Saturday, October 04, 2014

Kurds defend Kobane from Islamic State onslaught supported by Turkey

The Islamic State (IS) supported by the Turkish state has since 15th September heavily intensified their military onslaught against the Kurdish people and their self-rule government in the region of Kobane in Rojava (Western Kurdistan) in Northern Syria. Following the brutal three pronged IS military assault to capture Kobane more than two hundred thousand Kurdish civilians were forced to flee to the Turkish border. The Turkish border which had hitherto been used unhindered by the IS to infiltrate into Kobane to attack the Kurds had now been closed to weaken the Kurdish resistance. Nevertheless recent information from Rojava reports that the Kurdish resistance is growing as the IS has suffered heavy causalities in battling the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG/YPJ) defending the region.

The IS had also suffered heavy setback following confrontation with the Peoples Defense Force (HPG), the armed wing of the Kurdistan Workers party (PKK) in Sengal in Southern Kurdistan (Northern Iraq).

Despite these efforts, the Kurdish people are facing a dreadful situation which will result in genocide if not the military onslaught is countered or arrested.

Subsequently, as the IS attempted to capture the Kurdish district of Kobane, the Turkish state closed the borders to prevent Kurds fleeing into northern Kurdistan and Kurds entering and re-entering into Rojava to fight the IS.

Thousands of Kurds have crossed into Rojava following a call from the PKK and its imprisoned leader Abdulla Ocalan urging Kurds from everywhere to defend Kobane. The statement from the leader followed earlier statements from the PKK calling Kurds in Turkey to cross the border and mobilize for a united national resistance.

Turkish police and security forces have also crack down on Kurdish protesters who were condemning the Turkish States support of the IS near the Kobane-Turkey border.

In a similar spirit, Kurds across the European capitals have also protested outside Turkish embassies.

The IS started a massive military onslaught on Rojava in mid-September, collectively targeting the Kurdish people.

The campaign comes in the aftermath of the defeat of the IS in southern Kurdistan owing to the combined national defense organized by various Kurdish organizations spearheaded by the people’s protection unit YPG/YPJ from Rojava and the armed wing of the PKK , the HPG from Northern Kurdistan (Turkey).

This combined with the loss of Mosul dam due to US coalition led air strikes have led the IS to focus all its attention and resources on Rojava in Syria.

Kobane has been at the heart of the Kurdish struggle for self-determination and national resistance since the outbreak of the Syrian civil war.

The Kurds of Rojava under the assistance of the PKK and its associate organizations mobilized self-rule and national armed resistance through the establishment of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its armed wing the YPG/YPJ in 19th July 2012 in Kobane.

The IS has since 2012 tried to capture Kobane with its latest effort starting in July this year following the rapid capture of Mosul in Northern Iraq, when the region was effectively encircled and cut off from the rest of Rojava.

The Kobane canton is situated between the Kurdish self-ruled cantons of Efrin and Cizire, and is also located near the IS headquarters of Al-Raqqa, thereby the capture of Kobane would also effectively bring about a disjuncture of the Kurdish homeland in Rojava.

Kobane, beside its strategic importance is symbolically vital for the Kurdish national struggle as it has since the inception of the PKK in 1979 contributed strongly to the PKK and the Kurdish national cause.

In an interview to the Turkish alternative news Ozgur Gundem, a member of the YPG Rojava general command Meysa Ebdo discerned the international backing of the IS, the intention to destroy Kobane and the commitment of the Kurds to resist:

“They want to break about geography, peoples and cultures. Here it is the shining of the Kurdish people in the Middle East, their existence as an independent power, their ability to act without receiving support from anyone and their heroism that have has been targeted. These international powers are anticipating the liquidation of Kobane in accordance with their own interests. They look at the Kurdish people and other peoples as an obstacle in the way of their plans. ….Coming to the goal of the attacks, Kobanê is a small place. It is surrounded by the [ISIS] gangs on three sides, and on the fourth side is Turkey which supports the gangs. These attacks are not attacks that could be coordinated by these gangs. No force could persist like that in front of us. This is an international operation. When, how, on what flank and at what points they will attack is always established. The geography has been studied village by village, hamlet by hamlet. The tactics are even established. There are many different wings of the attack against Kobanê and each wing represents a state. In fact even among ourselves there is a traitorous element. All the plans are directed toward taking Kobanê. We are fighting against them and we will continue to fight. Even if the whole world joins to fight against us we will never take a step backward.”


The heroic resistance of the YPG and their commitment to not give up the hard-earned sovereignty of their people resembles the spirit of Pirapaharan's LTTE.

The US camp of the international community is accused of being behind the scene and orchestrating a dirty geo-political gambit to nullify the PKK-led Kurdish revolution at Rojava.

Eezham Tamils were also subjected to such a sophisticated form of counterinsurgency presided over by the Strategic Partnership of the U.S and Indian Establishments in which the entire egalitarian state system built up by the LTTE and the national armed resistance which made the former achievable were annihilated alongside the genocidal massacres of tens of thousands of Tamil civilians and their fighters.

The spirit espoused by the present Kurdish resistance should inspire Tamils to carry forth the political struggle for justice, national rights and liberation with fortitude, resilience and commitment.

Furthermore, the words from the YPG commander should also inspire the Tamils us to take lessons from the 30 years of national armed resistance and the resistance put forth by the LTTE against unholy alliance effectuating a united International Community of Establishments bound to see the military solution to the national question in the island ‘succeed’ in which genocide was deemed as a ‘necessary means’ to destroy the sovereignty of the Eezham Tamils:

“Let our people know that for a long time here a heroic struggle has been waged for the identity, existence and rights of the Kurdish people. We have lost martyrs in every village and hamlet and on every hill. We have had wounded in every village. In some places they stood over our corpses, but they will never, never trample upon the honor of the Kurdish people. In every resistance we grew the resistance of our people and will continue to grow. As long as one of us remains we will continue to fight as we have fought, village to village, house to house. This is the home of resistance. The Kurdish people must take moral from this resistance. We are not fighting with such a small power. The world is passing over us. The entire world is passing through a small town. We will suffer thousands of losses. If just one freedom fighter remains we will still resist. Our people must take ownership for the magnitude of the resistance here. It should look at it as a symbol and forge unity. It should adopt a stance against internal treachery. This people should recognize those who do not want to unify and only watch or even watch saying look how Kobanê will fall. Here we are fighting against tanks with braves. And alongside of this there is great psychological war being waged against us. However the resistance of the last ten days will without a doubt be one of the foundation stones of a free Kurdistan. There will be a Kurdish people which has won absolutely. Everyone got to know the Kurds once more in this resistance. If we are going to live in this world it will be honorably and with a free identity. “
source: [TamilNet, Friday, 03 October 2014, 10:28 GMT]

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