Syrian Kurds Trade Armed Opposition for Autonomy

June 24, 2012

The Kurdish region in northern Syria [Western Kurdistan] remains impenetrable as it confronts both Turkey and the Free Syrian Army. Thus far, there have been 2 failed attempts to drag the Kurdish opposition into battle against Syrian Army forces and to break the Kurdish Democratic Union Party’s [PYD] control over the Kurdish areas. The Kurdish areas under PYD control extend for 848 km from Al-Malikiyah (also known as Dayrik) in northern Iraq to Efrin, which is north of Aleppo. This western Kurdistan region also coincides with the Syrian-Turkish border.

The PYD, headed by Salih Muhammad Muslim from al-Qamishli District, is considered one of the most important parties in the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change. It is also an armed group, which is worth noting given that the committee officially opposes the militarization of the conflict.

It is especially because of this favorable political environment — one that favors both the regime and the opposition — that the PYD is able to show off its armaments without actually having to use them. The first attempt failed after 1,800 Syrian Kurdish soldiers discharged from a training camp in Iraqi Kurdistan, near Erbil, in order to seek livelihood.

The military camp was established three months ago with the support of the Democratic National Union of Kurdistan, which is affiliated with Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq.

A leading Syrian Kurdish opposition figure told As-Safir that Barzani, who had hosted two conferences for the Kurdish opposition figures in Erbil in December and May of 2011, had urged the National Kurdish Council [NKC] — which is comprised of 11 Kurdish parties and does not include the PYD — to unify their ranks. He also called upon them to establish a military arm to compete with the PYD, which is the Syrian arm of the Kurdistan Workers' Party [PKK] in Turkey.

According to this Kurdish opposition leading figure, the camp was closed down after Barzani realized that harmony did not exist among the divided ranks of the NKC. The components of the NKC have divided their allegiances between Barzani, who used to pay $400 a month for every Syrian Kurdish soldier, and his KRG rival Jalal Talabani. Those affiliated with Barzani are led by Hakim Bashar, the head of the NKC and the Kurdish Democratic Party [KDP] in Syria. Abd-al-Hamid Darwich, the leader of the Kurdish Progressive Democratic Party, leads the faction that is affiliated with Talabani.

Mustafa Juma’a leads a third group that is closely tied with Salah Badr-al-Din from the Kurdish Azadi Party. Badr al-Din supports extending the operations of the Free Syrian Army into the Kurdish area. For example, there was a plan to infiltrate the Kurdish defensive wall at Efrin before heading toward the main target of Aleppo.

90 percent of Efrin’s population is Kurdish. The Kurds, the PYD, and the popular committees control this strategic gateway to Aleppo. Kurdish sources say that over the last year, the PYD has transported around 4,000 to 4,500 Kurdish Syrian fighters from their stronghold in the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq to the Syrian north.

The PYD has infused thousands of its supporters into the popular committees. Approximately 220 Kurdish checkpoints are set up on the road that links Efrin to Aleppo. These checkpoints were the reason why the Free Syrian Army failed to infiltrate Aleppo, even though they had been working towards that goal for three months. Two months ago a demonstration was staged by the Muslim Brotherhood in Rifa’at Hill, marching toward Efrin. The demonstration aggravated the checkpoint of the popular committee and led to a clash between the two sides. This led to the committee’s decision to prevent gunmen and outsiders from entering the area. According to Kurdish sources, one week ago the Turks had urged Badr-al-Din’s group to test and divide the popular committees by attempting to drag them into a Kurdish-Kurdish conflict.

A few days ago, a group of Kurdish demonstrators reached the checkpoint of Basoutah village near Efrin and clashed with female forces, who later arrested 11 men.

Also, there have been rumors regarding the arrival of suicide bombers who were planning on carrying out suicide attacks in al-Qamishli District. Simultaneously, the “macho” men of al-Antaziyah neighborhood in al-Qamishli staged a demonstration protesting the PYD’s influence in the area. The National Council of Western Kurdistan and other Kurdish parties had agreed to end the conflicts by halting armed manifestations. This move thwarted all attempts to open the road between Efrin to Aleppo.

The PYD has successfully established a delicate balance between their clear opposition to the Syrian regime and their prevention of the Free Syrian Army from infiltrating into their territory. They joined and preside over the opposition’s coordination committee and regulate military operations, but they also avoid clashes with the Syrian army and the regime’s security forces. Meanwhile, the PYD is able to keep the Free Syrian Army from turning their region into a battlefield to fight the regime’s factions or using the region as a route to transfer Turkish, Qatari and Saudi weapons into Syria.

With the exception of sporadic clashes, Syrian army battalions in the Kurdish area do not hinder the activities of the elected “Popular Council of Western Kurdistan.” Also, the security services did not obstruct the elections for the local administration, in which a quarter million northern Syrian Kurds participated under the supervision of the Kurdish PYD.

The party successfully formed popular committees, some of which are armed, in order to provide security in the Kurdish area. In response, the Syrian regime dealt with this phenomenon pragmatically, allowing them to manage their affairs in return for relative calm in the Kurdish regions. The regime’s army is focused on its operations in other areas and is spared from confrontations with the Kurds. Also, the Syrian regime is no longer concerned with the security agreements that it signed with Turkey. In 2011, the Syrian security apparatus released 640 prisoners that were affiliated with the PYD, and most of them returned to the north to protect the Kurdish region. The local administration and the PYD forces in this region are also protecting the strategic Turkish-Syrian passageways to prevent Turkish infiltration.

The Syrian Kurds have been reluctant to join the revolution after the Arab opposition abandoned them in 2004. At that time, especially during the Al-Qamishli uprising, they staged mass demonstrations and solely confronted the Syrian army and its violent suppression tactics.

Even so, the mostly peaceful Kurdish demonstrations support the Syrian National Council and call for the fall of the regime and the implementation of Kurdish demands.

The title of their Friday demonstrations, except Azadi Friday, allowed them to distance themselves from the Fridays of the Syrian revolution. It is likely that Free Syrian Army leadership’s call for the Kurds to join their ranks will not be echoed among Kurdish circles, because it will threaten their privileges of self-administration.

The Kurds are significantly betting that western Kurdistan will achieve self-administration rights within Syria, regardless of the outcome of the revolution. It is still uncertain if the Syrian regime will regain its full authority as its influence is diminishing amid the security crackdown.

Even if the regime was able to come out of the revolution unscathed, it will not succeed in controlling western Kurdistan. In any case, the region will not be one of the regime’s priorities due to the long list of its enemies that are now present throughout Syria’s cities. It will not be easy for Damascus to impose its authority over the area. It is also is better to maintain the status quo in the Kurdish area, even though the Kurds are rebelling against the regime, in order to confront the common Turkish threat.

On the other hand, if the revolution succeeds and the opposition assumes power in Damascus, it will not be able to swiftly impose its control over western Kurdistan or destroy the self-administration that is already present there. Any new regime requires years to establish its power. The only way that the next authority will be able to destroy the Kurdish wall in northern Syria is if the the revolution accepts Turkey’s blatant interference in Syria and hands the reins over to the Turkish army.

al-monitor.com

 

21/06/2012 03:54:00 By HEMIN KHOSHNAW

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region -- The Kurdish National Council (KNC) has signed an agreement with the People’s Council that aims at increasing cooperation and eradicating arms in Syrian Kurdistan. Observers believe that the implementation of this treaty will benefit Kurdish interests in Syria.

The Syrian revolution has encouraged Kurdish political parties and groups to form a united front. Eleven Kurdish parties formed an alliance as the Kurdish National Council, but the Democratic Unity Party (PYD), affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), refused to join and created its own council, the People's Council, instead.

This division has created a lot of tension among Kurds at a time when the Syrian regime is heading towards collapse and a political vacuum is on the horizon.

In a meeting in Erbil on June 11, leaders of both councils signed a seven-point treaty proposal which includes the formation of a joint committee, ceasing hostile media campaigns against one other and eradicating arms in Syrian Kurdistan.

Mahmoud Muhammad, a leader of the PYD, told Rudaw, "The implementation of this treaty is very important for Kurdish unity. It was the culmination of a series of meetings and talks between the leaders of these two councils in Syria.”

Hussein Kocher, a representative of the PYD in the Kurdistan Region, said that the proposed treaty will be conveyed to leaders of both councils in order to outline cooperation protocols to be implemented in the future.

"The implementation of this treaty is essential for the eradication of the negative phenomena in Syrian Kurdistan. If implemented, it will take care of the defense needs for Kurdish society," said Kocher.

Kocher noted that the proposal needed to be signed in Qamishli city in Syria. "But the invitation from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) to the People's Council for the Iraqi Kurdistan Region made it more appropriate to meet in Erbil and sign the proposal."

Tahir Safok, member of the Kurdish National Council, believes signing the final agreement in one of the Kurdish cities of Syria "will have a greater impact on people's sentiments and give them hope."

Safok said, "Reaching the final agreement between the two councils is fateful and the obstacles need to be overcome through mutual trust."

The proposal was signed in the presence of Hamid Derbandi, a representative of the Kurdistan Region Presidency. Both parties considered this an important step.

Muhammad believes the presence of a Kurdish mediator will expedite the signing of the final agreement.

Kocher said that it would “prevent both councils from interpreting the articles of the agreement differently in the future."

During the signing ceremony, Derbandi expressed his wish that the proposal be implemented because “it is in the interest of both parties," adding that "the signed document consists of a number of proposals which in the future might turn into a wider and stronger agreement."

Rudaw

 

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands – Under the banner of Towards a Federal Kurdish Region in Syria, a group of Kurdish politicians and intellectuals held a symposium at the Osman Sabri Cultural Center in the Kurdish city of Qamishli last week.

Hassan Saleh, member of the Yekiti Kurdish Party, inaugurated the meeting with a speech about the economic importance of the Kurdish areas of Syria as “replete with fertile agricultural lands and richness on all levels”, adding that the policy of marginalization and persecution practiced on the Kurdish people over decades in Syria have left “many negative impacts on this indigenous nation”.

Saleh referred to ‘federalism’ as the best solution for Syria’s Kurds.

“Since Syria is a multi-ethnic country, federalism is the optimal solution for the future of all the different components of the Syrian society,” Saleh said.

In his speech, Saleh said that the current structure of administration in the Kurdish areas has to be redesigned before steps are taken toward federalism.

“The current administrative divisions have to be reconsidered before implementing federalism, in order to guarantee a Kurdish administration for the Kurdish areas of Syria,” he said.

Saleh said that minority groups such as Arabs and Christians would enjoy full their rights in a federal Kurdish region.

“We will absolutely respect and reserve their distinct identity and they will be effective participants on all levels according to their percentage,” he said. “The Kurdish people have continuously suffered from persecution and discrimination. Thus they will spare no effort to live jointly and peacefully with other communities in the Kurdish region.”

Fuad Aliko, a member of the Kurdish National Council (KNC), said Saleh’s proposal is highly important for the future of Kurds in Syria.

“The proposal of Mr. Saleh could be considered an urgent issue to be discussed at this sensitive stage of the Syrian uprising, because the Kurdish national rights could face a new danger in post-Assad Syria, and the KNC has constantly emphasized the Kurdish right to self-determination on the basis of political-decentralization, which is considered a sort of federalism,” he said.

Aliko said that as “a major participant in the ongoing pro-democracy revolution and a part of the Syrian opposition,” the Kurds have the right to propose what will serve a democratic and pluralistic future for Syria.

In an interview with Rudaw in April, Burhan Ghalioun, the former head of the Syrian National Council (SNC) angered many Kurds by saying, “there is no such thing as Syrian Kurdistan.”

But following the conference in Qamishli, Aliko said, “Syrian Kurdistan is a historical fact and necessary to be used in our point of view. Some other Kurdish parties use the terms West of Kurdistan or Western Kurdistan, but we all agree eventually that all of these terms refer to the part of Kurdistan that was appended to Syria by the colonial agreement of Sykes-Picot,”

Saleh Jango, a Kurdish writer and activist, believes the proposal for federalism may provoke non-Kurdish opposition groups and, therefore the plan must be carefully studied.

“In order to prevent any denial or accusation by other opposition groups that our demands are unrealistic, we should form a Kurdish political and diplomatic board to deal with our visions and proposals on the future of our Kurdish region and to promote these visions on the regional and international levels.” Jango said.

But Abdulkader Al-Khaznawai, a prominent Kurdish politician thinks that a federal Kurdish region is a far-fetched dream.

“Since my childhood, I have been dreaming of a Kurdish state that includes all the Kurdish people and Kurdish is the official language, but not every wish could come true,” he says. “I support a new social pact between all the components of the Syrian society, to build a new civil, democratic, and pluralistic Syrian republic.”

Rudaw

 

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