What happened in Afrin is a confirmation that the international community wants a second rate and marginalized Kurdish people in their own occupied country and the occupier countries are allowed to stifle the Kurdish fight for freedom

andattack them across the borders, committing any atrocities they wish. This is the international community’s betrayal against the Kurds.

The Cruel Double Standard of the International Community toward the Kurds

On January 20, 2018, the Turkish Army and the Turkish-backed Free Syrian Army, including Islamic jihadists, began an attack on the Kurdish Afrin Canton, a stable region that has taken in hundreds of thousands of refugees since 2012. The attack on Afrin, which was supported by warplanes and heavy artillery, resulted in hundreds of civilian deaths including women and children. After 58 days of defending this region, most of the people of Afrin fled, and the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) forces withdrew from Afrin. The Turkish Army and the Islamic jihadists occupied the town, looted people’s homes and shops, and destroyed Kurdish monuments and statues. Turkey and its Islamist allies regard the Kurds as terrorists and infidels. The Turkish and Islamic rhetoric were genocidal based on hate and racism supported by fatwa and the Surah Al-Fatiha from the Qur’an. Not surprisingly, the ethnic cleansing of the Kurdish area is at its height after the occupation.

The Kurds helped the West in the fight against The Islamic State (ISIS), and they provided a safe area for refugees in their region. Ezidis, Christians, and other minorities could live side by side in a newly-created secular community. Up until January 20, 2018, Afrin was stable and safe during the Syrian internal war. But this did not matter to NATO or the West, even though they are advocates for democracy and freedom. The world leaders closed their eyes while the destruction and civilian casualties grew, and the world watched the fall of Afrin and its catastrophic end.

Turkey violated international law when it used force against the territorial integrity of Syria [UN Charter article 2 (4)] without any clear evidence verifying an offense by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF),   People’s Protection Units (YPG), or The Women’s Protection Units (YPJ). Turkey violated the human rights of the people of Afrin when it attacked a stable region and killed innocent civilians.

Not a single country objected to the attack and some Western leaders even supported the attack. For example, the British foreign secretary Boris Johnson said, “Turkey has the right to keep its border secure!” You can find similar passive support for Turkey in other Western countries.

The arrival of the Syrian Army at the border points did not help the Kurds because Russia abandoned the Kurds and was using Turkey against the United States. Syria and Iran were against a Kurdish self-rule, and for them, the occupation of Afrin by Turkey was better than Kurdish control. Russia supports the Syrian regime, so the Russian abandonment of the Kurds was not a surprise.

Three hundred miles away, the Assad regime backed by Russia began the bombardment of the Damascus suburb of the Eastern Ghouta that was held by the rebels. The brutal bombardment and airstrikes caused many civilian deaths and the destruction of buildings. The goal of the Syrian regime was to claim the capital city from the Islamic rebels. After the attack on the Eastern Ghouta, many countries expressed their concern about the humanitarian casualties and demanded an end to the attack. The UN Security Council subsequently demanded an immediate stop to the bombardment. The UN reached a resolution, created a ceasefire, and sent international aid to the people of Ghouta.

The violation of human rights in Ghouta troubled world leaders and the UN, but the violation of human rights in Afrin was not a concern for them. The democratic world did not have a problem with the massacre in Afrin. Human rights only mattered if the Syrian regime violated them, but not if Turkey violated them. Civilians from Ghouta had the right to be protected, but civilians in Afrin did not, even though the violation in Afrin was worse, and the occupation could lead to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The differences in ideology and the Turkish hate for Kurdish freedom do not give Turkey the right to violate international laws and human rights. What happened in Afrin is a confirmation that the international community wants a second rate and marginalized Kurdish people in their own occupied country and the occupier countries are allowed to stifle the Kurdish fight for freedom and attack them across the borders, committing any atrocities they wish. This is the international community’s betrayal against the Kurds.

Even though the stateless Kurds are insignificant to the UN, they have the same rights as other people throughout the world. Even though the Kurds do not have a voice when the interests of major countries are at stake, they have the right to be protected according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international conventions regarding international crimes.

By Shakhawan Shorash

March 27, 2018