Those explanations given by the demonstrators aren't exactly accurate according
to what I've read. The US policy about this whole issue is so bizarre that it's
hard to make sense of it. However, our government has always supported the
Kurds in Iraq. The problem is that our government wants to use Turkish air
bases for US drones and Turkey would like to annihilate its Kurds. And some of
those Kurds are in Syria. So the US is siding with Turkey against Kurds in
Turkey and Syria.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Roger Loran Bailey
(Redacted sender "rogerbailey81@xxxxxxx" for DMARC)
Sent: Saturday, August 15, 2015 8:43 PM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Protests: ‘Stop US-Turkish, assault on Kurdish
people!’
http://themilitant.com/2015/7930/793004.html
The Militant (logo)
Vol. 79/No. 30 August 24, 2015
(front page)
Protests: ‘Stop US-Turkish
assault on Kurdish people!’
Militant/Jacquie Henderson
During action called by Socialist Workers Party in Omaha, Nebraska, Aug. 6,
protesters distribute fliers opposing attacks on Kurds. Dennis Richter, SWP
state chairperson, discusses issue with Chad Cupit, who works nearby at
University of Nebraska.
BY JACQUIE HENDERSON
OMAHA, Neb. — Protesters with signs in English and Spanish demanding “Stop
U.S./Turkey assault on Kurds” rallied on a busy corner here Aug.
6. The action, called by the Socialist Workers Party, received honks of support
from several passing cars, as well as a couple hostile remarks.
Dozens of people stopping at the corner in their cars took copies of a
statement by Dennis Richter, chairperson of the SWP in Nebraska. Chad Cupit, a
research worker at nearby University of Nebraska, was one of the pedestrians
who stopped to talk.
“The Kurds are an oppressed nationality of 30 million living in Iran, Iraq,
Turkey and Syria,” Richter told him. “They have stepped forward to take on the
Islamic State and to advance their struggle for a Kurdish homeland. But
Washington and other imperialist powers, fearing the dynamic toward Kurdish
sovereignty, have relentlessly opposed Kurdish independence and want to
reimpose a centralized Iraqi government with powers over the Kurds’ autonomous
region.”
Cupit didn’t know a lot about the recent events, but said that he opposed the
assault on the Kurds. He was one of several people who got a copy of the
Militant to find out more.
❖
BY DAG TIRSÉN
MANCHESTER, England — “We will keep fighting and get our nation,” Burhan Faisal
from the group Mali Kurd (Kurdish Home) told around 150 participants in an Aug.
8 action here condemning the Turkish attacks against Kurds in Turkey, Iraq and
Syria. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lost support to the pro-Kurdish
People’s Democratic Party in the last election, Faisal said. “That’s why he’s
making the Kurds out to be terrorists again.”
The protest was organized by the Kurdish Cultural Centre and most participants
were Kurds. Many indicated support for the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which
has been the main target of the Turkish attacks.
Nishtman Osman spoke proudly about the women who “carry the same weight as the
men,” fighting with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) in Syria
against Islamic State.
Jack Fallon, a journalist who was in Kobani, Syria, in June told participants
that by the time Islamic State was driven out, the city was almost destroyed.
Rebuilding it involves not just Kurds, but many others from across Syria and
Turkey.
“We must also protest the U.S. and U.K. governments’ role,” Pete Clifford from
the Communist League said. “They are complicit with Erdogan’s attacks. The U.K.
rulers were responsible after World War I for denying the Kurds a homeland.
Today they are driven by the same
concerns: stability for their class interests.”
❖
BY JANICE LYNN
ATLANTA — Alan Baran, president of the Kurdish Cultural Center in Tucker,
Georgia, spoke at an Aug. 7 Militant Labor Forum here entitled “Turkish
government opens base to US, attacks Kurdish fighters.”
“Kurdistan was divided into four pieces,” Baran said. “We have been fighting
this injustice for the last 100 years. But even though there has been a lot of
suffering we have had success because we never gave up.” He denounced the two
weeks of intense bombing by the Turkish government against Kurdish fighters.
Also speaking was freelance photojournalist Elizabeth Chappell, who recently
returned from Kobani. She has been visiting Turkey for 17 years and has been
won to support the Kurdish struggle for independence, seeing firsthand the
discrimination the Kurds faced from the Turkish government. “The Kurds are a
very strong and proud people,” she said.
“They need to become independent.”
“The Socialist Workers Party supports the Kurdish fight for a homeland,”
Sam Manuel said. “We demand an end to the attacks on the Kurdish people and
pledge to bring their struggle to working people in this city and throughout
Georgia.”
In closing remarks, Baran said that before the recent advances, “90 percent of
people in the world didn’t know we exist and now 90 percent know who we are and
we have won their respect. We want to continue to get the word out.”
❖
BY MARY MARTIN
SEATTLE — Thirteen people held a picket at the Jackson Federal Building here
Aug. 10 at rush hour to protest the U.S.-backed Turkish government assaults on
the Kurdish people. The action was initiated by the Socialist Workers Party.
John Naubert, SWP candidate for Seattle Port Commissioner, position 2, read a
statement explaining who the Kurdish people are and why Washington and Ankara
are assaulting them. He called on all working people to demand the attacks stop
and urged passersby to join the protest.
A handful of people stopped to talk and pick up fliers. A worker on his break
from a nearby office explained that he is from Iran and has many friends who
are Kurdish. He took a photo of the protest to send to his friends.
Related articles:
Backed by US, Turkish gov’t expands war on Kurds
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