PYD receives orders from Assad regime: Leader of Kurdish Komele forces

 22-03-2014 – ARA News – Exclusive: – Nusaybin, Turkey− Shamsuddin Hamo, Head of the Political Bureau of the Kurdish Revolutionary Council of Komele Forces, said in an exclusive interview with ARA News that the lack of efficient and accurate planning is one of the reasons behind the inability of the rebels to end the conflict in Syria. He also addressed a widespread criticism to the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its military wing of the Popular Protection Units (YPG), saying that the party and its forces pretend to be in control over Kurdish areas in northern Syria while they lack right to decision-making, “as the Syrian regime remains a supreme power in these areas”.   

Regime Collapse is “inevitable”

According to Hamo, there are several reasons behind the continuity of the Syrian conflict. “The Syrian Revolution began spontaneously without any kind of planning. It started as peaceful demonstrations, mercilessly suppressed by the Assad regime forces and turned later into an armed conflict and collective war,” said Hamo. “The absence of a strong political leadership (for the opposition) −which is apparently caused by decades of monopoly of power by the Assad regime− enabled the regime to easily penetrate the ranks of the rebels.”

“The suppressive practices of the Assad regime over the recent decades were the main motivators for the Syrian people to protest, and the continuity of the Assad regime with the same exclusive mentality led to the current crisis,” he added. “However, the regime wouldn’t survive without the unlimited support from allies like Russia, Iran and the Shiite militias from Lebanon and Iraq.”

According to the Head of the Political Bureau of the Kurdish Revolutionary Council of Komele, the Syrian regime succeeded in turning the revolution into a sectarian conflict. Hamo also blamed the western powers for reluctance towards the crisis in Syria, saying that “how long the war takes, how deeper the crisis becomes”.

Hamo emphasized that persecution and military crackdown would never bring victory to the Assad regime. “The collapse of this regime is inevitable, but it may still take longer that what we all expect”.Hamo believes that the militarization of the revolution lengthened the regime’s survival “which could not detach the revolution or repeal its objectives”. The Syrian revolution continues towards toppling the regime, none can turn this goal aside. The suffering and magnitude sacrifices will entrench this goal more and more every day”.

Growing Power of Islamists

Hamo insisted that the “extremist groups” are funded and supported by the Assad regime.”Those terrorist groups were provided a fertile soil in Syria to enter and support the regime’s propaganda that the entire conflict is merely between the regime forces and some terrorist groups, and keep marginalizing the legitimate demands of the Syrians,” Hamo told ARA News.

“Those radical groups didn’t exist in Syria when people started their civil resistance against the regime, and they didn’t exist when the Free Syrian Army (FSA) was formed to defend civilians against the regime’s killing machine. The Syrian regime supported the existence of such terrorist groups to emphasize its responsibility to cleanse Syria from them, but the revolutionaries and opposition forces were targeted from all the military operations carried out by the Assad forces,” he added.   Commenting on the Free Syrian Army’s (FSA) forces, Hamo stated to ARA News that the FSA is staffed by experienced Syrian military officers “who defected from the regime’s army and took the responsibility of defending civilians”.

“There is a coordination between our forces (Komele) and the FSA leadership in areas north of Syria, as we are all fighting for the same goal of freeing the country from the tyrant regime,” he said. Rifts erupted between different groups of the FSA rebels in Syria. Hamo argued that the rifts are mainly caused by the regional powers which support one part against another. “We all know that Qatar supports specific groups in the ranks of the rebels, while Saudi Arabia supports other groups, which causes an interior conflict in the ranks of the rebels and weakens their determination to topple the Assad regime.”  

Kurdish Areas

“The revolution did not reach the Kurdish areas in Syria, and any claims that residents of the Kurdish areas effectively participated in the revolution is untrue,” Hamo argued.  According to Hamo, Syria Kurds remained relatively detached from the dramatic developments of the “uprising”. “Only a limited number of Kurds participated in the revolution since the peaceful protests until the phase of militarization, and we praise those who sacrificed for the sake of Syria’s freedom,” he said. “We hoped that the Kurdish population in Syria would break down the restrictions and join the revolution efficiently, but apparently fear of the unknown future and mistrust prevented such a participation.” 

PYD-Regime Cooperation

Shamsuddin Hamo accused the Democratic Union Party (PYD) of cooperating with representatives of the Syrian regime in different Kurdish areas north of Syria.

Since nearly 18 months, the PYD-linked forces of the Popular Protection Units (YPG) and the Assayish are in control over areas where Kurdish constitute a majority. However, the pro-Assad forces are still present in the areas, which led the Syrian opposition and other Kurdish parties to accuse the PYD and its armed forces of cooperating with the Syrian regime against other groups. Recently, the PYD and other allied parties announced the formation of the so-called Transitional Administration (also referred to as self-rule) in northern Syria, allegedly to run these areas administratively.

“The PYD cannot disobey orders issued by the Syrian authorities. This shows that the PYD’s control and its declared administration are merely claims without any effectiveness on the ground,” Hamo told ARA News. “This self-rule is not meant to serve the Kurdish people; it is rather a tool in the interest of the regime and the necessities of its struggle with the Syrian people.” “I believe that the battles carried out between the Popular Protection Units (YPG) and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) are fake battles. Both parties receive orders from the Assad regime, and their battles are aimed at causing a Kurdish-Arabic conflict which serves the regime’s agendas at the end,” Hamo argued.

Kurdish Komele Forces

Head of the Political Bureau of the Kurdish Revolutionary Council of Komele Forces, Shamsuddin Hamo, emphasized in his interview with ARA News that the Komele forces do not hold any hostilities towards the YPG forces.

“We hope that the YPF forces will soon pursue a right direction and cooperate with us to topple this oppressive regime and gain the legitimate rights of our Kurdish people and accomplish freedom in Syria,” he said. “We have clear information that the majority of the cadres are dissatisfied with the general behaviour and policies of the PYD towards the Syrian revolution and the Kurdish people.””The regime is controlling the military and political decision because it got rid of some of the cadres as well as imprisoning others, delivering the sensitive decision-making centers to Alawite figures from Turkey who are ally with al-Assad sectarian regime,” Hamo added.

Hamo also declared that the Komele forces are fighting against the ISIL on two different fronts.”We are fighting the regime, but the ISIL group is trying to weaken our fist in favour of the Assad regime. Many commanders of al-Komele were abducted by ISIL groups during battles,” according to Hamo.

Hamo concluded by saying: “We firstly are a political formation, our goals are based on our deep believes in the necessity of the Kurdish participation in the Syrian revolution as well as the work to overthrow the brutal regime. In this sense, we are a part of the public revolutionary process in Syria, sharing the rest revolutionaries’ goals and priorities and we strive to guarantee accomplishment of the legitimate rights of the Kurdish people in Syria’s future.”