Solidarity statement of Committee for Revolutionary International Regroupment (CRIR)
World Day of Support and Resistance for Rojava and the Kurdish People – November 2, 2019
On October 9, the armed forces of the Turkish government invaded northern Syria in order to crush the Kurdish people, represented in that region by the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria. In the following two weeks, Turkey committed hundreds of murders, injured more than a thousand civilians, and caused the displacement of some 300,000 people. Turkey’s objective is to destroy the revolutionary and democratic experiment that has prospered in this region during the last seven years.
More than five million people live in the cities and villages of northeastern Syria, known as Rojava. These are composed mostly of Kurds, but Arabs, Syrians, Assyrians, Armenians, Yezidies, Arameans (Christians), Chaldeans, etc., have joined them in establishing their own form of government. They have created an oasis of peace, based on the equal coexistence of all these groups which is notable for the participation and leadership of women in the development of an economic model that protects the environment and fosters decision-making based on assemblies composed of Rojava’s inhabitants.
This government of democratic, feminist popular assemblies was won by the population of the region after they were violently attacked by the terrorists of the Islamic Army (ISIS) who massacred them and enslaved women. In recent years, ISIS also carried out attacks against civilians in several European countries. This mercenary army emerged as a result of imperialist policies in Iraq and its off-shoot Islamic militias in Syria have received weapons and money from the CIA, funneled through Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other countries. The Kurds of northern Syria, in defending their cities from ISIS, created militias of men and women who defeated this dangerous terrorist organization at the price of 11,000 martyrs – many of them women fighters – who carried out this feat. Today, the last remains of the Islamic State caliphate are based in Turkey.
The Democratic Federation of Northern of Syria, despite its limitations and some errors of its leaders, is a living example of a peaceful and democratic future for the Middle East, in contrast to the governments of the area which are authoritarian or brutal dictatorships allied to foreign powers that plunder the resources and wealth of the region.
Turkey’s goal is to crush the gains of this Kurdish revolutionary experiment so that it is not an example for the rest of the oppressed and exploited peoples in the Middle East, among whom are 20 million Kurds living in Turkey. In doing this, the Turkish President Erdogan has the full agreement of President Trump and U.S. imperialism, as well as President Vladimir Putin in Russia who has agreed to help Turkey create an area of 32 kilometers along the border with Syria in order to displace Kurds living on their ancestral territory. The plan is to replace them with Syrian migrants from other ethnic groups. In this, President Erdogan is supported by European governments some of which — like Germany, France, Great Britain and Spain – provide weapons to Turkey.
The Committee for Revolutionary International Regroupment (CRIR) condemns the military aggression of Turkey and Russia against the Kurds in Syria and calls on all peoples of the world to publicly stand in solidarity on Nov. 2, 2019, in support of the Kurds and in defense of Rojava.
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Committee for Revolutionary International Regroupment (CRIR)
Partido Socialismo y Libertad – Argentina
Freedom Socialist Party – United States and Australia
Partido Obrero Socialista – Mexico
Read CRIR’s Statement of Purpose here or contact CRIR in the US at FSPUS@socialism.com to learn more.
