World Kobane Day celebrated in Australia

Issue 
The World Kobane Day rally in Sydney on November 1. Photo: Peter Boyle

Tens of thousands of people rallied around the world on November 1 to demand greater international support for Kurds battling the ISIS in Syria.

Last year on the same date, hundreds of rallies, demonstrations and actions took place across dozens of countries to show support for Kobane and its people at a time when major players in the region, including Turkey and Iraq, were doing little to help its people cope with the Islamic State siege.

The population of , the liberated Kurdish region of Northern Syria, led by the People's Protection Units (YPG) and the Women's Protection Units (YPJ), has successfully managed to hold their territory against successive ISIS offensives, including several attacks on Kobane.

But, a year after Kobane was liberated, much more is needed to help the city rebuild. Months after the worst of the siege, humanitarian aid is still being blocked from entering the city and people are in urgent need of basic medical supplies, food and clothing.

The main group behind the rallies, the Kobane Reconstruction Board, has called for “a humanitarian corridor to be opened up and for the freedom and reconstruction of the city”.

The Sydney rally echoed the call for a humanitarian relief corridor to allow volunteers, supplies and equipment to get to Kobane. It also called for the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) to be taken off the "terrorist list" in Australia.

Greens MP for Balmain Jamie Parker, Peter Boyle from the Socialist Alliance and Mia Sanders from Resistance: Young Socialist Alliance were among the speakers who supported these calls at the rally.

Other speakers included Amanda Johnston, the mother of Australian martyr for Kobane, Ashley Kent Johnston; Anjana Regmi, a lecturer at the University of Technology Sydney; author Alison Buckley; trade union activist Robin Mayo; Kurdish Association co-chair Brusk Aeiveri; and Ismet Tashtan.

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