Rojava News

Shingal region – The leadership of Shingal´s Resistance Units (YBS), an Ezidi militia initiated by the People´s Protection Units (YPG) has issued a statement and rejected allegations by security forces affiliated to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) which have accused the YBS and the Kurdistan Workers´ Party (PKK) of establishing an al-Hashd al-Shaabi milita in Shingal.
.
Al-Hashd al-Shaabi or better known as Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) is an anti-ISIS program launched by Baghdad which aims at mobilizing and arming Iraqi militias that are supposed to fight alongside the regular Iraqi army against ISIS.
.
The allegations “were far from the truth”, the YBS said in a statement, adding that the PKK had never formed an al-Shaabi militia. Such claims would be counterproductive in the fight against ISIS. Under the same pretext, Massoud Barzani, the President of the Kurdistan region ordered the arrest of the Ezidi HPS supreme commander Haydar Shesho some weeks ago.
[...]

Hannover, Germany – An Ezidi party in Iraq is to be established on the initiative of the top HPS commanders Haydar Shesho and Dawud Jindi, the HPS announced in a statement published on Saturday, stating that an establishment of a party led by Ezidis and aimed at ensuring their right of self-determination within the local borders was inevitable due to the rapid changes in the Middle East, the preventable genocide against the Ezidi people and also the political situation in Iraq.
[...]
Haydar Shesho, current HPS supreme commander, was arrested on 6th of April 2015 by Kurdish security forces affiliated to the ruling KDP for the so called creation of an illegitimate militia against Kurdish law. He was released eight days later. Shingal´s Protection Unit HPS was established for the defense of Ezidis against ISIS after around 10,000 Peshmerga fighters had fled the region, abandoning Ezidis to their fate. The HPS currently consists of around 3,200 volunteers according to the HPS commander Jindi.
.
The Ezidis´ future as well as the consequences of the genocide in Shingal will be now discussed in Germany. The establishment of a party is the first result.

The following year, in 2013, a police force called Sutoro opened three stations in the Jazira area, and a military force called the Syriac Military Council (Mawtbo Fulhoyo Suryoyo or MFS) announced its existence in an online video. The MFS initially hinted at future military action against the regime, but this never materialized. Instead, a more immediate and existential threat appeared, as a coalition of rebel and jihadist groups suddenly attacked. The MFS and the YPG soon fought side-by-side in the frontlines to defend the area, while Sutoro developed an increasingly close cooperation with its Kurdish counterpart Asayish. Just like in the 1990s, Dawronoye integrated into the security structures of their Kurdish allies, while retaining their own organizations and financing themselves through diaspora donations...

Around the same time as the attacks began, the PYD invited other parties and civil society organizations to participate in a process to form local governance structures. Most turned down the offer, fearing that the PYD would continue to dominate, but the SUP participated actively from the beginning until the end. Among the chief declared goals was one to ensure the peaceful coexistence of different ethnic and religious communities. With unmistaken symbolism, one of the first meetings was conducted across the border in Midyat, where Kurdish representatives took the opportunity to apologize for their people’s role in Seyfo. When the autonomous “Jazira canton” was declared in January 2014, representatives of the SUP took up positions in the government and legislative assembly, while Syriac, Arabic, and Kurdish were declared official languages.

“We believe that this philosophy of [the PKK leader] Ocalan can be a model not just for the Kurds but for other peoples also,” says Nazira Goriye, the co-spokesperson of the legislative assembly. “We want our rights not just as Christians, but as a people, as a nation. This is why we are on the side of the Kurds, not on Assad’s side. Assad tries to give our people a morphine injection.”

"Perhaps Dawronoye's activists have now finally found their chance. Dawronoye’s core goal is to ensure the future existence of its people in their native lands, but with the possible exception of the Nineveh plains in Iraq, there is no place where they could realistically seek regional autonomy, let alone their own state. In other words, they have to find a way to live with the majority population without being dominated by it. Meanwhile, the PKK movement has come to embrace a vision of a multicultural mosaic within a decentralized democratic system. While sharing some overarching political structures, different communities should be encouraged to organize their own grassroots-level structures, and manage their own affairs to the greatest extent possible. In other words, the respective projects of Dawronoye and the PKK coincide perfectly in Syria."

"Around Aleppo some have joined the YPG, as it remains the only fighting force to uphold the ideals of the revolution. The threat of Daesh and the horrible years of war have brought many Syrians to rally behind Assad again.

"The fire of the revolution is still silently burning beneath the rubble, and when the unifying common enemy in the form of Daesh disappears and Assad tries to return to normality, these tensions will bring society to erupt again. Already now there is a vibrant exchange of ideas in the Aleppo region between Arab and Kurdish communities. It is now the duty of Rojava to make it known that the revolution has not died and that the new society already exists. The rips within Syrian society are far too deep to be mended by Assad. "

Most of the inhabitants of the neighborhood are displaced and poor. There is complete power outage, and streets are filled with holes and puddles. The activity of the relief committees is limited compared to the large number of people in need. Fatima said, “A month ago, we received one cleaning basket. Fuel prices are very high, and we have to cut wood for heat. But, thank God, we are in a much better state than some families that can’t find anyone to support them.”

The local council in the neighborhood handles the civil administration of the area, and its chairman, Imad Daoud, brags that his council is made up of representatives of all sects and races — Muslims, Christians, Arabs and Kurds.

Leafing through the residential records, he told Al-Monitor, “Around 90,000 people from diverse religions and races live in Sheikh Maksoud. More than half of the residents are displaced people seeking security. Our doors are open to everyone.”

Although the neighborhood is safe from shelling, in the past two months it has seen a wave of displaced due to concerns about a possible blockade that the regime forces might impose on Aleppo. The neighborhood is open to other neighborhoods that are under the opposition’s control, and it has frontlines along which the opposition forces and the YPG are positioned against the regime

“Around two months ago, the population in the neighborhood reached 120,000, but recently, many were displaced outside Aleppo to flee the blockade,” Daoud added.

The council handles the distribution of humanitarian aid to refugees, and dozens of poor people regularly return to the council’s office.

While Daoud addresses the affairs of some of them, he said, “Most of the neighborhood residents do not have an income to support their livelihood, as they lost their jobs. We receive from the organizations, on a monthly basis, 1,200 food rations and another 1,200 containers of cleaning detergents to be distributed to the displaced. But these cannot meet the huge needs.”

He added, “The residents need additional funding to pay fees for generators. Power has been cut for three years now, after the Shaqif power plant, which is a small industrial area in Aleppo, was shelled by the air force. We are facing difficulties in supplying an alternative power line.”

At the top of the hill near the area’s main mosque, groups of rebels mingled, in newfound amity, with Kurdish fighters from the local People’s Defense Units, the armed wing of Syria’s main Kurdish group, the Democratic Union Party (P.Y.D.). Until Friday, this area had been controlled by Kurdish fighters but was frequently visited by militias and intelligence agents from the regime of Bashar al-Assad. On Friday, though, in an event that may have momentous consequences for the course of the civil war, the Kurds switched sides, and with their help the rebels overran Sheikh Maksoud, which commands strategic high ground north of the city’s center.

Aleppo had become safe places for the people, adding: “A secure life has been established. People who fled to Iraq and Turkey have begun to return. We are calling on people to come back.”

Rezan Rojhat said around 100,000 people lived in the Kurdish neighbourhoods of Aleppo. He said people who had taken refuge in the city from other places made up 60% of the population of these neighbourhoods. Rojhat said these neighbourhoods were protected by the YPG/YPJ.

YPG commander Rezan Rojhat said there was also an Arab battalion within the YPG and Christians in the public security force. He said people had started to come back from Iraq and Turkey, and that some of the people in Aleppo had fled attacks by ISIS gangs on villages in Kobanê. “We expect people to return now we have established security in the Kurdish neighbourhoods. Of course there are problems. For instance, unemployment. We have tried to resolve this with economic projects. Our part of Aleppo is an example of the progress we have made as regards our understanding of democratic autonomy

YPG (People's Defense Forces) Aleppo Command has released a written statement regarding the recently enhanced provocative attempts and efforts of Al-Nusra, Ahrar Es-Sham and other gang groups to siege the Sheikh Maqsoud (Şêxmeqsûd) neighborhood.

The statement reported that some armed groups guided by external powers and led by Al-Nusra, Ahrar Es-Sham and groups affiliated to the Turkish state -Sultan Murad Battalions in the first place- have surrounded the Şêxmeqsûd neighborhood in recent days.

“Against the threats, YPG Command will act together with Jabhat Al-Shamiya in order to protect the local people and civilians, and defend all peoples in the region”, the statement underlined.

"The armed groups that told the inhabitants to leave the neighborhood until 13.00 threatened to declare the area as military area if they wouldn't.
"It is reported that the gangs have started random attacks on mainly Muxaberat street, 20th street, Nebo village and El-Şeqîf area, while on the other hand using heavy weapons in attacks targeting some other areas. YPG forces are reported to have returned fire immediately and with the same intensity."

What sort of an advantage will the liberation of Mount Kezwan (Mt. Abdulaziz) and Mabruka town provide for the YPG and YPJ in the coming days?

The liberation of this town means the liberation of the border side for the Cezire canton in the first place. It is also of importance for the fraternity of the peoples as it houses Arab and Kurdish people. The area is mainly inhabited by Arabs.

As you speak of the fraternity of the peoples; Did Arabs, Syriacs and Assyrians fought alongside your forces during the recent operations?

As YPG we define ourselves as an army comprised of all peoples living in the region. We believe in democracy, equality and fraternity. The YPG has enabled Syriacs, Assyrians, Arabs and Kurds to act together on the basis of a common sense of patriotism. Everyone has seen the fact that they can live with their own identity under the YPG umbrella. Syriacs undertook an important mission, so did the Arab forces. There is one single aim and purpose uniting us, which is a democratic order.

Any updates on the supposed agreement with the FSA not to fight one another?

Georgie89 wrote:

Any updates on the supposed agreement with the FSA not to fight one another?

which one? FSA isn't all that coherent. YPG has good relations with some FSA groups and not others.