About 50 people made a solidarity demo for Kobane at the Savoy Hotel from 6pm this evening (Saturday 25 October). The Turkey Britain Chamber of Commerce and Industry were holding their annual ball, attended by the ambassador and deputy economy minister, and sponsored by global bank HSBC.

The demo was a good mix of London anarchists and antifascists alongside Kurdish youth, and other autonomous groups and individuals. There were no cops there initially, and the demonstrators took over the private road off the Strand that leads into the hotel, blocking all the main entrances with banners and making a lot of noise. Chants included “We are Kobane, Kobane is us”, “Alerta, Alerta, Antifascista”, “No Pasaran”, “Who supports ISIS, Turkey supports ISIS”, etc.

The demo didn’t shut the “ISIS business dinner” down, but gave a bit of a shake-up to the bourgeois ball-goers and seemed like a major embarassment to the Savoy hotel management. More importantly, it was a show of solidarity with the fighters in Rojava, and with the Kurdish and Turkish youth who have been going up against the guns of the Turkish state.

The police didn’t arrive for half an hour or more, then rocked up with five or so vans full. They managed to clear the private road and threatened the crowd with some kind of “public order” notices.

The ambassador and minister were not spotted, but presumably came in through a side entrance or otherwise, they were due to make speeches from 7.30PM. Guests had also been promised a chocolate fountain.

(PICS by rikki on twitter @indyrikki)