We strongly condemn the terror attack on civilians during a concert in Moscow and send our deepest condolences to the families and people of the Russian Federation. As Kurds, we share their pain and know from personal experience how inhumane and cruel ISIS can be.

Since 2014, we have lost thousands of civilians to the barbarity of ISIS in Rojava / North and East Syria and Southern Kurdistan (north Iraq). And despite sacrificing over 12,000 martyrs to liberate all the territory that ISIS once held, the threat from their dormant sleeper cells still remains.

One of the primary reasons for the continuation of ISIS, is the Turkish state has been providing them “life support” by attacking the Kurdish forces throughout Syria who are attempting to eradicate them alongside the global coalition. Turkey does this because Erdogan’s regime and his current Foreign Minister Fidan have provided logistical, political, diplomatic, and military support to ISIS from its inception. Ankara believed they could weaponize ISIS as their own proxy mercenary force against the Kurds, but as this latest shocking attack in Moscow proves, their strategy endangers far more than the Kurdish people.

We would like to see ISIS as a distant memory, but this is not possible until states like Turkey who support them are brought before an international court and held accountable for their litany of genocidal war crimes.

Tragically, the same ISIS mentality that murdered over 130 Russian civilians in cold blood, also exists throughout the territories that the Turkish military and their ex-ISIS militants illegally occupy in northern Syria – including in the Kurdish cities of Afrin, Serê Kaniyê, and Girê Spi. Hopefully once those areas are freed, it will prevent further terror attacks in the future.

Once again, we reiterate our heartfelt sympathy to all of the victims and their loved ones,

Executive Council of the KNK

March 23, 2024