First published July 2
Speakers:
DR. BOB BROWN,
Human Rights advocate & former leader of the Australian Greens
MR. HEVAL HERKI,
Kurdish Democratic Community Centre of Victoria
PROF. JOHN TULLY,
Australians for Kurdistan
Chair: ALDERMAN HELEN BURNET
Date: 7.00 for 7.30 PM, WEDNESDAY JULY 18
Venue: REPUBLIC BAR, 299 Elizabeth Street, North Hobart
In January 2015, the Kurdish people lifted the siege of Kobanê in northern Syria by the so-called Islamic State. Young Kurdish men and women have continued to sacrifice their lives in the battle to defeat the barbarians.
We have shown them scant gratitude.
Earlier this year, the Turkish military, assisted by other Islamists, invaded the peaceful Kurdish canton of Afrin. Since then, the invaders have “ethnically cleansed” the city of its Kurdish population. Australia has looked the other way.
The autocratic Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has vowed to invade the other Kurdish regions of northern Syria. He has imposed a reign of terror in the Kurdish regions of Turkey and gaoled the co-leaders of the pro-Kurdish People’s Democratic Party, Selahattin Demirtaş and Figen Yüksekdağ.
Australia keeps silent. The UK, the US, Russia and Germany continue to sell high-tech weapons to Erdoğan.
Australians can do better than this. Australian Kurds are bewildered by the silence. Let’s not let them down again.
For further information, contact John Tully at [email protected]
