Combining several forum threads into one new thread. The conflict has grown across Syria, Iraq and Turkey and is definitely interrelated.
Rojava News
Turkey News in regards to the conflict between AKP-state/Turkey and the PKK (as well as the YDG-H), the HDP, etc...
Iraq Protests in regards to the KRG presidential term limit, protests against corruption, the ongoing bombings by Turkey, ISIS in Mosul and Sinjar and the PKK in Sinjar, Kirkuk, Makhmour, Amelia, pipeline bombings
Some other relevant threads:
Black Rose on the massacre in Suruç
Rojava economy and class structure
Kurdistan? - Gilles Dauvé
Anarchist Federation statement on Rojava: December 2014
Anarchists join fight against IS to defend Kurdish autonomous areas
No. This is a Genuine Revolution - Interview with Graeber by Evrensel Newspaper
The experiment of West Kurdistan (Syrian Kurdistan) has proved that people can make changes - Zaher Baher
'Rojava revolution' reading guide
The Rojava resistance: rebirth of the anticapitalist struggle - Salvador Zana
Mr. Anarchist, we need to have a chat about colonialism
Dear Cheerleaders, we need to have a chat about imperialism
Dear Mr. Anarchist, You Aren’t Listening
Andrew Flood's "Resources on the Rojava revolution in West Kurdistan (Syria)" is also useful.
There are a number of good reddits:
r/syriancivilwar (19,347 subscribers, best aggregator of news about the conflict in Syria, but also in Iraq and Turkey)
r/Kurdishconflicts
r/Kurdistan
r/Rojava
Ekurd Daily: langauges: English
NRTV
Mutlu Civiroglu, journalist, Constitution of the Rojava Cantons
http://xendan.org : langauges: Kurdi, Arabic
http://kurdistantribune.com/
http://www.kurdpress.com/en/
http://natawapress.com/
http://milletpress.com: PUK, languages: Kurd (Sorani), Arabic, English
ANF News ( http://firatnews.com, http://anfkurdi.com, http://anfenglish.com, http://anfarabic.com, http://anfpersian.com). languages: Kurd, Turkish, Farsi, Arabic, English
ARA News ( http://aranews.org, http://aranews.net ): languages: Arabic, English
http://ezidipress.com: pro-HPS, pro-PUK, languages: Kurd (Kurmanji), Arabic, Deutsch, Russian, English
http://rojname.com: languages: Kurd(Kurmanji), Kurd (Sorani), English, Deutsch, Français, Español, Italiano, Russian, Türkçe, Arabic, Farsi
Kurdish Question: pro-KCK (PKK), languages: English
Rojava Report: pro-PYD (KCK), languages: English ( http://en.firatajans.com/features/be-your-own-media )
http://kritisches-netzwerk.de: pro-PKK, languages: Deutsch
http://roarmag.org: pro-PYD (KCK), languages: English
http://new-compass.net: social ecologist, pro-KCK, languages: English
Rudaw: KDP, multiple articles per day. languages Kurd (Sorani), Arabic, Türkçe, English
Rudaw was established and fully sponsored by Nechervan Barzani, KDP senior leader and KRG Prime Minister.
Kurdwatch: anti-PYD/anti-PKK, languages: Kurdi, English, Deutsch, Arabic
Kurdwatch the project of Siamend Hajo and Eva Savelsberg in Berlin. Siamend Hajo being the leader of an expelled faction (the Shaykhmus-wing) of the Kurdish Future Movement. Both factions of the Kurdish Future Movement joined the Kurdish National Council. And Hajo's faction being anti-PYD, while the other faction is willing to talk with PYD. The European Centre for Kurdish Studies in Berlin is also their outfit. Savelsberg is the chair of the board, and Hajo is the treasurer--convenient that. http://kurdologie.de/
And then there are non-Kurdistan specific websites that often have good analysis or news:
http://www.al-monitor.com/
http://www.jamestown.org/middleeast/
http://www.iraqoilreport.com/
https://www.foreignaffairs.com/
http://www.middleeasteye.net/
https://www.the-newshub.com/@pauliddon
Also there are a lot of good tweeters out there:
https://twitter.com/RedurXelil Spokesperson for the YPG
https://twitter.com/DefenseUnits YPG official Twitter
https://twitter.com/DefenseUnitsYPJ YPG official Twitter
https://twitter.com/pyd_rojava PYD official Twitter
https://twitter.com/serokepyd Saleh Moslem official Twitter, Co-President of PYD
https://twitter.com/mutludc Journalist
https://twitter.com/kovandire in Hasakah
https://twitter.com/ColdKurd
https://twitter.com/dilkocer
https://twitter.com/Della_09
https://twitter.com/MemoInfor
https://twitter.com/AmKurBret
https://twitter.com/esu_int
https://twitter.com/KurdishQuestion
https://twitter.com/shamsashahin
https://twitter.com/EndezyareKurd
https://twitter.com/ArjDnn
https://twitter.com/r3sho
https://twitter.com/pitpitok
https://twitter.com/PacalOmer
https://twitter.com/MarkMonmonier Anarchist Geographer
https://twitter.com/cizirecanton Cartographer
https://twitter.com/sylezjusz Cartographer
https://twitter.com/jackshahine Journalist
https://twitter.com/ver_scholl_en
https://twitter.com/Nikopol5
https://twitter.com/Avashin
https://twitter.com/infamousKlaus
https://twitter.com/Gorran_Change Gorran political party official Twitter
https://twitter.com/JinhaWomensNews
https://twitter.com/SlemaniTimes
https://twitter.com/SerioSito
(click for an interactive
(click for an interactive map)
In Bakur, it seems like a number of areas have now declared self-governance and are treating AKP-state as illegitimate.
[br]
Eight soldiers killed, Kurdish mayors arrested as southeast Turkey erupts
Quote: the Patriotic
Urban Warfare Escalates in Turkey’s Kurdish-Majority Southeast, Ayla Albayrak, Wall Street Journal, August, 19, 2015
I think its worth noting that the YDG-H is not entirely or directly under control of the KCK/PKK. They are going do what they are going to do.
Flint wrote: Urban Warfare
Flint
I noticed this article is only visible to Wall Street Journal subscribers. Here's the same article for free on ibloomberg.net
WSJ tv spot on the YDG-H
WSJ tv spot on the YDG-H
[youtube]04wK_cVGha0[/youtube]
YPG/Al-Sanadid closing in on
YPG/Al-Sanadid closing in on Al-Hawl. Al-Hawl is between Hasakah and Sinjar and part of the supply route between Raqqa and Mosul. Taking Al-Hawl gives a defensive line from Mount Sinjar, through Hasakah to Mount Abdulaziz.
Some of the offensive against Al-Hawl is coming from the YPG presence in the east in Sinjar.
al-Sanadid may have already taken Khatuniyah with the help of YPG.
Al-Sanadid forces: We go wherever the YPG goes, July, 5, 2015
Bread prices in Syria by
Bread prices in Syria by province
per 1 KG:
Al-Hasakah under partial YPG control is listed as sp 100 ($0.52 US).
Compare to beseiged Deir e-Zor that gets supplied by airlift: sp 3500 ($18.64 US)
Islamic State capitol of Raqqa: sp 200 ($1.04 US)
Aleppo, largest city in Syria with a YPG controlled neighborhood: sp 175
Baathist capitol of Damascus: sp 60
Jabhat al-Nusra (Al Qaeda in Syria) capitol of Idlib: sp 50 ($0.26 US)
Syria: Bread prices by province, Syria Direct, August 19, 2015
Flint wrote: sp 200 ($104
Flint
I assume that should be "$1.04"?
Yes. Fixed it. And the
Yes. Fixed it. And the broken URL.
There was a Suruc massacre in
There was a Suruc massacre in Izmir in Turkey on 21th august. Organised by sgdf for benefit of the injured and killed and their families. It was totally legal however cops in riot gears showed up at the door of theatre building and demanded they entered to the building like 200 cops otherwise they will not ket the event proceed. After hours of negotiations. Sgdf decided to do it just in front of the building outside (where cops were standing) So it was more acustic than intended. Also there were heavy joking of cops who were watching the event (they eventually get offended and leave to their busses) the crowd was like 500 people (plus similar number of cops watching closely) Anyway it is once again proven at which side Turkish state stands: the killers and not the killed.
http://www.demokrathaber.net/
http://www.demokrathaber.net/m/?id=53364
Some of the municipal co-chairs of hdp were arrested after the declaration of autonomy.
This came up in regarded to
This came up in regarded to the Rojava Electricity Project being fully crowd funded. Why doesn't Rojava produce Solar Cells?
They have plenty of silica, Syria has like 150 million tons.
Solar Cell production
They don't need clean rooms, but might in the future
They would need titanium dioxide, which is usually gained from rutile which industrial production gets from here; which would mean imports. Right now, most imports are prohibited by economic boycott of Rojava by Turkey and Iraq (including Iraqi KRG); and by ISIS blocking access to the rest of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. Its probably more possible to get a few generators across the border than it is to setup an industrial production chain.
For thin film production, they would need import tellurium from the U.S. or gallium from bauxite mining or zinc production from China (where they could also get indium imports from.
Similarly, wind power requires neodymium magnets. Neodymium would also need to be imported most likely from China.)
For hydroelectric, the rivers flow from Turkey and dams are rather massive infrastructure projects. Very soon, we will probably see the YPG/YPJ/Burkan al-Firat make an attempt to seize the Tishrin Dam. In addition to a capacity of 630 MW, it is the easiest way for the YPG/YPJ/Burkan al-Firat to cross Al-Firat (The Euphrates River); Islamic State destroyed all the bridges north of the Tishrin Dam to prevent passage of the YPG/YPJ/Burkan al-Firat.
Other hydroelectric dams in Syria are the 824 MW Tabqa Dam and the 81 MW Baath Dam; both much deeper in Islamic State territory along the Euphrates. Before the war, Syria produced 7.6 gigawatts (GW) of electricity with 1.5 GW coming from hydroelectric (generated by those three dams). By comparison, the generators just crowd funded produce 1.32 MW. So, its imperative that the YPG/YPJ/Burkan al-Firat seize the Tishrin dam.
Seizing the Tishrin dam will probably be easier than ending the economic embargo from Turkey. But there may be a possibility to end it from the KRG if Barzani gets ousted from the executive. Still, that may also mean that KRG will get boycotted by Turkey and the route from Basra to Rojava might be a long haul. Though the amounts of rare earth needed are small quantities (still probably more than you would want to transport by air and the fuel costs there may circumvent whatever carbon savings folks were looking to achieve by avoiding burning diesel).
Quote: PYD's Salih Muslim
Source: sylezjusz
Quote: Co-mayors of Amed’s
Isyandan Weekly Report, Aug 17-24
Kurdish prisoner Behrouz
Kurdish prisoner Behrouz Alkhani and five others executed in Iran
PJAK calls upon Kurds to step up struggle against Iranian regime
I'm wondering what to make of this. Does it mean anything for Iran's relations with Kurds outside of Iran?
Fnordie wrote: I'm wondering
Fnordie
Do you mean in Syria? There is almost no relationship. Quds Force and Shiite militias have been supporting Assad/Baathists in western Syria and aren't near Rojava.
In Iraq, al-Hashd al-Shaabi and Peshmerga (PUK) barely tolerate each other as long as ISIS is a threat. There has been violence between them in the past, such as in Tuz Khurmatu. Some folks argue that Iran is friendlier to Kurdish ethnic identity in Iran, but it is still a very authoritarian state that is ruthless to political dissidents. Some argue that the PKK needs to appeal to Iran for support since it won't be supported by Turkey, Iraq, Syria, etc.... but there hasn't been much of anything of the sort.
KRG Peshmerga have started an
KRG Peshmerga have started an offensive against Daesh in the Kirkuk area
August 26, 2015 map:
Background:
KRG frontlines map, May 2015 from the Arming Iraq’s Kurds: Fighting IS, Inviting Conflict, International Crisis Group, Middle East Report N°158, 12 May 2015
Makhmur Front Lines April 7-July 7, 2015
Kirkuk Front Lines July 6, 2015
Quote: Life came to a halt
General Strike In Diyarbakir To Protest Turkish Military Attacks, August 26, 2015
Life stands still in central Diyarbakır amid clashes in suburbs
Police attack as Diyarbakır shuts down in protest, August 27, 2015
Quote: Some argue that the
Yeah, that's what I was getting at. There are quite a few posts on r/kurdistan that essentially say "we need to ask for Iran's help," but I have no sense of how rooted in reality that is.
Flint
Just when I thought I'd learned all the acronyms...who are they?
Fnordie wrote: Flint
Fnordie
The DBP is basically the local municipal version of the HDP. So, the DBP are the local mayors who keep getting arrested for being the face of "self-governance" resolutions, while the HDP are trying to get seated in parliament.
Fnordie
The PUK most often gets accused of being influenced by Iran, while KDP gets accused of being influenced by Turkey. And the PKK gets accused of being secretly supported by whoever the accuser's enemies are. Iran may have shared some intelligence in regards to Daesh to the PUK Peshmerga; but some of it might be "don't shoot our militia over here, shoot Daesh over there" level of intelligence. When KDP wants arrest someone affiliated with the PUK, they claim they were getting armed by Iran without going through the KRG(KDP). That's what they pulled on Haider Shasho/HBS ( 2, 3. )
Black Rose Anarchist
Black Rose Anarchist Federation and Lib Com in Suruc:
Turkey Is Using ISIS as Cover For Its War Against Kurdish Activists, Nathan Robinson, The Nation, August 26, 2015
3 neighborhoods in Istanbul
3 neighborhoods in Istanbul declare self-government: Gazi, Gülsuyu and Kanarya.
Six towns cut off from the world in Kurdistan
this one is interesting (if
this one is interesting (if true): http://en.firatajans.com/kurdistan/71-village-guards-resign-from-duty-in-beytussebap
Quote: It is no injustice to
Democratic autonomy or socialism? A Marxist view of Abdullah Öcalan’s political theory, Claus Ludwig, Sozialistische Alternative, August, 25, 2015
The Rojava model: Democratic autonomy or socialist revolution?, Sascha Stanicic, SAV (CWI Germany), August, 25, 2015
I actually don't think these
I actually don't think these articles from Sozialistische Alternative and SAV/CWI are very good. They seemed to have ignored the People's Economic Plan, the transfer of most capital into the commons and the establishment of workers-cooperatives.
They are hinging a lot on Akram Kamal Hasu's business interests (without describing them). Probably because they lifted that line from Thomas Schmindger's "Rojava: Von der Revolution in den Bürgerkrieg", Emanzipation · Jg. 4 · Nr. 2 · 2014.
, page, 34.
So, we don't know if Hasu is still one of the richest people and what happened to his enterprises. And you won't find much from googling because most of the time, his name is spelled Akram Hesso or Akrem Hisso. If someone could find a biography, find out what his economic positions are or find out what his business interests are and how they function in Cizire or Syria in general--that would be interesting to know! But that kind of research isn't what is being done for these opinion pieces.
There is a lot of speculation in what Ocalan means in his writings, but very little detail of how the economy is organized in Rojava.
There may be a lot of
There may be a lot of information to be gathered from the kantonrojava.com website. The website is English, but its clear that its all translated into English and often badly.
For instance, the following story sounds like the Supply Committee confiscated a lot of flour that had been intended to be rationed to the public, but that the private mill was selling instead.
Azad Hiso: The flour from ration is red line does not allow to trade by it, August 18, 2015.
There was recently successful fund raising for the Rojava Electricity Project organized by theswedish autonomous socialist organisation Allt åt Alla. I can't imagine they got the fuel injectors purchased and smuggled to Amude yet. Here is an excerpt from an article on electricity in Amude:
Amude electricity project starts obstetric and affordable prices, August 17, 2015
Some other articles...
Evin sekhmous: all selling corrupt materials is violating with the corrupt material price
Important decisions search for an expand meeting to resolve electric problems in Aljazeera canton
Al Jazeera canton raise the price of diesel to 45 S.p
On revoking Rudaw's license
A statement of facts for media directorate about distrust anymore in some of channel’s accredited in al Jazeera canton
Confiscation of relief materials and destruction of the corrupt materials, July 7, 2015
Head of Supply body Fenner Alkaaet : We are ready to provide services to the Hasaka’s displaced
There is a long interview
There is a long interview from Social Ecology with Sherhad Naaima, a young revolutionary from Kobane and a student of Ocalan’s thinking:
Epistemologies of Freedom: Interview with a young Kurdish revolutionary, August 27th, 2015
In other militia news MFS now has women's only military wing--Bethnahrin Women Defense Forces
2000 fighters from Arabic tribe al-Baggara are ready to join YPG. They are from the Mount Kazawan/Abdul Aziz area southwest of Hasakah.
A conflict between the YPG in Afrin and Jabhat al-Nusra (Al Qaeda in Syria) seems t be heating up. YPG has dug a lot of tunnels for a potential seige and killed an al-Nusra leader. The fighting seems to be around the south of Afrin canton, between Atimah and Dewe Jorin.
Conflict with between YPG in Afrin and the Islamic State is becoming more likely as well, as IS seems close to taking Mare and started attacking Tall Rifat with VBIEDs. After Mare, the next major city and important border crossing is A'zaz. Just to the southwest of A'zaz in Maryamayn area is mainly dominated by Jaysh al-Thuwar, which is a rebels coalition incorporating former FSA and Jabhat al-Akrad (Kurdish) factions. Although theorically part of rebel coalition, it has been allied recently with YPG in sporadic fighting versus al-Nusra and other islamic factions. Jaysh al-Thuwar is down to about 3,000 fighters.
The Lions of Rojava website has gotten very slick and includes this interesting personal account of Rojava and is focused in the Cizîre canton.
Earlier, "Anti-War" quoted
Earlier, "Anti-War" quoted from an article by Afrin economic minister Ahmad Yousef: "all workers must work in the communal projects", private property is "sacred" and that "the market is a main part of social economy.’"
The article is worth reading in full:
The Social Economy in Rojava, 26 May 2015
http://ww4report.com/node/142
http://ww4report.com/node/14277
Turkey's parliament
Turkey's parliament authorizes military action in Syria and Iraq. Only the HDP opposed it.
Flint wrote: Turkey's
Flint
fuck...
This news and interview is
This news and interview is quite good in my opinion and gives a good picture of kurdish activits and what they face and how they are dealing with it (Especially in civilian side).
https://corporatewatch.org/news/2015/aug/27/imprisoned-singing-kurdish-support-n%C3%BBdem-durak
Flint wrote: "The survivors
Flint
One of the people interviewed in this article, Oğuz Yüzgeç, has been arrested for a demonstration he participated in 2013. He is accused of “opposing the law on meetings and demonstrations”.
Quote: Amnesty International
Syria: Arbitrary detentions and blatantly unfair trials mar PYD fight against terrorism, Amnesty International, 7 September 2015
The 2014 population estimate of Rojava is 4.6 million. That gives Rojava an incarceration rate of 9 per 100,000. That would make it the lowest of any country in the world. If Rojava's population is only 2 million (due to refugees, lack of territorial control, etc...) then the incarceration rate would be 20 per 100,000.
Other rates for comparison:
Turkey: 198 per 100K
Syria: 60 per 100K
Iraq: 139 per 100K
Lebanon: 108 per 100K
Saudi Arabia: 162 per 100K
Jordan: 95 per 100K
Israel: 249 per 100K
Iran: 284 per 100K
Greece: 120 per 100K
Georgia: 219 per 100K
Armenia: 160 per 100K
Azerbaijan: 210 per 100K
England and Wales: 148 per 100K
United States: 707 per 100K
Turkish nationalist attacks
Turkish nationalist attacks on HDP and Kurds:click for google map
Attacks on HDP:
Demirtaş: "More than 400 attacks took place in 2 days.These attacks were initiated & carried out by the hand of State", HDP, September 9, 2015
305 racist attacks targeted HDP across Turkey in two days, ANF, September 9, 2015
Racists on the hunt for Kurds in Turkey. JINHA, September 9, 2015
Turkey's Demirtas warns leaders heading towards civil war, BBC News, September 9, 2015
Reşo Teyrebaz
CHP office in Ankara attacked
MHP attack pro-AKP Daily Sabah newspaper office in Istanbul
Turkish nationalists beat compatriot after presuming him to be Kurdish, Hurriyet Daily News, September 9, 2015
Turkey sends forces into northern Iraq to battle Kurdish rebels, Suzan Fraser, Reuters, September 8, 2015
Turkish ground forces entering Kurdish autonomous region, AFP, September, 2015
Iraq/KRG: Young Kurds flock to PKK to take up arms against militants after becoming disillusioned with their government, The Independent, September 9, 2015
PKK to Establish Military Units in Halabja Province, Hemin Salih, Bas News, September 9, 2015 (Bas News is KDP media)
Overview on the situation in southeast Turkey: Hakkari, Mardin and Sirnak provinces in Turkey's campaign against the PKK, September 7, 2015, ARCHICIVILIANS
Kurdish Gerdi clan declares war on PKK and HDP
Gerdi tribe of 65,000 pledge to stand up against PKK
There is really an impressive
There is really an impressive "freedom march" on the way to Cizre right now.
Women from Silopi and Sirnex walking towards the besieged city of Cizre
Defying Erdogan, pro-Kurdish MPs march towards Turkish curfew town
Turkey Kurds: Kurdish MPs in new attempt to march to Cizre
HDP: Urgent call for international action
CHP urges lifting curfew in Cizre, demands government explanation
Tens of people killed in southeastern Turkish town under curfew
YDG-H in Cizre (photos)
More on reddit
Twitter trends:
#cizre
#CizreUnderAttack
CizreFreedomMarch
Popular resistance lifts
Popular resistance lifts blockade on Cizre,, Jinha, September 12, 2015
Bashur(Iraq) Demonstrators
Bashur(Iraq)
Demonstrators close Koya-Taq Taq road to oil tankers, as KRG MNR fails to secure salaries, 6 Oct 2015
Demonstrations across Kurdistan Region against Gov failure to pay wages, 6 Oct 2015
Peshmerga launched the offensive from 3 fronts west of Kirkuk, included about 3500 Peshmerga. Peshmerga have regained control of 12 villages with 140 square km cleared., September 30, 2015
Barzani still acts as president of KRG past his 2 year extension in spite of opposition by the majority of parliament (particularly the Gorran-PUK bloc).
Forget the UN! Meet the Self-Determining Refugees in Kurdistan, Dilar Dirik, October 5, 2015
Rojava(Syria)
September 20th, al-Nusra and its allies began attacking the YPG defended neighborhood of Şêxmeqsûd in Aleppo.
26 September 2015, Sheikh Maqsoud | Ongoing clashes between #YPG/J and al-Nusra.
Kurds, Arabs, Syriacs & Turkmen march against IS and Al Nusra in neighbourhood Şêxmeqsûd, Aleppo, 24 Sep 2015
YPG/YPJ counter-attacked al-Nusra. Aleppo situation at Sheikh Maqsood after YPG seized part of Castello Rd, 27 Sep 2015
YPG Commander: Turkey behind the attacks on Sheikh Maqsoud, September 27, 2015
Aleppo: Residents in Sheikh Maqsoud protest against recent attacks by Al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham on the district, 29 Sep 2015
Demonstration in Al-Sukkari Aleppo "We call on rebel groups to suppress PKK (YPG), 30 Sep 2015
YPG take control of a transition route used by Al-Nusra in Aleppo, October 5, 2015
YPG Commander: Turkish officers conduct the attacks on Şêxmeqsûd, October 5, 2015
Teachers in the district Sheikh Maqsoud call on international organisations to break the siege, October 6, 2015
Video: Demonstrations against PKK/YPG in Aleppo denouncing them as against the people, October 6, 2015
U.S. Says YPG is not a terrorist organization, September 22, 2015
Plans for direct U.S. weapons shipments, overland from Iraq, to Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters, October 2, 2015, Washington Post
Turkey's Erdogan Says Kurdish PYD Fighting Islamic State Is Terror Group, October 5, 2015
Salih Muslim: "No Peshmerga in Rojava", October 6, 2015
YPG fighting ISIS in Hasakah, October 5, 2015
YPG fighting ISIS south of Kobane, September 11, 2015
YPG fighting ISIS in Sarrin, September 20, 2015
ISIS destroys Yezidi temple in Sinjar, October 5, 2015
Arabic tribe Bagara is ready to join YPG with 2000 fighters, August 30, 2015
An indepth description of the organization of the Rojava communes:
Introduction to the Political and Social Structures of Democratic Autonomy in Rojava, Zanyar Omrani, Paswean, September 30, 2015
Zanyar Omrani is a documentary filmmaker and freelance journalist, born in Iranian Kurdistan/Rojhelat, and currently working on a new film project about Syrian Kurdistan/Rojava. Given the level of detail of this article on the communes, Omrani's documentary will definitely be something to watch.
The Kurds’ Democratic Experiment, CARNE ROSS, SEPT. 30, 2015. Carne Ross, a former British diplomat and the author of “The Leaderless Revolution: How Ordinary People Will Take Power and Change Politics in the 21st Century,” is working on a forthcoming documentary film, “The Accidental Anarchist.”
Video: Nissy Koye & Hanna Bohman in "Women Warriors of Kurdistan" seminar organized by Kurdish House of Vancouver and sponsored by Simon Fraser University filmed and edited by Aras Ali. Hanna Bohman was a Canadian volunteer to the YPJ.
I organized a speaking event at Red Emmas, Video: The Revolution in Rojava with Ruken Işık (Gender and Women’s Studie, UMBC), Omer Pacal, (HDP, People's Democratic Party member) and Golala Arya (Washington, DC area Kurdish activist). I also speak a bit in introducting the talk to the audience.
CJ Swann, Irish volunteer that spent some time in a PKK transit camp, he didn't manage to make it across to Rojava
Aid not reaching Kobane, despite outrage over Alan Kurdi’s death 138468257#sthash.iiwagQft.dpuf]Aid not reaching Kobane, despite outrage over Alan Kurdi’s death, 22 September, 2015
A Global Day of Action to open a humanitarian cooridor for Kobane has been called for November 1st (This call was previously posted to libcom.org but been removed, whats up mods?)
Map of Syria with location of Russian Air Strikes and Russian Ground Troops, October 4, 2015
Sputnik News: YPG chief Sipan Hemo told Sputnik Türkiye that his fighting force wants Russian assistance., October 1st, 2015
YPG: Words of our commander, Sipan Hamo have been manipulated, we never made such statement on this matter (as decribed by Sputnik), 2 Oct 2015
PYD leader: Russia will stop Turkey from intervening in Syria, October 1
Bakur(Turkey)
Cizre is mourning their martyrs: body of 35-days-old Muhammed Yaramis, 13 Sep 2015, "21 civilians killed during the one week siege on Kurdish city of Cizre"
Kurds demand answers after battles in Cizre, September 18, 2015
DBP to discuss self-rule and autonomy in 15 cities, September 30, 2015
140 communes formed in Cizre as part of building of self-rule, September 24, 2015
Women lead the building of self-rule in Cizre, September 26, 2015
Call for a school boycott, September 23, 2015
School boycott joined by over 80 percent in Van, September 28, 2015
Silvan: Tanks, Detentions, many wounded in attacks, Turkish troops deploy to Ezidi refugee camp
Nusaybin: under seige, Attacks, Artillery fire, Massacre warning, After 5 days, curfew lifted
Lice: Entry & Exit Banned
Bismil: third curfew. The curfew for Ulutürk, Dumlupınar, Fırat and Tekel neighborhoods will last until a further notice. October 6, 2015
According to HDP: Killed civilians in last 70 days in province Sirnak: Cizre 27, Silopi 6, Elke 4, Hezex 1, Şirnak city 5. October 5, 2015
Ahead of elections, Turkey clamps down on press freedom, October 6, 2015
"HacI Lokman Birlik, the brother-in-law of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Sirnak deputy Leyla Birlik, was shot dead by the Turkish special forces on Friday night (2 October)" His body was dragged through the streets of Sirnak behind a police vehicle. Warning: Graphic Video
Turkey Is in Serious Trouble, SONER CAGAPTAY, The Atlantic, 10/2015
David Graeber: We have a Lot to Learn, New Compass, 17.09.2015
Crimethinc: Understanding the Kurdish Resistance, Sep 23rd, 2015
WHAT DOES ANYONE KNOW ABOUT
WHAT DOES ANYONE KNOW ABOUT FORCED CONSCRIPTION BY PYD??? i've gotten a serious report, and it's not the 1st about rojava, but blaimed on some other force...
today in nyt its announced russian troops will have fun and enter the ground war to protect their imperial navel base in syria etc. In their former contigues empire they're busy building military alliances with some of their former colonies, the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, and establishing bases--
flint we see none of yer promised hadiwork in getting signers for the petition for kobane, rojava, for turkey to open a safe corridor for med. aid etc. and world day of action nov. 1--extremly sorry for trying to contact u this way- 'messages' went nowhere- no doubt you have too much to do already and maybe i'm hassling you SO SORRY as everyday i see more and more of how important you are but "if you have it, flaunt it" (as a 60's saying went), but things are in a rush, Neither East Nor West-NYC was picked to help with petition as i think we're seen as do-ers and kinda, part of, the prole/rank & file end of rojava aid, to even out the oh-so-famed/baroness's/nobel prizers/professors...
can ya add to this 'kurdish weekly news briefing'-- contact estella24@tiscali.co.uk
the worlds worst speller signs out (do u know how long it takes me to correct and make things half-way readable? painkillerz pleeeeez...)
bob mcglynn wrote: WHAT DOES
bob mcglynn
Conscription by the YPG has been discussed several times on Libcom. Most conscripts go into the HXP (Hêzên Xwe Parastinê). They get trained for 6 weeks and have a 6 month conscription. They are largely used as static infantry in their home communities. The best document I've seen is this document from the Danish Immigration Service: Syria: Military Service, Mandatory Self-Defence Duty and Recruitment to the YPG
Bob, don't worry about me. I'm doing my part. Not sure what's going to happen locally for November 1st, but I'm going to follow the lead of the local Kurdish community in Washington DC that I've developed a relationship with. They've organized a number of demonstrations in the past at the White House, the Turkish embassy, the national mall near Congress, etc...
I've asked Black Rose Anarchist Federation to sign on and participate. The organizational secretary should do that soon.
Flint: Quote: "HacI Lokman
Flint:
Apparently cops also did not forget to take a picture with his tortured body and themselves together:
http://www.cumhuriyet.com.tr/haber/turkiye/382477/Haci_Lokman_Birlik_in_cenazesinin_basinda_toplu_poz_vermisler.html
MORE IMPORTANTLY: Birlik is told to be a great guy and very selfless in helping the others. He was also into movies. This short movie is his labor (with English and Turkish subtitles):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=124&v=6-iOcHSoGtg
Pictures of Kobani Today
Pictures of Kobani Today
Quote: "Kurds protested and
Kurds protest in north Iraq as discontent grows with government, Isabel Coles, Reuters, Oct 7, 2015
KRG finance chief vows to end teachers' strike, Rudaw, Oct 7, 2015
Strikes spreading over KRG salary delays, MOHAMMED HUSSEIN, PATRICK OSGOOD AND RAWAZ TAHIR, Iraq Oil Report, Oct 6, 2015
KRG teachers launch mass strike over wage delay, Rudaw, Oct 6, 2015
Wage protests in
Wage protests in Bashur/Kurdistan Regional Government are escalating.
Government employees, teachers demonstrate in Halabja, NRT TV, October 9, 2015
Video: Footage of today's anti-government protests in Silemani's Qeladize, South Kurdistan, Shar press, October 9, 2015
Mihemed Resul (21) killed & 6 others wounded in protests in district Qeladiz of the province Silemani, Rojnews, October 9, 2015
PUK officials ask for calm as extra security forces are en route to Qaladze, after KDP gunmen killed 3 civilians, as well wounding 17 more, Slemani Times, October 9, 2015
KDP guards have wounded the police chief of Qaladze who was trying to lead demonstrators away from KDP HQ., Slemani Times, October 9, 2015
Video: Sulaimani protesters clash with police, NRT TV, October 9, 2015
Photos; Protesters clash with police in Sulaimani, NRT TV, October 9, 2015
At least seventeen injured in Sulaimani protests, NRT TV, October 9, 2015
Kurdistan Parliament Issues Statement Supporting Protesters, NRT TV, October 9, 2015
Video: Sulaimani protests turn violent, NRT TV, October 8, 2015
Video: Protesters clas with riot police in Sulaimani, NRT TV, October 8, 2015
Protests continue across Kurdistan region, Rudaw, October 8, 2015
Video: Protests in Suliamani, Rudaw, October 8, 2015
Protests in Halabja, Xendan, October 8, 2015
Aftermath of riot police use of tear gas in Slemani Iraqi Kurdistan against protesters asking for their salaries, Kurdishblogger, October 8, 2015
source, October 9, 2015
Officials fail to reach decision on Kurdistan presidency, NRT TV, October 9, 2015
Kurds protest in north Iraq as discontent grows with government, Isabel Coles, Reuters, October 7, 2015
Bakur (South Eastern
Bakur (South Eastern Turkey)
kurremkarmerruk has already done a good job giving us information about the Ankara bombing and the general strike after it in Turkey News. The statement of the DAF is on libcom's homepage: Massacre at the 'Labor, Democracy and Peace Meeting' in Ankara.
It should noted that after the PKK declared a unilateral ceasefire making way for the elections November 1st, there was the bombing and Ankara and then airstrikes by the Turkey's airforce on PKK camps Zap and Metina in Bashur (northern Iraq).
Bashur (Northern Iraq)
Protests continued to escalate in the Kurdistan Regional Government area of Iraq. KDP offices have been burned. KDP has responded by removing Gorran (the second largest political party and leader of the majority Gorran-PUK bloc in parliament) from Parliament and the city of Erbil, including the speaker of the house. Prime Minister Barzani fired the four Gorran Ministers: Peshmerga Affairs, Finance and Economic Affairs, Trade and Industry, as well as Endowment and Religious Affairs – in addition to chairmanship of the Kurdistan Board of Investment and head of Parliament. Gorran is calling KDP's actions a coup d'etat.
KDP also shutdown the offices of NRT TV. Facebook access was blocked in Erbil and Duhok. Nalia media shutdown in Erbil and Duhok.
[*]A curfew went into effectin in Qaladze.
[*]More than 180 Protesters Arrested in Sulaimani.
[*]Iraqi Kurdish protests urge regional president to quit, France 24, October 10, 2015
[*]KRG 'On Brink of Collapse' says Parliament Speaker, NRT TV, October 12, 2015
[*]Understanding Recent Events Inside the Kurdistan Region, NRT TV, October 12, 2015
[*]Political Crisis in Iraqi Kurdistan Escalates into Violence, Patrick Martin, Institute for the Study of War, October 12, 2015
[*]Political crisis escalates in Iraq's Kurdistan region, PUK Media, October 12, 2015
Sinjar (Western Iraq)
Between October 8th and October 10th, 2015: YBŞ & HPG(PKK) forces liberated the four villages of Sikeniyê, Jiddale, Heyalê and Wardiya in SW of Shingal (Sinjar). Earlier, it seized a check point sout of the Shilo gate and the Alneban village, which severed the Mosul-Raqqa road (47). Seizure of Wardiya solidfied severing that road.
Dilar Dirik has a new article on the self-determined refugees: Forget the UN! Meet the Self-Determining Refugees in Kurdistan
Dilar Dirik
Rojava (Northern Syria)
Announcement of formation of Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to be armed by the U.S. and seige Raqqa.
This list is the YPG/YPJ and there already existing allies. It does show Jaish al-Thuwar working more closely with the YPG in the future.
This announcement came at the same time the U.S. declared it would begin to airdrop tons of weapons to the YPG and its allies immediately. Speculation is that this was in the works after the failure of Division 30 and the U.S. Train and Equip Program, but the announcement may have also been in response to more involvement in Syria by Russia including a large number of airstrikes against al-Nusra, Islamic Front and some elements of the Free Syrian Army north of Homs. Ilham Ehmed (PYD, TEV-DEM, Yekitya Star) who I was able to meet last week, also told the media that Russia had offered to collaborate with the PYD.
Amnesty International has put out a report documenting allegations of forced displacement, village / home destruction, and targeted destruction of homes by the YPG.
"We had nowhere else to go": Forced displacement and demolitions in northern Syria (full report)
Syria: US ally’s razing of villages amounts to war crimes (summary article), 13 October 2015
Youtube Video: "We had nowhere else to go": Forced displacement and demolitions in northern Syria. Video includes statements by witnesses as well as reponses from the YPG and Asayiş (Rojava police).
Its important to note that Amnesty International does not level the charge of ethnic cleansing.
Amnesty International
In Hammam al-Turkman
The largest documented displacement in the full report:
Amnesty Internationa
Skirmishes and 2 VBIEDs after the YPG took the village.
Amnesty International
Summary of allegations in the Amnesty International report
Husseinya village taken in June 2015
alleged village / home destruction:
[*] Husseinya (west of Tel Hamees): demolition of 90 homes/225 buildings.
[*] Asaylem (35km south of Suluk): demolition of 100 of 103 homes
[*] Mushayrfa (south of Suluk)
[*] Akrasha (Tel Hamees countryside)
[*] Safana (Tel Hamees country side)
alleged forced displacement:
[*] Forbidding Suluk residents from returning to their town after the YPG took control of the area in June 2015;
[*] Forcing approximately 1400 families in the Turkman village of Hammam al-Turkman and approximately 50 families from the Arab village of Raneen, south of Suluk, to leave their villages in June and July 2015, respectively;
[*] Forcing residents of Maaghat village, south of the town of Suluk, to leave their village in June 2015;
[*] Regularly ordering residents in the Arab village of al-Ghbein, south of the town of Suluk, to leave the area in June-August 2015;
[*] Forcibly displacing approximately 500 families in the predominately Arab village of Abdi Koy, in the Tel Tamr countryside, in June 2015;
[*] Telling residents of the Arab village of Tel Fweida, in the Tel Tamr countryside, to join the YPG or leave Syrian Kurdistan, in January 2015, which led 100 families to leave the village;
[*] Forcibly displacing approximately 800 Turkmen villagers from Mela Berho in July 2015.
alleged targeted destruction of homes:
[*] Members of a displaced family from Tel Diyab village, near Ras al-Ayn. Two homes destroyed.
[*] Members of a displaced family from Ras al-Ayn city, confiscated homes and shops.
I updated this map to include villages mentioned in the recent Amnesty International report on village/home destruction and displacements.
I couldn't find the following:
[list]
[*]al-Ghbein (Suluk)
[*] Mela Berho (Suluk)
[*] Akrasha (Tel Hamees)
[*] Safana (Tel Hamees)
But then, neither could the Washington Post map.
I'm not sure of the exact location of al-Maghat, but the one marked fits the approximate distance from Hammam Turkman in the Amnesty International Report.
Finally, a photogallery of daily life in Kobane recently
Only the HDP opposed it??? :<
Only the HDP opposed it??? :<
DOES ANYONE KNOW OF FORCED
DOES ANYONE KNOW OF FORCED CONSCRIPTION IN ROJAVA?- i lost it but i believe it was an x-brit diplomat in nyt who was wowed by rojava, but said some young guys complained of conscription by pyd. we had heard of forced concrip. by OTHERS in rojava, not pyd, that's why we put in our 'statement for rojava'* a note against conscription. 'lions of rojava' i hope are off when they said collectivisation was forced in spain ala civil war - i'd read @'s in catalonia gave a choice of course-- flint i sent the 'kurdish news weekly breifing' (not @ but dig us) yer 'kurdish news' addr which they really dig and will distribute- call 'em at estella24@tiscali.co.uk and please list their 'breifing' as resource. pleeeeeeez get in touch with me and network with 'breifing' so i dont have to be endless middleperson- if this is offed this thread i'll send it as message too---
over + out, "b"oB mcglynn-o-mat-ic
*by Neither East Nor West-NYC
Bob, Rojava/PYD/TEV-DEM has
Bob, Rojava/PYD/TEV-DEM has conscription. Here is a study on it:
https://www.nyidanmark.dk/NR/rdonlyres/991BA1A7-84C6-42A2-BC16-23CE6B5D862C/0/Syriennotat26feb2015.pdf
http://www.voanews.com/conten
http://www.voanews.com/content/syrian-kurds-accused-of-human-rights-abuses-against-arabs/3003693.html
Flint shared the full report
Flint shared the full report above. Amnesty says YPG does human rights violations against all available ethnicities (including kurds), however YPG says this is because of war and security. And apparently what they do is to force people whom they suspect to have connections with IS, sometimes even as a whole village. And just to note: needless to say this is horrible if it is unjustified (which seems to be so to a certain degree).
We also already knew that
We also already knew that atleast one village was totally destroyed
pkk1978"
Ask Me Anything with a PKK fighter who was in the Battle of Kobane
YPG's response: YPG General
YPG's response:
YPG General Commander Hemo on Syrian Democratic Force, US Weapons & Amnesty Report
http://civiroglu.net/2015/10/15/ypg-general-commander-hemo-on-syrian-democratic-force-us-weapons-amnesty-report/
I find one part of the interview curious though: he says "One more point, 30% of YPG made up of Arabs." Is there anything that confirms this? Flint? This is rather high in my opinion (and does not directly mean that YPG does not harm arabs. But to certain sense shows how PKK, YPG etc is evolving increasingly towards an ethnically mixed force parallel to their ideological changes -if it is true of course :D - )
Another answer from a
Another answer from a voluntary from UK: He says he have been in the places mentioned in the report. There is only temporary moving of people and not real forced migraine policy. Ypg has good relations with arabs. He criticizes that report is just based on "witness accounts" and not actual first hand accounts and invites (head of) Amnesty to come to Rojava.
http://kurdishquestion.com/index.php/kurdistan/west-kurdistan/open-letter-to-amnesty-from-uk-ypg-volunteer.html
kurremkarmerruk wrote: I find
kurremkarmerruk
When Hannah Lucinda Smith made her allegations about ethnic cleansing, there was a radio interview with a PYD member about it. They gave a % of Arab composition of the YPG. Though it was hard to hear. It might have been 30%.
30% is likely. The YPG/YPJ (and Sendadid, MFS, HXP, HPC) is estimated at 50,000. 30% of that would be 15,000.
First, there is Quwat al-Senadid (Forces of the Brave) the Jarba Shammar unit. Its been growing. They have their own logo, but they are part of the YPG. The Humaydi Dahmam al-Assi al-Jarba, a cousin of Ahmet Jarba, former head of the Syrian opposition is local tribal chief of the Jarba Shammar, is co-governor of the Jazeera/Cizire canton (goveronate of Hasakah).
The YPG has had other Arab battalions in it.
The conscription program began in Hasakah/Jazeera canton; which has the largest % of Arabs in of any Rojava canton. Arabs are included in the conscription program. Its primary website is in arabic and there is a lot of arabic in its videos. This may well be where the YPG get's the majority of its 30% Arabs.
2000 fighters from Arabic tribe al-Baggara joined the YPG. They are from the Mount Kazawan/Abdul Aziz area southwest of Hasakah. Other Arab tribes that work with the YPG: Zubayd, Jawala, Sharabi, Benitaba and Rashid
Also, I don't know if they are included in the 30%--there are the Arab groups in Burkan al-Furat and Jaysh al-Thuwar which have combined with the YPG to form the Syrian Democratic Forces (Hêzên Sûriyeya Demokratîk / Alddimuqratiat Quwwat Suria ). The groups that make up Jaysh al-Thuwar: Liwa 99 Infantry (Arabs), Liwa al-Sultan Selim (Turkmen), Special Operations Brigade (Arabs), Kataeb Shams al-Shamal (Arabs & Kurds), Jabhat al-Akrad (Arabs & Kurds), al-Fawj 777 (Arabs), Tajamuu Thuwar Homs (Arabs) and Liwa Saljuqiyah (Turkmen). Some other groups involved: Ahrar Al-Zawiya (Arabs), Atarib martyrs battalion (Arabs), Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa (Arabs), Al-Tahrir Brigade (Arabs) and Saraya Jarabulus (Arabs). The Arabs in the Syrian Democratic Forces are also grouped together as the Syrian Arab Coalition. We may see several other previously FSA affiliated groups of majority Arabs joining the Syrian Democratic Forces because doing so will probably stop Russia from bombing them. Also, the U.S. has shutdown its previous "Train & Equip" program and is instead going to arm the Syrian Democratic Forces. Whatever is left of the U.S. proxy force--Division 30 may be involved; when they were attacked by al-Nusra they fled to the YPG safety of the Afrin canton.
Also worth mentioning is the 2,000 members of the Syriac Military Council that have a strong relationship with the YPG.
The Amnesty International report mentioned that Arabs in the YPG were among the folks issuing demands that people relocate in certain villages.
Quote: Ruspîs Assembly of
Arab tribes in Rojava say Amnesty International distorts the truths, ANF, October 16, 2015
Quote: Ruspîs Assembly of
Arab tribes in Rojava say Amnesty International distorts the truths, ANF, October 16, 2015[/quote]
Who are these Arab tribes?
El-Cihêş, El-Begara, El-Niêm, El-Şerabî ve El-Şemer
The version of the article in Arabic with latin letters:
eashirat albikarati, alshshirabiiyna, alshshamri, aljbura, alnnaeymu
El-Şemer/al-Shamri/Shammar
El-Begara/al-Bikarati/Baqqara/al-Baggara
Arabic tribe Bagara is ready to join YPG with 2000 fighters
El-Niêm/al-Naeymu/Na’im
El-Şerabî/al-Shirabiiyna/Sharabiya/Sharabi
El-Cihêş
al-Jbura/Jubur
The Tribal Factor in Syria’s Rebellion: A Survey of Armed Tribal Groups in Syria, Nicholas A. Heras, Carole A. O'Leary, Publication: Terrorism Monitor Volume: 11 Issue: 13June 27, 2013
THE BATTLE FOR SYRIA’S AL-HASAKAH PROVINCE, Nicholas A. Heras, Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point, October 24, 2013
Turkey heavy military
Turkey heavy military deployment on Syria border. Photo by IISS , 2013.
http://www.ypgrojava.com/en/i
http://www.ypgrojava.com/en/index.php/statements/809-statement-by-the-gen-comm-of-the-people-s-defense-units-in-response-to-amnesty-international-s-october-8th-report
This is a point based refutation of Amnesty's report. It is very throughout. However there are some problems related to some arguments which appear to me as problems of language (for example about shooting towards the direction of boys issue), if not deliberate attempts to misdirect. However these problems I mention are minor parts of the text. Other parts, -if it is as far as I know of the situation- really accurate and makes a convincing case about the argument that what is happening is not practice of a policy of "displacement" (secret or public) but maybe a "war crime" (at least in some aspects). However YPG says mostly this is not the case either. They also show some of the suspicious references behind the report. Plus again emphasise how the numbers of Arabic fighters are increasing in YPG side (now like %25) which I find really important.
(No subject)
and then came Zizek:
and then came Zizek: http://kurdishquestion.com/index.php/insight-research/slavoj-zizek-kurds-are-the-most-progressive-democratic-nation-in-the-middle-east.html
Quote: Teaching Kurdish
Teaching Kurdish curriculum in 507 school in Aljazeera canton, Kanonrojava.com, November 4, 2015
Some links on mother tongue education:
306 schools provide mother-tongue education in Efrîn Canton, ANF, October 20, 2015
If Efrin has a similar teacher-student ratio as Jazeera canton, then Efrin has 55,250 students; of which 3400 are being educated in Arabic.
Mother tongue class opened in Dersim, ANF, February 21, 2015
The KCK said no language was superior to another.
KCK: Let us step up the struggle for mother tongue education, ANF, February 21, 2015
HDP MP: Mother-tongue education is a must of contemporary democracy, ANF, September 17, 2015
DTK calls for a boycott against schools for the right to mother tongue, ANF, September 21, 2015
So across the board of the Kurdish freedom movement, the KCK, TEV-DEM, HDP and DTK are all united in making mother tongue instruction available. Its not surprising that TEV-DEM and the Rojava Cantons are the most advance in this struggle.
I wrote a line by line criticism of two articles critical of the new curriculum.
After 52-year ban, Syrian Kurds now taught Kurdish in schools, Al Monitor, Massoud Hamed, November 6, 2015
Video of a protest against the new curricula, you can clearly see PDK(KDP) flags and the ENKS signs at the end.
The always anti-PYD "Kurdwatch" site says:
Amudah: Nearly two hundred activists criticize PYD’s education policy, KurdWatch, October 10, 2015
190 signatures INCLUDING "quite a few people in exile". For a school system of 86,606 students.
Al-Hasakah: PYD seeks to make the glorification of Öcalan a key element of school instruction, KurdWatch, October 1, 2015
I'm skeptical of KurdWatch's claim that many schools were almost empty.
@kurremkarmerruk The
@kurremkarmerruk
The individual behind the Amnesty International report apparently has anti-Kurd sentiments.
https://twitter.com/re2baz/status/663112261020454912
Yeah ok. I tried to follow
Yeah ok. I tried to follow twitter discussions but could not get anything conclusive. Though that kristian benedict guy looks very biased against Kurds given his history (preventing Kurdish organisations from speaking in a Arab Spring Solidarity rally).
Anyway here is this news:
http://m.radikal.com.tr/turkiye/suriyeli-kurtler-ypgnin-cagrisi-uzerine-geri-donmeye-basladi-1468446
According to this PYD called back the refugees of Cezire in Turkey. Each day about 500 people cross the border and go back to the canton from Turkey.
Quote: “Those behind the
. Note: Constitutionally, Rojava has no death penalty.
Christian Political Foundation denies AINA allegations against YPG, ANF News, Nov 9, 2015
Christian Political Foundation for Europe (CPFE) is a Christian Democrat group with no particular tie to Rojava, Kurds, KCK, or even the SUP/MFS or the European Syriac Union.
This statement was put out based on an article published by AINA that we previously discussed here. It did have a report on the Conference on security of Minorities in Iraq, European Parliament:
YPG says Turkey attacked
YPG says
Turkey attacked Kobane
http://www.imctv.com.tr/ypg-turk-ordusu-kobaniye-saldirdi/
details of the above
details of the above here:
http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkish-military-allegedly-shell-kobane-ypg-and-arabs-advances-strategic-town-1894959234
Long journalism piece in the
Long journalism piece in the Nyt:
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/magazine/a-dream-of-utopia-in-hell.html?_r=1&referer=
Do they need anyone to do
Do they need anyone to do safe but crappy jobs like the ironing or the washing up? Lol. I make a mean brew...
Would the Uk Foreign Office consider you a terrorist if you hypothetically went over to be a tea lady for the YPG? Hehe
wojtek wrote: Would the Uk
wojtek
For serving tea to the YPG, probably not. On the other hand I do think that being a tea lady for the PKK would indeed be whole different ballgame as far as the UK Foreign Office is concerned.
:)
So I've been thinking about
So I've been thinking about this in light of the Don't Bomb Syria protests today; is it possible to get a consistent position between supporting Rojava and the anti-war movement? I mean, it was my understanding (though I could be wrong) that the YPG/J want more bombing in Syria as airstrikes restrict the movement of ISIS forces.. so how does this fit with the Stop the War types? Is it possible to be anti-war and pro-Rojava at the same time?
Ed - don't expect consistency
Ed - don't expect consistency from the 'Stop the War' bunch leading many of these protests here and the language of both pro and anti camps is anyway designed to tie everyone up in a nationalist discourse and state led military campaigns the practical results of which we have little influence over either way.
Ed wrote: So I've been
Ed
I'm quite interested in this as well, speaking as someone who's still fairly skeptical of a lot of the claims coming out of the pro-Rojava left I'd like to know how (or indeed if) you square the circle of opposing western military intervention when said intervention is a key part of the Kurdish forces military success in the region.
~J.
jolasmo and Ed, You might
jolasmo and Ed,
You might find it useful to scan the critical views expressed in this text and some of the replies it received in getting a handle on the different leftist responses to the recent UK Parliamentary vote on Syrian bombing:
https://attheinlandsea.wordpress.com/2015/11/30/we-like-our-syrians-dead-the-british-left-and-david-cameron/
I picked this up on a recent Plan C link elsewhere on this site which you could also look up if you wish. I'm not recommending the analysis of either but it helps to know where others are coming from on this issue.
Quote: *Democratic Syria
source
More on the Democratic Syria Conference Convenes As An Alternative To Riyadh:
Notes:
Jabal al-Arab is Jabal al-Druze.
This seems to be the political organization of civil society that the Syrian Democratic Forces are intended to be accountable.
Shehba Regional Assembly may represent this area--or north Aleppo Kurdish communities. This area was once a stronghold for Jabhat al-Krad.
Haytham Manna is involved with the Wheat Wave Movement (Teyar El-Qemih). Manna was also part of the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change. The NCCDC also included the PYD, the SUP and the Socialist Democratic Baath Party.
Interview with Honor & Rights Agreement Community about Syrian Democratic Assembly
Quote: THE RUMEILAN
Riyadh, Rumeilan, and Damascus: All You Need to Know About Syria’s Opposition Conferences, Aron Lund, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, December 9th,2015
Quote: Democratic Syria
ANF News, December 13th, 2015
Following recent Turkish
Following recent Turkish state attacks on PKK supported areas of Iraq, Syria and now in Turkey itself alongside shooting down of Russian jet and Russian bombing campaign against all anti-Assad militias including those supported by Turkey we now see Sergei Lavrov Russia's foreign minister hosting the Turkish/Kurdish sympathising HDP Selahattin Demirtas in Moscow. The Syria/Iraq Imperialist fueled war gets still deeper into Turkey.
The Syrian Democratic
The Syrian Democratic Forces(SDF)/YPG has taken Tishrin Dam and crossed to the western bank of the Euphrates. They then secured the town of Tishrin and Sakaniya. YPG special forces have already engaged at Abu Qelqel. The presumed next significant target is Manbij.
The Tishrin Dam is capable of producing 630 MW. By comparison, Hoover Dam has a capacity of 2,080 MW. In October 2015, I asked Îlham Ehmed if the YPG took Tishrin Dam if they would run it as a worker coooperative or return it to the Assad regime. Ehmed replied "If we take it, we keep it.". Ehmed is now the co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Assembly(MSD).
Video inside Tishrin dam after it was taken by the SDF/YPG. Including the surrender of the dam workers. They've been there since before the civil war started. The dam is intact and functional. Before the Islamic State captured it, the Tishrin Dam supplied electricity to Kobane.
Manbij is the second largest city (after al-Raqqa) under Islamic State control in Syria.
Kheder Khaddour, Kevin Mazur
The Struggle for Syria's Regions, by Kheder Khaddour, Kevin Mazur. MERIP, MER 269 - STRUGGLING FOR SYRIA, Volume: 43, Winter 2013
Meanwhile in the west on the Afrin front. The SDF/Jaysh al-Thuwar/YPG have retaken Malikia and Malikia. Salafi jihadists from al-Nusra to Ahrar ash-Sham continue to attack the eastern and southern borders of Afrin as well as shelling the neighborhood of Sheik Meqsood in Aleppo. They have even shelled the city of Afrin.
Afrin under shelling
There is a collection of media on the Tishrin Offensive on reddit.
This is not Afrin. It isn't
This is not Afrin. It isn't in Syria. It isn't Iraq. This is Şırnak in Bakur/Turkey.
The attack to the neighborhoods of Şırnak, Jinha News Agency, December 28, 2015.
This is just one of hundreds (thousands?) of incidents. Here is a comprehensive list of Bakur Curfew articles from March 6, 2015 through December 24, 2015
Here is a video of thousands of people march fromİdil to support the resistance of the people in Cizre district who have been under continuous siege and attack by the Turkish state for 11 days., dokuz8HABER, December 24, 2015.
Cizre, Bakur/Turkey
Not Syria, The Sur district of Diyarbakir, Bakur/Turkey under police curfew
Black Rose Anarchist Federation published a statement from an anonymous anarchist comrade in Turkey about the situation there: Kurdish Resistance Against the Curfews in Bakur: an Overview an an Anarchist Message. That was also picked up by Kurdish Question, December 15, 2015
Kurdish Resistance Against the Occupation, Baran Serhad, Suphi Tuprak, Left Voice, December 28, 2015
Paul White has published a new book called The PKK – Coming Down from the Mountains
From National Liberation to Autonomy: The Trajectory of the PKK, review by Raymor Ryan, December 2, 2015, Telesurv TV
My opinion on why Turkey shotdown that Russian plane
Quote: Leading labor unions
Turkish unions, professional chambers to stage one-day strike for peace, Hurriyet Daily News, December 27, 2015
Kurds Decide On Self-Rule In North Kurdistan (Turkey). Kurdish Question, 28th December 2015
In Bakur/Turkey, YP--Civil Defense Units have started to form. First the Botan Civil Defense Units, then the YPS Nusaybin. These are militia different from the YDG-H or the HPG.
Kurdish group TAK claims responsibility for Istanbul airport attack, Reuters, Dec 26, 2015
Facebook censored the YPG page with its 400K+ likes:
I dont know why it is wrongly
I dont know why it is wrongly represented in english but, the strike against the curfews is just a one hour "not working time" and it is really not very much advertised or organised even by its initiator unions. Among these unions teachers union (egitimsen) appears to be the only one to obey the action. ( but even it will not in my locality). The current state of war and state terror appears to put off unions.
kurremkarmerruk wrote: I dont
kurremkarmerruk
That's unfortunate.
I wonder why Hurriyet Daily News is playing it up. They aren't a pro-HDP news source.
Sorry, sorry, my bad. This is
Sorry, sorry, my bad. This is really a one day strike. Though it is very weak and unorganized as other strikes in Turkey. The one hour "no work" day was last week. I mixed it up sorry. (it is that unorganised. I only get an sms about it.)
Arab recruits to the QSD
Arab recruits to the QSD (Syrian Democratic Forces) receive ideological training.
google translation
Arab fighters: Our goal is to defend the Syrian territory, ANF, December 29, 2015
any verification from another
any verification from another source?
http://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/23-soldiers-resign-from-turkish-army-in-sirnak
Entdinglichung wrote: any
Entdinglichung
I don't have another source, but it seems very believable. They even list the 12 specialists by name. Lets hope we see more resignations and desertions.
Seems like Kurdish forces
Seems like Kurdish forces backed by US airstrikes will gain a lot of ground on ISIS in the coming months as ISIS is now reverting back to a strategy of guerrilla warfare with the understanding that it is too vulnerable otherwise. Also my impression that the Kurds will have some leeway in society building as the regional forces (with the exception of Iran and Russia) are all severely weakened at this point.
Main issue will be the guerrilla war that will be waged by ISIS as the year progresses, they will be wreaking havoc rest assured. best strategy to counter this afaics is to make efforts to incorporate sunnis to a future Kurdish society rather than discriminating against them. This was the successful tactic us by the USG when defeating Al-Qaeda in Iraq in 2005/2006 when the USG started to make alliances withe Sunni tribes thereby isolating AQI which many Iraqi sunnis felt was too violent
Btw, I'm curious as to what
Btw, I'm curious as to what the relationship is between the YPG, PKK, and the KRG
Soapy wrote: Btw, I'm curious
Soapy
Terrible.
YPG and HPG have a close relationship. There are HPG embedded with YPG in Rojava. YPG and HPG work together with the YBS in the Sinjar area in Iraq. Many YPG were trained by HPG.
PYD and PKK have a close relationship. Same ideology.
In Turkey/Bakur, there are new Civil Defense Units forming up with the initials YPS and YPS-Jin; a name obviously meant to invoke similarity with the YPG/YPJ. Nusaybin district of Mardin (which is just across the border from the Rojava defacto capitol of Qamislo) and the Cizre district of Şırnak (less than 12 miles from Al-Malikiyah / Derik. which is home of the New World Summit Parliament, the Sohdo Abgar (Martyr Abgar military academy) and the Şîlan Kobanî Academy that trains young women to form special forces).
The KRG is officially now a dictatorship with President Masoud Barzani having stayed in office past his extended 2 year term which expired in August 2015. In response to protests, the KDP blocked the second largest party in parliament--Gorran--from parliament. This included the Speaker of Parliament who should have taken over the presidency until there was a new election. KDP also removed all Gorran party members from government ministries. Gorran parliamentary representatives have even been banned from the capitol of Erbil. Several Gorran related media offices were shutdown by KDP and journalists were arrested. The protests were violent suppressed.
Gorran isn't gone, though. They still control the civil administration in Sulaymaniyah, which is defended by PUK Peshmerga who have stated their willingness to act on the orders of Gorran. Gorran was a split from the PUK in protest of PUK collusion with KDP. Relationships between PUK and Gorran have since improved. PUK controls the civil administration of Kirkuk as well. Gorran and PUK have a positive relationship with the HPG/PKK. HPG is deployed in the Kirkuk area and coordinates with PUK Peshmerga.
HPG in SInjar revealed high tensions between themselves, their allies (YBS/YJE, YPG and the HPŞ) against the KDP Peshmerga. KDP is pushing for HPG/PKK to leave. KDP is also outraged that YBS may be getting arms and salaries from Baghdad as part of the PMU (popular moblization units). The Shammar militia in the area also has PMU support (while across the border the Shammar militia--Quwat al-Senadid is an important part of the YPG and the QSD).
Barzani's attempts to consolidate power may result in the autonomy of Sulaymaniyah and Sinjar as cantons separate from KRG (KDP) influence.
KRG(KDP) may still be maintaining an embargo of Rojava (though it may be weaker in some aspects).
Meanwhile in Rojava, the KDPS (KDP affiliate in Syria) organizes protests against conscription and against mother tongue education in primary school for Kurds. KDPS was offered a fig leaf of having a representative (one out of 43) in the Syrian Democratic Congress (MSD). This includes a KDPS representative on the 9 member Joint Coordination Committee. Other parties to the right of the PYD also have representatives in the MSD.
The KRG dictatorship is very fragile and autonomy by Sulaymaniyah is very likely. Autonomy of Sinjar is also likely, particularly if Baghdad supports it to weaken Barzani. Barzani has probably never been less popular in KRG. The PKK has probably never been more popular in the KRG than it is right now.
Follow up questions: 1. So
Follow up questions:
1. So the YPG and the PKK have close links?
2. What is the HPG?
3. What are the areas in which the supposedly bakunin inspired experiments are taking place?
Soapy wrote: Also my
Soapy
PYD/TEV-DEM/YPG has been trying to gain the support of Arabs since the beginning of the civil war. First it was the Shammar, but many other tribes are now pledging alliance. The Syrian Democratic Congress(MSD) brought a lot of Arabs into the TEV-DEM'S "Project for a Democratic Syria". Arabs and Kurds are balanced in MSD representation, with also several seats for Syriacs/Assyrians, one for Druze, one for Turkemen, etc... the MSD has an Arab co-Chair. Many of the Arab parties recruited into MSD are left-wing, while some of the Kurdish parties in the MSD are so far to the right to KDP in Syria.
Supposedly, about 30% of the Syrian Democratic Forces are Arab. Arabs are also a large component of the HXP (static infantry, conscripts), A woman Arab fighter with the YPG was martyred during the Tishrin Dam capture.
The Arab Al-Shaitat tribe recently declared they were joining the Syrian Democratic Forces. Al-Shaitat suffered a large massacre in their homeland in Deir ez-Zor Governorate, were living in YPG controlled areas as internally displaced people and now have moved to Tel Abyad.
There as a conflict west of Tel Abyad with a newly formed Army of Clans made up of Arabs and Turkemen. The Army of Clans nominally was tribal fighters who were going to join with Liwa Thuwar al-Raqqa; which then upgraded itself to Jabhat(Army) Thuwarr al-Raqqa. There was skirmish between the Army of Clans and YPG, with Army of Clans demanding control of Tel Abyad be transferred to them. Tel Abyad had a council government setup with representation by Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen who had voted for Tel Abyad to join the Kobane canton. After the skirmish, it seems that the Army of Clans dissolved. Jabhat Thuwarr al-Raaqa claimed that some of the tribal leaders were dismissed but with many of the members joining Jaibhat Thuwarr al-Raqqa. JabhatThuwarr al-Raqqa also restarted their membership in the Syrian Democratic Forces and their desire to campaign to liberate al-Raqqa.
The al-Bagara tribe also pledged to join the YPG
Arab loyalties in Northern Syria seem divided between the Assad Regime, ISIS and the SDF. Which is an improvement over their divided loyal between the Assad regime and ISIS.
This is the first I've heard
This is the first I've heard of the SDF, where do they operate?
I was under the impression that the three main groups in Syria is the Assad regime, ISIS, and a combination of Jabhat-al Nusra Ahrar al Sham and other Islamist groups (supported by Turkey, US, and Saudis) styling themselves as the Awakening.
1. Yes. They always have. 2.
1. Yes. They always have.
2. the HPG is the armed wing of the PKK. What do all these acronyms mean?
3. Supposedly Bookchin, not Bakunin. Though I wouldn't be surprised if there was some Bakunin in their PKK/HPG cadre trainings. The largest expression of democratic confederalism in civil society and economics is in Rojava, but there are also efforts towards it Bakur--Turkey. Democratic Autonomy in Northern Kurdistan describes some of the efforts in Bakur; but the movement there is under a lot of repression from the state of Turkey. In Rojava, there is a dual power situation with the decaying elements of the Assad regime. The balance seems to have tipped with TEV-DEM/YPG having the greater share of control of the area and handling most of the aspects of civil society (such as education). See Introduction To The Political And Social Structures Of Democratic Autonomy In Rojava, Zanyar Omrani for a description of the councils in practice.
There is a lot of vague and contradictory information about how the economy is being organized.
Good news is that electricity from the Tishrin Dam is now available in Kobane.
Soapy wrote: This is the
Soapy
Soapy, with all due respect, could you read some of my earlier posts in this very thread. I describe the formation of the SDF/HSD/QSD (and the YPG's role in it), as well as the formation of the Syrian Democratic Congress (MSD) and TEV-DEM/PYD's role in it.
SDF is basically YPG + Arab allies.
Soapy
Everywhere the YPG and its allies operate. There have been two major offensives under the SDF banners--the first was the expansion southward Hasakah to capturing Al-Howl and pushing on towards Ash-Shaddadi. The second was pushing south from Afrin, crossing the Euphrates, taking the Tishrin dam and now pushing towards Manbij. Also, it is under the banner of the SDF that Jaysh al-Thuwar/Jabhat al-Akrad have been fighting against Jabhat al-Nusra and their allies over a string of villages east of Afrin and southwest of A'zaz.
I maintain this pretty detailed map.
For armed factions, there have always been five: Assad Regime, ISIS, other Salafi Jihadists (Jabhat al-Nusra, Ahrar ash-Sham, and others), Free Syrian Army (secularists and not Salafi enough Islamists) and the Democratic Confederalists (YPG and its allies). TEV-DEM has been pushing its courtship of Arabs and Assyrians pretty hard and it has seemed to have gained momentum.
One problem is that their sensitivity to ethnic charges means delay in some of their socialist program, such as land reform. For example, there was a law proposed for TEV-DEM to take control/ownership of property abandoned by refugees--but some Assyrians opposed it on grounds that doing so would amount to ethnic cleansing. So the law was not passed.
The FSA is in decay. It seems like the FSA elements are now being split between the Salafi Jihadists and the Democratic Confederalists. In that area east of Afrin, different FSA groups are fighting each other along that split.
Groups in
Groups in SDF/HSD/QSD:
Jaysh al-Thuwar includes:
Turkey: Car bomb by Kurdish
Turkey: Car bomb by Kurdish rebels' at police station kills five
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/turkey-car-bomb-by-kurdish-rebels-at-police-station-kills-five-a6811276.html
Neither condemning or supporting, just thought it's relevant. Also why is there an apostrophe at the end of "rebels'"?
Soapy wrote: Turkey: Car bomb
Soapy
Its actually a bigger deal than that.
Concurrent Attacks In 11 Points Across Turkey And Kurdistan
This is a significant escalation in Turkey.
Must say that it plays right
Must say that it plays right into Erdogan's hands. He ran on a platform of cracking down on the Kurds and now assuredly Turkey has a pretext to attack Kurdish groups with the extreme violence it is used to using. KRG probably encouraging attacks so that they can show themselves as the only protection against Turkish state violence.
Bakur Quote: the government
Bakur
Mr. Erdogan's Offensive, Washington Post, January 10, 2016
23 soldiers resign from Turkish army in Şırnak, ANF News, January 13, 2016
More Than 1000 Academics Call For Peace Talks To Resume Between Turkey And PKK, Kurdish Question, January 11, 2016
Erdoğan To Academics Calling For Peace: You Are Traitors, Kurdish Question, January 12, 2016
Chomsky: Erdoğan Has Supported ISIS, Is Saying Anything Else Necessary?, Kurdish Question, January 13, 2016
Chomsky hits back at Erdoğan, accusing him of double standards on terrorism, The Guardian, January 14, 2016
Internationalist fighters in Rojava call on youth to join Bakur's resistance, ANF News, January 14, 2016
Rojava
Thoughts on Rojava: an interview with Janet Biehl, Zanyar Omrani, Roar Magazine, January 13, 2016
Euphrates Martyrs Battalion Officially Declares joining QSD (SDF), January 13, 2016.
Unit history of the Euphrates Martyrs Battalion that joined the SDF yesterday. They originated as a rebel group in and around the village of Qubbah., Hawar News, January 14, 2016
YPG opens military academy for Arabs in Tel Brak, Hawar News, January 13, 2016
Rojava, Solidarianism, Dr. Jan Best de Vries, Pasewan, January 3, 2016
Basur/KRG
Can Democracy Exist with Barzani in Charge, Rauf Naqishbendi, Kurdistan Tribune, January 5, 2016
Army of the Gorran Movement: Will the KDP Change the Strategy of Gorran?, Mohammed Rauf, Pasewan, December 20, 2016
Comparing the Dual Party Systems in the KRG and United States: A False Analogy, Megan Connelly-Amin, Pasewan, January 2, 2016
Soapy wrote: Must say that it
Soapy
There is a line of thought that certain actions give the state carte blanche to engage in violent repression. I don't subscribe to that because almost any action (non-violent or otherwise) a state supporter can argue gives the state the pretext for repression. I don't think you think that. The question on violence is "was it justified?" Its a high bar to meet. Status quo media opinion almost always favors the state in that calculation and usually argues that non-state actors violent actions are not justified. I'm not so quick to make that evaluation.
Alternatively, Erdogan's violent oppression of the YDG-H, the HDP and Kurds in general plays right into the hands of the PKK. Erdogan bombed the PKK in Qandil repeatedly before the eleciton. He had the YPG shelled in Rojava before the election. He had attacks orchestrated by mobs against the HDP before the election. After the election, he escalated against Kurdish communities throughout the south east with the curfrews; increasing repression. He had the mayors and others calling for self-rule imprisoned. He refused to acknowledge every offer of a cease fire the PKK made before the election.
If Erdogan makes it impossible for the HDP to even propose some reforms while he continues to impose violence on whole cities--then he leaves little options for the movement except violence--either defensive such as the trenches and YPS; or offensive such as attacks on police buildings.
He may have regarded the restraint the PKK showed as weakness on the part of the PKK. That seems to have been a miscalculation on his part.
I don't think the KRG (or the KDP) has anything to do with either when Erdogan decides to attack the PKK, or when the PKK decides to attack Erdogan.
Your are correct that I am
Your are correct that I am not making any comment on the morality of the PKK's actions in this particular situation as that is a complicated question that I am not able to address.
I am simply saying that Erdogan has sold himself as the strongman politician that can crackdown on the Kurds and these actions today will only solidify this role.
I think it is of some relevance to look at which side the US will support. In the 1990s the Clinton administration strongly supported the ethnic cleansing of the Kurds, selling massive amounts of arms to the Turkish state so they could kill and displace thousands. All this while they wrung their hands about Milosevic's crimes claiming "how can we let this happen on the border of NATO" while right within the borders of NATO in Turkey they were helping in the ethnic cleansing of the Kurds.
Now it is a little different as the US needs allies against the ISIS threat. The US has thrown the Kurds under the bus so many times that I wouldn't be surprised if they did so again the moment they no longer prove their usefulness.
Sorry if I'm going on off on a tangent here, but I think people seem to have forgotten that it was the US who sold Saddam the chemical weapons that he used on the Kurds in Halabja. Whole villages wiped out, thousands killed, barely a word of protest in the West. It was the US who then invaded in 1991, encouraged a Kurdish rebellion, and then allowed Saddam to stamp it out all while the US was still occupying the country.
Now, just like in 1991 the Kurds and the US are on the same side again, we will see how long this alliance lasts.
Soapy wrote: Sorry if I'm
Soapy
I don't think anyone (who is informed about the current situation) has forgotten that. Nor have they forgotten that Barzani/KDP allied with Saddam against the PUK in the "Kurdish Civil War", before then turning to Turkey for help against the PKK when they supported the PUK.
The U.S. is an unreliable ally (to anyone, but especially the Kurds).
I think the question, "how is this different than the 1990s?" is a good one. There are some different policy issues the U.S. has (defeating ISIS, where in the past the U.S. would have armed ISIS and al-Nusra to killed the socialist PYD). I think the main differences are:
I think the last point is very important. When things were improving, people gained a sense of hope and efficacy. Those are feelings that remain even after the AKP-state shifted to a policy of repression. Its feelings like hope and efficacy that drive revolutions forward, not feelings of desperation.
The KCK/PKK has probably never been more popular than it is right at this very moment. The U.S. is confused about its foreign policy objectives.
A comrade from Turkey asked
A comrade from Turkey asked that I share this with Libcom:
----
Dear Professors and Colleagues,
In the Kurdish region of Turkey, since 16 August 2015, there have been 58 officially confirmed, open-ended curfews in 19 districts of 7 cities. Human causalities increase day by day, hundreds of civilians lost their lives. You can find more information about the situation in the following links.
1. Fact sheet by Human Rights Foundation of Turkey http://en.tihv.org.tr/fact-sheet-on-declared-curfews-in-turkey-between-11-december-2015-8-january-2016/
2. Call by Amnesty International http://www.amnestyusa.org/get-involved/take-action-now/turkey-stop-imposing-arbitrary-restrictions-on-freedom-of-movement-ua-616
A group of academics launched a petition in Turkey, signed by 1128 academics in Turkey and supported by 356 international ones by January 10th. The international supporters include David Harvey, Noam Chomsky, Etienne Balibar, Erik Swyngedouw, Judith Butler and many others.
Hereby is the text for international support: http://barisicinakademisyenler.net/node/63
International supporters: http://barisicinakademisyenler.net/node/64
Signatures from Turkey: http://barisicinakademisyenler.net/node/62
And today, after a very brutal attack on tourists in İstanbul by the ISIS; Turkish President Erdoğan made a defiant speech, mostly attacking on this petition and those who signed it.
Hereby is the info by Guardian on this issue:
'In a typically defiant speech Erdoğan attacked foreign academics and writers, including Noam Chomsky for criticism of his government.
He said: “Pick a side. You are either on the side of the Turkish government, or you’re on the side of the terrorists'. (http://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2016/jan/12/istanbul-explosion-several-reported-killed-in-tourist-area-live-updates)
Just 2 hours after this speech, Turkish Higher Education Council announced that it would launch an investigation against those who signed in Turkey. In this situation supporting the academics in Turkey is much more crucial.
I would like to ask you to sign this petition in order to show solidarity and if it is possible to convey this message to your colleagues.
You can sign the petition by sending a mail (stating your name, position and university) to info@barisicinakademisyenler.net
Thank you very much for your interest.
Best regards
Academics for Peace
10.01.2016
As academics and researchers of this country, we will not be a party to this crime!
The Turkish state has effectively condemned its citizens in Sur, Silvan, Nusaybin, Cizre, Silopi, and many other towns and neighborhoods in the Kurdish provinces to hunger through its use of curfews that have been ongoing for weeks. It has attacked these settlements with heavy weapons and equipment that would only be mobilized in wartime. As a result, the right to life, liberty, and security, and in particular the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment protected by the constitution and international conventions have been violated.
This deliberate and planned massacre is in serious violation of Turkey’s own laws and international treaties to which Turkey is a party. These actions are in serious violation of international law.
We demand the state to abandon its deliberate massacre and deportation of Kurdish and other peoples in the region. We also demand the state to lift the curfew, punish those who are responsible for human rights violations, and compensate those citizens who have experienced material and psychological damage. For this purpose we demand that independent national and international observers to be given access to the region and that they be allowed to monitor and report on the incidents.
We demand the government to prepare the conditions for negotiations and create a road map that would lead to a lasting peace which includes the demands of the Kurdish political movement. We demand inclusion of independent observers from broad sections of society in these negotiations. We also declare our willingness to volunteer as observers. We oppose suppression of any kind of the opposition.
We, as academics and researchers working on and/or in Turkey, declare that we will not be a party to this massacre by remaining silent and demand an immediate end to the violence perpetrated by the state. We will continue advocacy with political parties, the parliament, and international public opinion until our demands are met.
For international support, please send your signature, name of your university and your title to info@barisicinakademisyenler.net
----
It is available in multiple languages here.
Rojava Interesting video for
Rojava
Interesting video for Kurdish audience about what Kurdish Political Parties are in Rojava:
Partiyên siyasî 11 3 2015, ANHA, March 11, 2015
I've typed out the four major blocs and their parties.
TEV-DEM, Tevgera Civaka Demokratîk (Democratic Society Movement)
which includes:
TEV-DEM uses the yellow, red, green flag.
Wikipedia: TEV-DEM
The folks with the blue banner:
Kombûna Demokrasî û Çepgirên Kurd li Sûriyeyê’ (Assembly for Demmocracy and the Left in Syria) KDCK
which includes:
Here is an article about their formation:
Kombûna Demokras û Çepgirên Kurd hat damezirandin
They use a yellow sun with three leaves: green, red and white on a blue field. They were established March 3, 2016.
Hevbendiya Niştimanî a Kurdî li Sûryê (Kurdish National Alliance in Syria) HNKS
which includes:
Here is an article and video about them: Syrian Kurds form new political alliance, call for federalism as solution to ongoing civil war
They use the Alaya Rengîn (red, white, green glag with yellow sun) as well as a logo of a yellow sun with three red flags, two green flags in a pentagon formation on a white field. There first meeting was February 13, 2016.
ENKS, Encûmena Niştimanî ya Kurdî li Sûriyê (Kurdish National Council in Syria)
which includes:
They use the Alaya Rengîn (red, white, green glag with yellow sun) as well as a logo with the same colors and their initals. They were establisehd October 26, 2011.
Wikipedia: ENKS
Google Translate now can handle Kurmanji Kurdish.
Rojava (click for
Rojava
(click for larger)
Interview with a German Anarchist fighting with the YPG, March 13, 2016
Video with an interview with an MFS (Syriac Military Council) in English. Second half is an interview with two women from the HSNB (Bethnahrin Women Protection Forces), not in English (probably Syraic), Feb 22, 2016
Macer Gifford YPG interview, Jan 27, 2016
Kurdistan: Women At War, ARTE, March 8, 2016
A group I'm active with locally--the Alliance for Radical Democracy (ARD) recently held a talk about Rojava at Johns Hopkins University with Nazan Üstündağ (Boğaziçi University), Michael Taussig (Columbia University), Janet Biehl (Author/Activist), Stefan Tarnowski (Columbia University). We should have video of that talk soon. The same group also hosted Sinam Mohammad, the PYD representative to Europe last fall.
Ehmed: Nobody can question where the SDF will advance, Feburary 2, 2016
What Is The Kurdish Calculation In Rojava?, Fehim Taştekin for Radikal. In the article Taştekin interviews Eldar Halill, a member of the executive committee of TEV-DEM, and Zuhat Kobani, a representative of the PYD in Europe, and reflects on the current calculations of the Kurds in Rojava in light of the complex geopolitics unfolding in the region. March 13, 2016
Also, in political news on March 3, 2016, the former Syrian National Council president Ahmad al-Jarba join Syrian Democratic Assembly(MSD),after long negotiation with PYD. Ziyad El-Asî of the Syrian Democratic Society which was affiliated with al-Jarba is a representative in the MSD. Al-Jarbai is also of the Shammar tribe. He's a cousin to Hmeidi Daham al-Jarba, co-governor of Hasakah and political leader of Quwwat al-Sanadid. Despite that connetion Ahmad al-Jarba and Hmeidi Daham al-Jarba had been in opposing factions till now.
(I heard a story about Hmeidi Daham al-Jarba from Nazan Üstündağ. She met him, and he kept throwing pieces of lamb at her to eat. She rarely eats meat, but he kept insisting. More interestingly, he wanted to get together a conference of indigenous peoples together throughout the world to meet Hasakah).
There has been some talk that some Iraqi Shammar have been joining Quwwat al-Sanadid. Previously, some had formed an Iraqi Popular Mobilization Unit.
Self-Defense as a Revolutionary Practice in Rojava, or How to Unmake the State, Nazan Üstündağ, The South Atlantic Quarterly 115:1, January 2016
Rebuilding Kobanî : After Liberation From ISIS, The Fight Isn’t Over Yet, Suchandra Banerjee & edited by Manisha Ganguly, February 6, 2016
The Experience of Co-operative Societies in Rojava, TEV-DEM Economic Committee, January 19, 2016
Lots of details in the article about participation in co-operatives, cost of shares in Syrian Pounds, rules about participation, restrictions on management, etc... one detail that is missing is the salary for positions that the share profits are added to at the end of a big job or annually. In short, though, they appear to be worker-cooperatives that participate in a regulated market that allow outside investors to have less shares than the workers (who have the most shares). Membership in a cooperative seems to be a privilege rather than a requirement. Many of the negatives of a worker-cooperative in a market economy are still there such as profit motivations, competition with other enterprises in the market place, market allocation of goods and services, etc...
Some good maps from Le Monde about the situation in Northern Aleppo.
Outcome of the campaign in Northern Aleppo just before the cease fire, February 17, 2016:
After this point and immediately before the ceasefire, the SDF got the SAA to hand over control over Ahras to them.
Another map of the Northern Aleppo Offensive
The Ash-Shadaddi Offensive, February 19, 2016
Outcome of the latest campaign in Hasakah, March 2, 2016:
I try to keep this map up to date.
Daesh made the largest
Daesh made the largest capture of war munitions to date on January 18, 2016. It was in the Deir ez-Zor area.
Islamic State captures Ayyash weapons depots in largest arms haul of Syrian Civil War
You said, "a libertarian
You said, "a libertarian revolution"?
From a interview of Economy Minister of a Rojava canton:
"Private capital is not forbidden but it is made to suite our ideas and system. We are developing a system around cooperatives and communes. However this does not prove that we are against private capital. They will complete each other. We believe that when the cooperative system is developed moral private capital can be added in certain parts of the economy" (https://rojavareport.wordpress.com/…/efrin-economy-ministe…/)
A MIXED ECONOMY IS ENEMY OF LIBERTARIAN COMMUNISM!
US ground troops working in
US ground troops working in Rojava with SDF
http://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/large-portion-of-additional-250-us-troops-going-to-syria-may-be-green-berets-1.406165
http://www.basnews.com/index.php/en/news/middle-east/272869
Manbij is a mixed
Manbij is a mixed city.
The Struggle for Syria's Regions, Kheder Khaddour, Kevin Mazur, MER269, Winter 2013
SDF is a mixed force. Kurdish super-majority, yes. The Arab component has grown considerably. The Syriac component has remained about the same (and thus is a smaller part now overall). The number thrown around now is 30% of SDF is Arab.
As to a Kurdish/Sunni alliance... most Kurds are Sunni. Most Kurds in Syria are Sunni. What you probably mean is a Kurdish/Arab alliance that you are skeptical of, and that you are skeptical of Arabs being involved.
Talal Sello is actually a Turkman. He is the primary spokesperson for the SDF.
There are Kurds in other military organizations that participate in SDF. Jabhat al-Krad is part of Jaysh al-Thuwar. That said, there were YPG and probably YPJ in the Manbij campaign. There are probably still some there.
The NDF (Assad loyalist militia) did get in a fight with Asayis (TEV-DEM's Kurdish and Arab security). It escalated. Syrian airforce conducted some airstrikes in Hasakah neighborhoods. The nearby Syrian army artillery base shelled Hasakah neighborhoods. The YPG also got involved.
The NDF was largely routed in the city. There was a ceasefire. The Assad regime agreed to disband the NDF in Hasakah and gave most of what they controlled in the city to Asayis/YPG. The Assad regime retained a few blocks that included the Goveronate Palace, the Baath HQ and some parks. It largely seems like a face saving gesture. The Assad regime is done in Hasakah.
Turkey's Armed Forces (Türk Silahlı Kuvvetleri / TSK ) has invaded northern Syria in northern Aleppo, taking the Jarabulus with minimal resistance from Daesh. Operations is called "Fırat Kalkanı"--Euphrates Shield. The TSK presence is said to consist of 20 tanks and 350 soldiers, and thousands of rebels who depending on who you talk to are Free Syrian Army, Sultan Murad, Ahrar al-Sham, Nour al-Din al-Zenki, etc... some even go so far as to say it includes some rebranded Jabhat al-Nusra (Jabhat Fath Al Sham) or even that Daesh folks have joined up. Idea is that these folks came from either the Azaz pocket or even Idlib transporting through Turkey's territory. The incursion is also aided by artillery and airstrikes.
The resistance to the TSK incursion is lead by the Al-Jadir Family. Its named after Yussuf al-Jadir (alias Abu Furat), a FSA commander, killed in 2012. They were previously called "Furat Jarabulus" and were FSA rebels. They have six batallions called Min Katibat Fursan Jirabls, al-Shshahid Zaki Jadir, Maeid al-Jadir, Jamieat al-Jadiri, Shuhada' Jawadir Wakatibat Dire al-Furat. They joined SDF about seven months ago, but their relationship goes back farther. When Daesh took over Jarabulus, they expelled them. They relocated to Kobane. They helped defend Kobane during the Daesh seige. They were part of Burkan al-Furat (Euphrates Volcaon) as Saraya Jarabulus. They were then part of the Tel Abyad campaign, then Manbij campaign.
Video of al-Shshahid joining Furat Jarabulus
They recently destroyed two tanks that were part of the TSK incursion were destroyed by rocket attack by Al-Jadir / Jarabulus Military Council. Right now, the fighting is mostly around Ayn al-Bayda and Amarnah, south of Jarabulus near the west bank of the Euphrates. There is video of one of the tanks being destroyed that is easy to find on the internet but I won't share here--the video has people cheering in Kurdish in it.
Al-Jadir is being reinforced by Liwa al-Seljukiya, Kataeb Shams al-Shamal and Jaysh al-Thuwar.
Some more on Family of Jadir (from not a PYD or SDF source) and then there involvement in Kobane.
Speech from Yussuf al-Jadir/Abu Furat against sectaraianism:
Remembering Abu Fura, December 15, 2012, Darth Nader
More on Jadir
Daesh destroyed his tombstone
A couple photos from a protest in Deir Jamal where residents call for SDF to libeate the area. That banner on the left side with the three hands is from the Al-Bab Council. The yellow flags are SDF flags.
At the end of July 2012, Rebels controlled Deir Jamal. January 2014, the town was controlled Daesh. Then Jabhat al-Akrad and YPG took control. Then 12/1/2015: the Mare Operations Room (rebels) took control. Then 2/8/2016 the SDF/YPG/JAT took it back. It's a mixed Arab-Kurdish town.
Now that the U.S. seems to have condoned Turkey's incursion and ordered either the YPG (or the SDF) to go back across the Euphrates.
Only an idiot would think that this incursion by the TSK is actually to fight Daesh. The target is the SDF and will be part of plan to stop them from moving on al-Bab and connecting the Rojava cantons into a contiguous territory and the SDF sealing the border between Turkey and Aleppo city. There are dozens of mainstream articles that state this and these objectives are openly talked about in the press in Turkey as well.
Even before the Euphrates Shield operation started, TSK artillery were shelling SDF positions in northern Manbij.
The SDF strategy seems to be to slow the Euphrates Shield advance along the Sajur river. Beyond that? We may see SDF rush towards al-Bab. SDF is only 18 KM east of Al-Bab. Unlike Manbij which is an ethnically mixed city, al-Bab is an Arab city (though the surrounding al-Shahbaa countryside has a large number of Kurdish villages). (Izady maps show where ethnic group has a larger % than the country's average for that group, so that highlights ethnic minorities where they may not be majorities)
In October and November 2013, the YPG and Jabhat al-Krad controlled much of the Northern Aleppo area north of al-Bab and Manbij that Turkey has always wanted for its "Safe Zone" to shove refugees into. That's the area that the TSK and its allies are now trying to invade.
The SDF may just dig in to Manbij. There has been increasing mobilization across the Rojava cantons for a TSK invasion.
---
Do folks on Libcom want this sort of content posted here by me?
Yes please do Flint.
Yes please do Flint. Deciphering heads from tails is incredibly difficult, and your posts are very helpful at making even a start at understanding what's going on there.
I appreciate Flints
I appreciate Flints contributions. Doesn't this latest incursion by the Turkish state military post-coup, and with USA support, suggest that behind the scenes discussions especially between Turkey, Russia and the USA suggest a possible shift in the global and regional imperialist alliances operating in Syria and Iraq, including the client and 'proxy' relationships with on the ground militias - one that will see the PKK allied Syrian forces isolated, despite their previous attempts to garner the support of one or other of the more powerful players from the USA/Europe/Russia?
Spikymike wrote: I appreciate
Spikymike
I'd say you're likely on to something with this, particularly considering the Russian Foreign Minister and US Secretary of State have been in high level talks this week...
Flint wrote: Do folks on
Flint
yes, very much
Note that both sides include
Note that both sides include groups that fly the green flag of the Free Syrian Army.
Syria war: US warns over
Syria war: US warns over Turkish-Kurdish violence
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-37212256
*shield*
*shield*
Infographic on the
Infographic on the Turkish-Syrian border (Turkey's perspective)
Cease fire between TSK and
Cease fire between TSK and Jarabulus Military Council (SDF), Mutlu Civiroglu
Turkish, Kurdish forces in Syria agree to 'stop shooting at each other', Daily Mail, August 30, 2015
Temporary truce agreed between Jarablus Military Council and Turkish army, Rudaw, August 30, 2015
I'm sharing these to
I'm sharing these to conflicting pieces to show where much of the U.S. left is on the Syrian Civil War right now.
U.S. Peace Activists Should Start Listening to Progressive Syrian Voices, Terry Burke, In These Times, August 15, 2016
Response:
A response by the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) to the attack on the antiwar movement from Terry Burke published in "In These Times"
Foristaruso wrote: You said,
Foristaruso
I'm an anarchist but I'm realistic and I'd take a mixed economy, secularism and more rights for women over the alternative, which is either Arab Nationalist dictatorship or psycho Islamic theocractic fascist sadism. You can't afford to be picky in the middle east.
Potrokin, I wouldn't disagree
Potrokin, I wouldn't disagree with that view and the YPG et al seem infinitely preferable to the likes of Daesh and other factions in the mix. The problem is when people dress up what's going on in Rojava as something it really isn't - the libertarian/anarchist/communist/proletarian revolution. The way you hear some anarchists talk sometimes, it's as if they're referring to the Makhnovschina and the CNT-FAI militias all rolled into one.
US Special Forces deployed
US Special Forces deployed between Turkey forces & Jarabulus Military Council (SDF) to ensure ceasefire holds, 31 Aug 2016, Jarablus Mil. Council Head Colonel Ali Hijo
Declaration of the formation
Declaration of the formation of the Syrian National Resistance Against the Turkish Occupation in Northern Aleppo
You can get the general gist with a google translation.
Here is another article about it in English: New Syria group vows to “resist”
Turkish military incursion, Albin Szakola, NOW, Sep 7, 2016
I'm linking to this announcement because one name stands out for me:
Majid Hebu (Macid Hebo), European Representative of Wheat Wave Movement -- Law – Citizenship – Rights Movement -- Teyar El-Qemih -- QMH
Teyar El-Qemih is the group that former co-chair of the Syrian Democratic Assembly -- Haytham Manna leads. Majid Hebu was also a representative of the Syrian Democratic Assembly.
Soon after the Syrian Democratic Assembly was formed, Haytham Manna resigned as co-chair in protest of the announcement of a "Federal Region of Northern Syria -- Rojava".
The iconography and the language in the Syrian National Resistance does suggest a connection with the Syrian Democratic Forces and Syrian Democratic Assembly. The colors are even TEV-DEM colors. It seems to be that QMH is still coordinate with TEV-DEM and the Syrian Democratic Assembly.
We Need to End This Dirty War: An Interview With Haytham Manna, Aron Lund, Diwan, March 03, 2015
Syrian dissident Haytham Manna says he will not attend Geneva talks, Reuters, Mar 11, 2016
Haytham Manna articles in "The Guardian"
http://haythammanna.net/
Iraqi Kurdistan Communist
Iraqi Kurdistan Communist party protests govt plan to privatize electricity sector, September 4th, 2016, NRT
I know many posters who
I know many posters who frequent this forum are skeptical of the PYD and TEV-DEM's post-nationalist politics, regarding the YPG as little more than an ethnic gang.
I came across on interesting article on ANHA News in Kurdish.
Hişmendiya netewperest û rêgeza wekheviyê; nîqaşên şêniyên Rojava ( Google translate does a fair job if you know the subject matter and the personalities involved.)
Here is a similar article in Turkish
That is, its not really an article intended for a western audience and it hasn't been translated into English yet. Its about a forum held in Qamişlo, which is the largest city and defacto capitol of Rojava, The forum was about opposing the "Nation-worshipping" of "the West". The panel talked about how all nations could live together in the federal system: not only Kurds but also Arabs, Assyrians and Turkomans.
On the panel were:
There is a fascinating story of Tel Abyad's new people's court resolving a feud between Selum's family and another. Selum had lost a son in the feuding.
While putting together this post, I came across a speech (google translate) by Şoreş Amed.;
Şoreş Amed
In the same event, Sengal (Sinjar, Iraq) Ezidi Parliamentary Member Hidir Faris "This institution was founded on the backs of those who sacrificed their lives for a great deal of labor, thanks to fighters fighting against imperialism and capitalism."
Some more details about TEV-DEM's mother tongue education have emerged.
200 students learning in Turkmen mother tongue in Dadata, 10KM from Tel Abyad. 5 Teachers teaching in Turkish an Arabic (4 of them women). Thats in a village of 500 people.
TEV-DEM has recruited "50 Syriac language teachers who will be sent to schools in the cities of Rimelan, Qamishli, Ras al-Ain, Malikiyah and Qahtaniyah." TEV-DEM likes to have a classroom size of 28 students per teacher. That means TEV-DEM is providing Syriac education to 1,400 students. Also, its interesting to note that: "that most political parties and church bodies did not accept the introduction of the teaching of the Syriac language, except the Syriac Union Party, an ally of PYD."
Syriac Language to Be Taught in PYD-controlled Schools
Rojava administration launches new curriculum in Kurdish, Arabic and Assyrian, Ahmed Shiwesh, ARA News, October 7, 2016
Video on the changes to the education system from ARA News: cancellation of the Ba'ath regime educaiton; education in 6 grades in Kurdish, education in 6 grades in Arabic and education in 3 grades in Syriac-Assyrian.
(in other news, the AKP state of Turkey says they *might* let Zarok TV the Kurdish language Chilrden's TV station return to the air, if 40% of its content is in Turkish. The kids just want it back.. Turkey recently closed 20 TV and Radio stations)
I know a lot of people are skeptical about the PYD being post-nationalists, but this is what they tell themselves and tell the people they are organizing with in what is clearly a multi-ethnic, multi-religious way. At this point I have far more material reasons to believe in their post-nationalist politics than others who claim to be internationalist.
Or in the words of Memed Aksoy in a blog posting from before the Rojava Revolution in March 2011:
Memed Aksoy
SYPG is in solidarity with Standing Rock:
A bit on refugee centers in Greece:
Here is a story on Five Refugee Centers setup by the Syrian Revolutionary Left Current. Over 2400 refugees including children live there. They also provide aid in forms of food, clothing, and so on to over 1600 refugees living in other centers across the city. A comrade who has been to those camps tells me this article in the Washington Post is about the same centers: Welcome to Greece’s refugee squats. The Syrian Revolutionary Left Current is working with Rojava, Syrian Democratic Council and TWDS now. There is a similar refugee camp of 400 om Greece that is obviously sympathetic to the PKK: PKK flags and Ocalan's face: Inside Greece's self-ruling Kurdish enclave
Since I'm in a mood for international solidarity against fascism, here I am with some Turks and Kurds signing Bella Ciao in a small demonstration against the arrests of Cumhuriyet journalists and HDP parlimentarians .
I like an internationalism that is manfiest in action.
SDF has announced the start
SDF has announced the start of its campaign to liberate Raqqa, called the "Wrath of Euphrates" / "Ghahbab al-Furat"
Final Showdown: Raqqa
Left to right:
The SDF is deploying 30,000 fighters for this battle.
US-backed forces launch bid to capture IS Syria 'capital', Al Monitor, 11/6/2016
The Long Battle to Retake the ISIS Capital, Raqqa, Has Now Begun, WLADIMIR VAN WILGENBURG, NANCY A. YOUSSEF, Daily Beast, 11.06.16
ANHA
Who is taking part in Ghadab al-Firat campaign?, ANHA News, 06.11.2016
Arab SDF forces are expected to be the primary forces involved with the offensive with the YPG/YPJ, MFS/HSNB, Quwat al-Nukhbat (militia of Ahmed Jarba's Syrian Tomorrow Movement) and SDF Sarrin battalion in supporting roles.
I also note with interest that a Katibat Shuhada Hammam al-Turkman will be participating in the offensive Hammam al-Turkman is the large Turkmen village south of Tel Abyad whose residents were temporarily displaced, but later returned and where TEV-DEM recently saw the opening of a Turkmen Cultural Center. Based on other mother tongue education in the Tel Abyad area, I think we can also assume primary education in Turkish. There is also a Tal Abyad unit involved.
A battalion of Faylaq ash-Sham recently defected from to join the Manbij Military Council near the Sajur river.
Democratic Council of Syria and Syrian Democratic Forces meet in Hasakah to discuss the strategic importance of the Raqqa campaign.
Left to right:
The Afrin SDF was able to hold off Turkey's Operations Euphrates Shield from advancing west and south of Mare.
Speculation on the amount of
Speculation on the amount of recruits SDF has trained from Manbij:
Nobody_is_perfect
Summary of how the SDF is organized:
Nobody_is_perfect
source
Flint wrote: Quote: I know
Flint wrote:
It seems that Flint believes more in what Kurdish national-liberationist propaganda put forward as the truth than what a “pro-Islamist” says while criticizing the collaborationist politics of PYD. Why not? Everybody's free to believe to any god he likes…
Flint wrote:
Hey Flint, I’ve better quotes directly coming from TEV-DEM and which genuinely expose their real politics of collaborationism and not what some are fantasying about them:
https://rojavareport.wordpress.com/2015/10/27/tev-dem-there-can-be-no-democratic-syria-without-rojava/
Ad Nauseam!
Flint
Flint wrote:
WAW what a comparison! Assayish are like the Spanish, Italian or French Gendarmerie? I personally never had any doubt about! But tell that to “anarchists” who pretend to piss on the police and to fuck any state institutions!
WAW once again! “Accepted by the Syrian government” without obviously speaking about the Pentagon and the Kremlin! All imperialists, capitalists, statists agree with Rojava structures, except maybe the Turkish nation-state but it’s just a question of time and opportunities. BTW the PKK already signed peace agreements with Erdogan’s government and Ocalan is calling from is jail for new peace discussions…
Blesk wrote: the PKK already
Blesk
The PKK has tried several times to start a unilateral ceasefire and there was peace talks with the AKP. I don't see why you think this is some sort of gotcha revelation. Do you think the principled revolutionary thing to do is continue to wage a guerrilla armed struggle or end that armed struggle?
Nobody_is_perfect opinion is Nobody_is_perfect's opinion. But it seems clear with the recent conflict in Hasakah that the Assad regime has had to accept that the Asayiş control the streets there. The dual power situation between the Baathists and TEV-DEM seems to be resolving in TEV-DEM's favor in Jazira canton. Baathists have no power in Afrin or Kobane cantons.
If Rojava's realpolitik with existing states that you find objectionable, that's your call. Total war against all states at all times is probably not going to ever be a viable strategy in the short term.
Anyway, Blesk... just so I know where you are a coming from... this is just the latest handle for antiwar/Guerre De Classe/TŘÍDNÍ VÁLKA right? The group that was so enthusiastic about the initial rebellion in Syria with its desertions--up to even endorsing the Free Syrian Army? That your politics is for some kind of spontaneous insurrection of the working class that will obviously choose communist revolution and the correct line and advance accordingly to global revolution? Do I have that right?
If not, do please explain how you see a revolution happening and how it would be different than what TEV-DEM is doing.
Flint wrote: Here is a story
Flint
Interesting to see this as well:
https://mobile.twitter.com/mollycrabapple/status/795944523373379585
A report on the City Plaza squat:
http://time.com/4501017/greek-anarchists-are-finding-space-for-refugees-in-abandoned-hotels/
I'm still not quite sure what the relationship is between the Revolutionary Left Current and the Athens refugee squats.
Not Syria but in Iraqi
Not Syria but in Iraqi Kurdistan teachers on strike and protesting on the streets over unpaid salaries against both the PUK and KDP main political parties as 'internal' opposition continues at the same time as Kurdish troops involved in attacks against ISIS around Mosul.
Yes. This bit was
Yes. This bit was surprising:
Barzani urges political parties to resolve differences, reactivate parliament, Rudaw
Last year, Barzani effectively suspended parliament by banning the 2nd largest party, Gorran. The KDP also suppressed the protests and strikes last year. He also refused to step down as president. He's been a defacto dictator since then.
I thought he was going to die in office.
Barzani calls for new leadership in parliament, successor until presidential election, NRT TV
Kurdistan Parliament Speaker calls for cancellation of KRG, NRT TV
Teachers, public servants protest over economic crisis in Kurdistan Region, NRT TV
The state of Rojava
The state of Rojava congratulates the American people for electing a new president of the USA:
http://en.hawarnews.com/msd-congratulates-americans/
Strikes continue in KRG: NRT
Strikes continue in KRG:
NRT
Teachers on Strike Demonstrate in parts of Kurdistan region, NRT, 12/1/2016
YPG volunteers Michael Israel
YPG volunteers Michael Israel - an IWW member from California - and Anton Leschek from Germany have been killed in a Turkish airstrike.
International YPG volunteers fighting ISIS killed by Turkish warplanes
MMC statement on Michael Israel and Anton Leschek, killed in Turkish airstrikes in Syria
So Oct 2017 more Turkish
So Oct 2017 more Turkish military incursions into Syria, The YPG, USA backed forces on the verge of defeating ISIS in Ar Raqqah, Iraqi Kurdish declaration of Independence and confrontation with both the Baghdad government and the Turkish and Iranian allies of its main opposing political factions, plus presumably wider USA and Russian foreign policy thrown into further confusion??
Iraqi army launched an attack
Iraqi army launched an attack on Kirkuk last night: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-41631697
sorry- wrong forum
sorry- wrong forum
Jenan Moussa on the battle
Jenan Moussa on the battle for Kirkuk:
https://mobile.twitter.com/i/moments/919984455502237696
Also statement from Kurdish
Also statement from Kurdish speaking anarchists on this site here:
https://libcom.org/news/no-state-no-war-yes-self-administration-social-revolution-18102017
And this also an interesting
And this also an interesting development;
https://libcom.org/forums/general/convergence-rojava-saudi-arabia-26102017
The US backed Kurdish
The US backed Kurdish nationalist PYD/PKK forces came to a secret deal with the ISIS and took over Raqqa - the capital and last big city of the islamic state. According to this deal it appears that thousands of heavily armed islamist militants freely moved into Turkey (and possibly, from there to Europe).
The YPG/PKK tried to conceal the deal but later admitted it. Just as the Turkish government sent islamists to syria to fight against Kurds and the Syrian regime, now the PYD is doing the same, this time sending the islamists to fight in Turkey&Europe where islamists carried out several violent attacks before.
watch this for details:
https://youtu.be/p4KLrQKJn3c
update:
the YPG on the subject: they claim that they had no other choice because the ISIS had human shields, that they did not let the ISIS loose on Turkey and that the BBC reporter who covered this news is a turkish propagandist...
http://www.kurdistansolidaritycampaign.org/the_truth_about_the
mikail firtinaci wrote: now
mikail firtinaci
And once more the Turkish nationalist spin on a story that is actually typical of all the city sieges of the Syrian war. The command always negotiates an escape through the use of human shields.
BTW the BBC 'secret seal' spin is itself odd as the BBC itself reported on the deal back in its October 17th reporting of the liberation of Raqqa when they reported that "Syrian jihadists and their families were evacuees along with 3500 civilians under a deal negotiated by Raqqa Civil Council and local tribal elders". The deal / evacuation was mentioned by several SDF sources at that time.
There is a useful thread unpicking the story at
https://twitter.com/4rj1n/status/930572566246379522
I am not going to respond to
I am not going to respond to pro-war nationalist&Trotskist slanderer AndrewF, because there is nothing to respond anyway. But secret or not, the deal shows the validity of this:
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2017/11/02/pers-n02.html
here the same bbc journalist reports that the PKK/SDF is recruiting former IS militants:
https://twitter.com/Dalatrm/status/930785767311409153
the destruction of the Raqqa city and history shows that neither the US nor its regional ally PKK care about civilians.
So first off you complain
So first off you complain about the (not secret) deal that reduced civilian casualties but then you flip over to saying they don't care about such casualties.
First you claim that the SDF is "sending the islamists to fight in Turkey&Europe" but then you post the tweet above to complain about the opposite, it actually says that they are using local former IS fighters to identify other fighters at SDF check points so they can be arrested.
Your perspective is that of a Turkish nationalist, your attempted spin I highlighted above are particularly blatant examplse of that. As is the flip you just performed above which makes it very clear that your concern is not civilian casualties but attacking Rojava with whatever is available even if you have to flip flop so blatantly while doing so.
Meanwhile in Turkey I see some 11,000 members of the HDP have been arrested and 4,5000 of those imprisoned. http://www.kurdistan24.net/en/news/00ffaaeb-a43d-40c9-ab4c-226ef9b18775
I didn't spin anything. I am
I didn't spin anything. I am totally behind everything I said/wrote.
The fasicst Turkish regime is not only imprisoning HDP but all oppositionists - be they islamists, kemalists, leftists, Kurds or communists. That does not mean one has to choose a side among the warring bourgeois factions. Syria, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the US and its puppet regime in Rojava... all are murderous capitalist regimes and I don't defend any one nation state over the other. All have to be destroyed.
Here the same BBC news
Here the same BBC news reporter posted the record of the negotiations btw the PKK/SDF and ISIS:
"We want the #Raqqa deal all done in secret, unlike #Manbij & #Tabqa. We can send them wherever they want. No problem"
https://twitter.com/Dalatrm/status/930107412908036096
update:
another event of the day was the defection of the SDF (Syrian front org. of the PKK) spokesperson, Talal Silo to Turkey:
A senior commander defected to Turkey on Wednesday from the U.S.-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a leading combatant in the fight against Islamic State, Syrian rebel officials said, in the first such departure from its higher ranks.
They said Brigadier General Talal Silo handed himself in at dawn to the Free Syrian Army (FSA), an adversary of the SDF, near Jarablus city in northern Syria where he was then escorted to Turkey, which backs some FSA groups in that area.
The officials gave no reason for move by Silo, who was the SDF spokesman, but it follows months of growing discontent by some Arab tribes with the SDF, an alliance of Kurdish and Arab forces that is dominated by the Kurdish YPG.
https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/syria/1.822987
Pro-PKK people I read on twitter suggest that this was a sign of Arabic tribes discontent with the PKK, which is also what Haaretz hints above.