Thursday, August 20, 2015

(BBC DOCU) KURDISH WOMEN FIGHTERS AVENGE IS RAPE VICTIMS

Kobane is in ruins, but the battles in the area against the terrorists of the Islamic State continue. Kurdish forces are advancing on the "capital" of the Caliphate in Raqqa. Erdogan of Turkey is launching airstrikes against the PKK, a resistance group he considers "the same" as the terrorists of ISIS.



Aug 19, 2015 The BBC's Jiyar Gol has gained exclusive access to a PKK women's unit.
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UPDATE: The ongoing war against IS in the Middle East is rarely out of the headlines. Less familiar however is the story of Yazidi women soldiers who have joined the banned Kurdistan Workers Party - or PKK - and its affiliates to take up arms against their persecutors. The BBC's Jiyar Gol has gained exclusive access to one of them to show us how the PKK women learn to fight.  

Aug. 2, 2015

TURKEY COMMITTING A WAR CRIME TO SEND A MESSAGE? 




Aug 1, 2015 The Turkish Air Force hit the civilian village of Zergelê in Kandil region of Medya Defense Zones in the south of Iraq Kurdistan (RKG). 

The US based Kurdish commentator Reşo Teyrebaz has an analysis why the rather anonymous farmstead called a 'village' was chosen as the target of the attack by Turkey:
He goes on the explain that Zergele is located somewhere here in this area. It is not a PKK military camp. Zergele holds a unique spot within the now-dead peace process between Turkey and the PKK. Zergele village was chosen as a target because it was where the PKK came down from their bases to release their Turkish prisoners in March, 2013. The civilian Kurdish village of Zergele was chosen as a "mid-point" because the Turkish delegation refused to enter an actual PKK camp. Also, the village of Zergele was chosen in negotiations with the Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq (KRG), who had organized the actual meeting. So both Turkey and the KRG are fully aware that Zergele was a civilian village, as both were obviously involved in the prisoner release negotiations. Turkey choosing to target Zergele is now seen as a deliberate act, a message to PKK that their peace gesture in 2013 means nothing to Turkey. In other words Turkey targeted civilians, which is a war crime according to the Geneva Conventions, because the target was symbolic and they wanted to send a message.




Aug. 1, 2015

STATE DEPT: SUPPORT KURDS INCLUDED IN TURKISH AIR BASE DEAL

US State Department Deputy Spokesperson Mark Toner said on Thursday that the US will use military bases in Turkey to provide air support for rebel Syrian groups fighting radical terrorist group the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), including the People's Protection Units (YPG) Kurdish militia, only one day after a Turkish official said the recent deal to allow the US expanded access to air bases does not encompass support for the YPG.


WHAT'S WITH THE TURKISH-SYRIAN "WHATEVER" ZONE? 

(...) the buffer zone is not dictated by a sudden Turkish anti-ISIL drive. It should be understood as a step that primarily fits the Turkish interests. Presenting it to the public opinion as primarily an anti-ISIL “major success” is simply deceptive. It may help, in a very complicated and indirect way, to fight ISIL. But even that objective is not certain yet. It is conditioned by Ankara’s decisions and by the PKK’s counter-steps. In other words, if at one point the PKK intensifies its attacks against the Turks, Ankara may find it compelling to again turn its face the other side on ISIL moves. This is why a question mark should be placed after the word ISIL in the term “Free of PKK and ISIL Zone”. What all this means is that the difference between Turkey’s agenda in north Syria, and that of the US will certainly be reflected on the dynamics of the military situation and operations there. (...)

Briefly, we are faced with two possibilities: either to put the Turkish operation in a wider Syrian, and potentially regional context, or to place it in a box walled by the limited area in the north that may extend later beyond the 60 by 20 (or so) miles buffer zone, yet remain focused on tactical objectives only in the north of Syria. But reality does not abide by our conceptual separation of the two perspectives. In other words, the barrier between the two possibilities exists only in our minds. On the ground, however, it is a different story. Any of these two approaches, and regardless of the initial intentions, will spill over the other and reshape it differently. For the time being, let us first start with some remarks and questions related to the Turkish zone in Syria. (...) (Source)



TURKEY AIR FORCE HITS KURDISH FARM: 9 DEAD, 15 WOUNDED

ANF spoke to witnesses of the massacre in Zergêle village in Kandil which was targeted by airstrikes of the Turkish army early this morning. The attack on the civilian village left nine civilians dead and 15 others injured. Süleyman Nebî Bokî told that; “Two people lost their lives in the airstrikes. The villagers and their relatives that went to the scene for them were also bombed by Turkish jets, which left seven people dead. The Turkish state is targeting Kurds. All the people living here, and all those killed in the strikes, are civilians and villagers.” One other villager Feqî Muhammed also reacted to the attacks, saying; “There were six houses in this area, and all of them have been destroyed. The people targeted here are innocent civilians. The Turkish state is targeting Kurdish villagers on the excuse of PKK guerrillas. (Source)



July 30, 2015

The US-Turkish Deal Against ISIS May Still Take Weeks

The agreement between the US and Turkey for the use of the Incirlik airbase for the common fight against ISIS needs a few qualifiers:
Erdogan (...) has more affinity on sectarian grounds for ISIS than he does the Kurds. Today Egypt went even further, explicitly accusing Turkey of supporting ISIS fighters in the Sinai. But it gets better! The supposed deal between the US and Turkey for the use of airbases is only a verbal understanding. And we know about the reliability of verbal understandings in that part of the world, don’t we? (This is why I doubt there is any serious coordination between US and Turkish air forces, and why I believe that there is no serious Turkish action against ISIS.) Further, no formal deal is expected for weeks: But the Pentagon said it will take “weeks” before U.S. airstrikes are launched from Turkish soil, as officials are still working out final arrangements. Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters Monday that several bases were being looked at to house U.S. aircraft for missions against the Islamic State. My guess is that “weeks” will turn into “never.” (...) He will string out negotiations with the US until he accomplishes his political objectives, and then his enthusiasm for letting the US use Turkish bases will evaporate. Erdogan dangled supporting the US against ISIS to get a US (and NATO) green light to attack the Kurds: he will take the latter and renege on the former. (Source)
The Turkish aircrafts today between nine and eleven o'clock in the morning fly over Sarrin town and Kobanî city at the...
Posted by Redur Xelil on donderdag 30 juli 2015



July 29, 2015

TURKISH AIRSTRIKES A VIOLATION OF IRAQ'S SOVEREIGNTY

Turkey has been launching airstrikes against the PKK in Iraq. But Iraq happens to be a sovereign state. The Government has protested. This conflict is getting really messy! Iraq itself is under heavy attack by ISIS. This proves the weakness of Erdogan's cover that Turkey would be fighting ISIS. NATO yesterday approved Turkey's campaign against 'terrorism'.
Erdogan has hit on a 3 step plan to get back to absolute power. 1. To conflate the Kurds and the Islamic State as the same bunch of terrorists. 2. Getting the "international community" behind this conflation. NATO dutifully complied. (Presser) 3. To disqualify and declare the Kurdish HDP Party illegal on the grounds of its alignment to a terrorist organization. This will open the way for new elections in which Erdogan is to play the nationalist card. If that is the case Turkey and Erdogan are benefiting from chaos and an uptick in terrorism.



July 21, 2015

DOUBT IF ISIS IS BEHIND TERROR ATTACK ON SURUC


Given that Kurds were the target in yesterday's attack on Suruc it has been suggested that Turkey itself may be behind it. In this part of the world that can not be excluded at this stage.



ISIS TARGETING KURDS RATHER THAN TURKEY

A suspected female Islamic State suicide bomber has set off an explosion near a cultural centre hosting youth activists in a Turkish town near the border with Syria, leaving 31 dead and scores injured. The blast ripped through the centre in Suruc, just a few miles from the Syrian flashpoint of Kobane - which was itself later hit in a co-ordinated suicide car bombing. Most of the dead were university students with the Federation of Socialist Youths, who had been planning a mission to help rebuild Kobane, which was retaken by Kurds from Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) militants earlier this year. If Isil’s role is confirmed, it would be one of the extremist group’s deadliest strike on Turkish soil to date. (...)

According to Aaron Stein, associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies, an attack by Isil would be against Kurds rather than the Turkish state. (...) He said the attack after previous ones was indicative of a clear pattern of escalation by Isil, that they would use terror attacks rather than trying to take territory. “They are using terror attacks to terrorise Kurds,” he told the Telegraph. Mr Stein suggested the attack was unlikely to be aimed at causing problems with Ankara as Isil was still dependent on Turkey for the overland route and for smuggling goods, overtly and covertly. (Source)



KOBANE BLAST MAY BE ACCIDENTAL

Some confusion as to the nature of the Kobane blast. Trying to clarify.



MULTIPLE ATTACKS ON SURUÇ AND KOBANE

Multiple attacks inside Turkey and near Kobane. The assault in Turkey was on a Socialist Youth camp where preparations were under way for aid work in Kobane. Situation is developing.




 Feb. 22, 2015

KURDISH CUTIE PIES NEED YOUR HELP!

The battles of the Kurds at Kobane and Mount Sinjar against the Nihilistic marauders of the Islamic State, are over. But the price of stopping the barbarians at the gate of Europe is high. Many dead and wounded, while Kobane is in ruins. 
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