It is now becoming increasingly clear that the reactionary attack launched on January 6 by mercenaries affiliated with al-Jolani against the Sheikh Maqsoud (Şêxmeqsûd) and Ashrafieh (Eşrefiyê) neighborhoods of Aleppo has two fundamental targets: the Kurdish people and democracy itself. Through this assault, a new process of massacre and genocide against the Kurds in Syria has been set in motion. At the same time, the aim has been to block the path of a Democratic Syria that emerged under Kurdish leadership in resistance to the reactionary forces of the Baath regime, ISIS, and the Syrian National Army (SNA), and to prevent the realization of such a vision for the country. This objective also represents an attempt to obstruct the prospects of a Democratic Turkey and a Democratic Middle East. There is no doubt that hostility toward the Kurds and democracy simultaneously signifies hostility toward women, peoples, workers, and freedom itself.
The reactionary and genocidal assault that began on January 6 in Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh has advanced without interruption, expanding to target the entire Democratic Autonomous Administration of Northern and Eastern Syria. Today, the attacks have reached the borders of Hasakah (Hesekê) and Kobanê. For the past two days, no information has been received from Kobanê, the city that became a symbol of victory in the sacred struggle against ISIS, as it remains under full siege by al-Qaeda, ISIS, and SNA mercenaries, together with the Turkish state. In the cities and towns they have entered east of the Euphrates, fascist mercenaries are destroying everything associated with freedom. They are desecrating the graves of the heroic martyrs of the struggle against ISIS and carrying out widespread massacres and devastation in every sphere of life. Acting in concert, they are seeking to exact revenge for the defeat of ISIS that began in Kobanê.
The attacks carried out under the name of the so-called “Syrian Transitional Government” established in Damascus are being jointly conducted by the widely known organizations of al-Qaeda, ISIS, and the Muslim Brotherhood. Although these three currents are commonly portrayed as mutually opposed, their foundations were laid during the period of struggle against the Soviet Union, and today they have been unified under the administration of Ahmed Al-Sharaa (al-Jolani). The main instigator, planner, and covert commander of these attacks is the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government in Turkey. Those who opened the door to the assaults and provided discreet backing are the governments of the United States, France, and Israel. In the first days of the new year, an agreement reached in Paris between Israel and the Damascus administration, with the support of the United States, paved the way for these Kurdish- and democracy-hostile attacks. The extent of Turkey’s involvement in this agreement has not yet been fully clarified. However, recognizing that the agreement effectively opened the path for massacre and genocide against the Kurds, the AKP–Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) government seized this situation as an opportunity and swiftly mobilized fascist mercenary forces in line with its deeply rooted anti-Kurdish ideology and policies.
It is evident that the Israel–Damascus agreement (by extension, Turkey’s role within it) and the attacks that have unfolded on this basis resemble a new Treaty of Lausanne for the Kurds and constitute what Kurdish People’s Leader Abdullah Öcalan has described as a Second February 15 Conspiracy. As the twenty-seventh anniversary of the February 15, 1999 conspiracy, carried out through collective coordination by the system of capitalist modernity, approaches, it is neither surprising nor coincidental that the same system, acting through mercenary forces and based on the same strategic decision, is once again subjecting the Kurds to a new conspiratorial assault. This is because the system itself is fundamentally hostile to Kurdish existence and has built its hegemony upon the genocide of the Kurdish people. Today, it shows no intention of abandoning or altering this foundational premise.
The sense of triumph displayed by sworn anti-Kurdish fascist Turkish racists, who appear almost intoxicated by the ongoing attacks against the Kurds, is both premature and hollow. The trajectory of the process that began in Aleppo remains far from clear. The Third World War that has been unfolding for the past thirty-five years has reached such a level of complexity that it is no longer possible to predict whom it will strike next on any given day. Indeed, it cannot be ruled out that this course of events may ultimately place a second Treaty of Sevres on the agenda for Turkey itself. Moreover, the Kurdish people have experienced a profound national and democratic awakening and have brought forth a powerful democratic nation force. Within the current landscape of contradictions and conflicts, it always remains within their capacity to resist, repel, and ultimately defeat these genocidal attacks. For this reason, the scale of the present hardship should not be misread. The Kurds are a people who have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to forge extraordinary resistance and achieve historic victories under conditions far harsher than those they face today.
Much like the saying of turning pain into honey, the Kurdish people today continue to transform hardship and injustice into new and positive developments, generating remarkable levels of awareness, organization, and collective action. As the saying goes, there is good in every adversity. In this sense, Kurds and their allies remain on their feet, striving to transform the threat posed by al-Jolani into a democratic gain. It is evident that the genocidal attacks stretching from the Sheikh Maqsoud and Ashrafieh neighborhoods of Aleppo to Kobanê and Qamishlo have produced a powerful surge of national consciousness, unity, and resilience among the Kurdish people.
Just as in the resistance that defeated the ISIS in Kobanê, Kurds across the four parts of Kurdistan and in the diaspora are once again on their feet today to support the Kobanê and Rojava Resistance. Young people from Northern Kurdistan (Bakur), Southern Kurdistan (Başur), and even Eastern Kurdistan (Rojhilat) are crossing borders in large numbers, competing to take part in the Rojava resistance forces. Across cities in Northern Kurdistan, continuous mobilization is underway, while people in Suruç and Nusaybin have begun keeping border watches. It can be said that the people of Northern Kurdistan have moved beyond past illusions, regained their footing, and once again transformed every space into a popular uprising (serhildan). Likewise, the people and political forces of Southern Kurdistan, as if awakening from a moment of negligence, have recognized the scale of the danger and emerged as one of the strongest supporters of the Rojava resistance against genocide. From the very beginning, the Kurds of Rojava, led by women and youth, have risen, armed themselves, and demonstrated to all their determination to protect the freedom revolution and to walk with honor in the footsteps of their heroic martyrs. Kurds abroad, particularly in Europe, have once again filled streets and squares with their longing for homeland and freedom, mobilizing to make the realities unfolding in Kurdistan known to the entire world.
The collective rising of the Kurdish people across the four parts of Kurdistan and in the diaspora against the fascist and genocidal attacks of the anti-democratic administration of al-Jolani has further strengthened the hope forged over the past thirty years for both their own future and the broader struggle for freedom and democracy. It has elevated national spirit, consciousness, and solidarity to an unprecedented peak. No matter the scale of the attacks, it is no longer possible to halt, suppress, subjugate, enslave, or annihilate such people. Through the suffering of Rojava, the Kurds are experiencing a renewed era of national awakening, unity, and collective advancement.
There is no doubt that this rise of the Kurdish people everywhere is neither narrow in its national scope nor confined to standing alone. On the contrary, it is entirely democratic in content and grounded in the vision of fraternal coexistence along the line of the democratic nation. On this basis, the Kurdish people stand together with their democratic allies everywhere, advocating a process of democratization founded on women’s freedom and social ecology across the Middle East and the world, above all in Syria, Turkey, Iraq, and Iran. In the face of the current attacks rooted in hostility toward both the Kurds and democracy, the central principle remains the protection of a free Kurdish existence and the strengthening of democratic unity everywhere. Across all arenas, there is once again enthusiasm and determination, hope and resilience, fraternity and shared struggle.
It is clear that against the anti-Kurdish, anti-women, and anti-democratic assaults carried out by dark-faced fascist mercenary forces, backed by the capricious modern-day representatives of history’s bloodstained god-kings, humanity as a whole is advancing a new march for democracy. Led by the Kurdish people, and especially by women and youth, this march continues with great courage, sacrifice, and determination. Democratic humanity is once again moving forward in step with the Kurds; hope and collective will are once more rising from Kurdistan. No matter how heavy the cost or how deep the pain is, there is nothing more valuable than living the honor of such a march and such a struggle.
On this basis, as we once again respectfully commemorate the heroic martyrs of the sacred resistance unfolding from Aleppo to Qamishlo, we affirm that the democratic march of peoples will prevail against the fascist and genocidal aggression driven by hostility toward the Kurds and democracy. We call everyone to join this historic march, to once again stand in defense of the resistance in Kobanê and Rojava, and to work collectively toward achieving new victories.
Source: Yeni Özgür Politika