France, Organisation Communiste Libertarie (OCL) - The "silent revolution" of Kurds in Syria and its latest developments (fr )

Kurds continue their operations to hunt jihadists localities north-eastern Syria. The 
weekend of 2-3 December, no less than 19 locations that have been taken by the Kurdish 
militia YPG. ---- Update on the offensive after the recent acquisition of a border town 
with Iraq and its challenges. ---- Also, the presentation of a documentary about the 
"silent revolution" that leads into the western part of Kurdistan. ---- Kurds hunt 
jihadists localities northeast ---- The information will speeds. ---- past few weeks, the 
Kurdish fighters have launched several offensives to extend their control over the areas 
they consider part of Rojava, Western Kurdistan. In doing so, they compete primarily armed 
jihadi groups who held much of the north of the country, including areas bordering Turkey 
and Iraq where they received supplies and support of all kinds.


In a dispatch dated This Monday, November 4, entitled "Syria: Kurds hunt jihadists 
locations in northeast", AFP reported on the latest developments in the field:

(Excerpt)
The Kurdish fighters seized during the weekend of 19 towns in the province of Hasakah in 
northeastern Syria, which were held by the jihadists and Islamist rebels said on Monday an 
NGO.
The Member Units protection of the people (YPJ, main Kurdish militia in Syria) took the 
jihadists of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (EIIL) Front and al-Nosra well as 
Islamist rebels "13 villages road connecting the city of Ras al-Ain in Hasakah and Tall 
Tamer, between Sunday and Monday, "according to the Syrian Observatory of Human Rights 
(OSDH).
"Since Saturday, a total of 19 locations are fallen into the hands of Kurdish fighters, 
"said the NGO, which relies on a wide network of activists and medical sources across the 
country.
"Jihadists are now grouped fighters to resume lost" land, has added the Observatory. (...)

Pending further developments, we published an article that reported on the offensive after 
taking a border town with Iraq and shows the issues, both on the "Syrian" plan war waged 
Kurds in the "Kurdish-Kurdish" which oppose the rising forces of the revolution in Syria 
and the traditional parties that dominate the regional government of Iraqi Kurdistan.

We then publish an interview with one of the directors of a documentary being assembled in 
Catalonia, which sheds light on the set and so on about it, they called the silent 
revolution led by the Kurds in Syria .

The ongoing offensive

And beyond Yaaroubiyah

Maya Gebeily, 1 November 2013.

NOW Lebanon (Lebanon)

On October 26, the armed Kurdish factions inside Syria realized that the Arab Syrian 
rebels have been unable to do. They inflicted yet another military defeat of Islamic Iraq 
and the Levant (DIRE) state. Units defending the Kurdish people (YPG), related to the 
Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), won the battle against al-Qaeda faction in the town 
of Yaaroubiyah along the Syrian-Iraqi border. The hard-won victory has implications not 
only on the battlefield of Syria, but also the complex political scene in which operate 
YPG and PYD.

The fighting between the Islamist forces, especially DIRE, and Kurdish militias have 
continued since the Battle of Ras al-Ain in July this year. There, YPG expelled jihadist 
elements of both the city border and fringe located along the Turkish-Syrian border. Since 
then, various Syrian provinces formed the battlefields of this front, including Hasakah, 
Aleppo, Raqqa and Deir Ezzor. "The fight that takes place varies from one region to 
another," declares NOW Kurdish analyst Sirwan Kajjo. "Sometimes it is for control of the 
territory, and sometimes it is to survive. "

A Yaaroubiyah - that Kajjo described as a non-existential territorial battle - the 
three-day battle ended with another victory of YPG. Wladimir van Wilgenburg, an analyst 
with the Jamestown Foundation, said that YPG launched their offensive in direct reprisal 
for a suicide attack joint-DIRE Jabhat al-Nusra in the city of al-Qahtaniyah in the Syrian 
province of Hasakah on the Syrian-Turkish border. Details on the current fighting in the 
city and around the border checkpoint are rare. The takeover of Yaaroubiyah by YPG was 
facilitated by the Iraqi air support, according Kajjo, although it is not currently able 
to verify. Other unconfirmed reports say that YPG had already tried to take the same area 
in September, but it failed.

A series victorious battles were important military preparations in the run-up to the 
takeover of Yaaroubiyah. YPG had hitherto made ??the "slow progress" in the province of 
Hasakah, said Wilgenburg and even lost ground in other areas like Aleppo and Raqqa. For 
the Kurdish militant Resho Bistuyek (*) consecutive clashes with DIRE in the oil-rich 
region of Rumeylan ended with a series of victories for the YPG who could then fully 
handle Yaaroubiyah they had an eye "for some time" .

Equally influential were the political developments that took shape at the time. Salih 
Muslim, co-president of PYD, entered Syria from Iraqi Kurdistan in October to attend the 
funeral of his son, who was killed by Al-Qaeda factions in recent fighting in Syria. 
According Bistuyek, Muslim expected to return to Iraqi Kurdistan via the border crossing 
Semalka, then fly to Washington DC for a series of political meetings. October 17, while 
Muslim was still in Syria, the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) has closed the border 
crossing Semalka, leaving Muslim trapped inside. A few days later, the KRG has explained 
his decision by accusing Muslim and PYD to "serve the interests of the Assad regime" . 
Bistuyek, Wilgenburg Kajjo and agree all three: YPG launched the attack on Yaaroubiyah, 
partly in order to secure a border crossing where they could have full jurisdiction.

This was successful. Now that YPG won a border crossing with the central part of Iraq, 
they can bypass closed by the KRG to Semalka border. Kajjo believes this takeover sends 
KRG President Massoud Barzani, an important message. "I think it was a way to show the KRG 
they [PYD / YPG] have an alternative," says there. The result could be a closer 
relationship between the PYD and the Iraqi central government, which has yet to 
unequivocally withdraw its political support to Syrian President in trouble.

The Kurdish internal policy will also determine the complex political developments caused 
by the growing territorial gains of YPG. Kajjo done here specifically refers to the 
reputation of PYD and YPG in the Kurdish regions of Syria, where the party and army units 
were considered by some since 2003 as "puppet regime." Indeed, some have accused the PYD 
of benefit security agreements in force with the Assad regime on public demonstrations and 
oilfields. The relatively quiet withdrawal of the Syrian Arab Army [army regime] in the 
Kurdish areas last year did nothing to dispel these rumors.

There is no indication as to whether DIRE will launch an attack to regain control of 
Yaaroubiyah, though analysts told NOW that this is likely. Asked whether the Kurdish 
forces would continue this momentum to seize other areas dominated by DIRE, Kajjo was 
prudent. "I do not think the PYD or YPG go beyond this border crossing" , he says. "As 
Kurdish forces, they can not fight in non-Kurdish areas." Wilgenburg also doubt that YPG 
trying to take control of other facilities along the border. "Can perhaps they are just 
trying to seize the border crossing point of Tal Abyad, but it is difficult " , he told 
NOW . Fighting between YPG and DIRE have already taken place in Tal Abyad, which lies 
along the Turkish-Syrian border in the province of Raqqa in Syria. "It would link the 
Kurdish regions of Hasakah those of Jarabulus and Kobani (Ain al-Arab) " .

Regarding the front of increasingly violent between DIRE and Kurdish militias, analysts 
told NOW that there was no end in sight in the short term. For Kajjo, "fighting between 
DIRE and YPG will continue" . And he concludes, "it is only the beginning. "

Maya Gebeily
(1 November 2013)

___

(*) The activist is known by his pseudonym, Resho Bistuyek.

Source: ic i

Translation: OCLibertaire

The Silent Revolution of Kurds in Syria

"Neither the al-Assad regime, or with the Arab opposition army they want self-management 
and self-defense"

Roger Suso
13/10/2013

The Directa (Barcelona)

Journalists David Meseguer and Oriol are Graci? went to Syria to shoot the documentary The 
Silent Revolution and explain the social and national revolution promoted the Kurdish 
people in Syria What Western Kurdistan, one marked by self. Revolution
Meseguer (Benicarlo, 1983), a freelance journalist, has covered various conflicts in 
Libya, Kurdistan, Tunisia, Western Sahara and Syria collaborates with daily Ara, Gara and 
also with the Directa, France 24 and AP . Graci? (Tortosa, 1982), who lives in the capital 
of Scotland, Edinburgh, working with magazines Descobrir and S?piens and realized 
audiovisual documentary "Cecile i el Delta" for Television of Catalonia and "Los ?ltims 
passadors."
L finished recording and full editing of the documentary, they began a process of 
participatory production (crowfunding) - through the platform Verkami - to raise funds to 
cover their expenses post [*]. On the occasion of this project, we spoke with David Meseguer.

___

What brought you in Syria? How was the shoot?

I went for the first time in Syria during the summer of 2012, I first went in the rebel 
zone in the mountains of Latakia and then to Afrin, a rural area north of Aleppo province 
. I had followed the Kurdish question in North Kurdistan (Turkey and Iraq) and Syria as 
the Kurdish people had already begun to control its territory since this summer, I wanted 
to focus on this topic. To make a documentary in a conflict zone, we can build on what we 
will find, but in our case, we made otherwise. I visited the region Afrin twice to work 
for both the daily and a TV, knowing the people, places and knowing a little about how it 
all works. Then I talked to Oriol, very good director and cameraman, offering him to go in 
March 2013. Thus is explained the idea of ??making a documentary. We went in March, 
because it is at this time that the Kurds celebrated Newroz the first - the arrival of 
spring in the Kurdish culture equivalent to the New Year - without the presence of the 
regime of Bashar al-Assad region. With all these elements, we went there.

How did you get in?

With the kidnapping of journalists, we see that security has deteriorated dramatically in 
recent months. In March, we were fortunate that the presence of Al-Qaeda linked groups in 
the region was not very strong and also the entry of Turkey, one of Azaz, was controlled 
by the Free Syrian Army (ASL). At this time, the relationship between the Kurdish people 
and ASL were not bad and we had no problem getting through controlled by the ASL and we 
make to the region Afrin area. We were there and we focused on the characters to explain 
and translate the silent revolution of Syrian Kurds from different perspectives: culture, 
education, political and military, women and the media. At this time, in Afrin, there was 
no fighting, but against voltage, and the main problems of filming focused on logistical 
requirements, gasoline, electricity, batteries, connectivity, etc..
With the outbreak civil war in Syria in March 2011, the Kurdish people have found a 
dilemma: to unite ASL enjoying great support from Turkey - the country that is in conflict 
with the PKK - or stay loyal to the government in Damascus with his repressive history. 
Finally, the Kurds have opted to declare a de facto autonomy and take responsibility for 
their own rebellion.

How and why it happened here? What is the role of the Democratic Union Party?

The war began in Syria in 2011, had not reached the Turkish border until summer 2012. It 
was then that Assad's troops have withdrawn from Kurdish territory, often with virtually 
fighting, leaving the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the main Syrian Kurdish organization, 
linked to the ideology of PKK to take control.

And why are they removed?

For two reasons. First of all, because ceding control of the area to the Kurds is a means 
of pressure on Turkey - which has provided support early in the rebellion of the ASL - 
since the Kurdish militia is controlled by the PYD and by extension, the PKK, which leaves 
the door Kurdish guerrillas in Turkey. The second reason is the use of the withdrawal of 
these troops by the government to fight on other fronts or in big cities like Aleppo. Some 
sources have claimed that there was an agreement between the regime and the PYD would 
explain that, but talking with the president of PYD Salih Muslim, he told me categorically 
that the PYD supported the rebellion and that no If there existed an agreement with Assad. 
The Kurdish people in Syria bet for a third way: neither the regime nor the opposition. 
They opted for self-management and self-defense

What have you found to Afrin?

If he was still a doubt that the Kurds were in favor of the Baathist regime in all 
villages in the region and in each place where he had previously portraits and statues of 
the Assad family, they have been completely removed and replaced with photographs of the 
martyrs of the PKK or Kurdish Protection Units (YPG). Government symbology was completely 
eradicated

What is Damascus to torpedo this silent rebellion?

In this conflict, the Kurds clashed with both the rebels and the regime. Currently, some 
factions of ASL, we might say, more or less radical secular, have joined the PYD because 
they see that they have in front of them groups like Al-Nusra or Islamic State Iraq and 
the Levant, which are groups linked to Al-Qaeda, whose aim is to turn Syria into an 
Islamic state and implement sharia. Kurds in Syria are between water on one side, they are 
fighting the regime and on the other, they fight radical Islamic groups.

And how is it viewed by NATO?

They are not directly involved in the Syrian conflict. Countries like the United States 
very in mind the experiences of Afghanistan and Iraq, but the conflict of interest to all 
foreign powers involved, unfortunately for the civilian population, conflict lasts and 
lingers for different enemies are killing each other as if they were in an enclosed 
courtyard. In Israel, they are interested because there is Hezbollah and Iran and the 
Shiites are killed by Sunni, Al Qaeda killed by Hezbollah, Turkey, allied with the 
jihadists kill the PKK and the YPG. It is a war where each side has a representation in 
NATO and the Security Council of the UN, we could say that with this encystment, the 
Atlanticist countries have everything to gain.

YPG they receive support Kurdish militias in Turkey?

YPG is a force where it should be noted the presence of women, a fact that in the 
documentary we treat as a very representative data of the militia. Its main function is 
self-protection. They have not led offensive to control territories as did fractions of 
ASL. YPG is distributed in the Kurdish areas and are dedicated to self-defense tasks. In 
these northern regions, there is not only the Kurds, there are also Armenian Arabic, 
Syriac people and minorities, seeing themselves threatened by jihadist groups, have joined 
the YPG. So that the majority Kurdish militia is also integrated by these minorities.

What is the situation in "small Kurdistan Aleppo" - the predominantly Kurdish areas of 
Achrafieh and Sheikh Maqsood Aleppo - neighborhoods bordering much of rebel areas that 
districts loyal to President al-Assad ?

This is perhaps the place that suffered the most being between the Syrian regime and the 
armed opposition. These two districts are located on a hill north of the city. In a 
strategic location with views over the city. The vast majority of the population are 
families in the 1980s and 90s are mainly parts of the province of Afrin, from the 
countryside to the city. In the "Little Kurdistan Aleppo" - a self area, with its own 
police, its education system, garbage collection, bread making - even now, the YPG conduct 
armed struggle against the Syrian army and ASL to defend their neighborhoods. In the 
Kurdish areas, state structures with a certain level of self-government began to be created.

What causes this lack of information about the uprising?

Information about the Syrian conflict always come, in addition to chemical attacks, when 
there is heavy fighting between the opposition and the regime, but in this third way, this 
minority is fighting for his rights and its recognition as a people that are the Kurds, 
very little space is devoted, this is also why we have called the documentary as a silent 
rebellion.

What future for Western Kurdistan?

I'm optimistic. Between the fact that the Syrian opposition in Istanbul, the ASL is split 
and a large part of the territory is controlled by the jihadists, the Kurds are very well 
organized. Kurdish areas suffer from all the problems inherent in a war, lack of food, 
medicines, etc.. It is difficult to predict what will happen, if they will have autonomy, 
they will continue as far. Most worrying is a hypothetical Kurdish disunity fostered by 
"partitisme" different Kurdish formations. Now they have a common enemy like Al Qaeda, and 
to the external threat, these ideological differences and agenda have been secondary.
Since the arrival of the Baath Party to power more than 300,000 Kurds have more 
recognition of citizenship in Syria, their language was not allowed. Although it is true 
that at the time of the government of Hafez al-Assad, when the PKK bases in Syria and 
Lebanon, relations between the Kurds and the Syrian government had improved. After the 
arrest of PKK leader Abdullah ?calan in Kenya and Assad's father died in the period 
1999-2000, Syria came close to Turkey.
Turkey has agreed that reconciliation and improved trade relations exchange and provided 
that the Syrian government to act with an iron fist against the PKK. It is since that time 
that the Syrian government has more repressed Kurdish population, with hundreds of 
political prisoners, executions, death, etc.. Although al-Assad is now launching small 
invitations to the Kurds because they struggle against the jihadists and he said that if 
the government continues, they will have more recognition and rights, the Kurdish people 
do not trust him.

Do you think the Western Kurdistan could become a de facto state in the genre of 
Nagorno-Karabakh or Transnistria?

It is very difficult to say what will happen and this is an issue that does not depend on 
the Kurdish people. If the conflict drags on, it remains to be seen what role Turkey, if 
it let itself be a de facto independent state or Kurdish territory in Syria ruled by the 
PYD with a kind of autonomy in Iraqi Kurdistan Regional, which is a autonomy, which is 
almost like a country. It has many power of decision.

Where is the peace process between the Turkish government and the PKK Erdo?an? What is the 
impact of the war in Syria and the role of PYD, a very close ally of the PKK in these 
negotiations?

The peace process is in danger. In March, coinciding with the filming, the PKK announced 
the withdrawal of its guerrillas from Turkish territory. The ball was then in the camp of 
the Ankara government. Recently, the Turkish government has launched what they call the 
"democratization package of measures", but according to the Party of Peace and Democracy 
(BDP), the main Kurdish party in Turkey, these measures do not respond at all to 
expectations required by the Kurdish people. Not only the BDP said but the executive board 
of the PKK and KCK. ?calan has not yet taken his words and mark the course of the peace 
process.

With the withdrawal of PKK Turkish territories, the Kurdish guerrilla she went to 
Kurdistan of Syria?

Since the withdrawal, the PKK's income largely in the Qandil mountains where it has its 
bases. If it is true that there has not been a transfer of troops, many PKK fighters have 
traveled to Kurdistan of Syria, much to find their families to join the YPG. Other senior 
executives from Qandil also visited the Western Kurdistan to build and bring their 
military experience. Many officials and commanders of YPG are people from Qandil.

What do you plan to do once the documentary finished?

The first goal, provided it is achieved, is to succeed participatory funding to cover the 
costs of post and reward all those who have trusted us. We want the documentary has an 
impact and he does know the Syrian Kurdistan. We will try to give a broadcast by 
television, not just here but around the world. In the long term, we want it to have a 
license Creative Commons and it can be seen everywhere. In the case of the Catalan 
Countries, we intend to go to different places and groups and make presentations to 
explain the story.

You remove a certain parallelism of silent rebellion with the Catalan?

Yes, there are some parallels, such as the Kurdish people studying in secret or the 
existence of political prisoners. Now, with the removal of the regime, there is an 
excitement to practice Kurdish culture to express themselves freely in schools, in the 
ostentation of their symbols. Very similar to those here in the last years of Franco's 
premises. A historic moment for the Kurdish people of Syria.

__

[*] Note translation: October 28, 6000 more euros in 8000 had been met.

Translation Catalan: xyz

Original: here

The production of documentary http://nezvanova.wordpress.com/2013 ...

Information (Catalan, Spanish and English) on the project 
http://www.verkami.com/locale/es/pr ...

An excerpt of the film by way of introduction: http://vimeo.com/75469527

Document

The Silent Revolution / The Silent Revolution

Introduction

The documentary The Silent Revolution (The Quiet Revolution) explains the revolution that 
lead almost 3 million Kurds living in Syria. With the outbreak of the Civil War - in the 
context of what has been called "the Arab Spring" - the Kurds of Syria have taken 
advantage of this environment to engage the struggle for political and cultural 
recognition, and so end the repression they lived for nearly 50 years.
Today news on this historic process that Kurds live under great informative 
marginalization as armed clashes between the regime of Bashar al-Assad and the different 
groups of Arab opposition clashes monopolize media coverage. That is why we believe it is 
necessary to know the other Syria, which advocates a third way to resolve the conflict.

Our goal is to make known a vital political situation very similar to that experienced at 
home at the end of the Franco dictatorship, which has parallels with the situation we have 
today. That is why we were in Syria to record a documentary film about 60 minutes 
collecting this reality came from the base and focuses on six areas: politics, education 
in Kurdish women's involvement in the conflict, the Kurdish militia, the media and culture.

Synopsis

? Afrin, a rural area of northern Aleppo province, the Kurds are preparing to celebrate 
the first Newroz - the arrival of spring in the Kurdish culture, equivalent to our New 
Year - without the presence of Bashar al-Assad. But this year, the full identity of party 
support, was experienced in a particular context: the country has been at war for two 
years and, in addition, the Kurdish minority in Syria, which is equidistant from the 
conflict between the government and rebels - have taken advantage of this instability to 
gain power over their territory and assert their identity, repressed for nearly fifty years.
In this city, we will know the lives of Ali Ali, a retired pharmacist of 70 years, which 
explains why he volunteered to teach the Kurdish language, the teaching was banned before. 
Cudi Efrin, a young journalist, tells how he launched the new Kurdish television. The 
young Gulizar Hesen, thirty years old, shows us how the new life of the guerrilla militia. 
The small Serin Bako and his band enjoy the Newroz festivities to sing in public 
traditional Kurdish songs. Finally, Ebu Seydo, representative of Western Kurdistan 
Democratic Movement (TEV-DEM), analyzes the way they create new political structures to 
coordinate the management of these areas. Direct and plural of the silent revolution of 
Syrian Kurds look.

The conflict in Syria and the Kurds

Violation of the rights of nearly 3 million Kurds in Syria - which represent 10% of the 
country's population - has been a constant since the Baath Party (Arab Socialist 
Renaissance) came to power in 1963. Already submitted for nearly fifty years of 
dictatorship, the repression of the Syrian regime against the Kurdish people increased 
with the arrival of President Bashar al-Assad to power in 2000, which led to the 
imprisonment of thousands of political dissidents and bloody episodes as the death of 
thirty protesters in 2004 Qamishlo. The state of emergency continued for 41 years 
multiplies, even today, the number of political prisoners. To all this must be added the 
refusal of the Syrian government to make citizenship to 360,000 Kurds that the Baath Party 
was not recognized.

With the outbreak of civil war in Syria in March 2011, the Kurds were faced with a 
dilemma: either join a Free Syrian Army strongly supported by Turkey - a country that is 
in conflict with the PKK, the Workers' Party Kurdistan since 1984 - or remain loyal to the 
government of Damascus with its repressive history. Finally, Syrian Kurds have decided to 
declare autonomy "de facto" and manage their own revolution.

From the beginning, the Syrian Kurds have opted for a peaceful revolution that has 
avoided confrontations with the army of the regime and the Free Syrian Army. They refuse 
to be immersed in the sectarian war that has turned the Syrian conflict and do not want 
their cities offer scenes of destruction and desolation as in Homs and Aleppo. This 
position corresponds to the distrust of Kurds to governments that surround them after the 
way they have historically been used for the realization of national causes in Turkey and 
Iran.

In July 2012, and after considerable disagreement, Massoud Barzani, president of Iraqi 
Kurdistan regional government, got the two main Kurdish factions in Syria, the Kurdish 
National Council (KNC) - composed mainly of parties close to Barzani and Jalal Talabani - 
PYD and concluded a historic agreement and create the Kurdish Supreme Council. This kind 
of unity government administers the self-proclaimed independence of Syrian Kurdistan and 
pursues an active struggle for national recognition of the Kurdish people and the 
protection of their rights within a future Syrian constitution. In addition, this new 
structure seeks to exercise a counterweight to the Syrian National Council marked by a 
powerful Arab and Islamic agenda.

The teaching of the Kurdish language in schools and street signs and roads in the mother 
tongue were among the first steps taken by the Kurds after nearly fifty years of 
dictatorship. Recovery of their cultural expressions and mark this historic silent 
revolution led by the Syrian Kurds.

Currently, in addition to fighting the Syrian regime, the Syrian Kurds clash with radical 
Islamist groups with ties to Al Qaeda. Al-Hasakah region the scene of fierce fighting 
between Kurdish protection units (YPG) and groups Jabhat al-Nosra and the Islamic State in 
Iraq and the Levant. Dozens of Kurds give their lives to prevent the Islamic Sharia law is 
imposed on their territories.

___

Translation: OCLibertaire

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Syria: The perfect response

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