|
Kurds Take Up Arms for Kurdistan, Not Syria |
|
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the
content of news information on this page |
|
Kurds Take Up Arms for Kurdistan, Not
Syria
25.7.2012
By Kadri Gursel - Al Monitor |
|
|
|
A Free Syrian Army soldier mans the last gate before
the Turkish territory at the Bab Al-Salam border
crossing July 22, 2012. Photo: Reuters
•
See Related Links
Kurds liberated most cities in Syrian Kurdistan.
The national flag of Kurdistan flying over
governmental buildings in Syrian Kurdistan region.
Kurds
take control as Assad's regime retreats from Syrian
Kurdistan
July
25, 2012
Aiming for the heart of the Damascus regime, as
our media likes to say, is obviously a tipping
point. The fact that the Syrian rebels took over
border crossings to Turkey is another powerful
indicator that the regime is unraveling. But these
are not the only primary signs that we are in the
final stretch of the collapse of the regime.
The sure indicator of the eventual collapse of the
regime is something our media did not notice: Kurds
are taking control of Syrian Kurdish towns.
Last week, the entire official administration of
Kobane was ousted by armed Kurds. Similar
developments were reported from two other important
Kurdish towns — Qamishli and Afrin — close to the
Turkish border.
About three million Syrian Kurds are concentrated on
a stretch of territory from the area northwest of
Aleppo along the border with Turkey all the way to
Iraq. In a way, the Turkish-Syrian border is the
Turkish-Kurdish border.
Who are these Kurds that took over these towns?
On the surface, it is the Syrian Kurdish National
Council and the West Kurdistan Popular Assembly that
announced their decision to act together in the
Supreme Kurdish Council. You will remember that this
decision was announced on July 12 in a meeting held
in Erbil under the patronage of Massoud Barzani.
The National Council is an umbrella for more than a
dozen Kurdish organizations, but most of them are
nothing more than signboards.
The West Kurdistan Popular Assembly is actually the
Democratic Union Party [PYD], which we can call the
Syrian PKK. These towns were taken over by armed PYD
units,www.ekurd.net
and it couldn’t be any other way as the PYD is the
biggest Kurdish organization in the country. More
than that, it is the only one that is truly armed.
The PYD follows Abdullah Ocalan [the PKK leader
imprisoned in Turkey] but gets its political
strategy instructions from the Qandil Mountain base
[in northern Iraq].
Syrian Kurds kept their distance both from the
Damascus regime and the opposition, waiting for the
right time. As they are now taking action to at
least lay the foundations of “Kurdish autonomy,”
they must have decided that the time is ripe. Note
that their actions are not aimed at toppling Assad
and his regime. Their actions are occurring because
the regime is collapsing anyway.
For the Kurds to take over the towns they live in is
actually a preemptive move before whatever new
regime assumes power in Damascus. This Kurdish
uprising is the beginning of a state that opposes a
future Sunni Arab Syria. Their minimal goal is
autonomy.
All these developments can be traced to the July 12
Erbil Declaration.
Six months ago I wrote that if this goes on, Syria
will split into ethnic and sectarian entities and
become a “bigger Lebanon.” This trend has not
changed.
For our AKP government — which isn’t even able to
resolve its own Kurdish issue and has squandered all
opportunities of opening it up — a “Lebanonized
Syria” is actually a “second Northern Iraq.”
A Turkey that is still in strife with its own Kurds
could be forced to transfer this strife to the
Syrian Kurdish region at great political, military
and ethical costs. Ultimately, it could lose
everything.
On the horizon for the “Second Northern Iraq” lies
“Greater Kurdistan,” which will entirely encircle
the southern borders of Turkey.
Now, worried by that ominous sight, a bit
embarrassed with missed opportunities and to stop
the bill from getting more expensive, what if our
leaders say: “Let’s urgently make peace with our
Kurds”? Will the PKK respond, “Why not? Let’s do
it”?
It is not easy to be optimistic about this scenario.
Those at the Qandil Mountains — while waiting to see
the final tally of advantages they will derive from
Kurdish autonomy and how these advantages might be
translated into tools for strategic bargaining —
will continue to say, “The ball is in Ankara’s
court.”
Copyright ©, respective
author or news agency,
al-monitor.com
Top |
Kurd Net
does not take credit for and is not responsible for the
content of news information on this page
|
|
|
®
