The Revolutionary Communist Group attended the service and procession for Mehmet Aksoy in London on 10 November 2017. Mehmet had gone to Raqqa with the People’s Protection Units (YPG) to film the battle against IS and was killed there on 26 September. The RCG knew Mehmet and had been on protests and in meetings with him. Mehmet was well known and much loved by the Kurdish people in Britain. Five thousand or more people gathered at the Kurdish Community Centre in Haringey North London and then proceeded on foot through mainly working class areas to Highgate cemetery where Mehmet was buried. They chanted slogans of the Kurdish revolutionary struggle and made calls for international solidarity as they went. On reaching the cemetery a minute’s silence was held for the martyrs of the struggle in front of Karl Marx’s tomb and the flag of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) was laid on Mehmet’s grave. The RCG gave the following message of support:
MESSAGE OF SOLIDARITY
The Revolutionary Communist Group and its paper Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism! salutes the life and memory of Mehmet Aksoy and we send our condolences to his family and friends. Mehmet was the product of generations of struggle by the Kurdish people and he was a very special young man. The Kurdish people have achieved a pinnacle of resistance in the world. Your struggle and your sacrifice is for all of humanity. Mehmet is a martyr in that struggle. You will be victorious! That victory will be our tribute to Mehmet and to all of the martyrs.
Long live Mehmet Aksoy! Long live Kurdistan!
Trevor Rayne on behalf of the Revolutionary Communist Group, 10 November 2017.
