Kurds Sit-in in front of the UN headquarters in Qamishlo

"We want the world to be with us in all honesty, and the sit-in today is staged under the slogan 'Where is your conscience and your justice?'. We want justice, so let us know if they are with us or not."

ANF
QAMISHLO
Friday, 12 Aug 2022

The Social Defense Forces, in coordination with Kongra Star today, set up a sit-in tent, under the slogan "Where is your justice and conscience?", in front of the headquarters of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the city of Qamishlo to demand the imposition of a no-fly zone over the area.

The tent, which was decorated with pictures of the martyrs and placards reading "Where is the conscience of humanity, where is the global conscience towards Erdogan's crimes?", was attended by members of the Social Defense Forces (HPC) and the women’s umbrella organization Kongra Star.

The tent’s activities began with a minute of silence in honor of the martyrs’ souls, followed by a statement by the HPC administration, read out by Hediye Abdullah who said, “As you know, our revolution in north and east Syria has been subjected to continuous attacks and threats by the occupation for 11 years. We have set up this tent to convey our demand to the whole world; the imposition of a no-fly zone on our regions in the face of the Turkish occupation, which is attacking us with NATO weapons.”

Abdullah pointed out that the people took the struggle and resistance as a basis: "We in this revolution have taken resistance as our basis, and we will preserve the gains of this country with all its components. The democratic nation includes all the components without discrimination. Everyone said that they are with our project, but only in words. We want the world to be with us in all honesty, and the sit-in today is staged under the slogan “Where is your conscience and your justice?” We want justice, so let us know if they are with us or not."

"We call on the United Nations and human rights organizations to hold the Turkish occupation accountable for its crimes," she added and continued:

“Today, we are in front of the United Nations headquarters, to make our demands heard, to state that we are a peaceful people, we have not attacked anyone or transgressed the borders of another country. We ask the world to stop these drone attacks on our areas, which target our children and women under the pretext that we are terrorists. We fought terrorism here, protected the region from mercenaries, and liberated the world from their brutality.”

This was followed by a speech by a member of Kongra Star Coordination, Rihan Loqo, who said, "We congratulate you for standing here in this great tent, for your efforts to protect the gains of the revolution in north and east Syria and to build the project of the Autonomous Administration which has become an example for the whole world. Our unity will strengthen this revolution."

Loqo remarked that the attacks of the Turkish occupation on their regions are met with international silence and human rights and children's rights organizations, stressing that "Northern and eastern Syria, with its sons and daughters, has protected humanity from ISIS mercenaries. The whole world should be grateful to the north and east of Syria."

"With our solidarity, we will confront the attacks of the Turkish occupation and preserve the gains of our revolution, because we are the owners of this project until the last moment, and our slogan will be 'resistance is life'," she stressed.

Then a letter was delivered to the United Nations Headquarters by a delegation of 5 people on behalf of the women of North and East Syria, which read:

“In the name of the women of northern and eastern Syria, we ask you to break this shameful silence about the violations committed by the Turkish state on a daily basis by targeting innocent women, children and the elderly, spreading terror in the hearts of the people, and brutalizing the Syrian territories through aerial bombardment and targeting markets, neighborhoods and safe villages.

The Turkish state transcends all international laws by violating the Syrian borders. Therefore, we ask you to carry out your moral and humanitarian duty to stand in the face of these flagrant violations, through international laws that provide for the protection of civilians and non-aggression on the territory of neighboring countries, and to hold the Turkish state accountable for all the crimes it committed against the peoples of the region.

We, the women and peoples of northeastern Syria, will exercise our right to demonstrate, and this vigil will not end until these demands are answered, and the Turkish bombing of our lands is stopped. Our region has fought the most notorious and heinous terrorism in the world, represented by ISIS, which derives its strength from the Turkish regime.”

The sit-in tent is scheduled to continue until August 30th.