The Kurdish Opposition perspective
This
report:
- Includes a statement on recent developments in Syrian Kurdistan by Lokman Hamkaflo (Kurdish independent politician)
- Includes a statement on recent developments in Syrian Kurdistan by Hejar Ibrahim Mustafa, founder of the group named “The Youth of the Syrian Revolution in the UK”
- An NCF translation of the Arbil agreement between Syria’s Kurdish National Council and Syria’s PYD group (the political wing of the PKK Syria)
- A glossary of groups, terms and other issues discussed in the above
The
situation in Kurdish Syria
The
Kurdish opposition in Syria is split into two major groups:
1.
the KNC or Kurdish National Council which
is itself a recently formed alliance of a number of predominantly secular groups
(including KDP and Yakiti)
2.
The PYD (often described as the political
wing of the PKK) which is a well armed group that administers and controls much
of the Western area of Kurdish Syria. The PYD is the principal group in
the coalition known as the People's Council for Western Kurdistan (PCWK).
PCWK is therefore the coalition and not the PYD but the PYD basically heads
it.
3.
There are
also some minor parties that stand outside these groups, some of which have
considerable prominence like the late Mashal Tamo’s Kurdish Future
Party
Mr Massoud Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Regional
Government of Iraq, called the KNC and PYD together in Arbil, Iraq, and brokered
an agreement between the two parties in the hope that, in future, they would
work together.
President Barzani has also been retraining Kurdish defectors
from the Syrian Army and has formed them into a crack Peshmerga unit numbering
at least 700 (some reports suggest considerably larger).
Notes on a
conversation with Lokman Hamkaflo, Kurdish
independent
Barzani has somewhere between 1,000 and 3,000 troops in
Syria. These are Syrian Kurds who he has trained as Peshmerga. You want to know
why the Turks hesitate to invade Syria? Do you remember the fuss that was made
in Turkey over the picture of President Obama on the phone with Turkish Prime
Minister Recip Tayyip Erdogan while holding a baseball bat? That picture really upset the Turkish media because it reflects
reality. The USA controls Turkey.
The Turks were angry about what was happening in Syria but they got a
call from Obama. Which is why Turkey hesitates to mess with Syria.
And Barzani is not stupid. He tells the Turks that he’s
training these people because he doesn’t want the PKK to control
Syria.
All of this is down to Barzani who made an agreement between
the KNC (Kurdish National Council) and the PYD (the political wing of the PKK in
Syria). I believe it is essential that this agreement holds. Anything else would
be a red light for me. Because we have a potential civil war between the PKK and
Barzani’s militia.
The PKK are trying to unite with the KNC to get unity and
show Turkey that they, the PKK, are not in sole charge.
The PYD and the PKK have made a joint High Commission
because the PYD are desperate to say “We are not taking over. We are just
managing things.”
The KNC don’t trust the PYD. We had a meeting on Sunday (12
August) to try and unite our factions here in the UK. But we failed to form a
national council for all the Kurdish opposition in the UK because parties like
the Yakiti and Wahada did not agree on a 5 by 5 split on the executive body.
(the PKK and the KNC have a five / five split on the new executive body within
Syria under the terms of the Arbil agreement negotiated under Barzani’s watchful
eye). They (the PKK/PYD) are one party. The KNC are lots of parties. It should
be a 5/7 split not a 5/5 split, they say.
The executive council formed in Arbil has not been
replicated across Europe nor in the UK. I am very worried about the possibility
of a Kurd-Kurd civil war. As long as they are united in Syria, I do not care
what happens here. But there is no question – the PYD are trying to take
advantage.
At the top level there is an agreement. Underneath there is
a lot of tension. There have even been kidnappings and bullying by PYD.
Kidnappings have happened more than ten times in the last two months in the
Kurdish area. The Azadi Party are strong in Afrin and Qamishli and they have
nearly started to fight the PKK / PYD.
Meanwhile they’ve been at war in Aleppo. So sad. The FSA
tactics were so incompetent. Salahaddin has almost been completely destroyed by
the government. The PKK have been more successful, and managed to ensure that
none of our people have been killed by the government. Once Syria is liberated
from the government we will be in a strong position.
We won’t announce autonomy until there is a strong
foundation in place (between the PYD and the KNC), including agreement on the
constitution and who manages the various areas.
Barzani is the daddy in terms of finance and everything. But
we helped Barzani in the fight against Saddam. So his help for the SNC is
payback. Plus Barzani doesn’t want to go up against the PKK because they might
take over in Turkey. You see Turkey could have its own problem in a few months’
time. After all, there may be democracy in Turkey – but there is no democracy
for the minorities in Turkey.
But the PYD and the KNC will sort out their differences
unless Turkey gets involved and supports the KNC. Which is possible. Turkey
won’t stay quiet.
Of course, the Turks would be tempted by the idea of
establishing a safe haven inside Syria. But with Massoud (Barzani) involved,
that would have to be between Aleppo and the border – but not in the Kurdish
area. If I were Erdogan (Turkish Premier), I’d give my support to Barzani to
weaken the PKK.
The PYD (PKK) is very strong. That is why the Kurdish area
has not been touched (by the Syrian government).
But I am prepared to go and fight in Kurdistan if Turkey
gets involved. Not just me. All the Kurds in Europe will go back home and fight.
Notes on a conversation with Hejar Ibrahim Mustafa, founder of the group
named “The Youth of the Syrian Revolution in the
UK”
You ask about the militant Ahrar al-Sham group. Ahrar
al-Sham claims they are the primary supplier of weapons in Aleppo. You wanted to
know about the Kurdish group fighting with the FSA. Kurdish branches do not
fight except for a group which calls itself Salahadeen. The say they are part of
the FSA. They go to Aleppo to fight as well as bringing weapons to help the
other rebels. They are made up of young Kurds from Afrin who did not want to
join the Syrian army.
Some Kurds are supplying weapons to the rebels after threats
from the FSA that if they do not the FSA will move to control their towns and
villages.
The agreement between PYD and Kurdish National Council has
not broken down yet [referring to the Erbil Agreement, July 11 2012]. But in a
few months it may break down. The PYD agreed to it to protect their interests.
In the event that Bashar goes, an agreement with the Kurdish National Council
means they will be allowed to stay and not be seen as allies of the old
government. The Erbil agreement is held together ‘on egg shells’.
The KNC has less power in one sense because the PYD is an
armed group whereas the KNC is not. This gave the PYD some strength when
negotiating to the KNC. However, the KNC are now bigger than the PYD in terms of
support.
Kurdish youth movements which had previously been stopped
from protesting by the PYD [against the Assad government] are now being allowed
to do so.
The Freedom (Azadi) Party has been fighting the PKK. They
are a small Kurdish party.
Since the Erbil agreement, the PYD and KNC are now seen as
joint, and have a mixed logo (a KNC logo on a PYD flag) and refer to themselves
as KNC-PYD. There are still meetings in Erbil, they say that the PYD have to
remove checkpoints and put down weapons and become a mainstream political party.
But the PYD won't drop their weapons.
There are some Iraqi Kurds and some Syrian Kurds (who were
army defectors) that have been trained by Barzani which have been sent to
Qamishli. This is a Peshmerga unit. Some say it has 5,000 members (but that is
Facebook which is unreliable) others like my own father say 700 (and he is more
reliable).
The SNC (Turkish based Syrian National Council) see the
Kurdish fighters as Barzani’s men. This is not what the SNC wants as it is not
representative of Syrian view. Sunni politicians are particularly incensed at
seeing the Kurdish flag on the uniformed arm of soldiers and the absence of the
Syrian revolutionary flag. The PYD continue to oppose the use of the Syrian
revolutionary flag.
Jisr al Shigur (border town) is now FSA controlled (not
Kurdish).
It would not be too difficult to remove the PYD with enough
effort. The reason it hasn’t happened so far is that people (other Kurdish
opposition) are scared of them.
Western states have a private agreement to protect the
Kurds. The Kurds are seizing the opportunity presented by the current crisis to
consolidate their future in Syria and make a Kurdish autonomous state or region.
As a Kurd, I myself oppose a totally separate Kurdish state. I want to see a
united Syria. However, Kurds win whichever way the civil war goes.
When the
Sunnis ran away in Kobani, in the Aleppo suburbs and in Afrin, the Kurds saw
this as an opportunity. They filled vacant posts in post offices, banks, police
stations etc. with Kurds so it proves that Kurds can unite and govern
themselves. (The idea being when the Civil War ends the Kurds can turn around
and say they have proved the can govern themselves and there is no need to
return to centralised control.)
People (Arab refugees) are trying to hide in the Kurdish
area but the PYD doesn't like to host non-Kurds as refugees as "this is Kurdish
land".
The Kurds of Aleppo province and Ephrin are technically
under the control of KNC-PYD but in reality have more of a PYD ‘flavour’.
Whereas in Qamishli they are under the control of Barzani trained men but with a
KNC ‘flavour’. The PYD is in Afrin with the Kurdish Youth Movement.
I am planning to go back to Afrin as soon as I
can.
The Arbil agreement between Syria’s Kurdish National Council and Syria’s
PYD group (the political wing of the PKK Syria)
11th July 2012 Meeting between the KNC (Kurdish
National Council) and the PYD (representing the PKK). There was a meeting in
Hawler (Arbil) and:
- Some of the points previously agreed on with regard to power sharing and an end to fighting were accepted.
- The parties to the meeting agreed to form a Supreme Council between the councils of the PYD and KNC. This Supreme Council to consist of ten people – five from each existing council – and to be called the “Supreme Kurdish Council”
- To have three special sub committees, each formed on a 5 x 5 basis
- Committee to set up the foundation for long term control in the Kurdish area.
i.
To deal with
national (internal) relations between the parties
ii.
A foreign
affairs committee with authority to negotiate and establish a relationship with
the Syrian Arab opposition and the other Kurdish political parties and Kurdish
expatriates outside Syria, also other nations and other organisations such as
the UN, taking decisions based upon the decisions of the Supreme
Council
iii.
Putting the
right person in the right place according to qualification and
experience
- Committee to deal with internal issues such as services
- Security Committee to protect the Kurdish area and the Kurdish populations in other areas (e.g. “Greater Damascus” and “the border region”).
The Supreme Council to establish
“tools” to enable the implementation of these steps. All committees formed on a
5 x 5 basis.
- The PYD is currently part of a committee led by the NCC (National Coordinating Council). This meeting recommends (but does not demand) that the PYD study the possibility of suspending PYD membership in the NCC.
Glossary of terms
and issues
A KURDISH STATE: Many Kurds see the borders between countries (Iraq, Syria, Turkey and
Iran) in the area as almost arbitrary. Fawaz Gerges, professor of Middle Eastern Politics at the London
School of Economics (LSE), has said: “"The exit of Assad's forces from the
Kurdish areas has complicated the crisis and deepened Turkey's fears that its
borders with Iraq and Syria will be volatile for years to come... Many of the
problems in the contemporary Middle East are traced to that colonial-era
Sykes-Picot map... National borders do not correspond to imagined communities...
the current uprisings have starkly exposed the fragility of the colonial system
imposed on the region.” Kurds have cleverly moved in to run institutions (such as police stations) left empty when Assad’s men left
(Kurds have recently appointed their own mayor in the town of Kobani as well as controlling areas such as Derik, Amude and Afrin). This means
when the fighting ends the Kurdish people can say that they have already become
autonomous and capable of ruling themselves. However, whereas in Iraq the
Kurdish population is largely concentrated in one area, in Syria a very large
number of Kurds live in areas (or suburbs) of Damascus and Aleppo, which are not
in what would be considered part of a Syrian Kurdistan region in the north east
of the country. This might make creating a separate homogenous Kurdish region
difficult. In general, the Kurdish dealings with the conflict in Syria can be
described as mixed, “By quietly assuming local authority, they are hedging their bets.
In the unlikely event that Mr Assad survives, he will owe them a favour for
staying out of the fight. Should he lose, his successors will inherit a de facto
Kurdish autonomous region much like Iraq’s.” Such evidence of
sitting on the fence can be seen in reports of Kurdish action in Aleppo. They have agreed with the FSA that they will not
fight them and in turn do not want the FSA to attempt to ‘liberate’ Kurdish
areas – they want to be left out of the conflict.
AGREEMENT/DISCORD BETWEEN THE PYD AND THE KNC: Relations between the PYD and the KNC are
encountering problems since their
commitment to cooperation last month in the Erbil Agreement. The union between
the two is now being referred to as the Kurdish
Supreme Committee (KSC) and aims to ensure
that towns run by Kurds are run by a unified Kurdish authority. An armed
fighting force meant to represent the KSC is the People’s Defence Union
(YPG) however some other analysts believe
the YPG is an extension of the military power of the PYD.
AHRAR AL SHAMM (EXTREMIST): This takfiri
group is based in the historic village of Qalaat al Mudiq, close to Aleppo, and
sends the rebels under its command to fight in the streets of Aleppo.
Ahrar al Sham draws its members from followers of a conservative
strain of Sunni Islam known as Salafism; its followers see themselves as
fighting in part for the right to preach their doctrine and the fall of a
government that jailed them for doing so. “Things are going on as usual, (in the
areas under Ahrar al Shamm control) except that it became hard for Alawites to
come to work,” says Khalid al Amin, the Ahrar al Sham leader. Amin said Alawites
now fear retaliation from Sunnis for the support in Alawite villages for
pro-government militiamen (Shabiha).
NATIONAL COORDINATION COMMITTEE (NCC): Made up
of 13 left-leaning political parties, three Kurdish political parties, and
independent political and youth activists. It gathered most of the political
parties of the National Democratic Rally, formerly Syria's main secular
opposition coalition, as well as other organizations. It has more modest aims
than the SNC and does not call for the complete overthrow of the Syrian
government. It is very strongly opposed to foreign intervention in Syria. Along with almost all other secular
opposition groups, it calls for conditional dialogue with the government,
arguing that it remains the least costly route to political transition. It is
led by the veteran opposition figure Hussein Abdul Azim who has said, "We reject
foreign intervention - we think it is as dangerous as tyranny. We reject both."
The Coordination Committee's spokesperson abroad is Haytham Manna, a Paris-based
author and human rights activist, who is also spokesperson for the Arab
Commission for Human Rights (ACHR). He has described the SNC as "a Washington
club" and said he considers anyone calling for foreign intervention a
"traitor".
THE AZADI (FREEDOM) PARTY: The PYD accuses Mustafa Juma and Salah Badr al-Din from the
Azadi Party of getting support from Turkey
to challenge the PYD.“Salah Badr al-Din went to Turkey to prepare people with
weapons to target the PYD,” a PYD source said. The PYD’s armed committee
captured Juma near the border on the 24th of June and released him
three days later. PYD leader Salih Muslim told Barzani that if Juma’s group
“provokes and attacks the Kurdish people, you will be responsible.” Conflict
between the PYD and other Kurdish groups has also occurred because of
arguments over supporting the FSA. Early in July, the
PYD clashed with Kurds affiliated to the FSA. The Kurdish Salahadin brigade,
affiliated with the FSA, responded to the incident by saying they would target
anyone who was “against the Syrian revolution” and blamed the PKK for kidnapping
Kurdish activists and members of youth groups. According to a member of the
Azadi (Freedom) Party, a previous agreement attempting Kurdish unity failed
“because the PYD didn’t comply with the agreement and continued to arrest
activists and torture Kurds, and attacked houses and killed innocent people. The
Azadi Party was the only party that stood against such acts and criticized this
method.” More recently, Mustafa Juma has said “If the PYD becomes a political threat in the future, a conflict
between them [the PYD and the FSA] is imminent.”
THE FSA SALAHEDDIN BRIGADE (SECULAR): This FSA
command is the only non-Sunni Arab brigade in the entire FSA. It is Kurdish and
fights alongside the FSA in Aleppo. It opposes the PKK and is unique in that all
other Kurdish groups (and indeed virtually all other minorities) either stand
with the government or stand aside.
THE INVOLVEMENT OF IRAQ’S KURDS: Saleh Muslim (leader of the PYD) has sent a delegation to
meet with officials in Iraq’s Kurdistan
region. They discussed the issue of returning Kurdish soldiers who had defected
from the Syrian army back to Syria. In a recent interview with Al Jazeera,
Barzani said that defected soldiers were trained in the Kurdistan Region and
would be sent to Syria to help with any “security vacuum” that might emerge. The
YPG recently claimed it stopped
Barzani-trained former Syrian soldiers from entering Kurdish areas. However, the
more controversial issue is the involvement or otherwise of Peshmerga (a term used to refer to a
group of Kurdish fighters and in this case, specifically the fighting units of
Iraq’s Kurdistan region). Saleh Muslim said that he would only ask for Peshmerga forces to be sent in if it was
necessary: “The discussion was
about the return of Kurdish soldiers who defected from the Syrian army and are
now in the Kurdistan Region... But Syrian Kurdistan does not need assistance
from the Peshmerga forces at this point and if the need arises we will ask for
their help.” However, the Peshmerga
have been accused by some
members of the Arab opposition of moving
into Syria. Kamal al-Labwani, member of the external opposition, said “We have
information that a number of Peshmerga members entered the Kurdish areas in
Syria and they are fighting now side by side with other Kurdish armed groups.”
The Kurdistan Region Presidency replied, “A number of newspapers and websites
have published reported that Kurdish Peshmerga forces have entered Kurdistan of
Syria, but we firmly reject that news as baseless and far from the truth.”
Meanwhile, Barzani has problems of his own in Iraq, where his Peshmerga were
involved in a standoff with Iraqi
troops in a dispute over revenue transfer
from the government. Peshmerga forces have also stopped Iraqi forces from controlling the border with Syria. Superficially this would
seem a dangerous escalation in relations between Iraqi Kurds and the Iraqi
central government and the possibility of violent confrontation between the two
now “cannot be excluded”. However, NCF sources indicate that this particular crisis has
since been defused and currently there is some measure of rapprochement between
Barzani and Malaki.
THE KNC: The Kurdish National Council was founded in Erbil in October
2011, under the sponsorship of
President Massoud Barzani, of Iraqi Kurdistan. It comprises of 15 Kurdish
political parties, such as the The Azadi (Freedom) Party and the Kurdish Left
Party.
THE PYD: The PYD (Democratic Union Party) is a
Kurdish party which is accused (especially by Turkey) of having strong ties with
(or indeed that they are essentially the same organisation as) the PKK, a
militant Kurdish group operating in Turkey. Some reports indicate that the PYD
have in the past flown PKK flags in areas under their control. Turkey is extremely worried by this link, because a PYD
controlled area in Northern Syria would allow the PKK a safe launching point for
attacks into Turkey. But PYD leader Mohammed Saleh Muslim has told
Turkey that the Turks have “nothing to do
with the Syrian Kurds” and that they will not allow Turkey to interfere in their
affairs. The PYD is the principal group in a coalition known as the
People's Council for Western Kurdistan (PCWK).
THE RELATIONSHIP WITH TURKEY: is one area that
creates immense tension between Kurdish groups. Turkey is attempting to forge
closer ties with President Masoud Barzani. Though this may be largely related to
energy and business concerns, it also might be seen as a way to exclude the PYD.
The PYD were not invited to a meeting to discuss Syria last week in Iraqi
Kurdistan, which included the Syrian National Council (SNC), the KNC (which has
very close ties to Barzani) and the Turkish Foreign Minister. Jordi Tejel
Gorgas, an author on the issue of Syrian Kurds, has said: “I think they [Turkey]
are trying to marginalize the PYD in Syria by establishing good relations with
the Kurdish National Council, which is very close to Masoud Barzani.” The PYD
also objects to the inclusion of the SNC, “As it is not a group representing the
interests of people in Syria but rather takes orders from exiles (and is very
close to Turkey)”.
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