International Libertarian-Socialist Statement in Solidarity with the Kurdish Resistance

For some years now the Kurdish movement has been moving in the direction of libertarian ideas. While not an anarchist movement, this move is a sign that anarchist ideas of freedom and equality through solidarity, our ideas of horizontality and radical direct democracy and our radical critique against the State are not only valid and strong, but are also necessary for movements in order to break away from the authoritarian legacy within the left. It is our duty to express our solidarity with Rojava and the Kurdish movement, because they represent hope in this region and because they are the oppressed fighting the oppressors. Real struggles are never perfect but they carry diverse degrees of potential to bring about a free society. Expressing our solidarity with the revolutionary movement in Rojava means we understand our role is to continue developing the core tenets of our ideas in order to inspire revolutions and revolutionaries all over the world. - Anarkismo.net Editorial Group [Italiano] [Ελληνικά] [Castellano] [Français]

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International Libertarian-Socialist Statement in Solidarity with the Kurdish Resistance

The revolution initiated by our comrades in Rojava, part of a much broader movement for the liberation of the Kurdish people and, through them, of all the peoples of the Middle East, is an inspiration to all those who yearn for a free, egalitarian, just world with no dominators or dominated. It is an experience of direct democracy in which the basis exists for free, self-managed socialism which respects the environmental and the autonomy of peoples. Libertarian socialists all over the world feel this revolution as our own.

Today this revolution is being threatened by the triple threat of imperialism, State authoritarianism and an obscurantist, fanatical and ultra-conservative reaction which arises out of the bowels of the decomposition created by the occupation and invasion of the peoples of the Middle East. While the obscurantist reaction strikes with weapons obtained thanks to imperialism, the Turkish armed forces are erecting an armoured barrier of tanks and cannons in order to surround the Kurdish population, like a hammer and anvil. Our comrades from Rojava are fighting, arms to hand, as part of a large mobilization of all the people against this triple threat and that perverse siege, defending what they have won through their struggle: their autonomy and freedom. But they are not alone in this fight. Behind them millions of free-spirited men and women are gathering round them, supporting them and we have our hands held out to hold onto theirs in the fight for the new world that is growing in our hearts. The heroic resistance being waged today in the city of Kobanê is heir to the long history of struggles of people who have said "¡No Pasarán!"

From various parts of the world, we want to declare that your struggle is our struggle. We are with you, willing to contribute our bit in the fight for universal social transformation, now more necessary than ever. We demand an end to the repression, the release of political prisoners and prisoners of war, including Abdullah Öcalan, an end to the international criminalization of Kurdish revolutionaries and respect for the autonomy of communities who are taking the reins of their destiny into their own hands. We are one in the struggle for liberation from all forms of oppression and exploitation, for the construction of a new free and equal society. We support your struggle for the revolutionary society by all means necessary to end the structural violence of the State, capitalism, imperialism and patriarchy.

In revolutionary and libertarian solidarity,

Periódico Solidaridad (Chile)
Frente de Trabajadores Ernesto Miranda – FTEM (Chile)
Workers Solidarity Movement (Ireland)
Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici – FdCA (Italy)
Organisation Socialiste Libertaire – OSL (Switzerland)
Collectif Communiste Libertaire Bienne – CCLBienne (Switzerland)
Alternative Libertaire (France)
Melbourne Anarchist Communist Group (Australia)
Federação Anarquista Gaúcha (Brazil)
Acción Libertaria Estudiantil (Colombia)
Militantes Sindicales y Sociales por una Corriente Libertaria (Buenos Aires, CABA, La Plata - Argentina)
Melissa Sepúlveda, President of the Federation of Students of University of Chile – Fech (Chile)
Zabalaza Anarchist Communist Front (South Africa)
Coordination des Groupes Anarchistes (France)
federación Anarquista uruguaya (Uruguay)