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People protest in Istanbul as Erdogan vows to ‘crush’ local opposition to Afrin operation

21-01-2018

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Rudaw

ISTANBUL, Turkey – Some people have been arrested by the Turkish riot police in Istanbul as they took to the streets to protest against the Turkish military aggression on the Kurdish city of Afrin in Syria.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party called for the protest, a move Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned.

Erdogan on Sunday vowed to “crush” any local opposition to the country’s cross-border military operation.

Turkey has a significant Kurdish population, especially in the south and southeastern parts of the country. Some HDP members have already voiced their opposition to Ankara's deadly attacks against Afrin that killed at least 9 people since the operation began on Saturday.

“In order to protect the will of co-existence and peace among nations against the invasion attempt of Afrin, we should hold a press conference and take to the streets on Sunday and Monday against the aggressive politics adopted by our government and the parties which support them,” Nadir Yildirim, a HDP member of the parliament said on Saturday.

“As long as this occupation continues, we will not stop. Like we supported Kobane, we will support Afrin,” the MP said, making reference to the Kurdish city of Kobani in Syria that came under siege by ISIS in late 2014 and early 2015. The Kobane siege caused a wave of violent protests in Turkey by the country’s Kurdish community against the Turkish state whom they accused of being an accomplice to the extremist group.

“An attack against Afrin is an attack against all Kurds. An attack against Afrin is an attack against Amed [Diyarbakir], Kirkuk, and Mahabad,” the MP continued, naming different cities in different parts of Greater Kurdistan that includes significant areas in Turkey Syria, Iran and Iraq.

“We should never be silent witnessing this situation. We ask our people to take to the streets to make their voice heard and to show their pro-democracy views,” he concluded.

Erdogan said at an event in Bursa, northwestern of Turkey, that they would “crush” local opposition to the operation.

“This is a national struggle. We will crush anyone who opposes our national struggle,” Erdogan said at the event.

“We are not alone... Allah is with us,” Erdogan said, “God willing, this operation will come to an end in a short time.”

Turkey claims that the YPG, the Kurdish armed force in control of the Syrian Kurdistan or Rojava, is an extension of the PKK, an armed group that is fighting for greater national and cultural rights of millions of Kurds in Turkey but considered a terrorist organization by Ankara. YPG denies any organic links to the PKK.

YPG, the backbone of the US-backed forces in Syria, won many battles against ISIS including in Kobane and Raqqa, the then de-facto capital of the extremist group.

Photos by AFP/Ozan Kose