Australians for Kurdistan began this petition on Change.org. It asks the Australian federal attorney-general to arrest Turkey's President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, when he visits Brisbane for the G20 summit on November 15. It also asks the attorney-general to remove the Kurdistan Workers Party from the list of terrorist organisations. To sign the petition go to www.change.org.
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Be Alert, Be Alarmed! The godfather of ISIS is being welcomed by the Australian government!
The Australian government has recently bolstered “Anti-terror” laws and got involved in a new Middle East military adventure in the name of fighting the Syria and Iraq-based terror gang ISIS.
It cannot be denied that ISIS is a truly monstrous organisation. Their own propaganda features mass executions of civilians and prisoners of war, including those who surrendered without firing a shot, along with crucifixions and decapitations. Severed heads are a recurring motif in their prolific social media output.
In August, after they attacked communities belonging to the Yezidi and Christian minorities in the vicinity of Mt Sinjar, Iraq, they openly boasted not only of their slaughter of thousands of civilians, but of enslaving thousands of women and children, some of whom were sold in public markets for slavery and sexual exploitation. The Australian government declared it had to act.
However, it was not Western forces who rescued the survivors in the Sinjar area. It was the forces of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and their Syrian allies, the Peoples Defence Units (YPG) and Women’s Defence Units (YPJ), forces that continue to defend Sinjar from ISIS attacks until this day.
Appallingly, the PKK is listed as a terrorist organisation under Australian “Anti-terror” laws!
This is at the behest of the Turkish state that has denied Kurdish people basic rights since its creation in the 1920s. In its efforts to crush the PKK and Kurdish aspirations for self-determination, the Turkish state has killed at least 40,000 people since the 1980s.
In Syrian Kurdistan (Rojava), in the midst of a multi-sided war in which the various sides seem to compete with each other in human rights abuses and large-scale violence, the Kurdish organisations including the YPG and YPG have created an island of hope: a unique experiment in democratic community self-management characterised by gender equality, ethnic inclusivity and religious tolerance.
Terrified by the example this sets, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has used the sadistic ISIS gangs in an attempt to drown it in blood. The world’s attention has become focused on the heroic, besieged town of Kobane. This border town is besieged on three sides by ISIS. The fourth side of siege is maintained by the Turkish state.
Moreover, the Erdogan regime has actively assisted ISIS! This assistance includes:
• Trading with ISIS in stolen Syrian and Iraqi oil;
• Allowing ISIS to use Turkey as a rear base;
• Allowing foreign recruits to ISIS to pass unhindered through Turkish territory;
• Treating wounded ISIS terrorists in Turkish hospitals and allowing them to return to the battlefield; and
• Providing ISIS with heavy weapons and logistical support.
This large-scale Turkish state support does incomparably more to enable ISIS violence than alleged small donations by supporters that have been the pretext for massive anti-terror raids in Australia.
Yet, even while the threat of terrorism is invoked to severely limit the civil liberties of residents and civil society activists during the Brisbane G20 Summit, the Australian government is welcoming Recep Tayyip Erdogan to the summit with open arms!
We therefore demand:
• The arrest of Recep Tayyip Erdogan for supporting terrorism as soon as he sets foot on Australian soil; and
• The immediate end to listing the PKK as a terrorist organisation under Australian law.
Sincerely,
[add you name.]
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