YPG International

This past 16th of March a ceremony was held in Cizire Canton (Rojava) to remember the martyrs of the Resistance of Afrin, and to honour the international volunteers that lost their lives fighting against the Turkish army and their terrorist gangs. During the meeting, organised by the international tabour of YPG, speeches were given from representatives of YPG International, the Internationalist Commune of Rojava (ICR), Jineoloji International and Revolutionary Union for Internationalist Solidarity (RUIS). Below are reproduced statements of YPG-I and RUIS:

The 18th of March of 2019 marks one year since the end of the first phase of the resistance of Afrin and the start of the second one. During that time, 600 fighters were martyred and 226 citizens were murdered, among them 52 children. Today, one year after the ‘Resistance of the Age’, we honor their memory and promise that we are here to continue their struggle.

Anna Campbell (S. Helin Qerecox) member of YPJ International; Oliver Francois (S. Kendal Breeizh) fighter of YPG International; Haukur Hilmarsson (S. Sahin Huseyni) YPG fighter, RUIS volunteer and paticipant of the International Freedom Battalion; the anarchist fighter S. Shevger Makhno and Samuel Prada Leon (S. Baran Galicia), fighter of YPG International, joined this resistance with all their strength, without taking into account the cost of their own lives. The internationalist fighters who have fallen in Afrin’s resistance to defend the Northern-Eastern Syria Federation against the fascist gangs and the Turkish colonization of Erdogan are the symbols of the internationalist struggle, and their example was followed by many young volunteers who joined the ranks of the People’s and Women’s Defense Units.

The 58 days of the first phase of the resistance of Afrin became a legend equivalent to the resistance of Kobani, and once again made Rojava a subject for the whole of humanity. The hard struggle that YPG / YPJ and QSD, together with internationalists, showed against one of the world’s best-equipped armies became a landmark of the fight for freedom in the history of the oppressed.

The invasion of Afrin’s canton was an attack against the people’s right to self-rule. It was a hit on the democratic course of humanity. The timinthey suffered in Raqqa. Afrin’s occupation was defined by the pillaging of monuments, property expropriation, and planned demographic policies to change the population, all of which are characteristic features of the genocidal policy pursued by the Turkish State of the AKP / MHP Regime. Afrin has never surrendered, and the conquerors know it well, as during the year 2018 during the first and second phase of the resistance a total of 2772 Turkish soldiers and mercenaries have been killed.

The Turkish state is trying, by all means, to establish itself as a regional power that will intervene in the Middle East in order to secure its economic and geopolitical interests. Within the international environment under development by the hegemonic powers, the Turkish state sees opportunities to recover the lost territories of the former Ottoman Empire in order to attach to its sphere of influence the regions that can be valuable for its energy routes.

Today, while the last enclaves of ISIS are being defeated by the democratic forces in the city of Hajin, the biggest threat to peace in the Middle East is the fascist Turkish state led by Erdogan. Turkish expansionism is attempting to set up a policy of terror and genocide in the region, with air bomb-attacks like the ones in Mahmur and Shengal, artillery attacks in villages in Rojava and blind attacks with heavy weapons from the other side of the border. This has resultied in injuries and deaths of citizens, the most tragic of which was the murder of six year old Sara Mustafa on the 1st of Nov 2018 in a village near Gire Spi.

The announcement of the “Euphrates shield” operation shortly before the very last phase of the offensive again ISIS in Hajin, and the subsequent withdrawal of Turkey’s fascist troops and jihadist mercenary gangs along the border of Turkey with Rojava, shows the panic of a State that finds itself in a deep economic crisis and that sees in external war a chance to neutralise internal unrest.

Rojava is an organization that learns quickly from past crises and stands ready to face any threat. The crowds of people who demonstrated in every city of the North Eastern Democratic Syria against Erdogan’s statements about new massacre, and ran to become human shields at the border, show in the best way that any aggressive move against Rojava encourages its people more and more.

We declare that, as internationalist volunteers who have come from all over the planet to support the revolution of Rojava, and following the examples of our shehid, we will not abandon the cradle of civilization to the rapacious appetites of the fascist and colonial powers. At a time when Western civilization announced the end of revolutions, the Rojava revolutionary process broke out as a cultural big bang and freed the devastating energy of real democracy within the Middle East. The Rojava revolution breaks the chains of patriarchy, unites the different peoples of the Middle East, highlights the principles of ecological society and establishes and practices the equal participation of men and women in politics, self-defense and justice.

YPG international, in its four years of existence, was present on every front to protect the Federation from the DAIS fascists, the Turkish state and the mercenary gangsters of FSA & AL NUSRA. Hundreds of volunteers received ideological and military training at the YPG International Academy for the defense of Rojava.

We encourage fighters, collectives and movements to engage with YPG / YPJ in order to give value to the concept of solidarity.
We are here to defend the revolution of Rojava from any threat.
We are here to continue the struggle of those who fell with their heads held high.

BIJI SORESA ROJAVA
BIJI BERXWEDANA AFRINE
SEHID NAMIRIN – SEHID NAMIRIN – SEHID NAMIRIN

 

RUIS statement in memorial of YPG International for the martyrs of Afrin

We salute YPG/YPJ International, that honor the martyrs of this struggle with their constant presence at the fronts, from 2015 until today.
We salute the forces of YPG/YPJ, that for 6 years have continuously fought against colonization forces and fascism.

As one Greek anarchist slogan says: “a movement with no memory is a movement with no perspective”.
The Martyrs remain alive as long as there are fighters to continue their struggle.

58 days of resistance in Afrin against the Turkish fascist military forces of Erdogan and the mercenary gangs, were not characterized as the “resistance of the age” by chance. Afrin’s resistance has already been written in the global revolutionary history and has created new fighters that came from all around the world, to join the forces in the revolution of our age.

During this resistance, in the hills of Badina village, R.U.I.S. volunteer Haukur Hilmarsson, known as fighter Sahin Husseyni, fell martyr from an airstrike on the 24th February. Haukur Hilmarsson first attempted to reach Rojava in 2016, before the liberation of Manbij, but was deported by the Iraqi security services. In the year 2017, along with comrades from R.U.I.S., they reached democratic Northern Syria and participated in the liberation of Raqqa. When the Attack on Afrin’s kanton started, they knew it was a direct attack on the revolution, and so they headed that way. On the way to Afrin, in areas controlled by Russia and Assad, they realized he was a north European and didn’t allow him to pass. However, the persistence that this comrade showed is admirable and worthy. He coloured his face and dyed his hair dark, and therefore managed to pass into Afrin’s canton during his second attempt.

The internationalist volunteers that went to defend the land, the people and the democracy in Afrin, were where they were supposed to be, at the right moment, and this is why they are worthy of our admiration.

The revolution in Rojava is the only guarantee for a democratic Syria, the only solution for peace in the M East, and stands as an example for all of humanity.

The Internationalist fighters Anna Campbell (S. Helin Qerecox), Oliver Francois (S. Kendal Breeizh), Haukur Hilmarsson (S. Sahin Huseyni), S. Shevger Makhno and Samuel Prada Leon (S. Baran Galicia), who resisted until the end of their lives against the mercenary gangs and the fascist army of Erdogan, have shown to all of humanity the true meaning of international revolutionary solidarity.

As the martyr Haukur Hilmarsson, in his own poetic way, said: “The victory over fascism is in the interest of us, in the interest of every person, at the end is in the interest of all humanity. It is totally unfair to have such a position and to not consider the possibility of contributing to this struggle. It is also a great loss for any kind of radical politics, not to achieve a first-hand experience, not to draw a lesson, not to transfer back to the grounds of capitalistic domain, the revolutionary wealth.

BIJI SORESA ROJAVA – BIJI BERHWEDANA AFRINE
SEHID NAMIRIN – SEHID NAMIRIN – SEHID NAMIRIN

Revolutionary Union for Internationalist Solidarity
16/3/19

(DE) Statement von YPG International zum Gedenken der Gefallenen von Afrin

Der 18. März 2019 markierte ein Jahr seit dem Ende der ersten Phase des Widerstandes vonAfrin und dem Anfang der zweiten. In dieser Zeit fielen 2200 Kämpferinnen und Kämpfer und 500 Zivilisten wurden ermordet, darunter 52 Kinder. Heute, ein Jahr nach dem „Widerstand der Ära“, ehren wir ihr Gedenken und versprechen, dass wir ihren Kampf hier weiterführen.

Anna Campbell (S. Helin Qerecox), Kämpferin von YPJ International; Oliver Francois (S. Kendal Breizh), Kämpfer von YPG International; Haukur Hilmarsson (S. Sahin Husseini), YPG Kämpfer, RUIS-Freiwilliger und Mitglied des Internationalen Freiheitsbattalions; der anarchistische Kämpfer Sevger Makhno und Samuel Prada Leon (S. Baran Galicia), Kämpfer von YPG International schlossen sich diesem Widerstand mit all ihrer Stärke an und nahmen dabei den Verlust ihres eigenen Lebens in Kauf. Die internationalistischen Kämpfer, die im Afrin Widerstand gefallen sind, um die Demokratische Föderation Nord-Syrien gegen die faschistischen Bamden Erdogans und türkischen Kolonialismus zu verteidigen, sind Symbole internationalistischen Kampfes und viele folgten ihrem Beispiel und schlossen sich den Volks- und Frauenverteidigungseinheiten an.

Die 58 Tage der ersten Phase des Widerstandes von Afrin wurden eine Legende ähnlich dem Widerstand von Kobane und machten Rojava ein weiteres Mal zu einer Verteidigungsstellung für die Menschlichkeit. Der harte Widerstand, den YPG/YPJ und SDF zusammen mit Internationalisten gegen eine der bestausgerüstetsten Armeen der Welt leisteten, wurde ein Meilenstein des Kampfes für Freiheit in der Geschichten der Unterdrückten.

Die Invasion des Kantons Afrin war ein Angriff auf das Recht des Volkes, sich selbst zu verwalten.
Es war ein Schlag gegen die demokratische Bewegung auf der ganzen Welt. Die Besetzung von Afrin war geprägt von Plünderungen, Zerstörung und geplanten demografischen Veränderungen der Bevölkerung, alles Charakteristika der genozidalen Politik des türkischen Staates und seinem AKP/MHP-Regime. Afrin hat nie aufgegeben und die Besatzer wissen das gut, da im Jahr 2018 während der ersten und zweiten Phase des Widerstandes 2772 türkische Soldaten und islamistische Söldner getötet wurden.

Der türkische Staat versucht mit allen Mitteln sich als regionale Macht zu etabieren, die im Mittleren Osten intervenieren kann, um seine ökonomischen und geopolitischen Interessen zu sichern. Auch sieht er angesichts der Politik der internationalen hegemonialen Mächte die Möglichkeit, die „verlorenen Territorien“ des Osmanischen Reiches wiederzuerobern und zu alter Großmachtstärke zurückzukehren und so seinen Einflußbereich auf die Region und ihre wirtschaftlichen Routen und Hotspots auszuweiten.

Heute, während die letzten ISIS-Enklaven in der Region um die Stadt Hajin von den demokratischen Kräften zurückerobert werden, ist die größte Bedrohung des Friedens im Mittleren Osten der von faschistische türkische Staat, geführt von Erdogan. Der türkische Expansionismus führt eine Politik des Terrors und des Genozids in der Region mit Luftbombardements wie die auf Maxmur und Sengal, Artellerie-Angriffen auf Dörfer in Rojava und blinden Angriffen mit schweren Waffen von der anderen Seite der Grenze. Verletzte und tote Zivilisten sind die Folge, von denen die am 1. November 2018 in einem Dorf nahe Gire Spi ermordete sechs Jahre alte Sara Mustafa ein kürzlicher bsonder tragischer Fall ist.

Die Ausrufung der „Schutzschild Euphrat“-Operation kurz vor der letzten der Offensive gegen ISIS in Hajin und die Zusammenziehung türkischer Truppen und jihadistischer Söldnergangs an der Grenze zwischen Türkei und Rojava zeigt die Panik eines Staates, der sich in einer tiefen ökonomischen Krise befindet und in externem Krieg eine Chance sieht, innere Missstände zu neutraisieren.

Rojava ist eine Organisierung, die schnell von ihren vergangenen Krisen lernt und bereit steht, jeder Bedrohung zu widerstehen. Die Masse des Volkes, die in jeder Stadt des Demokratischen Syriens gegen Erdogans Statements über neue Blutbäder demonstrierten und zur Grenze strömten, um menschliche Schutzschilde zu werden zeigten deutlich, dass jede Aggression gegen Rojava das Volk nur mehr und mehr mobilisiert.

Wir erklären als internationalistische Freiwillige, die aus der ganzen Welt gekommen sind um die Revolution in Rojava zu supporten, dass wir dem Beispiel unserer Gefallenen folgen und die Wiege der Zivilisation nicht den missbrauchenden Gelüsten der faschistischen und kolonialistischen Kräfte überlassen werden. In einer Zeit als die westliche Zivilisation das Ende der Revolutionen verkündete, explodierte die Rojava-Revolution als kultureller Urknall und entfesselte die unterdrückte Energie echter Demokratie im Mittleren Osten. Die Rojava-Revolution sprengt die Ketten des Patriarchats, vereint die verschiedenen Völker des Mittleren Ostens, hebt die ökologischen Prinzipien der Gesellschaft hervor und etabliert und praktiziert die egalitäre Partizipation von Männern und Frauen in Politik, Selbstverteidigung und Justiz.

In den vier Jahren ihrer Existenz war YPG International an jeder Front präsent, um Rojava vor DAIS, dem türkischen Staat und anderen islamistischen Organisationen wie der FSA und Al-Nusra zu beschützen. Für die Verteidigung Rojavas Hunderte von Freiwillligen sahen ideologische und militärische Bildung in der YPG International-Akademie.

Wir laden Kämpfer, Kollektive und Bewegungen ein, sich YPG/YPJ anzuschließen und somit dem Konzept der internationalen Solidarität Wert zu geben.
Wir sind hier, um die Revolution in Rojav vor jeder Bedrohung zu beschützen.
Wir sind hier, um den Kampf derer, die für uns fielen, weiterzuführen.

Biji Serok Apo!
Biji Soresa Rojava!
Biji Berxwedana Afrine!
Sehid namirin – Sehid namirin – Sehid namirin!

ΤΟΠΟΘΕΤΗΣΗ ΤΟΥ YPG INTERNATIONAL ΓΙΑ ΤΗΝ ΤΕΛΕΤΗ ΜΝΗΜΗΣ ΤΩΝ ΜΑΡΤΥΡΩΝ ΠΟΥ ΕΠΕΣΑΝ ΚΑΤΑ ΤΗΝ ΑΝΤΙΣΤΑΣΗ ΤΟΥ  AFRIN

Στις 18 Μαρτίου του 2019 κλείνει ένας χρόνος από τη λήξη της πρώτης φάσης της αντίστασης του Afrin και την έναρξη της δεύτερης. Σε αυτό τον ένα χρόνο αντίστασης, το έτος 2018 στο καντόνι του Afrin 600 μαχητές έπεσαν Μάρτυρες και 226 πολίτες δολοφονήθηκαν ανάμεσα τους 52 παιδιά Σήμερα ένα χρόνο μετά “την αντίσταση της εποχής” τιμάμε τη μνήμη τους με την υπόσχεση ότι είμαστε εδώ για να συνεχίσουμε τον αγώνα τους.

Σε αυτήν την αντίσταση τάχθηκαν με όλη τους τη δύναμη και χωρίς να υπολογίζουν το κόστος της ίδιας τους της ζωής, οι διεθνιστές Anna Campbell (S. Helin Qerecox) μαχήτρια του YPJ International, Oliver Francois (S. Kendal Breeizh) μαχητής του YPG International, Haukur Hilmarsson (S. Sahin Huseyni) μαχητής του YPG εθελοντής του Επαναστατικού Συνδέσμου Διεθνιστικής Αληλεγγύης-ενταγμένος στο IFB, S. Shevger Makhno αναρχικός μαχητής και Samuel Prada Leon (S. Baran Galicia) μαχητής του YPG International. Οι διεθνιστές μαχητές που έπεσαν στην αντίσταση του Afrin για να υπερασπιστούν τη Δημοκρατία της Rojava ενάντια στις φασιστικές συμμορίες και τον Τουρκικό αποικιοκρατισμό του Erdogan, είναι τα σύμβολα του διεθνιστικού αγώνα. Το παράδειγμα τους ακολούθησαν νέοι εθελοντές που ήρθαν να συμμετέχουν στο YPG/YPJ International με σκοπό την άμυνα της Δημοκρατίας της Rojava και της Βόρειας Συρίας.

Οι 58 ημέρες της πρώτης φάσης της αντίστασης του Afrin έγιναν ένας θρύλος ισότιμος με την αντίσταση του Kobani και έκαναν για ακόμα μία φορά τη Rojava θέμα που αφορά όλη την ανθρωπότητα. Οι σκληρές μάχες που έδωσαν οι YPG/YPJ, QSD και διεθνιστικές δυνάμεις ενάντια σε έναν από τους καλύτερα εξοπλισμένους στρατούς του κόσμου, έγιναν ορόσημο του αγώνα για ελευθερία στην ιστορία των καταπιεσμένων.

Η εισβολή στο καντόνι του Afrin ήταν επίθεση στο δικαίωμα των λαών για αυτοδιεύθηνση. Ήταν χτύπημα στη δημοκρατική πορεία της ανθρωπότητας. Η χρονική στιγμή της επέμβασης μόνο τυχαία δεν ήταν, αφού έδωσε περιθώριο χρόνου για την ανασύνταξη του DAES ύστερα από την ήττα που υπέστη στη Raqqa. Η κατοχή του Afrin  σημαδεύτηκε από λεηλασίες μνημείων, απαλλοτριώσεις περιουσιών και δημογραφικές ανακατατάξεις του πληθυσμού, χαρακτηριστικά στοιχεία της γενοκτόνας πολιτικής που εφαρμόζει το τουρκικό κράτος του AKP/MHP.  Το Afrin δεν παραδόθηκε ποτέ και αυτό το ξέρει καλύτερα ο κατακτητής που το έτος 2018 κατά την πρώτη και δεύτερη φάση της αντίστασης έχει μετρήσει συνολικά 2772 απώλειες Τούρκων στρατιωτών και μισθοφόρων.

Το Τουρκικό κράτος προσπαθεί με κάθε μέσο να εγκαθιδρύσει τον εαυτό του σε περιφερειακή δύναμη, που θα παρεμβαίνει στη Μέση Ανατολή με σκοπό να διασφαλίσει τα οικονομικά και γεωπολιτικά του συμφέροντα. Μέσα στο υπό διαμόρφωση από τις υπερδυνάμεις διεθνές περιβάλλον, το Τουρκικό κράτος βλέπει ευκαιρίες να ανακτήσει τα χαμένα εδάφη της κάποτε οθωμανικής αυτοκρατορίας με σκοπό την προσάρτηση στην άμεση σφαίρα επιρροής του περιοχές που αποτελούν ενεργειακούς δρόμους.

Σήμερα που οι τελευταίοι θύλακες του ISIS κατατροπώθηκαν στην πόλη του Hajin από τις δημοκρατικές δυνάμεις, η μόνη απειλή για την ειρήνη στη Μέση Ανατολή είναι το φασιστικό Τουρκικό κράτος υπό την ηγεσία του Erdogan. Ο Τουρκικός επεκτατισμός προσπαθεί να εγκαθιδρύσει την πολιτική του τρόμου και της γενοκτονίας στην ευρύτερη περιοχή του, με εναέριες βομβιστικές επιθέσεις όπως αυτές στον καταυλισμό του Mahmur και στο όρος Shengal, με βομβιστικές επιθέσεις σε χωριά της Rojava και με τυφλές επιθέσεις με βαρύ οπλισμό από τα σύνορα, που έχουν σαν αποτέλεσμα τραυματισμούς και δολοφονίες πολιτών, τραγικότερη των οποίων ήταν η δολοφονία της εξάχρονης Sara Mustafa την 1 Νοέμβρη του 2018 σε χωριό του Gire Spi.

Η ανακοίνωση της επιχείρησης ‘’ασπίδα του Ευφράτη” λίγο πριν ηττηθεί το ISIS στην πόλη Hajin και η συνακόλουθη μεταφορά και απόσυρση των φασιστικών στρατευμάτων της Τουρκίας και των μισθοφόρων συμμοριτών κατά μήκος των συνόρων της Τουρκίας με τη Rojava, προ δηλώνουν τον πανικό ενός κράτους σε βαθιά οικονομική κρίση που η μόνη σωτηρία του, για κατάπαυση των διαμαρτυριών στο εσωτερικό του είναι ο εξωτερικός πόλεμος. ενώ παράλληλα δοκιμάζουν τα αντανακλαστικά της Rojava αλλά και την ανοχή της διεθνούς κοινότητας.

Η Rojava είναι ένας οργανισμός που μαθαίνει γρήγορα από τα παθήματα του παρελθόντος και δηλώνει έτοιμη να αντιμετωπίσει οποιαδήποτε απειλή. Τα πλήθη του λαού που διαδήλωσαν σε κάθε πόλη της Δημοκρατικής Συρίας ενάντια στις δηλώσεις του Erdogan για νέα λουτρά αιματοχυσίας και έτρεξαν να γίνουν ανθρώπινες ασπίδες στα σύνορα, δείχνουν με τον καλύτερο τρόπο, ότι κάθε επιθετική κίνηση εναντίον της Rojava συσπειρώνει όλο και περισσότερο το λαό της.

Εμείς ως διεθνιστές εθελοντές που ήρθαμε από κάθε μεριά του πλανήτη, για να υπερασπιστούμε την επανάσταση της Rojava δηλώνουμε ότι δεν θα αφήσουμε αυτό το λίκνο του πολιτισμού, βορά στις ορέξεις των φασιστικών και αποικιοκρατικών δυνάμεων. Σε μία εποχή που ο δυτικός πολιτισμός προκήρυτται το τέλος των επαναστάσεων, η επανάσταση της Rojava ξέσπασε σαν ένα πολιτισμικό big bang και απελευθέρωσε τη ζωογόνο ενέργεια της πραγματικής Δημοκρατίας, εντός της Μέσης Ανατολής. Η επανάσταση της Rojava έσπασε τα δεσμά της πατριαρχίας, ένωσε για πρώτη φορά τους διαφορετικούς λαούς της Μέσης Ανατολής, ανάδειξε τις αρχές της οικολογικής κοινωνίας, προκήρυξε και έκανε πράξη την ισότιμη συμμετοχή ανδρών και γυναικών στην πολιτική, την αυτοάμυνα και τη δικαιοσύνη.

Το YPG international στα 4 χρόνια ύπαρξης του ήταν παρών σε όλα τα μέτωπα, για την προστασία της Ομοσπονδίας της Βόρειας Συρίας, από τους φασίστες του DAES, του Τουρκικού κράτους και των μισθοφόρων συμμοριτών FSA & AL NUSRA. Εκατοντάδες εθελοντές πήραν ιδεολογική και στρατιωτική εκπαίδευση στην ακαδημία του YPG International με σκοπό την άμυνα της Δημοκρατίας της Βόρειας Συρίας.

Προσκαλούμε τους αγωνιστές και τα κινήματα σε συστράτευση με τις YPG/YPJ, για να δώσουμε στην έννοια της αλληλεγγύης την αξία που της αναλογεί.
Είμαστε εδώ για να υπερασπιστούμε την επανάσταση της Rojava από οποιαδήποτε απειλή.
Είμαστε εδώ για να συνεχίσουμε τον αγώνα αυτών που έπεσαν με το κεφάλι ψηλά.

ΖΗΤΩ Η ΕΠΑΝΑΣΤΑΣΗ ΤΗΣ ROJAVA
ΖΗΤΩ Η ΑΝΤΙΣΤΑΣΗ ΤΟΥ AFRIN
ΟΙ ΜΑΡΤΥΡΕΣ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΑΘΑΝΑΤΟΙ

Interview about the frontline experience of an internationalist volunteer fighting ISIS in Hajin

How was the experience fighting DAIS in Hajin for you personnally and as a group of internationals?

For talking about my experience fighting DAIS in Hajin I feel it‘s important to talk about what brought me here which is not only my political socialist belief but also my view on DAIS.
I had a certain amount of understanding about how a caliphate and the Islamic State were formed. With the disintegration of Iraq and the continuing war in Syria people would want to establish their own (Islamic) State from that and I can understand that. It‘s just the way they went about. The burning of the Jordanian pilot was for me really a turning point where I saw how a belief in ideals and a religion can go totally against what ultimately their true belief is. Islam is a peaceful religion. Their actions didn‘t correspond with their beliefs. What made me come was a combination of things. What happened in Kobane, and what‘s going on with the Turkish state and the Kurdish people in general. I followed the Kurdish people for many years. I‘ve had the opportunity to travel around and to support and show solidarity for other leftist organizations and governments – and this was an urgent voice that called to be followed.
The few days I was fighting down there it was for the most part pretty quiet. Just some airstrikes happening but then, it was about 3-4 days of quite heavy fighting. We were ambushed as well. Which was of course not the best thing especially because QSD which were with us had 4 Sehids. But it was good being with the other Internationals. We‘ve been here together for almost six months and we‘ve done training together and we‘ve also had a good comradery among us – I‘ve had people that I could rely on and we relied really a lot on each other.

Which impression did you get from DAIS?

I only saw a few of them. I saw four that were moving down the road towards their position and they were very close, probably 200-300m. I could see that two of them were Europeans, probably from France or the UK I thought.

And what is your impression of how they fought…

Oh good – really good!

…because now they know as well as us that their time is running out…

Yes when I was down there the estimations were that they were only looking about another month of fighting and right know it‘s still going on. It‘s a force somehow fighting with conviction. Once we were attacked towards the evening while there was a sandstorm. The wind came from their position to us and coupled with the continuous airstrikes we just got in a sort of dust and debri we couldn‘t see anything anymore. So the DAIS fighters moved in behind us and firefights started with that. It was good air for them but also good timing as well because it just started to get dark and by ten ‘o clock in the evening it was pitch black. But we had a bit of luck because the wind changed and at 1:18 started blowing back into the alliance and then opened up the area, the deep ground and the buildings so we got again a much better view – so they pulled back.

In the last weeks thousands of civilians were liberated – did you experience that yourself? How is that going? Are there problems? What do you know about the liberation of civilians? What is your impression about them?

I saw about five civilians when I was there, they were in the combat area. About civilians in general and why I didn‘t see many is that the whole area of Hajin has basically been levelled. Especially the villages when you go into Hajin proper – there isn‘t any (civilians). There is all destroyed. I don‘t know how they‘re getting all people back there once the fighting is finished and how long it‘s going to take to rebuild but I can imagine it‘s going to take a long time. About the liberation of civilians – I know that a lot of the DAIS civilians or the families of DAIS travel around with them and there are also a lot of people from the Deir-Ez-Zor-area. I can imagine there is quite a lot of work to be done. DAIS has a lot of support in the society around this area. In a lot of the villages along the Euphrates that we drove through there were a lot of people staring at us and we had to travel with high speed through some of the villages because they were known to be ISIS support areas. Even with the distraction of the ISIS forces in the Hajin pocket they‘re still there, there are still a lot of ISIS fighters around, dispursed into outlining villages and there‘s no way that you will eliminate ISIS on a short term. Maybe as a conventional force, but not in the long run – they‘ll still be around. And there‘s already a lot of stories of bombings, sabotage and ambushes from ISIS fighters on QSD. This idea of an ISIS state, an Islamic state is probably a great driving force for a lot of people.

What was the role of the coalition forces in Hajin during your time there?

Well there is QSD fighting on the ground and you have the airstrikes of the coalition forces.
There were a lot of airstrikes and there are a lot of Americans around but I didn‘t see any special forces of them fighting on the ground. That doesn‘t mean that they‘re not there, but I didn‘t see any of them. They mostly give logistical support, and mortars. They‘ve also got gunships. They had a support base that was close to the front when I was there and which moved forward as we moved as well. They also supplied a lot of medical. They had an operation theatre not far from the front.

DAIS‘s territorry is rapidly disappearing and all but gone – what do you think that will mean and which effects could that have on a geopolitical level?

I think in regards to ISIS losing so much territorry of their once huge areas and what it will mean and how it will affect people there can be said two things:

First – even when they get eliminated as a conventional army I think these ISIS or so called ISIS attacks on civilians everywhere on the people in Europe, in some states of Africa, in Australia, the United States and so on show that it will be very hard to eliminate it as even something like an idea that people will turn to when they have nothing. A lot of the recruiting is also done in countries like the UK or Germany, is done in prisons and in places like this, I don‘t think it‘s eliminated – far from.

Second – the elimination of DAIS as a state changes everything. It brings the question why anyone wants to be here – the United states have been talking about leaving since DAIS is being defeated. I spoke to some Americans down there and they said that they were leaving within six months. I spoke to others and they were saying that they will stay for another two years. I personally don‘t think that they will ever really leave as long as some conflict in this area is going on because they know that they have interest in this area. I think on what a lot depends in the civil war is Turkey. Turkey has in the past just done what it wants. It doesn‘t go by any rules or political pursuasion and it is very much rougue so I think a lot depends on the relationships between Turkey and the United States at the moment and between the Regime and Turkey because those three are holding the cards and Russia is involved as well. It‘s hard to know, it‘s hard to really say. Things change constantly in this area. One day is one thing the next day is another. It‘s like a chess game – everyone is trying to find a position themselves as best as possible for their advantage and that comes at a great cost to the civilian population and to the new system of government that they have here in Rojava and that I‘m trying to support as a socialist. So I would hide to make a clear prediction because tomorrow it might be all changed. I think Turkey is really a major player in this though. It‘s up to them, to what they‘re going to do. And they will probably again not use the Turkish army from the official Turkish government to move over the line, they will use their Turkish-Islamist militias to get the fight rollin.

Anything that you want to add or mention before we finish?

It‘s just another case of power politics. The position of Syria strategically is a door to Asia, the Mediterranean, Africa, and a big door to Europe – a perfect place to be in control of. It‘s sad because all these governments have been so much time here, have spent so much time fighting and it‘s always the civilians that suffer for it, always. And this is really my biggest concern – it‘s always the people suffering, constantly.

This interview was done 4 weeks after our comrade came back from the front and 2 weeks before the official announcement of the territorial defeat of DAIS in Hajin. International volunteers continue to participate in the operations of YPG and the preparations for the defence of Rojava from an attack of other gangs or States.

Clash of Civilizations – Capitalist and Democratic Modernity

In Kurdistan we are currently witnessing a historical situation.
In the cradle of society and civilization, the region of Mezopotamia, we see today two different historical, social and cultural streams of civilization clashing, Capitalist Modernity on the one and Democratic Modernity on the other hand.

Since the evolution of human kind people had lived in a natural society in which private property, hierarchy, patriarchy or even a state did not exist.
At first living in nomadic clans and as hunter-gatherers for nearly 200.000 years humans through the developement of agriculture finally started to settle down and build up villages around 12.000-10.000 BC, thus became a bigger organized community. This beginning of the Neolithical age was the first big revolution of life and became the roots of today‘s society. The life and culture of the natural society was organised around the woman and mother, based on communalism and equality and in harmony with nature.
However we analyse a break in the history of society with the development and establishment of patriarchy, hierarchy, class and it‘s institutionalization with the first Sumerian priest state which was established between 4000 and 3000 BC years through which the people, especially the women, were subjugated and the age of slavery began.
Since then we see the history of society continuing in two different streams that contradict as well as interact with each other and that we can define as the hegemonic oppressive statist, centralistic, hierarchical, patriarchal class civilization of the empires and rulers on the one and the resisting, democratic, communal, natural, anti-patriarchal, socialist one on the other side.
The hegemonic stream represents the development from slavery to feudalism to capitalism and manifests itself in the ruling classes and the big empires of history – it‘s line starts from the Sumerian, the Akkadian, the Assyrian, the Babylonian states, goes to the Greek and the Roman Empire, the Islamic caliphates and Christian kingdoms and reaches until the European nation states and the US-American Empire of today.
The stream of resistance stands for the democratic and communal values in history – it‘s line starts from religious-revolutionary prophets and movements against the rulership of the godkings, „barbarian“ tribes which kept it‘s natural-communal way of life and resisted against the Empires, goes to women who lived after the values of the natural-matricentric society, organised themselves and got persecuted as „whitches“, alchemists/scientists who researched and taught against the dark oppressive ideology of the religious kingdoms and caliphates and reaches until the social-revolutionary peasents movement, the workers, the communist, the anarchist movements, antifascist resistance and oppressed people‘s liberation struggles.
It manifests itself in revolutions and insurrections, in communes and social movements, in libertarian ideologies, resisting ways of life, in communal-solidarity societies and in revolutionary people‘s organizations.

The line of the Democratic Civilization – that is today for example the Zapatista autonomy in Chiapas, the Standing Rock struggle in the US, the Landless Worker‘s Movement in Brazil, the social movements in Colombia, the Mapuche struggle in Chile and the Maoist Party of India.
It is the self-organisation and the anarchist movement in Greece, the struggle for independencein Catalunya, the people‘s movement on the streets of France and the ZAD, the NoTav resistance in Italy, the Hambacher Forst in Germany and the youth insurrections worldwide.
It is all people‘s self-organization, all anti-imperialist and anti-colonialist, all worker‘s, farmer‘s, student‘s, anti-fascist, all democratic, socialist, cultural, feminist and ecologic struggles over the world and it is the Freedom Movement in Kurdistan.

Today we see the Capitalist Civilization right where it‘s roots were established 5000 years ago in it‘s deepest crisis. The current chaos of wars, collapsing regimes, weak states, economical instability, social uprisings and confrontations, imperialist interventions and civil wars like in Syria is the occurrence of a system falling apart.
The Middle East has always been hard terrain for Capitalist Modernity. It‘s political-economical system and it‘s culture and ideology of nation state, imperialism, (neo)liberalism, individualism and positivism could never really deeply take root in the Middle East because it contradicts the social structure, the hegemonic mentality, the culture and values of most Middle Eastern societies.

After being nearly completly colonized and divided into different dependent nation states by the imperialist forces of France and Great Britain after the first world war the region was never really stable or easy to control.
But because it‘s very rich earth and it‘s geostrategical key position the region has always been a main object of imperial interests. After the USA became leading world power after the second world war they tried with their NATO allies Israel and Turkey more strongly to gain influence and get control over the Middle East. During the bipolar world order of the cold war the region was a locale of power struggles between the USA and the Soviet Union.
But the reality of the Middle East has never been adaptable to the Western capitalist system,
and throughout the century the region was characterized by wars, social uprisings, different ideological movements, armed organizations, coups, resistance struggles, foreign power policies, military interventions from outside, political instability and social contradictions.
With the downfall of realsocialism capitalism became a world empire and the USA it‘s vanguard.
The only not fully integrated region in the territorry of the empire was/is the Middle East.
So what we observe since 1989 is nothing less than the attempt of the USA to restructure and completly integrate the Middle East economically, politically and culturally into the empire.
The reason why nowadays all imperialist forces especially the USA and Russia are present or at least represented in the Middle East is exactly that.

Kurdistan plays a key role in all of that.
In Kurdistan a revolutionary socialist movement has been fighting for the liberation of the Kurdish people and a perspective for all peoples of the Middle East for the past 40 years.
In the Syrian Civil War, which is the middle of the current chaos of regional and global forces fighting for power interests in the Middle East for 7 years now a people‘s revolution is taking place in Western-Kurdistan.
The Revolution of Rojava and the political project of the Democratic Federation of Northern-Syria are an attempt to protect the peoples of the region, guide a way out of the apparent dead end of never ending crisis, war, destruction and oppression from several sides and builds up peaceful and dignified life for the people and society.
With a confederal-democratic self-administration of the peoples of the region, autonomous women‘s organisation in every part of life and a process towards an ecological society the libertarian principles and values of Democratic Confederalism based on diversity and equality get put into practice. The ideology and philosophy of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan are an answer to the social and ethnic questions of the region and give a solution to the cultural and political chaos and threats. His paradigm of an organized society without a state based on basic democracy, the equal representation of all religious and ethnic groups of the region, women‘s equal rights and an ecological responsibility is an alternative to the people outside of repressive nation state regimes, exploitative restructuring from outside for imperialist profits and Islamist terror and oppression.

This war which is going on in Kurdistan is a historical and very decisive one.

It is the clash of the two streams of civilization, Democratic Civilization, represented by the Kurdish Freedom Movement and Capitalist Modernity, represented by the Turkish state and all other occupying forces and perspectivly even representers of the USA, Russia or Israel.
Kurdistan is the center of the revolution of our epoch, and the ideology of Serok Apo is the seed.
This revolution and ideology are a hope for the whole of humanity. It is a real alternative to the exploitation and oppression of Capitalist Modernity for society and can be a solution to the problems and suffering to all peoples of the world.

Today for the interest of all oppressed peoples of the world it is a necessity to fight for Kurdistan.

For the victory of the revolution in Kurdistan and a dignified life in a Democratic Civilisation!

Defend Rojava, liberate Kurdistan, spread the revolution!

Biji Serok Apo!

Statement of YPG International during the ceremony that took place in the city of Derik the 2th of February in honour of Siyar Gabar (Jakob Riemer). Siyar was a member of the HPG guerilla who fell the past 9th of July in Northern Kurdistan during a military operation of the Turkish fascist army.

 

“Hevalen hejar,

We are YPG International.
We came together here to remember Sehid Siyar Gabar.
We all know why he became Sehid.
We all know how he lived, what he struggled for, why he gave his life in the mountains of Kurdistan with the weapon in his hands.
We understand.

We also know what they are saying right now about him in Europe.
In the newspapers, in the television, in the speeches of all these experts and analysts.
We know what they are thinking.
They are thinking: Why?
Why should a German teenager take this path?
Why an European citizen, with the possibility to live a peaceful and relatively comfortable life should go to war, should join the Guerilla?
Why should he put his body in front of the Turkish soldiers, under the bombs of the airplanes and deadly drones?

We know what they are saying.
We know well how everyday, every minute, every single second they are working to destroy the hope and revolutionary dreams of our youth and our people. To make everyone think that the only possible way, the only possible life, is the one that Capitalist Modernity offers to us.
But we can understand.
We didn‘t know personally Sehid Siyar, but we know why we are here.

We are here because we could not live peacefully while the biggest Revolution of our century is at war.
We are here because we could not look the other way while the fascists prepare their next massacre.
We are here because we could not sleep quietly while they are bombing villages, killing children, raping women and filling their prisons with thousands of revolutionaries and dissidents.
We are here because we could not accept that history has finished, that there is no alternative, no other life than the one of the capitalist modern slave, of the dominated women and the oppressing men, the life of the passive, blind, mute and deaf citizen.

We are here because we cannot coexist in peace with the same State that makes the tanks that killed the free people of Afrin and that wants to erase a Revolution, an idea that can bring peace, freedom and justice not only for the Middle East, but for the whole world.
We cannot! We want not.

Heval Siyar also could not. And he did not.
We will in his spirit follow his path and continue the struggle that he gave his life for.
Siyar dein Kampf geht weiter!*

Biji Serok Apo!

Sehid namirin!
Sehid namirin!
Sehid namirin!”

 

(*) In German: Siyar, your Struggle continues. In reference to the sentence shouted by Rudi Dutschke during the funeral of the RAF member Holger Meins, who died inside prison after a hunger strike.

We are YPG International

We come from different countries, different political structures and different social backgrounds.
We are youths, workers, students, outbreakers, oppressed, strugglers and autonomous.
We are militants and soldiers. We are democrats, socialists and anti-capitalists, libertarians, anti-sexists and ecologists. We are anti-fascists. We are anarchists and communists, we are revolutionaries and internationalists, we are Apoists.
We have been in armies, factories, universities, on farms, construction sites, in schools or workless.
We have been living in squats, in barracks, in neighbourhoods, on farms, on the street, in autonomous areas or travelling around.
We have worked, fought, been on welfare, lived illegally, survived and begged.
We are longtime organized or newly politicized.
We have struggled and suffered under Capitalist Modernity in different ways.
We have lived different lives, been in different places around the world and have had different experiences.

The Revolution of Rojava though united all of us.
We all share the same rejecting attitude against this system of suffering, injustice, oppression, exploitation and the enslavement of humanity and nature that destroys our lives.
We share moral values and ethical principles, a strong sense for justice, a proud dignified attitude and that we don‘t accept to be supressed. We share our search for truth, our desire for freedom, our justified rage and the meaning that we give to life.
We share the consistency and decisivness to stand and fight for our convictions.
And we share that we have not given up hope and will not surrender.
Because like Serok Apo said: „To insist on socialism means to insist on humanity.“

The Rojava Revolution gives not only hope to the people of Northern-Syria/Western-Kurdistan but the unconditional struggle for freedom of the Kurdish people and the revolutionary upbuilding process of an egalitarian and libertarian society in the middle of the current chaos in Syria and the Middle East inspires and encourages people all around the world.
The heroic resistance of the YPG and YPJ (People‘s Protection Units and Women‘s Protection Units) against the murderous gangs of the so called „Islamic State“ made them known worldwide. And the beauty and strenght of their ethical-aestethical struggle for people‘s self organising and women‘s liberation made them a symbol for revolutionary hope.

The YPG was founded in 2011 during the social uprisings in Syria against the repressive Assad regime in face of an upcoming civil war.
On one hand YPG/YPJ were founded to protect the Kurdish people in their inhabitant areas from the aggressive threats of Islamist gangs like in the beginning Ahrar al-Sham, Al-Nusra, (the Syrian wing of Al-Qaida) or later ISIS, which in terms of the civil war intended to take over territorry in Syria and Iraq to implement a radical-islamic caliphate by extinguishing, displacing and suppressing the Kurdish, Ezîdî, Assyrian and other peoples in the region.
On the other hand to intervene into the arising intervall of political chaos, liberate and defend Rojava, the occupied Kurdish part in the North of the country, in which the population was since decades oppressed by the Arab nation state and build up on women‘s equal rights and ecology based democratic-confederal system without a state that Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan developed in his new paradigm for the Kurdish Liberation Movement in terms of establishing a self-organized society based on freedom and equality.

The People‘s Protection Units though it began as 70-80 brave Kurdish youths, because of their small number organized in mobile teams with precarious equipment, sometimes only armed with a stick, who started to put up checkpoints on the streets to secure their area. The first fights which broke out were against Islamist gangs like the FSA, Ahrar al-Sham or Al-Nusra which tried to take control over the Kurdish areas. Şehid Xebat Dêrik was the one in charge of creating Kurdish self-defense forces for Rojava. It was his work to build up the people‘s army which today is about 60.000 fighters which grew out of the roughly 70-80 members of the youth organization. In 2012 he was martyred by counter-revolutionary forces inside Rojava. YPG is his legacy.
On January 1, 2013 the autonomy of Rojava got declared officially and the revolution was made public to the world. Since it‘s first day the revolution was in war – mainly against the so called „Islamic State“ which attacked and took control over big parts of Rojava. Though the YPG and YPJ fought a determined resistance struggle and at the very latest since the war of Kobanê in 2014 and 2015 the world came to know about the Kurds defeating the Islamist terrorist gangs of ISIS, fighting for their autonomy and democracy.
Even already before but increasingly during and after the Battle of Kobane many Internationals came to Rojava to be part of the revolution, protect the Kurdish people and join the fight against ISIS. So in 2015 YPG International with an own tabur and own academy was founded for all the international volunteers who before were spread in different units and different places.

“Solidarity ist the tenderness oft the peoples”. – Che Guevara

We are internationalists.
Internationalism is organizing. It is a tactic and a strategy but most important – it is a spirit.
Being part of the international revolutionary movement means to not be bound to our nations but to go there where the revolution needs us. It means to unite beyond the borders of the rulers.
It connects us and our struggle today with the continuing line of socialist revolutions and libertarian movements in history. Coming nowadays to Kurdistan and fighting against Turkish fascism and for the revolution of the Kurdish Freedom Movement means to put ourselves in one line with all the internationalist revolutionaries in history.
With the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War in ‘36, the antifascist partizans in the 40s in Europe, Che Guevara, Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution in the 50s and their army of internationalists in Africa and South-America in the 60s and 70s. With all the comrades who joined anti-colonialist and anti-imperialist liberation movements like many did in the 70s and 80s in Palestine, with the City Guerilla groups and with the Kurdish Freedom Movement which is with a Turk and a Laz being the first two comrades of Abdullah Öcalan also an internationalist movement since the beginning.
With all the sincere and brave humans that left their home, their family and friends to join the resistance against the injustice of this world, all the determined internationalists who left their homeland to fight there where the revolution needed them, all the militants that gave up a comfortable life to dedicate their life to the struggle. With all the Şehîds.

Today Kurdistan is the heart of the revolution of our epoch.
For that the revolution can one day also succeed in all our home countries it is today necessary to defend it here on it‘s source, in Kurdistan. Like so many internationalist revolutionaries did before in history – we will go where the revolution needs us. That is the essence of internationalism. The revolution of Rojava and the Kurdish people are with the invasion of the Fascist Turkish state in Afrîn very threatened and they will probably face even harder upcoming attacks.
Because of that all of us came together in YPG International.
We came to learn, to help, to develope, to organize, to fight, to struggle, to defend.
We came because of the hope, the perspectives and the alternative life that this struggle gives us.
We came for the fight against injustice and because of the inspiring beauty and strength of the Kurdish people.
We came to continue the path of all the internationalist Şehîds.
We have defended Rojava against ISIS and Turkish Fascism and we are ready to defend all oppressed peoples of the Middle East and beyond.
We are YPG International.

January 2019

Since decades the Middle East has been the theater of the clash between the Capitalist Modernity and Fascism on one side and the forces of Democratic Modernity on the other.

The first side is now represented by NATO and Russia, based on the interest of the National State of exploitation, Patriarchy, Racism, Violence and rape of Nature; on the other side the Federation of Northern-Eastern Syria together with revolutionary movements from all over the world fighting together for Democratic Confederalism, Social Justice, Women’s Liberation and Ecology.

The Italian State, one of the most important economic partners of Turkey in the selling of weapons that were used by jihadist gangs during the massacres on Afrin’s Canton, is now charging five comrades with terrorism for their revolutionary acts, which consist on defending oppressed people of their country andgoing to Rojava to protect the revolution against ISIS and Turkey.

We want to give our solidarity to this friends. The enemy can try to weaken us but cannot defeat us we fight for Justice and Truth and we will not be prevented from realising our dream.

WHO FIGHTS FOR THE PEOPLE IS NEVER ALONE!

BIJI SORESA ROJAVA!

BIJI YPG/YPJ!

BIJI SEROK APO!

 

Dear friends and comrades!

We are writing to you from the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria, Rojava (Western Kurdistan).

Here in the Middle East in the current chaos of social uprisings, struggling regimes, collapsing states, Islamist terror, Fascist expansion and interventions of imperialist forces, in the middle of the Syrian Civil War a democratic peoples revolution is since 2012 officially taking place.

The Revolution of Rojava and the political project of the Democratic Federation Northern-Syria are an attempt to protect the peoples of the region, guide a way out of the apparent dead end of never ending crisis, war, destruction and oppression from several sides and builds up peaceful and dignified life for the people and society.

With a confederal-democratic self-administration of the peoples of the region, autonomous women‘s organisation in every part of life and a process towards an ecological society the libertarian principles and values of Democratic Confederalism based on diversity and equality get put into practice. The ideology and philosophy of Kurdish leader Abdullah Öcalan are an answer to the social and ethnic questions of the region and give a solution to the cultural and political chaos and threats that come up from the inside as well as are imposed from the outside. His paradigm of an organized society without a state based on basic democracy, the equal representation of all religious and ethnic groups of the region, women‘s equal rights and an ecological responsibility is an alternative to the people outside of repressive nation state regimes, exploitative restructuring from outside for imperialist profits and Islamist terror and oppression.

At the very latest since the war of Kobane in 2014 and 2015 the world came to know about the Kurds defeating the Islamist terrorist gangs of ISIS, fighting for their autonomy and democracy.

The liberation of Kobane will on 27th/28th January 2019 be 4 years ago.

In the meantime the Kurdish YPG and YPJ (People‘s Protection Units and Women‘s protection Units) have liberated big territories from the so called „Islamic State“ and pushed them back until the very south of Syria where right now the offensive for taking also the last areas out of ISIS‘s hands is going on.

Wherever the freedom fighters of the YPG/YPJ and their SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) organized allied forces liberated places from the terrorist rulership of ISIS the revolutionary civil organizations started a democratic upbuilding process together with the local population and gave the people new hope and a way to organize their life collectively, self-determinated and emancipatory.

However, with the defeat of ISIS threats towards Rojava from the side of the Fascist Turkish state arised, which is the main enemy of the Kurdish liberation movement since it‘s beginning and the biggest partner and supporter of the Islamist forces in Syria.

The invasion and occupation of the Kurdish canton Afrin by the Turkish army and Turkish backed Islamist gangs in the beginning of 2018 was the start of an already long-planed aggressive offensive against the Kurdish revolutionary movement on Northern-Syrian territorry.

The silence of the international states was in the face of the occupation and their crimes against the Kurdish population and violations against human rights laws in Afrin a very loud one. Tight economical relations with Turkey, especially weapon deals, made these states supporters and profiteurs of this war. It showed that we can only rely on our own forces and our own strenght.

Now nearly one year later we seem again to face an upcoming Turkish attack. The revolution of Rojava has been since it‘s existence a deep thorn in the eye of the Turkish colonialist-fascist government of the AKP-MHP. And islamist leader and dictator Erdogan has made clear a long time ago, that he will not tolerate a Kurdish controlled area next to Turkey‘s border and threatens with an invasion to secure their state‘s „safety interest“. Of course this is not the only purpose. It is more a fundamental contradiction between the Kurdish freedom movement and the Turkish occupation state and the pursuing of the general aim to destroy and extinguish the Kurdish freedom movement and it‘s revolution in Rojava and every other part of Kurdistan.

This was yet already a long recognizable developement and since the publication of the United State‘s decision to pull their troops out of Syria the war preparation and propaganda on the side of Turkey has been intensively increasing. The fascist AKP-MHP government takes the withdrawal of the most powerful (but of course only tactical) ally of the Kurds of course as an invitation and a sign to realize their invasion plans right now.

The struggle in Kurdistan is an inspiration for revolutionaries all over the world and a hope for the whole suffering humanity.

We will be here and defend the revolution with everything that we have.

And all who are our comrades and friends we call to rise up for this cause!

The threats against the Rojava Revolution must not remain unnoticed!

 

We call for: organize – protest – civil disobedience

Our call is to all those who dream together with us of another world and are ready to fight for them. We address all revolutionaries, all those who regard themselves as democrats, anti-fascists, feminists, all those who stand up for an ecological future. If we don’t do it, nobody will. By defending the Rojava revolution together, we defend all our hopes. And that’s why, in the spirit of liberation of Kobane, the World Kobane and World Afrin Days, we call for:

* Let’s organize resistance committees in our neighborhoods and cities to defend the revolution

* Let’s come together and protest on the streets to send a clear signal of our solidarity with the revolution in Northeast Syria on 27 January. Let us remember together the resistance and liberation of the city of Kobane.

* Let’s use determined and creative actions of civil disobedience to interrupt the production and export of arms, and the daily life of the political parties responsible for the deals with the Turkish regime on 28 January. Let’s make visible the identities of those who benefit from the war, those who finance and drive it.

Together we will make 27 and 28 January two days of global resistance against Turkish fascism. Together we will intervene in the numbing routine of war and oppression, expressing our solidarity with various forms of action. Together we will show that this revolution is not alone!

This war will be a very decisive one.

For the Kurdish people, for the revolution in Rojava and for all democratic, socialist, revolutionary, feminist, ecological, libertarian forces world wide.

We as internationalists in Rojava will contribute what we can to make this resistance a huge and glorious one.

We came from different countries, different political structures, different social backgrounds,

but all of us brought the same cause to Rojava: the hope and power that the revolution of Rojava gives to all people that are struggling for a better world.

Since the beginning of this war internationalists have been fighting alongside YPG/YPJ for the victory of the revolution.

We have defended Rojava against ISIS and Turkish Fascism and we are ready to defend all oppressed peoples of the Middle East and beyond! Sehid Namirin! Martyrs Never Die!

 

YPG International

Check our Statement Video here:

https://ok.ru/video/1214602938927