DEM Party protests Turkey-backed groups’ offensive in Syria

The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party organized a protest against recent offensives in Syria by the Turkey-backed Syrian National Army (SNA) and the jihadist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group.

The demonstration took place in the Suruç district of Urfa province, near Turkey’s border with Syria. Participants included Meral Danış-Beştaş, co-spokesperson of the Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK); Çiğdem Kılıçgün Uçar and Keskin Bayındır, co-chairs of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP); Tülay Hatimoğulları, co-chair of the DEM Party; as well as Free Women’s Movement (TJA) activists and several members of parliament.

The group gathered in Suruç’s Aligor neighborhood before marching toward the border, chanting slogans and clapping.

Ahead of the protest, the Governor’s Office announced a two-day ban on demonstrations across the province.

Protest in Ankara

In addition to the border protest, DEM Party parliamentary group leaders Gülistan Kılıç Koçyiğit and Sezai Temelli, along with several MPs, staged a separate demonstration outside the Interior Ministry in the capital Ankara. They protested both recent developments in Syria and the government’s recent appointment of trustees to replace elected officials in Kurdish municipalities.

Speaking at the demonstration, Kılıç Koçyiğit accused the government of targeting Kurdish communities and the DEM Party through what she described as “trustee appointments and political operations aimed at annihilation.”

“They are trying to dictate our path with trustees and political crackdowns,” she said. “They aim to silence us in democratic political spaces while erasing our people’s democratic resistance against this fascism. Let it be clear—this issue cannot be resolved through plans drawn up behind desks.”

‘Calling for peace while provoking war’

Kılıç Koçyiğit also criticized the government’s rhetoric on peace, claiming it contradicted its actions. “You claim to seek peace, but you provoke war and escalate tensions in the country. Appointing trustees to disregard the people’s will cannot be called peace. Talking about peace while deepening isolation and targeting communities is not a path to peace,” she said.

Turning to the situation in Syria, she condemned the government’s role in recent military operations. “There are people celebrating the raising of Turkish flags in Aleppo. Whose land is Aleppo? Whose city is it? Is Turkey trying to occupy Aleppo and Syria?” she asked.

Kılıç Koçyiğit claimed that more than 300,000 people were displaced from Afrin alone during the latest offensives and criticized Turkey’s involvement in arming and supporting groups responsible for attacks on Kurdish populations.  “Turkey bears responsibility for any massacres against the people in the region, especially Kurds. You cannot feign ignorance. Who has bases in Idlib? Who has protected HTS there? What commitments did you make in Astana? Answer these questions.

‘Syris is our red line’

“Now, these groups are armed and heading toward Kurdish areas, destroying their homes and lives while claiming there’s a distinction between Kurds in Syria and Turkey. There is no such world. Suruç and Kobani are one, separated only by a border. Kamışlo and Nusaybin are the same.”

Kılıç Koçyiğit vowed to continue resisting trustee appointments and Turkey’s actions in Syria. “We condemn the practice of trustees and will join forces with pro-democracy movements to voice opposition everywhere. Our co-chairs are marching to the border in Suruç today. Let me be clear—Syria is our red line. We will not allow massacres against the people there. We will not stand by while our people are killed. We will fight to uphold Syria’s territorial integrity, the rights of its people to determine their future, and the establishment of peace in the region,” she concluded.  (VK)