Act now to save the Kurds

The family of an Italian anti-fascist who died fighting ISIS in northern Syria has appealed for support for the Kurdish people against a Turkish invasion.

Seven years ago a revolution began in Rojava that was to radically change the lives of millions of people. The Kurds liberated themselves from the dictatorship of the Assad regime and began to organize themselves in self-governed councils, communes and cooperatives.

In particular, the autonomous organisation of women became the driving force behind the social revolution. Over the course of the struggle against the Islamic state, a unique multi-ethnic and multi-religious project developed, which today guarantees the peaceful coexistence of millions of Kurds, Arabs and Christians. The Democratic Federation of Northeast Syria is a unique example of the vision of a peaceful and democratic Middle East and has therefore always been a thorn in the side of both regional powers and imperialist states.

The Turkish Army has started its operation and has started bombardment and many places are under heavy artillery attacks. Their goal is to wipe out the Democratic Federation. Several civilians have been killed already and thousand of people have started escaping the danger of ethnic cleansing and Turkish fascism. At the same time ISIS is using the Turkish attacks for insurgency.

The family of an Italian anti-fascist (pictured, inset) who died fighting ISIS in northern Syria has appealed for support for the Kurdish people against a Turkish invasion. The following is from a letter written by Alessandro, Annalisa and Chiara Orsetti.

Lorenzo, our son and brother, died on 18 March 2019 in Rojava fighting alongside the Kurds and Syrian Democratic Forces against ISIS and the last remains of the caliphate.

His story is the story of a young man who starting from Rifredi, near Florence, who decided to leave everything, his city, home, work, family, friends... to support the Kurdish people in this fight that has given enthusiasm to many people.

We write to ask you: do you want to abandon those who fought ISIS?

Lorenzo has been recognised as an example of internationalist and anti-fascist partisan, who chose on which side to stand and to take part in a concrete way to fight, where there was need to fight, to eradicate fascism that in those areas had the shape of ISIS and the forces supporting it.

Through his choice of life and his death many people have come to know the reality that is being built in Rojava, in the northeast of Syria, where a democracy is being established, born from the bottom, based on respect for social and cultural diversity, a real equality between man and woman, self-administration, social economy.

Not everyone knows that this reality is called Democratic Confederalism and is a social project inspired by the ideas of Abdullah Ocalan, Kurdish leader of the PKK imprisoned for 25 years in a Turkish jail without the minimum respect of his rights and no guarantees.

It is an example of coexistence between peoples and therefore it brings peace and security in such an unstable and troubled social area, shaken by attacks, conflicts, massacres...

Now this reality, built with the blood of over 11,000 Kurds and 36 Internationalist volunteers, is threatened and could be destroyed.

The Turkish Army and the paramilitary groups that Erdogan supports in the area -- that are nothing but another way in which ISIS is trying to represent itself -- are preparing to attack Rojava to eliminate the Kurdish revolution and everything it represents.

This Turkish military aggression can still be stopped, if there is a general mobilisation.

We ask you: if we have cried for Lorenzo recognising the beauty of his gesture are we really not willing to do anything to prevent this new war?

Do we still want to take to the streets, protest, cry our outrage and our anger exposing the instigators and the guilt, showing our desire for a more just and human world?

Everything is needed to stop this assault and it’s needed now.

* Visit riseup4rojava.org for more information

Urgent Appeal