KONGRA-GEL: Turkey’s supporters are accomplice in the Kurdish genocide

The Co-Presidency Council of KONGRA-GEL issued a written statement in response to the ever-increasing genocidal attacks of the Turkish people against Yazidi people in the town of Shengal (Sinjar) in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq).

The statement by KONGRA-GEL includes the following:

“The Turkish state has been carrying out airstrikes against the Yazidi people in Shengal, in front of the entire world, intending to kill the Yazidi people. Seîd Hesen and his bodyguard Îsa Xwedêda were killed in an attack in Shengal bazaar on August 16, while on their way to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi. In addition, three people were injured in the attack. The entire world, including the Iraqi government, is deafeningly silent; no one speaks out. Those who have defended the Yazidi people against ISIS are slaughtered, yet no one speaks out.

As if that weren’t enough, on August 17, the Turkish state bombed the Sikêniye hospital, which serves the residents of Shengal, three times. 4 members of the YBŞ (Shengal Resistance Units)  and 4 hospital attendants were killed, while four civilians were injured who had been hospitalised with Corona infection. The United Nations, the United States, the European Union, NATO, the Iraqi government, and the Iraqi Kurdish Regional Government have all remained silent in the face of the attack targeting a hospital.

‘THE WORLD SHOULD HAVE TURNED UPSIDE DOWN!’

If these airstrikes had been carried out in a hospital anywhere else in the world, it would have been sensational. Response to the attacking state, call for action by international mechanisms, condemnations and other reactions would immediately have come to the fore.

However, when it is the Turkish state that attacks and when it is the Kurdish people, particularly the Yazidis, that are attacked, the known powers are playing ostrich. Previously, the Turkish state carried out a similar air attack on the Afrin hospital, killing several civilians. There was no voice raised by the known forces, once again.

On the basis of their national and social identity, the nearly 25 million Kurdish people living in Turkey have no legal or constitutional rights. Since its inception, the Turkish state has pursued policies of denial and destruction against the Kurdish people. This is a genocidal policy. Those Kurds seeking their rights are either in graves or in prisons, in exile, or fighting for their democratic rights despite the risk of being arrested or killed.

‘EUROPE IS AN ACCOMPLICE IN GENOCIDE’

The Turkish state is waging all-out war in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq to destroy the gains and existence of the Kurdish people under the guise of “fighting against the PKK.”

The Turkish state carries out these genocidal policies against the Kurdish people with the help of the UN, EU, NATO, and other international organizations. These countries, as well as key international organizations, are direct accomplices in the Kurdish genocide. Germany, for example, is a partner in this genocide since it financed the houses erected for Salafi gangs in Afrin, whose demographics were altered by the gangs sent in from abroad. With their backing for the Turkish state, which is the patronage of Salafist organizations, particularly ISIS, these countries leave the Kurdish question unresolved, and they exploit the Turkish state for their regional purposes by making it dependent on them. We will undoubtedly hold the Kurdish genocide accountable, in collaboration with our people and international democratic public opinion.

It is impossible to stifle and destroy the struggle of a people who have fought for their independence. Kurds are no longer on their own. The Kurdistan Freedom Struggle’s democratic social revolution broke the century-old grip of genocide. With their amicable connections in the regional and international arenas, the Kurdish people have emerged as a major power in the region. It is a people who are firmly entrenched in their liberty and willing to pay any price for it. Any proposal that is not based on the Kurdish people’s national and social-democratic will has no chance of success.

‘THE FUNDAMENTAL MISSION IS TO BE WITH THIS HONORABLE RESISTANCE’

Standing in solidarity with the valiant resistance of the Shengal people against the genocidal Turkish state’s attacks is a fundamental duty for anyone who names himself a human being. It is the obligation of being human to safeguard the Yazidi people, who defied 74 edicts before finally defending themselves and humanity against ISIS and paying a high price.

On this basis, we are calling on all of our people living in Bakûr, Başûr, Rojhilat, Rojava, and everywhere to protest the Turkish state and the forces that support it in various ways. The forces putting together the joint attack strategy should be aware that the people of Shengal are not alone. Everyone who defines himself as a human being – not just Kurds – should consider himself conscientiously and morally indebted to the Yazidis and take action to keep the Yazidi people who have been subjected to 74 decrees living freely with their faith and identity.”