Kurdistan

Syria

Afrin and Idlib offensives signal Syrian endgame?

As Turkey and its Syrian rebel allies continue their advance on Kurdish-held Afrin, Russia and its Syrian regime allies continue their advance on rebel-held Iblib. Both offensives are taking a horrific toll in civilian casualties, but the parallels don’t end there. Even as they ostensibly oppose each other, both Turkey and Assad are accused of conniving with ISIS forces to weaken the defenders of the respective enclaves. And the twin aggressions in Afrin and Idlib come amid a sudden and rapid internationalization of the Syrian war. (Photo: Kurdish militia figher at Afrin, via ANF)

Syria

Podcast: Solidarity with Afrin and Idlib

As Turkey invades Syrian territory to attack the Kurdish-controlled enclave of Afrin, the Assad regime and its Russian sponsors are bombarding the rebel-held province of Idlib. Civilian populations in each are facing military attack. And the Rojava Kurds as well as the autonomous municipalities of Idlib are animated by an ethic of popular council-based democracy. But while Noam Chomsly and David Graeber issued a statement in support of Afrin, they—like most of the Western left—are silent about the aggression against Idlib. The destructive meddling of the Great Powers could unleash an Arab-Kurdish ethnic war in Syria—a potentially disastrous sequel to the war against ISIS. It is urgent to rebuild Arab-Kurdish solidarity against the Assad regime, the jihadists and the intervening imperialist powers—and for a democratic and secular future for Syria. Bill Weinberg explores this question on Episode Two of the CounterVortex podcast. You can listen on SoundCloud and support it on Patreon. (Photo: Kurdish militia figher at Afrin, via ANF)

Syria

Statement in solidarity with Afrin and Idlib

The Alliance of Middle Eastern Socialists issues a statement opposing both the Turkish military attack on Afrin and the Russian bombardment of Idlib and Eastern Ghouta. There is now a consensus among all the international and regional powers on the necessity to liquidate the revolutionary popular movements initiated in Syria in March 2011. In the face of this counter-revolutionary consensus, what is desperately needed is solidarity between all revolutionaries—Arabs and Kurds alike—who are against both the Assad regime and all the intervening imperialist powers, and who support a democratic and secular future for Syria. (Photo: Kurdish militia figher at Afrin, via ANF)

Iraq

Armenia recognizes Yazidi genocide

Waheed Mandoo Hammo, prime minister of Ezidikhan, the self-declared autonomous homeland of the Yazidi people in northern Iraq, issued a statement expressing his nation's appreciation and gratitude in a letter to Armenia's Prime Minister Karen Karapetyan after the Armenian National Assembly approved a resolution recognizing the Yazidi Genocide of 2014. Armenia is the first UN member state to formally recognize as genocide the mass killings and enslavement of Yazidis by "Islamic State" forces after their seizure of the Sinjar area in August 2014. Hammo's statement recalled the sheltering of Armenian refugees by the Yazidis during the Armenian Genocide of 1915 to 1917. (Photo: Istanbul march commemorating second anniversary of Yazidi Genocide, August 2016, via VOA)

Syria

Turkey attacks Afrin, Great Powers capitulate

Turkish forces, backed by allied factions of the Free Syrian Army, are pursuing their offensive on the Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin, and have captured a number of villages—despite stiff resistance from the Kurdish YPG militia. Turkish air-strikes are making the critical difference, and are taking the predictable toll in civilian casualties. In Ankara, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would not “step back” in the assault, and claimed to have the support of the Great Powers—including both Russia, which supposedly had troops backing the YPG in Afrin, and the US, which has been backing the YPG against ISIS as part of the Pentagon-directed Syrian Democratic Forces. (Photo: Kurdish militia figher at Afrin, via ANF)

Syria

Will US betray Rojava Kurds —or NATO ally Turkey?

The Kurdish question in northern Syria has really put US imperialism in a bind—its most effective anti-ISIS allies on the ground are the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), regarded as “terrorists” by longtime NATO ally Turkey. Now, just weeks after the White House announced it would be demanding back the weapons it has supplied to the SDF to fight ISIS, comes the news that the Pentagon intends to train SDF fighters as a special force to control the northern border zone. Ankara reacted angrily, threatening to attack SDF-held territory. If it comes to open war between Turkey and the SDF, the US will have to stop equivocating and throw its lot in with either one or the other. (Photo: SDF fighters via CentCom)

Syria

Assad bashes Rojava Kurds as ‘traitors’

The Rojava Kurds, repeatedly accused of collaborating with Bashar Assad, have now been dissed by the dictator as “traitors” for accepting aid from the United States. But the White House says this aid is coming to an end now that ISIS is largely defeated in northern Syria. And the rebel opposition, including the Free Syrian Army, remain intransigent in refusing to recognize Kurdish autonomy—seeming to share in the Arab nationalist assumptions of the dictatorship they oppose. Having outlived their usefulness in the fight against ISIS, the Kurds could find themselves once again isolated and without allies. (Photo: Redspark)

Iraq

Popular protests rock Iraqi Kurdistan

Thousands took to the streets across Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region to protest budget cuts and the lack of basic services. At least six were killed as security forces fired on protesting civil servants in Raniya, who have gone without pay for weeks. Demonstrators are demanding the resignation of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) administration. Protesters armed with assault rifles attacked the local office of the KRG's ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in Raniya, where a curfew has now been imposed. (Photo: Rudaw)

Syria

US to demand arms back from Rojava Kurds

The Trump administration plans to ask Syrian Kurdish fighters to return weapons “loaned” for the fight against ISIS, an official told Al-Monitor. This was revealed the same day the White House made its first comment on claims by the Turkish foreign minister that US support for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces would be coming to an end. White House mouthpiece Sarah Huckabee Sanders said “the plan…is to…wind down support for certain groups.”

Syria

SDF declare Raqqa ‘fully liberated’ from ISIS

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) announced that they have “fully cleared” Raqqa of jihadist fighters and “liberated” the city from ISIS. But the city lies in ruins after months of US-led bombardment, with no water or electricity. The SDF pledges to turn Raqqa over to civilian control, but rival councils loyal to the SDF and FSA each claim to be the city’s legitimate government.

Iraq

Iraqi forces take Kirkuk, lower Kurdistan flag

Iraqi government forces, including elite troops of the US-trained Counter Terrorism Service and irregulars of the Shi'ite militia Hashd al-Shaabi, have taken the disputed city of Kirkuk, and its nearby military bases and oilfields. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered Iraqi forces take down the Kurdistan flag in the city, and hoist only the Iraqi national flag. Thousands of Kurdish civilians have fled the city, heading toward territory within the official borders of the Kurdistan Region.

Iraq

Yazidis: UN resolution on genocide insufficient

Leaders of Ezidikhan, the newly declared Yazidi autonomous zone in northern Iraq, are protesting that a UN Security Council resolution calling for an investigation into possible genocide by ISIS doesn't go far enough. Yazidi authorities are calling for the scope of the investigation to be widened to include non-ISIS actors also complicit in the genocide—presumably including the Turkish state.