Unravelling US media disinformation

[John Dolva]

Unravelling US media disinformation concerning Turkey, North Kurdistan and Rojava

An item on National Public Radio (NPR) yesterday and reporting by The New York Times and other US media outlets over the past week have gotten more things wrong than right when talking about Turkey, North Kurdistan, Rojava and Kurds. In fact, it is rare to see "Rojava" mentioned at all in the US press and "North Kurdistan" is never designated as such. This makes the situation in the region seem unnecessarily complicated to people. Whether this is done by design, laziness or ignorance, the effect has been to enable disengagement across the political spectrum in the US.

The NPR report is alarming because the person being interviewed, Joshua Landis of the University of Oklahoma, seems to be saying that with the liberation of Girê Spî/Tel Abyad on June 15 the US will put some distance in policy between its interests and those of the Kurds in order to satisfy Turkish and Syrian opposition demands and because it holds to the mistaken line that Kurds are attempting to create an independent state.

The first assertion may be true enough; we have never considered the US and the other imperialist powers to be true friends of the Kurds and other peoples in the region, but the US-led anti-ISIS coalition has been helpful to a point in its tactics where Rojava and Sinjar/Şengal are concerned. A withdrawal of any support at this point in response to Turkish and Syrian opposition demands would negatively affect Rojava's advanced revolution and would give President Erdoğan in Turkey and the Syrian regime the openings they are looking for. The US should instead be supporting the Kurdish peace bid in Turkey, coordinating with the liberation movement in attacks against ISIS, supporting or forcing an end to the embargo against Rojava and working with other outside forces to get urgently needed aid to Kobani.

The second assertion---that Kurds are attempting to carve out an independent and centralized state---takes the line of Masoud Barzani and his administration in the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG, or so-called "Iraqi Kurdistan"). Barzani and his Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) might well want a centralized state in order to consolidate and extend their power, but the question of a state or democratic confederalism or some other arrangement should be left up to a fully representative national Kurdish congress. In the meantime, the liberation movement is creating something much more revolutionary and pragmatic in Rojava and is trying to move a peace or resolution process forward in Turkey over reactionary objections. The US media is being used, willingly or unknowingly, by one side and making it much more difficult to understand what is going on in the region and take the right side. The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other media make matters worse by confusing Rojava's Democratic Union Party (PYD) and Rojava's People's Defense Forces (YPG) an never mention the Women's Defense Forces (YPJ), obscuring important details of Rojava's revolution. And they continue to mistakenly say that the PYD is "an offshoot" of the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) and only remind readers that the PKK is officially designated as a "terrorist organization" by the US, the EU and Turkey. While distorting the context in which these separate organizations work, the US media is discounting the women's revolution underway in the region and neglecting to say that the PKK has become more of a social system than a party and that the US needs the liberation movement as an ally in the fight against ISIS at present. To abandon the liberation movement would be to change course and either abandon the fight against ISIS or to radically change the quality of that struggle. We continue to argue that an ant-fascist front is in place against ISIS and that this front or coalition needs to be deepened and expanded.

We can counter the NPR reports and similar confusing reports in part with an excellent article that appeared on ROAR on June 17. Besides setting forward the situation in Girê Spî/Tel Abyad at a particularly important moment and not mixing up the forces involved, the strength of this article is that it avoids an emerging narrative in the press that either tries to separate the "Kurdish national movement" from the left and political processes at work in Turkey, Iraq and Syria or so intertwines them that US readers will be quite confused.

Today we want to do a quick overview of the situation since Girê Spî/Tel Abyad was liberated on June 15 and pick up some of the stories that we're not seeing in US media. We can start with repeating the news that Rojava's People's/Women's Defense Forces (YPG/YPJ), Liwa Al-Tahrir fighters affiliated to the Free Syrian Army (FSA), Burkan Al-Fırat forces and the Civilians’ Defense Forces (Hezên Parastına Ciwakê, HPC) of Rojava's Cizîr Canton cooperated to liberate Girê Spî/Tel Abyad from ISIS. Besides the liberation of the area and the defeat for ISIS, there were six important features of the struggle that the US media did not cover in depth.

First, we must recall that the operation to take Girê Spî/Tel Abyad back from ISIS is part of an on-going "Commander Rubar Qamişlo Initiative" carried forward by the liberation movement that began on May 6. This operation involves men and women fighters, Kurds and other nationalities and internationalist fighters who come from the left and it is continuing with great success. Second, we must remember that the fighting around Girê Spî/Tel Abyad created an additional refugee crisis and that ISIS and the Turkish state have sought to take advantage of this with some success. Turkish authorities opportunistically used the crisis to argue for the creation of a "safety zone" that would be a large-scale land grab and provoke a hot war with people loyal to Rojava, the Syrian regime and others. They also manipulated the situation at the border crossing to their benefit as people suffered in the intense heat as fighting in Girê Spî/Tel Abyad took place. For their part, ISIS infiltrated the refugee crowds, attempted to use some people as human shields and sent fighters into Turkey. Third, we must remember that women fought in the struggle to retake Girê Spî/Tel Abyad as part of the revolution and that the YPJ forces have since kept up the fight and have extended aid to the newly liberated areas. Fourth, we must remember that the liberation of Girê Spî/Tel Abyad has created the possibilities for Rojava's Cizîre and Kobani cantons to become contiguous and for the liberation movement to push south to Raqqa against ISIS. Fifth, the liberation movement has had to contend with efforts of the Syrian regime to sidetrack the struggle through serious confrontations in Qamishlo. Finally, we must remember that US-led coalition air strikes were important to the outcome of the fighting, that the liberation movement was able to take the Akçakale border crossing and that Turkey's President Erdoğan was immediately forced on the defensive as these events took place.

Moving on from here, the liberation movement as quick to consolidate their victory at Girê Spî/Tel Abyad by pushing their Commander Rubar Qamişlo Initiative forward. In order to highlight the differences or contradictions which appeared in full force after the liberation of Girê Spî/Tel Abyad, we can mention again that the PKK was quick to note that the status quo in the region had changed as the Turkish military kept up pressure on the guerrilla movements. The Turkish government made a decision against seeking peace; this was clear by June 17. PYD Co-President Saleh Muslim correctly pointed out at that point that the victory in Girê Spî/Tel Abyad had cut ISIS's lifeline. It did not help the overall situation that for some time reactionary Islamist forces were charging that the YPG/YPJ were engaging in ethnic cleansing---false charges which were used to divide people in the region---and that this line was taken up by Erdoğan and began to appear in the west from some liberal groups as well. Saleh Muslim and others were forced to defend the YPG/YPJ record, but even today Rudaw TV, which we view as a front for Barzani, is spreading such disinformation and following the Turkish state line and this has served to take attention away from Turkish pressure on the guerrilla forces and the fact that some ISIS forces have crossed into Turkey.

The liberation movement continued to press forward with some help from the US-led coalition bombings and the women's fighting forces took on special responsibilities. Mindful of the rapidly changing political conditions and the need to reopen the peace or resolution process, the People's Democratic Party (HDP) used the momentum they have gained since Turkey's June 7 elections sent them to Parliament to demand that concrete steps be taken to begin peace talks in Turkey. The Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) might indeed be willing to lay down weapons if imprisoned Kurdish freedom movement leader Abdullah Öcalan could be consulted by an HDP-led delegation, but the Turkish government continued to block this effort. Meanwhile, the final results from the June 7 elections were announced and the HDP has 80 seats in Parliament, the same number as the fascist Nationalist Movement Party. Efforts to form a sitting government are not succeeding. A leader of the Republican People's Party put forward the commonsense idea that a government could form without the ruling reactionary Justice and Development Party, Erdoğan's party, but all other parties, including the HDP, rejected this. By the 18th or 19th it was clear how much depends on the formation of a government and how important it is to build into that government a real desire for peace and justice.

Late in the week the liberation movement began to present a picture or an idea of how liberated Girê Spî might look. Leadership from Rojava's Kobanê Canton, including Democratic Society Movement (TEV DEM) leaders, visited Girê Spî and Kobanê Executive Assembly President Enwer Muslim said, "All peoples will live together and in fraternity in this town. As the Administration of Democratic Autonomy, we will be working with all our strength and possibilities to make sure that the people of Girê Spî can lead a life in peace and safety. We will enable them to establish their own assemblies and institutions." He also said, "This resolution project (democratic autonomy--ed.) of our Democratic Autonomous Administration involves no threats or dangers for anyone because it is grounded on the protection and assurance of the democratic and free life and equal rights of all peoples. On the basis of this historic resolution project and the building of a democratic and free life, we once again congratulate the liberation of Girê Spî and the historic victory achieved in the region. We declare that this will be a new step and a beginning in the construction of a democratic Syria."

On the one hand, at this point the liberation movement could claim that refugees were returning to Girê Spî and that something like normalcy seemed to be returning to people's lives. On the other hand, the problem of ISIS land mines is preventing people from returning and resuming normal lives and is hampering the progress of the liberation movement. The Human Rights Association (İHD) has also shown how the refugees have been mistreated and used by the Turkish state and that there are more than 150 YPG and PYD members or Kobanê residents currently imprisoned in Turkey and that these people are facing particularly tough conditions in prison. Stories of ISIS infiltration are spreading and the role of the Asayish (security forces) will have to intensify. This has been underscored by an ISIS attack on an Asayiş patrol unit which killed one Arab Asayiş member in Çilaxaa this weekend. The Turkish government has meanwhile kept up pressure on the guerrillas and are refusing to hand over the body of HPG (Hêzên Parastina Gel--People's Defense Forces) guerrilla Maxzume Muhammedzade (Sarya Onur), who lost her life in the Eruh district of Siirt in a military operation on June 14, and continues to pressure the legal progressive opposition as Peoples' Democratic Congress (HDK) co-chair Sebahat Tuncel is once more facing repression.

Even with all of this taking place over just one week, the HPG guerrilla forces were able to carry out a targeted attack on ISIS gangs in Sinjar/Shengal yesterday, the YPG has reported that their advance is continuing to the south of Girê Spî and Silûk and that 7 more villages have been liberated in the area over this weekend and strong efforts are being made to win over Arab leaders in Rojava's Cizîrê Canton. Throughout this period as well guerrillas of the East Kurdistan Defense Units (YRK in Rojhelat, or so-called "Iranian Kurdistan") took armed struggle action against the Iranian regime and the Free Life Party of Kurdistan (PJAK) was able to articulate a developed revolutionary program which gives lie to the forces rushing to say that the Kurdish goal is a national and centralized state. We hurry to point out that the PJAK declaration states very clearly what the relationship between the Kurdish struggle and the left should be.

[John Dolva]

The main destabilisation force in Kurdistan is the US, atm through its support of the corrupt government that rules the Southern Kurdistan Region in IRAQ.

While North Kurdistan is leading the fight against ISIS, the US backed Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) of IRAQ, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in effect supports ISIS and one of its regional sponsors, the US backed Turkish AKP. - go figure. I posed earlier a question of how washington and its allies will be seeking to divide the Kurdish people. Over time it has become clearer and it seems now that this process has been overtly in motion for some time. Another question is Irans role. Syria has shown a degree of sympathy as has Iran in the past even though it's a tenuous relationship. Now that the Kurdish Liberation Movement is 'stealing focus' I suspect that where people stand will become clearer.


Sunday, June 21, 2015 at 11:00 AM
BEHDINAN - ANF

Kurdistan Communities Union (KCK) Foreign Affairs Committee criticised the broadcasting policy of Rudaw TV, saying that it broadcasts against Kurdish people. KCK added that Rudaw TV broadcasts are in line with the Turkish state coverage on the Kurdish Liberation Movement during the 1990s.

KCK Foreign Affairs Committee said in a written statement that Rudaw TV has launched a campaign against the Kurdish Liberation Movement and added that this attitude is by no means serving to the unity of the Kurdish people. KCK drew attention to that Rudaw TV was built by the Turkish state and its intelligence agency MIT, and added that Rudaw TV, known to be close to KDP, revealed this fact through its broadcasts during the resistance against ISIS gangs in Rojava as well as its support to AKP during June 7 elections. KCK also said this bias has been previously proven with documents by the Kurdish Liberation Movement.

KCK stressed that the broadcasts of Rudaw TV contradicts the requirements of Kurdish national unity, which is paramount during increased attacks against Kurdish gains. KCK stated that Kurdish media must defend the gains and the values of Kurdish people and reflect the truths, stressing the responsibility of the media towards the people.

KCK went on saying that Rudaw TV misinforms the public in order to create a pseudo agenda and added that when Rudaw TV says that they are “at the scene before the incident”, they are telling the truth as they are usually at a scene where there is no incident. KCK stated that Rudaw TV’s attacks on the PKK are no longer acceptable as Rudaw TV does not comply with the ethical codes of broadcasting, and works against Kurdish national unity.

KCK said that the arbitrary borders in Kurdistan are no longer meaningful at times of war against ISIS gangs, and added that Rudaw TV’s broadcasting is hostile to Kurdish people as far as it ignores this fact. KCK recalled the Rudaw TV news targeting the struggle of PKK guerrillas in South Kurdistan and the TV station’s attacks on the gains of Kurdish forces in Rojava, adding that Rudaw TV supported AKP in the elections in North Kurdistan by broadcasting against HDP.

KCK lastly called on Rudaw TV to remain loyal to the gains and values of Kurdish people and to review its broadcasting policy in order to renew it in defense of Kurdish people’s liberation and national unity.


Nechirvan Barzani’s association with media corruption … the Rudaw Company as an example
Written on June 4, 2012 by Editor in Journalism, KRG, Kurd news
Kamal Chomani

By Kamal Chomani:

Financial corruption is a web-like network covering all corners of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and governmental institutions. Another, less discussed, kind of corruption is media corruption. Surprisingly, the partisan and shadow media are getting huge monthly budgets although they serve only the will of political parties, not the nation.

In Southern Kurdistan, there are four different types of media with different strategies and policies. The first is the partisan media: Almost all political parties possess theirs, especially the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), which both own huge mass media outlets. The second is the opposition media, owned by opposition parties, such as the Wusha Company of the Change Movement. The third is the private media, which comprise Awene Newspaper, Hawlati Newspaper, Lvin Magazine and a few others. The fourth is the shadow media which are affiliated to either the KDP or PUK.

The KDP and PUK have dozens of media outlets, including satellite TV stations, newspapers, news agencies, magazines, websites and so on. Apart from their mouthpiece, partisan media, the two ruling parties have founded a new variant: the shadow media. Basically, the shadow media are either affiliated to the KDP or the PUK but they define themselves as ‘private’.

The partisan media’s role is to provide untrue stories and even brainwash people’s minds. Meantime, the shadow media works to weaken the private media’s discourse on one hand, while attacking opponents of the party they are affiliated to on the other. In fact, the shadow media is the more dangerous because they work behind masks. Although the private media has tried to unveil these masks, the shadow media are still working hard to mislead the public and give their audiences fake information.

The Rudaw Company is one of the shadow media companies affiliated to the KDP or, more precisely, to Nechirvan Barzani, the KDP’s deputy president and the current Premier. This company is one of the biggest, and the recent allegations about it getting 30 million dollars from oil revenues for a new TV station, prompts me to write about it.

Rudaw owns a weekly newspaper in Sorani which has a circulation of 3,000 per issue; a website in two languages, Kurdish (Sorani and Kurmanci) and English; a Kurmanci version of the newspaper which is published in Europe; and a satellite TV station which is going to start broacasting in the coming months.

Rudaw has a huge budget from the government, more than any other media company. According to different sources, before the foundation of the TV station, it had more than 65 million Iraqi Dinars, aside from the money it gets from Nechirvan Barzani himself. This budget doesn’t include other funds from different party sources. The company has enjoyed this budget since its foundation. Surprisingly, when the PUK’s Dr Barham Salih was on his two year term of premiership, he cut the budget of many media outlets, but he couldn’t cut even a penny from the Rudaw Company, even though it opposed almost everything he did.

In Iraqi Kurdistan, almost all senior KDP and PUK politicians have their own media outlets to attack their opponents. The strange thing is that all such outlets get funded by the government. The circulation of such media outlets has never overtaken the private media. At the same time, the private media have faced all kinds of difficulties, even the deaths of two young journalists. The private media has worked hard to fight against corruption and support freedom and freedom of speech and democracy.

Recently, a source very close to the Change Movement told me that, during his visit to Nawsherwan Mustafa, the leader of that movement, Ashti Hawrami, the KRG Minister for Natural Resources, told him that the new Rudaw TV station has got 30,000,000 USD from oil revenues. I have met with denials about this claim, but there is a big question about where Rudaw has got the money from to found a TV station which simply needs millions of dollars!

The allegation became more doubtful when Nechirvan Barzani, PM, denied it in response to a question raised by Hawlati Newspaper in its last interview with him.

Barzani told Hawlati: “This project has not enjoyed any help with oil and government money.”

But the big question is: With what money has Nechirvan Barzani funded this project?

Barzani told Hawlati that the era of the shadow media is over. So he confirmed that such media has existed and they have been given money from the public budget. Now he has understood that this budget should be cut.

Another big question is: Where does Rudaw get its huge funding from?

I should quote the founder of Rudaw, in one of his interviews following his resignation, to reveal more about the company’s corruption.

Noreldin Waisy, the publisher and founder of Rudaw, resigned more than a year ago over allegations of corruption and interference by the KDP and Nechirvan Barzani’s office into Rudaw’s operations. In an interview with Hawlati newspaper, Waisy revealed that Rudaw belongs to Nechirvan Barzani, and that he sometimes gives orders to the editor of Rudaw, Ako Muhammed, to publish certain articles favoring himself and his KDP party.

Waisy accused Ako Muhammad, the editor of Rudaw, of keeping the monthly budget of Rudaw newspaper – which is around 100 thousand US dollars – at his home. Muhammad has also been accused by Rudaw’s founder , and by many other Kurdish media outlets, of receiving three pieces of lands in Erbil from the KDP and of drawing a monthly teacher’s salary, even though he has not taught for more than 10 years.

While the Change Movement is criticizing the two ruling parties and the KRG over corruption, surprisingly some high-profile Change MPs, such as Adnan Osamn, are regularly writing for Rudaw. In addition, eyebrows have been raised at the fact that some well-respected foreign, American and European, writers and personalities – such as the British Counsular General in Kurdistan Mr. Chris Bowers, the British MP Gary Kent and the American writer David Romano – write weekly columns for Rudaw. It seems they are not aware of the huge corruption scandal concerning the company. I am not against writing for Rudaw, but these people often write against corruption: If shadow media is not a huge corruption, what is?

Since, as I have already quoted, Nechirvan Barzani has recently denied that Rudaw received $30 million in funding from oil revenues, we should be told how the TV station is going to provide the money for the salaries of its staff which are incomparable to the other media outlets in Kurdistan.

The shadow and the partisan media budgets should be cut completely. This is a clear corruption and an unjustifiable waste of the public budget. These kinds of media are only seen in authoritarian countries. The shadow media and partisan media are two devils in society. We should put an end to them, without question, if we want to develop our democracy and media.

Copyright © 2012 Kurdistantribune.com

[John Dolva]

Erdoğan's war plans, the people's resistance and the fight against ISIS---What the US media isn't saying

We want to bring readers up to date on the progress of the liberation movements throughout the region. This will be a report on some new developments which have occurred over the last several days.

A report on National Public Radio today got it wrong again in saying that the Kurds in "northern Syria"---they seem incapable of saying "Rojava" but they always present "the Kurds" as anonymous actors---have liberated regions from ISIS after receiving help from the US and by spinning the conflicts as being about oil. The revolution in Rojava is a people's revolution and ISIS is the fascist reaction to that revolution and the possibility of real revolution elsewhere as well. We want to emphasize in this post what the people are doing in the anti-ISIS struggle and provide some context for this struggle and the war danger created by the Turkish government that the US media refuses to provide.

Hesekê

Hesekê has still not gotten much attention in the US media and the dominant narrative has been that the ISIS attack on Hesekê is aimed primarily at Syrian regime forces. The narrative has some truth to it but it does not help us understand what the regime forces are doing there in the first place and does not properly connect the ISIS attack as a countering move as Rojava's heroic People's/Women's Defense Forces (YPG/YPJ) continue their advance with other allied forces on Cerablus and Raqqa.

Raqqa is the regional ISIS capital and Cerablus/Jarābulus has been near the center of debate and action this week in Turkey as the lame duck Turkish government has threatened military action and attacks which might focus on Rojava, Cerablus/Jarābulus and Aleppo. In any case, ISIS is aiming at Hesekê much as they aimed at Mosul, but YPG/YPJ has so far prevented their advance there and their advance on Raqqa continues.

Hesekê is the biggest city in Rojava and is home to Assyrians from Mosul and Mardin, the descendants of Armenians who escaped the Armenian Genocide and Arabs who settled in the city as part of the Syrian regime's Arab Belt policies. Kezwan Mountain to the southeast and Kew Kep Hill to the east of Hesekê serve as natural walls protecting Cizîrê canton. The Hool district to the south and the Şeddadê district to the east have the richest oil reserves of the canton and are currently under ISIS occupation. We have done a poor job on this blog of explaining these demographics.

The YPG/YPJ-led Commander Rubar Qamışlo Initiative is the so-far-successful vanguard attack on ISIS in area, carried out in two distinct phases, while additional operations have been mounted since the recent ISIS assaults on Kobane. Turkish media and the Turkish Intelligence Agency (MIT)---and some US media as well--were quick to pick up false stories from Arab media saying that these operations are “looting and ethnic cleansing” operations. This media attack has been brought forward in order to detract from the recent YPG/J liberation of Girê Spî/Tal Abyad, to enable ISIS to mobilize Arab people in the region against the liberation movement and to get Turkey off the hook for its apparent cooperation or negligence in the recent attack on Kobane. In a roundabout way, the liberation movement argues, the Syrian regime’s sectarian policies have contributed to this ISIS effort as the transfer of Alevis from Hesekê to Lazkiye enabled ISIS to mobilize Arabs in Hesekê.

The Syrian regime mobilized the anti-Kurdish Mugannains organization in the early days of Rojava's revolution as a counter-revolutionary force. They have most recently attacked attacked civilians in neighborhoods under YPG/YPJ control and the Asayiş (Security) post in Xışman, killing 8 Asayiş forces there. They also drove the Kurds in the Eziziyê neighborhood to leave their homes and have worked with some success to deepen the Alevi-Sunni divide in Syria. Mugannains was initially led by Iran-affiliated Ahmet Helle but switched sides last month after ISIS took some of the territory Mugannains was holding.

YPG/YPJ forces created a defense circle which both protected Kurdish neighborhoods and stopped the ISIS advance and then took the initiative which allowed them to take back the Eziziyê neighborhood and strategic areas important to ISIS. For instance, YPG/YPJ fighters now control the road to the oil rich city of Hool after liberating Maruf and Hamra villages. Some Arab and Assyrian people managed to go to Rojava's Cizirê canton with the help of this defense circle. We have tried to highlight on this blog some of the challenges and opportunities the liberation movement has in dealing with Arab populations.

The Syrian regime has largely abandoned Hesekê during this critical period so now the YPG/YPJ fighters seem to be the only force there that can defend all of the peoples there and in the rest of Rojava. The US military announced that an ISIS commander (emir) by the name of Tariq El-Herzî was killed in a bombing in the town of Şedad in Hesekê on June 16. Tariq El-Herzi was assigned by ISIS to work on ISIS financial and military responsibilities and on transferring ammunition from Libya to Syria.

Shengal/Sinjar

The Sinjar Resistance Forces (YBS) and the People's Defence Forces (Hêzên Parastina Gel, most often thought of as the Kurdistan Worker's Party, or PKK) announced that 13 ISIS gangs were killed during the clashes in Shengal yesterday and today. YBŞ Commander Agit, who we have said much of in past posts on this blog, fell as a martyr during an operation today.

The HPG Shengal Command and YBŞ General Command made a joint statement today saying that HPG-YJA Star guerillas (YJA Star, or the Free Women’s Troops) carried out an operation in the Xeyr Nasır neighborhood yesterday and killed 6 ISIS gang fighters there and later assassinated another ISIS fighter. The YBŞ fighters hit an ISIS base on a hill in Geliye Şilo last night and killed 6 ISIS gang fighters. Large amounts of guns and ammunition were seized during this attack and it was here that YBŞ Commander Agit fell as a martyr.

The HPG-YBŞ statement also reported that US-led anti-ISIS coalition planes bombed the Xeyr Nasır neighborhood four times and the Seraya neighborhood once yesterday.

Meanwhile, Êzîdîs from the tent cities organized by the Batman, Mardin and Amed municipalities returned to their tents after not being allowed to cross over to Bulgaria through the Edirne Border Gate. Some of the Êzîdî refugees who rejected the possibility of going to the Turkish state sponsored camps were threatened with deportation.

The Êzîdîs want to return to their old camps and say that they tried to see if they could cross to Europe. They acknowledged municipal workers’ warnings about the risks of their crossing attempt and said that the aid they receive from South Kurdistan would be cut off if they publicized the real reason behind their decision to go to the Bulgarian border. The Êzîdîs also acknowledged the help they have been receiving from the Kurdish Freedom Movement and added that they would only return to Shengal if the town is liberated from ISIS gangs and the system of autonomy is established in the city. The question of emigrating to Europe has been a hard and divisive issue for the Êzîdîs and it will not be resolved soon. There is friction in the community, and occasional friction between the Êzîdîs and those in solidarity with them, when this question comes up.

Some Êzîdîs certainly support the guerrilla movement and they told alternative media recently that “The presence of the guerrillas is the only reason and hope for us to live in the mountains and not leaving Shengal for 10 months.” The savage ISIS attack on Shengal/Sinjar on August 3, 2014 has unalterably disrupted the people's lives and upset the region as well. We refer to Shengal as part of South Kurdistan and frequently get criticism for doing this. We believe that US intervention in the fighting in Shengal came too late and was too little, but US forces learned a lesson when they arrived on the scene and found the HPG in charge and the peshmerga from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in retreat. We have taken the position that Shengal should have some degree of negotiated democratic autonomy, either within south Kurdistan or under other means.

“Guerrillas are the only reason why we are here...We fled the massacre to the highest mountain of Shengal because we learned that the guerrillas were there to defend us. We wouldn’t stay here for one minute even if they weren’t in Shengal. HPG and YJA Star guerrillas are the single defense force of ours...We fled the massacre to the highest mountain of Shengal because we learned that the guerrillas were there to defend us. We wouldn’t stay here for one minute even if they weren’t in Shengal. HPG and YJA Star guerrillas are the single defense force of ours.”” one Êzîdî person living in the Mount Çilmêran, the highest mountain in Shengal, told alternative media. This is an area firmly held by the guerrilla movement and a center of the people's resistance.

Bezê Hecî, who is continuing her life under challenging circumstances on Shengal mountain with 7 of her children after 2 sons of hers were abducted by ISIS, told alternative media that she is living with the hope that the guerrillas will lead Êzîdîs to their liberation. “When the massacre took place, we were in the village of Solak. Upon raiding the village, ISIS gangs abducted our children and took our arms and everything we had. We could hardly survive and flee to the mountain...They (the guerrillas) did everything for us. They rescued our children, brought us food and water. And now they are ensuring the safety of the Êzîdî people living here.”

Another local person told alternative media that "When the massacre was carried out, guerrillas came to Shengal and defended us. They carried the elderly on their backs to the mountain. They have been defending us, the people, in the mount Çilmêran where we have been living together with them since the massacre.”

The Medya Defense Zones

The Turkish government is assisting ISIS and other counter-revolutionary forces by pressuring the liberated Medya Defense Zones with reconnaissance flights, heavy helicopter activity and by hitting the region with heavy artillery fire as well. This has gone on over this weekend. Iranian military aircraft are also carrying out reconnaissance flights over the Kandil region of the Medya Defense Zones. This increasing military activity, which even involved military shipments being run from Amed/Diyarbakır to Batman this weekend, shows the disdain of the government for the peace or resolution process being attempted by the Kurdish freedom movement and leaders of the People's Democratic Party (HDP).

Kobanê

The Women's Defense Forces (YPJ) Kobanê Commander Engizek Nurhak, one of the fighters organizing Kobanê Martyrs Revenge Initiative which began on July 1, has told the ANF news service that they are near the entrance of Sırrin and that clashes around the town are continuing. The YPG/J fighters have reached a hill on the outskirts of Sırrin and can now see the town. She also said that the Initiative is continuing successfully and that the YPG/YPJ spirit for revenge for the recent ISIS attacks on Kobanê will crush the ISIS gangs. Engizek Nurhak also called on people to organize self-defense forces.

There is a particular need now for people in Kobanê canton to organize for their self-defense even if they do not join the YPG or YPJ. Engizek Nurhak asked the people to protect their homes and streets so that YPG/YPJ fighters can better meet ISIS attacks on the population.

Commander Nurhak told ANF that that they launched the initiative on three different fronts after the liberation of Kobanê city center and said that the initiative aimed to expel the ISIS gangs and reach the borders which previously defined Kobanê canton. She recalled for ANF the brutal and cowardly massacre that the ISIS gangs carried out in Kobanê and said that this massacre shows how great the danger of ISIS is to the civilians who live in and around Kobanê.

Engizek Nurhak stated that the initiative took on a new meaning after the massacre and that they aim to liberate Sırrin from the ISIS gangs and avenge the massacre of civilians in Kobanê. The YPG/J are determined to bring the ISIS gangs to account for the massacre they carried out and all YPG/YPJ fighters were eager to join the Sırrin initiative. Many YPG/YPJ fighters volunteered to carry out acts of self-sacrifice but such sacrifices are not necessary at the moment.

The YPJ Commander said that the initiative continued with great morale and enthusiasm and that both the commanders and the fighters feel angry. She said that only a few fighters have been injured and there have not been any casualties so far but that more than 40 ISIS gang members have been killed. Large amounts of guns and ammunition have been taken from ISIS as the gangs continue to receive heavy blows. Many villages around Sırrin have been liberated in this way.

Commander Nurhak emphasized that their main goal is to expel the ISIS gangs from Sırrin, which was used as an attack base during the ISIS assault on Kobanê. One of the groups that carried out the Kobanê massacre infiltrated from Sırrin and the liberation of the town will help prevent future massacre attempts. She said that they will go all of the way to Raqqa if necessary in their efforts to expell ISIS gangs and create a democratic Syria. She emphasized that the YPG/J forces are ready to fight not only for Kurdistan but also for peoples everywhere who are under ISIS occupation. The YPJ fighters and commanders play an active role here just as they did during the resistance in Kobanê, with the YPJ and YPG participating in the initiative with equal numbers of attack and operation forces.

Engizek Nurhak emphasized that ISIS attacks target women and that the majority of the casualties in the recent Kobanê massacre were women. She stated that ISIS gangs did this on purpose and that the YPJ initiative will avenge every women massacred in Kobanê.

Some notes on context

The lame duck Turkish government continues to see the Kurds as a threat to Turkey's security, or says so, and would clearly rather deal with ISIS on their borders than Rojava's advanced revolution. Still, the Turkish military has been reluctant to fully prepare for a military incursion into Syria. The public position has been that the military is concerned about violations of national and international law but we rather doubt that this is primary on their agendas. The possibility of an early election in Turkey is emerging in widespread public discussion and it may well be that the military favors early elections and is acting---or not acting---in order to make this happen. The military also sees the obvious difficulties in fighting an open war in Rojava and Syria and a war at home as well. The military also has a short-term interest in watching the ISIS-Syrian regime clashes in Jarablus and Idlib, southwest of Aleppo, and acting to stop the liberation movement from joining that fight---another sign that the Turkish government supports ISIS, or that factions in the government might support ISIS but differ as to why and how the government should do so.

The reactionary ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) lost their parliamentary majority with the June 7 general election and part of the overall crisis has been in forming a new government out of potential coalition partners who cannot cooperate with one another. If this confusion has given the liberation movement certain advantages while the government's hands are tied, it may also see moves from the right or from the military to stop the march of democratic progress in Turkey. The first targets would be the Kurdish freedom movement and the People's Democratic Party (HDP). In the long run, almost any moves in this direction helps ISIS.

The dominant thinking in the liberal/social democratic Republican People's Party (CHP) seems to be that early elections help the AKP and that talk of cross-border operations and a quick victory in such operations will give the AKP a new lease on life and a stronger hold on power. The CHP won't benefit from this, of course, and they are a party that seems to be in continual decline and crisis, but the CHP still remains the largest opposition bloc in Parliament. For now they have more questions than answers. It seems to us that there is shared opposition among the parties represented in Parliament to Turkish war plans but that there is no center to this opposition while negotiations for a new coalition government are underway. The CHP is not capable of being that needed center.

The government's idea of a "safe zone" in the north of Syria directly threatens Rojava's revolution and Syria and seems likely to provoke Iran and Russia. The international anti-ISIS coalition, led by the US, now seems unlikely to support this, but we have wondered if the above-mentioned NPR report today was not a first attempt by forces within the US government to prepare us for an arrangement or agreement with ISIS at the expense of Rojava's revolution and as a way of short circuiting Turkish moves.

There is already significant liberal support in the US for a no-fly zone and US support for either a safe zone under coalition control or an agreement of some kind with ISIS could build on that. US-based think tanks like The Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Gatestone Institute seem busy enough pushing their policy papers and forecasts. On the other hand, US Air Force General John W. Hesterman, commander of the center of operations for the air campaign against ISIS, recently said that 15,675 flights have been conducted since the beginning of the airstrike campaign, 4423 bombing missions have been carried out and these missions have killed about 8000 ISIS fighters.

For that matter, Masrour Barzani, who heads the intelligence services of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), has told Al-Monitor that "They (Turkey) should be doing a lot more than they are doing now. They are members of NATO, so they have to work out a system with the rest of the coalition members of how Turkey can best contribute. We are concerned by the deteriorating situation in Syria but also by the deterioration in the Kurdish peace process in Turkey. What we would love to see happen is for (IS) to be defeated and for the peace process to be expedited so that we can once and for all solve this problem of the Turks and Kurds inside Turkey...I think that the Turks should be more concerned about having (IS) on the borders of Turkey. Indeed, Turkish reaction to this should be one of relief that Kurds, as friends of the Turks, are controlling the border rather than (IS), which is the enemy of the entire world." But he also goes on to voice antipathy towards the liberation movement, threatening both the Kurdistan Worker's Party and Rojava's Democratic Union Party (PYD), and inserting his own party and government into the picture. When he says that Kurdish independence would help defeat ISIS he is not so much challenging Turkey as he is taking the line of the clique now running the KRG in advance of elections there.

Turkey's President Erdoğan and his National Security Council (MGK) continues to say that supposed efforts by the liberation movement intending to "change the demographic structure of northern Syria" will provoke Turkish military intervention. The repetition of this phrase, or phrases like it, in the international media, distort reality. The intended effect is to attack and then isolate Rojava's PYD and, by extension, the mass Democratic Society Movement (TEV-DEM). All talk of ethnic cleansing and of the liberation movement and the PYD forcing Turkmens and Arabs to leave their homes in an effort to settle more Kurds there only confuses things further with false accusations.

Erdoğan is now going further by offering that a new minority government could not address Turkey's "serious" problems. He claims that he wants a government which represents the majority in Parliament to form as soon as possible but he also says that a new government must be powerful enough to address those problems. "I do not think that a minority government would have such a power," he said this weekend. "The nation expressed its decision on June 7. If a government does not emerge from this picture, the solution is again the nation. If Parliament cannot solve this, the nation will. Nobody should hesitate to go to polls." He wants early elections and the debate seems to be over how he can get to that point. If the path is through invasion and war we will all pay a bitter price for his desire to hold on to and increase his presidential powers. Turkey's constitution allows him to call a snap election after giving a mandate to party leaders to form a government if the efforts in this direction fail within 45 days. Erdoğan got a stronger hand with the election of an AKP deputy to the post of parliamentary speaker and the clock is ticking. The fascist/ultra-nationalist Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) bears much responsibility for the election of the AKP's parliamentary speaker by casting blank ballots in the vote.

At the level of the social movements and the people's armed struggle we see the Roboski families opposing the military operations initiated by the Turkish army in and around Roboski, the women's statement for peace which we discussed on this blog yesterday, international solidarity efforts and the YPG/J continuing to move forward and redefine the situation.

YPG Kobanê Commander Cemil Mazlum is saying that documents they seized from ISIS include plans for the recent ISIS massacre and attack on Kobanê and prove that one of the attack groups came from Turkey. He said that their investigation is continuing but that their initial findings are that the Turkish state carried out part of the attack.

Cemil Mazlum has said that the Turkish state is planning invade Rojava because it is afraid of Rojava’s unification as well as the bonds that the YPG/YPJ is building with Turkmen people.

"The goal of the attack was to target the gains of Kurdish people and prevent the new model we are setting up in Kobanê and Rojava. They carried out the attack when many Kobanê residents were returning to their homes from Turkey, they wanted to prevent people’s return. Another dimension of the attack is the fear and desperation of ISIS gangs, which is a result of their recent losses and enables them to carry out any type of dirty war method," he told alternative media.

When asked to comment on the role of the Turkish state, Cemil Mazlum said, "According to our findings, the Turkish state gave substantial support. Eighty-four ISIS gangs attacked Kobanê and the documents we seized indicate that one attacking group infiltrated from Turkey. The two ISIS gangs we caught...also gave us information that confirms this finding...The documents include the plan of the attack and information on which roads the gangs were planning to use before and after the massacre. The plans show that one group infiltrated from Turkey and another came from Sirîn. A reinforcement group from Cerablus was to attack through Qarakozak, so the Cerablus line that the Turkish state discusses was used for the attack of two ISIS groups."

The YPG Kobanê Commander also said, "We received intelligence that some members of the Ebu İsa group from the FSA (Free Syrian Army) provided the attackers with support and information. We are trying to uncover the details of this support and we will share the information we receive with the public." It is helpful to remember that the Turkish government supports particular factions within the FSA, as does the YPG/J, so the possibility of a widened proxy war manipulated by Turkey should not be put aside.

Commander Mazlum also said, "After recent YPG/YPJ successes, the Turkish state fears that the ISIS gangs in Cerablus, Ezaz, Minbic and Bab would be expelled. The Turkish state is upset because of the unification of Rojava and the gains of Kurdish people. Another source of fear is the bond of sisterhood we build with Turkmen people all the way from Cerablus to Efrin. The Turkish state rushes to invade because of such fears, but everyone knows what their invasion means and how it would be responded. We will do all that is necessary for protecting the peoples of Syria from ISIS brutality and liberating our people."

Two more points must be mentioned here.

First, the European Parliament conference on the reconstruction of Kobanê, which we posted about here yesterday, involved more than 40 local and international civil society organizations and political groups and that effort is off to a strong start. The opening of an aid corridor has become a priority for reconstruction and this goes very much against the wave of Turkish plans whether they come from the state or the military. All political groups and many of the NGOS in the European Union and European Parliament have by now either demanded or requested the opening of a corridor.

Readers of this blog may remember that we often published appeals for a corridor at a time last year when the ISIS attack on Kobanê was at its highest points. Important forces in the liberation movement often said that the demand for a corridor was unrealistic past a certain point. At this current moment the European Commission’s Directorate for Human Affairs and the Kobanê administration are moving to partner and so new diplomatic action favoring Kobanê becomes possible and the demand for a corridor takes on new importance.

The conference has raised hopes that hospitals, schools, academies, women’s houses, playgrounds, ecologic sites, cinemas, durable infrastructure, neighborhood kitchens and cultural and artistic institutions can be built, but the first problem is overcoming Turkish obstruction and objections. France seems best situated to move ahead in this effort.

We think that the matter of the fires in and around Kobanê which are destroying so much farmland and the olive trees there are an immediate problem that shows the immediate need for a corridor. Kobanê is certainly viable as a producer of olives, lentils, wheat and barley but this can be destroyed if the fires continued unabated.

Second, YPG/YPJ fighters participating in the Kobanê Martyrs Revenge Initiative mentioned above called on young people to join their ranks and have stated that the ISIS gangs will pay heavily for each woman and child they massacred in the streets of Kobanê. YPG/YPJ fighters Xelil Avreş, Rubar Afrin, Aras Delila Erzurum, Birinkur Pirsus, Sadun Botan, and Zelal Dilpak told ANF news service about their thoughts and feelings on the operation.The following quoytes come from an ANF story:

Xelil Avreş: "I have participated in the initiative since its beginning. ISIS gangs use civilians as human shields in every location we attack. We use extreme precaution in order to not harm civilians and continue to inflict heavy blows on the gangs. Our initiative continues with great morale and enthusiasm; as YPG/YPJ fighters we are determined. Of course the attacks and massacres targeting our people upset us deeply, but we are determined to protect our people and inflict blows on the enemy. We fight for our people and the morale and trust they will enable us to continue our resistance.

Rubar Afrin: "I have been in Kobanê since the beginning of the war here and I participated in this initiative with great morale and enthusiasm. We inflicted heavy blows on the gangs and our advance continues rapidly. We seized large amounts of ammunition and killed many gang members. YPG/YPJ will be after ISIS everywhere and this initiative will prevent other massacre attempts in Kobanê. We do not view our initiative as a mere act of revenge but as an effort to ensure the peace and security of our people in Kobanê. We will succeed."

Zelal Dilpak: "I am from Kobanê. This initiative aims to bring ISIS gangs to account for their massacre in Kobanê, which we will never forget. Gangs will pay for every one of their murders and we are fully prepared to prevent future massacre attempts. Our morale is high and I am very happy to participate in this revenge initiative, just like every other fighter here. Our morale is high and we go to our operations with slogans and folk dances. I would like to say this to women: women have shown their will during the Kobanê resistance. They can now join our ranks and help repel the gangs’ massacre attempts on Kobanê. ISIS targets women the most and as women, we should resist the gangs and defend ourselves in order to prevent future massacre attempts."

Sadun Botan: "I have been in the Sirrin initiative since its beginning. We liberated many villages and the gangs cannot resist us. They try to escape but they will not be able to do so. We will chase the gangs wherever they go and avenge the death of every woman and child they massacred in the streets of Kobanê. We will make ISIS pay heavily, and of course our initiative aims to liberate Sirrin from the gangs."

Birinkur Pirsus: "Anger and determination are the most important components of this initiative. With the anger towards the massacre in Kobanê, we advanced rapidly in two days. Gangs do not have the chance to escape us, they will not save themselves no matter where they escape. They use civilians as human shields in every village we enter and we punish the gangs without harming a single civilian. They will not hold on to Sirrin and we will turn every gang location into a grave. People of Kurdistan should strive towards the freedom of all four parts of the country and the invigoration of our Leader’s philosophy. Young people should join our ranks and we must continue our resistance because we will not be free until the invigoration of our Leadership’s philosophy."

Aras Delila Erzurum: "I participated in this initiative with my own will and determination. I participated in order to avenge the massacre of every woman and man in Kobanê. This operation means a lot to us, we will revenge everyone who was massacred in Kobanê. Our people can be at peace, we will take every necessary precaution and avenge the death of every civilian in Kobanê."