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A Rare Glimpse into Kurdish Armed Forces
in Syrian Kurdistan
6.8.2012 |
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A group of People’s Defence Units (YPG) outside
Derik, Syrian Kurdistan, Western Kurdistan. Photo:
Rozh Ahmad/Rudaw
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August 6, 2012
QAMISHLI, Syrian Kurdistan, — A spokesperson
for the People’s Defence Units, known by Kurdish
initials (YPG) in Syria's Kurdistan Region [Western
Kurdistan], says they have so far stopped several
"military interventions" tried by neighbouring
Turkey on the borders and have arrested many people
who have tried to smuggle weapons into the Kurdish
areas.
Founded just after anti-Assad protests took to the
streets of Damascus, YPG is now the only popular
armed force active in Western Kurdistan, claiming to
protect the recently liberated Kurdish cities and
towns.
After a short wait in the town of Dirk, a pickup
truck belonging to the YPG came to take me to a
scheduled interview the armed group had promised
earlier in the week.
There were ten members of the group in the back of
the pickup. Their faces were covered and they
refused to reveal their names and identity. The car
then arrived at the outskirts of the town, just
several kilometres from the Judi Mountain situated
between the borders of Turkey, Iraq and Syria.
The leader of the group said he was 21 years old and
a native of Dirk. He could be identified as the
leader of the armed group because he was giving
orders to the rest and was the only one wearing a
red patch that displayed the logo of the YPG.
He said they established the group when the Syrian
revolution broke out. And, when the revolution
turned a full-scale fight between Assad’s forces and
the Free Syria Army (FSA), the YPG also began arming
itself "to defend the Kurdish areas from the
conflict and military interventions by neighbouring
countries."
“When the Syrian revolution began to take shape, we
wanted to protect our people in Kurdistan,” the
leader said. “Then on, neighbourhood by
neighbourhood we organized ourselves and began to
set up our Units all over the Kurdish areas.”
He said that members of his group are youths from
Dirk and as locals they have their daily family
duties and live with their parents, “but also, we
give the rest of our time to the protection of our
communities from instability and violence that can
be seen in the non-Kurdish parts of Syria.”
The young leader said that the main priority of his
group is to protect the border areas of Kurdistan,
and claimed that they have stopped military
interventions tried by Turkish army personnel on the
border, and have stopped many others who have tried
to enter the Kurdish region to either spy for Syrian
forces or smuggle weapons to the opposition.
"Border areas is our main priority because the
Turkish army sometimes makes a move toward our
areas, and we have arrested their military personnel
who have crossed the border,” he said. “But we have
also arrested people who have tried to bring weapons
into our areas for the opposition as well as
government's spies."
Recently the YPG also stopped 650 former Syrian
soldiers from entering the Kurdish areas of Syria.
The soldiers were Kurds who had run away from the
army to neighbouring Kurdistan Region of Iraq. They
had been trained by the Kurdistan Regional
Government (KRG) and president Massoud Barzani had
personally announced that they were trained for the
defence of the Kurdish areas of Syria.
But the YPG leader justified this action by saying,
“We refused them entry because basically we have a
popular militia here, and if anyone wishes to
protect the Kurdish areas, they should join us. We
cannot accept any other armed forces outside the YPG,
if we did, then the Kurdish areas will become a
battlefield between different armed forces.”
Many observers and political analysts believe that
YPG is the military wing of the Democratic Union
Party (PYD), which is the biggest political party in
Western Kurdistan. Also,www.ekurd.net
because the PYD advocates the ideology of Abullah
Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers
Party (PKK), it is often perceived as a PKK
affiliate. Hence YPG’s branding as a branch of the
PKK in Syria.
However, the YPG leader refused such claims saying
they are a “broad popular militia" that does not
advocate any specific political ideology.
“Protecting our community is what we are about
regardless of political ideology, religion and
ethnicity,” he said, adding that they have
non-Kurdish members as well as Christians and
Kurdish activists from all other parties among them.
“We are not interested in ideological matters; we
have members from most of the different Kurdish
political parties because they represent our nation
in different shapes and form, and therefore, our
only objective is to protect our communities,” he
said. “Half of the revolution has been done here and
without protection it will get nowhere, so it is our
duty to protect the people to reach the final
victory. And, we are ready to die for our people’s
revolution in Western Kurdistan.”
A member of the group seated next to the leader
intervened and said they are “a democratic popular
militia” because they elect their own officers in
their units coming from the different
neighbourhoods.”
“We all get together and we run elections from
within and then elect who the comrades think is good
for the job,” he said. “This system does not exist
in any Kurdish political party whatsoever.
Therefore, we are organized outside party politics
and anyone who makes such a claim, serves their own
parties’ political interests. They need to come and
see for themselves how we organize and protect our
communities then they can make these nonsense
claims.”
By Rozh Ahmad
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