A protest of support for the people of Rojava was held in front of the Turkish embassy in Belgrade yesterday.
I came to protest to show support for the people of Rojava. Turkey is invading an autonomous region in northern Syria, which could lead to a disaster and ethnic cleansing, declared Saša Perić in his statement for Mašina.
A female protester stated that a part of the oppression against Kurds is the fact that it’s hardly ever mentioned:
What is also important is that the revolution in Rojava is primarily lead by women. The political transformation which they conduct is perhaps the closest to what we would like to see as a way of organising a more just society.
A few dozen protesters bore flags of People’s Protection Units (YPG), renowned for their successful fight against ISIS, as well as banners against capitalism. The protesters shouted out slogans such as: “Stop Turkish imperialism”, “Erdogan is a murderer”, “Support for Rojava”.
Protests against the Turkish invasion of Rojava have been held all over the world.
Turkey started its newest assault on Syrian Kurds on the 9th of October, after USA abruptly broke its alliance with the Kurdish fighters and cleared the way for the Turkish war machinery by retreating.
As we written earlier, this has not been the first attack on Kurds in the last few years. The Turkish army, supported by the USA air forces, entered northern Syria in August 2016, when Erdogan stated that he will fight both ISIS and YPG. This was followed by a Turkish strike on northern Idlib in 2017, and the Afrin offensive in 2018.
The key organisation in Rojava, where a revolutionary political transformation based on ideas of radical democracy, women’s liberation and self-determination has been going on for years, is the Democratic Union Party (PYD), while People’s Protection Units (YPG) and Women’s Protection Units (YPJ) are the ones most deserving for the successful fight against ISIS. Read more about it in this interview with sociologist Nazan Ustundag.
P.M. and A.J.
Translation from Serbian: Iskra Krstić
This article was originally published in Serbian on Okt 12, 2019.