Solidarity with Rojava - review of Serkeftin
- Details
- Created: Monday, 24 December 2018 15:29
- Written by Lucy Roberts
Kurds view the US decision to withdraw approximately 2,000 US troops from Northern Syria as preparation for a full-scale Turkish military invasion and then occupation of the region. Turkish forces, armed with heavy artillery, are massing at the Syrian border. Since 2012, the Kurdish people and their allies in what they call Rojava (Western Kurdistan) have achieved self-government and implemented an authentic revolutionary process. Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, Syriac, Armenian, Druze, Circassian, Turkmen and other peoples living in the region have established unity and been building democracy. More than 10,000 of their people have been killed fighting Islamic State and other jihadi groups, which have been backed by the government in Turkey. What the Kurds and their allies have established is a threat to the regional status quo and to the Turkish state, with its large Kurdish population, in particular. In January 2018, Turkey and its jihadist auxiliaries invaded the western most enclave of Rojava, Afrin, without protest from the western governments or from Russia. They have killed Afrin’s people, others have been driven from their homes - but guerrilla resistance continues there. Below we carry a review of a book on the Rojava revolution.
Hands off Rojava!
Serkeftin: a narrative of the Rojava revolution Marcel Cartier, Zero Books £10.99
The introduction to this book is a moving tribute to revolutionary Mehmet Aksoy, who had lived in London, from whom the author clearly drew a lot of inspiration. Mehmet was killed on 26 September 2017, becoming a martyr for the Rojava revolution and for all humanity. Reading the correspondence between Mehmet and Marcel brought me to tears and this sets the tone for what is truly a powerful and inspiring read.
