Ready to defend Northern Syria against the Turkish invasion.
Attacking together with the gangs has provided the Turkish state with one gain:
They can help carry each others’ bodies!
YPJ-Spokesperson Nesrin Abdullah
Today is the 18th day of the invasion of Canton Afrin in Northern Syria by the Turkish army and their djihadist mercenaries of Al Nusra, Al Qaida, IS etc.
To understand the situation:
Turkey, a member of NATO, is invading its neighbor Syria with the help of the very groups the US is fighting in Syria, attacking the Kurds, the most effective US ally against IS and other Islamist groups, defenders of Kobane, liberators of Raqqa, and bombing civilians in Afrin, the one place in Syria which was quite peaceful in recent years, where many refugees from other war-torn regions of Syria had found shelter.
Some time ago I published a series of articles on steemit, translations of articles by Dr Michael Wilk, who at that time was on a humanitarian mission as a doctor behind the Raqqa frontline.
On Janaury 30 an interview with him was published, this is my translation of it:
The Turkish war of aggression now is not only aimed toward Afrin in the west of the Northern Syrian Kurdish Autonomous Region, but also against places close to the Turkish border further in the east. You have been there as a doctor in 2017. How is the situation at the moment?
Last year I was in Raqqa, Quamishlo, Derik and Serekaniye; there some attacks by the Turkish army have occurred now. Turkey has shelled places, which had been partially evacuated already, from across the border. In Serekaniye people were injured according to friends and colleagues of the Kurdish Red Crescent. The Turkish aggression against Afrin is increasing the situation of crisis there, but the Kurdish Women´s and People´s Defense Units are well aware of their strength and capabilities. They were not caught by surprise; the hilly terrain of Afrin offers good defense facilities. The population is taking up arms, even elderly women and men. Turkey is also attacking there, because, unlike in other parts of Rojava, there are no Americans stationed in Afrin.
Are the powers involved, the US, Russia, Iran, which at the moment are just watching, more interested to lessen the emancipatory and democratic Kurdish influence?
The US have their own agenda, don´t want to distance themselves from NATO member Turkey, Russia and Iran support the Assad regime- and now see Djihadist mercenaries, labeled “Free Syrian Army“ against which they otherwise fight, bound in the fight against the YPG.
The abandonment of the basic-democratically organised Canton Afrin to the Turkish and Islamistic oriented aggression by the powers involved is also tragic because thousands of refugees have found shelter there, in the past years it was always quiet there.
How many dead and injured people are there?
In Afrin there are up to now 150 injured and 41 dead civilians, 43 fighters have died, as local sources told me. There is no information regarding the numbers of dead and injured Turkish soldiers. If German Broadcasting, using sources from Ankara, reports only three dead on Saturday, it is also an indication that the war is also waged via the media. The numbers of own casualties are being reduced, those of the opponent are being increased. Presentations sure of victory are part of war propaganda. My informants think that losses on the side of the aggressors are high, in this war started by Turkey in blatant breach of international law, especially among the troops close to Al-Qaida.
The Kurdish leaders in Afrin have asked Damaskus to oppose the Turkish aggression and to make clear that it will not tolerate Turkish airplanes in Syrian airspace...
I think this is about demanding a positioning; especially the attacks from the air are dangerous.
What do you say about news reports by German media? The Kurds had to “pay a death toll“, ZDF´s “Heute-Journal“ said. Euronews reported from the perspective of Turkey about “260 killed extremists“.
“Death toll“ - what for? For wanting to live on their own terms? Those so-called extremists have driven out the IS, as partners of an US-led coalition. The restraint of the US and the role of Russia is as unspeakable as the cynical statements of European politicians, asking Turkey for “moderation“
Shall there be “more moderate“ bombing and killing in the future?
And then they always add, those killed are terrorists of the PKK.
Regarding the PKK and the YPG a political reassessment is necessary, without bowing down to Erdogan: The inhumane, barbaric act of Turkey has to be named as such. It is also aimed against the humanitarian aid, which is given from citizens of our country to Rojava, in order to support the democratic renewal and the refugees there.
It is Erdogan´s intention to destroy emancipatory initiatives, like to simultaneously have a man and a woman heading each institution together. Instead of the soft approach toward the NATO ally Turkey, they have to apply pressure in order to stop this war, which is a violation of international law.
Heroines of the Rojava Revolution
In defense of German media I have to say that in the meantime also more critical reports have been aired on German TV, condemning Turkey as an aggressor in breach of international law, showing Kurds from Afrin now living in Germany in distress because of the unknown fate of their family members.
Showing and mocking the spokesperson of the German government calling that blatant breach of international law by Turkey a "fluid situation", having a hard time explaining to the German public how German tanks and other weapons are now being used against the very people who have defeated the IS and thereby probably prevented more terror attacks in Germany.
If you are interested in information from the Kurdish viewpoint, check out ANF English , there you can watch videos showing Kurds destroying tanks, which could be German, with missiles, probably also German.
I can hear the cash register of the German Military Industrial Complex ringing.