OPEN LETTER: The Rt Hon William Hague MP Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Commonwealth Office

Dear Mr William Hague,

We, the representatives of the People’s Council of Western Kurdistan and the Kurdish National Council in the Uk, would like to draw your attention to the recent attack on civilians in SereKaniye (Ras alAin).

Armed Selafist groups entered the region from Turkey supported and facilitated by the Turkish military and regional powers with the aim of destabilising the relatively peaceful region and dragging it into a violent sectarian war. Since the second attack began on 16 January 2013 armed mercenaries have been using heavy weapons to shell the city killing civilians indiscriminately, many civilian Kurds have been taken as hostages and their houses and properties have been destroyed or looted. Thousands of vulnerable women and children have become displaced through fleeing from the horror.

Since July 2012 the Syrian Kurds have been managing and governing themselves and their region democratically and peacefully. They actively contribute in building a democratic, plural and united Syria where all Syrians can enjoy living together freely and thus regional stability, democracy and peaceful co-existence.

We earnestly call on the UK government and its Foreign Ministry to put pressure on the NATO allied Turkish government to end its foreign intervention by supporting those terrorist affiliated groups that are destabilising the Syrian Kurdish region.

We also ask that the UK’s Foreign Minister to persuade the Syrian opposition to end supporting those armed groups and demand their withdrawal from the peaceful Kurdish region and so respect the legitimate Kurdish national rights. 

Thank you for your kind attention and we look forward to your assessment.

Yours Sincerely,

Representatives of : Kurdish National Council , People’s Council of western Kurdistan in the UK.

Public opinion statement about Sere Kaniye (Ras-Alain) attacks.

The Sere Kaniye residents have managed to run their city by themselves peacefully after the agreement between the Kurdish forces, People Protection Units (YPG) and the armed groups who attacked the city two months ago. The people agreed to form a local council representing all the city’s inhabitants to manage its affairs. As a result of that agreement, most of the Sere Kaniye residents came back to their homes. However, after the armed groups had some problems amongst themselves, they re-entered from Turkey with heavy weapons attacking civilians and shelling the city to destabilise the region and create more problems. Those armed groups have started to attack the Kurdish neighbourhood. This has led to People Protection Units (YPG) to defend the civilian people and their region, consequently the battle area extended. It became very clear that this attack was planned and intended as shown by their level of preparation. All of it came in through Turkish borders who clearly facilitated everything for this attack. While we condemn this attack and breach of the previous agreement, we are calling the Syrian coalition, Syrian opposition and the Free Army to clarify its stand toward these armed groups. They are dragging our region into violent war between the Kurds and opposition forces which isposing a real threat for the stability, safety and Kurdish existence in this region. This attack is causing large damage to the Syrian revolution and its goals. Therefore we are calling for the withdrawal of the armed groups out of the city and to leave it so its own people can manage it themselves.

We call on all Syrian people in general, Syrian revolution forces and national opposition in particular to be aware of what is going on in Sere Kaniye (Ras-Alain) city. We must take a clear stand against those armed groups which are killing and shelling the civilians in the city and dividing the national unity. Furthermore, we must transfer the conflict onto those Syrian components which serve the enemies of the Syrian revolution and the Syrian regime.

We also emphasise that the Kurdish people will never give up defending their dignity. We appeal to a universal sense of freedom within everyone to take whatever sacrifices are required to support by all means our people in Sere Kaniye. They are not just defending their dignity but their existence too. This city was, and still is, as a symbol of peaceful co-existence, brotherhood and an expression of civil peace. This can only be assured by the region’s people with all its various components who are insisting  to defend themselves for the stability, safety and protection of their areas. With this regard, we salute and support the Kurdish forces, People Protection Units (YPG) and all people of the city from various components on their heroic resistance, and we give high respect to the martyrs who sacrificed their lives during these battles.

The Kurdish Supreme Council Qamishlo – 20/01/2013