Kurdistan Solidarity Network

What happened in Paris? - Online infocall on the attack in Paris and the current situation
2022-12-28 19:00 - 21:00 (Europe/London) | Zoom
The murders in Paris have shaken us all – throughout Europe, anger is being taken to the streets. At the same time, the attack does not come as a surprise, but is the expression of the murderous strategy that Turkish fascism has been pursuing for decades in order to assert its interests and break the Kurdistan freedom movement.
On 28 December at 7pm UTC / GMT, we invite you to an open info call, where we will summarise what is known about the assassination in Paris so far, what the Kurdistan freedom movement’s assessment of the assassination is and what our response to it can be.
Link to the meeting (registration required):
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZElf-morDwsHtZRX1xm_UGiHmi5ZeJYiCHp
Forward the message to all solidarity structures, groups and persons!
DefendKurdistan, Kurdistan Solidarity Network and Scottish Solidarity with Kurdistan

London: 17 December Mass Protest
2022-12-17 16:00 - 19:00
Mass demonstration to Defend Kurdistan and for the Freedom of Abdullah Ocalan

Saturday 17th December
4pm, Liverpool Street Station
WE MARCH!
The Kurdistan freedom movement has entered its 45th year of struggle. It does not bow down to chemical weapons and the many savage war crimes of the Turkey state. The spirit of the guerrilla and the revolutionary people of Kurdistan who have defended themselves against the reality of war and Turkish fascism for decades continues to grow and flourish.
While the people of Kurdistan are bombed and killed, the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) neglects its responsibility of giving any information about its most recent visit to Imrali, the prison where the Leader Abdullah Öcalan has been held in conditions of aggravated isolation for nearly 24 years, despite all kinds of disciplinary penalties and international condemnation. In the face of torture Öcalan continues to embody the spirit of resistance and lead the movement, both now and throughout his incarceration. The isolation and silencing of Abdullah Öcalan, is a manifestation of the isolation and silencing of the entire Kurdish people. The failure of the CPT to comment or investigate Öcalan’s wellbeing reflects the complicity and consent of the European states in the fascist genocidal policy of the Turkish state and the suffering of the Kurdish people. Once again the revolutionary Kurdish people and all oppressed peoples who follow and are inspired by the movement and its leadership should give a voice to Leader Abdullah Öcalan wherever they are.
We call on young women and youth, women, our revolutionary people, revolutionary, democratic and progressive forces to the march to central London, which we will hold simultaneously with protests in wider Europe, demanding the Freedom of Abdullah Öcalan together.
17 Decemeber 2022
16:00
Liverpool St Station, London, EC2M 7PY (Bishopsgate Exit)
Called by:
Struggling Young Women (TekoJIN) & Revolutionary Youth Movement (TCŞ)

Bristol: Commander Arian film screening
2022-12-03 18:30 - 21:00 | Bristol
Easton Community Centre: Screening of the film Commander Arian and introduction to the Rojava Revolution in partnership with The Easton Cowfolk

Edinburgh Demo: Defend Kurdistan!
2022-12-03 12:00 - 14:00 | Edinburgh, 3 Regent Terrace, Edinburgh, EH7 5BW
Saturday 3rd of December
12pm
Outside the apple store on Princes Street, Edinburgh
Facebook event
Over the last few months we have seen increasing atrocities inflicted on the people of Kurdistan. This has included the fascist Turkish state using chemical and other illegal weapons in south Kurdistan, and repeatedly bombing civilian targets in Rojava, west Kurdistan. The Iranian regime, attempting to brutally crush a rebellion, has targeted Kurds and Kurdish regions, including the use of live fire against civilian demonstrators.
These attacks are at their most intense right now. Western states remain silent or actively complicit, raking in money from the war industry while their people at home watch living costs soar and see their own rights stripped away.
We will not be fooled: an attack on Kurdistan is an attack on us all. Until such gross violations are held to account, the situation will only get worse everywhere. We stand together, the people of Scotland and the Middle East, against imperialism and fascism in all its forms. All across the world, people are taking to the streets to show their support and solidarity.
Scottish Solidarity with Kurdistan
Down with fascism!
Jin Jiyan Azadi!
Learn more: defend-kurdistan.com

#StopNATOcrimes Twitter Storm
2022-12-01 17:00 - 18:00
#StopNATOcrimes
Twitter Storm on 1/12, 18:00 CET
On the evening of the 1st December we will start a Twitter Storm to raise awareness about the use of illegal chemical weapons against the Kurdish freedom fighters by the Nato member #Turkey. Participate in actions, take photos, retweet articles and tag #StopNATOcrimes on Twitter.
#twitterstorm #weseeyourcrimes #yoursilencekills #defendkurdistan

Leeds demo: Be the voice for the Kurdish People
2022-11-27 14:00 - 16:00 | Leeds, 22-26 The Headrow, Leeds, LS1 8EQ
Chant for human rights, equality and justice

A call to the Kurds of Leeds and its surroundings to resist the attacks of both fascist states of Iran and Turkey.

The Kurdish house in Leeds is doing a gathering activity.

We ask the Kurds of this region to participate in the attacks of the invaders on our nation.

Sunday 27/11/2022
Time from 2 pm to 4 pm

The fascist Turkish and Iranian states are killing Kurds with chemical weapons.
Chant with us to show your support and solidarity for the people of Kurdistan
Condemn murderous attacks by the Iranian and Turkish states in northern and eastern Kurdistan and Rojava.

Call for an end to the war on Kurds!
Chant for human rights, freedom, equality and justice.
Meet at 22-26 The Headrow, Leeds, LS1 8EQ.
Sunday 27th November, 2pm

Edinburgh Kurdish Community Centre Celebration of 44th Anniversary of the Kurdish Movement
2022-11-27 11:00 - 17:00
27th Nov, from 11am
KCC Edinburgh invites you to celebrate the 44th anniversary of the Kurdish movement. There will be live music, food and dancing.
From self determination, women’s liberation and protecting ecology, the Kurdish Movement has been defending the Kurdish people’s gains for the last 44 years.
At the Kurdish Community Centre, 12 Dumbryden Road, Edinburgh, EH14 2AA, from 11am

Jin, Jîyan, Azadî – London Mass Demonstration
2022-11-26 14:00 - 17:00 | BBC Portland Place, London, London, W1A 1AA
Saturday 26 Nov 2022, 2PM
London, BBC Portland Place
The brutal massacre of Jîna Aminî on 16 September 2022 by the Iranian morality police has since led to brave uprisings and mobilisations led by the peoples of Rojhelat (Eastern Kurdistan) and Iran, protesting state oppression and injustice against women. The Islamic Republic of Iran has launched full-scale interventions towards mass demonstrations in Mahabad, Piranshar, Sine, Saqiz, Meriwan and various local areas in the region, resulting in the death of innocent civilians via the use of military weapons.
Simultaneously, the Turkish invasion of Rojava via airspace and the 700 km-wide military operation launched by Erdogan targets a society which has built its foundations on the principles of women’s liberation, democracy, and ecology. In two days, the Turkish invasion has led to civilian casualties and ecological degradation. An operation of this scale reaffirms Turkey’s commitment get genocide, feminicide and oppression of the Kurds and democratic peoples of the region.
Turkey and Iran, which have both developed a record of human rights abuses and war crimes in the Middle East, are insisting on suppressing freedom of expression and women’s liberation in the region.
On this basis, as part of the global call to take to the streets on the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, we invite the Kurdish community, democratic, progressive, revolutionary forces, women, youth, and internationalist structures to join the mass demonstration being organised in London this weekend.
As Kurdish people’s leader Abdullah Öcalan affirms:
“A society can never be free without women’s liberation”.
Jin, Jîyan, Azadî
Women, Life, Freedom
Join us – Saturday 26 November 2022 – 14:00 – London – BBC, Portland Place

Edinburgh demo: Elimination of Violence Against Women
2022-11-26 11:00 - 14:00
26th Nov, 11am
Edinburgh – Meadows Compass – EH3 9GH
Stand in solidarity with Iran, Kurdistan and women’s liberation everywhere
Demonstration called by several feminist groups for the day for the elimination of violence against women
* Woman Life Freedom Edinburgh Collective
* Kurdish Women’s Initiative in Edinburgh
* Alevi Women’s Association
* Socialist Women’s Association
* Edinburgh University Feminist Society

Online meeting about the current situation in Kurdistan
2022-11-25 18:30 - 20:30 | Zoom
The fascist Turkish state escalated the omnipresent war against the Kurds with the airstrikes on Rojava and Başur (Southern Kurdistan) and took its attacks against the revolution in Kurdistan to a new level. The Iranian military has also invaded towns in Rojhilat (Eastern Kurdistan) since Sunday, intensifying its cruel repression against the women’s revolution in Iran and Kurdistan. The Iranian regime is bombing the positions of Kurdish forces in Southern Kurdistan and in the mountains, the Turkish fascist state is committing serious war crimes and continuing chemical attacks against the guerrillas.
How do we evaluate the current attacks? What are the backgrounds? And above all, what can we do as internationalists worldwide and especially in the Isles for the defense of the revolution? How can we give a determined expression to our protest and break the silence about the war of aggression in Kurdistan?
All this and more THIS FRIDAY AT 6.30 PM UTC ONLINE!
We call on all activists, anti fascists, feminists and friends of Kurdistan to attend the meeting and forward the invitation to all friends and comrades!
The time has come! Smash Turkish fascism!
Register for the meeting here
Find out more: https://defend-kurdistan.com/
The meeting is called by:
* Kurdistan Solidarity Network
* Scottish Solidarity with Kurdistan
* Revolutionary Youth Movement in Britain

A Conversation with the Mesopotamian Ecology Movement
2022-06-23 19:00 - 21:00 | Zoom
A discussion on the struggle for ecology and life under state oppression in Turkey and North Kurdistan

Join Kurdistan Solidarity Network for a conversation with the Mesopotamian Ecology Movement (MEM), a network of grass-roots organisations in Turkey and North Kurdistan focusing on ecological work with a radical vision for a better society.
Register here
MEM are active on many fronts, organising in a context of economic crisis, conflict, climate change and state oppression in Turkey. They are both struggling to protect nature and communities from state-sponsored megaprojects, such as mining and dams, which displace the population and destroy the ecosystem, and also working to create living, breathing alternatives through their democratic organising model, tree planting initiatives and co-operatives.
Rather than seeing ecology as separate from politics, the group imagines a radical reorganisation of society in order to ensure the protection of nature. MEM’s vision of a radically democratic, confederal politics is based on pluralism and social ecology, where people and human societies are a part of nature. They envision a communal economy based on gender liberation that moves beyond scarcity and hierarchy, toward a world that re-harmonises human communities with the natural world, while celebrating diversity, creativity, and freedom. And in doing so, protects not just nature but also the rights of women, all the peoples, cultures and languages of the region, and of humanity as a whole from war, alienation and dis-empowerment.
KSN will join the Mesopotamian Ecology Movement for a two hour online discussion about their work, vision, and the context of war, fascism and severe state repression they are organising in. Ticket sales will support our work with MEM.
Register here
When we collectively organise with a radical vision for a better world, we have the power to make real change. And as states respond with violence, our solidarity and our struggles must be international to succeed.
—
Read more about the Mesopotamian Ecology Movement here.

#DefendKurdistan - Stop Turkey's War
2022-06-11 13:00 - 16:00 | BBC Portland Place, London, London, W1A 1AA
We are asking you to join Kurds and their friends and supporters for a major demonstration in London on 11 June at 13.00, starting from BBC Portland Place.
We will march on Downing Street and deliver a letter to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, demanding the UK stops its support for Turkey’s ongoing and bloody war against the Kurds, which kills 100s and displaces 100,000s of Kurds as part of a policy of ethnic cleansing; destabilizes the region and allows ISIS to revive; and jeopardizes the Kurds’ struggle for self-determination, democracy, and gender liberation.
Thousands are expected to turn out for the march, where representatives of the UK’s estimated 400,000 Kurds will be joined by representatives of 14 UK trade unions and social and political movements.
WHY must we act now to Defend Kurdistan from Turkey’s new invasion?
Turkish President Erdogan is using the crisis in Ukraine as a pretext to demand the green light for a fresh invasion of Rojava, the Syrian Kurdish region he attacked and occupied swathes of in 2018 and 2019. Another military operation against Iraqi Kurdistan is already underway.
Turkey’s attacks on Kurdistan use warplanes, drones, ground troops and banned chemical weapons, killing hundreds and displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians.
Turkey’s aim is simple: to ethnically cleanse and occupy a 1400km strip of territory in Iraq and Syrian occupied Kurdistan. Turkey has already built several military bases in Iraq in violation of international law, and occupied thousands of square kilometres in Syria with the help of jihadist militias including many former ISIS members.
For the Kurds and their struggle for democracy and self-determination, this war is a question of existence – or annihilation.
HOW is Turkey getting away with its deadly assault on the Kurds?
Western Governments, and the UK in particular, are responsible for this war. Turkey relies on Western tech to conduct deadly airstrikes on the Kurds. Turkey uses its role as NATO’s second-largest army to win support from the West for its existential war against the Kurds.
NATO, the UK and the West are not just silent in the face of Turkey’s violations. They need an authoritarian, capitalist, nationalist bulwark in Erdoğan’s Turkey. They are terrified of the Kurdish movement’s vision of a decentralised, democratic, egalitarian Middle East.
but Western governments continue to ban, imprison and legally harass those working for a free Kurdistan.
WHAT can I do? WHERE and WHEN?
As Kurds, their friends and supporters, political parties, trade unions, social movements, and defenders of democracy and justice in the UK, we have a duty to speak up now and hold our government to account over their role in Turkey’s attempted genocide against the Kurds.
We demand the UK halts arms sales to Turkey; pressures Turkey for an end to the conflict; stops criminalising the Kurdish political movement; and pushes for re-opened peace negotiations.
That’s why we’re calling a major national demo on 11 June. Join us to mobilise and fight back against Turkish state fascism. Let’s show the UK government we won’t be silent any longer.
Saturday 11th June 2022 – 1pm – Meeting at BBC Portland Place – W1A 1AA
Go to kurdishassembly.org or defend-kurdistan.com for more info

Talk: Repression and Resistance in North Kurdistan
2022-03-20 13:00 - 16:00 | Kurdish Community Centre Edinburgh, 2 Dumbryden Drive, Edinburgh, EH14 2AB, United Kingdom
Firsthand accounts from Bakur
The revolution in Rojava has inspired revolutionaries worldwide. But the movement in Rojava has its roots in Bakur (North Kurdistan), within the borders of Turkey.
In Bakur, a movement for stateless democracy gathered momentum from 2013. The Turkish state fought back, besieging Kurdish cities, imprisoning 10,000 people and shutting down organisations connected with the movement.
6 of us from Bristol defendant and prisoner solidarity groups and the Bristol Kurdistan Solidarity Network visited North Kurdistan (Bakur) in December as part of a delegation. While there we met with several organisations, including left wing union confederations, co-operatives, the Mesopotamian Ecology Movement, women’s structures, the HDP, and the TUHAD-FED prisoner support organisation in Amed (Diyarbakir). We learnt how their works are going, and told them about our struggles in Bristol
We will give a presentation briefly covering the situation of the various groups we spoke to, focusing on resistance to state repression, and the infrastructure that exists in Bakur to support prisoners. We hope that it will give us inspiration for our organising here as well as a chance to discuss ongoing solidarity with Bakur.
Kids are welcome. Light refreshments provided.
Contact scottishsolidaritywithkurdistan@outlook.com if you have any questions or access needs.

Repression & Resistance in North Kurdistan (Glasgow presentation & discussion)
2022-03-19 18:00 - 21:00 | Glasgow Autonomous Space, Glasgow Autonomous Space, 53 Kilbirnie St, Glasgow, G5 8JD, United Kingdom
Firsthand accounts from Bakur
The revolution in Rojava has inspired revolutionaries worldwide. But the movement in Rojava has its roots in Bakur (North Kurdistan), within the borders of Turkey.
In Bakur, a movement for stateless democracy gathered momentum from 2013. The Turkish state fought back, besieging Kurdish cities, imprisoning 10,000 people and shutting down organisations connected with the movement.
6 of us from Bristol defendant and prisoner solidarity groups and the Bristol Kurdistan Solidarity Network visited North Kurdistan (Bakur) in December as part of a delegation. While there we met with several organisations, including left wing union confederations, co-operatives, the Mesopotamian Ecology Movement, women’s structures, the HDP, and the TUHAD-FED prisoner support organisation in Amed (Diyarbakir). We learnt how their works are going, and told them about our struggles in Bristol.
We will give a presentation briefly covering the situation of the various groups we spoke to, focusing on resistance to state repression, and the infrastructure that exists in Bakur to support prisoners. We hope that it will give us inspiration for our organising here as well as a chance to discuss ongoing solidarity with Bakur.
Kids are welcome. Light refreshments provided. Free event, donations to venue suggested.
Contact scottishsolidaritywithkurdistan@outlook.com if you have any questions or access needs.

Trafalgar Square March
2022-01-09 13:00 - 14:00 | Trafalgar Square, London, Trafalgar Square, London, WC2N 5DS, United Kingdom
On January 9, 2013, 3 Kurdish women revolutionaries were brutally murdered in the heart of Europe. We will protest the silence of Europe and once again repeat our demand for justice on the occasion of the anniversary of the January 9 massacre. On this basis, we as Kurdish People’s Assembly and UK Kurdish Women’s Initiative call on all woman, all Kurdistanis and all revolutionaries and democrats to join our march in Trafalgar Square.
