Tag Archives: Kobani

CALL FOR ACTION

Coalition forces bomb from above while Kurdish fighters defend the town of Kobane. Image via Facebook.

While we continue to watch the most valiant warriors defend the town of Kobane on the Syrian border with Turkey while the rest of the world hears Erdogan proclaim that Kobane will fall. There are those who are doing all they can, such as a group of researchers, scholars and academia associates have taken action to call for immediate intervention.

The Kurdish Studies Network is a group of over 1,000 members who research and study the issues, ideas and history that surround the Kurdish people, their continued struggle for autonomy and nationalism and the impacts of the diaspora on the Kurds.

As is often the case, scholarly people seldom speak out regarding current events and world affairs. When they choose to do so, one must recognize the importance of the message as well as the urgency which brought the action. Here is their statement on Kobane (Kobani in Kurdish):

Kurdish Studies Scholars’ Statement of Solidarity and Call for Action to Support Kobani

The humanitarian crisis caused by the Islamic State (IS) continues to terrorize and displace hundreds of thousands of people in the Middle East. The autonomous canton of Kobani is now bearing the brunt of the IS’s attacks as the international community has mostly been passive. The city has been under siege for three weeks. Despite fierce resistance by the defenders of the town, the advance of the IS forces towards Kobani is threatening to set off another massacre similar to that of Shengal. As scholars working on issues related to the Kurds and other peoples of Kurdistan, we are profoundly concerned about yet another imminent humanitarian crisis and stand in solidarity with the people of Kobani. We urgently call on the coalition forces against the IS and the broader international community to take immediate action to prevent an impending disaster by supporting the Kurds in their fight for self-defense.

We view the situation in Kobani as one of self-defense against the military aggression of the IS, notorious for its macabre forms of violence against ethnic and religious minorities. The defenders of the city of Kobani have repeatedly and desperately tried to bring their predicament to the attention of the world community and called for more focused and effective air strikes against IS targets around Kobani in coordination with the political authorities and resistance fighters of Rojava (Western Kurdistan). They are once again asking for diplomatic and political recognition, weapons of self-defense, and humanitarian aid to protect themselves against the relentless onslaught of IS. They are too ill-equipped to be able to fend off the most advanced American and Russian arsenals used by the IS. If global support is not provided immediately, they may not be able to withstand the IS’s incessant bombardments; tomorrow may be too late.

We fully support Kobani’s demands and spirit of self-defense and call on the international coalition forces and the broader international community to support Kobani immediately. In expressing our solidarity, we need to stress the fact this statement is not a call for any military aggression or occupation, including that of the Turkish military. We encourage the Turkish government to negotiate with the Kurdish representatives in good faith to ensure the ongoing peace process, which holds much promise. As Kurdish political representatives of Rojava have repeatedly declared, if they are recognized as a legitimate authority and provided with the needed weaponry and other support, they are capable of driving away the threat of the IS.

Ultimately our appeal for extending the necessary support to Kobani has as much to do with the survival of a pluralistic city and its residents, as it has to do with the defense of freedom everywhere else.

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Kurdish Studies Network began their statement with 299 signatories and they now invite all academia people throughout the world to endorse their statement by signing a petition on Change.org. You can add your name to the petition here:
https://www.change.org/p/international-community-scholars-statement-of-solidarity-and-call-for-action-to-support-kobani

This is not the first time this group has taken action. Most recently, they were instrumental in bringing international attention to the Kurdish prisoners held in Turkey’s prison system, who began a hunger strike as a last resort to call attention to their plight.

The hunger strike started on September 12, 2012 by 65 prisoners convicted of belonging to outlawed Kurdish parties. The hunger strikers demanded Kurdish language rights in education and in court, where language barriers prevented Kurdish speaking accused the ability to defend themselves. The petition played an important role in drawing international attention to the hunger strikes of the political prisoners in Turkey. The hunger strike ended on its 68th day. The petition read as follows:

Prisoners will begin to die soon. Every second is valuable.

We, the undersigned, are deeply concerned about the situation and condition of hunger strikers in Turkish prisons. We understand that over 700 Kurdish political prisoners have passed their 46th day on hunger strike, without their demands being addressed by the authorities. Medical experts confirm that in the course of a hunger strike the 40th day is a turning point where physical and mental dysfunctions commence, as well as cases of death begin to occur.

According to international conventions signed by the Republic of Turkey, the government is in charge of a prisoner’s health. As top-ranking members of the government, the President, Prime Minister and the Minister of Justice will personally be held responsible for any damage to the prisoners’ physical condition.

Furthermore, the prisoners’ demands consist primarily of the right to defense in mother tongue and freeing Abdullah Öcalan from solitary confinement. We would like to express our full support of these demands since they are based on fundamental human rights.

We therefore urge the Turkish government to enter in constructive dialogue with the prisoners to respond to their demands.

The international community’s opinion on Turkey and its reform process will be strongly shaped by the way the present hunger strikes are handled and the prisoners are treated. Turkey’s reputation might be seriously harmed should this incident turn into a human tragedy.

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Occupy World Writes stands in Solidarity with Kurdish Studies Network’s statement, all those who choose to sign it, and all those known and unknown people who are doing whatever they possibly can to help this crisis.

THE WHOLE WORLD IS WATCHING.

Dutch Vs Daesh

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Flag used by Islamic State. Image via FaceBook.

Yesterday, hundreds of Kurdish protesters stormed and occupied the Tweede Kamer, the Dutch Parliament’s House of Representatives. The protesters are calling for more action to combat the Islamic State in Iraq and the Daesh, particularly in regard to the Daesh’s currently ongoing siege of Kobane.

So far, the occupation has been peaceful. The protesters have stated that they will not leave until Kobane has been liberated. Socialist Party MP Sadet Karabulut said about the protesters; “It’s a sign, they want to be heard by the House and the international community.”

The Dutch defense ministry had announced on Sunday that “Dutch F-16s flew today over the conflict zone in Iraq for the first time,” and that the planes were “completely ready to be deployed over Iraq.” A protester responded in kind: “ISIS has undertaken violent actions in Kobane. Why are the Dutch F-16s not in use now?” We feel this is a very good question.

Similar protests took place elsewhere in Europe, as Kurdish protesters took to the streets in several cities, including Rome, London, Vienna, Cologne and Stockholm. In the case of Stockholm, protesters reportedly occupied a building at the city’s international airport.

We’d like to say that we’re shocked about the lack of coverage of this in the U.S., with the exception of AlJazeera America, but unfortunately we aren’t. Occupy World Writes began our publication of Kobane’s plight on September 20, Since that time, the world has failed to act.

Weaponry and ammunition were promised to the Kurds. NOTHING has been delivered to date.

ISIS returned 49 Turkish hostages in exchange for 180 of their fighters to be released from Turkish prisons. They were allowed to cross the border back into Syria to rejoin the fight. The international community remains silent on the issue.

Turkish forces are sitting on the border within a mile of Kobane. They now refuse to allow ANY Kurds to cross the border into Syria to help defend their own city. The US and the UN have failed to criticize this hypocrisy.

At this moment of press time, Breaking News on AlJazeera show Turkish forces using their forces on the border to REPEL KURDISH REFUGEES FLEEING ISIS. We believe this act by Turkey to be a WAR CRIME.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden is forced to apologize for telling the truth about Turkey.

We remain steadfast in our support of Kurdish fighters, the region of Rojava and specifically the Kobane defenders.

DEMAND THE WORLD ACT TO SAVE KOBANE.

THIS IS NO WAY TO PEACE!!!

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Kurdish fighters of the ‘Women’s Defense Units’ (YPJ) in Rojava, West Kurdistan/Northern Syria. Image via Tumblr.

THIS IS NO WAY TO PEACE!!!

WE ARE CALLING UPON YOU TO JOIN US, AS WOMEN, IN SOLIDARITY IN THE NAME OF PEACE, OF KOBANÊ, AND AGAINST OUTRIGHT MASSACRE!

Kobanê, one of the three autonomous Kurdish enclaves (part of Rojava, i.e. Western Kurdistan) in Northern Syria, on the border with Turkey, is once again under attack by IS gangs. The Islamic State (IS – formerly known as ISIS, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) has besieged Kobanê on three separate fronts. And the world has been watching. Kobanê is not a state, its declaration of autonomy is not recognized by the international community and yet people live and die there. This most recent war machine has been unleashed upon us by international actors, as part of a design to reshape the entire region in line with their interests. It is also aided and abetted by the state of Turkey; and, as such, is now the main fire power in the attempt to destroy this autonomous zone set up by Kurdish people and, along with it, hopes for a different form of governance in the region. It is also thus threatening to end the peace process between the government of Turkey and the Kurdish guerrilla forces (the PKK – Kurdistan Workers’ Party).

As war is once again mounting, right on the south of the Turkish border, many have been killed, and thousands have been forced to migrate. But resistance against these attacks also continues with increasing participation, as people flock to defend this ideal of free, autonomous governance. The state of Turkey, on the other hand, has been lobbying internationally for the establishment of a buffer zone where the Kurdish autonomous region currently exists. We want the world to know that Rojava, the Kurdish zone in Northern Syria, is NOT empty land; and that hundreds of thousands of people have NOT left their homes to flee into Turkey. These numbers have been grossly exaggerated by the state of Turkey, in efforts to make the world believe this land is deserted, and can be made into a buffer zone, controlled by international soldiers rather than the people of Rojava. This is yet another attempt to shape the region according to powerful interests.

Moreover, women are once again in the middle of this war; they have been forced out of their homes, and their bodies have been made into battlefields. Women have also taken up arms to defend their families and these lands they call home; and they now call upon each and every one of us to rise up against this atrocity, and to stand with them.

We, women who hear and wish to respond to this call, do so with the awareness that the IS, and the mentality of the international powers that support and have created it pose a direct threat to all of us, to all of our bodies as women anywhere in this world. At the same time, we realize that this attack targets the peace process in Turkey, as well as the ideal of peace in this entire region, and the world at large. Moving the war to the south of the border is no way to peace! A mentality that collaborates with the IS, which sells women in areas it conquers as slaves, is no way to peace! This is why we need to build a world-wide women’s solidarity for a peace in which our voices are heard, for all of our sakes, against this mentality that legitimizes slaughtering and enslaving women!

In order to voice our demand for peace more powerfully, we came together as numerous women’s organisations and women from political parties and mass organisations in Turkey. We are now calling on ALL women’s organisations struggling for peace world-wide to launch actions, organize demonstrations, simultaneously with us on Sunday, September 28 (and if this date is too early, any time before or on October 1) wherever you are located. Whilst so many international scenarios are being played out in the Middle East, geographical distance unfortunately cannot mean being on outside of this war. These attacks target all women, around the world. Hence, wherever you are, please organize some kind of action addressing the UN, the Turkish government, or your own governments! And please let us know at bariskadingirisimi@gmail.com. Help augment our voices against this massacre, against this international plan to vacate Rojava and end all efforts to build peace! Add your strength to ours in this struggle for peace!

EDITORIAL NOTE: This post is republished without edits.
Please consider what YOU can do to support this action.

Complicity is NOT Acceptable

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Image via FaceBook.

On September 15, Islamic State stepped up a campaign in the Kobani region of northern Syria. Kobani is a Kurdish enclave that many refugees had fled to as threats of ISIS rose throughout the area. According to a report in “The Independent”:

“Isis fighters used tanks and artillery captured in Iraq to assault the Kurdish enclave around the city of Kobani, also called Ayn al-Arab, where between 400,000 and 500,000 members of Syria’s Kurdish minority have taken refuge. Idris Nassan, the deputy foreign representative of Kobani canton, told The Independent in a phone interview that the attack by Isis, also known as Islamic State, started on 15 September. “[It] is being made from three sides. So far they have captured 15 villages and we have evacuated another 10 because they are too close to the fighting,” he said.

Speaking from Kobani, Mr Nassan said that for the first time, the city had been hit by rockets, three of which exploded in the centre yesterday. The encircling Isis forces are between 12 and 18 miles from the city, which is surrounded by Kurdish villages held by fighters from the People’s Protection Units (YPG), the Syrian franchise of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). The latter has many battle-hardened veterans experienced in fighting the Turkish army over the past 30 years.

Some 400 Kurdish hostages have been taken by Isis, including 133 school children aged between 13 and 14 who were abducted on 30 May as they returned to their homes in Kobani after taking their junior high school final exams in Aleppo.

The siege of Kobani has not attracted much publicity, far less than that of the Old City of Homs, but if it did fall then its half-million Kurds would be at risk. The pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights is quoted as saying that there are fears of massacres in the villages seized by Isis. In addition to eliminating the Kurds as opponents, Isis wants to establish its hold on the border region with Turkey across which it can bring in supplies and foreign volunteers. Mr Nassan says the siege of the enclave is not complete since “we can still buy food at high prices from Arab brokers” but he adds that “unfortunately, the world cares nothing about what happens in Kobani”.

The YPG and PKK have proved the most effective fighters against Isis but the PKK is still labelled a “terrorist organisation” by the US and Europe. The labelling was done at the behest of Turkey, which fought the PKK from 1984, though a ceasefire was declared in 2013. Turkey has been talking to the imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan for five years but US and European officials are still wary of contacts with the Syrian and Turkish Kurds.

Isis has captured most of eastern Syria, defeating both the Syrian army and rebel movements during the summer. Isis fighters are within 30 miles of Aleppo, the largest city in Syria, and have been consolidating their positions elsewhere. They have been moving their headquarters and heavy weapons out of easily identifiable locations in preparation for US air attacks.”

Occupy World Writes calls on the coalition forces to assist the Kurds in defense of Kobani. These people are from the same ethnic group that brought the world’s attention to the plight of the Yazidi when ISIS chased them into the Sinjar mountains. The international community responded overwhelmingly to save the Yazidi from certain massacre. Now the Kurds are facing that very same fate. We also have no reason to believe the Islamic State would show no mercy toward the inhabitants and refugees in Kobani, since Kurds are the only ground force able to offer a defense against ISIS.

We can not sit in complicity while children, women and men are slaughtered at the hands of a terrorist organization. This is not humane, this is not sane, this is not in accordance with the words of Allah, God, or any divine entity.

SAVE KOBANI

SIGN THE PETITION TO THE UNITED NATIONS CALLING FOR ACTION!