Syria: Don’t Let Idlib Die!

 

Support the heroic Syrian people fighting in the last trenches against the barbarous onslaught by Assad and Putin!

 

Statement of the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT), 10 February 2020, www.thecommunists.net

 

 

 

The barbarous killing machine under the command of Assad, Putin and Rouhani rolls without mercy over village after village, town after town. Faced with superior Russian Air Force, Iranian militias and heavy artillery and left without any support from abroad, the Syrian liberation fighters are forced to retreat more and more. In the last weeks, we saw the loss of Maarat al-Numan and Saraqib. Other towns might follow soon.

 

People are fleeing in panic as they don’t want to live under the conditions of the brutal tyranny of Assad which has murdered hundreds of thousands Syrians in the last years. According to United Nations, nearly 700,000 civilians have been displaced since early December, including nearly 100,000 in the last week alone – 80 percent of them women and children!

 

No doubt, this is the final battle of the Syrian Revolution! If the liberation forces don’t succeed in stopping the assault now, the Syrian Revolution – one of the longest revolutionary struggles in modern history beginning in March 2011 – will be finally crushed.

 

The Turkish government of Erdoğan is facing a huge dilemma. It wants to keep its alliance with imperialist Russia at any cost. On the other hand, if Assad is allowed to conquer Idlib Erdoğan would have to deal with additional millions of Syrian refuges – in addition to the 3.5 millions who are already living in Turkey. Hence, Erdoğan conducts cynical zigzag manoeuvres like the Astana and Sochi deals, sending 2,500 Syrian fighters to Libya (when, at the same time, Idlib is about to fall!), and threatening Assad by sending Turkish military to Idlib. It should be clear now to everyone that Erdoğan is a “guardian of the Muslim ummah” in words only. In contrast, Erdoğan is a friend of Putin – the butcher of the Chechen and the Syrian people – in deeds!

 

The rallying cry of the workers and popular organizations around the world must be now: “Don’t Let Idlib Die!The Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT) calls for international solidarity with the Syrian people and the heroic liberation fighters. Contrary to the Islamophobic defamations of the Stalinist and semi-Stalinist friends of Putin and Xi, contrary to the arrogant silence of liberals and pseudo-socialist centrists – the truth is that the struggle of the Syrian people is a war of liberation and independence”. It is a just popular struggle against the Assad tyranny which is a mere puppet of Russian imperialism and the Iranian dictatorship.

 

The RCIT denounces the dirty deals of Erdoğan with Putin and Rouhani! We say: if Turkey wants to help the Syrian Revolution, it should immediately scrap the deals of Astana and Sochi and stop sending Syrian fighters to Libya. Instead of sending military convoys to build useless military posts in Idlib, it should give state-of-the-art arms to the rebels so that they can bring down the Russian warplanes and destroy the heavy artillery and tanks of the enemy.

 

We warn that the Turkish army in Idlib should not be trusted. Since Erdoğan desires to keep his alliance with Putin the butcher, it is quiet likely that he will strike again a treacherous deal against the Syrian Revolution. As a result the Turkish troops could be used to expel, disarm or crush the Syrian liberation fighters and to hand over parts of Idlib to the regime.

 

We appeal once more to all authentic socialists, consistent democrats and all righteous Muslim and non-Muslim people to stand by the Syrian people in this difficult time! We reiterate our call from June 2019 and urge those forces to unite in organizing a global solidarity campaign in defense of the Syrian Revolution. We propose that such an international united front campaign should focus on the following:

 

* Organization of global days of solidarity action.

 

* Obstruction of all efforts to support and legitimize the Assad regime.

 

* Stepped up pressure on governments, especially in Europe, to open borders for refugees.

 

* Support efforts for humanitarian aid for the civilian population in Idlib.

 

* Support for the legitimate right of Syrian liberation fighters to acquire material aid (including weapons and volunteers) to defend themselves against the barbarous onslaught by Assad and Putin.

 

* Organization of a political struggle against the pro-Assadist and Islamophobic criminal forces that are slandering the struggle of the Syrian people for their freedom.

 

Brothers and sisters, we appeal to you not to abandon the Syrian people in this most difficult hour! Rally now under the slogan: Defend Idlib - Defeat Assad and the Russian-Iranian Occupiers! Don’t Let Idlib Die!

 

 

 

International Bureau of the RCIT

 

 

 

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The RCIT has published a number of booklets, statements, and articles on the Syrian Revolution that can be accessed on a special sub-section of this website: https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/collection-of-articles-on-the-syrian-revolution/. Our call “Save the Syrian Revolution!” has been published in six languages and can be read here in English: https://www.thecommunists.net/worldwide/africa-and-middle-east/call-save-the-syrian-revolution/.