Syria: Defend Idlib against Assad and Putin!
International Solidarity with the Liberation Struggle of the Syrian People!
Emergency Statement of the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT), 08 May 2019, www.thecommunists.net
1. The long-awaited attack on Idlib, the last citadel of the Syrian Revolution, has begun. Since late April, Assad’s helicopters and artillery assisted by the Russian Air Force, have launched a non-stop bombardment. Sixty-nine civilians had been killed by the assault, 12 healthcare centres destroyed and 200,000 people have been displaced. On 6 May, Assadist forces also launched a ground offensive resulting in fierce fighting with the rebels in the areas of the villages of al-Janabara and Tel Othman in the northern countryside of Hama province. Dozens of rebels have died defending their home territory in addition to a large number of regime troops.
2. This aggression demonstrates once more how empty all the promises of Erdoğan and his allies have been when they claimed that the treacherous Astana and Sochi deals would ensure peace for the Syrian people. In fact, the Turkish government has sold out these courageous fighters. The Russian non-stop bombardment in Idlib takes place without any serious protest by Ankara. Turkey and Russian imperialism continue to hold regular conferences, operate a “joint coordination centre” for Syria, and deepen their joint business activity. A diplomat reported: “There are suggestions of an arrangement between Russia and Turkey and the regime which would eat into the buffer zone by up to 25 miles in exchange for the Turks being able to take Tel Rifaat.” (The Guardian, 8 May 2019) It is clear that the Syrian people fighting the Assad tyranny must not rely on the Turkish government!
3. The Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT) reiterates its solidarity with the liberation struggle of the Syrian people! We call for the defense of Idlib against the aggression of Assad and Russian imperialism. Without lending any political support to the leadership of petty-bourgeois Islamist and nationalist formations like Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Turkistan Islamic Party, Jaysh al-Izza or remnants of the FSA, we unconditionally support the heroic defense of the last liberated area by the tens of thousands of rebel fighters.
4. The RCIT emphasizes that the liberation struggle must be based on democratically elected workers and popular councils and related militias. It must not rely on either any Great Power (like U.S., European, or Russian imperialism) or on any regional power. It must seek the revitalization of the liberation struggle in the territories occupied by the Assad forces. And it must strive to internationally link the Syrian Revolution with the popular struggles of the heroic people fighting against foreign occupiers and dictatorships in Palestine, Algeria, Sudan, Yemen, Libya, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Jordan, Tunisia, Afghanistan etc.!
* Defend Idlib against Assad and Putin!
* Victory to the popular liberation struggle against the criminal regime and its imperialist masters!
* For an international solidarity movement with the ongoing Syrian Revolution!
* For a workers and popular government! For a socialist federation in the Middle East!
International Bureau of the RCIT
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The RCIT has published a number of booklets, statements and articles on the Syrian Revolution which can be read on a special sub-section on this website: https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/collection-of-articles-on-the-syrian-revolution/