As part of the Rise Up 4 Rojava week of action, which has seen global actions in solidarity with the revolution in Northern Syria, London Kurdistan Solidarity is protesting the arms company Airbus at their London offices.

Airbus is one of the many arms companies operating in the UK who prop up the Turkish state enabling its brutal war against the revolution in Rojava and repression of Kurds and others across the region. Moreover, the Turkish state is also implicated in the Azerbaijani invasion of Armenia, sending drones and Syrian Jihadist fighters to support Azerbaijani forces in the conflict.

Aerial warfare and the use of missiles have been a key component of the Turkish state's military strategy in the region. This means that arms dealers like Airbus who supply aircraft, helicopters and missiles to Turkey; play a key role in proping up Turkish fascism. The British state continues to actively encourage such arms deals despite the indiscriminate violence and war crimes of the Turkish state.

Following the 2019 invasion of Northern Syria, arms embargoes against Turkey by states like Canada, Finland and Austria significantly reduced the regime's military capacity. The UK is one of the top ten exporters of arms to Turkey. Global solidarity work has an important role to play in limiting the military power of Turkish fascism. The regime relies on military, economic and political support from states like the UK and the arms industry. We can and must disrupt this support for Turkish fascism.

“In solidarity with the Rojava revolution and everyone across the world resisting Turkish fascism, we are calling for a complete embargo on arms sales to Turkey. Covid-19 may have shut the offices, but the bombs keep falling, the war continues. The severe attacks on democracy, human rights and self-determination by the regime in Ankara must be resisted at every turn. We are also calling for institutions such as British universities to divest from arms companies who export weapons to repressive states including Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Israel,” said the London Kurdistan Solidarity in a statement about their actions as part of the Rise Up 4 Rojava week of action.