Kurds on Turkish border ask Syrian rebels to leave

[longknife]

By David Enders
McClatchy Newspapers
Published: November 15, 2012

RAS AL AYN, Syria - The two major Syrian Kurdish political factions have put aside their differences and called for rebels to leave this city, where they have been battling troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad for the past week.

Both the Kurdish United Democratic Party, known by its initials as the PYD, and the Kurdish National Council, the other main Kurdish political party in Syria, fear that the arrival of rebels in Kurdish areas will bring destruction to Syria's relatively quiet northeast.

Read more @ Kurds on Turkish border ask Syrian rebels to leave - Middle East - Stripes

What the article doesn't deal with are the Kurds inside Turkey AND Iraq. The Kurdish area of Iraq is probably the calmest and most productive at the moment. They seem to be able to live together in spite of having various Islamic factions amongst themselves.

 

[Kurdistani4ever]

If they refuse to leave, then they are gonna be forced We already have PYD operating there, and today 10 thousand Peshmerga's we're also sent.

And a quick reminder:
And some quick info too: The syrian part have been greatly reduced on this map.

Each of our enemies took a piece of Kurdistan and left 40 million kurds stateless. We will never give up on our rights for our own country. The land we have inhabited, long before the occupiers showed up.

 

[Kurdistani4ever]

QAMISHLI, Syrian Kurdistan,— Following the Ras al-Ain battle, the Kurdish leadership in northern Syria is getting ready to fight an imminent battle in the Kurdish city of Qamishli (Western Kurdistan). Preparations are currently underway in Turkey to infiltrate the Kurdish city.

The Ras al-Ain battle was the first real infiltration of Kurds through the Kurdish border that stretches from Afrin, northwest of Aleppo, to the city of Dêrek, located in the easternmost part of the country, straddling the Iraqi, Syrian and Turkish borders.

Three hundred militants from the Islamic jihadist group Ghurabaa al-Sham have entered the strategically located town and have stationed themselves in Arab neighborhoods without entering the zones of the Kurdish Popular Protection Committees affiliated with the Democratic Union Party (PYD) — the main Kurdish power in western Kurdistan.

The Ghurabaa al-Sham group is one of the Islamic Syrian groups that fought alongside al-Qaeda in Iraq and was used by Syrian intelligence in the war against the American occupation before its leader Mahmoud Gul Agassi — also known as Abu Qaqaa — was killed in a mosque in Aleppo in September 2007. Agassi was killed at the hands of one of those who returned from Iraq. The assassin was declared an infidel by the group, which then shed his blood after accusing him of colluding with the Syrian government.

According to a Kurdish leader, Turkish cadres have sent 1,000 Syrian opposition militants to a camp near the city of Nusaybin, adjacent to the Syrian-Turkish border and located only three kilometers from the nearest neighborhoods of the city of Qamishli on the Syrian side.

Nusaybin, which was annexed by Turkey in 1929 under the French mandate, witnessed a massive exodus to nearby rural areas for fear of shelling on the city, whose population numbers 150,000 people, mostly Kurds.

According to a Syrian Kurdish opposition leader, the battle for the strategic city of Qamishli is imminent. The PYD, which is trying to remove itself from the battlefield, will have to change its position and send back-up troops to the city to defend it.

The city is home to 180,000 people and is considered to be the largest Kurdish cluster in the region and the PYD’s stronghold. It is run by a national council of Western Kurdistan that operates under the supervision of the Kurdish National Council (KNC), of which half of its members are affiliated with 16 Kurdish opposition parties and share in the decision-making process. On the other hand, the security and military forces deployed in and around the city belong exclusively to the PYD ranks.

The Kurdish leader added that after launching the first bombs against Syrian army sites in Ras al-Ain, the Turks prompted armed jihadist groups to enter the city, paving the way for other forces trying to move from Nusaybin and travel five kilometers across the border.

These forces will weaken the PYD-dominated Kurdish military wall and prevent its forces from moving in the area, gradually opening it to all armed groups, including the Free Syrian Army (FSA) as well as jihadist groups such as the al-Nusra Front and Ghurabaa al-Sham. The Syrian army will be exhausted and forced to retreat. However, the main goal of the attack on Qamishli is to control the city’s airport, located at few kilometers from the Turkish border, from which the armed opposition can be supplied directly in Syrian territory.

The US operations room in Antakya has indicated that the FSA has launched attacks to win control of airports near Aleppo, Idlib, Taftanaz and Meng. However, the FSA failed to capture key strategic airbases which launch Syrian helicopters and bombers.

Along with jihadists, Turks are also playing the game to restore their old relationships with the region’s tribes. The Kurdish security apparatus has begun making extensive contacts with Arab tribes scattered around Qamishli in order to build a united front against the PYD and the remnants of the Syrian army that are still deployed in the region.

Jihadist forces stationed in Nusaybin have launched negotiations with Muhammad al-Fares, leader of the Tayy tribe, which has 10,000 individuals living in the southern part of the city. The Syrian army started to evacuate some of its sites in the city, and the eastern barrier was removed at the request of the Kurds.
Fares used to have good relations with the authorities in Damascus until recently. Fares also had good relations with the Kurdish National Council, despite the fact that he was at the head of Arab groups that looted Kurdish stores in the city during the Qamishli uprising in 2004.

Turks and jihadist groups have supplied Arab tribes in the villages of Ghamr, Tannouriya al-Ghamr, Um Fursan and Hulat al-Ghamr with weapons. These villages are located on the eastern hills overlooking Qamishli and lie in the heart of the plains, where they are difficult to defend.

According to a Turkish leader, Turks are trying to drag the Arabs of Ghamr into battles. These tribes came from the Euphrates basin to Qamishli, following the construction of the Euphrates Dam. They were accommodated in 40 villages stretching along 240 kilometers, from Derek to Sari Kanye, along the section of the Turkish-Syrian border known as the Arab belt.

The Turks have also been trying for weeks to gain the support of the Shammar tribes — led by Hamidi Bin Daham al-Hadi — and the Shammar al-Jarba branch, which maintains good relations with Saudi Arabia. However, its leader is still on the fence and has complained of Kurdish infiltration of Western Kurdistan.

He said that the wing of the Yekiti Party led by Ismail Hami, as well as the wing of the Kurdistan Freedom Party (Azadi) led by Mustafa Juma, are in contact with the Turks and are working with them through the KNC. He added that they may participate in the battle, in addition to the Salahuddin battalion supervised by Salah Badr al-Din, which mostly consists of Kurdish members.

The Kurds are being subjected to political and military blackmail over the battle they fought in Ras al-Ain, and the battle to enter Qamishli, which is currently under preparation.

During the battle of Ras al-Ain, PYD forces did not intervene in the fights between Ghurabaa al-Sham and the Syrian army, out of fear that they would be accused of siding with the regime. They are already accused of that, because they did not take part in the fighting in Aleppo and prevented the armed opposition from entering their areas. The Ghurabaa al-Sham also exhibited great cleverness by not attacking the Kurdish neighborhoods, which facilitated the fall of the town.

However, the neutral Kurdish position, fearful of accusations of cooperation with the regime, led to the loss of Ras al-Ain and the penetration of the Kurdish wall.

The Kurdish leaders fear that some of the refugees in Deir al-Zour, who amount to nearly 12,000 families, would join the attack force that is under preparation.

To avoid once again facing the dilemma of choosing between fighting to defend the Kurdish towns and cities under the pretext that the attackers are targeting the Syrian army, and the inevitable fall of these towns and cities if the Syrian army is defeated at the hands of jihadist groups, a Syrian Kurdish leader said: “We tried to remove this excuse from the attackers by controlling the area in which units of the Syrian army are still stationed. We told the regime officials in the area that the exit of their units from the area would make it easier for us to defend it politically on the grounds that it does not have a military presence by the regime, while maintaining the service institutions of the state and presence of Syrian flags.”

The Kurdish leader added, “The directors of security branches and military officials asked to stay and take part in defending the city. We asked them to get out of the city and remove the checkpoints, but they are still stationed at the airport. A battalion consisting of 1,000 Syrian soldiers headed to Ras al-Ain as helicopters continued to survey the area. We believe that they will not be able to move freely in the area without the heavy use of aircraft. Thus, in recent days the Turks have deployed a network of missiles and air-defense systems.”

The Kurds persuaded the regime security branches to withdraw from Derek, as they had from the strategic town of Tel Tamer, which lies 40 km from Ras al-Ain along the highway to Aleppo. A meeting held at the church in the city of 50,000 residents led to the formation of self-defense units.

On whether the Kurds and popular protection units are capable of defending Qamishli and preventing its downfall, the Kurdish leader said: “We will not repeat the mistake of Ras al-Ain. We will fight in the city, whether or not the Syrian army units fight in the city or withdraw from the airport. If the Turks do not pave the way for an artillery attack on Qamishli as they did in Ras al-Ain, we will be able to defend the area. There is no other choice but to defend it, because seizing it would lead to the dismemberment of western Kurdistan, open the door to attacking Afrin and transform the whole region to a battlefield, which is what we have so far tried to avoid.”

In other news — citing AFP, AP and Reuters — Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Abdul Latif al-Zayani said in a statement that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will hold talks in Riyadh today [Nov. 14] with his counterparts in the GCC on the conflict in Syria. Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that Tehran will set up a meeting between the parties to the Syrian conflict next Sunday [Nov. 18] to hold a “national dialogue.”

Paris has bucked the consensus of its European allies by formally declaring its recognition of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, confirming that it “will consider arming the opposition once a transitional government is formed.”

Washington considered the coalition the "legitimate representative of the Syrian people.” However, it avoided recognizing it as a “transitional government,” as France did.

In an interview with the TV channel Russia Today, Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said that the new coalition is an American-Qatari project that is being used by external forces to destroy Syria.

Copyright ©, respective author or news agency, al-monitor.com | assafir.com

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Well den - just tell `em to get dey's weapons from dey's jihadi buddies...

Syrian rebels defy US and pledge allegiance to jihadi group
Tuesday 11 December 2012 - Rebel groups across Syria are defying the United States by pledging their allegiance to a group that Washington will designate today a terrorist organization for its alleged links to al-Qaeda.

A total of 29 opposition groups, including fighting "brigades" and civilian committees, have signed a petition calling for mass demonstrations in support of Jabhat al-Nusra, an Islamist group which the White House believes is an offshoot of al-Qaeda in Iraq. The petition is promoting the slogan "No to American intervention, for we are all Jabhat al-Nusra" and urges supporters to "raise the Jabhat al-Nusra flag" as a "thank you". "These are the men for the people of Syria, these are the heroes who belong to us in religion, in blood and in revolution," read a statement widely circulated on Syrian opposition Facebook pages.

Jabhat al-Nusra made its mark early this year with a string of suicide bombings, a tactic it continues to use. Aided by fighters from abroad and Syrians who have returned from other wars in the Middle East, it has also led battles for a number of military bases and has secured a string of recent victories. Along with allied jihadist groups, it captured the Sheikh Suleiman base west of Aleppo yesterday morning, and has also dented the infrastructure of the regime in the Syrian capital, Damascus. Although Jabhat al-Nusra remains separate from the Free Syrian Army, many FSA leaders now recognise its strength and order their forces to cooperate with it.

The decision to blacklist the group, which according to the Washington Post will be announced today, raises the prospect of a drawn-out, anti-American insurgency if and when the rebels succeed in forcing out President Bashar al-Assad . The designation prohibits Americans from having any financial dealings with the group and freezes its assets in the US. Washington is taking the step as part of a new strategy to impose "shape" on the opposition it hopes will replace Mr Assad. Even mainstream opposition activists expressed anger at what they claimed was America's last-minute attempt to "muscle in on their revolution". "It is terrible timing on the part of the United States," said Mulham Jundi, who works with the opposition charity Watan Syria. "By calling Jabhat al-Nusra terrorists, the US is legitimising the Syrian regime's bombardment of cities like Aleppo. Now the government can say it is attacking terrorists."

The rise of Jabhat al-Nusra represents the Americans' worst fear – they refused to arm the rebels earlier in the conflict to avoid weapons falling into the hands of jihadists, only to find that in their absence, jihadi groups well-funded by supporters in the Gulf have risen to prominence. The West attempted to rectify this at the weekend by backing the formation of a new FSA command structure at a meeting in Turkey. Its new leadership, which sidelines former commanders such as Gen Mustafa al-Sheikh and Col Riad al-Assad, includes senior figures without a regime background. Many are linked to the Muslim Brotherhood or even more radical Salafi movements, but are thought to be men with whom the West "can do business".

MORE

See also:

Syria refugees number 'more than 500,000' - UNHCR
11 December 2012 - Around 40% of Syrian refugees in the region are living in camps, the UNHCR says

More than half a million people have now fled the conflict in Syria to neighbouring countries, according to the UN's refugee agency. The UNHCR says it has accounted for 509,559 refugees so far, primarily in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, and that many more are yet to come forward. More than 2m people are also thought to be internally displaced within Syria. Meanwhile, a UK-based activist group says rebels led by an Islamist faction have seized an army base near Aleppo.

A video posted online on Monday showed rebels overrunning the Sheikh Suleiman base near the key northern city of Aleppo and seizing military vehicles. The base is now fully under the control of rebels led by the Islamist al-Nusra Front, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Correspondents say the sprawling base was the only significant government facility remaining in a broad stretch of countryside west of Aleppo. Western nations have expressed concern at the role of Islamist groups like the al-Nusra Front in the insurgency in Syria.

On Monday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton designated the al-Nusra Front a foreign terrorist organisation, freezing any assets its members may have in US jurisdictions. The designation is largely symbolic because the group is not thought to have holdings or support in the United States, but officials hope the penalties will encourage others to take similar action and discourage Syrians from joining. Activists also reported continued government bombardment and fighting in outlying areas of the capital Damascus, which has seen fierce clashes in recent weeks.

'Fearful and freezing'

 

[Kurdistani4ever]

These terrorists has now been kicked out by PYD, and the situation is back to normal. there's a zero change of occupation on our liberated lands.

 

[kirkuki]

Imprisonment of journalists worldwide reached a record high in 2012, driven in part by the widespread use of charges of terrorism and other anti-state offenses against critical reporters and editors, the Committee to Protect Journalists has found. In its annual census of imprisoned journalists, CPJ identified 232 individuals behind bars on December 1, an increase of 53 over its 2011 tally.

Large-scale imprisonments in Turkey, Iran, and China helped lift the global tally to its highest point since CPJ began conducting worldwide surveys in 1990, surpassing the previous record of 185 in 1996. The three nations, the world’s worst jailers of the press, each made extensive use of vague anti-state laws to silence dissenting political views, including those expressed by ethnic minorities. Worldwide, anti-state charges such as terrorism, treason, and subversion were the most common allegations brought against journalists in 2012. At least 132 journalists were being held around the world on such charges, CPJ’s census found.

In Turkey, the world’s worst jailer with 49 journalists behind bars, the authorities held dozens of Kurdish reporters and editors on terror-related charges and a number of other journalists on charges of involvement in anti-government plots. In 2012, CPJ conducted an extensive review of imprisonments in Turkey, confirming journalism-related reasons in numerous cases previously unlisted on the organization’s annual surveys and raising the country’s total significantly. CPJ found that broadly worded anti-terror and penal code statutes have allowed Turkish authorities to conflate the coverage of banned groups and the investigation of sensitive topics with outright terrorism or other anti-state activity.

Among the imprisoned is Tayip Temel, editor-in-chief of Azadiya Welat, the nation’s sole Kurdish-language daily, who faced more than 20 years in prison on charges of being a member of a banned Kurdish organization. As evidence, the government has cited Temel’s published work, along with his wiretapped telephone conversations with colleagues and news sources.

Eritrea and Syria also ranked among the world’s worst, each jailing numerous journalists without charge or due process and holding them in secret prisons without access to lawyers or family members. Worldwide, 63 journalists are being held without any publicly disclosed charge.

Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Uzbekistan, and Saudi Arabia rounded out the 10 worst jailers. In two of those nations, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, the authorities used retaliatory charges such as hooliganism and drug possession to jail critical reporters and editors. In 19 cases worldwide, governments used a variety of charges unrelated to journalism to silence critical journalists. In the cases included in this census, CPJ determined that the charges were fabricated.

Turkey is ?world?s worst jailer? of journalists: CPJ - Taipei Times