Rojava/ Kurdish Regions Newswire

[Sasha]

Split of the bulk of the discussion on the PKK, Daesh and imperialism in syria to a seperate thread here; http://www.revleft.com/vb/pkk-daesh-...496/index.html

[Sasha]

PKK officially ended their one sided cease fire this morning;
http://www.rferl.mobi/a/turkey-pkk-e.../27346963.html

[The Feral Underclass]

The Lions of Rojava page reported that the Iraqi Kurdish authorities are arresting and imprisoning foreign volunteers of the YPG when they return to their country of origins through Erbil.

There is an article about it a Canadian that was arrested among the volunteers: http://news.nationalpost.com/news/wo...-isil-in-syria

[The Feral Underclass]

Split of the bulk of the discussion on the PKK, Daesh and imperialism in syria to a seperate thread.

Where, I can't find it?

[Sasha]

sorry, i was on my phone, was meant to add it later when i got home, here it is; http://www.revleft.com/vb/pkk-daesh-...496/index.html

[John Nada]

Finally, they've launched the offensive to liberate Shengal.

YBŞ and guerrilla forces enter Shengal town centre

As the 'Operation to Liberate Shengal' continues successfully, HPG and YJA Star guerrillas alongside YBŞ and YPJ-Shengal forces, which are joining the offensive under Êzidxan Joint Command, have entered the town centre.

Thursday, November 12, 2015 1:30 PM SHENGAL - ANF

As the 'Operation to Liberate Shengal' continues successfully, HPG and YJA Star guerrillas alongside YBŞ and YPJ-Shengal forces, which are joining the offensive under Êzidxan Joint Command, have entered the town centre.

According to the reports coming through from the area, guerrillas deployed in the neighborhoods of Hayr Nasir, Berbi Roj and Sitî Zeynep in the town centre are engaged in heavy clashes with ISIS gangs. YBŞ and YPJ-Shengal units are also involved in the fighting.

There exist no further clear details regarding the fighting yet as a large part of ISIS gangs have started to flee the town centre, while the remaining groups are clashing with the forces joining the liberation offensive.

Forces affiliated to Êzidxan Joint Command, which have the control in the eastern part, have advanced through that direction and joined the encirclement of Shengal.

PESHMERGA FORCES AROUND SHENGAL

In the meantime, peshmerga forces affiliated to KDP remain around Shengal and have entered the Solak settlement in the east. Peshmergas also seized the cement plant in the eastern part of Shengal.

Source: http://www.anfenglish.com/kurdistan/...al-town-centre

Simultaneously, the YPG/YPJ and the Syrian Democratic Front are pressing onward with the Al-Hawl offensive, liberating dozens of villages: http://www.anfenglish.com/kurdistan/...-xatuniye-road This is close along a main road from Raqqa, to Shaddadah(oil producing area), to Mosul, as shown by this map: http://www.agathocledesyracuse.com/w...Q-12112015.jpg

[Sasha]

Dutch news is reporting that Shengal is liberated, funny how they only talk about the KDP pershmerga while it seem that is was actually the pkk affiliated guerrilla's who liberated the town while the pershmerga did the surrounding area's and provided the heavier artillery etc

[Sasha]

Some background on the PKK(HDG)/YDF vs KDP pollitics going on around this operation:

Background to assault…

Last year, after capturing villages one by one on the way to Sinjar, ISIS deployed troops heavily within 200 yards of Sinjar’s fringes. It pounded the fringes with mortar fire, and on Aug. 3, 2014, ISIS attacked the town’s centre. Thousands of people were killed and thousands more had to flee. When the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) withdrew its troops, the town was left defenseless. The People’s Protection Units (YPG) — the Syrian extension of the PKK — rushed to help.

Taking advantage of Sinjar’s proximity to the Syrian border, the YPG opened a corridor through ISIS lines and evacuated the Yezidis. Some units of the PKK hurried from their main base at the Qandil Mountains, and the Kurdish peshmerga sent its special forces. Kurdish groups overcame their initial shock and deployed around Sinjar. ISIS reacted with counterattacks against the Kurds, but did not succeed. Since then, Kurdish groups have launched attacks to recover the town, but could not recapture more than a few neighbourhoods, while the main part of the town stayed in ISIS hands. Even with the air support provided by the coalition air force, Sinjar couldn’t be liberated.

Kurdish forces were constantly making plans to fully secure the town. A decision was made to launch the operation on Nov. 3, but that was postponed. What was holding back the operation?

It became evident that the delays were caused by a disagreement between the PKK and the KRG. The KRG said it had deployed more than 10,000 peshmerga to the area and was demanding that the PKK leave the area. The PKK did not agree.

What was behind the PKK’s deep interest in Sinjar? Yezidis, because of their Kurdish roots and religious beliefs, have been the most oppressed people of the region. They decided to get organized in the first years of the new century and were embraced by the PKK, which opened the way to PKK influence in the Sinjar area. But the PKK left, fearing the US attacks in the area. Meanwhile, many Yezidi youth had joined the PKK.

The ISIS offensive against Sinjar provided the PKK with another opportunity to return. Also, the Yezidis, who were upset with the KRG for withdrawing the Peshmerga, welcomed the PKK’s return. An armed group called the Shengal Resistance Units made up of Yezidis was formed.

Another reason for the PKK’s interest in Sinjar is its proximity to the Syrian border. The most practical route to pro-PKK groups in Syria goes through Sinjar, hence the PKK’s determination to stay.

Recently, the KRG and the PKK tried again to find a solution, but failed. According to reports, the PKK laid down two conditions to be met for it to leave the area: to take part in the operation to liberate Sinjar, and official recognition of the Shengal Resistance Units. Heval Agid, the PKK official in charge of Sinjar, said the PKK will fight any effort to remove it from the area. He added that the PKK had officially declared it would leave the town after it was liberated.

Serbest Lezgin, a Peshmerga commander at Sinjar, rejected the PKK conditions. Lezgin explained that KRG President Massoud Barzani did not want the Kurdish parties to clash and ordered that operational plans be altered if necessary. “Massoud Barzani told us not to fight with the PKK. We don’t want fratricide. Never. That is President Barzani’s red line. The PKK is in the area. They are visible. They see themselves as a permanent fixture. They set up outposts and hoisted their flags. This is not appropriate for this area”. He added, “South Kurdistan is an official territory [of the KRG] with its own administration and institutions. The PKK is not pleased with that. They are saying they will stay until the liberation of Sinjar and will then leave, but it doesn’t look that way. They are thinking of staying here and [becoming] sovereign.”

According to Siddik Hasan Sukru, a political analyst living in the KRG capital of Erbil, Sinjar is as important to Turkey as it is to the YPG and the PKK. Sukru told Al-Monitor that he believes Turkey has played a part in the disagreement between the Kurdish parties. He said, “If Sinjar stays in the hands of the PKK or its partisans, it will be a gate between Rojava [Syrian Kurdistan] and Iraq. It will provide Rojava with an outlet to the outside world. But if the KDP dominates Sinjar, with the Semelka [border] gate already in Peshmerga hands, the YPG and the PYD will be encircled.” (The PYD is the US-supported Kurdish nationalist Democratic Union Party.) “Turkey doesn’t mind Sinjar being controlled by the Kurds, as long as it is not the PKK, but rather the Peshmerga, in charge. There is also a national sentiment issue. Everybody was saying the KDP did not protect the Yezidis and fled. They were protected by the PKK and the YPG. This became a matter of political prestige.

The KDP is determined to preserve its prestige by staying firm in Sinjar,” Sukru said in an interview on November 11, the day before the massive offensive against ISIS was launched. However, Sukru doesn’t think there will be clashes between Kurdish parties. “The KDP can disrupt PKK activities in other areas and restrict their logistics. Disagreement will continue in the political arena, but there will be no clashes. If clashes break out, other groups will be drawn into it and this will be against the KDP’s interests,” he added

https://undercoverinfo.wordpress.com...tsphotosvideo/

[khad]

Now that the entire Aleppo front is collapsing under the Syrian government onslaught, Free Syrian terrorists are lamenting how they didn't finish off the Kurds when they had the chance.



"Today we're paying the price for sticking to the red lines. And not attacking Safeira defense factories when we could. And not attacking Afrin and leaving it for the PKK. And also sticking to red lines all the way from Latakia to Hama. And paying the price for depending on outside help. Al-Hadher, Al-Eiss, Tall Al-Eiss, Banes, and Rasm Sahrej are lost. And now the enemy is clearing the Aleppo-Damascus road"

[The Feral Underclass]

An interesting interview

Meet One of the French Volunteers Fighting Against the Islamic State in Syria

[Futility Personified]

One thing that surprises me is that it was that easy to get there. I have always assumed that facebook is a fishing net for the security services, and something as easy as just asking the lions of rojave for help in getting there would surely be bait. Where are the clandestine meets? Where are the hats and the jazz soundtrack? I don't buy the idea that he was allowed to go, because even if france has a nominally socialist government most people would find concern in communists being trained in combat techniques, in case RAF type actions were to begin again. I know the left is and is considered a joke, but you'd think the powers that be would be more concerned? Or are they just expecting people to fuck off and die?

[John Nada]

One thing that surprises me is that it was that easy to get there. I have always assumed that facebook is a fishing net for the security services, and something as easy as just asking the lions of rojave for help in getting there would surely be bait. Where are the clandestine meets? Where are the hats and the jazz soundtrack? I don't buy the idea that he was allowed to go, because even if france has a nominally socialist government most people would find concern in communists being trained in combat techniques, in case RAF type actions were to begin again. I know the left is and is considered a joke, but you'd think the powers that be would be more concerned? Or are they just expecting people to fuck off and die?

Unfortunately in most countries and basically all of the First-World, leftists just don't inspire fear like they used to. A small possibility of a RAF-style organization in the future is much, much lower on the threat scale than Jihadists or other right-wing extremists. In fact, some aren't leftist at all, but simply oppose Daesh. Think I read the US is more concerned about Daesh infiltrating the Lions of Rojava than a leftist version of the Afghan Mujahideen blow-back. AFAIK the YPG/YPJ, Lions of Rojava and the International Freedom Battalion aren't listed as designated terrorist organizations in most countries except maybe Turkey. I don't think there's laws banning volunteering for a foreign military in a lot of countries.

[The Feral Underclass]

One thing that surprises me is that it was that easy to get there. I have always assumed that facebook is a fishing net for the security services, and something as easy as just asking the lions of rojave for help in getting there would surely be bait. Where are the clandestine meets? Where are the hats and the jazz soundtrack? I don't buy the idea that he was allowed to go, because even if france has a nominally socialist government most people would find concern in communists being trained in combat techniques, in case RAF type actions were to begin again. I know the left is and is considered a joke, but you'd think the powers that be would be more concerned? Or are they just expecting people to fuck off and die?

Well they'd have to be spying on them to know. Also the transit route to Sulaymaniyah is not direct from the country of origin and it's perfectly legitimate and not against the law to fly to Kurdish Iraq. The French authorities would have to suspect this person of going to fight in order stop them from travelling. If people are going to get into trouble, it's mostly likely going to be coming back. I wouldn't be surprised if intelligence agencies have operations going on inside the YPG though. No one returning from Rojava has had charges against them. There is one Australian guy who was arrested trying to get to Rojava and recently a British woman has been arrested and charged with terrorist offended for trying to get to Turkey to join the PKK, but the PKK are a prescribed organisation. The YPG are not.

[The Feral Underclass]

Also there have been several Daesh attempts to imitate the Lions of Rojava. It was a bit of a problem a couple of months ago.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Also there have been several Daesh attempts to imitate the Lions of Rojava. It was a bit of a problem a couple of months ago.

Do you mean on the ground, or in terms of infiltrating the facebook and website pages? Presumably the latter would be difficult to do as they have been a fixture on fb for quite a while...

[The Feral Underclass]

Do you mean on the ground, or in terms of infiltrating the facebook and website pages? Presumably the latter would be difficult to do as they have been a fixture on fb for quite a while...

They have posed as recruiters online.

[Sasha]

The most prominent turkish-kurdish lawyer (who was under prosecution for refusing to call the PKK an terrorist organisation) got assassinated today in Amed (dyinkabar), heavy police attacks on remembrance demostrations in istanbul and elsewhere...

[John Nada]

Here's an interesting article on Rojava: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/29/ma...hell.html?_r=0 It covers some of the applications of Democratic Confederalism, Bookchin's influence, the communes and councils, feminism, education, and touches on Ocalan's attempt to correspond with Bookchin before his death. Rojava has many Arabs and other national minorities converting to Democratic Confederalism. In education, the students are active participants and equals to the teachers, rather than than this autocratic model of making wage slaves obey like in the west.

Bookchin was demoralized and disappointed that no real serious revolutions were happening towards the end of his life. When Ocalan contacted Bookchin through his lawyers, he thought Ocalan was probably just another one of those many "Stalinist" third-world guerrillas of the 20th century. But by the time he realized Ocalan and the PKK were seriously interested in his theories and putting them into practice, he was too sick to make further contact. I wonder what he'd think of his theories becoming reality in what is IMO potentially one of the most important revolutions in the 21st century thus far? Not only that, but front and center in a major geopolitical crises, with the potential to alter the the whole region, more or less.

[Sasha]

Turkey has send hundreds of troups to iraqi-kurdistan on a "trainings mission" for the Barzani pershmerga, supposedly to train them for an assault on Daesh around Mosul. Hope they dont mannage to provoke inter kurdish conflict with the PUK and PKK.

[ckaihatsu]

Turkey has send hundreds of troups to iraqi-kurdistan on a "trainings mission" for the Barzani pershmerga, supposedly to train them for an assault on Daesh around Mosul.

-- Thanks --