Mahsum Çiya Korkmaz said that the Mürşitpınar border gate must be opened immediately for aid to reach Kobanê.
More than 600,000 people living in the city of Kobanê in Rojava have been held under a severe siege for 16 days. Shortages of medicines are putting the lives of patients, especially those with cancer and heart disease, at serious risk. Due to severe cold and the lack of necessities, children, the elderly, and the sick are facing multiple life-threatening dangers.
Despite the acute shortages of food and medicine in the city, the Turkish state is not allowing the border gate to be opened to enable humanitarian aid trucks to pass into Kobanê.
Mahsum Çiya Korkmaz, co-spokesperson of the Amed City Protection and Solidarity Platform, spoke to ANF about the blocking of humanitarian aid and said: “After what happened in Kobanê, we launched a campaign to support our people there, based on a joint decision taken by 123 civil society organizations affiliated with the City Protection and Solidarity Platform in Diyarbakir (Amed). Our campaign moved forward on two tracks. First, we made a public call here and asked those who wanted to support Kobanê to voluntarily leave their donations at two designated collection points.
Second, we made a call to the state. We stated that the aid packages to be delivered to Kobanê must reach the people directly. One of the main conditions for our call to be answered was the opening of the Mürşitpınar Border Gate. Frankly, we knew that the reasons why the Mürşitpınar gate has been closed for more than a decade are linked to Turkey’s policy toward Syria. However, under the current circumstances, the desperation experienced by the people there has made the opening of a humanitarian corridor essential. In this sense, as civil society organizations, we wanted to raise public awareness and create social pressure on the state.”
Aid trucks are not allowed to pass
Korkmaz criticized the refusal to allow the passage of aid trucks and said: “Twenty-five aid trucks were stopped at the Suruç crossing due to a decision by the governor’s office. Trucks are carrying basic needs such as baby diapers, infant formulas, and blankets, with water making up the majority of the supplies. The trucks were not allowed to enter Suruç. The vehicles are currently being held at a facility near the district. Our colleagues have taken over the duty after us and are keeping watch next to the trucks.
The problem is not only that the gates are closed, but also the question of who will open the gate on the other side. The direct delivery of aid to the Kurds is being deliberately obstructed. While passage is allowed at the Kilis gate, it is blocked at the Suruç gate, which demonstrates the legitimacy of our demands. There has been no concrete development regarding the Suruç gate so far, and talks are ongoing.”
There must be serious public pressure
Mahsum Çiya Korkmaz called on the state to open the Mürşitpınar Border Gate and allow aid to reach the area as soon as possible. Korkmaz said:
“There has been serious public pressure around the possibility of delivering aid directly to the Kurds through the Mürşitpınar gate. Our call here is clear: the Mürşitpınar gate must be opened. There is no other way. If you refer to the Kurds there as ‘our own brothers’ and see them as your own kin, then you must not build a barrier or a gate between yourself and your own brother.
Especially when those brothers and sisters are in desperate conditions, when people are dying from thirst and cold, the gates must be opened without delay. Children are melting snow from the rooftops of their homes to drink. Heating is a very serious problem. The city of Kobanê has received more than 150,000 displaced people within a single week. Sending aid to those who caused this displacement is a separate paradox. In fact, you are handing our trucks to those who are committing oppression and saying, ‘Go and distribute these yourselves.’ This paradox must be seen by the entire international public.
The gate must be opened. All segments of society who define themselves as ‘human rights defenders must show sensitivity to this issue and generate public pressure for the opening of the Mürşitpınar Border Gate.”