ERBIL, Kurdistan Region -- A group of Kurds and Armenians have planned a demonstration in front of the White House on Wednesday to protest Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s two-day trip to the United States.
The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) - the largest advocacy group for Armenian-Americans – has organized a protest at noon on Wednesday in front of the White House alongside the America Rojava Center for Democracy (ARCDEM).
ARCDEM is a US-based predominantly Kurdish group advocating for freedom, democracy and peace in Syria.
ANCA has called on the US to take a stand against a long list of human rights abuses published to the event's Facebook page, including the Turkish invasion of Northern Syria, alleged killing of Kurds and the denial of the Armenian genocide, to name but a few.
ARCDEM told Rudaw that senior officials from the Syrian Democratic Council (SDC)- the political arm of the Syrian Democratic Forces - mission in the US are expected to deliver speeches during the event.
"It is time to stand together & oppose Erdogan’s attack on Northern Syria, Rojava," read an announcement from ARCDEM. "Do not let him create ISIS 2.0."
Erdogan has now arrived in the US.
The visit comes at the official invitation of US President Donald Trump. The trip was plagued with uncertainty as Turkish officials said more than once that they were “looking into the invitation”.
Terror threats seem to be the main topic of discussion in the upcoming US visit.
Erdogan said in Ankara on Tuesday that the issue of “terrorist organizations” tops his agenda, referring to Islamic State (ISIS), Kurdish forces in Syria and Fethullah Gulen’s Service Movement, which was blamed for the failed coup attempt in July 2016.
“We will also discuss our bilateral relations and Syria in detail. We will address the issue of cooperation in the fight against terrorist organizations, including DAESH, PKK/YPG,” President Erdogan said, using the Arabic acronym for ISIS.
ANCA has invited Kurds to join them in the demonstration, according to sources who spoke to Rudaw English.
Nechir Zebari is an Kurdish-American businessman who lives in Nashville. He is heading to Washington DC along a BBC reporter and 40-50 other Kurds who have been invited by ANCA.
Nashville is home to the largest Kurdish community in the US.
“We are going to join ANCA … to stop Turkish and its jihadist militia invasion [of northern Syria],” Zebari told Rudaw English, adding that if Kurds do not protest against Turkish policy, the current operation in Northern Syria will not be halted.
Protesters heading to Washington ahead of Erdogan’s visit may face violence, however.
Erdogan’s bodyguards violently attacked Kurdish protesters during the President’s 2017 trip to the US. The security personnel left the US without being arrested.
Zebari says that he is not afraid of any attacks by Turkish President’s security detail.
Silav Ibrahim, also from Nashville, told Rudaw English that the Kurds attending are “independent” and not affiliated to any Kurdish political party.
However, she also said that in addition to ANCA’s invitation, they were also encouraged to protest by Kurdistan Region’s ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) officials in the US.
“We want to show Trump that he is wrong to bring Erdogan to the US,” said Ibrahim.
She added that they also want to show that Kurds are serious in the rejection of the Turkish invasion of northeast Syria, known by some Kurds as Rojava.
Shorsh Hamid, a senior UK official for the Kurdistan Region-based Change Movement (Gorran)claimed on his Facebook account that he planned to protest Erdogan’s trip but was denied a US visa.
“Unfortunately, I was denied a US visa. I wanted to have the honor of humiliating Erdogan in front of the White House,” he said in a Facebook post on Monday.
Turkey launched Operation Peace Spring against Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) on October 9. It paused the operation on October 17 after striking two deals with the US and Russia.
Clashes have continued despite the ceasefire deals.
Turkey regards the SDF as the Syrian offshoot of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) - which is an armed Kurdish group striving for Kurdish people’s cultural and political rights in Turkey.
The PKK is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey, the US and many European countries.
Kurds have protested the Turkish offensive through various means, including the boycott of Turkish products.
A Turkish boycott has become increasingly popular in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) where the government enjoys good economic relations with neighboring Turkey, the main exporter of goods to the KRI in the last decade.
Updated at 11:30pm
