Since the beginning of the Rojava Revolution on 19 July 2012 it is estimated that up to 1,000 international volunteers have travelled to North and East Syria in solidarity with the Kurdish people’s struggle. They came both to join the fight against ISIS and also to contribute to the development of civil society in the region.
German revolutionary Goran Kobanê is one of them. He came to fight against ISIS in 2015 and since then he has been living in Rojava.
“I am fascinated by the developments here, their struggle against ISIS during the siege of Kobani. Also, you cannot see the same level of support given to the role of women elsewhere in the Middle East,” he said, calling on everyone to get to know the Rojava Revolution more closely.
Goran Kobanê also spoke about the role of the German government regarding the attacks against Rojava and the Middle East.
“Despite the evidence that the Turkish state supports ISIS, the German state continues to support Turkey. Turkey provided medical treatment to ISIS fighters. Turkey also allowed them to cross its borders; Turkey did it in front of the whole world. Despite this, the German state continued to support Turkey.”
He added that Germany is afraid of Turkey’s threats to overwhelm the country with refugees. “Turkey uses refugees to gain support and Germany bows to it,” he said.
He pointed out that although Turkey used the weapons it bought from Germany against people in Northern Syria, the German state remained silent about it. “The reason for this was the money the state earned from this trade,” said Kobane.
He also called for the German people to urge their government to take action.
“German people should stand by the Kurds. The public should be more active and put pressure on politicians to stop supporting Turkey.”
