In a statement in the face of the heavy Turkish military build-up in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) in recent days, the Freedom Movement (Tevgera Azadi) based in South Kurdistan made a written statement calling on all parties who do not want to live at the mercy of the Turkish state to defend sovereignty and the honour of the people.

The Tevgera Azadi statement on Thursday said the following:

"Throughout the history of the Iraqi peoples, occupation has never been accepted. Between 22-23 June, hundreds of armoured vehicles and tanks, as well as thousands of soldiers of the Turkish army crossed into Kurdistan Region and Iraqi territory under the pretext of the presence of the PKK. This dangerous development is essentially a plan for the permanent occupation and seizure of the territory of South Kurdistan."

Patriotic political forces and the Iraqi people must reject and condemn the federal government's lack of reaction and the co-operation of the KDP and the Barzani family with the occupying Turkish state. What Turkey is doing is a violation of international law and the sovereignty of Iraqi territory. This action completely jeopardises the lives and security of the citizens.

Iraqi parliamentarians must honour the oath they took for the Iraqi people. Otherwise, how will they protect the sovereignty of the country, its citizens and its territory? The Iraqi President, Prime Minister and the authorities are facing a great test in the face of the open violations committed by the Turkish state, because there is no justification for this invasion by the Turkish state.

Those who oppose this occupation and defend the people are the HPG guerrillas who came to the rescue of Shengal and Yazidis and saved them from massacres.

The Iraqi peoples and government should not forget how the Erdoğan government, its gangs and collaborators supported ISIS for the disintegration of Iraqi lands and peoples. The Iraqi peoples, consisting of all nations and components, were the victims of these attacks.

Instead of filing a complaint against the Turkish state through international law and registering the ISIS gangs and their collaborators, the Iraqi government, with its silence, becomes a partner in the destruction and occupation of its own territory.

We condemn the silence of the Iraqi government and the KDP’s cooperation with the Turkish army, and we see it as a moral and historical duty to oppose the occupation.

On this basis, we call on all parties who do not want to live under the mercy of the Turkish state to defend sovereignty and the honour of the people. Stand united with the people and defeat the occupation and betrayal. Our people, Kurdish, Arab and all their components, must stand up against the occupation and violations against the sovereignty of their country."