Administrators of the Efrîn Canton of Rojava, West Kurdistan, who have met Turkish authorities voiced a demand for the opening of a border crossing between Turkey and Efrîn.

President of the Efrîn Canton Hêwi Mustafa, Minister of Foreign Affairs Süleyman Cafer and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Cihan Mihemed, who arrived in Istanbul on invitation by 78's Initiative, held a press conference about the purpose of their visit to Turkey.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Süleyman Cafer who provided information about the talks they held in Turkey said this is the first time they as administrators of the Efrîn Canton are paying an official visit outside the borders of the canton. Cafer told the followings as to the reason for their visit; “We paid our first visit to Turkey because our brothers and sisters are living here. The peoples of Turkey are our brothers and sisters. With this visit, we also want to eliminate the smear campaign against the canton and its administration. We want to make ourselves heard by the peoples of Turkey, and to tell them that we are brothers and sisters. We have a demand for the opening of a border crossing with Turkey in order to ensure a humanitarian deal in face of the present situation. The Efrîn Canton is surrounded but the situation is not bad at the moment. One other demand we have from the Turkish state and Turkey's peoples is to improve our neighborhood and human relations.”

Speaking after, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Cihan Mihemed recalled that Kurds in Syria have long suffered from a severe repression and one-people, one-flag, one-nation policies and impositions of the Baath regime.

Mihemed pointed out that all the communities in Rojava lived in tolerance of each other, and took part together in all the institutions. Mihemed also remarked that women in Efrîn and Rojava have a significant role, and that women in the Efrîn Canton participate all areas of life at the rate of 40 percent. "Those who fell martyr at the beginning of the Syrian revolution included a woman, who was Gule Selman. She fell a martyr for peace. Those first martyrised in Efrîn were also women", he added.

Speaking after, President of the Efrîn Canton Hêwi Mustafa conveyed the greetings of the people of Efrîn and Rojava, stating that the democratic autonomous system was told wrongly in Turkey, and that they were there to tell the truths.

Hêwi Mustafa told that; “We want peace and believe every single person has a right in the society. We believe in respect and tolerance among the faith groups. We want to establish good relations with our neighbors and we don't want a divided Syria. We neither like nor want a war but we are ready to defend ourselves, our people and our canton if attacked.”

Remarking that a very dirty war with heavy prices is being waged in Syria, Hêwi Mustafa continued; “Peoples are murdering each other in every part of Syria while in Rojava, on the contrary, peoples are living together in peace and fraternity. Everyone is taking part in the administration of the canton by bearing their own identities, languages and cultures. Kurds, Arabs and Êzîdîs were martyred in the defense of Rojava. This is a manifestation of the fraternity we are living in.”

Calling attention to the difficulties and problems caused by the ongoing embargo and war in Rojava, Mustafa said that; "Our people are however enduring all these difficulties and problems thanks to their determination and strong will. This we manage because we know that these challenging times will end and that the times of freedom are near. We wanted to share these difficulties with the neighboring peoples. We are trying to meet the needs of our peoples within the bounds of our own means and possibilities."

Mustafa underlined that one of the crossings at Turkey border must be opened urgently, adding that; "We urgently need the opening of a border gate in order to settle the problems our people are facing."

The President of the Efrîn Canton stated that they hoped the democratic administration established in Rojava would be a resolution to the problems in Syria, and spread across the entire Middle East territory after that. Hêwi Mustafa added the followings; “Attacks on us aim to hinder the accomplishment of the system we have established. We therefore call on everybody demanding democracy and freedom to share this burden and to not to lay it on the people of Rojava alone. We want everyone to support the resistance in Kobanê as the ISIS is a threat to all humanity.”