Rise Up For The People of Rojava and Iran

We strongly condemn the attacks against Şêxmeqsûd and Eşrefiye, in which 7 of our people were martyred, and more than 50 were injured. As we extend our condolences to the families of the martyrs, we salute the resistance of the people of Şêxmeqsûd.

The Şêxmeqsûd neighborhood, home to more than 220,000 Kurds, has steadfastly defended its community with its own self-defense forces since the attacks began in 2011, resisting within the framework of legitimate self-defense. For over a decade, they have stood alongside the people of Heleb (Aleppo) in the defense of the city against radical armed factions, never being involved in actions against the Syrian government. The Syrian Interim Government, however, has reacted to the demands of coexistence by the people of Eşrefiye and Şêxmeqsûd by implementing an embargo against the people, leaving them to face starvation and the harsh cold, by bombing their most fundamental facilities, particularly hospitals.

Despite all these efforts of coexistence by the people of Eşrefiye and Şêxmeqsûd, the attacks of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which have been escalating recently, are tantamount to attacks on Alawites and Druze. These attacks constitute an assault on the gains of the Kurdish people, women, and all the faiths and peoples that make Syria what it is.

During this sensitive period in which democratic solutions are being discussed in Turkey and North Kurdistan, these attacks—carried out by HTS factions at the behest of the Turkish state—are harming the people of Syria as well as the people of Turkey. Such a policy of war, which has left Turkey vulnerable to attacks by ISIS-affiliated factions, will result in significant losses for Turkey as well.

The Syrian interim government, which is imposing a slave-like and dishonorable life on our people, must understand that by resorting to these massacres, it will only seal its own fate. They must not forget why and how the oppressive Baath regime fell. The only possible solution for Syria is through democratization, as Leader APO has consistently emphasized. The “nation-state” straitjacket that some seek to force upon Syria—a homeland to many different peoples, cultures, languages, and faiths—will spell the end of the Syrian interim government.

In the midst of a war that has raged for 15 years, the best possible response to the regressive fantasies of such factions lies in the embrace of the resistance by the Kurdish women and people who have dedicated all their efforts to a democratic Syria.

On the other hand, we salute the people’s uprising that began on December 28 in Rojhilat (East Kurdistan) and Iran and has now reached its second week, spreading to 27 cities—including Ilam, Lorestan, and Kermanshah—and 88 districts. Furthermore, we extend our condolences to the families of those who have fallen as martyrs in the struggle for an honorable life. As the resistance—which began with union strikes—gains strength under the demands of justice, lawfulness, and freedom, we once again affirm our solidarity with the just struggles of the Kurdish, Persian, Baluchi, and Azeri peoples. Today, it is clear once again that the resistance, which began with the slogan “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi”—which the Iranian regime claimed to have suppressed—has not ended; on the contrary, it has grown and paved the way for new forms of resistance. “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” has become a guiding principle and philosophy of life for women and the peoples.

The Iranian people—especially women—are standing up for a democratic, free Iran; they are fighting for a life of dignity. By refusing to hear the rightful demands of women and the public, and by continuing its policies of execution, repression, and oppression, the Iranian regime is weakening day by day and, just as in Syria, is hastening its own demise. In the resistance that began with the cries of “Jin, jiyan, Azadi,” had the Iranian regime not ignored the demands of women and the people and instead undergone a democratic transformation, it would not be facing these same uprisings today, wielding greater influence in the region. However, the regime’s response of escalating repression policies, executions, and arrests against the demands of the Iranian people and particularly that of women, has not only weakened Iran both internally and externally but has also left the country vulnerable to external attacks. To claim that these uprisings were instigated by foreign intervention amounts to disregarding the truth and the just demands of the Iranian people, as well as turning a blind eye to the Iranian regime’s oppression of the people and women. For years, women have been voicing their rejection of a regressive Iran and a government that opposes democracy and freedoms. Iranian women no longer want to live under dictatorial regimes. In the face of these attacks, the joint statement issued by six women’s organizations in Rojhilat and seven Kurdish political parties represents a significant step toward a democratic Iran.

Developments in the region and around the world indicate that new campaigns of occupation have been initiated to attempt to redraw the maps and borders of nation-states once again to the detriment of the peoples. While colonial powers seek new territories to occupy, they are slaughtering people—women, children, the elderly, and the young—without distinction, showing no regard for moral or ethical principles. If all nation-states in the region—particularly the governments of Iran and Syria—wish to safely make it through this tense environment, they must realize that there is no option other than to take the peoples’ demands into account and pursue democratization.

We call on all peoples—especially the Kurdish people, the women and youth in particular- to stand in solidarity with the people of Şêxmeqsûd, Eşrefiye, Iran, and Rojhilat against these attacks and to take to the streets against the fascist regimes responsible. We know the gains in Rojava are not just Rojava’s, nor are the gains in Rojhilat and Iran just Rojhilat’s and Iran’s. These achievements belong to all those fighting for democracy and freedom, to all the women and peoples of the world.

We call on our people—especially women and youth—and the democratic public to mobilize at the highest level against these genocidal attacks, to take to the streets wherever they are, and to stand in solidarity with the people of Rojava, who have been resisting for 15 years, and the people of Iran, who are resisting the dictatorial regime.