There is a word that cannot be spoken in Turkey, and that is the word war. President Erdoğan and his backers are attacking Kurdish civilians, and are calling the military invasion an “operation” – Operation Source of Peace. This shows a blatant disregard for the truth.

Talking about war in Turkey equals being a traitor. The few free voices there must expect atrocious retaliations: jail, defamation, civil death. No dissent is allowed. The carnage of the Kurds, the wiping out of their independence, their rights, their dreams, is being depicted by Erdoğan as a vital necessity for the Turkish people.

It is against all of this and against that false narrative of reality that Europe needs to show unity, resolve and cohesion. We cannot abandon the Kurds to their fate. After President Trump’s betrayal, their last resort is to call upon Europe.

The Kurdish cause must matter to us all because wars are being fought with weapons we manufacture and sell (Europe’s ministers’ decision to ban arms sales to Turkey was a necessary, albeit late, step). It must matter to us all because the Kurds were the only group capable of checking Islamic State’s push. It must matter to us all because Turkey gets money from Europe to halt Syrian migrants.

All of this must matter to us because Europe, which some would like to break apart, must now show it exists as a political, territorial, economic and, above all, cultural entity. It must show itself to be a place where democracy exists and, even if jeopardised, resists.

Roberto Saviano, Svetlana Alexievich, Fernando Aramburu, Marc Augé, Martin Caparros, Annie Ernaux, Elena Ferrante, Bernard-Henri Lévy, Hanif Kureishi, Salman Rushdie, Mario Vargas Llosa, Herta Mueller and Robert Harris

This appeal was also published by the Italian newspaper La Repubblica

• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com

• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters

• Do you have a photo you’d like to share with Guardian readers? Click here to upload it and we’ll publish the best submissions in the letters spread of our print edition