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KURDS SEIZE OIL-BEARING REGIONS OF SYRIA. THEIR AIM - TO SECURE EQUAL RIGHTS WITH SYRIANS, AND IDEALLY TO OBTAIN FULL AUTONOMY
by Konstantin Volkov
Izvestiya
July 25 2012
Russia
Syria's Kurds have begun an organized advance in the northeast of
the country, occupying cities left without government control. The
aim is the creation of an autonomous formation along the lines of
the one that exists in northern Iraq.
"The central authorities are currently leaving cities in the territory
traditionally inhabited by Kurds," Radwan Ali Badini, an activist of
the Kurdish Liberation Movement, told Izvestiya. "And we are helping
these population centres to create a new administration."
According to Badini everything is happening peacefully and there are
no clashes with the armed opposition or with the regular army.
Furthermore the Kurds, who live along the whole length of the
Syrian-Turkish border, regard themselves as something along the lines
of a border guard.
"To some extent Damascus has an interest in our presence along the
border line, otherwise Ankara might get the idea of taking advantage
of the unrest to enter Syria," Badini explains.
The Kurdish movement gained strength in the 1950s when its demands
were finally formalized as follows: the granting of broad autonomy,
equal rights with the main population of Syria, education in the
national language, and the right to self-determination within the
country. Over the past year some of the demands have been met. In
particular, Damascus granted Syrian citizenship to some of the Kurds
and promised them autonomy.
Nonetheless many of them still do not have the right to use their
own language in education or in business and also they cannot build
Kurdish schools or publish books in their native language.
That is why they are now continuing to insist on the continued
fulfilment of their demands, although they are also interested in
the resolution of the Syrian conflict by peaceful means.
At the same time, the influence of the new force is extending further
and further. The next objective is the city of Qamishli, centre of
Syria's oil industry.
"If we enter it, it will be by peaceful means," Badini says. "But
I wish to stress that the city now represents itself, there are
interruptions to the fuel supply, and it is difficult for the
residents, finding themselves in conditions of anarchy, to cope with
their problems themselves."
The emergence of a Kurdish autonomous formation is a very real
prospect, the activist believes. All the preconditions exist to assert
that this region will consent to nothing less. All the conditions
currently exist for us to obtain our rights without the use of force.
"Some of the Kurds really want democracy and the preservation of
Syria's integrity, while some are geared to secession and full
independence, as happened in Iraqi Kurdistan," Mahmud Khamo, member
of the Syrian National Council, says.
According to Khamo there are fighters active among the Kurds who
underwent training in Iraqi camps for the training of the peshmerga
(semi-guerrilla formations of Kurdish separatists), as well as
activists of the Workers Party of Kurdistan (PKK).
True, they will hardly be able to establish themselves along the
Syrian-Turkish border; Ankara will not permit the unification of the
Kurds living in Turkey with their Syrian fellow tribespeople. As far
as obtaining full autonomy is concerned, not only the Bashar al-Asad
regime but also the Syrian opposition is against this.
"In Syria the Kurds are about 10-15 per cent, that is not enough for
secession," Khamo suggests. "In the northeast of the country there are
also Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, and Chaldeans, and the Kurds do not
form a majority, although they are the most active in political terms."
If a referendum on secession from Syria was held they would not be
supported, according to the Syrian National Council member. Nor will
it happen by force; the Free Syrian Army, which is fighting against
the al-Asad regime, will not permit separation.
[Translated from Russian]
by Konstantin Volkov
Izvestiya
July 25 2012
Russia
Syria's Kurds have begun an organized advance in the northeast of
the country, occupying cities left without government control. The
aim is the creation of an autonomous formation along the lines of
the one that exists in northern Iraq.
"The central authorities are currently leaving cities in the territory
traditionally inhabited by Kurds," Radwan Ali Badini, an activist of
the Kurdish Liberation Movement, told Izvestiya. "And we are helping
these population centres to create a new administration."
According to Badini everything is happening peacefully and there are
no clashes with the armed opposition or with the regular army.
Furthermore the Kurds, who live along the whole length of the
Syrian-Turkish border, regard themselves as something along the lines
of a border guard.
"To some extent Damascus has an interest in our presence along the
border line, otherwise Ankara might get the idea of taking advantage
of the unrest to enter Syria," Badini explains.
The Kurdish movement gained strength in the 1950s when its demands
were finally formalized as follows: the granting of broad autonomy,
equal rights with the main population of Syria, education in the
national language, and the right to self-determination within the
country. Over the past year some of the demands have been met. In
particular, Damascus granted Syrian citizenship to some of the Kurds
and promised them autonomy.
Nonetheless many of them still do not have the right to use their
own language in education or in business and also they cannot build
Kurdish schools or publish books in their native language.
That is why they are now continuing to insist on the continued
fulfilment of their demands, although they are also interested in
the resolution of the Syrian conflict by peaceful means.
At the same time, the influence of the new force is extending further
and further. The next objective is the city of Qamishli, centre of
Syria's oil industry.
"If we enter it, it will be by peaceful means," Badini says. "But
I wish to stress that the city now represents itself, there are
interruptions to the fuel supply, and it is difficult for the
residents, finding themselves in conditions of anarchy, to cope with
their problems themselves."
The emergence of a Kurdish autonomous formation is a very real
prospect, the activist believes. All the preconditions exist to assert
that this region will consent to nothing less. All the conditions
currently exist for us to obtain our rights without the use of force.
"Some of the Kurds really want democracy and the preservation of
Syria's integrity, while some are geared to secession and full
independence, as happened in Iraqi Kurdistan," Mahmud Khamo, member
of the Syrian National Council, says.
According to Khamo there are fighters active among the Kurds who
underwent training in Iraqi camps for the training of the peshmerga
(semi-guerrilla formations of Kurdish separatists), as well as
activists of the Workers Party of Kurdistan (PKK).
True, they will hardly be able to establish themselves along the
Syrian-Turkish border; Ankara will not permit the unification of the
Kurds living in Turkey with their Syrian fellow tribespeople. As far
as obtaining full autonomy is concerned, not only the Bashar al-Asad
regime but also the Syrian opposition is against this.
"In Syria the Kurds are about 10-15 per cent, that is not enough for
secession," Khamo suggests. "In the northeast of the country there are
also Arabs, Armenians, Assyrians, and Chaldeans, and the Kurds do not
form a majority, although they are the most active in political terms."
If a referendum on secession from Syria was held they would not be
supported, according to the Syrian National Council member. Nor will
it happen by force; the Free Syrian Army, which is fighting against
the al-Asad regime, will not permit separation.
[Translated from Russian]