News & events

07-10-2021

Martyrs’ Families Foundation of North and East Syria: Campaign to De-list the PKK


We are here republishing the declaration statement of a campaign of the Foundation of the Families of Martyrs of North and East Syria for governments of the world – specifically the USA, the EU, and Turkey – to remove the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) from the list of proscribed ‘terrorist’ organisations.

The text of the campaign statement is included below, and is available for downloading as a pdf here: englizi nu.pdf.

The campaign is also being promoted by the Centre of Civil Diplomacy of North and East of Syria (CDC – NES), an organisation that aims to strengthen and extend bridges of communication between the civil institutions of the Autonomous Administration and the institutions and organizations of civil society abroad. You find more about them on their website here: https://nescivildiplomacy.com/.

 

the Families of Martyrs
North and East Syria
2021\10\4

Delist PKK of the list of terrorist organizations

To whom it may concern,

As the families of martyrs in North and East Syria we would like to contact you with a request. As you know, the Kurdish people have been divided between four states since1923 (Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq). In all four parts of Kurdistan, the Kurdish people have been confronted with a politics of annihilation. The existence of the Kurdish people has been denied and our rights have been ignored; our language and culture has been forbidden and the Kurdish people faced many massacres.

Against this cultural, social and ethnic cleansing (the Kurdish qirkirin, which means genocide) the Kurdistan Workers› Party (PKK) arose in 1974 to defend the Kurdish people. For 43 years, a brutal war has waged. Upwards of 50,000 people have been killed in this war. Millions of people saw the PKK as a force which could free the Kurdish society of this politics of annihilation and assimilation. Therefore, millions of people participated in and supported the PKK. The people of Rojava were also oppressed under the Baathist system, and, therefore, they, too, joined the PKK.

In the last ten years, the forces in opposition to the Kurds strengthened groups like ISIS, Ahrar al-Sharqiya,Ahrar al-Sham,al- Nusra and others to fight against us. In North and East Syria alone, thousands of people lost their houses and belongings, have been internally displaced and thousands of people lost their lives in this war. These groups are enemies of humanity and are intent on destroying or shared values, people who do not share their fanatical ideals are killed, their belongings plundered. Women have been sold in markets like chattels, and have been raped. Without the PKK, we would not have been able to defend North and East Syria, while catastrophe which occurred in Shengal would have been much worse. Through the intervention of the PKK, thousands of Ezidis were saved.

The Families of Martyrs is an association of families who lost family members during these wars. We stand next to our fallen family members and we support each other.

Yet, the PKK has been called a terrorist organization by Turkey, the USA and the European Union. We don’t see the PKK as a terrorist organization. The PKK saved us from darkness. Branding the PKK as terrorist brands Kurds as terrorists. The PKK is a people’s organization, striving for freedom and democracy. Under the guise of charges of terrorism, thousands of journalists and politicians have been sent to jail for years, very often without a trial.

We lived in security and stability in the North and East of Syria. We have built up our communes, assemblies, economy, academies, our system of education and health. Our culture prospered. Acting under the guise of combating terrorism, Turkey, with the tacit approval of the USA, Russia and the European Union, attacked and occupied Afrin, Sere Kaniye and Gire Spi. Thousand of people have been internally displaced and lost everything, many thousand others were killed or remain missing. Today, an inhuman regime of fundamentalist Islamist groups are plundering, attacking the people, and raping women. Women are being kept as prisoners in their own houses and raped. Men, women and children are being kidnapped.

We want the PKK to be delisted as a terrorist organization, we want to live without fear and be able to build a democratic society. As long as the PKK is seen as terrorist organization, we – as the people of North and East Syria – are seen as terrorists and, therefore, whoever wants to attack us can do so without any fear of repercussions. This is the situation we are facing now. Under the guise of the war of terror, Turkey is killing civilians with drones in Rojava, in Shengal and in Iraq while the world stays silent.

As the families of martyrs we say: the criminalization of the PKK is not warranted. The PKK should be delisted. Once the PKK is delisted, the road towards a peaceful resolution will open and Turkey will not be able to attack us anymore. We ask for your support; we wish that you support our demand: the PKK should be delisted as a terrorist organization.

A campaign has started with the aim to delist the PKK. As the families of martyrs we are part of this campaign and we would like your support for this campaign. One of our activities in this campaign is a hashtag on twitter: on 26-11-2021, 20:00 o›clock in Amed,19,00 o›clock in North and East Syria ,19,00 o,clock in continental Europe. We would be very happy if you support this campaign.

Delist the PKK!

Yours sincerely,

The families of martyrs,
North and East Syria