Syria - February 8, 2023

Devastating earthquake strikes a nation already slaughtered and reduced to rubble by 12 years of bombing by al-Assad, Putin, Erdogan and the US

 The workers seek to rescue their relatives from among the demolished houses with what little they have:

 Expropriation of all companies and banks to put them to produce and finance the rescue of the people!

 An earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale struck northern Syria, southern and eastern Turkey, and as far north as Lebanon in the early hours of Monday, February 6.  A few hours later a new 7.5 earthquake was felt.  The aftershocks lasted all day and were continuous.  The effects were devastating.

This enormous catastrophe has left more than 11,000 dead and 53,000 injured between Turkey and Syria, and the number is growing every day as more is found under the rubble.  Some five thousand buildings were destroyed in Turkey alone, infrastructure such as roads, gas and water facilities, among others, was also severely damaged.  The Kurdish area was also hit with demolished buildings and thousands of dead.  In neighboring Syria, entire neighborhoods, including homes, hospitals, schools, have been wiped out and today only rubble remains.
The oppressed masses have organized precarious rescue teams in Syria and are working endlessly, day and night, with what little equipment they have, trying to get everyone still trapped under collapsed buildings and houses alive.  They know that they are against time, since the survivors under the rubble are without food or water and exposed to the intense cold of a harsh winter.
The men of war are too busy filling their pockets with the misery and despair of the workers, peasants and even small businessmen, to whom they charge fabulous rents, "protection" fees, etc.  Many neighborhoods of houses or buildings belonging to the exploited fell like lumps of dry mud because they are not anti-seismic, even when they have been charged as such at a good price.  And the oldest houses are deplorable remains of bombed and machine-gunned apartments.
Those who were able to survive now have a new challenge: finding a home.  They have lost everything in a matter of minutes.  They have neither a roof to live in nor shelter from the heavy snowfall of one of the coldest winters in recent years.

We are facing the continuation of the destruction of Syria that has been carried out at the hands of al-Assad, Putin, the Iranian ayatollahs, Hezbollah and the US imperialists with a genocide of hundreds of thousands of dead and cities devastated by air and artillery bombardments, while Turkey commanded the Sunni bourgeoisie that handed over the rebellious cities one by one.

 The Syrian masses suffered massacre, devastation, expulsion from their homes, jail with hundreds of thousands of political prisoners under torture, hunger, misery, and now these fascist forces want the masses to bear the weight of the cost of the earthquake catastrophe.

 "The international community", the UN and other dens of bandits like the EU say that they are going to donate some alms... They are cynical!  For almost 12 years the Syrian people were massacred, buried under rubble and their cities destroyed a hundred times more than in the earthquake and everyone looked the other way while supporting al-Assad from behind and freeing the skies for him to bomb, demolish cities and slaughter.

 On top of all, of the "help" that they proclaim, almost nothing reaches Syria.  They leave the Syrian masses to rot without even fuel for the rescue teams that have to operate with precarious machinery.

 On the other hand, al-Assad did not interrupt his bombing for even a minute and his pulse did not tremble in bombing the border crossings through which the supplies of "humanitarian aid" were supposed to enter.  Immediately afterwards, he declared that he was not going to accept the entry of any type of humanitarian aid that does not go through him.

 Between Erdogan and al-Assad they hoarded these alms, they showed a little of them and the vast majority later was destined by them for sale at a high price due to the intense need.  In Turkey, looting has already begun, demonstrating that the exploited have taken into their own hands the resolution of the scarcity, the need and the business of blood and the sufferings in charge of the rulers, NGOs, UN, etc.

For his part, Erdogan keeps Turkey's borders closed with Syria, enclosing the exploited Syrians, preventing them from seeing their relatives who may be in Turkey working, even separating families at times when they have lost loved ones in this earthquake.

 This is how everyone uses the earthquake as part of an attack on the masses that do not surrender, to finish imposing the reconciliation plan that they have been promoting.

 It is urgent that solidarity brigade members from all over the Middle East (Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, etc.) be sent to Syria for rescue tasks and to fight against the occupation troops that are martyring the Syrian people.  That the unions of the world send funds and volunteers to Syria, the refugee camps and all the areas affected by the earthquake.  Long live class solidarity at the international level!

 Unity of the Syrian people with the workers of Turkey!  Both are suffering the same tragedy and treatment in their own country: first they save the bourgeoisie and rich people while leaving the people in the worst suffering.  Open the borders of Turkey and Syria!  For the right to self-determination of the Kurdish people!

 For workers and popular committees for the rescue, relief and solidarity with the millions of Syrians, Turks and Kurds trapped by the earthquake and the counterrevolutionary wars of the imperialist oil companies!

 Expropriation of all companies and banks to put them to produce and finance the rescue of the people!  The funds are there to implement a full-scale bailout plan and only the unified Turkish, Kurdish and Syrian working class can solve it.

 There can only be reconstruction by defeating al-Assad and expelling all the invading troops!  Down with the reconciliation pact!

Editorial Board of the paper "The Truth of the Oppressed"