Syrian PYD reportedly provokes supporters of the Kurdish National Council

KurdWatch  – Updated by ekurd & aswataliraq – 6.1.2013 – QAMISHLI, Syrian Kurdistan.

Supporters of the Kurdish National Council carried banners with similar content, thereby commemorating the victims of an air attack on a bakery near Hama. Supporters of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) demonstrated under the slogan “The liberation of the Jazirah [lies] in the unity of the segments of its population”.In Qamishli one demonstration took place in each of the districts of Qanat Suwais, al‑ʿAntariyah (organized by the Biratî, Rojava, Shaykh Maʿshuq and Farhad Martyrs youth groups) and Munir Habib (organized by the Kurdish National Council), as well as at the Qasimo mosque in the western district (organized by the PYD).

PYD supporters provoked Kurdish National Council demonstrators in Munir Habib by driving several vehicles at walking speed into the crowd. In ʿAmudah there were three separate demonstrations, organized by the PYD, the Kurdish National Council, and various youth groups. There were three demonstrations in al‑Hasakah. Two demonstrations—one organized by the PYD and the other by the Kurdish National Council—took place in each of the cities of ad‑Darbasiyah, ʿAyn al‑ʿArab (Kobanî), al‑Jawadiyah (Çil Axa), and al‑Qahtaniyah (Tirbesipî). One demonstration organized by the PYD took place in al‑Malikiyah (Dêrik). The Kurdish National Council’s weekly demonstrations in al‑Malikiyah and al‑Maʿbada (Girkê Legê) took place on Saturday, not on Friday. There were no protests in ʿAfrin or Raʾs al‑ʿAyn (Serê Kaniyê), nor in the mainly Kurdish districts of Aleppo and Damascus.

Raʾs al-ʿAyn: No easing of tensions despite agreement between PYD and Free Syrian Army

After two days of negotiations between representatives of the Free Syrian Army and the Democratic Union Party’s (PYD) People’s Defense Units (YPG), both sides settled on an agreement on December 16, 2012 to end the armed conflicts in Raʾs al‑ʿAyn (Serê Kaniyê). Details of the agreement were not made public. According to information from KurdWatch, both sides agreed to release all prisoners, withdraw from the city, and leave the administration to representatives of the city’s Kurdish, Arab, Chechen, and Christian populations. In addition, all checkpoints outside of the city are to be shared. Currently, no fighting is taking place, but the rivals have not yet abandoned their positions. At the end of December, an activist from Raʾs al‑ʿAyn told KurdWatch: “Neither side is yet pursuing a policy of detente. We fear that they will soon attack each other again.”

KurdWatch is an independent Internet portal that reports on human rights abuses against the Kurdish population of Syria