The recent terrorist insurgency that has swept through Iraq is a grave concern to the Socialist International and must urgently be brought to an end. Reports of mass killings and executions of unarmed prisoners have horrified our movement and have no justification under any circumstances. The Council of the Socialist International condemns without reservation the actions of the insurgent group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), which is responsible for the recent heinous acts perpetrated in Iraq and Syria. The troubling events of the past weeks are bringing more instability to a region in need of security and democracy. Our sympathies are with the many innocent civilians who have been the victims of violence and terror, including Turkish diplomats and their families who were kidnapped by militants in Mosul.
The traumatic events of recent weeks have destabilised the governmental structure and federal government of Iraq. The Socialist International rejects the creation of an Islamic caliphate and supports calls for a government of national unity in Iraq, with the representation of all the diverse groups within Iraqi society, to search for a common way forward that protects the interest of all Iraqis, recognising the necessity that the freedoms of all groups are respected. Without guarantees of pluralism based on equal rights for all, space is created for sectarian division and extremism to grow, and it is the innocent citizens of Iraq who are suffering as a result of these divisions. The SI expresses its solidarity with its member party in Iraq, the PUK, and with the Kurdish people who are on the front line of the battle against Iraq’s extremist insurgency and urges that the Kurdish people are granted their rightful voice in any discussions on the future of Iraq.
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