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Dossier was Made Available by the KNC to The Citizen
WEST KURDISTAN: The current attack by ISIS started on 15 September 2014 against Kobanê-Canton in West Kurdistan (Syria) is in cooperation with Turkish state.
The release of 49 members of the Turkish consular staff came about as a result of this support for ISIS. The hostages were released in particular due to Turkish collaboration with ISIS in its latest assault on Kobanê. Kurds are engaged in a legitimate war of self-defense to put an end to this dirty war against humanity. They are fighting with limited arms and military technology and only have their willpower and the support of the people. The tragedy is that Kurds have been left alone in this war which threatens all of humanity. Despite this the Kurds are resolute in resisting.
For the past two years Syria’s Kurdish region (Northern Syria), known as Rojava Kurdistan (Western Kurdistan), has been defended by the YPG/YPJ – the People’s Protection Units, formed by men and women. They have been under attack by both regime forces and radical Islamists and jihadists. At first ISIS, Al-Nusra, Ahrar Sham and other radical groups were fighting jointly. Since ISIS’s growth at the expense of the other groups, it alone has been carrying out the attacks during the past 16 months.
In January this year, the Rojava Kurds established local administrations in the form of three cantons. In addition to Kurds, there are also Arabs, Assyrians, Armenians and Turkmens. Amongst these groups there are diverse faiths including Muslims, Christians, Yezidis and Alevis. All these different groups take part in the administration.
One of the three cantons formed is Kobani. The Turkish border is to the north of Kobanê and all the other sides are surrounded by ISIS-controlled territories. ISIS’s attacks and blockade of Kobanê has been ongoing for the past 16 months. For the past months ISIS has cut the water and electricity supplies to Kobanê. At the same time, Turkey is applying an embargo against the whole of Rojava.
In contrast, Turkey’s border crossings to ISIS territories are all open as usual, thus supporting ISIS. Since the beginning, the forces attacking Rojava have been organised, armed and sent into Rojava by Turkey. This support continues.
For the past two years Syria’s Kurdish region (Northern Syria), known as Rojava Kurdistan (Western Kurdistan), has been defended by the YPG/YPJ – the People’s Protection Units, formed by men and women. They have been under attack by both regime forces and radical Islamists and jihadists. At first ISIS, Al-Nusra, Ahrar Sham and other radical groups were fighting jointly. Since ISIS’s growth at the expense of the other groups, it alone has been carrying out the attacks during the past 16 months.
In January this year, the Rojava Kurds established local administrations in the form of three cantons. In addition to Kurds, there are also Arabs, Assyrians, Armenians and Turkmens. Amongst these groups there are diverse faiths including Muslims, Christians, Yezidis and Alevis. All these different groups take part in the administration.
One of the three cantons formed is Kobani. The Turkish border is to the north of Kobanê and all the other sides are surrounded by ISIS-controlled territories. ISIS’s attacks and blockade of Kobanê has been ongoing for the past 16 months. For the past months ISIS has cut the water and electricity supplies to Kobanê. At the same time, Turkey is applying an embargo against the whole of Rojava.
In contrast, Turkey’s border crossings to ISIS territories are all open as usual, thus supporting ISIS. Since the beginning, the forces attacking Rojava have been organised, armed and sent into Rojava by Turkey. This support continues.
These actions are urgently needed:
• The canton administrations in Syria should be recognized in the same way as the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq. The resistance of the YPG/YPJ should be supported.
• The measures taken in Iraq against ISIS should also be implemented in Syria.
• Urgent humanitarian aid should be given to the people who are fleeing from ISIS atrocities.
If such preventive measures are not implemented now, then a humanitarian disaster is imminent.
Kobanê-Canton Co-President: No one should expect us to surrender
The resistance of YPG and YPJ forces against ISIS gang attacks with tanks and artillery in the Kobanê Canton is continuing.
Kobanê Canton Co-President Enver Muslim said the intention of the gangs is to carry out a second Sinjar massacre in Kobanê, adding: "No one should expect us to surrender or abandon our land. We will resist to the last drop of our blood. The gangs will not be able to enter Kobanê. If necessary, we will drown them in our blood."
The situation in Kobanê canton is similar to what happened in Sinjar. Old people and children are crying for those they left behind and a pregnant woman and a 90-year-old react angrily to ISIS, saying: "The Kurds have no friends left. They want us all to die."
The KCK (Kurdistan Communities Union) Executive Council Co-Presidency has issued an appeal calling on the people of Kurdistan, to joining the Kobanê resistance and the struggle against ISIS. The KCK statement noted that the resistance of the people of Kobanê had encouraged democratic struggle everywhere, adding: "tens of thousands of youths must join the resistance and respond to ISIS fascism."
The KCK statement continued: "However much they deny it, there is no doubt that one of the powers behind ISIS is Turkey. The Turkish state is using ISIS to attack the Rojava revolution and all Kurdish people. This is how it is carrying out its dirty war against the Kurdish freedom struggle. The AKP government is endeavoring to overcome its isolation in the region through ISIS. The world's media has documented this relationship. The release of 49 members of the Turkish consular staff came about as a result of this support for ISIS. The hostages were released in particular due to Turkish collaboration with ISIS in its latest assault on Kobanê."
The KCK statement emphasised the hypocrisy of Turkish policy, saying: "On the one hand it is using ISIS to attack the Kurdish people, and on the other it is making propaganda about how it is welcoming those who come to its border. This will go down in history as a blatant example of hypocrisy. One of Turkey's aims is to empty Kobanê of Kurds, thereby breaking the positive effect of the Rojava
The YPG reported three heavy rockets fired into Kobanê in the latest round of fighting, turning fear among residents into outright panic.
The Syrian Kurds have remained isolated in their war with IS, as global efforts galvanize against the jihadist in Iraq. The US has been conducting air strikes against IS positions in Iraq since last month, with France saying Thursday it will also step into the air campaign.
Murat Karayilan, a senior PKK leader warned of a humanitarian disaster and the threat of massacre by the IS, comparing what could happen in Kobanê to the IS assault on Shingal in Iraqi Kurdistan, where hundreds of Yezidi men were murdered and countless women were taken as war prize by IS.
"Action must be taken immediately to prevent such a disaster. Everyone must do what they can," he declared.Karayilan slammed Turkish silence over events in Rojava, accusing Ankara of tacit support of the jihadis.
Karayilan said that by closing its border to the Syrian Kurds, Turkey was assisting the IS. He accused Ankara of "complicity" in the siege of Kobanê.
On the 15 September 2014 the ISIS launched a major multi-front military campaign against the Kurdish region of Kobanê (Arabic: Ayn Al-Arab) in northern Syria. Since mid-September the Kobanê region has been under constant shelling and artillery fire from the advanced weapons the IS acquired in Mosul, Iraq. IS has used tanks, grad rockets, mortars and heavy artillery in indiscriminate attacks on the civilian population in Kobanê. The initial shelling of the villages surrounding Kobanê forced the civilian population to flee their homes. The defence forces of Kobanê, the YPG (People’s Defence Forces) evacuated fleeing civilians from dozens of villages via safe passageways to the city.
According to official reports at least 50,000 people crossed the Syrian-Turkish border within 24 hours between 19-20 September 2014. The critical humanitarian situation at the border has alarmed the United Nations. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon urgently called for an immediate end to the ISISoffensive, and warned for the increasing number of displaced civilians.
Kobanê is an enclave in northeast Aleppo governorate with a population of approximately 500,000, including IDPs. It has been under Kurdish control since 2012 when it was liberated from Syrian government forces, and is now one of the three self-governing administrations that declared autonomy in January 2014.
Kobanê is surrounded by ISIS-controlled territory and the recent attacks engage thousands of ISISfighters from Jarablus, Tal Abyad and Raqqah, in an attempt to fully seize the enclave. Heavy clashes continue between the YPG forces and IS fighters on numerous front lines 10-20km south, west and east of Kobanê city. The YPG is militarily disadvantaged compared to ISIS’s advanced and sophisticated weaponry, including US manufactured heavy artillery and tanks. Completely isolated from other Kurdish regions, due to the siege by IS, the only remaining escape route is the Turkish border north of Kobanê.
In face of this existential threat by ISIS, the population of Kobanê has collectively mobilized to protect their homes. The YPG has issued several ‘call to arms’ and vowed to defend the region to the end, by all means. They have received reinforcements from all parts of Kurdistan, where fighters and volunteers have joined in the battle for Kobanê.
More than fifty thousands of civilians are reported to have fled to safer areas while the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) are fighting back the ISIS attack on many fronts.
As a result, IS sees all Kurds in Kobanê as potential enemies and infidels, constituting legitimate targets. This has raised serious threats of massacres, rape, forced displacement, and ethnic cleansing, similar to scenes witnessed in Sinjar against the Yazidis in August 2014.
