Finland’s ETMU and researchers in solidarity with Rojava

"We call for all scientific societies, associations and conferences within Europe to act against the EU politics that support the ethnic cleansing campaign started by the Turkish state and Turkish-backed forces with ties to extremist groups in NE Syria."

The Finnish Society for the Study of Ethnic Relations and International Migration and many researchers at the ETMU Conference 2019 in Tampere Finland express their solidarity with the people of North and East Syria and demand that Finland withdraws the 21 arms export permits to Turkey already in force.

Researchers, students and teachers came together for two days in Tampere, Finland, to discuss solidarity, participation and politics and what a multiethnic society could mean. “Since 2012, around 5 million people – Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, Turkmen, Yazidis and others, have built the autonomous region of Rojava, demonstrating how a multi-ethnic society can respectfully coexist beyond constraints of nation state, patriarchy and capitalism.” As activists around the world have pointed out “What is at stake in North-East Syria is more than the fate of the Kurdish people or the autonomous homeland of Rojava or even the fight against Isis. What is at stake is humanity’s ability to survive our current civilizational crisis and to imagine new alternatives before it’s too late.”

A statement by the ETMU Board, the Organizing Committee and participants of the ETMU Conference in Tampere 2019 said they support and join the demands made by activists in Finland too:

“Finland, as the current president of the European Council, has to take a clear stance against the Turkish invasion war in Syria. Finland needs to initiate economic sanctions on Turkey, until Turkey withdraws from Syria and stops their warfare against the Kurds and other ethnic and religious groups. This would be an effective measure due to the weak Turkish economy. Finland and the EU should also act to install a no-fly zone over North and East Syria thus stop allowing Turkey to use Syrian air space. Furthermore, the conference demands that Finland withdraws the 21 arms export permits that are still in force, alongside the forthcoming arm export permits that Finland has stopped. The conference also urges people to stop travelling to Turkey for vacation or buy Turkish products.

We call for all scientific societies, associations and conferences within Europe to act against the EU politics that support the ethnic cleansing campaign started by the Turkish state and Turkish-backed forces with ties to extremist groups in North and East Syria.”