WEST KURDISTAN (SYRIA) – KURDWATCH NEWSLETTER II / AUGUST 2012

ʿAmudah: Further PYD kidnappings

KURDWATCH, September 7, 2012 – According to their own statements, on September 1, 2012, members of the Democratic Union Party’s (PYD) People’s Protection Committee arrested three activists and two recruits from ʿAmudah. The arrests were made as the individuals were attempting to cross the Syrian-Turkish border illegally. Among those kidnapped were Ibrahim Hajj Mustafa ʿAli, ʿUmar Hajj Nuri, Aldar Muhammad, and Muhammad ʿAbdulqadir ʿAli.

Late in the afternoon, members of various youth groups organized a rally in ʿAmudah and demanded the release of the kidnap victims. The demonstrators compared the actions of the PYD with those of the Shabbihah militias, which have close ties to the regime. As a result, that night PYD supporters attacked the demonstrators with billy clubs and stones and fired shots into the air. Several people were injured, and one person was grazed by a bullet. Following a request by the joint caucus of the Kurdish National Council and the People’s Council of West Kurdistan, the PYD released the kidnap victims on September 2, 2012.

Al-Qamishli: PYD forces strike

KURDWATCH, September 6, 2012—On September 3, 2012, members of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) called on business people in downtown al‑Qamishli to keep their shops closed after the lunch hour. According to the PYD, the strike is directed against the plan to draft hundreds of young men into the military. The PYD succeeded in closing al‑Qamishli’s central market. Even shop owners who do not sympathize with the PYD were coerced into taking part in the strike.

Damascus: Two workers killed in massacre

KURDWATCH, September 4, 2012—On August 30, 2012, Yasir Hasan Kalash (b. in al‑Qahtaniyah [Tirbesipî], married, two children), Farhad ʿAbbas Ibrahim (b. in al‑Qahtaniyah [Tirbesipî], married, two children), and three other people were killed in raids by the Fourth Brigade in Yaʿfur near Damascus. The Fourth Brigade is under the leadership of Mahir al‑Assad. Kalash and Ibrahim were buried on September 1 2012 near al‑Qahtaniyah.

Al-Qamishli: PYD gets rich through black market dealings

KURDWATCH, August 31, 2012—According to statements that independent activists made to KurdWatch, in the Kurdish regions the Democratic Union Party (PYD) now controls numerous gas stations and the sale of gas canisters for household use. The activists reported that PYD‑functionaries sell a majority of these goods at inflated prices on the black market. Moreover, the PYD charges customers at gas stations fees of fifty to one hundred Syrian liras per tank of gas.

Al-Qamishli: Further demonstrations in the Kurdish regions

KURDWATCH, August 30, 2012—Nationwide protests on August 24, 2012, resulted again in numerous dead and injured. Throughout the country, demonstrators demanded the fall of the regime. In many parts of the country, protestors took to the streets under the slogan »Don’t be sad, Darʿa, God is with us«. At the Qasimo mosque in the western district of al‑Qamishli, as well as in ʿAmudah, al‑Malikiyah (Dêrik), al‑Maʿbada (Girkê Legê), ʿAyn al‑ʿArab (Kobanî), ad‑Darbasiyah, and al‑Hasakah, supporters of the Kurdish National Council and the Democratic Union Party (PYD) demonstrated together under the slogan »Towards a democratic Syria«. Additionally, in al‑Qamishli, one protest took place in each of the districts of Qanat Suwais, al‑ʿAntariyah (organized by the Biratî, Rojava, Shaikh Maʿshuq, and Farhad Martyrs youth groups), Kurnish (organized by supporters of the Kurdish Future Movement in Syrian under Rezan Bari Shaikhmus, the Sewa youth groups, and other independent youth groups), Qudurbak (organized by Arab youth groups), and Munir Habib (organized by the Union of Kurdish Democratic Forces in Syria). Participation in the latter demonstration was significantly low in comparison to previous weeks. In ʿAmudah, various youth groups held a protest march in addition to the joint demonstration of the Kurdish National Council and the PYD. A total of four demonstrations took place in al‑Hasakah. One protest march took place in each of the cities of al‑Malikiyah (Dêrik), al‑Qahtaniyah (Tirbesipî), ʿAyn al‑ʿArab (Kobanî), ad‑Darbasiyah, al‑Maʿbada (Girkê Legê), al‑Jawadiyah (Çil Axa), and Raʾs al‑ʿAyn (Serê Kaniyê). One demonstration also took place in each of the towns of Kimara and Basuta near ʿAfrin. The demonstrators carried the Kurdish and the Syrian independence flags. Both the all-Syrian and the Kurdish slogans were used at the demonstrations not officially organized by the Kurdish National Council and the PYD. For the first time since fighting broke out, a demonstration again took place in the mainly Kurdish district of Shaikh Maqsud in Aleppo. In the Kurdish districts of and Wadi al‑Mashariʿ (Zorava) in Damascus; however, no protests were organized due to the ongoing fighting in neighboring districts.

Aleppo: Pedestrian killed

KURDWATCH, August 29, 2012—On August 16, 2012, ʿIsa ʿAlush Khidr (b. 1960 in ʿAfrin) was fatally shot in Aleppo. It is unclear whether his death was the result of a targeted killing by sharpshooters or if he was caught in the cross-fire of the armed conflict between government security forces and the Free Syrian Army.

Al-Qamishli: Security forces fire at taxi, one dead

KURDWATCH, August 27, 2012—On August 19, 2012, security forces opened fire on passengers in a taxi on the highway between al‑Hasakah and al‑Qamishli. Nechirvan Bahzad ʿUmar (b. 1992 in al‑Malikiyah) was killed and two other passengers were injured.

Al-Qamishli: PYD celebrates beginning of PKK’s armed struggle

KURDWATCH, August 26, 2012—Nationwide protests on August 17, 2012, resulted again in numerous dead and injured. Throughout the country, demonstrators demanded the fall of the regime. In large parts of the country, demonstrators took to the streets under the slogan, »In the unity of our Free Army lies our victory«. The Democratic Union Party (PYD) and several youth groups protested under the slogan »The advancement of August 15«, which refers to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK) first military attack against Turkey on August 15, 1984. Additionally, in al‑Qamishli protests took place in each of the districts of Qanat Suwais, al‑ʿAntariyah (organized by the Biratî, Rojava, Shaikh Maʿshuq and Farhad Martyrs youth groups), Kurnish (organized by supporters of the Kurdish Future Movement in Syria under Rezan Bari Shaikhmus, the Sewa youth groups, and other independent youth groups), Qudurbak (organized by Arab youth groups), as well as at the Qasimo mosque in the western district of al‑Qamishli (organized by the Kurdish National Council and the PYD) and in Munir Habib (organized by the Union of Kurdish Democratic Forces in Syria). PYD supporters organized a concert in »Support of the Revolution of West Kurdistan« on the soccer field in al‑Hilaliyah, for which Kurdish artists from Europe traveled to attend. Representatives of the Kurdish National Council also took part in the concert. In ʿAmudah, various youth groups held a protest march in addition to the joint demonstration of the Kurdish National Council and the PYD. A total of four demonstrations took place in al‑Hasakah. One protest march took place in each of the cities of al‑Malikiyah (Dêrik), al‑Qahtaniyah (Tirbesipî), ʿAyn al‑ʿArab (Kobanî), ad‑Darbasiyah, al‑Maʿbada (Girkê Legê), al‑Jawadiyah (Çil Axa), and Raʾs al‑ʿAyn (Serê Kaniyê). Overall, the PYD was less present at the demonstrations than in previous weeks. Due to ongoing fighting in neighboring districts, there were no demonstrations in the mainly Kurdish districts of Shaikh Maqsud in Aleppo and Ruknuddin in Damascus.

Damascus: State Security Service arrests activists

KURDWATCH, August 23, 2012—On August 7, 2012, employees of the State Security Service arrested a group of Kurdish activists in the Muhadschirin district of Damascus. Zaki Hasan (b. 1993) and ʿAbdurrazzaq Ismail Ahmad (b. 1986) were arrested at their jobs. Abdo Siraj (b. 1994), Saʿd Siraj, and Rasul Qadri Kalash (b. 1980) were arrested at home. The activists Husain Qadri Kalash (b. 1978) and Yahya Ismail Ahmad, who were also detained, have already been released from custody.

Damascus: Woman killed in Syrian army attack on opposition members

KURDWATCH, August 23, 2012—On August 17, 2012, forty-nine-year-old Najihah Muhammad ʿUmar (b. in al‑Malikiyah) suffered a gunshot wound to the head in an attack by Syrian armed forces on opposition members in front of a hospital in Damascus.