MESOP FOCUS THE PKK DIVERSITY : In Kobani, some Kurds were fighting Kurds

WRITTEN ON JAN 9 BY – Wladimir van Wilgenburg – @AlMonitor columnist, Jamestown Analyst vvanwilgenburg

Medium.com – In the pro-Gülenist Today’s Zaman, mr. Mümtaz’er Türköne argues that the majority of fighters of the Islamic State (IS) in Ayn al-Arab (Kobani) were Kurds. He wrote this after clashes between PKK-supporters and Hizbullah supporters in Cizre. Tensions between the two groups increased after fighting erupted between the IS and YPG in Kobani in September/October, and Kurds took the streets to protest against the government’s policy towards the Syrian Kurds.

Türköne argues that: “The PKK’s hegemony over society does not leave any room to diversity. Therefore, in an effort to escape the PKK pressure, people take refuge in the opposite camp.”

But in fact, a small minority of IS fighters are Kurds, and the majority of Kurds joining the Islamic state are from the historical Islamist stronghold of Halabja. In Halabja, strong grass root Islamist networks exist since the 1980s. For instance, Abu Khattab al-Kurdi born in Halabja, allegedly played a role as an IS-commander in Kobani. Kurds later claimed he was killed. I have written before about the resurgence of Kurdish Jihadism in Iraqi Kurdistan for Jamestown in February, 2014 as a result of the Syrian civil war. Those Kurds that do join the Islamic State do not join this organisation for taking revenge on the PKK, but more out of sympathy for the fight against the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. In the view of many Islamists, Assad oppresses (Sunni) Muslims.

“Those Kurds that do join the Islamic State do not join this organisation for taking revenge on the PKK.”

In fact, the number of Syrian Kurds that have joined the IS is limited. There is a small number of Kurdish IS-fighters in Kurdish villages controlled by the IS in the countryside of Aleppo. In November 2014, the IS published a video showing Kurds pledging allegiance to the IS-caliph. Those Kurds who oppose the PKK/PYD in northern Syria, either stay, or leave to Europe, Turkey, or the Kurdistan region of Iraq. There is a level of frustration among Barzani supporters in Syria, but this doesn’t mean they join the Islamic state. In fact, Syrian Kurdish fighters that were trained by Barzani’s KDP are now fighting inside Iraqi Kurdistan, instead of Syria. A recent report of the pro-KDP TV-station Rudaw shows four bodies of Syrian Kurdish fighters being transported to Syria. They were killed in a suicide attack in Zumar. The IS only tries to recruit Arabs to fight against Kurdish fighters, accusing the Kurds of expansionism.

I also really wonder if Kurds are mobilised to support the Kurdish Hizbullah because of the PKK. Those Kurds that oppose the PKK are more likely to support the AKP. Columnist Mahmut Övür from the pro-AKP daily Sabahpoints out that the pro-Hizbullah party Hüda-Par only won 0.19 percent votes nationwide, which means that religious Kurds supported the AK Party. The attempt by the AKP to use Hizbullah as an alternative to the PKK would therefore also be difficult to manage. https://medium.com/@vvanwilgenburg/in-kobani-some-kurds-were-fighting-kurds-422511f387d2