Time is Pressing: Immediately Initiate All Non-military Measures – No to a Bundeswehr Deployment in Syria and Northern Iraq

The terrible war against Kurds, Yazidis, dissenting Muslims, and Christians in Northern Iraq and Syria is also a consequence of the military escalation of the U.S. war against Iraq in 2003. The discrimination of Sunnis during occupation and by the Iraqi regime as well as the support of the IS terror groups from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and other countries allied to the West contributed to it as well.

Turkey has a singular responsibility in this severe crisis. But the Turkish government mainly wants to topple Assad and fight the self-administration of the Kurds. To this end it even uses the terrorist soldier army calling itself “Islamic State”.  Its potential fighters are allowed to pass through unchecked, the same is true for armaments. Refugees and transports of relief supplies are, however, regularly obstructed. In the city of Kobane Kurds of the YPG fight mainly under political leadership of PYD, closely associated with the PKK, against the Islamic State. They are criminalised by the Turkish government and even attacked because it aims to destroy the YPG. The oppression of protests against this policy in Turkey is not acceptable.

Turkey is a Nato member and EU candidate country. Thus, it is an ally of the U.S., Great Britain, France, Germany, and other states. But German government does not apply the slightest pressure on Turkish government. This failure of German government and its allies is irresponsible. In this situation now some of the leadership of the Greens suggested to send the Bundeswehr to the war zone in Syria and Northern Iraq. DIE LINKE, on the other hand, clearly opposes foreign deployments of the Bundeswehr and, thus, this proposal.

DIE LINKE is an antimilitarist party. We stand for civil conflict prevention and civil conflict solutions. We critize the intervention policy of the major Western  powers which made this catastrophic situation initially possible. A military intervention of Western states is also to be rejected on the grounds of previous experiences with military interventions showing that this eventually facilitates the recruitment of terror militia. Experience from all former “humanitarian interventions” demonstrates that afterwards there wasn’t less but more terror. The political and social conflicts lying behind the ethnic and religious conflitcs cannot be pacified by external military violence, let alone be solved. The “war against terror” of NATO, US, and German government has failed and increased terrorist dangers globally. Now they ask for a new one. DIE LINKE justifiably rejected the “war against terror” and anew rejects a participation of Germany in another one.

To our No to a deployment of Bundeswehr we add a sharp critique of the previous acting of the German government and the international community. Time is pressing: All non-military measures supporting the people threatened by IS have to be implemented immediately. Therefore we demand:

1.      All measures suitable to weaken the self defence powers of the Kurds fighting against IS are to be omitted especially from Turkey. We are shocked about news of Turkey attacking Kurdish fighters in the given situation. We demand an immediate stop of those attacks. We ask the federal government to withdraw the Bundeswehr patriot missiles deployed in the region to increase pressure on Erdogan.

2.     Kurdish self-administration must eventually be acknowledged internationally and by Turkey as a legitimate democratic way of development for the people living there. The elected representatives of the Kurdish self-administered areas and the PYD have to be invited by the federal government and EU for talks about a solution of the situation at the Syrian-Kurdish border.

3.      The ban on the PKK in Germany has to be dropped immediately, the PKK must be struck from the EU terror list to increase political pressure on Turkey and to no longer penalise the political self-organisation and solidarity work in Germany and Europe. DIE LINKE will introduce suitable steps inside and beyond parliament.

4.     The protection of refugees and civilians must have the highest priority. Turkey has to open the borders to the Kurdish areas in Northern Syria and close the borders for IS fighters. This would most effectively help the people in Kobane and their struggle for self-defense. The international community under leadership of the UN has to undertake a common effort to take in and protect refugees from the border regions. The affected neighbour states may no longer be left alone. The international community has to act concertedly.

5.     Humanitarian aid for the people having fled from Syria and Iraq must be massively increased. The UN refugee relief organisation needs to have direct access to the border region. The Western states have to take in a mulitple of the already approved number of refugees to relieve the neighbouring states. To this, the necessary preconditions have to be created in Germany as well. Municipalities need respective financial and organisational support.

6.     The IS must be effectively cut off from its financiers in the Arabic world and from the trade with resources and weapons. The licences of banks, directly or indirectly participating in money transactions of IS, must be struck off for the whole EU. Countries supporting IS have to be sanctioned.

7.     DIE LINKE supports the campaign for donations for Kurdish refugees in the Turkish-Syrian border region, initiated by members of our faction in Bundestag.