PCF delegation travels to Hewler

A delegation of the French Communist Party (Parti Communiste Français, PCF) will travel to Hewlêr (Erbil) next week to express solidarity with the Kurdistan National Congress (Kongreya Neteweyî ya Kurdistanê, KNK), which is actively campaigning for an end to the invasion amid the escalating Turkish military aggression in Bashur. This was announced by Pascal Torre, PCF responsible for International Affairs in the Maghreb and Middle East.

Since late April, the Turkish army, with the help of jihadist mercenaries, has been attacking civilian settlement areas and guerrilla zones in southern Kurdistan. According to the PCF, Ankara was pursuing a threefold goal: the eradication of Kurdish existence, an extended annexation up to Maxmur and Mosul, and the expulsion of the Yazidi Self-Defense Forces from Shengal.

“Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wants to use the opportunity at the June 14 NATO summit in Brussels to get the defense alliance’s approval for a major offensive against the guerrillas. What France’s attitude will be, whether the fighters for freedom and democracy will be abandoned and the country will capitulate to Erdoğan’s anti-freedom and expansionist policy will then become clear,” the statement said.

Torre called for French President Emmanuel Macron and his cabinet to firmly oppose the opening of a new front by the Turkish government in the Middle East at the NATO summit. “They must bear in mind that the Kurds, in all their diversity, are the main actors for peace in the region,” Torre said. “We are traveling to Erbil to express the full solidarity of the French communists.”

Kurdish communists announce protest in Hewlêr

Meanwhile, the Kurdistan Communist Party (KKP) announced that it would protest on Monday in front of the regional parliament in Hewlêr against Turkey’s attacks on areas in the autonomous region. All members of the party as well as the people were called upon to participate in the action starting at 10 a.m. local time.