Syrian Civil War 2011-2012 - Societa italiana di storia militare

Background Further information: 2004 Al-Qamishli riots, Kurds in Syria, and Human rights in Syria Anti-government sentiment
was present among the Kurdish population for a long time. The Syrian government does not officially acknowledge the existence of
Kurds in Syria and all Kurds were stripped of the citizenship, instead being registered as foreigners. Kurdish language and culture was
suppressed as well. However the government attempted to rectify this in 2011 by granting all Kurds citizenship, but only an estimated
6,000 out of 150,000 stateless Kurds have been given nationality and most discriminatory regulations, including banning the teaching
of Kurdish, are still on the books. [4] Kurds have participated in the Syrian civil war uprising in smaller numbers than their Syrian Arab
counterparts. This has been explained as being due to the Turkish endorsement of the opposition, and Kurd underrepresentation in the
Syrian National Council. [5] "The regime tried to neutralize Kurds," said Hassan Saleh, leader of the Kurdish Yekiti Party. "In the
Kurdish areas, people are not being repressed like the Arab areas. But activists are being arrested." [6] According to Ariel Zirulnick of
the Christian Science Monitor, the Assad government "has successfully convinced many of Syria’s Kurds and Christians that without
the iron grip of a leader sympathetic to the threats posed to minorities, they might meet the same fate" as minorities in Lebanon and
Iraq. [7] Kurds make up about eight percent of Syria’s 22.5 million people. The government considers the northeast of the country
where many Kurds live strategically important, because it contains most of the country’s limited oil supplies. [8] The National
Movement of Kurdish Parties in Syria, which consists of Syria's 12 Kurdish parties, boycotted a Syrian opposition summit in Antalya,
Turkey on 31 May, stating that "any such meeting held in Turkey can only be a detriment to the Kurds in Syria, because Turkey is
against the aspirations of the Kurds, not just with regards to northern Kurdistan, but in all four parts of Kurdistan, including the
Kurdish region of Syria." Kurdish Leftist Party representative Saleh Kado stated that "we, the Kurds in Syria, do not trust Turkey or
its policies, and that is why we have decided to boycott the summit." [9] During the August summit in Istanbul, which led to the
creation of the Syrian National Council, only two of the parties in the National Movement of Kurdish Parties in Syria, the Kurdish
Union Party and the Kurdish Freedom Party, attended the summit. Kurdish leader Shelal Gado stated the reason they did not
participate was that "Turkey is against the Kurds … in all parts of the world," and that "If Turkey doesn’t give rights to its 25 million
Kurds, how can it defend the rights of the Syrian people and the Kurds there?" Abdulbaqi Yusuf, representing the Kurdish Freedom
Party, however, stated that his party felt no Turkish pressure during the meeting and participated to represent Kurdish demands. [10]
Democratic Union Party (PYD) chairman Salih Muslim Muhammad said that the lack of participation is due a tactical decision,
explaining that: "There is a de facto truce between the Kurds and the government. The security forces are overstretched over Syria's
Arab provinces to face demonstrators, and cannot afford the opening of a second front in Syrian Kurdistan. On our side, we need the
army to stay away. Our party is busy establishing organizations, committees, able to take over from the Ba'ath administration the
moment the regime collapses." [11] Senior Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) leader Cemil Bayik stated that if Turkey were to intervene
against Assad, the PKK would fight on the Syrian side. The PKK's Syrian branch is alleged to be involved in the targeting of Kurds
participating in the uprising. [12] Murat Karayılan, the PKK's number one in command has threatened to turn all Kurdish populated
areas in Turkey into a war-zone if Turkish forces were to enter Syria. [13] As of 10 March 2012, 40 or approximately 0.38% of the
10,553 casualties during the Syrian uprising had occurred in the primarily Kurdish Al-Hasakah Governorate, [14] although the
Governorate is home to nearly 7% of Syria's population. [15] On 10 June 2012, the Syrian National Council, a major opposition group,
announced Abdulbaset Sieda, an ethnic Kurd, as their new leader. [16] On 7 October, prominent Kurdish rights activist Mishaal al-
Tammo was assassinated when masked gunmen burst into his flat, with the Syrian government blamed for his death. At least 20 other
civilians were also killed during crackdowns on demonstrations across the country. [17]
Campaign Anti-government protests had been ongoing in the Kurdish inhabited areas of Syria since March 2011, as part of the wider
2011–2012 Syrian uprising, but clashes started after the opposition Kurdish Democratic Union Party and Kurdish National Council
signed a seven-point treaty on 11 June 2012 in Erbil, under auspice of the Iraqi Kurdistan president Massoud Barzani. This agreement,
however, failed to be implemented and so a new cooperation agreement between the two sides was signed on 12 July which saw
creation of Kurdish Supreme Committee as a governing Kurdish body of all Kurdish-controlled territories. [18][19][20] The newly created
Popular Protection Units (YPG) stormed the city of Ayn al-Arab (Kurdish: Kobanê) on 19 July, followed by the capture of Amuda
(Kurdish: Amûdê) and Efrîn (Kurdish: Efrîn) on 20 July. [21] The KNC and PYD afterwards formed a joint leadership to run the
captured cities. All cities fell without any major clashes, as Syrian security forces withdrew without any major resistance. [21] YPG
forces pressed the momentun on 21 July as well and reportedly captured Al-Malikiyah (Kurdish: Dêrika Hemko), which is located just
10 kilometers from the Turkish border. [22] Although another report stated that fighting was ongoing in the city. The rebels were also
intending to capture Qamishli, the largest of the Kurdish cities. [23] The Syrian Government attacked a patrol of Kurdish YPG members
and wounded one on 21 July, [24] and on 22 July, it was reported that Kurdish forces were still fighting for Al-Malikiyah (Kurdish:
Dêrika Hemko) where one young Kurdish activist was killed after government security forces opened fire on protesters. YPG forces
also took control over the towns of Ra's al-'Ayn (Kurdish: Serê Kaniyê) and Al-Darbasiyah (Kurdish: Dirbêsî), after the security and
political units withdrew from these areas, following an ultimatum issued by the Kurds. In the biggest Kurdish-inhabited city,
Qamishli, clashes erupted between YPG and government forces in which one Kurdish fighter was killed and two were wounded along
with one government official. [25] On 23 July, a report indicated that the ease with which Kurdish forces captured the towns and the
government troops pulled back was due to the government reaching an agreement with the Kurds so military forces from the area
could be freed up to engage rebels in the rest of the country. [26] On 24 July, PYD announced that Syrian security forces withdrew from
the small Kurdish city of 16,000 Al-Ma'bada (Kurdish: Girkê Legê), located between Al-Malikiyah and Turkish borders. YPG forces
afterwards took control of all government institutions. [27]