Kurds Claim Region In Northern Syria For A Post Assad Democracy

Soon after the arrest of an American who had joined ISIS by the Kurds, and after Russia had announced its withdraw from Syria, the Kurds claimed the northern region of Syria for themselves.

The Village Sun Times covered a Kurdish convention that took place in Rmeilan on Wednesday, in which the Kurds declared their claim on the region, stating that preparations to establish a federal system had been going on for a long time.

In 2014 when former prime minister of Iraq Nouri al-Maliki was being pressured to step down, the Kurdish faction in Iraq were looking to claim their region, as al-Maliki had successfully suppressed them since he took power in 2006.

Rudaw documented the will of the Kurds — according to Kurdish president Masoud Barzani — to demand referendums to claim their independence within the autonomous region between Syria and Turkey in the Northern part of Iraq since 2014.

The Turkish, American, and Syrian governments have responded in their own way, but all are rejecting the declaration.

Many are concerned that this will complicate the already fragile peace talks in Geneva, which include the Syrian government and various opposition groups who have been selected based off of their non-involvement with recognized terrorist groups.

The High Negotiations Committee is involved with the Syrian Peace Talks but does not include the independent Kurdish groups at the request of the Turkish government.

The New York Times offered a breakdown of the parties involved. One of them is the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), which the Russians prefer to have at the talks, as the group that represents the only opposition to the Syrian government, the High Negotiations Committee, is based out of Istanbul and is led by the former prime minister of Syria, who defected.

In 2014, when ISIS seized the city of Kobani, International Business Times was one of the sources reporting that Syrian troops had joined forces with the Kurds to fight back the terrorist group, suggesting that there could be some “back room deals” involved wherein the Syrian government would allow them some autonomy to claim the region.

The fact is that this Northern part of Syria has never been fully recognized by the Syrian government and the Kurds had already claimed the region in 2011, establishing a democratic confederalist government they refer to as Rojava.

The Kurds laid claim to Kobani in 2012, and the Syrian government gave it up, as they were too busy fighting opposition groups elsewhere.

It is the Kurdish Supreme Committee that governs the area, a group made up of the PYD and the Kurdish National Council (KNC), and their military is the People’s Protection Units (YPG), who are the military wing of the governing body, who have been the most effective in holding off ISIL forces.

Due to this fact, the U.S. has been pressured to arm the group to continue to fight the terrorist groups, but due to their association with the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), who are considered by the U.S. and Turkey as a terrorist group, Turkey continues to shell and bomb them in Northern Iraq, while the PKK attacks government buildings in Turkey.

The Kurds have established an embassy in Russia, which clearly confirms the support, but the NYSE Post is reporting that a German embassy is closing in Turkey for fear of more attacks by the PKK.

Currently Turkish forces have forced themselves into Kurdish territory in Northern Iraq, to attack the PKK, which the Kurds claim is the reason for their attacks in Turkey’s Southern region.

At the same time, however, an article by the Daily Sabah writes about an interview with a Syrian academic, Dr. Mustafa Muslim, who says that Russia is using the PYD against the Turkish government and calls on those Kurds to not trust them.

He also said that Syrian Kurds should not side with Russia, as Russia’s support for Syrian Kurds is convenient and not genuine. “But I want to give a piece of advice to the [Syrian] Kurds in general, and the leaders of the PYD specifically, to understand the lessons of history, and remember what happened to the Kurds when they depended and trusted the big powers. They should remember the Russian position on the Republic of Mahabad, and what happened to [it president] Qazi Mihemed, and the position of the shah of Iran and what happened to [its defense minister] Mustafa Barzani. The Russian position is not different from that mentioned above, and will change with the changing of Russian interests,” he said.

It seems quite clear, in response to being blocked to be a part of the UN-sponsored peace talks, that the Kurds have decided to declare their claim to the region.

[Featured image by Mursel Coban | Depo Photos via AP, File]