THE Kurdish national struggle will “go down in the history books” as this generation’s equivalent of the Spanish Civil War, Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle said today.

Speaking at a party conference fringe meeting, the MP for Brighton Kemptown said the revolution in Rojava, north-west Syria, was comparable to the anarchist revolution in Barcelona in 1936.

At the meeting, organised by the Freedom for Ocalan campaign, he said: “They have defeated Isis, who were a global fascist threat.

“They have created a system based on equality where women have joint leadership in all positions.”

Mr Russell-Moyle, who has visited the area as part of a delegation organised by Unite and the Centre for Kurdish Progress, urged solidarity with the beleaguered region and criticised the Turkish government’s “constant assault” on it.

Other speakers included Osman Baydemir, a senior politician from Turkey’s opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party, Sinn Fein MP Micky Brady and Labour peer Maurice Glasman.