Intense clashes have been taking place around the Tishreen Dam, which is located south of Kobanê city in North and East Syria, since 8 December. Turkey and the affiliated Syrian National Army (SNA) have failed to make progress in the area where the dam is located despite intensive air and ground attacks. The people in the region have been on guard for days both for the safety of the dam and for the end of the attacks.

 

Citizens attending the congress of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) in Sûr district of Amed (Diyarbakır) reacted to the attacks against the Tishreen Dam.

 

'WE MUST BE UNITED'

 

Reacting to the attacks, Tuncay Altuğ said, "Turkey has been persecuting the Kurdish people for years. We must strengthen each other against the attacks, we must fight against it. The people of Tishreen are shielding against the attacks. Therefore, the 4 parts of Kurdistan should be united and be a voice there. In this way, we can achieve success."

 

Stressed that on the one hand there are discussions on "solution" but on the other hand the attacks continue, Ömer Ergin said, "They both persecute us and talk about peace. Is this peace? We demand concrete steps for peace and the liberation of Abdullah Öcalan and all political prisoners."

 

'WE WILL CONTINUE TO STRUGGLE'

 

Pointing out that civilians were massacred in Tishreen, Mehmet Yılmaz said, "The state talks about peace on the one hand and massacres people on the other. This is not the right approach. When a person puts forward an idea, they should stick to it and act accordingly. In other words, they want to kill our brothers on the one hand and sign peace with us on the other. What happened in Tishreen today is a crime against humanity and unacceptable. Therefore, the state should focus on peace, not war. The state must take its hands off Tishreen as soon as possible. Tishreen is the land of the people living there. Not other states."

 

Emphasising that they want peace and freedom, not war, Ayten Kılıç said, "We will continue to struggle against these massacres. We will take our rights. Rojava is ours and will remain ours".

 

Gülbahar Kılıç reacted to the attacks against civilians in Tishreen and said, "Why do those who react to Israel's massacre of the people remain silent about the massacres in Rojava. They do not tolerate Kurds. They want the Kurds to disappear. We will win again as we won in Kobanê before. For this, we must all be united."