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Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) Statement:
Turkey is commiting another crime against Kurdish people and the people of the Middle East by entering Bashur/Iraqi Kurdistan and deploying unwanted troops in Mousel without any request or authorization from the Kurdistan parliament or Iraqi federal authority. The Turkish forces — comprising around one armored regiment with many tanks, artilleries, heavy weaponry and military logistics — have been deployed to the Bashiqa area north-east of Mosul which is seen as Islamic State’s main bastion.
Since the Syrian civil war started over four years ago, Turkey has been playing with double standards and hypocrisy. From being a best friend of the young Bashar Al Assad, the Turkish president Erdogan switched to insisting on Bashar Al Assad’s removal from power almost overnight. The AKP all of a sudden saw an opportunity to reawaken the Ottoman Empire by toppling the Syrian regime, a dictatorship inherited through nepotism and a one-party system. The Erdogan-project is far from wanting to rescue the Syrian people, rather it is designed to impose a Turkish Sunni-style hegemony not only on the Syrian people, but also on the whole Middle East. Turkey started, eager and ambitious and unfortunately with the West’s blessing, to summon and organize the most reactionary and barbaric Islamist extremists and supply them with sophisticated weapons. ISIS was actually born under these political circumstances.
Turkey’s goals may be many, but the most important one is to occupy even larger parts of Kurdistan, outside of Turkey, and suppress the Kurdish National Liberation Movement for many years to come. The second main goal is to revive the Ottoman Empire after it secures access to Kurdistan’s wealth, especially oil, gas and drinkable water.
The world should remember how Erdogan, in a speech on 7 October 2014, declared that the city of Kobane would fall and he vowed to destroy the Kurdish spirit for freedom. The world should also remember the Turkish blockade of Rojawa/Western Kurdistan. The Turkish all-sided support for ISIS has meant and still means committing crimes against humanity.
These crimes consist of taking the lives of Kurdish civilians, suppression, confiscating properties, enslaving people, displacements and changing demography and also hundreds of thousands of Syrian civilian casualties.
Despite the Turkish military campaign launched on 24 July against Kurdish guerrilla forces (the only forces which are fighting and have fought successfully against ISIS) and which has since been intensified rather than reduced, the Kurdish liberation resistance and its will for freedom and liberty gets stronger day by day. The will of Kurdish resistance has smashed the Turkish and ISIS dreams of totalitarian superiority. The cooperation and collaboration between the Coalition and the YPG, YPJ, SDF (Syrian Democratic Forces) and now even Russia gives a great opportunity to defeat ISIS and its sponsors, among them Turkey. The liberation of Kobane, followed by other areas and now even Shangal, Hole, Jarabulus and other strategic areas close to Aleppo and Raqqa has forced Turkey to look at other options to support ISIS. The Turkish incursion into Bashur/Iraqi Kurdistan is meant to open and secure another gate for helping ISIS and must be seen accordingly.
The Turkish incursion is a direct threat to the people of Kurdistan, to the Iraqi Federal Territory and it fans the sectarian flames even more by spreading the culture of enmity, mistrust and hatred between the people of the area. It will provide the most suitable environment for Islamic extremism, reactionary thinking and totalitarianism.
We, the Kurdistan National Congress, therefore call on Turkey to immediately withdraw from Bashur/Kurdistan (Iraqi Federal Territory) and urge the International Community and the democratic forces to support our call. The deployment of Turkish troops in Kurdistan is not just a serious violation of the people’s sovereignty, but also a threat to the stability and security that has been achieved. There are already Peshmerga forces deployed in the area with good coalition surveillance. There is no need at all for a Turkish presence.
We, the Kurdistan National Congress, urge the International Community and the democratic forces to support the people of Kurdistan’s call for freedom, equality and the sister- and brotherhood of the people of the area. We need help and support to ensure peace and stability, progress and gender equality.
No unauthorized use of Southern Kurdistan airspace by any country. It breeches the sovereignty an territorial integrity of Kurdistan. Like US and its Allies, Moscow reserves every right to protect its economic, military and political interests in the region. Russians intervention is based on humanitarian grounds. I personally do not believe Ankara holds any sincere intention toward Kurdish nation in Rojava, North and South. With its irresponsible unilateral actions, it does not contribute to regional peace sufficiently.