Villagers impacted by the Turkish bombardments show solidarity to the people of Afrin
Basta village has been affected by cross-border bombardments for decades. The village is located along an active frontline in the Turkish government’s war targeting the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) based in the Qandil mountains of Iraqi Kurdistan. Over the past decade, CPT has partnered with the villagers in this area as they resist displacement and are forced to continuously rebuild on their ancestral lands.
Kak Bapir is Basta’s mukhtar (village leader) and also represents many other surrounding villages. On 30, January 2018 CPT was invited into his family’s home to talk about recent issues regarding the local villages. After a warm welcome and wonderful meal, Kak Bapir updated CPT about the new electrical project that was installed in November.
After village updates, Kak Bapir began to talk about a more family-related issue. His teenage son is in dire need of hip replacement surgery and like so many families in this region, he does not have access to the funds (approximately $3,000 USD) required to have this surgery. Currently, Kak Bapir is looking for an NGO who specializes in medical aid to assist in this very personal matter.
Later that day we were invited to an event in support of the Kurdish town of Afrin, Syria that has been under attack by the Turkish government. The women of Basta along with women from neighboring villages organized a rally to raise awareness of the attack on Afrin, and show solidarity with Kurds in Syria.
The rally started with a woman calling for solidarity saying, “We ask all nations to organize, protest, and work together against the Turkish government to protect Afrin.” She talked about the persistent killing of Kurds by the Turkish government describing it as a genocide against the Kurdish people.
“You all know it has been ten days that Turkey as a member of Nato has been attacking Afrin... We ask the Western Powers to stop their attack on the Kurdish homeland,” said another young woman. Later a young man added, “an attack on Afrin is an attack on all of us.”
Villagers in the area of Basta have experienced a constant threat by Turkish bombardments for decades. Their voices rang out loudly as they condemned these types of attacks on other Kurdish towns.
Please help to stop this attack on the people of Afrin. Click here to support Afrin.