URGENT APPEAL
We, intellectuals, writers, artists, politicians and human rights defenders, seek to draw urgent
attention to the Turkish state’s invasion in Northern Syria and Rojava.
The Turkish army invaded the Northern Syrian City of Jarablus on 24 August 2016, using anti-ISIS
operations as a pretext. The operation was in collaboration with the Syrian arm of El-Qaida (Jabhat
Fatah al-Sham) and groups like Ahrar El-Sham.
ISIS handed over the city, Jarablus, without a single bullet being fired. This is a clear indication that
there was a prior agreement between the parties that Jarablus would remain as a base for Salafi
groups. Therefore, Jarablus will remain as a corridor for foreign fighters to cross into Syria to receive
training and then to cross back over in order to be distributed throughout Europe and the rest of the
world.
From the third day of the operation (26 August 2016) onwards the attacks have been directed at
Kurdish Forces, the Jarablus Military Council and the Minbij Military Council. Northern Syria has
been largely cleansed of ISIS by these forces with the support of the international coalition lead by the
US. By attacking these forces, Turkey is both interrupting the fight against ISIS and strengthening
ISIS. Tayip Erdogan and other Turkish authorities officially announced the purpose of the operation,
at the outset, as the targeting of Kurdish forces alongside ISIS. Turkish army has engaged in airstrikes
and shelling of civilian areas,
killing at least 45
in two villages south of Jarablus. According to local
reports and footage received, Turkish state forces and their partners are using chemical weapons.
The reality of the situation is that the US and EU have not only turned a blind eye to these attacks but
some states have even declared support for the Turkish state operation. This approach represents
improper and dishonest politics and must be abandoned immediately.
Turkish state attacks are furthering the existing chaos in the region, deepening the civil war, creating
new refugees and making way for new human tragedies. This must end.
The Kurdish people and other ethnicities have established a democratic administration in Rojava, with
peaceful coexistence with the other ethnicities (Assyrians, Syrians, Armenians, Arabs, Turkmens,
Chechens) and beliefs (Muslims, Christians, Yezidis, Alevis) at its heart. This administration is the
first core example of the democratic Syria these people and democratic forces want to construct and
should be supported.
It is the moral duty of all democratic people and advocates of human rights to stand against these
attacks. Our call is:
All people on the side of democracy and human values must raise their voices against
the Turkish states dirty games and invasion
International powers, especially the US and EU must withdraw their support and stand
against the Turkish state’s attempts
For a stable world and the defeat of ISIS, we must act against the foreign intervention
by the Turkish state.
Supported by
Dario Fo,
1997 Nobel Prize in Literature;
Judge Essa Moosa,
International Peace and Reconciliation Initiative, South
Africa;
Massimo de Vita,
Direttore Teatro Officina di Milano;
Prof. Kariane Westrheim,
Chairperson of EU Turkey Civic
Commission, Professor at the University of Bergen, Norway;
Luisa Morgantini,
gia Deputata Europea;
Daniela Airoldi
Bianchi,
Responsabile Progetti sociali Teatro Officina di Milano;
Vittorio Agnoletto,
gia deputata europea,University di
Milano;
Francesca Chiavacci,
Presidenza Nazionale ARCI;
Dr.Thomas Jeff Miley,
Lecturer of Political Sociology,
Cambridge University, UK;
Federico Venturini,
School of Geography, University of Leeds, UK;
Janet Biehl,
Author and
Editor, US;
Francesco Andrade Velasco,
Former Minister of Culture, Ecuador;
Andrej Hunko,
MP of Left Party,
Germany;
Eirik Eiglad,
Writer and Publisher, Norway;
Lucena Gonzalez Edgar de Jesus,
Deputy of the National
Assembly, Venezuela;
Francis Wurtz,
Honorary Member of the European Parliament, France;
Stephen Bouquin,
Professor