Human ‘statue’ of Kurdish symbol of resistance unveiled in Dundee

ATUC Secretary, Fiona Napier joined activists in Dundee on Saturday 24 March as they demonstrated solidarity with the Kurdish people in Northern Syria by unveiling a human ‘statue’ of Kawa the Blacksmith, a symbol of resistance.

Fiona was featured in the Evening Telegraph as she took a message of solidarity to campaigners from Scottish Solidarity with Kurdistan (SSK) and Dundee Trades Union Council as they came together to oppose ongoing Turkish aggression in the region.

Following Turkey’s invasion of Afrin – one of three cantons which make up the Rojava region - in January, Afrin city fell to the invaders last week.

In a symbolic demonstration of the seizure of power, the soldiers pulled down the statue of Kawa the Blacksmith, a mythic Kurdish figure who represents the triumph of ordinary people over tyrannical rule.

In defiance of this move, Scottish campaigners produced their own statue of Kawa, in the form of a person covered in silver paint, holding his famed Blacksmith’s hammer in one hand, a Kurdish YPG (People’s Defence Units) flag in the other.

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