Rojava/ Kurdish Regions Newswire

[Sentinel]

Heavy shelling of the city of Jarablus by the YPG reported. Should this be a prelude to a ground assault, it could have major consequences.

Jarablus is the last major city controlled by the Daesh along the border and is part of the 'buffer zone' Turkey wants to create in order to isolate Afrin canton from the rest of Rojava.

http://waarmedia.com/english/ypg-lau...-in-jarabulus/

[ChangeAndChance]

Heavy shelling of the city of Jarablus by the YPG reported. Should this be a prelude to a ground assault, it could have major consequences.

Jarablus is the last major city controlled by the Daesh along the border and is part of the 'buffer zone' Turkey wants to create in order to isolate Afrin canton from the rest of Rojava.

http://waarmedia.com/english/ypg-lau...-in-jarabulus/

Interesting, I was wondering when/if they were going to open up a western front in addition to the southern push to Raqqah. A potential bid to finally unite all three cantons together? Tricky considering the high anti-ISIS Islamist/rebel collaboration occurring in the gulf between.

[Sasha]

Al-nusra cedind all their frontline positions against Daesh near the Turkish border and retreats from the area ahead of the planned bufferzone, their statement seems rather strongworded against the Turkish plans, maybe they just downt want to lose anymore fighters deserting to Daesh but maybe relations with the Turks are really souring, http://waarmedia.com/english/nusra-f...ne-against-is/

[Sentinel]

It would seem like Turkeys 'Operation Buffer Zone' has been initiated. From Save Kobane 30 minutes ago:

The first step of the occupation plan: Turkish proxies enter Syria.*

Occupying forces organized by MİT (Turkish intelligence service) and affiliated to the Turkish state have entered the Azaz city today afternoon. The Turkish proxy forces, Turkmen FSA groups Sultan Selim and Fatih Sultan Mehmet entered Syria from Bab al Salam border crossing. The convoy was heading towards the villages of Kefferan and Delhan in buses covered with Turkish flags and banners of both brigades, and in vehicles armed with heavy weapons.

[Sasha]

so at the minimum al-nusra where informed of the timing and given the choice to leave or come under turkish proxy control. if they would have its probable most of their fighters would have deserted to Daesh. so they decided to concede their positions and retreat further down in syria.

so now the intresting bit is going to be if, when and how the turkish proxy forces enter Daesh held area's. We know that the YPG will probably rather fight than give one inch of their territory to the Turks but how Daesh wil react, put up a serious fight or just bugger up and leave, will give the final answer on how relations are on this moment between Daesh and the MIT.

[Sasha]

also i'm curious whether any other rebel faction besides the Turkmen groups will actually want to set up camp in the turkish bufferzone. If non-turkmen islamist or FSA groups accept the no-fly zone as a safe heaven it could be a important point of opperations, if not it would only be a keep the kurds at bay ploy and huge open air refugee camp the kurds can deport their current refugees to.

[Marinaleda]

before they used ıraq turkmen front and now trying to create an area against rojava revolution.in tel abyad (gre spi) kurds,arabs,turkmens and other nations created peoples assembly to develop self goverment and self defence structure.But in jerablus and the west part of country,turkmens brigades are fighitng with FSA.Turkiey trying to create a "gang army" against syrian people.

[Sasha]

Nice article in the Guardian on the atmosphere on the kurdish streets; http://www.theguardian.com/world/201...P=share_btn_tw

[Sasha]

Video tại vimeo.com - Đăng tại www.KyXaoViet.Com

[Sentinel]

Reports are today floating around about a declaration of autonomy by a peoples assembly in the kurdish-inhabited province of Sirnak, which borders kurdish-held areas in both Iraq and Syria. I have only seen it on smaller and alternative news sources though, such as Revolution News.

A confirmation of these news would be welcome.

Talk of autonomy as a reaction to Turkey’s aggressive handling of Kurdish policies has long been heard. Every now and then some newspapers would appear with the headlights of a possible autonomy-declaration. On the morning of August 11th, Cumhuriyet Daily has published a piece of news which states that the Şırnak People’s Assembly of the Kurdish city of Şırnak has declared autonomy in Turkey, with a manifestation of the Democratic Regions Party. The declaration states the reason of autonomy as the loss of legitimacy of state institutions in the city in the eyes of the population. Previously, several other guerrilla groups had claimed autonomy of the province several times.

The statement reads as follows:

“AKP’s government has declared war on Kurdistan upon the Suruç bombing. Most recently there has been a mass-killing attempt in Silopi that ended with the massacre of 3 of our people. Upon this massacre we, the Şırnak People’s Assembly, do not completely disregard the state but must clarify that we can not possibly continue with the state institutions as such, thus say it once again that the all state institutions in the city have lost legitimacy. No appointed governor shall rule us in this way. From now on, we will take hold of the principle of self-governance, build up our lives in democratic basis. Moreover, from now on, facing any attacks, we will be reverting to self-defense mechanisms. We will be governing ourselves from now, not let anyone rule over us.”

http://revolution-news.com/sirnak-autonomy-in-turkey

[Sentinel]

According to Rudaw, Mark Toner of the US state department has declared the US will not allow Turkey to attack PYD forces in the Buffer zone. PKK however can be attacked, as per the agreement between Turkey and the US.

Probably remains to be seen if the turkish pilots will be 'able' to 'see the difference'..

http://rudaw.net/NewsDetails.aspx?pageid=150777

[Sasha]

According to Rudaw, Mark Toner of the US state department has declared the US will not allow Turkey to attack PYD forces in the Buffer zone. PKK however can be attacked, as per the agreement between Turkey and the US.

Probably remains to be seen if the turkish pilots will be 'able' to 'see the difference'..

http://rudaw.net/NewsDetails.aspx?pageid=150777

Yeah, that will probably come down to "how do you recognize a PKK fighter?" "by being a dead Kurd"

[SocialRepublican]

Reports are today floating around about a declaration of autonomy by a peoples assembly in the kurdish-inhabited province of Sirnak, which borders kurdish-held areas in both Iraq and Syria. I have only seen it on smaller and alternative news sources though, such as Revolution News.

A confirmation of these news would be welcome.



http://revolution-news.com/sirnak-autonomy-in-turkey

Saw this on Firat the other day

http://en.firatajans.com/kurdistan/w...ize-this-state

[Sasha]

amnesty report on one of the targets of turkish bombings, no miltary target in surroundings, none of the victims where PKK; https://www.amnesty.nl/nieuwsportaal...turkish-airstr

[Sentinel]

According to Business Insider there is at least some tension with the US over Turkeys priorities..

Senior US military official: Turkey 'needed a hook' and tricked us on ISIS

A senior US official has accused Turkey of pulling a bait-and-switch by using a recent anti-Islamic State agreement with the US as a "hook" to attack the Kurdish PKK in northern Iraq, The Wall Street Journal reports.

"It's clear that ISIL was a hook," the senior military official told The Journal, referring to the Islamic State (aka ISIS, ISIL, or Daesh).

"Turkey wanted to move against the PKK, but it needed a hook."

On Tuesday, an American military source told Fox News that US military leaders were "outraged" when Turkey began its bombing campaign, giving US special forces stationed in northern Iraq virtually no warning before Turkish jets started striking the mountains.

"A Turkish officer entered the allied headquarters in the air war against ISIS and announced that the strike would begin in 10 minutes and he needed all allied jets flying above Iraq to move south of Mosul immediately," the source said. "We were outraged."

The confrontation highlights the tension growing between the US and Turkey, which became a reluctant ally in the fight against ISIS after years of turning a blind eye to the militants' illicit activity on its southern border during the Syrian civil war.

[...]

But Turkey has conducted 300 strikes against the PKK and three against ISIS since July 24, according to data compiled by IRIN news. All three ISIS strikes occurred on the first day of the campaign.

http://uk.businessinsider.com/us-and...15-8?r=US&IR=T

[Sasha]

Reports are today floating around about a declaration of autonomy by a peoples assembly in the kurdish-inhabited province of Sirnak, which borders kurdish-held areas in both Iraq and Syria. I have only seen it on smaller and alternative news sources though, such as Revolution News.

A confirmation of these news would be welcome.



http://revolution-news.com/sirnak-autonomy-in-turkey

Also in Bulanik;

http://anfenglish.com/kurdistan/self...red-in-bulanik

lf-governance declared in Bulanık

People’s Assembly and representatives of political parties and institutions declared self-governance in Bulanık district of Muş.

Friday, August 14, 2015 at 10:45 AM
MUŞ - ANF

People’s Assembly and representatives of political parties and institutions declared self-governance in Bulanık district of Muş.

HDP, DBP, Neighborhood Assemblies, and MEYADER administrators as well as district co-mayors declared self-governance in a public meeting in front of the DBP District building.

DBP Co-President Zeynep Topcu spoke on behalf of the crowd and said that they no longer saw legitimacy in state institutions run by administrators appointed by AKP.

'WE WILL NOT TAKE ORDERS FROM AKP'

Topcu stated that the City Council decided to implement self-governance as a stance against the destructive regime that is targeting civilians, and that they would not accept the authoritarianism of the state and the illegitimate AKP. Topcu said that they did not have to accept everything that is enforced from Ankara upon the people, and did not want to be governed by city and district governors appointed by the state. As Kurdish people, Topcu said that they wanted to be governed by administrations that they elect through democratic and legitimate means, and therefore would like to govern themselves through self-governance. Topcu noted that the monist nation state mentality of the 20th century did not satisfy people’s demands, and the developments of the last one and a half month summarized the historical period of the previous 100 years.

Topcu emphasized that the illegitimate AKP government declared an all-out war and threatened an entire society to pay heavy prices because of their decision to adopt democratic self-governance. Topcu noted that the recent arrests of thousands of people, street executions, village burnings and evacuations, forest burnings, and torture of dead bodies were clear indications of what the monist mentality was planning to do with its all-out war.

'WE WILL GOVERN OURSELVES FROM NOW ON'

The Democratic City Council stated that the army, the police and the constitution ignore differences and aim to dissolve them at the same time, and that the council would no longer see this regime and its institutions as legitimate. The council declared that they would govern themselves from now on against the illegitimate regime that is carrying an all-out war.

[Sentinel]

Maps depicting the expansion of the territory of Rojava (yellow in the lower maps) since early 2014, excluding the developments during the siege of Kobane between September 2014 and January 2015:



Map showing de facto cantons held by PYD forces in February 2014



Map of the territory changes during the YPG-led Northern Syria offensive (2015)

[Sasha]

so whats in that upper right corner that is still held by the Assad regime that is so important to hang onto even now there is no Daesh near anymore? anyone knows?

[Sentinel]

so whats in that upper right corner that is still held by the Assad regime that is so important to hang onto even now there is no Daesh near anymore? anyone knows?

It seems their strategy generally is to hold onto the major cities in the lost provinces, while giving up the countryside and smaller towns. In the Cizire canton (Hasakah province) they thus kept control of parts of Hasakah and Qamishlo, the former of which Daesh conquered almost completely, and were then subsequently kicked out from by the YPG themselves. As a result Assad only retains small parts of it.

Qamishlo is the de jure capital of Rojava, but I've read that as it is largely Assad-controlled, Amuda serves as the de facto capital in many ways. Assads troops are similarly holding on to parts of the city of Deir ez-Zor further south, where they are completely encircled by Daesh, and other places around Syria. I assume these are/were mean to be 'bridgeheads' once they reconquer the lost areas.

[The Feral Underclass]

Assad's strategy seems to be retreat to and defend strategically important areas, such as the coastline and major cities, and attempt to regroup. There have been a lot of articles recently about the Regime's seeming acceptance at the possibility of the country's partition. One of the bigger problems the Regime is facing is mass-desertion. I think they basically just don't have the man-power to actually wage any sort of legitimate offensive to recapture large swathes of the country. So long as they control the 'important' bits, then I think it's a question of partitioning the country and then just waiting to see what happens. Seems like a sensible strategy to be honest.