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The former co-chair of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) said that the recent attacks of Turkey in North and East Syria were only the latest incidents in a series of aggressions which have been going on for years now, and that the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) did not have access to international courts to seek justice against such attacks.
Speaking to Emrullah Acar of Mezopotamya News Agency, Salih Müslim said that their only means for survival was resistance, as ceasefire agreements mediated by the United States and Russia were being violated by Turkey without drawing the slightest reaction from the mediators.
Müslim said:
“The attacks of the Turkish state are actually nothing new, they have been going on for a long time. They have been carrying out attacks since 2019 especially. After the offensives launched against Serêkanîye (Ras al-Ayn) and Girêspî (Tell Abyad), and the subsequent occupation of this area, they just kept on attacking. Despite having signed two ceasefire agreements, one mediated by the US, and the other by Russia, they have never ceased their cross-border drone attacks and artillery fire.”
He continued:
“In a drone attack just two days ago, they targeted an artist who is also an influential social figure as he was on his way to attend the Akitu celeberations of the Assyrian people. He survived, but with severe injuries (…) Their only aims are to deny the Kurdish people their national rights, to assimilate them, to force them out of their home towns, and to set them against their neighbours like the Assyrians and the Arabs.”
He stressed that they lacked the means to bring their case to the international courts, as the AANES was not an entity represented in institutions like the Council of Europe.
“Since we are not a member of either the European Union or the Council of Europe, and since Turkey is a member of the latter, we are not allowed to apply to the European Court of Human Rights,” he said.
“In fact, even when someone from Turkey applies to the ECHR, they can be rejected and instructed to apply to Turkish courts beforehand in order to fullfill the prior steps in the jurisdiction process. So when it is not possible to get results even within Turkey, how will the residents of North and East Syria be able to seek justice against Turkey’s attacks?”
He added:
“If Rojava is our land today, this was made possible by the resistance and struggles waged by the people of North and South Kurdistan. I call on all Kurds to unite, organise and resist against the fascist attacks of the Turkish state. We will keep on resisting with all the means we have for there is no other way for us to survive.”
