Crowds of thousands joined demonstrations in Italy to stand in solidarity with Kurdish people under the “Jin, Jîyan, Azadî” (woman, life, freedom) slogan popularised by protesters in Iran this year, reported ANF.
Protesters gathered in the Emilia-Romagna region organised by Montechiaro Municipality and National Association of Partisans Flag (ANPI).
The Kurdish writer and director Fahriboz Kamkar attended the demonstration to speak about the Iranian revolution and its history, and called on the Italian government to take action against the use of chemical weapons by the Turkish state on Kurdish guerrillas.
Demonstrators chanted “Jin, Jîyan, Azadî”, “take your hands off the Kurdish people” and “Kurdish people are not alone,” at Parma’s Garibaldi Square.
Tens of thousands of people who joined the anti-corruption march Bologna also voiced their solidarity with Kurdistan, as well as with the striking Firenze GNK auto workers.
Antifascists in Solidarity to #Kurdistan in #Bologna, #Italy during the march held with the participation of tens of thousands against corruption, high cost of living and war in solidarity with the Firenze GNK auto workers. pic.twitter.com/7F4Zi2lqpQ
— Antifa Enternasyonal (@Antifa_Ent) October 23, 2022
Left-wing groups in Europe and around the world have risen in support of the Kurdish political movement in Iran, where Kurds have played a central role in anti-government protests since Amini’s death, and around the Middle East region.
Kurdish activists and politicians and activists have been under severe pressure this year, with the threat of a Turkish full-scale cross-border operation looming in northern Syria and Turkish forces continuing to assault Kurdish positions in northern Iraq.
Although the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) reported that it had received sufficient evidence to warrant further investigation into allegations that Turkey has been using chemical weapons in military operations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI), no action has been taken by any states or organisations.
While Iraq’s government has vowed to establish a specific commission to identify the types of chemical weapons used by Turkey in operations against Kurdish fighters in north Iraq, the German government stated that as a signatory of the Chemical Weapons Convention, Turkey is subject to the monitoring of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).