At 00.40 local time today, the Turkish state killed 7 children from a family of 9, along with their mother and father, in a drone strike on a house in the village of Berxbotan in Kobane.

The names of those killed are: Ahîn Osman Ebdo, Dijle Osman Ebdo, Dilovan Osman Ebdo, Yasir Osman Ebdo, Ezîz Osman Ebdo, Saliha Osman Ebdo, Avesta Osman Ebdo, Osman Berkel Ebdo (father of the children), Xezal Osman Ebdo (mother). The names of the wounded are: Ronîda Osman Ebdo, Narîn Osman Ebdo. Two others survived the attack with injuries.

The Executive Council of the Kurdistan National Congress (KNK) released a statement strongly condemning “this inhuman massacre” and calling on the Global Coalition against ISIS, the Council of Europe, the European Union and the UN to intervene with sanctions against the Turkish state.

The KNK statement said the following:

“Kurdish People’s leader Abdullah Öcalan’s 27 February call for “Peace and a Democratic Society” in Turkey has become a source of hope for Kurds and the peoples of Turkey in particular, as well as the international community in general. By assuming a great risk and responsibility, Öcalan took the first step towards peace. He demanded that the PKK, the party he founded, lay down its arms. His party, the PKK, declared a unilateral ceasefire on 1 March.

The Turkish state’s response to the PKK’s ceasefire, as revealed by the Kurdish People’s Defense Forces (HPG), is as follows: On 15-16 March, guerrilla areas were bombed a total of 503 times with heavy weapons, artillery and howitzers, targeting Khakurk region 230 times; Gare region 29 times; Metina region 83 times; Zap region 161 times. On 16-17 March, warplanes carried out 18 strikes, targeting Lolan 7 times; Gare 3 times; Metina 5 times; Zap 3 times.

The Turkish government has not given a concrete response to Öcalan’s step for 18 days and has responded to the PKK’s ceasefire with attacks.

On the 10th of March, the Kurdish spokesperson on behalf of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) signed a joint agreement with the Transitional Syrian government, making a very important contribution to the stabilisation of Syria from the Kurdish front: again, choosing the road towards peace and political solutions.

We therefore call on all governments, political parties and all others who have welcomed Öcalan’s call for peace to take action against such provocative and dangerous steps right now. The Turkish government is responsible to keep all structures of its state under control. Just as Öcalan took the risk and responsibility and initiated the historic step, we expect the Turkish government to stop such inhumane and cruel attacks on Kurds. We also call on the Turkish government to honor the ceasefire of the PKK. Above all, we call on the Turkish government to respect the sovereignty of Syria and to abide by international agreements.”