|
Syrian Kurdish Patriotic Conference is
nothing more than a name: Interview
26.3.2012
By KurdWatch, interview with a member of the
Movement of the Youth in the West
|
|
|
|
The Kurdish Patriotic
Conference is nothing more than a name. Compared to
the PYD it has accomplished nothing.
March 26, 2012
Azad Muhiyuddin* (b. 1981) [is a pseudonym,
changed by editors] is a member of the Movement of
the Youth in the West and lives in Qamishli in
Syrian Kurdistan [Western Kurdistan]. In a
conversation with KurdWatch, he comments on the
current situation in the Jazirah and on the politics
of the Kurdish Patriotic Conference and the
Democratic Union Party (PYD) in particular.
Q: What does the
situation in the Kurdish regions and in the Jazirah
currently look like?
Azad Muhiyuddin:
The regime’s opponents are growing more and more
active and the demonstrations are also increasing in
size. The population is becoming less and less
afraid. At the same time we, the politically active
groups, have various problems amongst ourselves. To
date we still haven’t managed to demonstrate
together. In Qamishli alone there are at least four
separate demonstrations each week. The coordinating
groups, the Future Movement and the Islamic groups
are on one side. The Kurdish Patriotic Conference is
on the other side. And then there is also the PYD.
The PYD pursues its own politics. Their
demonstrations are concerned, above all, with Öcalan
and Turkey; they rarely demand the fall of the
regime. We hope that some day we will all
demonstrate together, but the hope that this will
actually happen diminishes every day.
Q: How is it
that not even the groups in the Kurdish Patriotic
Conference demonstrate together?
Azad Muhiyuddin:
The problem is the parties. We used to be afraid
that the intelligence service would drive the youth
groups apart, but currently the Kurdish parties are
responsible for this splintering. They have weakened
the youth movement; each party has won over one of
the youth groups and made that group dependent on
it. These groups now only represent the interests of
their respective parties. Thus most of the youth
groups do not work together. They have taken on the
conflicts that the parties have been waging for more
than forty years.
Q: Some experts
believe that there will be a split in the Kurdish
Patriotic Conference. Your group also belongs to the
Kurdish Patriotic Conference. What do you think?
Azad Muhiyuddin:
We froze our membership in the Kurdish Patriotic
Conference about two months ago. We no longer feel
bound to the decisions of the Conference. It is true
that there are many disagreements within the
Conference. It is composed of many small groups and
these groups cannot agree on a common course. Above
all, they are increasingly losing the people’s
trust. They are being criticized because they have
organized almost no activities. They are hardly
present on the streets. The Kurdish Patriotic
Conference is nothing more than a name. Compared to
the PYD it has accomplished nothing.
Q: Why did you
freeze your membership in the Kurdish Patriotic
Conference?
Azad Muhiyuddin:
The Conference is losing credibility daily. It is no
longer concerned with the young activists. When the
Conference was formed, the idea was to support young
people when they need help and to demonstrate
alongside of them. None of this has happened.
Committees were supposed to be formed. None of this
has happened. We froze our membership because of the
Conference’s half-hearted efforts.
Q: Which
concrete problems exist within the Kurdish Patriotic
Conference? Why doesn’t the Conference become
active?
Azad Muhiyuddin:
Around eighty independent members of the Kurdish
Patriotic Conference have declared that they are no
longer prepared to work within the Conference under
the current conditions. They want the Conference to
perform practical work in the Kurdish regions, and
they want to participate in decision making. Thus
far, the parties have made the political decisions,
and the youth groups and independent members have
organized the work in the streets. We, the Movement
of the Youth in the West, are convinced that the
parties are hindering our work.
Q: What is your
stance toward the PYD?
Azad Muhiyuddin:
Thus far we have viewed them as a party that stands
on the side of the regime. The PYD was even
described as the regime’s militia. But at the moment
the PYD is behaving much differently. Its work is
very convincing and is gaining more and more
supporters. The PYD has formed active committees
that are present everywhere. Its members mediate
disputes. They arrest thieves. They care for the
sick or injured. Today they even took on the
security forces in Qamishli. They are showing that
they are a Kurdish party that advocates for the
interests of the people. The PYD is becoming more
and more popular; we must recognize this, even if we
have different political opinions and do not support
the PYD.
Q: How is it
that the PYD has become so strong within such a
short period of time?
Azad Muhiyuddin:
When the revolution began, the PYD had hardly any
support. On the contrary, they were seen as the
regime’s henchmen. Moreover, the people hadn’t
forgotten the 1980s and 1990s, when the PKK tortured
critics, cutting off their ears and noses. If Bashar
al‑Assad should remain in power, this story will
repeat itself. At the moment, however,www.ekurd.net
the PYD is trying to show the people that it
represents the interests of the Kurds. Thus they
have founded citizen committees. Thus they offer
numerous services and are active in social welfare.
The Kurdish Patriotic Conference should have become
active in these areas. This did not happen, and thus
the people are joining those who do things for them.
In addition, the PYD has explained to the people
that it has brought fighters into the country in
order to protect people if attacked by Arabs.
Q: The PYD is
being criticized for kidnapping, torturing, and even
killing people. How is it that they are gaining more
supporters in spite of these crimes?
Azad Muhiyuddin:
When Mishʿal at‑Tammu was assassinated, everyone
said that the PKK or the PYD had a hand in it, that
is, in assassinating him. But after all of the
activities that the PYD has carried out, the people
believe that the PYD is innocent. The PYD cares for
people, it mobilizes people for its demonstrations.
As far as the assassination of the Badro family is
concerned [further information on the case], the PYD
says that was a matter internal to the party. And
the people are satisfied with this explanation. The
PYD argues that one of its greatest fighters was
killed by Badro’s children. A fighter who stood up
to the Turkish state for more than fifteen years—and
the Badro family killed him without batting an eye.
That is the PYD’s version of the story. It says that
the Badro family deserved death. It can convince the
people. The PYD says only traitors are kidnapped,
people who do immoral things, thieves are punished,
etc. And the people believe this and think it’s all
right. If we’re being honest, most people in
Qamishli believe the PYD.
Q: You young
activists began this revolution because you wanted
to free yourselves from a dictatorship. How is it
that you are prepared to accept a different
authoritarian rule?
Azad Muhiyuddin:
There are no alternatives to the PYD. We activists
cannot counter it; we are not an alternative either.
If the Kurdish Patriotic Conference had supported us
and become active itself, then we could have freely
expressed our opinion and countered the PYD.
Moreover, the PYD is currently trying to give the
impression that it has distanced itself from its old
claim to sole representation and accepts differing
opinions. In this manner it has won over some of the
independent young activists who are represented in
the Kurdish Patriotic Conference; they are working
together. The PYD says, as long as you don’t
criticize Öcalan or insult our martyrs, you can say
what you want; you can criticize us at any time. The
PYD is trying to sell itself as a guarantor of
freedom—and it has convinced many people with this
line of argument. At the moment, we can hardly avoid
cooperation. For example, we have formed security
committees; our people protect certain districts.
The PYD committees do this as well. In order to
avoid clashes, we have to reach agreements. Whether
we want it or not, the PYD is currently the
strongest force in Qamishli. Without the PYD nothing
works. What the PYD has accomplished in fifteen
days, the Kurdish Patriotic Conference could not
achieve in five months.
Q: Why? You were
also in the Kurdish Patriotic Conference, why didn’t
you do anything?
Azad Muhiyuddin:
One reason is the old conflicts among the parties.
Another reason is the lack of financial support for
the activists and the Conference’s unwillingness to
become active on behalf of the people. I personally
believe that the Kurdish Patriotic Conference will
not survive another month in its current form. There
will be a split.
Q: How do you
see the future of Syria’s Kurds?
Azad Muhiyuddin:
The PYD will control the Kurdish regions; it will do
what it pleases, and no one will be able to do
anything against it. I’m afraid that its ideology
will replace that of the Baʿthists, and it’s
possible that the politics of the 1980s and 1990s
will be repeated. I hope that it doesn’t come to
that. I hope that the PYD will be a force that
protects the Kurds and guarantees them freedoms
instead of taking them away from them. But I am
rather pessimistic about the future.
Q: Will Turkey
accept such a dominant PYD at its borders?
Azad Muhiyuddin:
The PYD says that Turkey will not march into Syria
itself in order to fight the PYD, but rather that it
will give the Free Syrian Army this task. This could
result in many deaths. I personally also doubt that
Turkey will readily allow the PYD to assume control
of the Kurdish regions in Syria, which are directly
on its borders. But what will Turkey concretely do
to prevent this? I don’t know.
*The name has been changed by the editors. March
12, 2012
Copyright ©, respective author or news agency,
kurdwatch.org
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the
content of news information on this page
|
®
