WORLD WORLDWIDE FRANCE PALESTINE KURDISTAN TURKEY News Journal Update - (en) France, OCL CA #335 - International, Kurdistan: deafening silence from the international community (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

While the eyes of the international community are focused on occupied
Palestine, the Turkish government continues its war against the PKK, the
YPG and Kurdish and/or progressive political groups on its territory and
in Kurdistan. Our full solidarity with the Palestinian people must not
distract us from the same support for the Kurdish people whom Turkey
seeks to silence. ---- On October 1, a suicide attack against the
General Directorate of Security of the Turkish Interior Ministry hit the
heart of the Turkish capital, Ankara. The PKK, Kurdistan Workers' Party,
claimed responsibility for this action, explaining that "it is an act of
self-defense against the contempt for human rights which are being
violated[...]; against the inhumane practice and policy of isolation
implemented in all prisons in Turkey and Kurdistan; against the use of
chemical weapons against our guerrilla forces[...]; against the
pillaging of our nature and ecocide in Kurdistan; against the oppression
of the Kurdish people and all democratic circles."

In response to this action, the Turkish state launched several waves of
arrests in dozens of cities, targeting in particular the People's
Democratic Congress (HDK), the People's Democratic Party (HDP) and NGOs.
In total more than 320 people were arrested.

This wave of arrests is part of the broader fight against the Kurdistan
liberation movement but also a growing repression of political and trade
union activity in Turkey. For several years, the activities of the
Saturday Mothers, which peacefully bring together relatives of victims
of forced disappearances following the military coup in the 1980s and
the state of emergency in the 1990s in Turkey, have been systematically
prevented. and repressed. Many people are arrested for "terrorism", a
word which is mainly used to repress all political opponents. Many
people are thus prosecuted even for simple posts on social networks.
Currently more than 15,000 activists from pro-Kurdish opposition parties
are in prison. Recently, repression has also focused on European
internationalists participating in actions to denounce the Turkish
bombings in Rojava.

The ITUC, International Trade Union Confederation, has declared that
Turkey is among the bottom ten places in the ranking of countries most
respectful of workers' rights, along with Bangladesh, Myanmar and Egypt.
In October, six workers and two secretaries of construction unions were
detained for blocking action against the non-payment of their severance pay!

Paris October 18, 2015
The offensive in Rojava
Following the Ankara attack, Hakan Fidan, Turkey's foreign minister,
said those responsible were believed to have entered Turkey via
northeastern Syrian territory. In retaliation, he announced that "all
infrastructure and installations, particularly energy, belonging to the
PKK and the YPG in Iraq and Syria constitute legitimate targets for our
security forces."

Turkey then carried out its largest attack against Rojava since the
invasion of Serê Kaniyê in October 2019, with 580 air and ground
attacks. Military buildings have been targeted, such as the training
academy for the assayish (internal security forces of the autonomous
region of Kurdistan).

Twenty-nine Kurdish fighters were killed in this attack. Their main
mission was to fight against the distribution and consumption of
captagon, a substitute drug produced and sold en masse by the regime of
Bashar Al-Assad. But Turkey has especially worked to undermine civil
institutions to make life unbearable for the populations of Rojava,
destroying seventeen oil sites, eleven power plants, two hydraulic
installations and eighteen pumping stations, and damaging numerous
others. sites including forty-eight schools. This destruction undermines
the supply of hospitals, water pumps, and businesses such as bakeries.
Just before winter, Rojava risks shortages of gas, diesel, gasoline,
drinking water and bread. The AANES (Autonomous Administration of North
and East Syria) will have to import more products like gas, at higher
prices and this will encourage inflation of goods and services.

An international context favorable to Erdogan

Turkey's objective is to push the populations of the AANES into exile
and to empty the revolution of its vital forces. The material damage
caused to civilian infrastructure is estimated at $56 million, while the
annual expenses (excluding salaries) of AANES were $181 million in 2020.
The extent of the damage exceeds the capacity of NGOs to provide vital
services, this is why Heyva Sor (The Kurdish Red Crescent) is launching
an appeal for donations for Rojava[1]. Erdogan announced the end of the
first phase of war against AANES. Will there be a second phase? And what
will be the nature of this? The ground invasion of Kobane still remains
a possibility.

Meanwhile, Israel's war against the Palestinians has allowed Erdogan to
hide his own massacres and abuses[2]by denouncing those of others. It is
essential to denounce its balancing act: Turkey recognized the State of
Israel in 1949. Although the arrival of the AKP to power has somewhat
tarnished relations between Turkey and Israel, Erdogan is renewing ties.
link with Netanyahu since 2015 and numerous commercial and military
exchanges take place between Turkey and Israel. The last interview
between the two war criminals[3]dates from September 19!

Erdogan having on this occasion recalled that the two countries "could
cooperate in the fields of energy, technology, innovation, artificial
intelligence and cybersecurity"[4]. The liberation of peoples, in
Kurdistan as in Palestine, will not be achieved without the destruction
of states and nationalist, imperialist and colonial powers.

S. (International Relations Commission)

To validate

[1]"The Kurdish Red Crescent calls for emergency donations for Rojava"
on the Serhildan.org website.

[2]"The Turkish Parliament votes to extend military operations in Iraq
and Syria", October 18, 2023, on the Rojinfo.com website.

[3]Regarding the latest war crimes of the Turkish state, see for
example: "Turkey bombs hospital in northeast Syria", published on
October 6, and "Rojava: 2 million people deprived of 'electricity and
water after the Turkish attacks', published on October 8 on the
Rojinfo.com website.

[4]"Erdogan and Netanyahu meet on the sidelines of the UN General
Assembly", Challenges, September 20, 2023

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Kurdistan-silence-assourdissant-de-la-communaute-internationale
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