Co-founder of Defend International, Dr. Widad Akreyi, strongly condemned the Turkish airstrikes on Shingal (the home town of Yazidis) and Rojava (Northern Syria) today.
In a statement issued following her appearance on Ronahi TV via Skype, Dr. Akreyi said: “Well aware that the wounds of Yazidis, Kurds, Armenians, Kildans, Assyrians and those of other components of the Middle East haven’t healed yet, Turkey continues to violate international law by assisting Daesh and maintaining its policy of sabotaging any attempt to build peace…”
Dr. Widad added:
“Over 1.5 million Christian Armenians were massacred by the Ottoman Empire, comprising the first genocide of the 20th century. One century later, Turkey invented ISIS, planning the 21st century’s first genocide against Yazidis, Christians, Kurds and others in the Middle East. Thanks to your support and your hard work, the first genocide in the 21st century was prevented. We vow to keep the promise to never forget all the millions of victims whose destinies were marked by genocides.
In order to give peace a chance in the Middle East, we’d like to suggest having a no-fly zone for Rojava to prevent Turkey from attacking civilians and journalists like they did today.
We renew our call for international protection to stop Turkey violating international law and committing war crimes in Rojava. We hope that the international community will help us create the no-fly zone in Rojava as we express solidarity with the residents and the refugees after Turkey’s airstrikes.
Too many lives are at stake. For instance, tens of thousands of Yazidis fled from ISIS and headed to Rojava. Over 10 thousand civilians have arrived in Rojava after their escape from ISIS in Raqqa. A no-fly zone is urgently needed to protect the residents of Rojava and the hundreds of thousands of refugees, all of whom have nowhere else to go.
The no-fly zone in Kurdistan region saved my life from Saddam’s airstrikes. A no-fly zone in Rojava will save thousands, if not millions, of lives.
Please support this initiative because, without it, it seems that Turkey will continue targeting Rojava to end any attempt to build the elements of peace in the Middle East.”