ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Speaking to reporters in Afrin on Monday, a visiting delegation of Kurdish MPs hailed the ‘resilience’ in the face of the major military attack, while promising to report their findings to diplomats in the Kurdistan Region.
“The victories of Afrin have made all of us proud… This has been for the first time in the history that a nation without any backing and that does not receive any support from giant and powerful states, have resisted for 24 continued days against a powerful and fully-equipped state,” a PUK delegate, Abbas Fatah, told reporters.
Spread across Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran, Kurds have united for their most-western, stateless brethren.
“This is a source of pride for our nation. This should become a lesson for all of us in all the other parts of Kurdistan to cast aside our internal rivalries and issues,” he said.
Turkey has used German-manufactured Leopard tanks and modern jets to target the isolated canton.
Abbas hailed the defense as “the sign of unity and self-confidence of our nation” standing against one of the world’s largest militaries.
“Only our force can protect us and our nation. If united, we will remain victorious,” he asserted. “We are ready to provide all assistance to them; material and moral.”
The Gorran (Change Movement) delegate Sherko Hama Amin mentioned they would report what have they seen.
He said Turkish artillery shells and airstrikes have “destroyed the economic infrastructure of Afrin and burned orchards and groves of civilians.”
Amin added that they would do their best to take all necessary measures to help stop the attack, including reporting their findings to the Kurdistan Region’s parliament, diplomatic missions, NGOs, the European Union and other countries in order to “shatter this siege on Afrin.”
He strongly slammed human rights organizations and the international community for their silence on “the incursions going on in Afrin.”
The delegation of Kurdish MPs arrived in the capital city of the Kurdish canton on Sunday evening.
They hail from five different parties.
The UK-based conflict monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported four civilians killed in Afrin canton by Turkish strikes on Sunday, bringing the total to 74 since Turkey launched the operation on January 20. Kurdish officials have claimed the death toll is at least as high as 160.
Turkey denies they target civilians, claiming that they have made so little progress in order to save lives.
