Kurdistan forces are liberating Western Kurdistan

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More pictures here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set= ... 879&type=1

[alan131210]

28 August 2012

The city is under control of Kurdish forces

Soldiers of the Syrian regime have attempted to enter the city Amude whose control was seized by Kurdish powers in West Kurdistan late July. Security forces of the High Kurdish Council are holding the pass of all roads in the city.

No clashes have been reported so far in the city in which Syrian soldiers claimed a military vehicle of the Syrian army had been seized.

After the beginnig of civil commotions in Syria in the March of 2011, the Kurdish powers in West Kurdistan formed people's assemblies, opened mother language providing educational institutions, created defence committees and changed the names of villages and cities which have been arabicized in the last 40 years.

The power in the cities of Kobani, Afrin, Dêrko Hemko and Amude was seized on 19-21 by the People’s Defense Units (YPG) which were formed to ensure security in the Syrian Kurdish region.

The mentioned Syrian cities have been managed by committees affilated to the High Kurdish Council which declared its foundation on 24 July as the representative of Kurds in the region.

firatnews

[alan131210]

When Assad falls, Kurds in Syria say they'll take back lands given to Arabs

ALI FARO, Syria -- Sattam Sheikhmous still farms wheat on what's left of his grandfather's land, shrunk from more than 32,000 acres to less than 5,000 by the Syrian government in 1966.

"They said it was a socialist policy, but we believe it was political," said Sheikhmous, now in his 60s, referring to the government confiscation of land that began when Syria joined with Egypt, then ruled by Gamal Abdel Nasser, to form the United Arab Republic in 1958.

The land confiscation took place across the country. But in the predominantly Kurdish province of Hasaka, in Syria's northeast corner, the resettlement of Arabs from another part of the country in the 1970s created ethnic tensions that could manifest themselves violently when the Syrian government fully relinquishes control of the area, now seen by many as only a matter of time.

"We have to ask them to give us our land back. If they don't, we have to do whatever we need to do," said Sheikhmous. "It's not just our land, it's Kurdish land. If they don't leave peacefully, we will use weapons."

With Syria convulsed by a civil war that shows no signs of ending soon, the country's Kurdish region, fast against Turkey and Iraq, is surprisingly peaceful, thanks to a maneuver by the government of President Bashar Assad, who first granted the Kurds greater rights last year, then surrendered security to a Kurdish militia this summer. While anti-Assad demonstrations still take place here, there is none of the kind of fighting that has erupted in other parts of Syria.

But the history of relations between Syria's Kurdish and Arab ethnic groups suggests that peace may be short-lived, especially if Assad falls and a successor government clashes with Kurds over long-held grievances. The confiscated Kurdish areas contain both rich agricultural land and oil, and neither will be easy for Kurds to take control of.

Farming remains one of the largest sectors of the Syrian economy, and while Syria's oil wealth is considered inconsequential compared with its eastern neighbor Iraq, it is a significant source of income for the country.

"Petroleum was part of the reason they did this," said Abdel Samad Daoud, who has written a book about the land confiscations and the attempts to Arabize Kurdish areas of Syria.

Working as an agricultural engineer in a government office in Qamishli, the largest city in Hasaka province, gave Daoud access to documents that detailed the confiscations. He obtained others by bribing government officials.

"I decided to write the book in 1985," Daoud said. "It took a very long time because I had to work in secret. It took a very long time."

In 2003, he published the book under a pseudonym. After the anti-Assad uprising began last year, he republished it using his own name.

"From this point until you reach the Turkish border, they took all of the land from its owners. About 90 percent was given to the gumar," Daoud said, using the Syrian term for a group of Arabs whose land was submerged by a dam on the Euphrates River in 1974. The area he was indicating started at the village of Hatmia, about 10 miles south of the Turkish border. About 350 villages lost land, he said.

The Syrian government's effort to change the Kurdish identity had started well before that - in 1962, the government began actively changing the names of Kurdish cities and villages to Arabic ones, residents of Hasaka province said.

But it was the arrival of the gumar - with their descendants, they now number about 100,000 - that grates most here. Local anti-government activists said there were rumors the government had armed the gumar since the beginning of the anti-Assad rebellion and that in recent months, gumar villages had obtained more weapons in preparation for any Kurdish attempt to take back land.

It was considered too dangerous for a journalist in Syria illegally to attempt to talk to gumar families, many of whom support Assad.

One Kurdish anti-government activist in Qatanieh, a city with a mixed population of Arabs and Kurds, as well as gumar villages on its outskirts, offered a bleak prediction. "Both Kurds and the gumar have been hurt," the activist said. "The gumar must be given compensation. But after the regime falls, I expect it will be violent."

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/08/27/2 ... rylink=cpy

[alan131210]

All are free and run by supreme council some places by PYD some by KNC , Qamishlo is yet to be freed but it hasn't KRG leadership want to avoid bloodshed in freeing it as its the capital of WK, Kurds have total freedom there but only parts of it is run by Kurds , the airport is still controlled by Assad forces.

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[jjmuneer]

I love it when their singing the national anthem and doing the ancient kurdish salute.

[ideas]

Kurdish kids are cute

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Syria's Kurds have emerged as a crucial player in the conflict. DW spoke to the head of the main Kurdish political party in northeasten Syria, Salih Muslim Muhammad, about the impact of the crisis on the Middle East.

DW: DW has met Kurdish fighters at checkpoints who claimed not to have fired a single shot. It's difficult to believe given the increasing levels of violence in the rest of the country…

Salih Muslim Muhammad: Believe it or not, this might be one the only region in the country where the Syrians' will is still respected because there are no foreign hands interfering in our areas. From the very beginning we Kurds were demonstrating for freedom and democracy; we wanted a peaceful revolution, not an armed one. It was the regime which dragged the protests into an armed conflict because they are stronger. For the time being, we have managed to protect ourselves and keep our areas quiet despite a few local incidents in Kobani and Afrin. We're doubtless part of the revolution but this is the Syria we want, not what others want.

But rumors have it that your party has negotiated a truce with Bashar Assad's government.

There's been no agreement with anybody whatsoever. Just tell me: who wants the fighting in Syria? Turkey? We have no relations with Turkey. Saudi Arabia? Qatar? NATO? We have no relation with them as they've never recognized our existence; none of them has ever supported the Syrian Kurds. Damascus knows we just want our constitutional rights, that is why they're not afraid of us. We knew Assad would not fall in just two months, that's why we organized our people into civilian defence committees long ago. Actually, we already had some checkpoints a year ago and the government simply couldn't do anything about it. In July there were clashes between the Free Syrian Army and Assad's troops, very close to Kobani, a critical area for Damascus' intelligence. Nonetheless, in areas like in Qamishli, Assad has his own checkpoints but they're not manning them, nor are they patrolling the city.


How high, in your opinion, is the risk of Syria becoming a sectarian-ridden country like neighboring Iraq?

The risk of getting dragged into a sectarian conflict is very high. Actually, the situation is inexorably taking that path but, as said, that's not something the Syrian people have chosen. We know we have to fight for our rights and not let anybody steal our revolution as it has already happened in other Arab countries. Look at Aleppo now, it's full of armed people, many of them foreigners. What are they doing here? We'd never allow al Qaeda or any related group to operate in our areas.

But several sources point out that Arab villages around the area have been given weapons by Damascus. Is that true?

We are aware that the government has handed them weapons but we won't fight against them as long as they don't attack us. We must avoid an Arab-Kurd confrontation by any means necessary. We need to live as neighbors so we are very careful about not igniting violence between us.
Apart from Arabs, there's also a significant number of Christians in the area under your control. Some of them have already said that they don't feel comfortable under the new Kurdish rule.

As far as I know there are very good relations between Kurds and Christians. I met the Armenians a few days ago and they asked us to protect them. We've already told them that they have to protect themselves; if they cannot, we will do it. Even Arabs are also going to set up mediation centres, asking for help to solve their problems. We've lived together for centuries and that's what we are planning to do in the future ahead.

But there have been allegations pointing to several abuses by armed Kurdish fighters at checkpoints or street patrols.

First of all, I want to make clear that the PYD (Democratic Union Party - the ed.) is just a political organization. That said, we know there have been many mistakes because everything is new for us. We lack the necessary experience to make things work from the beginning. Besides, not everybody people likes the PYD so some will try their best to give us bad press at the first opportunity.

Turkey is alarmed at the growing influence of the PYD and suspects it of having links with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought a 28-year old conflict in Turkey.

Turkey is trying to convince the rest of the world that we are terrorists, simply because they are afraid of us getting our rights. We are a Syrian political party with no organic relations whatsoever with the PKK. We don't even have armed forces, those committees are just for civil protection and they brought their weapons from their houses. Besides, we were also among the people who established the opposition in Syria so Turkey shouldn't interfere.

Many Syrian Kurds say they're fighting for a "federal state" with a Kurdish Autonomous Region, similar to the one in Iraq. Do you favour such an option?

We've been victims of this regime for decades and we just want our democratic rights. But that doesn't mean that we are aiming to break Syria into pieces. Basically, we want to solve our problems in Damascus, and not elsewhere. We're asking for local civil organizations linked to each other where our people would be represented. We call it "radical democracy" and it's not the classic model of autonomy but a system which accepts differences and dissent and where people can take their own decisions and immediately execute them.

Still, there are around 15 Kurdish political parties in Syria today. Are your people as divided as the figures suggest?

Alongside the PYD, they are all under the umbrella of the Syrian National Kurdish Council. The majority of us are united in the essential points which focus on the achievement of our democratic rights. We have the moral support of the rest of the Kurds in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and the Diaspora. All of them are trying to help us. In fact, if we manage to achieve our democratic rights, it will be a great step for all the Kurds. The Syrian Kurds' fate will affect the whole Middle East.

So what is your proposal to end Syria's escalating conflict?

Just let the Syrians decide by themselves! Assad's is a bloody regime but, even today, Syrians would still be able to find their way out if so many foreign forces weren't involved. Unfortunately, the government is taking weapons from Iran and Russia while the Free Syrian Army is being backed by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey… Kofi Annan's road map could have worked but neither the regime nor the foreign actors wanted it to develop. Even China and Russia were ready to convince the regime to put down its weapons but the plan proposed in Geneva last June was not taken into consideration on the ground.

Today nobody knows whether Syria will be divided or not. Whatever happens, we have to be ready to protect ourselves in any possible scenario, whether it is under the current regime, under the opposition's rule … even against a Turkish military operation in our area.

http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,16203397,00.html

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(Reuters) - Some towns in northeastern Syria are flying yellow, green and red Kurdish flags as long-oppressed Kurds exploit an uneasy vacuum left by President Bashar al-Assad's retreating forces.

Syrian Kurds may be enjoying a breath of freedom after Assad appears to have ceded control of some areas to focus on the battle against mainly Sunni Muslim Arab rebels fighting in Damascus and Aleppo.

But their aspirations for autonomy could crumble into a complex power struggle involving rival Kurdish groups, Syrian opposition factions and nervous neighbors Turkey and Iraq.

In the last few weeks, Assad's forces have withdrawn from Kurdish towns or left only a token presence, opposition activists, security experts and diplomats say. The rebel Free Syrian Army is also absent, leaving Kurds to their own devices.

Or perhaps not quite.

Ankara has accused Assad of arming a Syrian Kurdish party closely linked to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has been fighting for autonomy in southeast Turkey for the past 28 years in a struggle in which 40,000 people have been killed.

Turkey has threatened to intervene militarily to counter any threat from the PKK in northeastern Syria, where the pro-PKK Democratic Union Party (PYD) is observing a delicate agreement with its weaker rival, the Kurdish National Council (KNC).

The two Kurdish groups are divided over what goals to pursue if Assad falls and they distrust Syria's mainly Arab opposition.

The Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad is also looking on with alarm after Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan hosted a Turkish minister and sought influence in Kurdish parts of Syria, brokering the fragile unity agreement between the PYD and KNC.

Arbil, capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, is also training Syrian refugees to "protect" Kurdish areas when they return home.

"The Kurdish parts of Syria will undoubtedly become the focus of the power struggle that is emerging in the region over Syria," said Joshua Landis, a Syria expert at the Center for Middle East Studies at Oklahoma University.

"Sunni Arabs and Turks will line up against it. Shi'ite forces will be inclined to encourage Kurdish independence if only to hurt the Sunni Arabs," he said, even though this seems at odds with Baghdad's own distaste for Kurdish aspirations.

POWER GAMES

Syrian Kurds have long faced discrimination, a lack of full citizenship rights and forced displacements. But Assad sought to dissuade them from joining the uprising against him that erupted elsewhere in March 2011 by promising citizenship.

Now the PYD says it has taken over Syrian towns such as Kobani, Derik and Efrin without a fight.

This, security analysts say, may be a ploy by Assad to allow PKK influence to expand, taking revenge on Turkey for hosting the rebel Free Syrian Army on its southern border.

For years Assad's late father sheltered Abdullah Ocalan, leader of the PKK, branded a terrorist group by Turkey and its Western allies. A detente between Damascus and Ankara later forced PKK fighters in Syria to move to northern Iraq.

For now the situation in Syria's Kurdish areas, enjoying de facto autonomy, seems "relatively stable, but fragile", said one diplomat, who suggested that Turkish reactions and events elsewhere in Syria might determine how long this would last.

Kurdish autonomy is a sensitive topic not just for Turkey, but also for Assad's foes in the Syrian National Council (SNC), dominated by Arab groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood.

Many Kurds believe the SNC has Arab nationalist instincts, hostile to Kurdish aspirations, even though its new leader is himself a Kurd.

In 2004, Syrian Kurds clashed with security forces after an incident in the Kurdish city of Qamishli. Then, they said, Kurds received no help from those now leading the anti-Assad revolt.

"The Kurds can no longer live like they did in the past," said PYD representative in Iraqi Kurdistan, Hussein Kojar.

"The Free Syrian Army could not get into our areas because our defense groups keep them out."

TURKISH DISMAY

Iraqi Kurdistan's President Masoud Barzani helped forge the deal under which the PYD and the KNC formed a joint committee to promote Kurdish interests in Syria, pending Assad's fall.

KNC officials envisage elections after that, but do not deny political differences with their PYD partners.

"We have a deal to work together, share ideas, but we are not united in one body," KNC representative Abdul Hakim Bashar said. "Let's be clear, we have our party and they have theirs."

Turkish leaders are upset about the PYD wielding power in north Syria, warning of military action if the PKK starts to threaten Turkey from there. They stress Syrian national unity and want other Kurdish groups to assert themselves, not the PYD.

"Turkey faces a dilemma: it wants the (Assad) regime to go, but not to the benefit of the Kurds, and especially not the PYD/PKK," said Joost Hiltermann at International Crisis Group. "Turkey is now working with Barzani to contain the PKK."

Turkey's foreign minister met Syrian Kurdish leaders, but not the PYD, and the Syrian National Council in Arbil in August.

The crisis in Syria and how to handle Syrian Kurds are also causing friction between Baghdad and Arbil, which already feud over disputed land and oilfields on their own internal border.

The Iraqi government, close to Assad's main ally Iran, has resisted pressure from Saudi Arabia and Qatar for a tougher line on Assad, fearing hardline Sunnis might take power in Syria.

Kurdistan's regional government is closer to Turkey and has quietly begun helping Syria's Kurds.

"We are in favor of people getting their rights," Arbil's foreign relations chief, Falah Mustafa Bakir, told Reuters.

"We do not interfere in their affairs, the future of Syria has to be determined by the Syrians... but for us, the Kurds have to be respected and have to be recognized."

Kurdistan Peshmerga troops have given basic military training to a "few thousand" Kurdish refugees from Syria in anticipation of a chaotic aftermath should Assad fall.

Bakir said they could be sent back to Syria to protect Kurdish areas under the control of the PYD-KNC council.

All this worries Baghdad which already sees Kurdistan grabbing at more autonomy from central government by signing deals with oil majors such as Exxon, Chevron and Total.

It is a complex balance for Iraqi Kurds, weighing broader Kurdish ambitions against the benefits of friendship with Turkey, which offers investment and aid to build pipelines that may eventually give Kurdistan more energy autonomy from Baghdad.

"Kurdistan is acting like an independent nation," said Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh. "It is not good for Kurdistan to weaken Baghdad's foreign policy."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/ ... KV20120831