PRESS STATEMENT

27 October 2014


INTERNATIONAL CALL LEADS TO GLOBAL DAY OF ACTION FOR KOBANE
AND FOR HUMANITY

Join us for a rally in London on Trafalgar Square on 1 November 2-5pm!

Hundreds of individuals and organisations representing thousands of members from
across the world have signed an urgent call for action appealing to people all over
the world to show solidarity with Kobane, which is still under siege by ISIS and facing
the possibility of a genocide.

Prominent signatories include Professor Noam Chomsky and Archbishop Desmond
Tutu, who have both been long-time supporters of the Kurdish struggle for self-
determination, as well as Nobel Peace Prize Laureates like Adolfo Erez Esquivel, and
Jose Ramos-Horta, former President of East Timor and Nora Cortinas, cofounder of
the Mothers of Plaza de Mayo in Argentina and Palestinian singer Reem Kelani.
Academics, writers, lawyers, politicians and activists from political, social-justice and
environmental movements from countries as diverse as India, Ecuador, Croatia,
Norway and the Basque Country, have signed the call in an unprecedented show of
international solidarity for the Kurdish resistance in Syria.

For nearly two months, the city of Kobane has been facing an onslaught from ISIS
while the so-called international coalition, formed following ISIS incursions into Iraq,
appears unwilling to come to the aid of the Kurdish resistance. Kobane is one of
three cantons in the Democratic Autonomous Administration of Rojava (Western
Kurdistan, Syria). The call for action states that the US-led coalition has not fulfilled
their real international legal obligations. Some of the countries in the coalition,
especially Turkey, are among financial and military supporters of the ISIS terrorists in
Iraq and Syria.

It also calls for the world to recognise that democratic autonomy in Rojava and the
Rojava Model promises a free future for all peoples in Syria, saying, If the world
wants democracy in the Middle East, it should support the Kurdish resistance in
Koban.

In response to the call for action, rallies and demonstrations are being organised in
dozens of cities across Europe and the world, from Brussels to California to Argentina
and India. In the UK, actions will take place in Glasgow, Nottingham and other cities,
while the largest rally will be in Trafalgar Square, central London from 2-5pm,
organised by the Kurdish Peoples Assembly and Kurdish Community organisations in
the UK. The occasion is an opportunity to celebrate the brave resistance of the
Kurdish fighters and volunteers, and will be marked by speeches by activists and
politicians, as well as music and dance.

For information contact:

Peace in Kurdistan
Campaign for a political solution of the Kurdish Question
Email: estella24@tiscali.co.uk
www.peaceinkurdistancampaign.com
Contacts Estella Schmid 020 7586 5892 & Melanie Sirinathsingh - Tel: 020 7272 7890

Patrons: Lord Avebury, Lord Rea, Lord Dholakia, Baroness Sarah Ludford, Jill Evans MEP, Jean Lambert MEP,
Jeremy Corbyn MP, Hywel Williams MP, Elfyn Llwyd MP, Conor Murphy MP, John Austin, Bruce Kent, Gareth
Peirce, Julie Christie, Noam Chomsky, John Berger, Edward Albee, Margaret Owen OBE, Prof Mary Davis, Mark
Thomas, Nick Hildyard, Stephen Smellie


Kurdish Peoples Council