Syrian Kurdistan. Conflict in Syrian Kurdistan

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:42

Syrian Kurdistan is located in the northwest of Shamma (the local name for Syria) and occupies vast territories. In the past few years, the region has often been in the spotlight of world news due to the fighting in the Syrian civil war.

Today, Kurdistan is one of the hottest spots on the planet. However, this is a very interesting place from a tourist point of view. Many ancient monuments and centuries-old culture of the Kurdish people have been preserved here.

Description of the region

Syrian Kurdistan is rather the self-name of the northern regions of Syria. The region is constitutionally part of the Syrian Arab Republic. But for almost 4 years the territory has been de facto managed by local organizations. The Syrian enclave of Kurds is just a part of the so-called Greater Kurdistan. That is, the territory in which the Kurds live. The territory of Kurdistan is included in 3 states: Syria, Turkey, Iraq. And not one of them has independence. At the same time, the Kurds have been waging a rather lengthy struggle to createnation state. Almost 5 million people live in Syrian Kurdistan, the vast majority of whom are Kurds. Rojava or Western Kurdistan is used as a self-name for the region (because it is located to the west of other territories with a Kurdish population).

Political structure

The main languages are Kurmanji and Arabic. Agriculture is developed, which brings the main profit. Some areas are producing oil. After the start of the war, most of the finances go to defense and armaments. Therefore, the authorities decided to exempt all individuals and legal entities from taxes. This stimulated the development of small businesses and the creation of many small cooperatives. At the same time, the state took upon itself the obligation to regulate prices and fight the emergence of possible monopolies.

Religion in Kurdistan plays a less significant role than in neighboring Arab states. In fact, the power in Rojava is absolutely secular. Back in the 20th century, Kurds began to massively share various leftist ideas, including communism and Marxism-Leninism. Before the start of the war, there were already militant groups of radicals. The recent conflict has also sharply raised a wave of civic nationalism and the desire to unite all Kurdish territories into a single nation-state. The Kurds are the second people in the world without one.

Beginning of the civil war in Syria

The conflict in Syrian Kurdistan began simultaneously with unrest throughout the country. In mid-2011, anti-government protesters raged across Syria.protests. The Kurds also supported them. However, the requirements were different. First of all, there were calls for autonomy or even independence for the region. There was cooperation with the Syrian opposition.

However, by 2012 the situation worsened sharply. After clashes with the police, opponents of the authorities staged a series of terrorist attacks. Warehouses with weapons were looted. Around this time, radical Islamic fundamentalists joined the political events in the country. Fighting began between the formed Free Syrian Army and government forces, supported by pro-Assad paramilitary forces.

War in Syrian Kurdistan against Islamism

Since radical Islamism has never been popular among the Kurds, Syrian Kurdistan has long remained neutral. At the same time, local groups seized power and established the Supreme Council, which is the power in the region. At the same time, the Kurds do not deny that they are part of Syria and cooperate with Bashar al-Assad on many issues. Some areas of Kurdistan continue to remain under the control of the Syrian government. The Syrian National Council does not recognize the independence of Rojava, but does not call for action. The government has repeatedly stated that it is ready to compromise and give the Kurds broad autonomy within the framework of the Syrian constitution.

Active fighting

In 2013, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group became more active in Syria. All the world's media have reportedISIS after the successful attack on Mosul. In record time and with a small amount of weapons and personnel, the militants were able to capture and hold one of the largest cities in the country. Since that time, the active expansion of ISIS began. The vast territories of Iraq and Syria fell under the control of the Islamists. After some time, they approached the northern regions of the country.

To protect themselves from the Islamists, the local population began to actively join the militia. The conflict in Syrian Kurdistan flared up in full force at the end of 2013. By this point, ISIS had completely cut off the northern regions from the rest of Syria. The western part of Kurdistan was cut off from the rest of the territory not only by terrorists, but also by the Syrian Free Army (FSA). ISIS militants launched an active offensive against Kurdish territories near the city of Kobani. In a short time they managed to push the front line for many kilometers in other places.

Peshmerga

The main military force of Kurdistan are the peshmerga units. They were created over 100 years ago and signify a tribal militia. To date, according to various sources, the number of these units is estimated at 150-200 thousand people. They are fighting Islamic State militants in Syria and Iraq. Rojava receives serious material and technical assistance from Iraq.

On the territory of Syrian Kurdistan, there are detachments of the people's national militia, which are essentially combatwing of the Democratic Party of Syria. For the most part, the fighters of these units adhere to the left ideology. A large flow of volunteers comes from the territory of Turkey, which is inhabited by Kurds. There, the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) is handling the transfer. Also, the local population collects regular assistance to fighters and civilians affected by hostilities.

War on Islamism

ISIS fighters are behaving especially brutally against the Kurds. Dozens of testimonies of the genocide of the indigenous population were leaked to the media. For this reason, and also thanks to the connections of the PKK, hundreds of volunteers arrive in Kurdistan every month. Mostly they are people of leftist views. The communist parties of many European countries organized the transfer of volunteers to fight ISIS. This is primarily Germany, Spain and Italy. The media regularly got information about the arrival of Russian volunteers.

It also became known that a group of Frenchmen who previously helped the separatists in the Donbass also arrived in Syria. A long siege and fierce battles for the city of Kobani prompted the world community to express solidarity with the besieged. Everyday life of Kurdish fighters in Syrian Kurdistan are under regular terrorist attacks.

Syrian Kurdistan vs Turkey

The Turkish government has long been in conflict with the Kurds. In Turkey itself, there are a huge number of Kurds who still do not have autonomy. Because of this, uprisings took place at various times, which were suppressed with cruelty. Turkish authorities.

The PKK regularly exchanges fire with Turkish police in urban areas. Turkey has repeatedly demanded that the United Nations recognize the Kurdish rebel groups as terrorist. President Erdogan personally stated that he would not allow the creation of a Kurdish national state near his border. In response to this, the Kurds resumed active sabotage activities on the territory of Turkey itself. More than a hundred servicemen have already died in the protracted operation of government troops against the Kurds. The rebels are actively supported by Syrian Kurdistan. Whether there will be peace and freedom in the region is still unclear.