Interview
Traveling to Kobane, Turkey expels Roman politician Amedeo Ciaccheri as persona non grata
We interviewed Amedeo Ciaccheri, president of Rome’s Municipio VIII from the Ecologist Civic Left: ‘In Italy, with the exception of a few who have kept international relations with the Middle East alive over the years, the left has a deep-rooted problem: it is no longer looking at broader horizons.’
The Italian delegation's trip to northeastern Syria ended with a forced expulsion. At dawn on January 28, when the middle door of our shuttle from the flight from Erbil opened to the entrance of Istanbul's Sabiha Gökçen airport, two Turkish policemen were standing by. “Amedeo, Amedeo,” we heard them call.
They were looking for the president of Rome’s Municipio VIII, Amedeo Ciaccheri, from the Ecologist Civic Left. They asked him to follow them. The Italian Embassy in Turkey mobilized immediately, alerted by his fellow travelers. An hour and a half later, the interrogation concluded and he was handed a decree of expulsion from Turkey, with no “expiration” date.
There was no official explanation, but the reason was not hard to figure out: namely, the week he spent in the territory of the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria (DAANES) and his decades-long political activities in support of the Kurdish people and the revolution in northeastern Syria.
We saw you come back over an hour later. What happened in the time between your detention and release?
I was taken by the airport police to their offices. They took away my phone and documents, and after a long wait I was told that I was subject to a deportation order from the country as persona non grata. I was asked why I had been traveling to Iraq, but it was obvious that the border police were aware of our participation in the international delegation for the 10th anniversary of the liberation of Kobane.
On Sunday, from the stage in Kobane, you represented the voice of the Italian movements, an important return of support after a decade of solidarity. How has the Kurdish democratic project changed the way we ourselves are rethinking politics from an internationalist perspective?
It was an emotional experience. As was the task of delivering the messages of those who over the years have been working for the Kurdish cause and those in Italy who have a historical connection with that movement, ever since 1999. This international solidarity arose around the Kurdish project of democratic confederalism and the version of municipalism developed in Syria, and is present in the debate among the left at the international level.
As an official in local government, do you feel you have a particular connection to this experience?
I do, because I think that diplomacy can also be done from the bottom up and that municipalism can guide the scope of local autonomy within an overall democratic perspective. And, finally, because we have the responsibility to respond to a need, namely for the left in our country to regain an international dimension.
The delegation met with the political and military leadership of DAANES. What message did they have for you?
First of all, that Turkey's war has never ended. Second, that the historical moment to focus on today is the talks between the Autonomous Administration and the new government in Damascus for a possible transition that would include the recognition of the autonomy of DAANES as a formal actor.
The delegation included Italian politicians and representatives of the French New Popular Front. What does the absence of leftists from other European countries tell us?
It tells us that the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the liberation of Kobane took place under the shadow of war, which limited its international reach. It also tells us that in Italy, with the exception of a few who have kept international relations with the Middle East alive over the years, the left has a deep-rooted problem: it is no longer looking at broader horizons. Neither Ukraine nor Palestine have been chosen as destinations for missions by the Italian left. While the right has a cultural horizon and an established way of working at the international level as well, the left is paying the price for the narrowing of its field of vision. The best protagonists of the new left at the Western and European level, such as the New Popular Front in France, and especially France Insoumise, are precisely those who are thinking about how to position themselves within an international setting.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/viaggio-a-kobane-la-turchia-espelle-amedeo-ciaccheri-persona-non-grata on 2025-01-29