In Ankara, Turkey, 97 people were killed and over 400 wounded as two bombs exploded as people gathered for a rally named “Labor, Peace and Democracy.” Many of the wounded are in critical condition.
Organized by the Public Sector Workers’ Trade Union and other progressive groups, many leftist organizations and the peoples of Turkey, both Kurdish and Turkish, had come together for this rally to stand for peace and say no to the war waged by the ruling AKP government against the Kurdish people in Turkey.
The Party for Socialism and Liberation denounces this vile massacre of extreme proportions committed against people who were standing for peace, justice and freedom.
We offer our deepest condolences to the families of the victims.
We stand in solidarity with all the Kurdish and Turkish people resisting the brutal repression of the Turkish government while also fighting for independence from the yoke of U.S. imperialism.
Selahattin Demirtaş, co-chair of the main Kurdish opposition, Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), said it was an “attack by the state on the people,” adding that world leaders should not send messages of condolences to the president or the prime minister of Turkey for the deaths.
While no organization or group has claimed responsibility for this despicable terrorist act, we hold the AKP first and foremost responsible for this massacre, as the ruling government of Turkey.
Blood is not just on the hands of the AKP government but on the hands of the whole U.S.-led NATO alliance.
In their ruthless effort to overthrow the government of Syria, U.S. imperialism has always supported the AKP government of Turkey. In the overt and covert wars waged by U.S. imperialism against the peoples of the region, the AKP has been instrumental as they provided arms, logistics, training and funding to the extremist reactionary jihadist groups, including the Nusrah Front and the Islamic State.
Long lasting and true peace between all the peoples of the Middle East will be achieved by a unified struggle against U.S. imperialism and its partners in the region like the AKP.
AKP: Stop the attacks on the Kurdish people and Turkey’s progressive movements!
U.S. / NATO hands off the Middle East!
