Rojava Rising - Western Kurdistan

[Shirko]

Some recent war footage of YPG forces

http://youtu.be/HYIVpSV7p1c

[Shirko]

Supreme Kurdish Commission held emergency meeting about recent events
ANF - QAMISHLO 02.11.2012 10:32:32
The Supreme Kurdish Council (SKC) held in the presence of five of its members an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss the recent developments in Syria and western Kurdistan, particularly the events in Aleppo city and continuing clashes in “Qustul” village - Efrin.

[Shirko]

As usual, none of the major world media outlets report any of this. And for the doubters, it is evident now that YPG is capable of securing Western Kurdistan and much more, maybe one day they will march to Damascus. The fanatical Islamic gangs are burning down churches, so the Christians should support the Kurds and even including the moderate Arabs too, not many other good options available for them Syria anyway.

YPG seized control of 7 islamic gangs centres
ANF - Serêkaniyê 24.09.2013 11:49:13
West Kurdistan's People's Defense Units (YPG) have seized the control of seven centres used by the islamic gangs as their headquarters.

Clashes in the region of Serêkaniyê city are going on since YPG fighters launched an operation against radical armed groups al-Nusra Front and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) mid September. After liberating the Elok village on18 September, YPG fighters also took control of the Çafa village in the province of Serêkaniyê, clearing the village of armed gangs following fierce clashes that broke out late Monday evening and lasted till late into the night.

Clashes have later spread to Misrafa village where YPG fighters have liberated seven headquarters of the gang groups and seized many weapons and ammunition on Tuesday. Many militants of the radical Islamist groups have been reported killed and wounded in clashes with YPG fighters.

On the other hand, members of the ISIS and a group affiliated to Jabhat al Nusra demolished an Assyrian church in the village of Xerdûka in the Tirbespıyê city of West Kurdistan.

Xerdûka village in the south of Tirbespıyê city is mainly populated by Kurds, Assyrians and Arabs. It was liberated by YPG fighters on 23 September.

Before leaving the village, gang groups burnt the church down and and also demolished the houses of some civilians, writing ISIS on the doors of the houses.

[Shirko]

Here's a a YPG promotional video in Arabic intended for Arab speakers including the Christians.

[talsor]

Good News

YPG Liberate cafa serekaniye village from Aqaida(Ansar alsunna) .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_bccA-bWRk

[Shirko]

Syrian Opposition, Kurd Agreement
Irrelevant Without PYD

An officer of the Syrian Kurdish Democratic Union Party stands guard near the Syria-Iraq border, Oct. 31, 2012. (photo by REUTERS/Thaier al-Sudani)

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By: Andrea Glioti for Al-Monitor Posted on September 23.
QAMISHLI, Syria — The Syrian National Coalition (SNC) approved on Sept. 16 the first agreement to incorporate a major Kurdish bloc, the Kurdish National Council (KNC). Despite reservations on both sides, the two groupings are supposed to meet to announce the alliance officially by the end September.
About This Article
Summary :
The Syrian National Coalition will need to reach an agreement with the powerful Democratic Union Party if it truly wants to win Kurdish support.
Author: Andrea Glioti
Posted on: September 23 2013
Categories : Originals Syria
However, on Sept. 8, the KNC reached a separate deal with the other main Kurdish alliance — the People's Council of West Kurdistan (PCWK) — which is affiliated with the Democratic Union Party (PYD), to draft the constitution of a transitional Kurdish government to be elected 4 to 6 months later.
The KNC signed the latter agreement as a member of the Kurdish Supreme Committee (KSC), a coalition formed with the PCWK in 2012, even though such an initiative remains completely unrecognized by the SNC. Since the threat of a US military strike on Syria has dwindled, the Russian backing received from the KSC to represent Syrian Kurds at Geneva II rules out any withdrawal of the KNC from this coalition.
Further complicating the picture, the main Kurdish militia — the PYD-controlled Popular Protection Units (YPG) — rejects any agreement with the SNC, as long as they do not condemn the attacks launched by Islamist opposition groups on the Kurdish regions. Despite the concessions obtained from the SNC, the KNC is aware that Arab-Kurdish reconciliation is not compatible with the isolation of the PYD.
Agreement with the SNC
The text of the agreement between the KNC and SNC marked a set of Kurdish gains such as the constitutional recognition of "the national identity of the Kurdish people," the removal of “Arab” from the denomination of the Syrian Republic and the commitment to compensate the property losses caused by Baathist discriminatory policies. Nevertheless, the crucial demands for decentralization fell short of becoming political and were limited to the administrative field.
In its last internal meeting, the KNC advanced two further conditions to be included. “The SNC will need to commit itself to the peaceful nature of the revolution in the Kurdish regions and respect the self-management plan launched by the KSC,” Salman Hasso, member of the Jalal Talabani-backed Kurdish Democratic Progressive Party’s politcal bureau, told Al-Monitor.
Such conditions are utterly rejected even by those SNC members who supported the agreement.
“There are no further conditions, only personal reservations. … The Kurdish self-management plan is not our business,” SNC member and Syrian Muslim Brotherhood's Deputy Chairman Mohammad Tayfur told Al-Monitor in a phone interview.
Contrary to what was expected by the KNC, some members of the Arab opposition justify the allegedly defensive nature of the operations launched by the Free Syrian Army and its al-Qaeda allies in the Kurdish regions. “The YPG started launching attacks on Arab villages such as al-Yarubiyyah; therefore, I don’t condemn what I consider a reaction,” the representative of the Hasakeh governorate within the SNC general committee, Yasser al-Farhan, told Al-Monitor in a phone interview.
The SNC’s indifference to Kurdish autonomy is also an outcome of the different degrees of commitment to this initiative shown by Kurdish parties. “Our strategic goal remains federalism, even though we agreed on a transitional government to facilitate administrative issues, as long as Syria is fragmented and the regime is still in power,” Anwar Naso, member of the Yekiti Party’s political bureau, told Al-Monitor. He added, "It is an administrative project conceived to end with the collapse of the regime.”
PYD rejection
Differently from the other Kurdish parties, which insist on the temporary nature of this preliminary transitional step, PYD officials rarely refer to the collapse of the Syrian government as a factor affecting their agenda, as they enjoy freedom of movement thanks to a tacit agreement with Damascus.
Even if the killings perpetrated in Amuda on June 27 have further exacerbated tensions between the KNC and PYD, the latter’s political vision remains closer to federalism than the kind of administrative decentralization proposed by the SNC. “Our divergence [with the KNC] is not political, it’s philosophical and methodological on the way society could manage itself. What is important to us is to build institutions capable of managing society; then, their shape might resemble federalism,” Aldar Khalil, leading member of the PCWK, told Al-Monitor.
The main supporter of the self-management project, the PYD, is predictably the staunchest critic of the agreement reached between the KNC and SNC. “This pact is the outcome of joint Turkish-US pressures to divide the Kurds, after we achieved representation based on our Kurdish identity before the international community,” Khalil said. He continued, "It aims at dragging Kurdish forces away from the resistance against the attacks launched against us.”
What is clear to all parties is that any agreement not including the PYD would be totally ineffective on the ground, due to the PYD’s military supremacy. After the US strike became highly unlikely, the PYD has even less interest to join the Arab opposition and antagonize the regime. “We are calling on the SNC to welcome the PYD, but we’re pessimistic about the PYD giving up its ties with the regime in this phase,” Yekiti’s Naso said.
However, the meeting held on Aug. 30 between SNC leader Ahmad Jarba and Salih Muslim, head of the PYD, seems to have opened inroads for a different understanding between the two sides. “I had meetings with SNC delegates in Erbil, and Salih Muslim talked with Ahmad Jarba in Paris. The SNC knows very well it cannot implement anything by reaching an agreement with the KNC,” Khalil said.
If the implicit aim of the agreement with the SNC is to isolate the PYD at the expense of political decentralization, then the KNC should abandon the Kurdish Supreme Committee and join forces with the Arab opposition to eradicate the PYD from the regions it controls. On the other hand, if the KNC wishes to deter Arab-Kurdish and intra-Kurdish strife — as it claims — then it should work to bargain Arab-Kurdish reconciliation in exchange for political decentralization by promoting an agreement between the SNC and PYD.


Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/origina ... z2g0x8VIrc

[Shirko]

Ehmed: Turkey plays a big role in war against Rojava
ANF - Qamislo 26.09.2013 11:05:12
In an interview with ANF about the attacks targeting Western Kurdistan territory, Kurdish Supreme Council member İlham Ehmed said Turkey was a part and leader of the war conducted against Rojava.

Some Kurdish circles made some attempts amid debates on a possible military action in Syria. What did happen exactly?

As international powers led by the US discussed intervention in Syria, many states and circles, particularly the Syrian opposition forces, Turkey and some Kurdish circles, tried to determine their position with the thought that the regime would be overturned. It was the Coalition of Syrian Opposition that made the greatest effort in this respect, while the Syrian Kurdish National Council (Encumena Nîþtîmanî ya Kurdî li Sûriyeyê-ENKS) also took a step to take part in the coalition as the representative of Kurds. Plans were made over the formation of the new government by the coalition after the fall of the Syrian regime. This is why the ENKS hastily made a written application for taking part in the coalition. Al these plans however collapsed when no military action was taken against Syria.

Are these moves by Turkey, South Kurdistan government, Syrian opposition and some Kurdish circles independent from or each other or were these moves made in line with a plan? What kind of an influence did all these have on Rojava?

Turkey is directly involved in the mentioned preparations and plans and it is Turkey that applied the most pressure on the ENKS to join in the coalition. Rojava was in the meantime being subjected to military attacks, with those launched in the Rimêlan region on 11 September aiming to break the Kurdish will and to eliminated the People's Defense Units (YPG). Turkey was after breaking the Kurdish resistance while it on the other hand tried to form a so-called Kurdish representation in the coalition. They launched intense attacks with an aim to eliminate YPG forces and to have the Kurdish region taken by armed groups affiliated to the coalition.

Do you think the wave of attacks by armed groups, going on in Serêkaniyê since 14 September, should be assessed in this regard?

The attacks against Serêkaniyê are for sure included in this plan, they were the follow-up of the attacks launched in Rimêlan on 11 September. The armed groups tended towards Serêkaniyê after they suffered a failure in Rimêlan and this was because the city borders Turkey and the Turkish state which never wanted Kurds to control the border gate intended to have armed groups take it. Turkey's involvement and leading role in the attacks and its support to armed groups has already been revealed by some documents seized and videos shot so far. For this reason, we can assess Turkey as a part and leading power of the war in Rojava and its aim is to prevent the formation of a Kurdish will in the region.

What would the elimination of the defense force in Rojava mean?

The elimination of People's Defense Units (YPG) would directly mean the region's dependence to Turkey, and even Turkey's intervention in this region. In such a case Turkey would have the potential to easily intervene the political will in all areas of the region's life through the local armed forces it leads.
This is because the Coalition of Syrian Opposition is already standing in Turkey's shadow, while Turkey thinks the elimination od defense units in the Kurdish region will enable the armed groups to exercise control over them.

Do you tink the ongoing attacks and the postponement of Kurdish Supreme Council's meeting for the last six months is related with this plan as well?

I do, because of the fact that the Kurdish Supreme Council -which is recognized as the representation of Kurdish people's will- needs to be eliminated in order to ensure ENKS's participation in the Coalition of Syrian Opposition. The attempts to be made and steps to be taken should be comformed with the interests of Kurds as well, they assembly or any other circle cannot make a decision on its own. When this is the case, ENKS cannot hold talks on the basis of its own initiative as long as the Council is present, nor can it have the Kurdish Supreme Council make decisions. This is why they decided to eliminate the Kurdish Supreme Council.
While doing this, they put forvard various allegations, including one against the West Kurdistan People's Assembly, MGRK, a component of the Supreme Council, which they accused of acting on its own and not embracing them.

What is the current phase of the works for the interim government project which was firstly announced as a project by PYD (Democratic Union Party) and is now being led as a joint project by two councils?

The project was developed by the joint committee of MGRK and ENKS under the Supreme Kurdish Council. The PYD project has is now being presented as the project of Kurds and is witnessing talks with various ethnic groups such as Arabs and Assyrians. The outcomes of these talks will be evaluated at a meeting attended by the representatives of all circles.

Is the PYD also having talks and performing works with other parties in this respect?
PYD's meetings with other circles are aimed at improving the dialogue between political parties and joint projects providing support to each other.
What is the attitude of other ethnic and religous groups towards the project?
They are displaying a positive attitude towards the project since it was first presented by the PYD.

Are there any obstacles to the realisation of the project? Should the ENKS join the coaliton to give an instance, would the coalition fragmentize and would the project be harmed in the event of an external intervention?
This is not a point agreed by all parties affiliated to ENKS. Parties except for those affiliated to the Political Unity and some others (Azadî, El Partî, Yekîtî) side with the formation of a Kurdish unity. We are however of the opinion that ENKS is being subject to an intense external pressure and denied to make decision with its own will by the government of South Kurdistan .
The project would still continue. We want all circles to take part in the project which represents Rojava and the Kurdish people.

What will the project bring in to the region?

An administration to represent the region's circles will remove the present contradictions. It will not only eliminate the hostility against Kurds by means of the participation of other ethnic groups but also stop the attacks on the region. The project has many positive aspects and it can even determine the democratic future of Syria. As an organized project, it could present the determination for a solution to the Syrian problem. We consider the achievement of the interim government as the achievement of the Syrian revolution.

[Shirko]

PDKS leaves Syrian Kurdish National Council
ANF - News Desk 26.09.2013 16:19:29
The Democratic Kurdish Party of Syria (PDKS) has released a statement announcing its leaving the Syrian Kurdish National Council (Encumena Nîþtîmanî ya Kurdî li Sûriyeyê-ENKS) which it accused of making an agreement with Syrian opposition that contradicted the interests of Kurds.

PDKS remarked that some circles in the ENKS made decisions on behalf of the Council which -it said- has recently grown away from the Kurdish movement and made a thought-provoking agreement with the Syrian coalition forces that does not recognize Kurds.

An agreement reached between an ENKS delegation and Syrian opposition in Istanbul on 28 August was objected by other members of the Coalition and the Supreme Kurdish Council which said that the agreement didn't represent Kurds.

İbrahim Biro, Secretary of the Yekiti Party, who took part in the talks with the Syrian National Coalition in Istanbul had defended that ENKS's joining the Coalition was a positive development, and that it would not possibly lead to a separation within the coalition.

In an interview with ANF, Kurdish Supreme Council member İlham Ehmed said that ENKS cannot hold talks on the basis of its own initiative as long as the Council is present, nor can it have the Kurdish Supreme Council make decisions. This is why they decided to eliminate the Kurdish Supreme Council, she said and warned that ENKS's elimination from the Kurdish Supreme Council and participation in the Coalition was aimed at defeating the resistance in the Kurdish region and suppressing the West Kurdistan People's Assembly, MGRK, and Democratic Union Party (PYD). Ehmed remarked that ENKS made every effort for the approval of its application to the Coalition because it knew that it would come to an end in its political situation should it be denied to join it.

“Parties except for those affiliated to the Political Unity and some others (Azadî, El Partî, Yekîtî) side with the formation of a Kurdish unity. We are however of the opinion that ENKS is being subject to an intense external pressure and denied to make decision with its own will by the government of South Kurdistan", Ehmed said.

On 4 September, Kurdish Supreme Council launched an investigation against the Azadi Party for allegedly taking part in the attacks against West Kurdistan. The Azadi Brigade affiliated to Azadi Party is involved in the attacks targeting the Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo since 6 September.

[Shirko]

PDKS leaves Syrian Kurdish National Council
ANF - News Desk 26.09.2013 16:19:29
The Democratic Kurdish Party of Syria (PDKS) has released a statement announcing its leaving the Syrian Kurdish National Council (Encumena Nîþtîmanî ya Kurdî li Sûriyeyê-ENKS) which it accused of making an agreement with Syrian opposition that contradicted the interests of Kurds.

PDKS remarked that some circles in the ENKS made decisions on behalf of the Council which -it said- has recently grown away from the Kurdish movement and made a thought-provoking agreement with the Syrian coalition forces that does not recognize Kurds.

An agreement reached between an ENKS delegation and Syrian opposition in Istanbul on 28 August was objected by other members of the Coalition and the Supreme Kurdish Council which said that the agreement didn't represent Kurds.

İbrahim Biro, Secretary of the Yekiti Party, who took part in the talks with the Syrian National Coalition in Istanbul had defended that ENKS's joining the Coalition was a positive development, and that it would not possibly lead to a separation within the coalition.

In an interview with ANF, Kurdish Supreme Council member İlham Ehmed said that ENKS cannot hold talks on the basis of its own initiative as long as the Council is present, nor can it have the Kurdish Supreme Council make decisions. This is why they decided to eliminate the Kurdish Supreme Council, she said and warned that ENKS's elimination from the Kurdish Supreme Council and participation in the Coalition was aimed at defeating the resistance in the Kurdish region and suppressing the West Kurdistan People's Assembly, MGRK, and Democratic Union Party (PYD). Ehmed remarked that ENKS made every effort for the approval of its application to the Coalition because it knew that it would come to an end in its political situation should it be denied to join it.

“Parties except for those affiliated to the Political Unity and some others (Azadî, El Partî, Yekîtî) side with the formation of a Kurdish unity. We are however of the opinion that ENKS is being subject to an intense external pressure and denied to make decision with its own will by the government of South Kurdistan", Ehmed said.

On 4 September, Kurdish Supreme Council launched an investigation against the Azadi Party for allegedly taking part in the attacks against West Kurdistan. The Azadi Brigade affiliated to Azadi Party is involved in the attacks targeting the Kurdish neighborhoods in Aleppo since 6 September.

[Shirko]

Clashes in Cinderes continue
ANF - Efrin 27.09.2013 14:06:56
Al-Qaeda affiliated armed groups allegedly backed by Turkey have attempted to attack the YPG (People's Defense Units) areas on Thursday evening. The region, between İdlib province's Atma district bordering Turkey and Efrin's Cinderes district, is witnessing fierce clashes between YPG and ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham) militants since 25 September.

The attempted attack of the armed groups targeted the YPG positions near the villages of Kile Bane, Tilslor and Celemê.

Eighteen ISIS members have reportedly been killed in clashes in Kile Bane village and two YPG positions, according to reports received from sources close to YPG. Clashes are reported to be continuing in some areas.

Before launching the attack against the region, al-Qaeda affiliated gang groups had shelled the Mehmediye and Derbelut villages of Cinderes district on Thursday evening. Some ten mortar shells fell in the Arab village of Mehmediye, hitting the mosque and three houses in the village.

It is reported that the armed groups have once again carried their casualties to Turkish hospitals after the clashes.

In the morning of 25 September, ISIS had launched another heavy weapon attack targeting the YPG positions after YPG fighters sent units to Atma region upon the demand of local people and took the control of several areas in the region near the Kurdish villages of Diva, Celemê and Derbelut on 21-22 Sep. night.

Fifty gang members, including an emir (leader), Abdulkerim El İmarati, were killed in clashes on 25-26 September.

ISIS militants' recent attack against the Celemê village has left a ten year old boy, Muhammed Ömer, dead and an old woman, Fidan Ömer Mehmo, wounded.

In the meantime, people in Cinderes have taken to the streets after taking up arms against the armed groups for the last three days. Dozens of Arabs have mobilized in the YPG-controlled areas and joined YPG positions on Thursday.

[Shirko]

[Anthea]

http://youtu.be/HrwMyDUngXg

I like the music but most of all it shows the real heroes of Kurdistan - the freedom fighters who are prepared to give their lives so that their children and their children's children may live in a

Free Independent Kurdistan

[Shirko]

http://youtu.be/HrwMyDUngXg

I like the music but most of all it shows the real heroes of Kurdistan - the freedom fighters who are prepared to give their lives so that their children and their children's children may live in a

Free Independent Kurdistan

Yes Anthea, those are of the real heroes of the Kurdish nation. Even the young girls are fighting, makes us men feel ashamed sitting in our secure homes in the West and in front of the computer while our young sisters are fighting in Kurdistan, but what we do.

[Shirko]

So how come this terrorist supporting phony backstabbing country, Turkey allowed to support a terrorist group and the America hariold rodesstill supports them and even sends them weapons to help them kill our innocent people? The public needs to learn about this.

Government-al-Nusra links exposed
ANF - News Desk 27.09.2013 10:44:55
Kurdistan Center for Strategic Studies, Lekolin, has published a document which allegedly reveal the Turkish government's links with al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front fighting Kurds in Rojava, West Kurdistan.

The document, a circular letter Interior Minister Muammer Güler sent to the governor of Hatay, is alleged to have been sent to the governors of Mardin, Urfa and Antep as well. It has been published by daily Özgür Gündem today.

The circular letter dated 15 March 2013 is themed “provision of the necessary support to al-Nusra mujahids Turkey backs against the PYD (Democratic Union Party) in line with its regional interests, and their settlement in public social facilities”.

The letter put emphasis on the importance of “providing the required support for al-Nusra mujahids Turkey brings from various countries under the control of the National Intelligence Service (MIT) and has them fight against the separatist organization PKK's wing PYD, ensuring their safety and abiding by the confidentiality of the matter ”.

The Minister's circular letter called attention to Hatay province's strategic importance for enabling the al-Nusra militants' crossing into Syria, and instructed that the delivery of the logistic support to the armed groups, their training and the treatment of their casualties should mainly be arranged in the Hatay province, in line with the coordinated support by MIT and the governor's office in Hatay.

The Minister's letter also underlined that al-Nusra militants sent to Hatay should settle in institutions affiliated to guesthouse of Directorate of Religious Affairs and public guest houses determined by the MIT.

[Shirko]

Some heroes returning from a battle.