Open Letter to President Barak Obama about the November 1 Elections

in Turkey  

Press Release

Rally in Los Angeles: International Solidarity day with Kobani

 November 1st, 2014 

We members of the Kurdish American Education Society, Human Rights Advocacy Group, and Kurdish Community of Southern California, in Los Angeles join hundreds of thousands of people, United Nations agencies and prominent intellectuals such as Noam Chomsky and Archbishop Desmond Tutu in observing the International Day of Solidarity with the defenders of the besieged city of Kobani. From Los Angeles and Washington to London and Kurdistan, we come together to support the heroic defenders of Kobani. The legendary city has indeed become the emblem of unprecedented resistance against one of the darkest and tyrannical forces in human history. The city has been the constant target of ISIS offensives for six weeks. Although the defenders of the city are both outnumbered and outgunned, women and men old and young have stood steadfast against the ferocious terrorism of ISIS. They are incessantly being bombarded with heavy artillery; many parts of the city have been demolished and destroyed as evidenced by the rising plumes of smoke, which darken the horizon of the city.

Over 200000 people from Kobani and surrounding villages have been displaced and live in deplorable conditions in various camps in Turkey. The US coalition led strikes have not been enough to effectively halt the Islamic state’s advances.  Turkey in showing its ideological affinity with and support for ISIS continues to block the flow of help and volunteers to the city.  Under mounting international pressure the Turkish government is now hypocritically allowing a limited number of Peshmerge into the area as it continues to threaten the fragile peace process. 

Kurdish and non-Kurdish protestors gather in front of the federal building on Wilshire Boulevard today to rally against the Turkish government's refusal to intervene in the seizure of Kobani, a primarily Kurdish city on the Turkish-Syrian border, by Daʿesh (داعش) jihadists. 

 Press Release                                         

 A demonstration was held in Los Angeles on Sunday Oct 12 from 4:00 to 6:00 PM in front of the Federal Building in Westwood against the Islamic State’s ongoing vicious assault on the Kurdish city of Kobani and to urge the US to support for the defenders of the city. 

We members of the Kurdish community in Los Angeles stand in solidarity with the people of the besieged Kobani and call for prompt action to save the residents and defenders of the city from a massacre. The IS terrorists have captured sizable portions of the city despite the fierce and heroic resistance of Kurdish freedom fighters. Hundreds of people have died and over 17000 people have been driven away from their homes, stranded in border areas, their fields ravaged, their belongings plundered, and their children traumatized. Many are mourning the loss of  their loved ones, their homes, and their land. As the UN special envoy Mr. Staffan de Mistura has warned hundreds of people are still trapped in Kobani; they are under the siege of the IS and threatened with an imminent massacre.

As the people of the town and its defenders have shown with admirable courage, they do not want to give up and let the city fall; they are fighting valiantly to the last breath, but they are ill equipped against the heavily armed terrorists of the IS. The defenders of the city have repeatedly and desperately appealed to the international community, US in particular, for weapons and supplies to enable them to continue their fight. They want more effective and focused airstrikes to fend off the barbaric invaders. 

Support the Kurdish People of Kobane City in Their Fight Against ISIL