The United States, while supporting the SDF in other parts of Rojava, has not yet offered the same support in Afrin. U.S. officials have condemned Turkish actions, especially the unlawful targeting of civilians. Their policy, however, does not support their statements. The Turkish F-16s dropping bombs across the region were sold to Erdogan by the US, and State Department spokespeople have said that the US acknowledges Turkey’s “legitimate security interests” in the area—though Turkey’s operations against the Kurdish people are illegitimate under any standard of morality or international law.

Demonstrators chanted “Turkey out of Afrin!” and “Who defeated ISIS? YPG, YPJ!”, holding banners equating Erdogan to ISIS and calling for the world to stop the attacks. Nearly 300 people attended, making it the largest protest in solidarity with Rojava to ever occur in the United States.

A statement read in front of the White House said:

“After weeks of manipulation and warmongering by Turkish dictator Erdogan, the Turkish Army launched a military attack yesterday against the autonomous Afrin n Canton in Northern Syria. Afrin is populated by more than a million civilians, predominantly Kurds, Assyrians, Armenians and Arabs.

The dictator Erdogan has been governing Turkey under a continuously extended state of emergency for more than a year and a half, supported by a fascist government. Ironically, this fascist clique is intervening in Syria in the name of “democracy”, while in fact supporting the so-called “Free Syrian Army”, a collection of Wahhabi jihadist gangs who massacre minorities and aim to crush peace and fraternity between the peoples of Northern Syria.

The military attacks by the Turkish regime on Syrian soil have three goals: First, to strangle the ongoing democratic revolution in the Afrin, Cizîre and Kobane cantons. Second, to regain Turkey’s standing in the Middle East region after ISIS and other Wahhabi jihadist gangs who they armed were beaten back by the Kurdish and democratic resistance in Northern Syria. And third, to consolidate power domestically and divert attention from political and economic crises which have fundamentally threatened the Erdogan regime’s stability.

The Turkish Air Forces are striking civilian targets. At the time of writing, 59 civilians have lost their lives and 143 more have been wounded. The two dominant actors in the field, Russia and the US, merely stand back and watch the military aggression and consequent massacres unfold at the hands of the Turkish Army. The Kurdish and democratic forces which beat back ISIS across Northern Syria with their heroic resistance are today the target of the Turkish Armed Forces and their jihadist pawns.

We call on all democrats, socialists, and peace-loving people around the world to raise their voices against this fascist aggression and in defense of the Kurdish and democratic forces in Northern Syria who struggle on behalf of the values of humanity, a heroic light in this darkness!

This will not be the final demonstration held in the U.S. All people who can are called to join future actions to encourage public support and pressure the government to act against Turkey.”