdish movement organized on the principles of the Rêber APO. The protest called for solidarity with the Kurdish freedom movement against the attacks by the fascist Turkish state and called for an end to the arms trade between Finland and Turkey and condemnation of attacks on freedom of expression by the Finnish police.
Doll committed crimes?!
Finnish police responded with dozens of officers in turnout gear and armed with FN303 anti-tank guns. As an anti-government event was about to begin, police attacked performers and “arrested” a puppet depicting Turkey’s dictator Erdogan and a person trying to film a fascist counter-demonstrator. According to police, the doll committed the crime of defaming Turkish dictator Erdogan.
Committed commitment of the internationalist youth
The internationalist youth managed to push back the police by shouting slogans like “Erdogan’s lackeys” and “Biji berxwedana PKK” . Thanks to the action of the young people, the event could be carried out without regard to the police.
“Take a stand against police repression from Helsinki to Amed, from Oulu to Tehran”
The internationalist organizers of the action made the following statement about the police attack:“The police today took the same stance as they did four months ago at the “Helsinki without Nazis” demonstration, when they tried to force the Kurdish community to hide the PKK, KCK and YPG/YPJ flags. We, Riseup4RojavaFinland and Aurora Helsinki, condemn the actions of the fascist police who will do anything Erdogan asks of them just to give Finland a place in the imperialist club of war criminals and dictators, NATO. We call on all internationalists who support the Kurdish struggle for democracy, ecology and women’s freedom to take a stand against police repression from Helsinki to Amed, from Oulu to Tehran. We call for to rise up against the fascist structures of the capitalist nation-state in both Europe and the Middle East. In solidarity with the Kurdish movement in all four parts of Kurdistan.”
