The Syrian Revolutionary Left Current has released a strong statement of solidarity with the resistance in Afrin against the Turkish invasion. Calling it one of the most "unique experiences in Syria", this Syrian opposition group say they stand with the "dauntless and courgeous resistance" against the 'Turkish occupation forces'.



The Syrian Revolutionary Left Current is a particularly unique social actor within the broader Syrian civil opposition. Releasing its transitional program in October 2011 with the outbreak of the Syrian uprising, the Revolutionary Left Current was one of the first groups to denounce and warn against the militarization of the opposition. Among their other demands was the immediate downfall of the Assad Government and the construction of a secular, pluralist and decentralized Syria. But as the war became increasingly marginalised, and proxy powers began to fund hardline Islamist forces to carve their own spheres of influence in Syria, voices like the Revolutionary Left Current became increasingly marginalised.



The group still operates within and outside of Syria.



In 2017, they released a statement condemning the "betrayal of the Syrian revolution", a harrowing account of what they argue was the fading promise of a legitimate uprising against despotism.



As they put it:



"As for the countries which claimed to “support the Syrian people,” they acted no differently from the regime. These regional countries (Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and so on) not only supported the regressive forces. These countries were panicked by the possibility of the victory of the possibility of the victory of a popular and radical revolution no less than the Assad regime was. On that, black flags and extremism (jihadist) spread through the areas outside the regime’s control, at the expense of the popular movement and the revolution’s banners. The regime and imperial and regional forces succeeded, whether those who are allied with the regime or those claiming to be against it, in fulfilling their own prophecy. Was it not the regime that since the first month called peaceful protesters infiltrators then vandals then Salafists then armed men, then terrorists, then radicals, and now Takfiris?"



The Syrian Revolutionary Left Current has also been one of the few groups in Syria to seriously tackle the Kurdish Question. As IS began its terror campaign against Kobane, the leadership of the organisation immediately released a solidarity statement where they explicitly condemned "the suspicious silence of some sections of the opposition forces" and declared their "full and firm solidarity with the Kurdish masses".



And while they have also had their criticisms and differences with the PYD and SDF, in 2016 they announced a national coalition with the National Democratic Alliance and the Syrian Democratic Forces on the basis of some points of unity, including a "reliance on the principle of political decentralization", and the construction of a "pluralist democracy guaranteeing the rights of all components in Syrian society".



The Region is happy to provide a translation of their latest statement of solidarity with Afrin:



For our liberation... we will resist!



The invasion of the Turkish occupation forces and its mercenaries began in the Syrian region of Afrin. Villages and cities have been subjected to brutal bombardment. So far, dozens of civilians have been killed and wounded, civilians we consider our family. But the ugly Turkish invasion is faced with a dauntless and courageous resistance in the region.

The Turkish invasion, as in the case of American, Russian and Iranian interventions, only aims at serving the interests of governments and the dominant classes. This invasion has nothing to do with the Syrians, nor their freedom or their suffering. The past seven years are enough to clearly demonstrate this to those who suffer from political blindness.

Afrin is a unique experience in the Syrian scene. Afrin could creatively protect and preserve the existence of many ethnic groups while enshrining religious diversity.

Afrin patiently received hundreds of thousands of displaced people from Aleppo, Idlib and other cities because it is a place of coexistence, tolerance, equality, democracy, and freedom.

For the past recent years, we, as The Current Revolutionary Left, have had the privilege to cooperate and coordinate with our democratic and revolutionary comrades there, especially with the Syrian National Democratic Alliance.

We have been able to experience their experiment which brings us together; their ability to uphold of equality for all Syrians and their work to create a civic sphere for all Syrians in a free and unified Syria. Moreover, we admire their struggle for social justice and the way in which they reclaimed their self-determination from the regime's junta, all the reactionary forces, and other multiple occupation forces.

In the face of the aggression of the Turkish government; there is no place for neutrality or gray positions. Not only do we condemn this aggression but also call for the mobilization of all our capabilities to confront and defeat it.

We call for the convergence and alliance of democratic and revolutionary forces in the three areas of Syria (those in northern Syria, those fighting in the areas of control of the regime, and those struggling in the areas controlled by terrorist reactionary forces.)

To confront this aggression and liberate Syria from tyrants and invaders and to build a better future for our people in our country based on freedom, democracy, equality, social justice and national independence, we declare our uncompromising stand in the trench of the struggle of our people and its mighty resistance in Afrin to face the brutal war of the Turkish government.

Long live the struggle of our people in the face of the occupiers. Long live the struggle of our people in Afrin and all the regions in Syria against invaders, sectarian militias, reactionaries, and mercenaries. We demand the Downfall of aggressors. Victory for All peoples.



All power to the people

The Revolutionary Left Current

20.01.2018



statement translated by Cihad Hammy, edited by The Region editors.