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They may say they want autonomy (vs. an independent state) and maybe they really believe it. But the very logic of the situation will drive them further, especially considering that Kurdistan spans a whole series of countries. And it's similar regarding Assad: They may say they want a democratic Syria, but they have never participated in the movement against Assad, and I'm not talking about the Islamic fundamentalist movement. In fact, there are enough reports about their suppressing anti-Assad activists within the region that they control that it's not reasonable to just dismiss those reports. And if they think that if Assad does anything about the Turkish invasion more than just send the airforce, then they are being quite naive. And any wish that the Syrian national government being democratized as long as Assad or his clique remain in power is exactly that - a wish. And will never be anything more than that. It's like "keep hope alive". John Reimann On Sat, Jan 27, 2018 at 3:40 PM, Chris Slee <chris_w_s...@hotmail.com> wrote: > The PYD has always said its aim is not an independent Kurdish state, but > autonomy within a democratic Syria, with linguistic and cultural rights for > Kurds and other minorities. > > Thus when the Afrin administration says that Afrin is "part of Syria", > that is nothing new. > > The statement aims at exposing the Assad regime's failure to defend > Syria's "territorial integrity" against the Turkish invasion. If the > statement has the effect of prodding the regime into taking some action > against the invasion (e.g. threatening to shoot down Turkish military > aircraft entering Syrian airspace), that will help the defenders of Afrin. > In the (more likely) event that Assad continues to allow the invasion to go > unchallenged, it might lead to questioning of his credentials as a defender > of Syria. > > John Reimann claims that "the Kurdish leaders...accept that the central > Syrian government - meaning Assad - has final say about what is and is not > allowed in Afrin. And they all agree that a powerful anti-Assad movement > will be prohibited". > > In fact the Kurdish and other leaders of the Democratic Federation of > Northern Syria want the "central Syrian government" to be democratised so > that it is no longer the dictatorship of Assad. > > But the question is: what sort of movement is needed to bring democracy? > Being "anti-Assad" is not sufficient. Some "anti-Assad" groups are > religious sectarians and/or ethnic chauvinists. Some have been coopted > into Turkey's war on the DFNS. > > Democracy can only be created by a multi-ethnic and multi-religious > movement that can win the support of those Syrians - particularly the > religious minorities - who currently view Assad as the lesser evil. > > Chris Slee > > ________________________________ > From: Marxism <marxism-boun...@lists.csbs.utah.edu> on behalf of John > Reimann via Marxism <marxism@lists.csbs.utah.edu> > Sent: Sunday, 28 January 2018 2:06:52 AM > To: Chris Slee > Subject: Re: [Marxism] Fwd: In blow to Trump, Syrian Kurds call on > al-Assad to Save them from Turkey | Informed Comment > > ******************** POSTING RULES & NOTES ******************** > #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. > #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. > #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. > ***************************************************************** > > thank you, Chris Slee, for giving the complete statement from the Afrin > administration. One thing upon which we all agree, I think, is that the > Kurdish leaders are not stupid or ignorant when it comes to realpolitik. > They must know perfectly well that inviting Assad to intervene will not > stop there. They also must know perfectly well what all their stress on the > region being "part of Syria" and about "Syria's territorial integrity" > means. It means that in the end, despite all the silliness of > decentralization, they accept that the central Syrian government - meaning > Assad - has final say about what is and is not allowed in Afrin. And they > all agree that a powerful anti-Assad movement will be prohibited. > > Basically, they are trying to make a deal with Assad: "Let us administer > this region and we will insure that nothing is done to destabilize your > position. Meanwhile, we expect you to step in and protect us from Erdogan." > This shows the limits of their whole strategy. They want some form of > independence (yes, they do) within the limits of capitalism. They are > trying to build a Kurdish rights movement in isolation from all the other > movements around them such as the Arab Spring and what came of it, workers' > strikes in Turkey and Iran. Or put it another way: Just like all such > movements, they need allies. The question is whether they will seek allies > in the working class struggles of the region or from one capitalist regime > or another. Time and again they have sought the latter and time and again > they have been "betrayed". I put that in quotes, because when a lion chases > off a leopard in order to kill and feast on an antelope, that antelope > wasn't betrayed. It was simply a matter of which killer gets to reap the > spoils. > > John Reimann > > -- > "No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them." > Assata Shakur > Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook > _________________________________________________________ > Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm > Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/ > options/marxism/chris_w_slee%40hotmail.com > -- "No one is going to give you the education you need to overthrow them." Assata Shakur Check out:https:http://oaklandsocialist.com also on Facebook _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
