After the deadly Turkish air raid on Kasim Engin in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq), many people took to the streets in Sulaymaniyah (Silêmanî) on Monday and demanded an end to the Turkish occupation attacks. The leading PKK member Kasim Engin was martyred on May 27 in a bombing of the Turkish Air Force on the Bradost region, the Executive Committee of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) announced earlier today. Turkey is now attacking South Kurdistan territory almost daily. In particular, the guerrilla's retreat area is being targeted, as Ankara is trying to annex the regions of Southern Kurdistan controlled by the People's Defense Forces (HPG) to its own national territory. Since these areas border on civilian settlement areas, the Turkish government is pursuing a targeted expulsion policy - mainly by destroying the civilian infrastructure and by terrorizing the population. Residential areas of the ancestral population are regularly attacked. The KDP-ruled autonomous region in Hewlêr (Erbil) ignores Turkey's efforts to occupy it, while the Iraqi central government in Baghdad is content to pay lip service.

Armanc Hemereşîd from the Council of Relatives of PKK Martyrs in Southern Kurdistan also pointed this out. The organisation had called for a demonstration through the city centre, which was followed by a rally today. Youth and women's organisations like Komeleya Ciwanên Welatparêz, Jinên Ciwanên Têkoşer, Tevgera Azadî and other initiatives took part in the protest. Hemereşîd said in an address; “The blood of the revolutionary Kurdistan drips from the hands of the Turkish occupying state. Turkey is trying to carry out brutal massacres of the Kurdish population with the help of traitors. But this fascist state knows only too well that as long as a Kurd lives, he/she will fight against it and the torch of struggle will always shine."

The speech of Hemereşîd was repeatedly interrupted by slogans such as "death to betrayal" and "retaliation". In addition, the slogan "Martyrs are immortal" resounded through the Baxçê Giştî park, where the rally took place. The Council of Relatives of the Martyrs vowed to continue the protests against Turkey. The Kurdish people and all political parties were urged not to remain silent in the face of these "barbaric attacks" of the Turkish state.

RELATED NEWS: