A group of journalists from different parts of Kurdistan and the diaspora released a joint statement on Monday at the Press Club Brussels Europe, Belgium, on the latest Turkish incursions and occupation of land in Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) and northeast Syria (Rojava).

The statement, signed by around 400 Kurdish journalists from the four parts of Kurdistan, from Russia, and the Kurdish diaspora, begins:

“The Turkish state is waging a genocidal war against the Kurds both inside and outside the country’s borders.”

Noting that the large-scale military attack that began on 17 April has been taking place with the ‘military-intelligence support and approval of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP)’, the statement read:

“The Turkish army does not hesitate to use any weapon prohibited by international conventions, including chemical weapons. The mountains of Kurdistan have been bombarded with warplanes for months. Land and air attacks are carried out against North-East Syria every other day. Assassinations are carried out with unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs). The Turkish state, together with ISIS, Al-Nusra and other jihadist-salafist forces, have occupied Afrin, Jarablus, Azaz, Bab, Giri Sipi, Serekaniye regions of North-East Syria.”

It continued:

“The Turkish army wants to destroy the existing Kurdish gains in Southern Kurdistan and North East Syria. In particular, it aims to complete the genocide left unfinished by ISIS [the Islamic State] in Sinjar (Shengal), the homeland of Yazidi Kurds who were subjected to the genocidal attacks of ISIS on 3 August 2014.”

It was also pointed out in the statement that Turkey seeks to turn the war and crisis in Ukraine into ‘an opportunity to complete the Kurdish genocide.’

There was also criticism against Western powers:

“NATO and European Union member states remain silent against this recklessness of the Turkish state. The public in Kurdistan sees this silence as a support for the Kurdish genocide and this support causes justifiable reactions.”

It was further said:

“It should not be forgotten that; the world owes a debt to the Kurds. The Kurds waged a relentless struggle against ISIS, which is a global scourge in Iraq and Syria, and caused such bloodshed in centres such as London, Madrid, Paris and Brussels. Tens of thousands of Kurds died in this war so that the world could be safe.”

Protest against Turkey’s war against the Kurds, and condemning KRI’s ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) for being ‘a partner in the genocidal attacks of the Turkish army’, the journalists made a call on Western states and all journalists across the world:

“We call on NATO and European Union member states to cut their military, political and economic support to Turkey and to not be a party to the Kurdish genocide. We want the European Union and all our colleagues in the world to be more attentive to the Turkish state’s war of genocide and to convey to the public clearly, what is happening in Kurdistan.”