We share this article from Etha, first published in Turkish, as an analysis of the Astana summit.

The Astana summit, which ended on June 21, coincided with attacks at the hands of turkish fascism.

The fascist Erdogan regime intensified its attacks using drones, artillery tank bombardments and
assassinations. A widespread area, reaching from Shahpa over Qamishlo to Sulaymaniyah were
included within the scope of the attack. This time, civilians in charge of the Autonomous
Administration, as well as Syrian soldiers were directly targeted. Yusra Derwêş, Co-Chair of the
Qamishlo Canton, her deputy Lîman Şiwêş and Firat Tûma were massacred. In a previous attack,
QSD fighters were killed, as they were rescuing civilians that had been wounded during a bombing
in Sehpa. Syrian soldiers were also aimed at.
The Erdogan administration, present at the most recent Astana meeting, made use of these attacks as
a tool of intimidation, akin to Israeli methods. The message: it rejects the Assad regime’s “condition
of ending the occupation”.

The Assad regime did not object to neither the killing of its soldiers, nor the massacre of the
canton administrators of NE Syria. It also did not receive the “concrete timetable for the withdrawal
of the Turkish occupation forces”, that it had been expecting. Same goes for another agreement,
according to which Assad’s forces were to be granted access to the M4 highway. There have been
no changes in the first days following the Astana summit; the Turkish regime is demonstrating that
it will not fulfill promises it had previously agreed to. The declared respect for Syria’s territorial
integrity is empty diplomatic talk.
These new intimidation attacks by Erdogan, stating that he will not withdraw his invasion, are
enough to prove the hollowness of these diplomatic talks.
It seems that Assad’s mandator, the Putin regime, used the Astana summit as yet another reminder
that it will not be giving up its influence in Syria and the region, which it gained through military
force, amidst the Ukrainian war crisis. This, of course, serves as a diplomatic demonstration
against the United States.

The characterization of the Autonomous Administration as “illegal” in the communiqué appears to
have been imposed by the occupying force Turkey, against a government that Assad views as
an interlocutor. No agreement could be reached in this aspect.
This will likely play a role in legitimizing new attacks against the civilian democratic rule. From
Idlib to Sérekaniyé, the occupying Turkish fascism has forced its own illegality on everyone,
making use of tanks, bombers and Islamist gangs, violating both international bourgeois law and
Syria’s sovereignty.
Moreover, it demonstrates this further by appointing colonial administrators, imposing Turkish
education, enforcing population settlements and plundering the region economically.
In Syria, Erdogan’s regime creates conditions for imposing armed violence on its sphere of
influence in the name of a political solution.

If the Astana declaration targets the democratic representation of the Autonomous Administration
while condoning the illegality of colonial occupation, it proves once again that the game of
imperialist and regional states will not bring sovereignty and democracy to the Syrian peoples.

The US- and Russian imperialists, who allow fascist Erdogan to bomb Syria using drones, tanks and
missile bombardments, who do not close the airspace, offer the Syrian people and the democratic
Autonomous Administration as a sacrifice in the game of backing up power in rivalry. Is this a
green light for Erdoğan’s fascism to expand its occupation? This we shall see in the coming days.

But it is once again evident that the imperialist rivalry, even if used as an indirect factor in protecting the gains of the revolution, will still benefit the regional reactionary states more. And it
points to the absolute necessity of the solidarity of the democratic and socialist forces of the peoples
of the region in protecting the gains of the Rojava revolution.
The Iranian mullah regime is also coming to the aid of Erdogan fascism, both by signing the
declaration and by intensifying its attacks on the YRK (Guerilla-Force in Eastern Kurdistan/Iran),
with which it was in a ceasefire. It seems that the colonialists of Kurdistan are trying to strengthen
their war alliance. Even so, imperialists and regional colonizers inevitably end up in conflicts of
interest. For example, in Syria, Turkey’s expansion of its colonial occupation is opposed by the Arab
League states for their own interests.
However, it is the democratic and socialist forces of the peoples that must mobilize and protect the
Autonomous Administration and the gains of the revolution.
International solidarity against the war attacks of Zionist Israel gave strength to the Palestinian
people. Now, international solidarity with the Autonomous Administration and the gains of the
revolution will give similar strength to the peoples of North East Syria.

It becomes evident, once again, that the imperialist rivalry, even if used as an indirect factor in
protecting the gains of the revolution, will more so benefit the reactionary states in the region. This
points to the absolute necessity of solidarity between the democratic and socialist forces of the
people in the region to protect the gains of the Rojava revolution.
Erdogans fascist government has a partner in the Iranian mullah regime, which has not just signed
the(/a joint) declaration, but also intensified its attacks on the YRK (Guerilla-Force in Eastern
Kurdistan/Iran), despite a ceasefire.
It seems that the colonialists of Kurdistan are trying to strengthen their war alliances. But despite
this, imperialists and regional colonizers are inevitably going to end up in conflicts of
interest. Turkey’s expansion of its colonial occupation in Syria, for instance, faces opposition by
the Arab League states for the sake of their own interests.

Thus, it is the democratic and socialist forces of the people that must mobilize and protect the
Autonomous Administration and the gains of the revolution.

International solidarity against the war attacks of Zionist Israel gave strength to the Palestinian
people. Now the same is to be done for the peoples of North East Syria, by declaring international
solidarity with the Autonomous Administration and the gains of the revolution.