Leila Khaled: We also raise our voices for Afrin

“We also raise our voice against the war in Afrin. Wars do not promote life but lead to death”, said Leila Khaled at the HDP Congress in Ankara.

Leila Khaled, a leading member of the People's Front for the Liberation of Palestine, also participated in the Third Congress of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) that was held in Ankara on Sunday under the motto "Hope, Courage, Determination".

Below we present the speech of Khaled, which she gave to the audience in the fully-filled congress hall.

"I have brought you greetings from the Palestinian people. The General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine is in an Israeli dungeon. I greet all our prisoners, our comrades and Selahattin Demirtas and his comrades.

Prisons have no identity. They are all the same and are there to obstruct democracy and freedom. We learned that in the French dungeons. In solidarity with you, we will destroy all the dungeons in the world and build cultural centers and schools in their place.

Today in Ankara I saw two different scenes. On the one hand all the policemen who surrounded the congress hall and filled the streets. The same picture we see in Palestine. But on the other hand I have seen here the peoples of Turkey and Kurdistan. The voices that rise in this room will drown out the shackles of all prisons and become the echo of the voices of all peoples.

Wherever there is colonialism, oppression and violence, resistance will gain strength. You are resisting. You are the voice of those who resist colonialism. I greet you on behalf of the fighting Palestinian people. We also raise our voice against the war in Afrin. Wars do not promote life but lead to death. The peoples build up life and the future. From this room I greet all the resisting peoples."