From the Heart of Kurdistan Region - Kurdish Globe

TheKurdishGlobe No. 370, Tuesday, October 02, 2012 12TheKurdishGlobe No. 370, Tuesday, October 02, 2012 13With their time to shine, SyrianKurds must seize the momentBy Bashdar Pusho IsmaeelBattle of Words betweenAKP and BDP: One fact, TwoIncompatible PerceptionsMany observers often describethe Syrian Kurds assitting on the fence in theSyrian conflict, waiting on aclear outcome before choosingsides. It may be true thatKurds have not necessarilytaken a more natural anti-Assad position but this ismore to do with the politicalclimate and strategic ploysthan any adoration of theregime.If Sunni’s feel that theyhave got a raw deal underthe current dictatorshipthen how must the largelyrepressed and disenfranchisedKurds feel?This makes it all the moreironic that Kurds continueto remain divided and areslow in taking measures thatnecessitate decisiveness tocapitalise on the historicalopportunities on the table.It also says much abouthow the Kurds view the predominantlySunni Arab nationalistFree Syrian Army(FSA) or Syrian NationalCouncil (SNC) when manypresidewith the mentalityof“better the devil you know”due to their lack of convictionfor a new Syria.Then there is the Turkishconnection. Clearly, a lot ofSyrian Kurds look at boththe SNC and Turkey withsuspicion. The PKK has afirm fan base amongst SyrianKurds and coupled withTurkey’s track record withtheir own restive Kurdishpopulation, they remainsceptical that the autonomyor rights they demandwould be enshrined in anew Syria.Coming off the fenceSometimes if you sit onthe fence for too long waitingto make your move, thefence may break forcingyou to unwillingly land onone side.The Kurds have beenwidely acknowledged asthe wild card in the struggleagainst Assad and a forcewith considerable numbersand sway that can tip thescale of revolution.However, the Kurds havebeen too disparate, at timestoo slow, spending muchtime quarrelling amongstone another and lackingclear leadership.There are only 2 millionor so Kurds in Syria, yetdozens of political parties.The Erbil agreement in Julythat brought the DemocraticUnion Party (PYD) and theKurdish National Councilof Syria (KNCS) togetherunder the stewardship ofKurdistan President MassaudBarzani was morethan a welcome step, butit remains brittle, inconsistent,unbalanced in itsimplementation and lackinga real nationalistfeel.A cloud still remains onthe PYD and with its powerfulsupport base and responsibilityas the only realarmed group, it must workon enhancing the Kurdishcause in Syria and becominga real nationalisticon.However, it still remainsshrouded under the shadowof the PKK and has hardlytaking the bulls by the hornsagainst Assad.It must not be forgotten,that the Kurdish populationin Syria is far by the smallestamongst the four majorparts of Kurdistan. Nationalismnever really had firmroots in terms of a definitivemovement, Kurdish inhibitedareas are much moregeographically spread-out,and more importantly theKurds do not have internationalor regional supportfor their own autonomousentity let alone from SunniArabs.The Kurdish struggle inSyria must for now be disconnectedfrom Kurdishstruggles elsewhere. Kurdishgroups and the PYD inparticular should deviateaway from too much focuson Turkey or the PKKstruggle that resides there.This is a historical momentfor Syrian Kurds and all energiesmust be channelledto overcome constraints andwithin nationalist goals andnot narrow minded partypolitics.Ousting or workingwith the regime?The Kurds made headlineswhen they took historic controlof some Kurdish townsand districts in July, shortlyafter the Erbil Agreement.However, it was hardly awhirlwind revolution withan all guns blazing legacybuta largely peaceful transition.No doubt a deal was madebetween the Assad governmentand the Kurdishforces for relinquishmentof these areas. At the time,there was much talk of theKurds seizing Qamishli andother Kurdish towns butmonths later Syrian Kurdistanremains relatively quietand subdued.Assad has much to gain byworking and seceding territoryto the Kurds and thenew Kurdish administrationis as much to do with a newA Kurdish child in a pro-unity march in Syrian Kurdistan.Kurdish drive as smart manipulationby Assad.By ceding control of borderterritories to the Kurds,Damascus seeks to servera double blow to Ankara.Firstly, it creates a bufferagainst any future Turkishincursion with Kurdishfighters well positionedand secondly it creates afertilecross-border groundfor the PKK to swing thependulum in their favouragainst Turkey.Assad further continues tocreate cracks in the SNC bysplitting Kurdish sentimentand at the same the withdrawalwas calculated bythe need for Assad forcesto focus energieson thebattle against Syrian rebelsin the key economic hub ofAleppo.Finally, as a last measureand bare minimum fall backposition for Assad, an Alawiteregion or even statewould be established, withthe proviso of a Kurdishregion aiding division andestablishment of future regions.Now is the time,not the futureA lot of Kurds seem intentto save their firepowerand energy for what theydeem the real battle – onceAssad is overthrown and anew scramble for power inSyrian ensues akin to Iraq.Kurds seem convinced thatonce the FSA finish pointingtheir guns at Assad, theywill simply reposition thebarrel at the Kurds instead.While some of thesefears and concerns havesubstance, after all Sunniopposition groups well beforethe Arab Spring began,hardly supported the Kurdishcause or united withKurdish opposition groupsand remained loyal to Arabunity and nationalism thanany promotion of the Kurdishstruggle.The time for Kurds to actis now. Waiting for a clearoutcome in the battle leadsto an uncertain conclusion.If the rebels advance andbeat Assad, then the Kurdswill be backed in to an uncomfortablecorner and dilutedbargaining positionand if Assad manages tostay in power, then how canthe Kurds trust a dynastythat has seen them suffermercilesslywith thousandsnot even worthy of a citizenshipstatus.The Kurds in Syria mustunite and set aside there differencesfor the sake of theKurdish people, Kurdishnationalism and the decadesof pain and tears enduredunder dictatorial rule. Theinsistence on promotingparty based political agendawill see all Kurds fail.The Kurds do not need toPhoto PYD-Facebooktake sides with the SNC orAssad; the real side theyshould choose are the Kurdsthemselves.Now is the time to chargeinto Qamishli and oustAssad forces, followed byall Kurdish towns and citiesin Syria.The Kurdish forces, boththose loyal to the PYD andthose consisting of largelyKurdishdefectorsfrom theSyrian army under a unitedfront and can easily assumecontrol of Kurdish populationin Syrian. Assad canhardly contain one battlefront in Syria, let alonetwo.The passive Kurdishstance in AleppoMuch of the Syrian revolutionhas congregatedaround Aleppo over the pastseveral weeks. Aleppo ishome to a significant Kurdishpopulation but they haveremained largely idle. Thereare contrasting reports of anew battle field opening inthe predominantly Kurdishneighbourhood of SheikMaksoud, with some reportsclaiming that PKK affiliatedmilitiaswith leveragein the district had supportedregime forces while othersstating they had stayed outof the battle.Whilst, Kurds look at theFSA with suspicion, theKurdish support is a wildcardthat could easily tipthe war in favour of therebels. The Kurds must usethis opportunity to drive ahard bargain with the SNCand FSA in return for directsupport in ousting Assad.A continuation of passiveKurdish stance or worseresistance against Syrianrebels in Aleppo gives anundeserving hand to Assad.Syria is ablaze and willdramatically alter not onlythe political map of Syriaitself but also the whole region.Tip-toeingwithpeacefulmotions, insistence onnarrow minded party interestor sitting on the fence isakin to political suicide forthe Kurds. Having sufferedbrutallyfor decades andwaited patiently to rewritethe wrongs of history, theKurds dare not waste thishistorical opportunity.The reality of theKurdish nationand its politiciansis evaluated as acontradiction by theTurkish nation andits political ratio. Itstands out as one ofthe major barriersto a peacefulsolution to theKurdish issue.Once again heavy clasheshave intensified between theKurdistan Workers' Party(PKK) and Turkish militaryforces. Wide-ranging operationshave increased acrossthe mountainous terrain ofnorth Kurdistan, especiallyin Hakkari's Semdinli andSirnak's Beytussebap districtsas well as in rural regionsof Diyarbakir.While the fierce clashesbetween Turkish militaryforces and PKK in KurdistanMountains severely continue,it also reflects on thepolitical arena between theruling Justice and DevelopmentParty's (AKP) andthe pro-Kurdish Peace andDemocracy Party (BDP)as a political struggle and abattle of words.Lately, Turkish PrimeMinister Recep Tayyip Erdoganaddressed severalspeeches in which he harshlycriticized the BDP. Heindicated that Turkish judiciaryshould come into playand initiate a case againstsome BDP MPs for openlyshowing their sympathieswith guerillas of the PKKin Semdinli district, a provinceof Hakkari. His maingoal was to lift the parliamentaryimmunity of theseMPs, including Aysel Tuglukand Gultan Kisanak."If BDP lawmakers wantto work within the TurkishParliament, they must actwithin the framework of theConstitution and the law.Otherwise, we've alreadytold the judiciary what isBy Mehmed Sabri AkgönülPRESS PHOTOBDP and AKP representatives fighting inside the General Assembly of the Turksih Parliament in Ankara.necessary. We [the AKP]will also do what is necessaryin Parliament," Erdogansaid.Erdogan's attitudes wereevaluated by Kurdish politicalcadres as the first steptowards to dissolve of theBDP. BDP MPs respondedcritics of their meeting withPKK guerillas by sayingthey would leave the negotiationtable set for thedrafting of Turkish newconstitution. Besides, BDPvowed that if the parliamentaryimmunity of MPsis lifted it would 'return tothe people' [Sine-i Millet].In the political discourse inKurdish politics, returningto the people refers leavingTurkish Parliament andquesting the support andstrength of the Kurdishpeople.Commenting on theBDP's responses, Erdogansaid if the BDP MPs arelooking for a more comfortableplace, they can go toQandil, the mountain rangewhere most of the PKKguerillas and PKK leadersare settled. "BDP MPs aresaying they will 'return tothe people'. Do they thinkthey have any place amongthe people? They can only'return to the PKK'," headded.Also, Erdogan slammedBDP co-chair SelahattinDemirtas and described himas "co-chair of an extensionof the divisive terrorist organization"by adding thatthe BDP MPs are on a parwith PKK guerillas ("terrorists")."If Demirtas wasnot barefaced, he would goto Qandil Mountain. He isnot a representative of thisnation; how could he hastaken oath in the Parliament"Demirtas criticized PMErdogan for telling the BDPto choose between TurkishParliament and the QandilMountains. He emphasizedthe BDP is a party thatmade its choice and theyhave chosen to participatein democratic politics bysaying that "its place is inParliament, and not Qandil.There are not two choices;there is single choice aheadof us."Discussions related to 'returnto the people' are notnew in Kurdish politics.In 2009, after being closeddown of the DemocraticSociety Party (DTP) bythe Turkish ConstitutionalCourt, the representatives ofDTP had declared that theywould 'return to the people'.In those days, Kurdishnation was expectingthat DTP would not returnto the Turkish Parliamentfrom which they had beenexpelled. However, DTPfell short of this expectationand turned back to theTurkish Parliament.Actually, Erdogan's wordsagainst BDP imply, on theone hand, a reality of Kurdishnation and its politicalentities; and show, on theother hand, a contradictionaccording to Turkish nationand its political entities.BDP shares the same politicallines, goals and principleswith PKK. There isno need to be a strategicanalyst in order to realizethis association and anyoneconcerned about Kurdishpolitics may see this reality.Additionally, BDP's electoratesconsist of PKK proponentsor followers. It is acommonly known fact thata Kurdish family memberis a deputy in the Turkishparliament while the otherfamily member fights as aguerilla in Kurdistan Mountains.Furthermore, some ofthe BDP officials and mayors'children or close relativescould be a PKK guerilla.Therefore, 'return tothe people' [Sine-i Millet]is going to be still a 'returnto the PKK' [Sine-i PKK]just the because of the factthat directly or indirectlyBDP electorates have concreterelations with PKK.Attempting to insult BDPwith the phrase of 'return tothe PKK', indeed, TurkishPM draws the attention tothe truest point of Kurdishpolitics.Either Turkish politicalcadres or Turkish popularmedia has made calls toBDP for keeping itself fromPKK persistently. Theyfound the direct or indirectrelation between the BDPand the PKK contradictory.Prominent figures of Turkishpolitics have urged BDPmany times to call PKK asa "terrorist organization."According to them, the factof Kurdish question and theexistence of PKK are nodoubt isolated from eachother and the existence ofPKK could under no circumstancesbe associatedwith Kurdish question. Forthis reason, they do nothesitate to consider the embraceof PKK guerillas withBDP deputies in Semdinlias an abnormal case or evena contradiction.It can easily be stated thatthe main obstacle in the wayof solving Kurdish questionis that: the same fact hasbeen perceived and evaluateddifferently by Kurdishnation and its political entitiesand Turkish nation andits political cadres. In otherwords, Kurdish questioncorresponds to a normalcase or a political realitybefore Kurdish nation andits political entities while itaccounts for a crime whichis to be punished or a politicalcontradiction in theeyes of Turkish nation andits political representatives.If the reality of Kurdish nationcoincides with the contradictionof Turkish nation,is it really possible for thesetwo political entities to liveunder the same politicalroof? In the case Kurdishpolitical and intellectualcadres make a good analysisand create the right answerto this question, Kurdishnation will take the firststep on the path of being asovereign-political agent inits own territory.