Phil Culshaw, Hull Socialist Party

Hull’s Kurdish community protested with those who wished to stand in solidarity on 22 and 24 January. Chants of ‘Free, Free Kurdistan’ and ‘No More ISIS’.

The 22 January protest was passionate, youthful, and noisy. The 24 January protest of 300 was more sombre.

Since 2012, Rojava has been a self-governing autonomous area. And the Kurdish-based Syrian Defence Forces (SDF) has fought ultra-reactionary Islamists ISIS.

Now Syria’s right-wing Islamist government has released ISIS supporters from prison, insisted that the SDF disband and integrate into the Syrian armed forces, and that a government-appointed official takes over governing Rojava. Once again, Kurdish people, and their desire for democratic self-determination, are being betrayed by the imperialist powers.

Joe Gibbons, Hull trades union council secretary, offered solidarity to those protesting on 22 January. Socialist Party member Mike Whale, the trades council’s former president, spoke on 24 January.

Socialist Party placards and leaflets were snapped up. Kurdish protesters were so impressed by our leaflets that they requested to distribute them themselves, giving them to passers-by.

A gang of curious youth approached, and a Socialist Party member spoke with them. When it was explained the role the Kurds had played in fighting ISIS, any animosity they had vanished. For the support and solidarity shown, Iain Dalton, Socialist Party Yorkshire secretary, was invited to speak on behalf of the Socialist Party too.

Extracts from Hull Socialist Party leaflet:

Once again, the Kurds have been abandoned by the US and other Western powers. Reactionary regimes, in particular Erdogan in Turkey, will see US withdrawal as the green light to further attack Rojava.

No reactionary-led state will allow the Kurds an independent homeland. This is because an independent Kurdistan would challenge the dictatorships across the Middle East, and the big imperialist powers that back them – particularly if it was based on socialist principles.

Workers in the UK and across Europe recognise the heroic role that the Kurdish masses in Rojava have played fighting against right-wing Islamic fundamentalism.

With Donald Trump’s new relationship with the Al-Sharaa HTS government in Syria, the US regime has decided the Kurds’ role is “largely expired”. US policy makers have described their limited support for the SDF as “temporary, tactical, and transactional”.

The real allies of the Kurdish people are the working class in the region, and around the world. Demonstrations against the current assault on Kurdish forces and the threat to Rojava have seen demonstrations across the UK and internationally.

The Kurds, and other oppressed peoples of the Middle East, and the entire working class, can only rely on their own strength, self-organisation, and class solidarity.

The Socialist Party and the Committee for a Workers’ International says:

  • Hands off Rojava – working-class solidarity and mass protests around the world to oppose the HTS regime’s advance
  • Solidarity with all religious and ethnic minorities and workers who resist the HTS regime
  • Democratic rights for all! Full equality for women! The right to organise freely!
  • Build democratically run, multi-ethnic defence militias
  • No trust in regional and imperialist powers, who have only ever betrayed Kurds
  • Build powerful independent workers’ organisations, including trade unions and mass workers’ parties, on a socialist programme, in Syria, Turkey, and across the region
  • Full cultural and national rights for Kurds, including the right to self-determination
  • Overthrow capitalism! For a socialist Kurdistan, as part of a socialist federation of the Middle East, on a voluntary and equal basis, to bring lasting peace and a transformation of living standards