SYRIA : THE FIGHT FOR OIL & KOBANE : Clashes Escalate Around Sovereign Turkish Enclave in Syria

By Namik Durukan – AL Monitor – 2014-03-28 06:36 GMT – As the Turkish army is placed on alert along the border with Syria, clashes between the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) and the YPG (Kurdish People’s Protection Units), the military wing of the Kurdish administration that recently declared itself an autonomous region, are escalating.Kobane, one of the three administrative centers of the Kurds, is surrounded by ISIS. Twenty-five ISIS fighters, two of them Turks, were killed by the YPG. ISIS displayed the bodies of nine YPG fighters. If Turkish special forces on standby at the border enter Syrian territory to prevent ISIS from attacking the Tomb of Suleiman Shah, they may well encounter armed YPG units at some locations.

Clashes between ISIS, which has been intensifying its attacks on the Kurdish Rojava region of Syria, and the YPG are raging mostly in the areas of the tomb, Kobane and Tal Abyad. As ISIS advances toward Kobane, violent clashes are reported from the town of Shirin. Hundreds of Kurds from Raqqa and Tal Abyad villages under ISIS threat have abandoned their homes. Local reports say they have lost contact with one YPG unit and five YPG militants were killed.

What if Turkey intervenes militarily?

Clashes are continuing also in the vicinity of the Tomb of Suleiman Shah, about 30 kilometers from Turkey. The Turkish army is on alert after ISIS declared that it will destroy the tomb if the Turkish flag flying over it is not removed. Local sources say if the Turkish army intervenes at the tomb, which is near Kobane, encounters between the army and YPG units are inevitable, although nobody can predict how they will end. The YPG had earlier announced it was against foreign military units entering the Rojava region.

Two Turkish citizens

ISIS sources have confirmed the YPG’s announcement that it had killed more than 25 ISIS fighters. ISIS sources said there were two Turks and many Azeris among the dead. Turkish fighter Abu Ismail [Erdal] from Inegol town and Mustafa from Ankara were killed in the clashes with the YPG. Ismail [Erdal], who used to sell herbal products in Turkey, had come to Syria two months ago.

Target: Rmeilan oil fields

Several Arabic-language Internet sites that carry ISIS news published photos of nine ISIS fighters killed in the clashes. These sites also claim that ISIS is advancing in the Tal Abyad and Kobane areas. The objective of ISIS’s attacks is to rupture the links between Kurdish regions of Jazeera, Afrin and Kobane and to seize the oil fields of Rmeilan inside the Jazeera region.

Mobilization call

While a mobilization was declared in Rojava to stem the ISIS attacks, anyone holding a gun was asked to go the front. Public rallies were organized in many Kurdish settlements to encourage resistance. In a written statement, the YPG command [called for] assistance from Kurdish organizations, groups and political parties in Turkey, Iran and Iraq to block the ISIS attacks and preserve the Kurdish gains. The same statement asked the Kurdish organizations in Syria to leave aside their differences and join the YPG against ISIS attacks. “With this historical responsibility we carry, we call all parties, political quarters, youth and women movements, independent notables, officials of Jazeera-Kobane-Afrin democratic autonomous administrations, the National Assembly of Syrian Kurds, the West Kurdistan Popular Assembly and the Democratic Social Movement to leave aside their differences and join forces at this crucial time,” the statement said.

Barzani asked for help

It was interesting to note that the statement also asked for assistance from Massoud Barzani, the president of the Kurdistan Regional Government of Iraq, who had been critical of the Rojava policy of the PYD (Democratic Union Party). In this context, the statement said: “Our appeal is to the South Kurdistan [Northern Iraq] Regional Presidency, the command of Union of Kurdish Communities (KCK), the Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq, the Kurdistan Patriots Union, the Peace and Democracy Party [of Turkey] and the Gorran Movement [northern Iraq] and all other Kurdistan forces. We are calling on all Kurdistan forces to fulfill their national duties [to confront] the attacks against Rojava. We believe Rojava will overcome and this success will be for all Kurdistan people.”

Attacks against Kurdish gains

Increased ISIS attacks are closely monitored by Turkey’s Peace and Democracy Party and the Democratic Society Congress (DTK). A statement by DTK said the oppressive Bashar al-Assad regime and its opposition of the same ilk have turned Syria into a bloodbath and a land of deep chaos. The statement added: “These attacks against people of Rojava who have not attacked anyone, who have not usurped the land and rights of any other people are outright attacks against the entire Kurdish people, the national unity of the Kurdish people and their gains. These gangs not only pose threats to the Kurdish people, but to all the Middle East’s peoples led by Turkey and human values.” Translated by Timur Goksel.