Amed is ready to defend Kobanê

Amed is ready to defend Kobanê

Thousands of people marched in Amed (Diyarbakır) yesterday to protest ISIS attacks on Kobanê. During the march pro-PKK and YPG slogans were shouted, and a banner reading "Today is the day, tomorrow is too late" was unfurled. At the end of the demonstration hundreds of young people boarded buses to travel to Suruç to show solidarity with the people of Kobanê.

The march went from the BDP Provincial Building to the Koşuyolu Park. HDP Kars MP Mülkiye Birtane, Amed Metropolitan Municipal co-mayor Fırat Anlı, Sur Municipal co-mayor Seyit Narin, DBP Provincial Chair Zübeyde Zümrüt and representatives of civil society organisations attended the march. Slogans such as "Long live Serok Apo" and "Kurdistan will be the graveyard of ISIS" were shouted, and a banner reading "Today is the day, tomorrow is too late" was unfurled. PKK, YDG-H and YPG flags were carried by marchers. At the end of the march DBP Provincial Chair Zübeyde Zümrüt said they were aware there were associations in Amed that supported ISIS, adding: "if Kobanê falls, no one will be able to talk of a process."

Amed is ready to defend Kobanê  

Zümrüt said the aim of the ISIS attacks was to destroy the Rojava revolution, adding: "From here we promise Kobanê and Rojava that Amed's heart is with you and Amed is ready to defend Kobanê together with you. We will not just watch the assaults of ISIS fascism. We call for the struggle against ISIS to be stepped up and for a peace chain to be created at the border. We will not remain silent."

Zümrüt criticised the government for its support for ISIS, saying: "In Diyarbakır alone there are nearly 400 associations that provide support to the ISIS gangs. We know that ISIS is virtually the same as the AKP, and that the AKP is virtually the same as ISIS. I call on the government: either resist along with the people, or admit you are a partner of crime with ISIS."

'If Kobanê falls, no one will be able to talk of a process'  

Zümrüt also called on Kurdish MPs in the AKP and Kurds who vote for the AKP: "come and defend Kobanê alongside the oppressed people before it is too late. A process has been going on for 2 years. If Kobanê falls, no one will be able to talk of a process. What have the AKP and state officials understood from this process?  Kobanê is the result of the 40-year struggle of this people. Kobanê will not fall. In order to ensure it does not fall we will go to the border together and take our places in the Kobanê resistance", she said.

The Kurdish people are writing their history

Amed Metropolitan Municipal co-mayor Fırat Anlı said: "The Kurdish people are writing their history page by page, month by month and year by year." Anlı said the people of Rojava had been fighting the gangs for 3 years. "We congratulate them for this. The Mahabad Kurdish Republic lasted less than a year. We were told of this, and your children will talk of your struggle in the years to come. Anlı added: "Their names were   Anfal, Halabja and Al Nusra. Now it is DAISH (ISIS). They represent darkness. We will live together with all the peoples of the Middle East. As the people of Kurdistan we do not recognise these borders. Amed, Qamışlo, Mahabad ve Rıha (Urfa) have become one. We will take ownership of this struggle. We send our greetings to Kobanê and say you are not alone."

From now on no stopping

Following Anlı, HDP Kars MP Mülki Birtane said they did not accept the system that exploited and destroyed people. Birtane added that the Kurdish people were not alone, saying: "From now on the Kurds cannot stop. Either we trample on the oppression or succumb. But throughout history the Kurds have never lost a struggle against tyranny. So we will prevail."

Following Birtane's speech representatives of civil society organisations greeted those who had joined the march. Then hundreds of people boarded buses to go to Suruç to support Kobanê.