Latest statement by the HDP:
Civilians in Kobane (Ayn Al-Arab) under imminent threat of mass atrocities by ISIS
Since yesterday, 24 September 2014, the situation around Kobane has dramatically deteriorated. The terrorist organization ISIS has continued to subject villages south and west of Kobane to intensive attacks, by tanks, heavy artillery and thousands of fighters. Following last night’s heavy clashes, ISIS’s new positions pose an imminent threat to the civilian population in Kobane city.
Since the ISIS attack on Kobane on 15 September 2014, the Kurdish population in the city has mobilized around its local protection units to withstand the onslaught. ISIS has made explicit reference to this matter and stated that those who have been a part of the communal mobilization will be judged as infidels and face “divine justice”, which in their past conduct in Syria and Iraq has meant mass executions.
The struggle against ISIS’s hateful and extremist ideology is at a critical stage. In fighting ISIS some situations must be prioritized and addressed urgently. The siege and attacks on Kobane is one such situation. Until now, the targeted international attacks against ISIS in Syria have had no effect on the dire situation in Kobane. The world must act decisively against ISIS before it commits new massacres, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
More than one hundred villages have been ethnically cleansed of their Kurdish population. Over one hundred thousand people, mainly women and children, have fled across the border into Turkey in a mass exodus from ISIS brutality. As the Kurdish YPG forces prepare to defend Kobane and stop an approaching ISIS attack, the fate of 350,000 defenseless Kurdish civilians inside the city remains unclear.
We reiterate our calls for immediate action on the part of the international community to prevent a genocide in Kobane.
Selma Irmak, Member of Parliament in Turkey
Kemal Aktas, Member of Parliament in Turkey
SebahatTunceli, Member of Parliament in Turkey
FeleknasUca, former Member of European Parliament
25 September 2014
Geneva, Switzerland
UNITED NATIONS