Anti-Drugs Campaign Leads to Tensions Among Syrian Kurdish R
Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2013 2:51 pmLONDON, United Kingdom – Tensions between armed members of the PKK-affiliated Democratic Union Party (PYD) and rival Kurds erupted in violence and killed several people last week, after the PYD carried out armed raids it claimed were targeted against drugs offenders.
The PYD – the Syrian arm of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) – had initially focused on areas near Ain al-Arab (Kobani in Kurdish) and Efrin. But on June 17, its militia forces arrested three activists in the town of Amude, and charged them with dealing in cannabis.
The arrests led to sit-in protests on the streets of Amude, and the Kurdish Youth Movement (TCK) said it had staged hunger strikes in support.
“We were shocked about the latest arrests by the PYD that targeted Kurdish activists on charges of drug-dealing and many other false accusations that can never be pinned on these revolutionary activists,” the TCK said in a statement.
Caught in the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and a civil war that is in its third year, the country’s Kurdish-dominated enclaves have been suffering from unemployment and poverty, and have turned into hubs of marijuana farming. The PYD’s security forces have carried out many operations against crop cultivation.
In another alleged anti-drugs raid on June 23 by PYD security forces in the village of Tal Ghazal near the Syrian town of Kobani, three civilians were killed, several were wounded and more were arrested. The attack was condemned by the Kurdish National Council in Kobani, a rival coalition of several Kurdish parties.
Pro-PYD media claimed that one of the arrested suspects, Mohammed Ismail, was a member of the biggest rivals of the PYD party, the Freedom Party, which quickly rejected any relation to him.
On 27 June, the PYD’s Asayish security forces carried out more anti-cannabis operations in the village of Arab Piran in Efrin, capturing 200 kilograms of hashish. Last Thursday, a clash erupted between protestors and a convoy of the People’s Defense Units (YPG) and protestors.
According to the YPG, its fighters were attacked by the Free Syrian Army’s 313th brigade in Amude, a clash in which YPG-member Sabri Gulo and three of the rival fighters were allegedly killed.
But PYD rivals, like the Freedom Party, reject that its claims of an armed attack. Their version is that the YPG shot at protestors.
“It was a peaceful demonstration,” the Freedom Party’s Dr. Welid Sexo told Al Monitor. “The YPG attacked demonstrators in Amude, which led to dead and wounded.”
The Local Coordination Committee (LCC) in Hassaka province, which organizes protests in Amude, said that six civilians were killed “as a result of gunfire by the PKK.”
Harriet Allsopp, an expert on Syrian Kurdish affairs, told Rudaw that the incident is not new. “We are seeing more and more peaceful, but small and local, protests against the PYD from the Kurds and more and more authoritarian tactics by the PYD. In most cases the PYD are denying responsibility.”
Moreover, she added that “Amude has long had a strong nationalist and anti-regime movement, and so, many Kurds say the PYD is acting against the interests of the Kurdish national movement and the anti regime movement.”
The office of Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani held an emergency meeting recently with representatives of Syrian Kurdish parties to discuss the tensions.
But the tensions are likely to continue, since similar meetings in which Barzani brought together different Syrian Kurdish groups for discussions did not lead to improved relations or better cooperation.
Comments
Previous 12Next
25 21 Kurdo | yesterday at 05:46
PKK/PYD will be the end of us. They will never accept any other. There is only on God for them, Öcalan. This is nothing but a disaster for Kurdish people.
Report
17 19 Another kurdo | 22 hours ago
Good job YPG! Those bastard traitors who joined forces with FSA shall rotten in hell. Kurds still haven't learned its history it seems! Every party thinks of its own interest as usual....
Report
12 5 Dilan | 22 hours ago
Biji PUK, Biji PDK, Biji YPG, Biji PKK, Biji Kurd u Biji Kurdistan! Be we Kurdistan azadi nabe. Kurd ku bi FSA'ra je jashin!
Report
7 15 Kurde Xemgin | 19 hours ago
PYD is a blessing for Syrian Kurds. The other parties are best at dividing into smaller pieces. How many KDP are there in Syria? What about Yekiti or Azadi? Shame on those "tiny parties" that are doing everyything possible to fail PYD! I know PYD has some mistakes too. But, at least they are fighting for our people, and providing them basic services. If not for PYD, Kurdistan would be full of Jihadists. This is the tragedy of the Kurds. Rather than accepting and respecting to their own brothers, they prefer to serve their enemies. This is exactly what is happening in Kurdistan of Syria!
Report
15 9 Ihsan Köl | 18 hours ago
PKK runs mayor illagel drug trade in Turkey. PKK smuggles most of drugs fromTurkey to Europe. That is very much known by Britain and whole western countries. Go search PKK and drug on google in same sentence you gonna find thousands of news which published by famous newspapers. As always PKK blames his crime on honored Kurds.
Mirko | 16 hours ago
Ok so, just to set the record straight. Here is wikileaks docs showing KDP-S, Yekiti, and Azadi trying to cut a deal with Assad at a time when Assad was hugging Erdogan, taking family vacations with him, and renditioning "PKK members" to Turkey. http://cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id ... ar%20hakim
Report
8 5 Polla | 14 hours ago
The PKK are the biggest drug traffickers in north Kurdistan and in Europe. They sell the drugs to Kurds in south and north Kurdistan and make them addicted to drugs. So what do the communists do about that? And in rojava, they just use the drugs to attack opposition groups.
The PYD – the Syrian arm of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) – had initially focused on areas near Ain al-Arab (Kobani in Kurdish) and Efrin. But on June 17, its militia forces arrested three activists in the town of Amude, and charged them with dealing in cannabis.
The arrests led to sit-in protests on the streets of Amude, and the Kurdish Youth Movement (TCK) said it had staged hunger strikes in support.
“We were shocked about the latest arrests by the PYD that targeted Kurdish activists on charges of drug-dealing and many other false accusations that can never be pinned on these revolutionary activists,” the TCK said in a statement.
Caught in the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and a civil war that is in its third year, the country’s Kurdish-dominated enclaves have been suffering from unemployment and poverty, and have turned into hubs of marijuana farming. The PYD’s security forces have carried out many operations against crop cultivation.
In another alleged anti-drugs raid on June 23 by PYD security forces in the village of Tal Ghazal near the Syrian town of Kobani, three civilians were killed, several were wounded and more were arrested. The attack was condemned by the Kurdish National Council in Kobani, a rival coalition of several Kurdish parties.
Pro-PYD media claimed that one of the arrested suspects, Mohammed Ismail, was a member of the biggest rivals of the PYD party, the Freedom Party, which quickly rejected any relation to him.
On 27 June, the PYD’s Asayish security forces carried out more anti-cannabis operations in the village of Arab Piran in Efrin, capturing 200 kilograms of hashish. Last Thursday, a clash erupted between protestors and a convoy of the People’s Defense Units (YPG) and protestors.
According to the YPG, its fighters were attacked by the Free Syrian Army’s 313th brigade in Amude, a clash in which YPG-member Sabri Gulo and three of the rival fighters were allegedly killed.
But PYD rivals, like the Freedom Party, reject that its claims of an armed attack. Their version is that the YPG shot at protestors.
“It was a peaceful demonstration,” the Freedom Party’s Dr. Welid Sexo told Al Monitor. “The YPG attacked demonstrators in Amude, which led to dead and wounded.”
The Local Coordination Committee (LCC) in Hassaka province, which organizes protests in Amude, said that six civilians were killed “as a result of gunfire by the PKK.”
Harriet Allsopp, an expert on Syrian Kurdish affairs, told Rudaw that the incident is not new. “We are seeing more and more peaceful, but small and local, protests against the PYD from the Kurds and more and more authoritarian tactics by the PYD. In most cases the PYD are denying responsibility.”
Moreover, she added that “Amude has long had a strong nationalist and anti-regime movement, and so, many Kurds say the PYD is acting against the interests of the Kurdish national movement and the anti regime movement.”
The office of Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani held an emergency meeting recently with representatives of Syrian Kurdish parties to discuss the tensions.
But the tensions are likely to continue, since similar meetings in which Barzani brought together different Syrian Kurdish groups for discussions did not lead to improved relations or better cooperation.
Comments
Previous 12Next
25 21 Kurdo | yesterday at 05:46
PKK/PYD will be the end of us. They will never accept any other. There is only on God for them, Öcalan. This is nothing but a disaster for Kurdish people.
Report
17 19 Another kurdo | 22 hours ago
Good job YPG! Those bastard traitors who joined forces with FSA shall rotten in hell. Kurds still haven't learned its history it seems! Every party thinks of its own interest as usual....
Report
12 5 Dilan | 22 hours ago
Biji PUK, Biji PDK, Biji YPG, Biji PKK, Biji Kurd u Biji Kurdistan! Be we Kurdistan azadi nabe. Kurd ku bi FSA'ra je jashin!
Report
7 15 Kurde Xemgin | 19 hours ago
PYD is a blessing for Syrian Kurds. The other parties are best at dividing into smaller pieces. How many KDP are there in Syria? What about Yekiti or Azadi? Shame on those "tiny parties" that are doing everyything possible to fail PYD! I know PYD has some mistakes too. But, at least they are fighting for our people, and providing them basic services. If not for PYD, Kurdistan would be full of Jihadists. This is the tragedy of the Kurds. Rather than accepting and respecting to their own brothers, they prefer to serve their enemies. This is exactly what is happening in Kurdistan of Syria!
Report
15 9 Ihsan Köl | 18 hours ago
PKK runs mayor illagel drug trade in Turkey. PKK smuggles most of drugs fromTurkey to Europe. That is very much known by Britain and whole western countries. Go search PKK and drug on google in same sentence you gonna find thousands of news which published by famous newspapers. As always PKK blames his crime on honored Kurds.
Mirko | 16 hours ago
Ok so, just to set the record straight. Here is wikileaks docs showing KDP-S, Yekiti, and Azadi trying to cut a deal with Assad at a time when Assad was hugging Erdogan, taking family vacations with him, and renditioning "PKK members" to Turkey. http://cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id ... ar%20hakim
Report
8 5 Polla | 14 hours ago
The PKK are the biggest drug traffickers in north Kurdistan and in Europe. They sell the drugs to Kurds in south and north Kurdistan and make them addicted to drugs. So what do the communists do about that? And in rojava, they just use the drugs to attack opposition groups.