[The statement and the following news report, reproduced below, bring out the criticality of the Kobane resistance against the advancing ISIS in the overall struggle, the tension-ridden solidarity between different factions fighting the ISIS and the Assad regime, the utterly villainous role played by the Turkish regime, and the limits of effectiveness of airstrikes in the current situation.]
I/II. http://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/2014/10/12/kobani-the-kurdish-issue-and-the-syrian-revolution-a-common-destiny/ Posted on October 12, 2014 <http://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/2014/10/12/kobani-the-kurdish-issue-and-the-syrian-revolution-a-common-destiny/> Kobani, the Kurdish issue and the Syrian revolution, a common destiny The city of Kobani, which is in its far majority inhabited by Kurdish people, in Syria has been under direct threat for several weeks of the Islamic State (IS). Since the beginning of the offensive of the IS on September 16 2014, more than 550 people died, including 298 militants of the IS, 236 Kurdish fighters and around twenty civilians. More than 12 000 civilians still remain in some sections of the city of Kobani, while the offensive of the IS on Kobani and its surrounding villages has led to the forced displacement of about 200,000 people. The city would actually have fallen long ago if it was not for the resistance organized by the Kurdish Democratic Union Party (YPD which is linked to the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party), and its military forces, units of protection people (YPG), and also the active participation of at least three battalions of Arab fighters in the city: the revolutionary battalion of Al Raqqa, the battalion of " the northern Sun" and the battalion of "Jirablis". On October 4 the Free Syrian Army (FSA) had also decided to send a thousand fighters to defend Kobani. The city Kobani has a strategic location for the IS. First the city lies between the cities of Cerablus and Tell Abyad, which are both under the occupation of the IS, and its capture would allow a territorial continuity for the IS, and secondly the city is also a gateway to Turkey. *Kobani, a key city in the Rojava autonomous regions* The city of Kobani is the third Kurdish city of Syria and was the first Kurdish city to be liberated from the Assad regime in July 19, 2012. Kobani is also the center of one of the three cantons (with Afrin and Cizre) that established themselves in"democratic autonomous regions" from a confederation of "Kurds, Arabs, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Turkmen, Armenian and Chechen" as stated in the Preamble of the Rojava's (name of western or Syrian Kurdistan) Charter. Experiences of self-administrations in these regions are very interesting, particularly regarding the rights of women and religious and ethnic minorities. Some contradictions nevertheless exist, especially regarding the authoritarianism of the PYD forces that have not hesitated to repress activists or to close institutions towards them. We should not forget that the PYD, like its mother organization the PKK, lacks democratic credentials in is internal functioning and in regards to other organisations considered as rivals or just as we have seen critical of it. We must remember for example the protest movements in late June 2013 in some cities of Rojava, such as Amouda and Derabissyat, against the repression and arrests by the PYD forces of Kurdish revolutionary activists (1). The PYD is however far from being the only organization in this case in Syria, and within the Syrian opposition. That does not stop us from providing a full support to the Kurdish national liberation movement in its struggle for self-determination in Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran against authoritarian regimes that oppress them and / or prevent them from achieving their self-determination. It is also why we should demand for the removal of the PKK of all lists of terrorist organizations in Europe and elsewhere. We can indeed criticize the leadership of the PKK or the PYD for some of their policies, but as argued before, a fundamental principle of revolutionaries is that we first need to support all forms of liberation and emancipation struggle unconditionally, before we are entitled to criticize the way they are led. *The coalition and Turkey or the struggle against the Kurds* The bombings of the international coalition led by the USA and with the collaboration of the reactionary monarchies of the Gulf have failed to stop the offensive of the IS since September 23. At that period the IS was at 60 km of Kobani... today the IS has entered and occupied several districts of the city. The IS has also destroyed several houses and administrative buildings. This military intervention shows once more that it is not designed to help the local populations in their struggle for freedom and dignity, but serve the objectives of Western imperialists, with the agreement of Russian imperialism, and of all the regional sub imperialists, participating directly (Saudi Arabia and Qatar) or indirectly (Turkey), or not opposing it like Iran. All these actors want to put an end to the revolutionary processes in the region and restore its stability with authoritarian regimes that serve their interests and not those of the popular masses of the region. For its part the Turkish government of the Justice and Development Party (known as AKP) has once again demonstrated its opposition to any project of Kurdish self-determination that would challenge its political interests. The Turkish government has also accused the PKK of being terrorists similar to the IS. The Turkish government, through these accusations, wants to harm the Kurdish organisations operating on its territory or at its periphery, or at least co-opt some of them. The main objective of the Turkish government is actually to prevent the establishment of a Kurdish autonomous zone along its border with Syria. This is why the government in Ankara has made the creation of a buffer zone in Syria one of its main demands to the coalition and the international community, and not as the Erdogan government claimed to protect the areas held by the Free Syrian Army, which are now fighting alongside Kurdish forces against the IS. In the same context, the Turkish government has also prevented and continues to prevent fighters from the PYD to cross the border to join the city of Kobani to help the their Kurdish comrades in their fight against the IS. The Turkish authorities imposed a curfew for the first time since 1992 in six provinces the country populated mostly by Kurds after large demonstrations by members of the Kurdish community against the government's policy of not wanting to help the city of Kobani and of refusing the crossing of Kurdish fighters to Syria. After four days of rioting, the Interior Minister Efkan Ala presented a very heavy first official report which reported 31 dead and 360 injured, over a thousand arrests and impressive damage, mainly in the southeast Kurdish majority in the country. The victims, injured and arrested were in their far majority Kurds. The leader of the PYD, Salih Muslim, urged Turkey to let the crossing of fighters and weapons for Kobani, while adamantly opposing he intervention of the Turkish army in the city, which according to him would be similar to an "occupation ". On its side, the imprisoned leader of the PKK Abdullah Öcalan also warned that the fall of Kobani would mean the end of all peace efforts that have been going on for the past two years between Turkey and the PKK. As a reminder there are still more than 8,000 Kurdish political prisoners in Turkish jails accused of terrorism. *Kobani and the Syrian revolution* The fall of the city of Kobani and its occupation by the IS would represent a double defeat: for the self-determination of the Kurdish People and for the Syrian Revolution. The autonomous self-administration of Rojava is a direct and positive result of the Syrian revolution and would never have been allowed or able to exist without the popular and massive movement from below of the Syrian People (Arabs, Kurds and Assyrian together) against the criminal and authoritarian Assad regime. These same popular forces also united against the Islamic reactionary forces that attacked in the past and continue to attack nowadays the Rojava regions. Today the FSA and the Kurdish forces are fighting side by side against the IS in Kobani, while we have also seen demonstrations of support in other liberated areas of Syria in solidarity with Kobani. The revolution from below of the popular masses of Syria, Arab and Kurds, is the only solution against sectarianism, racism and national chauvinism. The self-determination of the Kurdish people has been strengthened by the Syrian revolution and this has to continue. It is a dialectical relationship and both are linked. A defeat of the Syrian revolutionary process and of its objectives would mark most probably the end of the Rojava autonomous regions' experience and of the hopes of the Kurdish people to decide their own future in the face of the opposition of multiple actors : Western and Russian imperialisms, Arab and Turkish nationalist chauvinisms and Islamic reactionary forces. On the other side the Syrian revolutionary process would not be complete without the possibility of the Kurdish people to decide freely of their own future: separation or participation in a Democratic, Social and Secular Syria with its national rights guaranteed. This is why we have to oppose all the attempts to undermine both the Kurdish self-determination and the Syrian revolutionary process because their destinies are linked, whether from the Assad regime, the Islamic reactionary forces, the various imperialisms (USA and Russia) and sub Imperialisms (Iran, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar). All the counter revolutionary forms must be opposed because they want to divide the popular classes through sectarianism and racisms. Viva the Syrian Revolution Viva the self-determination of the Kurdish People Viva the brotherhood of the people in struggle for Liberation and Emancipation People in struggle are one! Joseph Daher 1) see http://syriafreedomforever.wordpress.com/2013/06/23/statement-by-the-kurdish-youth-movement-tck-about-the-latest-events-in-the-city-of-amouda-and-videos-and-pictures-from-the-protests-and-sit-ins/ ). II. http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/10/12/mideast-crisis-idINKCN0I00J520141012 Kurds urge more air strikes in Kobani; monitor warns of defeat By Ayla Jean Yackley and Tom Perry MURSITPINAR Turkey/BEIRUT Sun Oct 12, 2014 8:36am IST 1 of 4. Smoke rises after an U.S.-led air strike in the Syrian town of Kobani Ocotber 10, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Umit Bektas (Reuters) - Kurdish forces defending Kobani urged a U.S.-led coalition to escalate air strikes on Islamic State fighters who tightened their grip on the Syrian town at the border with Turkey on Saturday. A group that monitors the Syrian civil war said the Kurdish forces faced inevitable defeat in Kobani if Turkey did not open its border to let through arms, something Ankara has appeared reluctant to do. The U.S.-led coalition escalated air strikes on Islamic State in and around Kobani, also known as Ayn al-Arab, some four days ago. The main Kurdish armed group, the YPG, said in a statement the air strikes had inflicted heavy losses on Islamic State, but had been less effective in the last two days. A Kurdish military official, speaking to Reuters from Kobani, said street fighting was making it harder for the warplanes to target Islamic State positions. "We have a problem, which is the war between houses," said Esmat Al-Sheikh, head of the Kobani defence council. "The air strikes are benefiting us, but Islamic State is bringing tanks and artillery from the east. We didn't see them with tanks, but yesterday we saw T-57 tanks," he added. While Islamic State has been able to reinforce its fighters, the Kurds have not. Islamic State has besieged the town to the east, south and west, meaning the Kurds' only possible supply route is the Turkish border to the north. The U.N. envoy to Syria on Friday called on Turkey to help prevent a slaughter in Kobani, asking it to let "volunteers" cross the frontier to reinforce Kurdish forces defending the town that lies within sight of Turkish territory. Turkey has yet to respond to the remarks by Staffan de Mistura, who said he feared a repeat of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre in Bosnia. Kurdish leaders in Syria have asked Ankara to establish a corridor through Turkey to allow aid and military supplies to reach Kobani. A senior Kurdish militant has threatened Turkey with a new Kurdish revolt if it sticks with its current policy of non-intervention in the battle for Kobani. Islamic State "is getting supplies and men, while Turkey is preventing Kobani from getting ammunition. Even with the resistance, if things stay like this, the Kurdish forces will be like a car without fuel," said Rami Abdelrahman, who runs the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict in Syria through sources on the ground. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Saturday that retired General John Allen, a U.S. envoy charged with building an international coalition against Islamic State, had just returned to Washington and reported progress. "There was considerable progress made by General Allen specifically with Turkey," Hagel told a news conference in Santiago. He said U.S. military teams would hold talks in Turkey next week. "They'll be spending a good deal (of time) next week with Turkey's general staff and appropriate leaders going through the specifics of Turkey's commitments to help the coalition specifically to train and equip areas of their contribution," he added. PLUMES OF SMOKE Turkey has been reluctant to help the Kurds defending Kobani, one of three areas of northern Syria where Kurds have established self-rule since the Syrian civil war began in 2011. The main Syrian Kurdish group has close ties to the PKK, which waged a militant campaign for Kurdish rights in Turkey and is listed as a terrorist group by Turkey and its Western allies. Tall plumes of smoke were seen rising from Kobani on Saturday and the sound of gunfire was close to constant as battles raged into the afternoon, a Reuters journalist observing from the Turkish side of the frontier said. After sunset, the sounds of gunfire and shelling continued. Red tracer gunfire lit the sky in the eastern sector of the town, much of which has fallen to Islamic State. Battles also raged at the southern and western edges of the town. A Kurdish military official in the Syrian city of Qamishli, another area under Kurdish control, said thousands of fighters stood ready to go to Kobani were Turkey to open a corridor. But Ghaliya Naamat, the official, said the fighters in Kobani needed better weaponry. "Medium-range weapons is what is lacking," she told Reuters by telephone. "According to the news and the information in Kobani, there is no shortage in numbers. The shortage is in ammunition." If U.S.-led air strikes fail to stop Islamic State militants from overrunning Kobani, it would be a setback for U.S. President Barack Obama's three-week-old air campaign against Islamic State in Syria. The campaign is part of a U.S. strategy to degrade and destroy the group that has seized large areas of Syria and Iraq, threatening to redraw borders of the Middle East according to its ultra-strict vision of Islam. U.S. officials have acknowledged that it is possible Islamic State could seize full control of the town in coming days. If that happens, the group could boast that it withstood American air power. The U.S.-led coalition has launched 50 strikes against militant positions around the town. Hagel, in Santiago as part of a Latin America tour and a summit of Defense Ministers of the Americas in Peru next week, said U.S. air strikes were aimed at driving back Islamic State fighters from Kobani. "We know ISIL is occupying part of the outskirts of Kobani. It is a dangerous situation and we recognise that," Hagel told the news conference in Santiago. "We are doing what we can do through our air strikes to help drive back ISIL. In fact there has been some progress made in that area. It is a very difficult problem," he added. The U.S. military conducted six air strikes against Islamic State militants near Kobani on Friday and Saturday, U.S. Central Command said. "WE NEED SOMETHING EFFECTIVE" While much of Kobani's population has fled, 500-700 mostly elderly people remained, with 10,000-13,000 nearby in a border area between Syria and Turkey, U.N. envoy De Mistura said. The Observatory said no fewer than 226 Kurdish fighters and 298 Islamic State militants had been killed since the group launched its Kobani offensive in mid-September. It said the overall death toll including civilians was probably much higher. Islamic State views the Kurdish YPG and its supporters as apostates due to their secular ideology. Idris Nassan, deputy foreign minister of Kobani district, told Reuters by telephone that air strikes had helped Kurdish fighters regain some territory in the south of the city but they were not enough. "A few days ago, ISIS attacked with a Humvee vehicle, they use mortars, cannons, tanks. We don't need just Kalashnikovs and bullets. We need something effective since they captured many tanks and military vehicles in Iraq," he said, calling for outside powers to send weapons. "The supply of fighters is very good for YPG," he added. "But fighters coming without arms, without weaponry is not going to make a critical difference." The Kobani crisis has sparked deadly violence in Turkey. The country's Kurdish population numbers 15 million, and Turkish Kurds have risen up since Tuesday against President Tayyip Erdogan's government, accusing it of allowing their kin to be slaughtered. At least 33 people have been killed in three days of riots across the mainly Kurdish southeast, including two police officers shot dead in an apparent attempt to assassinate a police chief. The police chief was wounded. (Additional reporting by Dasha Afanasieva in Istanbul and Anthony Esposito in Santiago; Writing by Tom Perry; Editing by Robin Pomeroy, Raissa Kasolowsky and Sandra Maler) -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
