Blogging the democratic revolution
The Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK), known for its civil unrest and terrorist tactics from countries ranging from Syria to Turkey to Iran, has declare a truce with the Turkish government after the prime minister promised to resolve the problem through more democracy — meaning, trying to help the Kurds out in their demands. I think it’s a good development. ANKARA, Turkey – Kurdish rebels fighting for autonomy in this nation’s impoverished southeast region on Friday announced a one-month cease-fire. A top commander of the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party, known as the PKK, confirmed what he termed a “suspension of hostilities”…
Unrest from the Kurds in Syria is continuing to forment against the Assad regime, driving cracks into its shaking rule on power. Protests and riots have become more and more frequent in recent months. Violent clashes between Syrian Kurds and police have erupted in the northern town of Ein al-Arab, according to a human rights organisation. The Arab Organisation for Human Rights in Syria said rioting broke out after Kurds were prevented from showing their support for a banned separatist group. Cars were damaged and stones thrown at police who responded by firing tear gas and making a number of…
Joshua Landis at Syria Comment reproduces an interview with a Syrian human rights lawyer and opposition activist, Anwar al-Bunni. The entire post is worth reading, but I’m just going to excerpt part of it to focus on two issues: (1) the relationship between regime change in Iraq and the position of Kurds in Syria and (2) the relationship between the Syrian opposition and U.S. foreign policy. I’ll have some comments below. This is an excerpt from the interview, “Anwar al-Bunni: Interview with Syria’s leading Human Right Lawyer, By Joe Pace“: …We hear a lot that the Iraq war empowered Syrian…
Earlier in the week I wrote about martial law being declared in Mahabad, a city in the north-western Kurdish area of Iran. According to Kurdish Media, protestors are defying the crackdown. And now, the protests are spreading throughout Kurdish cities in Iran. Since the killing of Shuana Kardi, a Kurdish activist, on Saturday July the 13th by the Pastaram in the city of Mahabad, Iranian Kurdistan, the people of this city have come every day to the streets in order to protest against the Iranian state????????s oppressive policy towards the Kurds. They expressed their demands for democracy, their national and…
Kurds in western Iran, on the border with Iraqi Kurdistan, have been engaging in massive unrest following the election. Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty has superb background on the story as usual. Unrest among Kurds living in western Iran, which has been continuing for several weeks, has prompted a government investigation that began on 20 July. This comes on the heels of low levels of Kurdish participation in the June presidential election, which may be indicative of their sense of exclusion from the country’s politics. The Kurds are not promoting separatism, and the central government may find that meeting…
According to the New York Times (registration required), Syrian Kurds, many of them denied not only equal protection of the law but also citizenship, are increasing pressure on Damascus for change. With democratic revolutions under way to the west in Lebanon and to the east in Iraq, the former being explicitly anti-Syrian and the latter being anti-Baathist, the Baathist regime of Bashar Assad in Damascus is feeling the heat. This is an excerpt from the NYT report (“Kurds, Emboldened by Lebanon, Rise Up in Tense Syria”): …But as Syria endures heavy international and domestic pressure to change, storm clouds are…