Saturday, October 26, 2019 in Bern – Gathering: 1.30 pm Schützenmatte, start of the event: 2.30 pm
Due to Turkey’s aggressive war that violates international law, the situation in Syria has worsened and peace has moved to a distant future.
We are outraged that Turkish military forces and their allied jihadist mercenaries want to implement a policy of violent change in the social structure in northeastern Syria and destroy autonomous democratic structures.
The arbitrariness and repression in Turkey make us angry. All critics of the Syrian invasion are repressed and persecuted by police state methods. Any commitment to peace is criminalized and the public is intimidated.
Autonomy in northeastern Syria is an example of what a democratic future might look like. In the middle of the war, the Democratic Federation of North and East of Syria succeeded in establishing a multi-ethnic, multi-religious, democratic, grassroots and emancipatory coexistence of different population groups. The Turkish invasion aims to destroy this option. As last year in Afrin, the local population is hunted and the region – under the spell of the fate of millions of Syrian refugees living in Turkey – turned into a protectorate loyal to Erdogan.
The first weeks of strikes show that the Turkish armed forces are deliberately attacking the civilian population and their livelihoods. They force her to flee the area. Water supply facilities, dams, power plants, hospitals and other essential public services have been destroyed.
Without an immediate halt to the war waged by the Turkish government against northeastern Syria, the consequences will be catastrophic. This war solves no problem, but aggravates the problems and conflicts in the region.
Words alone are not enough, so we ask the Federal Council:
… to use all its forces for a diplomatic offensive so that the UN decides on an immediate cease-fire and establishes a no-fly zone in northern Syria.
… to suspend the free trade agreement negotiated with Turkey, to impose economic sanctions against Turkey and to ensure that no export insurance guarantee is granted to projects in Turkey.
… to stop all deliveries of war material to Turkey, including precursors and spare parts, on the basis of previous authorizations.
… to impose targeted sanctions on those responsible for this aggressive war (freezing of accounts) and systematically gathering evidence for a subsequent conviction in an international war crimes court.
… undertakes to ensure that suspected IS terrorists in the region are tried by an international tribunal to be established for that purpose and that they serve their sentence in their home country. In the meantime, the international community must release the Kurdish authorities from the imprisonment of the prisoners and the families of the prisoners must be supported by their country of origin.
… is committed to a just peace in Syria that recognizes the democratic, multi-ethnic and secular structures of self-rule in northeastern Syria.
… that Switzerland support self-help organizations active in Syria, in particular Kurdish Red Crescent medical facilities.
The demonstration is supported by:
/// PS Suisse ::: PS vaudois ::: PS Ticino ::: PS neuchâtelois ::: PS genevois ::: USS ::: Unia ::: Comité Rojava Berne ::: Dem-Kurd ::: Organisation suisse d’aide aux réfugiés (OSAR) ::: Conseil Suisse pour la Paix ::: SOLIFONDS ::: Le Centre Europe Tiers Monde (CETIM) ::: Komitee Brückenschlag Zürich-Amed/Diyarbakir ::: Solidarité sans frontières ::: Société pour les peuples menacés ::: Association pour le Fonds Kurde İsmet Chérif Vanly (AFKIV) ::: Centre Kurde des droits de l’homme Genève ::: Kurdischer Kulturverein Basel ::: Partei der sozialistischen Wiedergründung (SYKP) ::: Kurdisches Gesellschaftszentrum Aargau ::: Kurdischer Kulturverein Zürich ::: Kurdisch Demokratische Progressive Partei Syrien P.D.P.K.S ::: Kurdischer Kulturverein Solothurn ::: Centre culturel de Kurdistan Fribourg ::: Centre Culturel du Kurdistan Lausanne ::: Forum Civique Européen ::: Verein Städtepartnerschaft Basel-Van ::: BastA! ::: OpenEyes ::: Klimastreik CH ::: Alternative Linke Bern ::: IKuR Interessengemeinschaft Kulturraum Reitschule ::: Les Verts suisse ::: Mouvement pour le socialisme ::: UVA ::: RESOS ::: Solifond ::: PDA Zürich ::: Fist ::: Alternative Linke Zürich ::: Revolutionäres queer feministisches Bündnis Basel ::: POP Vaud Jeunes ::: Forum Alternativo Ticino ::: MOLINO Lugano ::: Collettivo iolotto ::: Union Sciacca Ticino ::: Verdi di Ticino ::: POP Ticino Centre Zagros pour les Droits de l’Homme