The ongoing Rojava Revolution in northeastern Syria is threatened by sovereign powers engaged in fierce global conflicts, akin to “World War 3”, the Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) said on Wednesday on the occasion of World Kobanê Day, Kobanê being the Kurdish spelling of Kobani.
The KCK’s executive council accused the Turkish government of exploiting the turbulent international landscape to advance its agenda, which included trying to destroy the de facto Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) and carrying out what it called “Kurdish genocide”. According to the KCK’s written statement, this goal is driving Turkey’s aggressive actions and attacks against Rojava, the Kurdish name for an area of northern and eastern Syria running at a 35/40 mile depth from the border with Turkey.
The only effective counter action is for the people and democratic forces to resist together, united in a strong sense of solidarity under a common threat, the Council underlined.
The KCK warned that the recent Turkish attacks against the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria, launched on 5 October, revealed the Turkish government’s “genocidal intentions”. Moreover, the international community has failed to take decisive action against the Turkey’s violations, largely remaining silent on civilian casualties and the targeting of civilian infrastructure.
“The forces of capitalist modernity are also behind these attacks and policies because the revolution is a free living space created by the common struggle of the peoples. The states do not want such a space to exist. Therefore, they do not oppose the attacks of the Turkish state against Rojava, on the contrary, they support them. The Turkish state is attacking Rojava and committing genocide with the support it receives from the US, NATO, Europe, and other states, and with the weapons it buys from them,” the statement read.
Recent Turkish attacks have resulted in numerous casualties, including the bombing of manufacturing and residential facilities, schools, hospitals, places of worship and dams.
The KCK emphasised that it was essential to safeguard the Rojava Revolution, a social and political transformation that emerged in north-eastern Syria during the Syrian civil war, and led to the establishment of the Kurdish-led de facto autonomous administration in the region.
The KCK called for the commemoration of World Kobanê Day on 1 November, and World Rojava Day on 2 November.
“The conditions require us to recover and develop the spirit of unity, solidarity and resistance that was developed during the Kobanê resistance,” the KCK stressed, adding, “The peoples of the Middle East and the world, especially the people of Rojava and Kurdistan, women, youth, socialists, democratic forces and all those who oppose exploitation must strongly support the Rojava Revolution in the spirit of resistance and solidarity.”
World Kobanê Day was declared in remembrance of the resistance against the Islamic State’s besiege of the Syrian city of Kobani in 2014. The liberation of Kobani from ISIS in 2015 was a turning point for the AANES.
