Rally in Strasbourg protests against European silence on Turkey’s crimes

With a march from the Council of Europe to the U.S. Embassy in Strasbourg, masses have protested on Wednesday against the international support of the Turkish attacks on Kurdistan. The action was promoted by the Kurdish European associations TJK-E and KCDK-E, which demand that the United Nations, the EU and the Council of Europe take a stand against the expansionism and human rights violations of the Erdoğan regime. Among other things, the organizations are demanding that the US withdraw the bounty notice for leading PKK cadres.

The demonstration was the highlight so far of the vigil that has been taking place since May 11 in front of the Council of Europe against the Turkish army’s invasion of South Kurdistan, which is against international law, and the international silence on Turkey’s actions. The participants carried flags of various Kurdish organizations as well as banners that read, among other things, “Stop Turkish terror in Kurdistan” and “The representatives of the Kurdish people are not terrorists”.

Isolation of Abdullah Öcalan

The central theme of the demonstration was also the isolation of Abdullah Öcalan, who is considered a key figure for a political solution to the Kurdish question and has been held hostage on the Turkish prison island of Imrali since 1999. Numerous participants therefore carried signs with Öcalan’s image and quotes from his defense writings. Other signs bore slogans such as “NATO finances – Turkey bombs” and “Guerrillas defend the dignity of Kurdistan”. “No life without the Chairman” and the central slogan of the Kurdish women’s liberation movement “Jin, Jiyan, Azadî” (Woman, Life, Freedom) were repeatedly shouted.

PKK is the legitimate defense force of the Kurds

The march ended in front of the United States Embassy with the reading of a joint statement by TJK-E and KCDK-E. The statement emphasized that the bounty on the co-chair of the KCK Executive Council, Cemil Bayık, and the two members of the PKK Executive Committee, Duran Kalkan and Murat Karayılan, was considered “illegitimate” by the Kurdish society. “It is the Turkish state as an occupier in Kurdistan and responsible for massacres against the Kurdish people that is terrorist. The PKK is the legitimate defense force of the Kurds.”

Hypocritical attitude

At the end of 2018, the US had offered several million dollars for leads on the whereabouts of the three PKK cadres. In April this year, the notice was extended. Kurdish society sees this as a move to criminalize the legitimate struggle for self-determination on an international level. “We as TJK-E and KCDK-E consider the bounty as part of an international attack against the Kurdish people. We call on the US to reverse its decision and remove the PKK from the US terror list. The Turkish state engages in human rights violations, historical revisionism and genocides. The U.S. government must immediately and unconditionally withdraw its support from Ankara.”

The Kurdish associations equally criticized Europe, whose attitude toward Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his government was described as “hypocritical.” The demonstration ended with the slogan “Freedom for Öcalan”.

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