Kurdish and Syriac political parties and organisations have written an open letter to senior officials of the Arab League, Iraq, Syria, the Arab League, Iraq, Syria, the CoE, the US, NATO and the UN, calling for an immediate halt to the Turkish invasion.
The Joint Diplomacy Committee, consisting of Kurdish and Syriac political parties and organisations as well as the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK), has sent an "urgent appeal" to the Arab League Secretary General Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, United Nations (UN) Secretary General António Guterres, US President Joseph R. Biden, Council of Europe (CoE) Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg regarding the Turkish state's invasion attacks on Southern Kurdistan (Northern Iraq).
The following is an open letter written on behalf of the Joint Diplomatic Committee of Kurdish and Syriac Political Parties and Organisations of the KNK Foreign Relations Commission:
“Starting in 2011, the wave of the Arab Spring spread to Iraq and Syria. The Turkish state, seeking to take advantage of this situation, took action to return to the borders of Misak-ı Milli (the ‘National Pact’ adopted 104 years ago that takes all Kurdistan, that is, the region including northern Iraq and northern Syria, within the borders of the Turkish state) and to revive Neo-Ottomanism, and as a first step, it launched mass murder and occupation attacks against the Kurdish people. In 2014, the Turkish AKP-MHP government, in line with these aims, established relations with the gangs in Iraq and Syria and used them for these purposes.
Inciting the people in Mosul and Kirkuk against each other
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has frequently stated that he will occupy all of these areas from Aleppo to Mosul, including Sulaymaniyah, Kirkuk, Shengal and Behdînan, defining them within the borders of Misak-ı Milli. Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the racist and fascist MHP party, which is the deep state of the Turkish state, has been openly introducing Kirkuk as the 82nd and Mosul as the 83rd Turkish province for years. Together with Erdoğan, he is implementing this by inciting the people in Mosul and Kirkuk against each other and creating chaos and crisis, especially by arming the Turkmen supporters.
Afrin, Serêkaniyê and Girê Spi, then Southern Kurdistan
The Turkish state tried to invade Kobanê by means of its gangs in 2014 but was confronted by great resistance and defeated. Unfortunately, with the manipulative diplomacy it used in international politics, it achieved results and occupied Afrin in 2018 and Serêkaniyê and Girê Spi in 2019.
In parallel, it prepared the ground for invasion by increasing the number of military bases in Southern Kurdistan, a federation under the sovereignty of the Iraqi state.
A deepening of a serious crisis and instability for the whole Middle East
The Turkish state has tried to advance its occupation attacks under the pretense of "fighting against the PKK".
However, in Southern Kurdistan, as VOA has recently shown, Turkish troops have entered 30 kilometres into the region with thousands of troops and 300 tanks, as if they were the owners of the region, and have been carrying out identity checks on the people, i.e. Iraqi citizens in and around Duhok. This new situation is undoubtedly not only a great threat to us Kurds, but also a deepening of a serious crisis and instability for the whole Middle East. On the other hand, it is a flagrant disregard for international law and a trampling on international treaties.
The Turkish state with the Erdoğan-Bahçeli regime wants to implement the Misak-ı Milli at all costs. For this, they have accelerated their diplomatic and military movements from the beginning of 2024. They have made the Iraqi government passive through manipulative politics.
Turkish occupation will directly affect global politics
The achievement of the Misak-ı Milli strategy in Kurdistan will lead to the occupation of Iraq and Syria, regional conflict and the displacement of millions of people. Therefore, the war strategy currently being implemented in Kurdistan concerns the entire Middle East and the world. Since the Middle East is also decisive in terms of global politics, this occupation by the Turkish state will directly affect global politics.
Stop this occupation!
We, the undersigned Kurdish political parties and civil society organisations, call on the governments of Iraq and Syria, the Arab League, the UN, which is responsible for the implementation of international legal norms, the CoE and NATO, of which the Turkish state is a member, and the EU and the USA, which have strategic relations with the Turkish state, to stop this occupation.
As Kurds, we have never bowed down to any occupier. While stating that we are determined to resist for our country and our free future, we invite everyone to stop the Turkish state, which has turned into a fireball, and to take the initiative for a political solution to the Kurdish question.”
SIGNATORIES
