The Kurdish Freedom and Democracy Alliance urged the European Union (EU) and the United Nations (UN) to respond to Turkey’s recent attack on the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) in a statement issued on Thursday.
The alliance was founded ahead of the 2023 Turkish general election by a group of Kurdish political parties in the country.
The attack, carried out using Armed Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UCAVs), resulted in the deaths of Yusra Derwêş, the co-chair of Qamishli (Qamişlo) Canton, her deputy Leyman Şiwêş, and their driver, Assyrian Fırat Tuma.
In the statement, the Kurdish alliance highlighted Turkey’s long-standing intention to conduct a military incursion in northeastern Syria. They noted that the attack on Yusra Derwêş and her entourage occurred during the 20th meeting for “normalisation” in Astana, Kazakhstan, with Russia, Turkey, Iran, and the Syrian government as participants and guarantors.
The alliance emphasised that Turkey does not aim to seek a solution or normalisation in Syria and the AANES, a Kurdish-majority region located in the northern part of the country, known to Kurds as Rojava. Instead, their goal is to dismantle the status of the AANES and, in the future, the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), the statement claimed. The Kurdish alliance condemned Turkey’s aggression and called for the UN and EU to take a firm stance against its disregard for international law and norms.
Furthermore, the statement urged the Turkish government to recognise the Kurdish gains in all parts of Kurdistan and pursue a peaceful democratic solution that benefits both the Kurdish people and the people of Turkey.
The alliance concluded its statement by addressing a recent racist attack on Kurdish workers in Trabzon. They highlighted that this attack was a product of the anti-Kurdish racist nationalist propaganda that has been prevalent during the recent elections in Turkey.
