The PYD’s European Office held a public meeting yesterday in Cologne in the Democratic Kurdish Society Centre with the participation of Kurdish people from Rojava. Speaking at the meeting, a PYD representative said: “We have demonstrated to the world public that a project in Syria without the Kurds being taken into consideration will not work,” and called for support for the rebuilding of the war-torn city, Kobanê.

The PYD representative gave information at the meeting about the world wide effects of the Rojava Revolution as well as the work of the PYD in and outside of Rojava. The PYD representative said the world knew more about the Kurdish people in South and North Kurdistan before the revolution, but had now started to learn more about Rojava Kurds, adding: “We organised ourselves in the form of the People’s Defence Forces at the beginning of the war in Syria. We opened courses and public services in the mother tongue. Then through the struggle we have waged, the Defence Forces turned into the YPG while the courses in Kurdish developed into schools and academies and the public services into a municipality”.
 
The PYD representative stressed that their military forces had prevented the Baathist regime and FSA entering Rojava and demonstrated to the world public that a Syrian project without the Kurds would not work. The representative added that no change could be effectuated in Syria without the PYD and that around 40 countries in the world, including the US, are fighting ISIS in a coordinated way with them. The PYD representative also said 600 fighters had fallen in the war in Kobanê, while 1500 others were wounded and it is on the basis of these painful losses that the Rojava Kurds put themselves in the foreground of the world agenda.

The PYD representative further informed the public about the diplomatic work of the party in Europe and the world, adding that they have good diplomatic relations with around 50 countries. The PYD representative drew attention to the rebuilding process in Kobanê and called on everyone to support the process, demanding greater participation of primarily the youth and women living in Europe in the activities.

The PYD representative lastly commented on the democratic participation of various communities and faith groups in Rojava, saying that first political unity had been developed in Rojava through the Kurds and other communities uniting politically and added that without this political unity the communities would fight against each other, but that they had prevented this happening.

The meeting continued with a question and answer session.