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Outrage at Mutilation of Kurdish Female Fighter’s Body by Turkish-Backed Forces

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Outrage at Mutilation of Kurdish Female

Global condemnation has erupted after videos posted online revealed the mutilation of a body belonging to a female member of the Kurdish Women’s Protection Units at the hands of Turkish-backed militants in Syria.

Turkish-backed Syrian militants are accused of recording the horrific abuse of the corpse of a female member of the Kurdish Women’s Protection Units, according to reports, although some have claimed that she blew herself up to avoid capture.

Turkey and militant groups in Syria hired by Ankara to invade the northern-Syrian Kurdish town of Afrin staged an invasion beginning January 20, drawing global approbation.

A staunch ally of the US-backed coalition fighting Daesh in Syria, Kurdish forces are considered terrorists by the increasingly autocratic and nationalist regime of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who authorized the Syrian invasion.

An official with the Kurdish fighters in Afrin identified the woman killed and mutilated as Barin Kobani, a highly-trained soldier who fought with the US in driving Daesh from the northern Syrian village of Qurna, according to The Guardian.

US-backed Kurdish fighters in Syria have blamed “terrorist allies of the enemy Turkish state” for the mutilation of Kobani.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group claimed that it gained access to the graphic video file from a member of the Turkish-backed Syrian militants fighting the Kurds in Afrin.

In the video, militants stand around a young woman’s badly mutilated corpse in Qurna, a Syrian village near the Turkish border.

Alongside the Kurdish community, many around the world have reacted with outrage, particularly after a portrait of a smiling Kobani was posted online next to an image of her destroyed body.

“Barin [Kobani] did not surrender. She fought to the death,” declared Women’s Protection Units spokesperson Amad Kandal, who promised revenge for Kobani’s death and abuse.

“This kind of behavior will only serve to reinforce our determination to resist until victory,” the Kurdish spokesperson added, cited by The Guardian.

US Fox News: Turkey’s PKK strikes outrage US military in Iraq

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(Photo: AP)

(Photo: AP)

After granting the US permission to use Turkish air bases for strikes against radical terrorist group the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Syria, Turkish air forces began heavily pounding bases of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq, causing ripples of dismay and outrage among senior officials within the US military, the US-based Fox News Channel has said.

According to a Fox News report on Tuesday, Turkey launched its air strikes against the PKK “with only 10 minutes notice to their American partners.”

“The U.S. had barely enough warning to make sure its own forces were out of the way, according to a military source with knowledge of the tension Turkey’s attack caused in the Combined Air and Space Operations Center [CAOC], the allied headquarters in the air war against ISIS [ISIL],” the online version of the Fox report said.

“A Turkish officer came into the CAOC, and announced that the strike would begin in 10 minutes and he needed all allied jets flying above Iraq to move south of Mosul immediately,” Fox reported a military source as saying, who then described events that took place “in the center, in a secret location in the Middle East.” “We were outraged,” Fox quoted the source as saying.

In addition to targeting forces engaged in the fight against ISIL, US officials believed the Turkish military’s sudden move raised the risk of friendly fire casualties, the report added.

“We had U.S. Special Forces not far from where the Turks were bombing, training Kurdish Peshmerga fighters,” the source said. “We had no idea who the Turkish fighters were, their call signs, what frequencies they were using, their altitude or what they were squawking [to identify the jets on radar].”

When the Turkish officer returned the next day to inform his international partners of another strike, US military officials made their objections clear. The Turkish liaison officer was sent away, but not before a back-and-forth in which US leaders demanded the specific flight plans of the attacking Turkish warplanes and the Turkish officer sought the locations of the US trainers.

The coalition air force officers in the ops center refused to share the sensitive information.

“No way we were giving that up,” said the military source, according to Fox News. “If one of our guys got hit, the Turks would blame us. We gave the Turks large grids to avoid bombing. We could not risk having U.S. forces hit by Turkish bombs.”

Critics of the new agreement between the US and Turkey say the deal gives Ankara cover to carry out strike missions against Kurdish fighters in Iraq and even Syria, where Kurds have won hard-fought gains against ISIL. While the Kurdish fighters have been remarkably effective fighting the terrorist army, Turkey remains their nemesis and fears the recent expansion of Kurdish control along the border could provide Kurds more incentive to form their own country in the future.

Turkey began a campaign of air strikes on Kurdish militants in northern Iraq, the PKK and ISIL fighters in Syria in July, in what acting Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu dubbed a “synchronized fight against terrorism.”

The Turkish military began bombing terrorist PKK targets in northern Iraq late last month, the first such strikes since a settlement process with the Kurds was launched in 2012, in response to the killing of two policemen in southeastern Turkey by the youth wing of the PKK.

The PKK is held as a terrorist organization by the US government and many EU nations.

“The PKK’s Syrian affiliate [the People’s Protection Unit (YPG)] has been the leading ground force against ISIS in Syria, and a close ally of the U.S. military,” the report said, adding “In Iraq, Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, separate from the PKK and YPG, have been praised by many U.S. lawmakers for their success in fighting ISIS [ISIL].”

Kurds Outraged as Turkey Closes Border to Volunteers for Kobane Fight

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By RUDAW

70008Image1ANKARA, Turkey – Kurdish activists expressed outrage as the Turkish military began preventing any young person from crossing the border to fight Islamic militants in Syria, where Kurdish forces have been fighting to save the city of Kobane.

Turkish troops were out in force in Mursitpinar, on the Turkish-Syrian border that abuts Kobane.

“Kobane’s fall means Kurdistan’s fall,” said Ferhat Encu, a 29-year-old Turkish-Kurd from Sirnak.

”We can’t sit here and just watch. I’m trying to get into Rojava (Syrian Kurdistan), but the Turks have blocked the border,” said Encu, who was a frontier guard before leaving to fight for Kobane earlier this month. He returned for a break, and now cannot go back.

The Turkish government fears young Kurds returning with military and weapons skills, after fighting alongside the Kurdish People’s Defence Units (YPG), the main protection force in Rojava. That is because of the group’s links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which has fought a 30-year war in Turkey for greater rights.

Selahattin Demirtas, a leader of Turkey’s pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) crossed the border into Kobane on Tuesday in a visit of solidarity. He later called on the Turkish government to support the fight of Syrian Kurds against the IS. He said this was an opportunity to strengthen Turkey’s peace process with its own Kurdish population.

“I want to go to Kobane and fight the IS, which is right now butchering my people, but I can’t,” complained Hamo Sen, a 30-year-old Turkish-Kurd from Urfa.

Media reports say that hundreds of young Kurdish men and women from Turkey are believed to have crossed the border to fight. “Many young people want to go to Rojava to join YPG against IS,” Encu claimed.

Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the PKK, a fortnight ago urged Kurds to “mass mobilize” against IS.

“Not only the people of Rojava, but also everyone in the North (Turkey) and other parts of Kurdistan should act accordingly,” he said in a message sent through his lawyers.

The Turkish newspaper Cumhuriyet recently reported that 30-year-old Serdar Macit, a former Turkish archery champion, is among those who have taken to Rojava to fight with the YPG against the militants.

“It is an honor to be a part of YPG, who are fighting against injustice,” Macit told Turkish media.

Many locals are convinced that Turkey – which has for years turned a blind eye to Islamic militants using its territory for ”jihad” in Syria — is actively supporting IS with heavy weaponry, medical care and money.

Sen accused the Turkish authorities of double standards.

“They turn a blind eye to jihadists crossing into Rojava, while we can’t go there to fight for our people,” Sen complained.

In New York last week for the UN General Assembly, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denied backing the jihadis. Any support for “any terrorist group is out of the question, as Turkey is a country which has suffered heavily from terrorism in the past,” he was quoted as saying.

The US-led anti-IS coalition launched airstrikes targeting militant strongholds on the outskirts of Kobane for the first time early Saturday.

Tens of thousands have fled the IS assaults on Kobane that began about 10 days ago, many washing across the Turkish border. 

Members of Congress Express Outrage Over Der Zor Destruction

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DZ1Armenian community members commemorate the Armenian Genocide in the courtyard of the now-destroyed Armenian Genocide memorial church in Der Zor (Photo by Ashnag)

WASHINGTON—Members of Congress have begun a string of condemnation and expressions of outrage over the destruction of the Armenian Genocide memorial church in Der Zor over the weekend by Islamic State forces.

Representatives Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Jim Costa (D-Calif.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) issued statements or took to social media to express their outrage over the barbaric act committed by rebels affiliated with the Islamic State, also known as Islamic State for Iraq and Syria—ISIS.

“This toxic act of intolerance, aimed at erasing a sacred site of remembrance of the Armenian Genocide on the eve of its centennial, has Turkey’s finger prints all over it,” said Armenian National Committee of America Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “Armenian Americans join with people of faith worldwide in voicing our outrage over the desecration and destruction of the Armenian Holy Martyr’s Church and the sacred Armenian Genocide Memorial at Deir Zor, Syria.”

“I am deeply saddened and outraged by the destruction of the Armenian Genocide Memorial Church in Deir ez-Zor. This church stood to commemorate and honor the hundreds of thousands of Armenians who died on the march to Deir ez-Zor. At the order of the Ottoman Turks, Armenian refugees were sent to die in Deir ez-Zor as part of the 20th century’s first genocide. The destruction of the church memorializing this terrible point in history must be met with a strong international response,” said Pallone in a statement issued Tuesday.

“The United States government and other international partners in the region must work to protect religious minorities and to ensure that Armenian Christians are not targeted for such appalling acts. As the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide approaches, we must remember that it is our duty to stand against the targeting of Armenians all around the world and to prevent any further targeted violence,” added Pallone.

“I strongly condemn the reported desecration of an Armenian Genocide memorial in Syria by the Islamic State,” said Costa in a Twitter post.

“The reported destruction by ISIL of the Armenian Genocide Memorial Church in Der Zor, Syria is yet another example of the sickening barbarity that has terrorized millions across Iraq and Syria. The fact that the church was dedicated to those lost in the genocide is both especially poignant, and a chilling foreshadowing of how ISIL would treat Syria’s Christians if it were to further expand their territorial gains. We need to support the international coalition that is currently engaging in strikes to help the people of Syria and Iraq rid themselves of this cancer,” said Schiff in a statement issued Tuesday.

“I strongly condemn the reported desecration of an Armenian Genocide memorial in Syria by ISIL,” Rep. Sandy Levin (D-Mich.) tweeted on Tuesday.

Fighters from the Islamic State desecrated an Armenian Genocide memorial complex in the eastern Syrian city of Deir ez-Zor, near the site where vast numbers of Armenian refugees were forced to march to their deaths in the early 20th century.

The Der Zor Memorial Church contains the remains of victims of the Armenian Genocide and is often compared to the Auschwitz death camp in Poland.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian condemned the destruction of the church and called on the international community to combat the Islamic State.

The Armenian Genocide Memorial Church served as a pilgrimage site for Armenians in Syria, and every year, on April 24, special commemoration ceremonies attended by thousands of people would be held at the site.

The complex housed, in addition to the church, a museum, monument and archive.