Activists have blocked the Turkish Airlines counter at the Vienna International Airport as part of the #RiseUpForRojava campaign against the airline.
The activists blocked the Turkish Airlines counter with the powerful slogan: “As long as bombs fly, nobody flies here!”. Companies like Turkish Airlines play a key role in propping up the dictatorial Turkish state and the Tourism industry is a central part of the state’s economic power.
Activists from the Kurdish freedom movement, from feminist, ecological and anti-fascist groups and from the peace movement have joined forces for the action “because we can no longer bear the war that Erdoğan is waging in Kurdistan and Syria with the support of NATO states. And because we know that neither the Turkish state nor its supporters can be diverted from their war course by appeals to humanity. Actions are now called for,” a press release said.
“Our protest action is part of the campaign RiseUp4Rojava and only one of many actions against enterprises, which support the war of Erdoğan.
Why are we protesting against Turkish Airlines? Blood is on the hands of the company’s bosses. Turkish Airlines is very closely associated with the AKP, parts of the company are in state hands. The company has recently reaffirmed that it is behind the fascist war of aggression against the self-governing region of Northeast Syria/Rojava.
This war is directed not only against the democratic structures that were built up there and against the women’s movement in the region, but also against the Kurdish and Christian population that are sought to be expelled and assimilated. Several hundred thousand people have already had to flee Syria before Erdoğan’s advance, while thousands have been injured and killed.
We will not allow the supporters and profiteers of the war to work and live in peace in Vienna. We will continue to build up pressure, until the governments of Europe clearly position themselves against the war and the war is stopped.”