Hediya Yusif, a Democratic Union Party (PYD) Executive Committee member, shared her assessment with Hawar News Agency about the third year of control by Turkish forces and allied Syrian opposition factions of Afrin (Efrîn) in northern Syria.
Yusif stated that the attacks targeting the Medya Defense Zones, Sinjar and northern and eastern Syria are aimed at the alternative projects that have been developed in those regions. “Any project that can be an alternative to the global capitalist system is the target of capitalism”, she noted. “The occupation of Afrin is directly linked to an international agreement”, she added.
Commenting on the ongoing military campaign of Turkey in Afrin, Yusif said: “The occupation of Afrin is directly linked to the agreement between Turkey, Russia and Damascus. Attacks by Turkey are not limited to Afrin, but rather expand to northern and eastern Syria. The Turkish state believes that the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) project is a threat to it, an idea that Turkey has made and that Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) believe. Therefore, Turkey first attacked Afrin with the intention that it might destroy the Autonomous Administration afterwards and then repair its relations with Russia and Damascus”.
‘Women in Afrin’ became ‘the first target’
“The Turkish state and the gangs moving with them took aim at the women in Afrin as the first target. Many women from Afrin have become the symbols of the Rojava revolution. Arin Mirkan, Avesta Xabur and Barin Kobanê can be memorialized amongst those symbolized women”, the PYD’s Yusif said.
“Women of Afrin have always been exposed to the brutal mentality of the Turkish state and they have led the freedom struggle of women. These women have expended great efforts to protect the values of humanity. Peoples of Afrin have come to know liberating ideas through these women”.
‘Alternative systems are under attack’
According to Yusif, the attacks targeting the Kurdish freedom movement have been the product of a single centre and process. “The capitalist system does not allow any alternative system to be built. If the system is not able to destroy the potential alternative system, then it targets the peoples who construct it in order to divide the unity of these peoples”, she stated.
“The Kurdistan Freedom Movement has the power to inspire the peoples of Kurdistan and the Middle East. This is an undeniable fact, built upon by the great efforts of the leader Abdullah Öcalan and the martrys of the revolution. Therefore, the capitalist system attacks this movement with all its might. The European states and all international powers are aware of the power of the Kurdish freedom movement. That is why they try to label and destroy this movement. They have assigned Turkey with accomplishing this mission”.
Yusif: The Rojava revolution is a product of Öcalan
Yusif also emphasized that the Rojava revolution is not an arbitrary revolutionary process, but one that depends on a certain thought system. “The democratic system built in Rojava is directly linked to the paradigms put forward by leader Öcalan. The Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) has been an inspiration for its revolutionary power”, she stated.
“The achievements of the Assyrians, Arabs, Kurds and all other peoples have been able to be saved and these people have been able to be united, thanks to the ideas of Abdullah Öcalan. The US, Russia and the European states are aware of this fact. Within this in mind, we can say that the thought and the philosophy of leader Öcalan spearheaded this revolution”.
