Riyadh, Ankara Call on Al-Qaeda to Declare War on Syrian Kurds

Riyadh, Ankara Call on Al-Qaeda to Declare War on Syrian Kurds

FARS News Agency

TEHRAN (FNA)- Saudi Arabia and Turkey have ordered Al-Qaeda-linked terrorist groups in Syria to target Syrian Kurds after the latter renewed allegiance to the Damascus government and declared strong opposition to Ankara’s plan for the Kurdish population in the region, media reports said.

The al-Qaeda-linked terrorist groups, the al-Nusra Front and the Sham and Iraq Islamic Emirate, have already started their attacks on the Kurdish regions of Aleppo after Saudi and Turkish governments asked them to do so, the Arabic-language Al-Watan newspaper reported.

The Takfiri and al-Qaeda groups are trying to bring the Kurdish regions of Northeastern Syria under their control by getting rid of the Kurdish militias.

The attacks against the Syrian Kurds came after Ahmad al-Jarba, president of the Syrian National Coalition called for participation of Kurdish representatives in the upcoming Geneva II Conference.

Last month, a main Syrian Kurdish group issued a call to battle extremist militants in the country after an eminent Kurdish politician was killed in a car bomb attack.

“We call on the Kurdish people… to step forward… . Anyone fit to bear arms should join the ranks of the Committees to protect the Kurdish People (YPG) and repel the assaults of these armed groups,” said a recently released YPG statement.

According to a source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, the politician identified as Isa Huso was assassinated outside his house in the Syrian town of Al-Qamishli late in July.

The statement also slammed the foreign-sponsored opposition groups in the country, the so-called Syrian National Coalition and the Free Syrian Army (FSA), saying “Despite our repeated calls …..to date, these parties have failed to take a clear position,” the statement said.

This comes while Kurdish fighters, who are opposed to foreign interference in Syria, have been battling foreign-backed militants in the North in recent months.

On July 21, Kurdish fighters took control of a key checkpoint controlled by al-Qaeda-linked militants and seized light weapons, ammunition, a vehicle mounted with a heavy machine gun, and a mortar launcher.

On July 17, Kurdish fighters also took control of the town of Ras al-Ain in the border province of Hasakah.

The unrest in Syria started in March 2011, when pro-reform protests turned into a massive insurgency following intervention of western and regional states.

Many Syrians who sided with the opposition at start of the protests have now turned to side with the government and the army to defend their country against foreign-backed extremists.

August 5, 2013 | 11 Comments »

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11 Comments / 11 Comments

  1. Report: New Nuclear Path in Iran Increases Likelihood of Israeli Strike
    http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/08/05/report-new-nuclear-path-in-iran-increases-likelihood-of-israeli-strike/

    Iran has notified the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.’s nuclear watchdog, that it plans to make the reactor—located in the northwestern city of Arak—operational by the second half of 2014 and could begin testing it later this year.

    “There’s no question that the reactor and its heavy water are more vulnerable targets than the enrichment plants,” Gary Samore, who served as President Barack Obama’s top adviser on nuclear issues during his first term, told The WSJ. “This could be another factor in [Benjamin] Netanyahu’s calculations in deciding how long to wait before launching military operations.”
    Any Israeli strike on the reactor complex, said current and former U.S. officials, would likely have to take place before Tehran introduces nuclear materials into the facility, because of the potential for a vast environmental disaster that a strike could cause.

  2. yamit82 Said:

    Where do Syria’s Kurds stand?

    The Kurds living inside Syria are also divided politically into two major groups – the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Kurdish National Council (KNC). The PYD is considered the strongest Syrian Kurdish group with its well-armed militias and is also affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Turkey. On the other hand, the KNC is affiliated with Iraqi Kurds of the Kurdistan regional government. And just two weeks ago, fighters allied to the PYD captured the town of Ras al-Ain from al-Nusra fighters, who are against the al-Assad regime………. the strategy of most of the Kurdish parties, the nationalist ones, is that they want to protect the Kurdish areas … and all of them are saying that they don’t want to separate from Syria … they want to have some form of self-governance but of course some people within the opposition, they don’t agree with this neutrality, they want them to actively also go to Damascus and help them.”

    They wanted the Kurds in the war against Assad, and its not exactly panning out as they wanted.

  3. yamit82 Said:

    Syria: Iranian Kurds Poised to Join Battle

    Both PJAK the YPG are allied to the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey. The PKK is already widely believed to be supporting their brethren in Syrian Kurdistan. But the entry of yet another, well-armed Kurdish faction into the fray signals a dangerous escalation in the already bloody Syrian civil war, which has claimed at least 100,000 lives.

    It also signals an increased Iranian involvement, as the regime in Tehran (which until only recently was itself at war with PJAK) hopes to utilize Kurdish-Arab fighting to its own advantage – helping to secure the future of the Assad regime by drawing FSA forces into costly battles with the Kurds.

    Turkey is meeting and agreeing with barazanni so it does not appear to be at a national level. Iran may be issuing this specific statement to fan flames. There is a conflict but I would be surprieed if turkey and Saudi entered into war with all the kurds. That would be their mistake.

  4. yamit82 Said:

    Syrian Kurds should not support Assad, says Turkish FM

    at the meeting with the Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Nachirvan Barzani, who visited Ankara last week, Davuto?lu said, “They and we both share the opinion that Kurds are an important factor for the construction of peace in Syria and that this is only possible if all the Kurdish groups join the Syrian opposition.” “It’s clear that any cooperation to be done with the Syrian regime would cause problems for Kurds. Mr. Barzani shares the same point-of-view. We agreed with him that we will be in solidarity with them for our Kurdish brothers to take the place that they deserve first in the Syrian opposition and then in a permanent structure in Syria.”

    In one of the wiki links I sent it stated that the PYG is thought to be controlled by the PYD who are liked to the PKK. I think it is they who are flying their own party flag and pressuring their coalition because they are the ones with the arms. You know this situation from the relationships between Irgun and Hagannah at the beginning. One killed the other. I think this is the kurd group closely tiesd with Assad and do not represent most of the kurds but have the guns. Barzani’s Kurds agree with Turkey, it seems.

  6. yamit82 Said:

    Turkey primarily wants a piece of the Iraqi Kurdish oil pie.

    turkey has already been making agreements for oil directly with iraqi kurdistan and by passing baghdad govt. this is the syrian kurds some of whom are strongly connected to the PKK in Turkey. I want to see confirmation of this statement from other sources.

  7. kurdish groups in syria
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdish_National_Council#List_of_constituent_parties
    According to Charles Lister, expert with the IHS Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre, “this remote area had become very important, especially for the jihadists who can turn it into a shelter and income benefit from the oil fields in it”
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2013_Syrian_Kurdish%E2%80%93Islamist_conflict
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_Protection_Units

  8. bernard ross Said:

    It is difficult to know how true this release is because of the source who would have an interest in fomenting conflict between the rebels and the Kurds. We know there had been understandings and then reports of conflicts: accuracy is the problem. Disinformation can be very useful at this time to interested parties. There is another question also in that there are competing and allied Kurdish groups in Syria and Iraq and it is possible that they are not operating in agreement.
    Asserting as news that orders were given from turkey and saudi arabia would be harmful to the US/GCC coalition strategy. I believe that the kurds were envisioned by them to be a part of a future destabilization of Iraq and Iran. I believe that was one of the reasons for the Turkish truce with the Kurds(probably at the request of the US or GCC)
    If this story is true and involves the main Iraq/syria kurds then it could be an indication of a further obstruction or unraveling of US/GCC plans for iran and their proxies.
    I am looking for confirmation from other sources like saudi, gcc, turkish sources.

    Turkey primarily wants a piece of the Iraqi Kurdish oil pie. That’s the obvious and simple explanation and no need to inject speculations which have no verifiable basis in fact.

    Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

  9. It is difficult to know how true this release is because of the source who would have an interest in fomenting conflict between the rebels and the Kurds. We know there had been understandings and then reports of conflicts: accuracy is the problem. Disinformation can be very useful at this time to interested parties. There is another question also in that there are competing and allied Kurdish groups in Syria and Iraq and it is possible that they are not operating in agreement.
    Asserting as news that orders were given from turkey and saudi arabia would be harmful to the US/GCC coalition strategy. I believe that the kurds were envisioned by them to be a part of a future destabilization of Iraq and Iran. I believe that was one of the reasons for the Turkish truce with the Kurds(probably at the request of the US or GCC)
    If this story is true and involves the main Iraq/syria kurds then it could be an indication of a further obstruction or unraveling of US/GCC plans for iran and their proxies.
    I am looking for confirmation from other sources like saudi, gcc, turkish sources.

  10. Shy Guy Said:

    The source of this article is Farsnews, in Iran.

    Do you expect us to swallow this, Ted?

    I have been following their reports for the past couple of years and find them in their English editions more credible than Fox News and most western news outlets.