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One Turkish soldier killed in clashes with Kurdish militants: army

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HAKKARI, Turkey’s Kurdish region,— One Turkish soldier was killed and four were wounded in an armed attack by Kurdish militants in the southeastern province of Hakkari in Turkish Kurdistan, the Turkish military said on Thursday.

Turkey’s largely Kurdish southeast has been ravaged by violence, as the militant Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has targeted security forces since abandoning a 2-1/2-year ceasefire in July 2015.

In a statement released on Thursday, the military said the four wounded soldiers were not in critical condition.

Since July 2015, Turkey initiated a controversial military campaign against the PKK in the country’s southeastern Kurdish region after Ankara ended a two-year ceasefire agreement. Since the beginning of the campaign, Ankara has imposed several round-the-clock curfews, preventing civilians from fleeing regions where the military operations are being conducted.

Observers say the crackdown has taken a heavy toll on the Kurdish civilian population and accuse Turkey of using collective punishment against the minority. Activists have accused the security forces of causing huge destruction to urban centres and killing Kurdish civilians.

The PKK took up arms in 1984 against the Turkish state, which still denies the constitutional existence of Kurds, to push for greater autonomy for the Kurdish minority who make up around 22.5 million of the country’s 79-million population. Nearly 40,000 people have been killed in the resulting conflict since then.

A large Kurdish community in Turkey and worldwide openly sympathise with PKK rebels and Abdullah Ocalan, who founded the PKK group in 1974, and has a high symbolic value for most Kurds in Turkey and worldwide according to observers.

Turkish Army attacks Kurdish forces in northern Syria

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By Leith Fadel

BEIRUT, LEBANON (9:50 A.M.) – The Turkish Army has once again attacked the Kurdish-led forces in northern Syria, targeting the positions of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in the Afrin Canton of northern Aleppo.

According to local activists, the Turkish Army heavily shelled the villages of Deir Ballout, Malaa Khalil, Furfrak, and Qara Baba in the Afrin Canton, causing material damage to several posts around this area.

This is not an isolated incident in northern Syria, as the Turkish Army and their rebel allies have repeatedly attacked the Syrian Democratic Forces in the Afrin Canton.

Unlike the Al-Raqqa Governorate, the U.S. Marines do not have a presence in the Afrin Canton, so the Turkish Army takes advantage of their absence by attacking the Kurdish forces in this region.

Source: https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/turkish-army-attacks-kurdish-forces-northern-syria/

UN report: Turkey guilty of ‘serious’ abuses in Kurdish region

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The UN has called on the Turkish government to investigate a series of killings in the country’s southeast. The report comes after a security crackdown in the wake of a failed coup attempt.

The UN’s human rights office released a report on Friday accusing Ankara of serious human rights violations during operations targeting Kurdish militants.

The report, which based its findings on “remote monitoring,” focused on“massive destruction, killings and numerous other serious human rights violations committed between July 2015 and December 2016 in southeast Turkey” that targeted some 2,000 people – including 1,200 local residents and 800 security personnel.

Most of the people displaced as a result of the security sweep have been Kurds, the UN said. Fighting between the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, and the Turkish government has been ongoing since a truce initially agreed upon in 2013 fell apart two years later.

Satellite images taken of impacted areas show “an enormous scale of destruction of the housing stock by heavy weaponry,” the report said. Residents of Cizre, a mostly Kurdish town near the Syrian border, described the destruction as “apocalyptic.”

Calls for an investigation

The UN’s report urged the Turkish government to investigate the matter, so that the “perpetrators of unlawful killings are brought to justice.” It also called for an end to “unannounced, open-ended 24-hour curfew,” and pay “effective reparations for victims and family members” whose human rights have been violated.

The publication of the report comes as the country gears up for an April referendum in which Turks will vote on whether to expand the powers of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

UN rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein had stern words for the president, saying he was “particularly concerned by reports that no credible investigation has been conducted into hundreds of alleged unlawful killings.”

The report also cast a spotlight on Erdogan’s broad crackdowns following the failed coup attempt in July, which the UN said had led to further violence in the southeast.

blc/jm (AP, AFP)

How deep is Turkey’s Sinjar entanglement? how Erdogan and Barzani dividing Kurds

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Fehim Taştekin is a Turkish journalist and a columnist for Turkey Pulse

By Fehim Taştekin

Turkey, which has developed rather odd relationships with some of its neighbors in recent years because of its reckless foreign policy, has begun treating Kurdish notables coming from Iraqi Kurdistan as official leaders.

Nowadays, Barzani is received as a reputable state leader and the Kurdistan flag is hoisted next to the Turkish flag. During his latest visit Feb. 27, the official reception menu in Ankara was printed in Kurdish. While Turkey adheres to combative relations with Kurds inside and outside the country, relations with Barzani are based on economic interests such as oil and Turkey’s design to use Kurds against Kurds.

For a while now, Barzani has been goaded into a policy of balancing Rojava’s leading political party, the Democratic Union Party (PYD), and its military arm, the People’s Protection Units (YPG), with Syria’s pro-Barzani Kurdish National Council (KNC) and the peshmerga of Rojava (officially the Democratic Federal System of Northern Syria). In Iraq, Turkey expects Barzani to oust the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) from Sinjar. Turkey fears the PKK will turn Sinjar into an operations base to facilitate access between Syria and Iraq.

Following Barzani’s latest visit to Turkey, Syrian Kurds organized by Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) under the name of “Roj peshmergas” were sent to Sinjar March 2. The Yazidis’ Sinjar Resistance Units (YBS) in Iraq, trained by the PKK, did not allow them to enter. Clashes erupted and there were casualties on both sides.

According to information provided to Al-Monitor by journalist Ali Dagli, who was in Sinjar, tension broke out when front-loaders sent by Roj peshmergas started digging trenches between Hanesor and Sinune. A group of local women tried to stop the machinery. The angry women said they don’t trust the peshmerga and asked why they were digging in places where the Islamic State (IS) no longer existed. Why didn’t they instead go to the front lines to fight for Mosul, they asked.

On March 3, tension turned to clashes. A cease-fire was arranged within hours, but tension persists. During the cease-fire, the peshmerga brought more vehicles and increased their strength to about 500 fighters. The YBS interpreted the reinforcements as preparation for battle and told the Roj peshmergas they wouldn’t be allowed passage. “Roj peshmergas want to capture Hanesor, make it a base for themselves, and sever the connection between Sinjar and the Rojava border,” Dagli said.

In Sinjar’s town center and in Sinune, the YBS maintains checkpoints just as Iraqi peshmerga forces do. The YBS controls Hanesor. Between Sinjar and Sinune, there is a small Iraqi police presence and two battalions of Shiite militia (Popular Mobilization Units) near the Arab village of Madiba. There are around 100-130 fighters of the PKK’s People’s Defense Forces (HPG) to support the YBS in Sinjar. The road to Hanesor is important for providing a connection between Sinjar and Rojava territory.

Local sources believe that within the Roj peshmergas there are both Iraqi peshmerga forces and Turkish intelligence personnel. Renowned Yazidi sociologist Azad Baris blamed both the KDP and the PKK for exploiting the fragile situation.

“Many Yazidis are grateful to the YPG and the HPG. Many don’t trust the KDP anymore after what happened in 2014,” when thousands of Yazidis were massacred by IS after the KDP allegedly abandoned them. “Yazidis are also uneasy with the Sunni leanings of peshmerga. But some of them cooperate with the KDP for monetary or political reasons. Moreover, there is a Yazidi unit under Qasim Shesho that is backed by the KDP. They incite the YBS by asking what Turkey’s Kurds are doing in Sinjar. The ratio of non-Yazidis in the YBS is not more than 5%,” Baris told Al-Monitor.

He added, “Some of them have come from places such as Hanover, Germany, but they are originally from Sinjar. In 2014, hundreds of Yazidis returned to Sinjar to defend their homeland and joined the self-defense forces. You can’t simply dislodge and send them away now. Some of them hail from Sheyhanli of south Kurdistan. The Iraqi central government recognized them as a legal force and began paying them salaries. There are now about 3,500. Every Yazidi has the right to defend his land. The question is with those assisting the self-defense forces — the pro-Apo [imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan] elements. Their opponents say there is no place for pro-Apo ideology on this land.”

Barzani frequently declares that he won’t allow infighting among the Kurds. Sending Roj peshmergas instead of Iraqi peshmerga forces to Sinjar inevitably led to hostilities between pro-Apo Yazidis and Syrian Kurds. Some say Barzani, using this tactic, can claim he has kept his word on preventing internecine clashes while preventing his KDP from getting involved. But Roj peshmergas are not denying that they get their orders directly from Barzani and the Peshmerga General Command.

Baris said this situation — the KDP-supported Yazidis challenging PKK-oriented Yazidis and the PKK — is based on two main strategies: “First of all, there is the obvious tactic of instigating the local people to fight each other. The KDP has never really adopted the Yazidis because of their faith. Yazidis never feel safe. If Yazidis are split, then the KDP’s domination will be easier. Second, they are using the foreign Kurds of Syria to hit at other foreign Kurds from Turkey. They keep saying the YBS is a foreign force. I don’t want to dismiss the charges that Turkey has been influential, but keep in mind, whether Turkey wants it or not, Barzani’s intolerance is not limited to the PKK presence. He is also against the Yazidis’ defending themselves and their aspiration for an autonomous structure. The KDP has never shared any of our pains and casualties and has never listened to any of our pleas. Even today they don’t listen to us. Anyone who prefers brutal hordes such as IS to Kurds and Yazidis and attacks our homeland will always be cursed by Yazidis.”

In 2014, when the PKK assumed the protection of the Yazidis after KDP peshmerga forces withdrew from the battlefield against IS, the pro-Apo ideology suddenly became the most prominent military and political entity of the area. The PKK’s military wing, the HPG, by blocking IS at Sinjar Mountain, and the YPG, by opening a corridor from Syria to Sinjar, practically saved the Yazidis. While the KDP couldn’t recover from its loss of credibility, the HPG organized the Yazidis and helped them set up the YBS. Although peshmerga forces eventually returned and lost hundreds of their fighters battling IS, Yazidis still stayed loyal to the PKK.

As for Turkey’s relevance in developments in Sinjar, the pro-PKK media keeps saying the attack against Sinjar was guided by Turkey and the Roj peshmergas who, they say, were actually members of Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization.

Persistent declarations by Turkish leaders that Sinjar can’t be allowed to become a second Qandil — the main Kurdish headquarters in the Qandil Mountains in northern Iraq — are naturally cited as confirming Turkey’s role.

According to high-level diplomatic sources talking to Turkish media, Ankara continues to cooperate with Erbil (Iraqi Kurdistan’s capital) against the PKK presence in Sinjar and in Makhmour, Iraq, and Turkey will intervene when the day comes. When the Mosul operation is concluded, then peshmerga forces will be able to transfer fighters to Sinjar and Makhmour. Should the Kurdish government want its help, Turkey will set up training bases around Kirkuk and in some northern areas.

In December, Turkey’s Deputy Prime Minister Veysi Kaynak declared, “We will never allow a new Qandil to emerge at Sinjar. Our biggest hope is for Barzani to succeed, but if that doesn’t happen we will do whatever is necessary with the Turkish army.”

Military action against Sinjar wouldn’t be easy because the town lacks defined boundaries in military terms and could trigger even worse, bloodier strife between the Kurds. The Baghdad government would also see such action as an attack.

The United States and Russia don’t want the Kurds to fight each other, at least as long as the IS threat exists. The cease-fire at Sinjar was arranged by the United States. Iraq’s central government is unhappy with Kurdish aspirations to take over more disputed territory, hence its support for the YBS. Baghdad, which had cut off the salaries of Yazidi forces last year, has resumed payments because of protests by Turkey, which didn’t want Yazidis to be dependent on the PKK.

Yazidi agony over the massacres suffered and the sale of Yazidi women in slave markets is resonating worldwide, and the first European assistance to the YBS is trickling in. One European Union member country sent the Yazidi self-defense forces 5,000 military uniforms. It’s not going to be easy to end the conflict between the PKK and the KDP. For many people, avoiding bloodshed will be considered a sufficient success story.

According to former Turkish Consul-General at Erbil Aydin Selcen, when Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani used to come to Turkey, he was received in Istanbul and not in Ankara, the capital. The meetings were not held in palaces but at less-impressive locations. The Kurdistan flag was never displayed. Meetings were held in Arabic, not Kurdish. To give the impression that the meetings were unofficial, nobody wore ties. In short, everything was done to prevent the meetings from being interpreted as recognition of Kurdistan.

Terrorist State of Turkey imposes curfew, launches ‘huge’ operation against Kurdish fighters

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ANF NEWS Report: Turkish authorities imposed a round-the-clock curfew in 18 villages in the Kurdish province of Diyarbakir as the army launched a vast operation on Sunday against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the area.

The Ankara-appointed Diyarbakir Governor’s office said in a press release on its website the mountainous region and forests around the districts of Kulp, Lice, and Hani served as a bastion for the outlawed Kurdish fighters.

There was no comment as of yet on the website of PKK’s armed wing, People Defense Forces (HPG) that has been locked in a decades-long conflict with the Turkish army over Kurdish rights.

The governorate release read that the operation’s objective was “to neutralize high-ranking terrorists, and capture their accomplices.”

In a joint statement with other Kurdish parties, the opposition Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) said thousands of villagers in the area could not be reached as telephone lines and Internet coverage were cut off.

“A new addition to the violations of human rights, massacres, and genocide in Kurdistan where a dirty war is being waged,” read the HDP statement.

Seven thousand troops, including 16 army commando battalions, about 800 police special operations personnel and more than 500 government-paid Kurdish paramilitaries were participating in the operation, one of the biggest seen in years.

In the neighboring Kurdish province of Elazig, the governorate announced 15 regions covering scores of villages in Alacakaya, Aricak, Karakocan and Palu as “military private zones” that would restrict entrance and exit of civilians without a permit.

Footage released by the state-funded Anadolu Agency showed 17 personnel carrier helicopters on board with hundreds of soldiers taking off from army bases in northern Diyarbakir.

Helicopters then landed winter clad soldiers on snow-covered high mountain tops.

The pro-PKK Firat news agency reported that Turkish jets, Cobra and Sikorsky helicopters were bombing the area in the last 24 hours.

Harsh curfews in Diyarbakir followed a fortnight-long one in February in the Xerabe Bava village in Mardin which became a focal point of allegations of mass arrests and torture of civilians by the army.

A renewed round of Kurdish-Turkish conflict erupted after a two years held ceasefire and peace talks collapsed in mid-2015.

Syria: Report Kurd Emptying Al-Malkiya of Christians & non-kurd, 50% of Hasaka Christians have left

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SDF soldiers (source: Wikipedia)

BY Sarah Abed,

The situation in the North East of Syria regarding the Kurds seems to be a topic of confusion for most. Understandably so as they have been made to appear by US politicians and news outlets as the most effective fighters against terrorism in Syria. Although they have in fact been successful in driving out terrorists in some areas there is information that needs to be discussed that explains the other half of the story that is purposely hidden in the Kurdish and mainstream media news outlets.  We have only been hearing from the Kurdish side now it’s time for the Syrians in Kurdish held areas to have their chance to tell us about the hardships they have been put under by the Kurds.  

I have been actively collecting information and conducting interviews with Syrians who live in Kurdish held areas since 2015. Some reached out to me in hopes that their message will reach the West. They have read what the Kurdish and Western mainstream media news says about the situation in their area and are disheartened that the truth is not being told.

As a Syrian America who was born in Al Qamishly and having experienced living there before the war I felt it was my moral obligation to make sure their voices were being heard. In this article the second in a series that focuses on the situation in the lesser known and often misreported North East of Syria we will discuss in more detail how life has changed for Syrians due to the Kurds taking on an illegal leadership role in the area.

Treatment of non-Kurds by the minority Kurd population in Al Hasaka (also referred to as Hasaka) governorate is unethical and criminal. 

The minority Kurd population in Qamishly treats the majority non-Kurd population poorly. They are trying to impose their will on everyone by force. They pretty much have the Hasaka governorate under their control and those that oppose them are usually driven out of their homes. They are monopolizing everything for themselves trying to maintain self-Governance. They are placing unqualified people in positions of power, there is no law whatsoever to control the area. They are willing to take anyone who agrees to fight with them, even if they are criminals they get them out of jail immediately so that they can grow their army.  PKK fighters were brought into Syria from the Qandil Mountains in Turkey and made managers and heads of institutions in the Hasaka governorate. They are very authoritative and Syrians fear them. Kurds differentiate and provide better treatment to the Yazidi and Kurds that are displaced in Syrian than the Syrian Arabs. All passages from Turkey and North Iraq are under Kurdish control.

The Syrian government condemns separatist Kurdish ambitions and vows to keep Syria united as one country.

Lately, Kurds have been more vocal about their desire to create a federation. The areas they want to claim are Al-Malkiya to Efrin, the entire border line with Turkey including Al-Malkiya, Qamishli, Hassaka, Ein Arab, Al-bab, Efrin, in addition to the rural villages.  They have also mentioned that if they are able to liberate Al Raqqah they will add that to their federation.  As can be seen in their SDF insignia. The USA’s support to the SDF as was mentioned in more detail in the first article which can be read (here- please insert a link to the first article) has had a negative impact on Syrians and infringed on their sovereignty. USA is preparing to build a second military base in Syria at Tel-Baidar.

The NATO-aligned Kurdish minority corrupts the Syrian educational system.

Education which was once an area of pride for the Hasaka region has now become one of the worst catastrophe’s as a result of the Kurds.  They have imposed a new school curriculum unaccredited by the Syrian State. Almost all government schools are now under Kurdish control. Kurds are teaching Kurdi in all of the nongovernment elementary schools, next year they will implement this in all middle schools under their control and the following year their plan is to implement this in high schools as well. Syrians in Kurdish areas are not able to study in Kurdi and have either pulled their children out of the Kurdi schools or send their children to Syriac schools which have limited space, at the moment they have 1,800 students. The only other option is to send their children to schools that are government held but farther away from their homes. Even Kurdish teachers are struggling with teaching the Kurdi curriculum. There is one private University Qurtuba in the Hasaka region.

 Illegal Western sanctions are benefitting the un-elected Kurdish minority that is imposing its undemocratic will on the community.

All daily activities are monitored by the Kurds. Social life in general has seen a drastic decline. Before the war the streets were bustling with movement and music. Restaurants were opened on every corner. Now people are afraid of assembling for fear of being targeted by terrorists. An example of this took place in Al Qamishly when a restaurant was targeted by a suicide bomber in December 2015 and at least 16 people were killed. Kurds demanding federalism make up 30% of population. Churches and mosques are practicing their religious rituals quite normally. I wrote about a specific Syriac church that one of the individuals I interviewed goes to every Sunday and also included pictures in this article

Living in isolation

The general consensus of Syrians in the Hasaka area is that they feel isolated from the rest of the country. They feel that Syrians in other parts of the country do not know much about their living conditions. The only way to travel outside of the Hasaka region is via plane.  The airport in Al Qamishly is operating, but until about a year ago it was simply too expensive for the average citizen to travel via air. An airplane ticket from Al Qamishly to Damascus reached 80,000 Syrian Pounds (3 times the average salary in the country) which would equate to about $160 USD. About a year ago, two new airlines started operating in Syria, so the price decreased and it became more affordable but is still out of many people’s budget.

Efforts to balkanize Syria are increasing the displacement of Syrians and causing Christians to flee Syria

Migration has become a major issue. Just this past month, more than 80 Christian families have left Qamishli, Al-Malikiya and Al-Qahtaniya. Most of those families took asylum in Belgium, Australia and Sweden, and most likely they will not return as long as the situation in the country unstable, said Samir one of my contacts in Al Qamishly . Al-Malkiya is almost empty of Christians now. It is estimated that 50% of Hasaka Christians have left; the majority of those who have left to Turkey were Christians (different ethnicities). Also a fair number of Kurds also left to Turkey.

Humanitarian aid is being provided by the UN, WFP, UNHCR, Armenian and Syriac churchs.  

UN is participating is helping people; teaching governmental curriculum for free to anyone who wants it, distributing food to families in need, and coordinating with different UN organizations operating in Al Hasaka. WFP (World food program) is also providing nutritional support. Also they are implementing development programs, like supporting bread bakeries and maintaining general hygiene. Armenian and Syriac church’s have also been helping citizens but their resources are very limited.

Concluding remarks:

Imperialists are instrumentalizing the Kurdish minority to balkanize Syria, to destroy its nation-state self-determination, to destroy its sovereignty, and to destroy its territorial integrity.  These violations derogate international law, and undermine world peace, prosperity, and democracy.

Whereas the Syrian government and its allies are aligned with the forces of international and national law and order, the West and its allies — including all of the terrorists in Syria, and a minority of the Kurdish population – continue to be perpetrators of the highest crimes according to Nuremburg principles.

If the West succeeds in carving out a part of Syria, ostensibly to serve Kurdish interests, more Western military installations will be built on Syrian soil, and the Kurds will soon discover that their new polity, in whatever form it may take, will become a corrupt stooge “government” at the service of Empire.

Sarah Abed is a Syrian American independent investigative political commentator who focuses on exposing the lies and propaganda in mainstream media news and social media. She is a truth advocate who uses her social media accounts and website The Rabbit Hole www.sarahabed.com to counter the fictitious stories and allegations that are part of a well-funded, highly intellectual, emotionally driven media campaign against Syria. Her goal is to help end the war in Syria by educating the masses. She has spoken on radio shows and contributed to news publications.

Source: http://www.globalresearch.ca/empire-uses-kurds-as-pawns-in-its-imperial-pursuits-in-syria/5577978

 

 

 

 

 

U.S. forces look on as Turks, Kurds clash in north Syria

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MANBIJ, Syria— US soldiers aboard Humvee armoured vehicles have been watching from a distance as two of their allies, Turkish-backed forces and a Kurdish-led alliance, battle it out for control of Manbij in Syrian Kurdistan (northern Syria).

An AFP correspondent on Friday saw the American soldiers on patrol north of the city of Manbij, just miles from the fierce clashes taking place further west.

Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels have tried since Wednesday to capture Manbij, a former bastion of the Islamic State group, now under the control of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance.

The SDF is dominated by fighters known as the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) which Ankara brands as “terrorists”.

On August 24, 2016, Turkey, along with the Free Syrian Army, launched an incursion into northern Syria, east of Afrin canton to stop the US-backed Kurdish YPG forces from extending areas under their control and connecting Syrian Kurdistan’s Kobani and Hasaka in the east with Afrin canton in the west.

Turkey-backed forces also also focused on cleaning the area in northern Syria from the Islamic State (IS) and have captured a number of towns from IS jihadists, including Al-Bab near the Turkish border.

Turkey fears the creation of an autonomous Kurdish region in Syrian Kurdistan — similar to the Kurdish region in Iraqi Kurdistan — would spur the separatist ambitions of Turkey’s own Kurds.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this week said the next target would be Manbij, in Aleppo province.

And on Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu threatened to strike the YPG unless they pull out of the northern city.

The SDF is dominated by fighters known as the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) which Ankara brands as “terrorists”.

On August 24, 2016, Turkey, along with the Free Syrian Army, launched an incursion into northern Syria, east of Afrin canton to stop the US-backed Kurdish YPG forces from extending areas under their control and connecting Syrian Kurdistan’s Kobani and Hasaka in the east with Afrin canton in the west.

Turkey-backed forces also also focused on cleaning the area in northern Syria from the Islamic State (IS) and have captured a number of towns from IS jihadists, including Al-Bab near the Turkish border.

Turkey fears the creation of an autonomous Kurdish region in Syrian Kurdistan — similar to the Kurdish region in Iraqi Kurdistan — would spur the separatist ambitions of Turkey’s own Kurds.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this week said the next target would be Manbij, in Aleppo province.

And on Thursday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu threatened to strike the YPG unless they pull out of the northern city.

But Votel’s spokesman, Colonel John Thomas, said that, while the general supported a peaceful transition of Manbij to a “thriving city”, he did not say if the US would stop any Turkish move towards it.

The United States has special operations forces advising the SDF on the ground in Syria, but no combat units.

Sherfan Darwish, spokesman of the Manbij Military Council which is part of the SDF, tried to play down the absence of US forces in Manbij.

“The coalition is on patrol along the Sarjur river (north of Manbij) and there is coordination with the coalition at the highest level,” Darwish told AFP.

“All our fighters in Manbij were trained by the Americans,” he added.

Syrian Kurdistan’s ruling PYD has established three autonomous zones, or Cantons of Jazeera, Kobani and Afrin and a Kurdish government across Syrian Kurdistan in 2013. On March 17, 2016 Syria’s Kurds declared a federal region in Syrian Kurdistan. On Dec. 30, 2016 Syrian Kurds approved a blueprint for a system of federal government in Syrian Kurdistan, reaffirming their plans for autonomy in areas they have controlled during the civil war.

Source: http://ekurd.net/us-forces-turks-kurds-syria-2017-03-04

 

Kurds’ Peshmerga affiliated with Turkey Clash With Yazidi Militia in Western Iraq

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The so-called Rojava Peshmerga group attacked forces of the Yazidi Shingal Resistance Units (YBS) in the town of Knanesor, located in the western Iraqi Shingal district near the city of Mosul.

People of Shingal fought back, trying to stop the Rojava Peshmergas, the ANF media outlet reported on Friday, adding that the local Yazidi Peshmerga forces were fighting the attackers as well.

“As forces of the YBS-YJS [Shingal Women’s Resistance Units], we know very well what is the purpose of this attack and who are behind it. KDP [Kurdistan Democratic Party] wants the YBS/YJS defeated and intends to drive them out of Shengal. However, KDP will never achieve this goal of theirs. We will not allow attacks, and we will not allow another massacre against our people,” YJS Commander Viyan Hebab said, as cited by the media.

The clashes have ceased partially, but the tension remains high, the media added.

Rojava Peshmerga group is a paramilitary wing of the Kurdish National Council, supported by the KDP. The group, reportedly of 5,000 fighters, is affiliated with Turkey which allegedly trained and funded the Rojava Pashmergas to fight against the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the biggest Kurdish party in Syria.

Shingal is a mainly Yazidi-populated district in the western Iraqi governorate of Nineveh. In August 2014, terrorists of Daesh (outlawed in Russia) managed to seize the town of Sinjar, defeating the Kurds and Yazidis. In December 2014, the Peshmerga-led offensive pushed Daesh forces out of the region.

Barzani’s failed policies could lead to his family’s departure from Kurdistan!

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KDP party leader Massoud Barzani, Iraqi Kurdistan. Photo: AFP

By Hamma Mirwaisi | Exclusive to Ekurd.net

Kurdish people are loyal to leaders. It is hard to convince Kurds to accept new ideas, but when they were accepting ideas, it is hard for them to give it up easily.

It took few generations for Barzani family to take over South Kurdistan. Turkish Ottoman Empire hangs Sheikh Abdul Salam Barzani in the year 1914 in the city of Mosul-Iraq after he revolted against Turkish Empire.

The stars of Barzani family rise among Kurds in that part of Kurdistan because of the Turks murder of Sheikh Abdul Salam Barzani. His brother Sheikh Ahmed led the Barzani tribal revolt for a while, which followed by his younger brother Mullah Mustafa Barzani the father of current Barzani tribal leader Massoud Barzani.

From 1946 to 1979 Mullah Mustafa led Kurdish revolution with the support of Israel, Iran and the US. Jalal Talabani from Talabani Sheikh family challenged Barzani leadership, which resulted in the division of South Kurdistan into two regions.

Barzani established political party called Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) without knowing the meaning of the word Democrat. After the split of KDP in the year 1963 Ibraham Ahmed, the father in law of Jalal Talabani establishing the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) without knowing the meaning of word Patriot. The process of forming political parties become similar to open the new business in Kurdistan especially in South Kurdistan as the sources of income to make a living through corruption.

There are communist, Islamist, Socialist, Democrat, Patriot, Conservative on and on without knowing anything about such ideologies.

In the middle of the cause in Kurdistan came a group of young Kurds under the leadership of Abdullah Ocalan to form the Kurdistan Workers’ Party or PKK (Kurdish: Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê‎) started as Maoist or Marxist–Leninist political party. But in time the ideologies of PKK changed with the leader evolution. In time Abdullah Ocalan becomes knowledgeable enough to become one of the major world philosophers in his own, surpassing any other philosopher before him because he did solve women problem in the world.

Today KDP of Barzani is losing members and support of Kurdish people because Massoud Barzani and his brothers, nephew and children’s are submerged in corruption.

The PUK of Talabani is not better than KDP of Barzani, Jalal Talabani’s wife and his two sons are involved in the crime of corruption. His younger son Qubad Talabani suppose to be smarter than his older brother is working with Barzani family to share oil wealth of Kurdistan. Qubad married American Jewish girl, which give him a chance to be close to Israeli Government as the major protector of Barzani and Talabani families rule in South Kurdistan.

Iraqi Kurds are hopeless to be liberated from Barzani and Talabani yokes. Under the guidance of Israel Barzani allied with Turkey and Sunni Arabs of Iraq to stay in power for good. And again under the leadership of Israel Qubad Talabani and his mother allied with Iran and Shi’a of Iraq to stay in power for good. Many other players in South Kurdistan are allied with Turkey and Iran, but they are not making any progress because Turkey and Iran were only dealing with Barzani and Talabani families. One of the Talabani’s men by the name of Nawshirwan Mustafa come up with the idea of change to defeat Talabani and Barzani with the help of Iraqi Shi’a Government but failed. Nawshirwan Mustafa was trying to use PKK forces against Barzani and Talabani but failed too, because PKK leadership knows them very well.

It is evident for educated Kurds in South Kurdistan that only PKK forces can liberate Kurds from Barzani and Talabani families. But PKK does not have time now; they are in the middle of war in Turkey and Syria.

The US Government helped Barzani and Talabani to have significant military forces in that part of Iraq based on Israel recommendation. The new US administrations are very independent Government, oil lobbyist and Israel do not control over them anymore.

Iran is against the US interest in the Middle East, and the US knows very well that Barzani and Talabani’s forces are useless in the war. The US is seeking an alliance to be reliable in peace and wartime.

PKK are independent forces in the Middle East. They only depend on Kurdish people help, while they are seeking reliable partner too. The interest of PKK as the leader of the entire Kurdish population are sharing the common interest of the US interest in the Middle East, which could lead to the long-term alliance between PKK and the US against Iran expansion in that region.

Indeed, ‘The Return of the Medes” are in the process no one can stop that. Kurdish people are accepting Abdullah Ocalan philosophy finally; they are joining PKK ideologies by millions, while other political parties in Kurdistan are going down rapidly.

After 2539 years (Since Persian took over Median Empire) of abuses by Persian, Arabs, and Turks, the Kurds will be free to live in peace in Kurdistan, the land of the forefather of Kurds.

References

– The History of the Kurdish People: The Survival of the White & Aryan Kurds in Last 12,000 Years

-Barzani Kurds
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barzani_Kurds
-Mustafa Barzani
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mustafa_Barzani
-Turkey: Ankara Bargains With Iraqi Kurdistan’s President
Stratfor Think Tank Analysis FEBRUARY 27, 2017 | 21:36 GMT
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#inbox/15a8493f35f78e55?projector=1
-The History of the Caucasian People: The Civilizations without Hatred and Racism

Hamma Mirwaisi, a senior Kurdish writer and author of the book, “Return of the Medes” and the forthcoming book, “Enemies with the Same DNA“. Born in Iraqi, Kurdistan, he is a US citizen; he currently resides in the United States; is an electrical engineer by trade; he spent the early years of his life participating in the struggle for the freedom of Kurd from the tyrannical rule of Saddam Hussein. Mirwaisi was a regular contributing writer for Ekurd.net between 2010-2013.

Source: http://ekurd.net/barzani-failed-policies-kurdistan-2017-03-01

Alert: Police detain US consulate employee over allegedly PKK links in Turkey’s Adana

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(hurriyetdailynews) Report Police detained an employee of the U.S. consulate in the southern province of Adana on Feb. 23 on suspicion of involvement with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), according to a police official.      

The suspect, Hamza Uluçay, had been working as a translator at the consulate in Adana for years, the official, who wished to stay anonymous due to restrictions on talking to the media, said.            

He was detained after a top PKK figure codenamed Behzat was killed in Mardin. 

Police apprehended the suspect as he left the consulate building.       

The source accused the suspect of allegedly going to Mardin after the killing and inciting people in favor of the PKK.