In response to the deadly earthquake which has claimed over 35,000 lives in northern Syria and southern Turkey, Medya News held a panel discussion on Monday 13 February entitled ‘Kurdistan in crisis: emergency responses to Turkey-Syria earthquake’. Kurdish political representatives, humanitarian actors on the ground, journalists and analysts from across three continents joined the discussion, which can be played back in full here.
The audience first heard a summary of the crisis on the ground and the obstacles placed in front of aid delivery by Ankara, Damascus and Turkish-backed proxy groups. Dr. Rojvan Bilgin, chairperson of the Kurdish Red Crescent, said:
“In Turkey, aid efforts have been turned away at the border if they come from the Kurdish diaspora, with resources diverted to majority-Turkish regions. President Erdoğan is using the catastrophe as an excuse to tighten his grip on power and impose authoritarian measures on the basis of a controversial ‘state of emergency’. Kurdish solidarity organisations, NGOs, journalists and political parties are treated as terrorists by the Turkish state.”
“Meanwhile, in northern Syria, Kurdish aid efforts are being held up by the Assad government and Turkish-backed militias, demanding bribes and control of the aid. At the same time, millions of people are living in refugee camps or in overcrowded, damaged buildings as a result of both governments’ attacks on the Syrian people. Humanitarian access is a fundamental right.”
Former UK opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, known for his long-term support for international struggles for self-determination including the Kurdish political movement, was among those who addressed the audience in Medya News’ third online event. He said:
“I’m totally shocked at the paucity of the relief effort in certain areas of Syria, as well as Turkey. Whilst there is a huge outpouring of people who want to help… What concerns me is to make sure all the aid that’s raised actually gets to the people that needs it. Also, of course, this underlines the political problem facing the Kurdish people. The failure of several states, particularly Syria and Turkey, to recognize the Kurdish language, people and identity is part of it. It’s about the issue of self-determination for the Kurdish people as well.”
Mr Corbyn also highlighted the obstacles to aid delivery put in place at the Turkish border, citing instances of Kurdish UK residents being turned away when attempting to offer aid. “We need to bring back the rights of Kurdish people, and that’s what I’ll be working with you all to try and achieve,” he added.
There were also contributions from leading Kurdish political figures including Salih Muslim, the co-chair of Syria’s Democratic Union Party (PYD), Fayik Yazigay, representative to the Council of Europe for Turkey’s Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), and Adem Uzun of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK).
Mr. Moslem highlighted the Kurdish-led administration in North and East Syria’s efforts to provide aid to the north-west of the country, badly affected by the earthquake but “under the control of the Turkish occupation, with mercenaries and jihadists controlling the area.” Despite efforts at mediation, these relief efforts have largely been turned away at the line of control, he said, adding that 104 trucks had made it into the affected region. “They are talking about AFAD and IHH, but these are organisations controlled by the Turkish government,” the leading Syrian Kurdish politician added, accusing the governing authorities in the north-west of failing to take appropriate measures to protect their people.
Erik Edman of pan-European body Democracy in Europe Movement 25 (DiEM25), addressed European states’ role in failing to push for progressive reform in Turkey to challenge the Erdoğan presidency. “We cannot continue to allow these kind of crises to be handled by regimes which do not have their peoples’ best interests at heart, and this is where Europe is directly complicit. Europe has been propping up Erdoğan’s regime,” he said.
In her comments, journalist Frederike Geerdink highlighted the failure of the Western press to note the Kurdish aspects of the crisis. Western journalists failed to “ask the right questions… Why are certain trucks with aid being stopped? Many young people from Kurdish provinces go to the earthquake areas and try to help, but several Kurds have been beaten up. You need to report on that,” she said.
“You could ask the same questions about the state of emergency that’s recently been declared. Do they want to tackle this crisis? No, they want to control it.”
Meghan Bodette of the Kurdish Peace Institute addressed the panel to discuss a number of proposals, including the need to challenge Turkey’s delayed election and the risk of further military action against Syria to justify that measure.
“The national community need to pursue deescalation, and to do that we need a lot of pressure from democratic forces and civil society,” she said.
Xeyal Qertel of the New York Kurdish Cultural Centre also joined the panel from the USA, to discuss relief efforts being organised there in support of the Kurdish Red Crescent and the Kurdistan Regional Government’s Barzani Foundation. Sociologist Sardar Saadi, of Rojava University and the University of Toronto, spoke about the value of international aid networks and the need for support for Kurdish-led solutions to the crisis, while Kurdish doctor Zeynep Binici of Komîtêya Tenderûstî (Health Committee) also addressed the audience on the worsening health crisis as a result of the catastrophe.
You can listen to the full conversation here, and donate to the Kurdistan Red Crescent campaign here.
