Kurdish parties urge UN, EU and NATO to stop Turkey's attack on Syrian Kurds

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) – Representatives of several Kurdish parties and factions in Turkey on Tuesday called on the international community namely the UN, EU, and NATO to take the initiative to stop an ongoing Turkish army attack on the Kurdish region of Afrin in Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava).

Leaders of the Kurdistan Democratic Party - North (KDP-Bakur), Kurdistan Socialist Party (PSK), Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), Freedom and Socialism Party (OSP), and Freedom Movement (Azadi) accused Turkey of viewing all Kurds across the Middle East as a security threat.

“We already receive painful news that there are serious losses of civilian lives and wounding of hundreds,” the parties said, calling on the Turkish government to halt its assault on Afrin in no time to prevent domestic instability and civil unrest.

“The military operation Turkey undertook against Afrin will not serve the solution in Syria, it will only further complicate the complex situation,” said PSK’s Mesut Tek, reading a joint statement at a Diyarbakir press conference.

“This kind of military campaign will also make it more difficult for Turkey to solve its own Kurdish Question as [recent history] has shown,” Tek said, likening the Afrin operation to the takeover of Kirkuk by the Iranian-backed Iraqi government forces and militias late last year.

The factions, collectively known as “Kurdistani parties” in Turkey’s political scene, said Ankara’s objective was to deny their brethren in Rojava any form of self-rule.

“What they call the Kurdish corridor is a part of Kurdistan. And, the Kurds in Syria and those in Turkey are entitled self-governance and a dignified, free life in their homeland,” the statement continued.

They also denied that the self-declared Kurdish-led autonomous region in northern Syria posed a threat to Turkey, calling on Ankara to resolve its conflict with the Kurds peacefully in political terms.

The Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) had earlier condemned the attack, calling it an unprovoked invasion.

Meanwhile, judicial authorities on Wednesday launched an investigation against the leader of Azadi, Sidki Zilan, a prominent human rights lawyer, for his tweets in the form of a prayer for the people of Afrin.

Zilan, whose house police raided at midnight, was arrested for several hours and brought in front of a court over remarks charging Ankara with “being a warmongering government.”

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany