The invasion attempt by the Turkish state and their allied gangs has left 18 days behind. In Geneva, Switzerland where she was visiting for several meetings, YPJ Spokesperson Nesrin Abdullah spoke to the ANF about the developments in this process and the scope of this glorious resistance that emerged.

“The invasion attack against Afrin is as much a political attack in itself as it is military. The fight of those who want to pick at Syria’s lands continues over Afrin today. Turkey is one of the forces that has taken its place in this fight. Looking at this, we can say that this attack on Afrin is an international plot. Because everyone is involved in this attack, the decision to attack wasn’t made by Turkey alone.

Those who entered Syria under the guise of the war on terror, those who supported regime forces or those who opposed the Assad regime are silent in the face of the attacks today. And that means these forces are in on this, that is how Turkey was able to attack us.”

Abdullah underlined that; “The US’ stance will depend on our response to the events. Some of the forces that entered Syria are pro-regime, and others were against it. The coalition is the same way. We do have a cooperation with the US and coalition forces to fight terrorism, but it’s unacceptable that these forces today are silent in the face of the Turkish state attacks. If they say they will fight terrorism in Syria, against ISIS in particular, if they say they will work to build a democratic system in Syria, they need to do what that requires today. But today, if they are silent in the face of Turkey’s attacks, that means they will remain passive when ISIS attacks. Because the Turkish state’s attack against Afrin is an attack by Al Qaeda, ISIS, Al Nusra and Ahrar u Sham. If these gangs are attacking Afrin today and the US and the Coalition are silent, that means they are voiding the war against terror principles they put forth.

The Coalition may not have previously promised us that they would defend Afrin, but today the city is under attack by a NATO member. That is why we say Afrin is attacked not just by the Turkish state, but also by NATO.”

“Everybody should know that we as the YPG, YPJ and SDF have organized to defend our people. If Afrin is under attack today, we will mobilize all our strength and defend Afrin. And this will naturally have an impact on the fight against ISIS. It will have an impact especially around Deir ez-Zor.”

“Erdoğan didn’t learn his lesson in Kobanê. He used to dream that Kobanê would fall. His dreams were toppled when they were at their peak. The Kobanê resistance has toppled all Erdoğan’s hopes and dreams. Unfortunately apparently he still hasn’t learned his lesson, so he is attacking Afrin today. Now we continue this education with Afrin. Afrin’s position is different than Kobanê. The attack  against Kobanê was a bit of a surprise for us. Our preparation wasn’t very well at the time. But Afrin is different. Both geographically, and in terms of preparation, we are at a very different place than Kobanê.

YPJ Spokesperson emphasized that; “Today in Afrin both we and the people are ready for anything. The Turkish state didn’t take this into account, that is why Erdoğan had prepared himself to achieve results in the first night. He led 70 jets into Afrin and bombed the place in one hour. But it didn’t turn out like they thought, they still haven’t received any results. The glorious resistance that has continued for the last 18 days has shocked them all. Erdoğan mobilized all the strength of his army, and if that wasn’t enough, he took the gangs along with him to the attack, but he has made no advances.

Attacking together with the gangs has provided the Turkish state with one gain: They can help carry each others’ bodies! But in many places, they run without even picking up the bodies. In short, Erdoğan’s faulty calculations didn’t work out. Our people are with us everywhere today. The people of Rojava are up in arms, marching towards Afrin. For me, we have already won.”