Syrian Kurds call for end to Turkish attacks on their region, saying there will be no need for arms if they cease

Ocalan called on the group he founded to lay down its arms and disband.

“All groups must lay down their arms and the PKK must dissolve itself,” he said. Ocalan’s call for “all groups” indicates that he likely means all PKK offshoots in Syria and Iran.

Since 2012, Syrian Kurds have been able to carve out a semi-autonomous region in northeast Syria, which they refer to as Rojava, meaning Western Kurdistan.

Turkey has repeatedly targeted the region, saying the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the official military wing of Rojava, is an offshoot of the PKK, an armed group that has been fighting the Turkish state since 1984. The SDF denies links to the PKK.

“there will be no need for weapons if attacks against the Kurds come to an end.”

“SDF officials interviewed by RIC say paths such as simply laying down their weapons are impossible due to the current threats facing northeast Syria - primarily attacks from Turkey and the Turkish-backed SNA.”

“Ocalan’s message concerns the PKK and has nothing to do with us in Syria.”

“there will be no justification for Turkey’s attacks on us in Syria”.

Local Kurdish media reports that attacks by Turkish-backed groups have so far not stopped, with shelling targeting the countryside surrounding the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani.

  • perestroika@slrpnk.net
    8·
    2 days ago

    As far as today’s news say, PKK has declared a ceasefire - they won’t attack anyone unless attacked - and seems to be considering Öcalan’s advise.

    Even if Syrian Kurds correctly note that it doesn’t have anything to do with them specifically, I think it indirectly has much to do with the fall of Bashar al Assad’s regime in Syria, and negotiations to put together a new form of Syria.

    I imagine (I could be wrong) that Kurdish people might have concluded that:

    • the alliance of Rojava with the US is unlikely to last under Trump’s presidency
    • Trump is unlikely to restrain Erdogan from pursuing offensive action
    • Turkey is also no longer restrained by of the rest of Syria, which is in disarray

    They might have concluded that it benefits to negotiate for peace. One of Turkey’s foremost excuses for attacking Kurds has been the PKK. If the PKK agrees to dissolve, the excuse is gone and unless another excuse is found - maybe war will stop for a while.

    Erdogan remains the same of course, but the geopolitical situation could be new for him too, since Trump could genuinely attempt to appease Russia and abandon Ukraine, while the rest of NATO could genuinely attempt to replace the United States and double its support for Ukraine. As a result, the Black Sea region could see changes in the balance of power.

  • TwiddleTwaddle
    14·
    2 days ago

    Abdula Ocalan has been in solitary confinement for what, a decade? Two? Literally every message “from him” has to be considered under duress.

    • FundMECFS
      10·
      2 days ago

      Yep. Pasting my comment from another thread:

      It looks like he was basically told by Turkey he would be freed if the fighting stops. (He has been [likely tortured] in prison for decades).

      So while understandable, it’s not an order that will likely be followed, because it is either selfish or due to duress.

      The Kurds are still repressed and culturally genocided. There is no reason to stop the fighting until that stops.

      • infinitesunrise@slrpnk.netEnglish
        6·
        2 days ago

        There is weird politicking and bizarre bedfellows happening in Turkish politics right now. Erdogan’s allies to his right are advocating for Ocalan’s release as some sort of diplomatic manuever. Ocalan’s own nephew I believe has made it into parliament as a relatively outspoken Kurd, and I imagine he is doing the same for more personal reasons.

        Meanwhile Ocalan has been pumping out some of the most excitingly radical and revolutionary libertarian socialist ideological literary material in the world in our lifetimes from solitary confinement (Yes it’s torture) over the past 15 years, springboarding off the ideas of Murray Bookchin and instructing the PKK to abandon Marxism in favor of Democratic Confederalism, which they mostly appear to have done despite Kurdish culture’s continued cult of personality around him. I can’t help but wonder if this is a test: Turkey wants him to say one thing publicly, and he’s hedging his bets that his comrades will know to not listen.