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More Kurdish cities in Syrian Kurdistan
liberated as Assad's army withdraws from area
21.7.2012 |
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Kurdistan flag is raised at the top of governmental
buildings. The Kurdish people seized all government
institutions in the Kurdish city of Kobane in West
Kurdistan (Syrian Kurdistan) aka northern Syria.
Photo: flickr.com
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Qamishli, the largest
Kurdish city in Syrian Kurdistan is still under
control of Assad's Baath forces.
July
21, 2012
QAMISHLI, Syrian Kurdistan,— On the
second day of events in Syrian Kurdistan, several
more cities have fallen into the hands of Kurdish
groups.
Fawzi Shangal, the leader of the Kurdish Accord
Party in Syria told Rudaw that the city of Amude and
Efrin fell on Friday and they expect Derek city
liberated within hours.
Shangal maintained that the Kurdish cities fell
without any major clashes. The forces of the Assad
regime withdrew from the area, he said.
“According to the Erbil agreement [signed between
Syrian Kurdish political factions] On June 11, the
Kurdish National Council and the Council of Western
Kurdistan have formed a joint leadership to run
those cities,” he said.
Members of the Democratic Union Party [PYD] raised
the Kurdish flag alongside the official flag of the
Kurdistan Workers Party [PKK] on all government
buildings in the newly liberated cities on Friday.
Kobane, in the province of Halab [Aleppo], was the
first Kurdish city near the Turkish border to be
liberated yesterday.
On Thursday PYD stopped soldiers of the Free Syrian
Army [FSA] from entering Kobane as the news of the
liberation reached other parts of the country.
“The Kurdish forces rejected a request by the FSA
and told them that they [Kurds] can control their
own areas,” Hussein Kochar, a PYD official told
Rudaw.
Kurdish leaders are preparing for the full
liberation of Syrian Kurdistan and the
responsibility of restoring peace and order in those
cities.
Ismail Hama, the current head of the Kurdish
National Council said achieving an agreement between
the different factions wasn’t easy, but it was
necessary.
“Things are changing in Syria and those changes
affect us all,” he said. “We have to be united and
it was those developments in Syria that made us put
our differences aside and form this council.”
The Kurdish groups agreed last month to form three
committees for foreign relations, peace and order
and supervision of public services.
Meanwhile, Hama supported PYD’s policy of preventing
the Free Syrian Army from reaching Kurdish areas.
“PYD’s stance against the FSA is rigid,” he said.
“There are different parties behind the FSA, among
them Turkey, Saudi Arabic and Jordan. Kurds are
against those forces from coming to Kurdistan and we
support PYD in that regard and believe a special
Kurdish force has to be created.”
Mustafa Juma, the head of the Kurdistan Freedom
Party [Azadi] said Kurdish groups faced many
challenges to reach the agreement they signed in
Erbil; therefore all sides have to respect and
implement its articles.
“Kurds in western Kurdistan were very worried
recently because despite our past sufferings,
Kurdish groups were close to a civil war,” he said.
“But that agreement makes everyone happy.”
The PKK-affiliated PYD is the dominant force in
Syrian Kurdistan and their members run checkpoints
on major roads and entrances to Kurdish cities.
But Nuri Brimo, spokesperson for the Kurdistan
Democratic Party of Syria said on Thursday, to run
the Kurdish areas all groups have to work together.
“PKK alone cannot run western Kurdistan,” he said.
“There is no other way but unity and only that way
can we achieve our goals.”
Qamishli, the largest Kurdish city in Syria is still
under control of Syrian forces,www.ekurd.net
but Kurdish leaders expect the army to pull out of
the area, as fierce battles between rebel fighters
and the Assad regime have been raging in the capital
Damascus since Tuesday.
Copyright ©, respective
author or news agency,
rudaw.net
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