Turkey Must Stop Barbarous Attack in Afrin

The attack on Rojava’s Afrin, which began in January this year, has already claimed the lives of thousands of civilians and it threatens to evolve into a genocide perpetrated upon the Kurds. The attacks have intensified during the recent days and the bombings have been continuous. Many villages have been devastated and local inhabitants have been forced to leave their homes behind.

The responsibility for these murderous attacks belongs to Turkey and jihadist groups like ISIS, which have been furnished by Turkey with weapons, tanks and military aircraft. Turkish president Receb Tayyb Erdoğan has announced that Turkey will attack yet other regions in Rojava, which will lead to more casualties, destroyed homes and refugees. Right from the beginning of the Syrian civil war, the US-led coalition and Turkey, together with other regional powers such as Saudi Arabia, have openly supported terrorist and Islamist groups, hoping to increase their influence in the region and aiming to overthrow the Syrian government.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Finland (CPF) expresses its solidarity towards all comrades fighting against oppression in Afrin, as well as towards all people helping them in the field.

From the perspective of the Central Committee of the CPF, there is no lasting military solution for the Syrian conflict. The key for the appeasement of the situation is the ceasing of foreign intervention, the reinforcement of the position of the Syrian government, and the safeguard of regional autonomy for the Kurdish population. In the longer term, social improvements need to be attained in Syria, in order to ensure people’s opportunities to live and work in their country.

We demand Finland’s authorities to implement a ban on business operations concerning Finnish companies that directly or indirectly export weaponry, weapon components, military technology or other equipment usable in military attacks, to Turkey and its allies.

We demand the Finnish government to work within the European Union (EU) for the repeal of the EU-Turkey refugee agreement, and for the EU to cease labelling the PKK as a terrorist organisation. EU policy regarding the Syrian conflict has generally been inadequate.

CPF’s activists have participated in demonstrations demanding an end for the attack, and urged everyone to participate in these mobilisations. Wars do not come to an end by turning a blind eye on them, or simply by being worried about them, but instead by tackling the causes at the root of imperialistic conflicts.

Central Committee of the Communist Party of Finland
Tampere 17.3.2018