NEWS CENTER – Eleven Kurdish organisations in America and Naren Briar, a Kurdish woman elected to the Bellevue City Council in Washington, have called on the U.S. Congress to take responsibility for the attacks in Rojava. 

 

Eleven US-based Kurdish organisations and Naren Briar, a Kurdish woman elected to the Bellevue City Council in Washington, have listed their demands in a call for the US Congress to take responsibility for the attacks by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), ISIS and Turkish-backed groups on northern and eastern Syria. 

 

The statement noted that Shara's attacks on northern and eastern Syria have resulted in the forced displacement, humiliation, torture and massacre of Kurds and other peoples, adding, "Moreover, Syrian state forces have freed thousands of ISIS prisoners previously guarded by the SDF. Despite numerous attempts by Kurdish leaders to reach a ceasefire agreement, al-Sharaa has refused to halt his attacks, seeking instead to consolidate his power by force. As a result, the country is now facing a humanitarian catastrophe and possible genocide."  

 

The statement noted that despite its long-standing alliance with the SDF in the fight against ISIS, the US has not intervened in the attacks and has left the Kurds to fend for themselves, adding, "The stakes today are as dramatic as those in 2014, when Kurds were surrounded and besieged by ISIS in Kobane, faced with the choice between resistance or genocide.”

 

CALL TO CONGRESS AND SOCIAL MOVEMENTS 

 

The statement made the following appeal to members of the US Congress: " We call on you to do everything in your power to publicly condemn the actions of the Syrian government and pressure the Trump administration to stop these attacks! In addition to a potential genocide, we are facing potentially catastrophic security threats with the release of thousands of ISIS prisoners.”

 

The statement also called on social movements in the US to raise their voices in solidarity with the people of Rojava and to put pressure on Congress.

 

DEMANDS 

 

The contact details of Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair James Risch and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Brian Mast, accessible via the link provided in the joint statement, were listed along with the joint message and demands that could be conveyed. The joint message included the following demands:  

 

“In the interests of peace, stability, and the protection of innocent lives, the United States must intervene immediately to:

 

*Demand that the Syrian government immediately cease all attacks.

 

*Demand that Syrian government forces and Turkish-backed militias withdraw to their positions West of the Euphrates River.

 

*Resume negotiations with the US-allied Syrian Democratic Forces for a federated Syria that guarantees the full cultural and democratic rights of all minorities.

 

*Include international monitors for all future talks so that promises and agreements signed by al-Sharaa can be enforced.”

 

The names of the signatory organisations are as follows:

 

“*Emergency Committee for Rojava (ECR)

 

*Kurdish Association of Washington (KAWA)

 

*California Kurdish Community Center (CalKurd)

 

*Kurdish Cultural Center of Illinois (KCCI)

 

*Los Angeles Kurdish American Education Society

 

*New England Kurdish Association (NEKA)

 

*Kurdish Community of Southern California (KCSC).

 

*American Kurdish Association (AKA)

 

*Kurdistan Communities Assembly

 

*Kurdish American Group (KAG)

 

*JudiKa

 

*Naren Briar, Elected official (City of Bellevue, WA)”