KONGRA GEL Co-chair Hacer Zagros spoke to ANF on the Turkish state's increasingly ongoing attacks on the Efrîn canton and the Shehba region.

Zagros said that the Middle East was experiencing a historic period and continued:

“The situation we are in is the World War III. The center of this war in the 21st century is Kurdistan. The World War III is fought between the forces of democracy and the anti-democratic colonialist state mentality.

As a result of this, with the building of the Rojava Revolution, all equilibrium was gone. And that has given a basis for the start of a new war in the Middle East. Kurdish forces have taken their place as active actors in this war. Against the Kurds are all the capitalist international forces. The global powers are in a great amount of fear and they are struggling to prolong and sustain their system.”

“THE TURKISH STATE TARGETS THE GAINS IN ROJAVA”

Zagros pointed out that the Turkish state was in an effort to play the role of a racist, nationalist and colonialist bridge in the Middle East in the 21st century and said: “The Rojava Revolution has become the nightmare of the Turkish state. They see themselves in great danger. The only thing the Turkish state wants is to destroy the gains of the Rojava Revolution. They want to break the will of the Kurdish people through this. They are racist against Kurds. They have intensified their attacks especially on the Efrîn Canton and the Shehba region. The Turkish state is now trying to revive the colonialist Ottoman mentality. They want to realize the 500 year long aim of the Turanist mindset to usurp the Middle East by invading the whole of Kurdistan today. The same mindset is shaping the politics of the day as well. The Turkish state is in an effort to renew the treaties they had signed with the colonialist forces in history over Kurdistan. We all know that the agreement in Ankara in 1926 was reached through a lack of status for the Kurds and Mosul being handed over to the British. They didn’t act according to the Misak-ı Milli (The National Pact) because there was a war to eliminate the Kurdish people in Kurdistan. Mosul was gifted to the British in return for silence in the face of massacres and exploitation against the Kurdish people.”

“THE TURKISH STATE IS AT ITS WEAKEST”

KONGRA GEL Co-chair Hacer Zagros pointed out the Turkish state’s colonialist and occupant attacks on Rojava and said that the international powers were silent. Zagros said there was an effort to update the Ankara treaty today and added that the Turkish state and the international powers should know that the Kurds were not the same Kurds as before.

Remarking that the Turkish state is in its weakest period, Zagros said: " The Turkish state seeks to have an influence on the region states and intimidate the international forces by means of a psychological warfare. The Turkish state pursues a brutal policy against the Kurds, Arabs and all other peoples living in the Middle East, and wants to take revenge. The Turkish state bears a dirty colonialist mentality and seeks to deceive the public opinion. Its "border security" and "terror problem" discourse is a trick and story. They cannot deceive anyone. All the regional forces, as well as the Iraqi state and Syria, should see that Turkey is after invading the Kurdish lands. Our people, too, should know this invading and colonialist mentality very well. Our people in Rojava are creating their own solution today. All the diversities are partaking in the administration within the framework of the democratic nation model. They are organizing their military forces and building their own system. This is the formation of a democratic Syria. The Turkish state insists on maintaining its existing mentality, rejecting all the identities different than it itself, and thusly escalating its brutal attacks. It is bombing the Rojava lands and deploying tanks on Rojava soil. There exist no ISIS elements or any other terror organization in the areas attacked by Turkey, but only local residents and forces of the Jaysh al-Thuwar and SDF which mount self-defense and protect their people."

"THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TURKEY AND ISIS"

Zagros stressed that the peoples in the region should unite against the policy of the occupant and colonialist Turkish state, and put emphasis on the importance of a joint struggle and enhancing the resistance and unity.

Zagros continued: "The Turkish state has continued its attacks against the Rojava Revolution on the basis of a dirty policy for the past 4 years. It is the Turkish state itself that sent ISIS to the Rojava land. There is no difference between the Turkish state and ISIS. The Rojava Revolution has reached the phase of the unification of the Efrîn Canton and Kobanê Canton. This is the very reason why the Turkish state focuses its attacks on the Efrîn Canton with the single purpose of obstructing the unification of the two cantons.

People in the Efrîn Canton have built their system and they try to continue their life with the most appropriate and progressive model. They achieve this despite the 4 years of an intensified embargo and encirclement from four sides. The people of Efrîn have manifested a combative attitude they needed to. The people of Shengal see the cases of Shengal and Kobanê. On the other hand, the Turkish state is tearing down cities in Bakur (North) Kurdistan and it wants to do the same in the Efrîn Canton today.

"FINAL BATTLE ON THE WAY TO GREAT VICTORY"

When ISIS attacked the Kobanê Canton, Erdoğan said "Kobanê is about to fall, it will be the turn of Efrîn and Cizîr as well". Turkey is bombing Rojava Kurdistan and killing civilians brutally because it has failed in Kobanê and Shengal. The people of Efrîn should know that a final battle for victory is being waged at the moment. In this war, they should give the necessary lesson to the fascist Turkish state. Women, youth and all the people of Efrîn should protect their land against the invading Turkish state. The spirit of Arin Mirxan and Slav is calling for struggle as we are going through historic times.

We should strengthen our fraternity with the spirit of comrade Aziz from the Arab people. All the peoples living in Efrîn should defend each other. We should show once again that no power can achieve victory against the power of peoples. Peoples achieve victory where they are united."