A-Infos (en) France, UCL press release: Iraq: Large-scale Turkish operation against the Kurdish left (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Here we go again for a campaign of bombings and death. At the beginning 
of July, Erdogan launched his army into the Iraqi mountains to hunt down 
the guerrillas who challenge him. At the same time, he is trying to 
patch things up with another bloodthirsty tyrant, Bashar al-Assad. ---- 
Since the end of June, at least 300 armored vehicles, including tanks, 
and 15,000 Turkish soldiers have entered Iraqi Kurdistan. In the Qandil 
Mountains is in fact the rear base of the PKK, the center of gravity of 
the Kurdish left in the Middle East, which Erdogan promised to destroy 
during the summer. To achieve this objective, he has the support in Iraq 
of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (PDK), the "liberal-feudal" faction of 
the Barzani clan. But he also multiplies diplomatic initiatives.

Erdogan has a history of galvanizing nationalism in Turkey with external 
military operations whenever his authority falters at home. This is the 
case following the success of the opposition, and in particular the 
Kurdish left, in the last municipal elections.

But this operation also constitutes global pressure on the Kurdish left 
in Turkey, Iraq and Syria. Despite their quibbles, the various far-right 
regimes that tyrannize Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria have at least one 
thing in common: hatred of left-wing forces and of the revolutionary 
experiment being carried out in Rojava.

Russia seems to be interfering
In Syria, precisely, Erdogan is reaching out to Bashar al-Assad. On June 
28, he declared that he saw "no obstacle to the reestablishment of 
relations with Syria", where the Turkish army occupies several regions, 
where it covers Islamist and even jihadist militias. But Assad himself 
affirmed on June 26 that he was open to "all initiatives concerning 
Syrian-Turkish relations". At the end of May, the Iraqi Prime Minister 
declared that he was working for reconciliation between Ankara and 
Damascus, but it is mainly Russia which seems to be interfering.

However, there remains a gap between Syrian and Turkish demands. Assad 
wants the withdrawal of Turkish troops and an end to Ankara's support 
for jihadist militias. Above all, Turkey demands that Damascus eliminate 
the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (AANES) dominated 
by the Kurdish left. No one wants to make the first move.

If the Iraqi government and the PDK have given the green light to a 
Turkish military intervention in Iraqi Kurdistan, it is probably because 
of infrastructure issues, particularly oil, which for the moment are 
hampered by the activity of the Kurdish guerrilla.

The French state will be even more complicit with the RN in power
The French state, for its part, no longer exerts any pressure on Turkey 
for a peaceful solution in Kurdistan. Worse: to please Erdogan, he 
occasionally represses activists from the Kurdish diaspora in France.

This cynical policy could worsen with the coming to power of the 
National Rally, whose sympathy generally goes to dictators, whether 
Erdogan, Assad, or Putin.

"Militant support actions in France and abroad are of vital importance," 
the representative of the Autonomous Administration of North and East 
Syria (AANES) recently recalled. This also generates a lot of hope 
locally.» Even if it is obvious that in France the priority is the fight 
against the extreme right, our revolutionary comrades who fight the 
extreme right in power in Turkey, Iran and Syria must continue to 
receive our support. Many initiatives are supported by the Serhildan 
network, the Kurdistan National Solidarity Coordination and the Rise Up 
For Rojava network.

Libertarian Communist Union, July 2, 2024

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Irak-Operation-turque-de-grande-envergure-contre-la-gauche-kurde
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