The National Conference Against Occupation was held in Amsterdam with the participation of representatives of several Kurdish political parties, peace activists, journalists as well as exiled People’s Democratic Party (HDP) parliamentarians and co-mayors.

The National Platform Against Occupation which was established in Brussels, 27 June 2021, by Kurdish intellectuals, writers and journalists against Turkey’s military operations in Iraqi Kurdistan Region, organised last weekend’s conference in the Netherlands, 4 September 2021.

The military operations launched by Turkey which began 24 April 2021 against Kurdish towns in Northern Iraq, as well as against attacks against Sinjar and North and East Syria were highlighted and condemned during the conference.

The declaration statement of the conference was announced, Mesopotamia News Agency (MA) reported.

“An attack against Afrin was launched in early 2018 and the city was occupied after 58 days of resistance,” the declaration stated. “On 9 October, 2019, the cities of Girê Spî and Serêkaniyê were both targeted and both of Rojava’s cities were occupied,” it added.

The Sinjar Agreement between Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan regarding the deployment of Iraqi forces to the region was also mentioned at the conference.

“An agreement was signed in October of last year regarding the future of the Yazidis of Sinjar, their beliefs and culture which is now under threat. Since then, attacks against Sinjar have continued. Similar attacks continue against the Makhmour Refugee Camp. On 24 April, 2021, the date of the anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, the Turkish state carried out a military attack. This time against Southern Kurdistan, and these attacks are still ongoing.” the declaration said.

Participants of the conference also criticised the silence among the international powers regarding the attacks.

“We protest against this silence and demand that all powers oppose the Kurds being defined as terrorists. The Kurdish people fought against the barbaric organisation ISIS, that threatened the whole world, protecting not only themselves but also the world community from danger.”

The decisions taken at the conference are as follows.

-To effectively oppose the occupation, Kurdish forces should develop their relations in unity and in mutual respect. All Kurdish forces should take a common stance against the invasion and not participate in any way in the practices of the occupiers.

-We call on all Kurdish parties, organisations, and institutions to form a high-level committee to develop mutual respect and fight against the threats.

-We believe that the well-known personalities of Kurdistan also have a great responsibility in this process. All Kurdish personalities should follow a consistent line against the invasion and fulfill their duty to gain support of Kurdish forces effectively.

-The Turkish state draws its power from the silence of the international powers and institutions. It is because of their silence that Turkey recklessly use all kinds of weapons, including chemical weapons. To remain silent in the face of these dirty practices is nothing more than complicity in the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity. From here, we call on all international powers and institutions to break their silence on the crimes of the Turkish state and support the demands of the peoples of Kurdistan.

-For the Platform Against Occupation to continue its work more effectively, it must itself become broader, and also receive wider support. To this end, our conference suggests the creation of various committees and has decided to create a committee to strengthen communication between Kurdish parties, political groups, intellectuals, and peoples. In addition, a communication committee is to be established and in this way, the representation of the Kurds in the media will be improved. A third committee is to take care of lobbying and diplomacy with political parties, parliaments, and European states.

We expect all sides to facilitate the work of the Platform Against Occupation and support the work of the various committees. As participants of the National Conference Against Occupation, we call again on the Kurdish and world public to respect human values.

We call on them to play their role against the cruel attacks of the Turkish state, which was stated at the end of the conference.