Saturday 24 November 2012

Syrian Kurds join forces in standoff with rebels: Two main Kurdish groups have agreed to join forces in a standoff with hundreds of Islamist rebels in northeastern Syria, a Syrian Kurdish representative and an activist said on Friday.

Hundreds of fighters loyal to the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) – which has close [SKS comment – ideological links, not ties]  ties to Turkey’s rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) – have been locked in fierce battles with fighters of the jihadist Al-Nusra Front and allied Ghuraba al-Sham group in Ras al-Ain on the border with Turkey.

The agreement sets the stage for an expanded conflict in the area between Islamist rebels opposed to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Syrian Kurdish forces.

“We initially agreed on forming these [joint] forces that do not belong to any side, and discussions are ongoing now” in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, Mohammed Rasho, a representative of the People’s Council of Western Kurdistan, which is close to the PYD, told AFP.

Talks on the formation of the joint forces between the People’s Council of Western Kurdistan and the Kurdish National Council, which comprises a number of Syrian Kurdish parties, began three days ago, Rasho said, adding that they took place under the supervision of the presidency of Iraqi Kurdistan.

An activist who identified himself as Havidar meanwhile said that “the two Kurdish national councils in western Kurdistan [Syria] have agreed in Iraq to create a united military force, bringing together PYD forces and other Kurdish dissidents” in Syria.

“Since the Free Syrian Army forces came to Kurdish areas, especially Ras al-Ain,” there was in the beginning “an understanding that they would limit their deployment to Arab areas,” said Rasho.

But after some time, rebel forces burned Kurdish flags that had been raised, and “clashes between us and them occurred in Kurdish areas,” he said.

Rasho added that rebel groups including the Tawhid Brigade, the main opposition formation in Aleppo, Ghuraba al-Sham and “sometimes” the Al-Nusra Front, “stand against Kurdish citizens.”

On July 11, the Kurdish National Council met in Iraq with the People’s Council of Western Kurdistan and decided to form the Supreme Kurdish Council.

Friday’s agreement was announced a day after the Ghuraba al-Sham called in a video posted on the Internet for Islamist volunteers to flock to Ras al-Ain for a drive on the provincial capital Hasakeh,www.ekurd.net whose population is majority Kurdish.

“We of the Ghuraba al-Sham battalion call on the [mainstream rebel] Free Syrian Army and the mujahedeen to advance towards Ras al-Ain. Increase our numbers so that we can free the city of Hasakeh,” an unidentified rebel commander said in the footage, standing among some 50 fighters.

“And we warn all those who stand in the way of this revolt… especially the PYD and the PKK, and any other armed group, against taking any action that contradicts the path of the revolution,” he added.

Syria’s Arab-led rebels accuse the PYD of being in cahoots with Assad’s regime.

Northern and northeastern Syria are home to the majority of the country’s two million Kurds.

In July, the army withdrew from majority Kurdish areas, leaving the ethnic group’s militia to fend for the minority’s safety.

Although Syria’s Kurds are opposed to the Assad regime, most have sought to remain neutral in the armed rebellion seeking to topple him.

Over time, they have been dragged into the fighting, after rebel assaults on majority Kurdish areas in key northern provinces.

Copyright ©, respective author or news agency, AFP

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Kurdish MP Altan Tan met with refugees from Serekaniye today.http://tinyurl.com/chcwjej  6 were arrested for meeting with him!

Kürkçü: Government allowing paramilitaries to cross into Syria:  Peace and Democracy Party Mersin deputy Ertugrul Kürkçü held a press conference in the Parliament on recent attacks targeting Kurds in the West Kurdistan city of Serêkaniyê for the last one week.

Kürkçü pointed out that the Turkish government is enabling Al-Qaida, Al-Nusra and FSA (Free Syrian Army) militants to cross Turkey’s border despite the lack of any parliament vote on the issue. The BDP deputy mentioned reports on the recent activity of FSA and some other armed gangs who allegedly entered the city of Serêkaniyê with seven tanks and 50 military vehicles on 21 November 2012 and turned back to Turkey following clashes with Kurds in this region.

Kürkçü noted that three thousand Kurds who have fled to the border to take refuge in Turkey because of ongoing clashes are still kept waiting at the border, while health institutions and organizations in Ceylanpinar (Urfa) have mobilized for the treatment of wounded FSA militants.

BDP deputy said People’s Democratic Congress (HDK) wanted to call attention to potentially dangerous consequences that recent clashes between Kurdish forces fighting for autonomy and armed groups affiliated to Al-Qaida in the city of Serêkaniyê (Resuleyn) could be carrying. Underlining that the clashes in the mentioned region have a risk of making Turkey an active part of the civil war in Syria, Kürkçü said that “The war in Syrian territory is being carried into Turkey. Furthermore, the recent clashes in this region strengthen suspects over Turkey’s efforts for a fair, democratic, pluralist and secular government in Syria.

Kürkçü called on the AKP government to take measures for the ending of the activity at the border and added that any kind of gang activity surrounding the state will also make all Turkey’s citizens face the violence of a maverick organization that recognizes no laws.

On the other hand, Republican People’s Party (CHP) Zonguldak deputy Ali ?hsan Köktürk tabled a parliamentary question asking if it is true or not that the F??EKSAN Company in Ankara sent 2.5 million Kalashnikov bullets to the armed militants fighting against the regime in Syria.

Köktürk, requesting the Minister of National Defence Ismet Yilmaz to answer, asked what assistance AKP Prime Ministry has provided to the opponent groups in Syria in the last one year and the sort and amount of this assistance.

ANF NEWS AGENCY

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SYRIA’S KURDISH SPRING By Karlos Zurutuza 

[extract] Some Christians told me they weren’t happy about the Kurds controlling the area but they all agreed that it would be far worse for them if the region ever fell into the hands of the FSA.

Until last year, Syria was a favoured destination for Christians fleeing sectarian violence in neighbouring Iraq. Today, both long-time residents and newcomers are hoping to escape. “I liked Bashar al-Assad because he granted us security. If the Kurds are able to do so, then I have no objection for their rule. I just want to live,” said a Christian who owned a hotel with a swimming pool.

For the time being, the Christians in the northeast seem to depend on the Kurds for security, but the outlook for the Kurds appears to be a no-win situation. Should Assad crush the opposition and remain in power and decide to stop punishing rebellious Kurds (which is unlikely) and allow an autonomous Kurdish region, many fear Turkey would embark on a military campaign similar to when they razed villages inhabited by shepherds in the Iraqi Kurdish mountains.

Salih told me that Turkey already funnels FSA fighters in the area to play havoc with and destabilise the region, adding, “Unfortunately, the FSA is not just a single body. There are extremists among them, and even militias that get direct orders from Turkey.” If the Syrian Kurds manage to get democratic rights, it would be a big step for all the Kurds. “The Syrian Kurds’ fate that they were living an unprecedented historic moment.

The Kurds of Syria may have suffered under the Assads’ boots for nearly 50 years, but they are increasingly worried about the role Salafist groups are playing inside the Free Syrian Army. No matter what the outcome of the war, Salih insists Syrian Kurds are only looking for democratic self-determination within Syria’s borders, without drawing any new ones. For the time being, what has been dubbed the Arab Spring seems to be exactly that: a movement by and for Arabs. Syria’s Kurds are acutely aware of this and only time will tell if they’ll be able to keep Assad,the FSA and Turkey at a distance.

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THE VICE GUIDE TO SYRIA: We have put together this guide in an attempt to condense the facts gleaned from thousands of pages of reference books, biographies, religious texts, firsthand accounts, reports and other information that have informed this issue. We could’ve included dozens of additional entries, but in our opinion the topics below are the most important for you to begin to understand the complexities of the conflict. We also recommend that you read our illustrated timeline of Syria’s tumultuous history, “The Road to Ruin“, to provide some context before digging into the guide.

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NOW! Lebanon
[local time] 21:23 Huge explosions rocked Damascus’ Tishreen area near a Military Police headquarters, Al-Arabiya television quoted activists as saying.
 17:41 Rebels shot down a regime helicopter over the Damascus neighborhood of Marj al-Sultan, Al-Jazeera quoted activists as saying.
 16:26 Syrian rebels attacked army positions in the northern province of Aleppo on Saturday while Islamist fighters clashed with Kurdish militias on the border with Turkey, residents said.
 13:45 Besieging rebels surrounding the Sheikh Suleiman army base are confident it will fall in days, giving them full control of a swathe of northwest Syria from Aleppo to the Turkish border.
 8:02 Syria said on Friday plans by Turkey to site Patriot missiles along its border was “a new act of provocation,” while allies Iran and Russia warned the move would complicate the situation and could spark a regional conflagration.

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AFP: Syria rebels attack in Aleppo, shelling around Damascus

DAMASCUS, Nov 24, 2012 (AFP) – Syrian rebels attacked army positions in the northern province of Aleppo on Saturday while violence also raged in and around the capital, monitors and residents said.

Regime forces shelled the northeast and southwest outskirts of Damascus as clashes broke out in the western district of Kfar Sousa and in the south of the city, a watchdog said.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 26 people had been killed in violence nationwide, after 61 died on Friday, including 21 in the Damascus region.

Troops attacked the town of Daraya near Damascus, the scene of the worst massacre in the 20-month conflict, where more than 500 people were killed in late August, according to monitors.

“Regime forces are attempting to break into Daraya,” said the Local Coordination Committees, a network of activists on the ground.

An official quoted by state media said the assault on Daraya “led to the elimination of a number of the most dangerous terrorist snipers of Al-Qaeda who were holed up in the homes of displaced residents.”

In the central province of Homs, the Observatory and activists reported fierce bombardment of the rebel-held towns of Qusayr and Rastan, which the army has been trying for months to retake.

In the north, insurgents went on the offensive, attacking troops guarding the strategic Tishrin dam, located on the Euphrates River between Aleppo and Raqa provinces.

The rebels have surrounded the area, about 10 kilometres (six miles) from the town of Manbij, local resident Abu Mohammed told AFP.

Opposition fighters already control one of the main routes to Raqa, and the Tishrin dam would give them a second passage, connecting a wide expanse of territory between the two provinces, both of which border Turkey.

In Aleppo city, the commercial capital where fighting has reached stalemate after five months of deadly urban combat, clashes broke out near an air force intelligence building, the Britain-based Observatory said.

In Hasakeh province, northwest Syria, Ras al-Ain has seen its fiercest violence since the town near the Turkish border was captured by rebels two weeks ago, a resident told AFP.

“There are so few people, most have left. There is no electricity, no water and no mobile coverage,” said Ali, a farmer in his 40s, who fled with his family on Saturday.

Hundreds of fighters loyal to the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD) — which has close ties to Turkey’s rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) — have been locked in fierce battles with fighters of the jihadist Al-Nusra Front and allied Ghuraba al-Sham group in Ras al-Ain in recent days.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists, lawyers and medics, later reported that clashes had died down after the two parties managed to strike an agreement.

On the diplomatic front, influential Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani met Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan behind closed doors in Istanbul for two hours, Turkish news agency Anatolia reported without providing details.

Larijani is on a regional tour, having already been to Syria and also planning to visit Lebanon.

Iran is a close ally of the Syrian regime, and just Friday said Turkey’s request to site Patriot missiles on its border with Syria only “complicates” the conflict in the Arab country.

“Not only does it not help resolve the situation in Syria but it will also aggravate and complicate the situation,” foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said, quoted on state television.

“The insistence (of certain countries) to resolve the Syrian crisis through military means is the main cause of tensions and threats in the region,” he said.

Turkey turned to its NATO partners earlier this week to request the deployment of surface-to-air Patriot missiles to protect its troubled border with Syria.

bur-rd/al/bpz

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