Five\nyears ago, the Kurdish enclave of Kobane in Northern Syria was\nbesieged by Islamic State fighters, who then seemed to be on an\nunstoppable march through Iraq and Syria, with cities and towns\nfalling swiftly under their control. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But\nin Kobane, their advance was stopped by Kurdish fighters. Those\nfighters, men and women alike, were exceptionally brave and\ndetermined to resist the Islamist onslaught. And they were not\nalone. They received help from the Obama administration, which had\nairdropped bundles of arms, ammunition and medical aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today\nthey are once again under threat, but this time it\u2019s not IS they\u2019re\nworried about. It\u2019s President Obama\u2019s successor in the White\nHouse, who has apparently given the green light to the Turkish\ngovernment to invade Syria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\n2014, support for the Kurdish enclave in northern Syria was strong\namong some sections of the labour movement and the Left. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nrecall addressing a rally in Trafalgar Square, mostly attended by\nmembers of London\u2019s Kurdish community. But among the speakers were\nhuman rights activist Peter Tatchell and a leading trade unionist\nfrom the RMT. I spoke about the international labour movement\u2019s\nresponsibility to defend the people of Kobane, which was under siege.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today, the labour movement has once again taken the lead to speak out against the imminent threat of a Turkish invasion. The European Trade Union Confederation has issued a very strong statement. Its General Secretary, Luca Visentini, called on \u201cEuropean leaders to do everything within their power to stop a Turkish invasion of northern Syria\u201d. He said that such an attack would be senseless, and would “send Syria back to square one\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\nhope those leaders are listening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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