As the Kurds remain on the streets in Iran in their fourth week of protests and Turkey continues to apply political pressure on Sweden and Finland over allegations that the two countries provide support to people and organisations Ankara calls terrorists, Swedish environmentalist and human rights campaigner Greta Thunberg has taken a principled stand with the Kurds.
Thunberg tweeted out a photo showing Fridays for Future activists holding up a Kurdistan flag and a placard with the increasingly popular Kurdish slogan “Jin, Jîyan, Azadî”, adding the hashtag #BijiKurdistan in her caption.
School strike week 217. #FridaysForFuture #ClimateStrike #PeopleNotProfit #BijiKurdistan pic.twitter.com/SjaXrCv197
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) October 14, 2022
Last week Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and advocacy group Fridays for Future also joined a protest led by Kurdish women in Stockholm against recent killings in Iran and Turkey, including the deaths of Kurdish women Jîna Mahsa Amîni and Nagihan Akarsel. Thunberg had said that the group joined the protest last Friday to show solidarity with the Kurdish struggle, and that the protests around the world were “very inspiring to see”.
“Stop Arms Exports to Turkey”, another placard in Thunberg’s photo read in Swedish, on week 217 of the School Strike for Climate campaign.
The weekly demonstration is held by an international movement of school children who skip classes on Fridays to demand action from political leaders to prevent climate change and for the fossil fuel industry to transition to renewable energy.