At the border to Kobanê
Sometimes you have to take invisible paths to get where you want to arrive. While part of the caravan was held up at the Turkish border, another part disappeared for a while, only to reappear in Suruç, Bakur. Suruç is 7 kilometers from the Syrian border, 7 kilometers from the still-besieged city of Kobanê. The humanitarian situation there continues to worsen. Supplies are scarce and temperatures are low. During the so-called ceasefire, which is repeatedly broken by the Syrian army, the Turkish state is currently deploying tanks and artillery to the border with Kobanê.
That is precisely why we made us on the way to Kobanê – to break the siege, to show solidarity and to defend the city of hope. The city that has already defeated IS once and was celebrated worldwide for it.
When we arrived in Suruç, we were welcomed by the local population and the DEM party with flowers, food, and hugs. We held a press conference, which was also broadcasted live on Kurdish television.
In the conference, we criticized the international community for not taking a strong enough stance on the attacks against the Kurdish population and the Democratic Self-Administration. On the contrary, there is open cooperation with the so-called transitional government and the Islamist ruler al-sharaa. This cooperation must be stopped immediately.
When we left Suruç by bus after participating in a demonstration, we were stopped and arrested by the Turkish police. They took us to Urfa in police buses. From there, we are supposed to continue on to Istanbul. It is unclear how long we will remain in deportation custody.
Despite the arrests, we did not allow ourselves to be intimidated and remained determined. We sang Kurdish songs loudly inside the police buses, so loudly that the bus driver turned on Turkish nationalist songs to drown us out. No chance. “I would die for you, Turkey,” said one of the songs. Our songs testified to life and to our common resistance. We will continue to sing, continue to fight.
