Prospects of a Kurdish state and what it means for Armenia

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Turkish troops and Kurdish rebels 'killed in clashes'
BBC

At least 19 people have died in south-east Turkey after Kurdish rebels launched an attack on a Turkish border post, according to local media.

Rebels fired rocket launchers on an army post in Hakkari province just after midnight, NTV in Turkey said.

Military jets are pursuing them and bombing their escape routes, NTV said.

The interior minister says at least 115 rebels have been killed in a large-scale military offensive in the area in the last two weeks.

Idris Naim Sahin said the offensive close to Semdinli town - also in Hakkari province - was ongoing and that troops were taking steps to prevent rebels fleeing into northern Iraq.

The offensive is one of the biggest in years, with NTV reporting that about 2,000 troops are involved.

Several thousand Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels are believed to be based in hideouts in northern Iraq.

Violence surges
According to the governor for Hakkari province, Orhan Alimoglu, six soldiers, two village guards and 11 Kurdish rebels were killed in the attack near the village of Gecimili.


He said 15 soldiers were injured in the incident.

The number of clashes between the PKK and the Turkish armed forces has risen in south-east Turkey over the past year.

A series of clashes in June left dozens dead.

The PKK is classified as a terrorist organisation by the EU and the US.

It launched a guerrilla campaign in 1984 for an ethnic homeland in the Kurdish heartland in the south-east of Turkey.

It has now dropped its claim to an independent Kurdish state, but says it is fighting for autonomy and the cultural rights of the Kurdish people.

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Re: Prospects of a Kurdish state and what it means for Armenia

TURKEY IS FOR THE CREATION OF THE KURDISH AUTONOMY IN SYRIA

ARMENPRESS
AUGUST 2, 2012
YEREVAN

Yerevan, August 2, ARMENPRESS: After the visit of the Turkish Minister
of Foreign Affairs Ahmet Davutoglu to the capital of the Iraqi
Kurdistan on August 1, it became known that during the meeting with
the Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani, the sides reached an agreement to
create a Kurdish autonomy in Syria "after Bashar Assad's resignation".

As "Armenpress" reports citing the Iraqi Kurdistan AkNews news agency,
the meeting decided to approve the agreement signing on the Syrian
Kurds' demands between the Syrian National Council and National Council
of Syrian Kurds: Davutoglu and Barzani should also participate in it.

One of the Kurd leaders informed the agency that "Davutoglu's
participation in the agreement will mean that the Turkish government
is partial for Syria to become a federal state and provide the Kurds
with federal rights after Assad". According to the Turkish website,
both Turkish and Syrian National Councils seem to support "the Syrian
Kurdish dispute after Assad".

Mahmoud Mohammed, one of the leaders of the Syrian Kurdish "Democratic
Unity Party" (PYD), in the interview with the agency noted that
he is hopeful with the successful agreement, which, in his words,
will clarify the future of the Kurds in Syria. "The Syrian National
Council recognizes the rights of the Kurds and is ready to prepare
an agreement on that issue. It is a step towards the clarification
of the Syrian Kurds' future", Mohammed stated.

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Turkey: Caught Between Syria’s Kurds and a Hard Spot
August 3, 2012 -

Kurdish women celebrating International Women's Day in Turkey in 2008 hold up umbrellas colored traditional Kurdish red, green, and yellow. While Turkey has moved to reconcile with its Kurdish minority in the last several years, the Kurdish seizure of a border town in Syria has once again raised the specter of Kurdish separatism. (Photo: Jonathan Lewis.)
In a display of muscle-flexing, Turkish tanks this week carried out military exercises on the Syrian border, just a few kilometers away from towns that Syrian Kurds had seized from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces.

The seizure of the Kurdish towns sent alarm bells ringing in the Turkish capital. "It took a lot of people by surprise in Ankara. It is one of the toughest and serious issues in the last period of Turkish history," said Metehan Demir, a military expert and columnist for the Turkish daily Hürriyet.

"The capture of Kurdish towns in Syria is perceived by Kurdish groups in Turkey as the signal for [a] future autonomous Kurdish region on Turkey's border, which is seen as the start of [a] wider Kurdish state, including Iran, Iraq and Turkey," Demir added.

Turkey has a restive Kurdish minority, accounting for around 20 percent of its population of 73.6 million. Since 1984 Ankara has been fighting the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, which is fighting for greater Kurdish rights. Many of its fighters are drawn from Syria's Kurdish minority. Adding to Ankara's angst, the PKK flag was raised in one of the seized Syrian towns.

"We will not allow the formation of a terrorist structure near our border," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu told a Turkish television channel on July 29. "We reserve every right . . . No matter if it is al-Qaeda or the PKK. We would consider it a matter of national security and take every measure."

The tough words are seen as a government attempt to assuage anger, bordering on panic in sections of the country's often-nationalist media.

"This is because Ankara had not prepared the Turkish public for this event. I cannot believe Ankara was surprised," said international relations expert Soli Ozel of Istanbul's Kadir Has University. "Syrian Kurds are going to look after their own self-determination. They will seek to achieve at least autonomy. We had this coming for a long, long time."

Since the seizure of the Syrian towns, Turkish armed forces with armor have been sent to Turkey’s border with the Syrian Kurdish region. "Turkey will see and understand whether this territory is a matter of right of the Kurds, or a base of the PKK,” warned Hürriyet’s Demir. “Depending on this situation, Turkey might actually carry out an operation.”

Any military action by Turkey, Ozel believes, would be counterproductive. "I think that would be close to a suicidal move as I can imagine,” he said. “Because I am not quite sure that the Turkish military is ready to take on yet another enemy . . . Turkey would be fighting a war on two, or even three fronts, if the Iraqi Kurds were involved."

For now, Ankara appears to be looking to diplomacy rather than force. The semi-autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan regional government shares a border with Turkey and the Syrian Kurdish region. In the past few years, Turkey's governing Justice and Development Party has developed close ties with the region and with Iraqi Kurdish President Masoud Barzani.

"There is now a very close dialogue between Ankara and Barzani,” said Sinan Ulgen, head of the Istanbul-based EDAM research institute. "However, in Syria we see two rival Kurdish entities; one dominated by the Kurdish National Council, but the other one is an offshoot of the PKK. There, Barzani does not really have leverage."

Questions over Barzani’s influence over developments in Syria are increasingly being raised in Ankara. Before Syrian Kurds’ gains in northern Syria, Turkish media broadcast pictures of hundreds of Syrian Kurdish fighters being escorted by Barzani's forces back into Syria.

Adding to Ankara's concern is that Barzani brokered a deal between rival Syrian Kurdish factions, including the National Democratic Party, which is linked to the PKK. It remains a point of controversy whether Ankara was aware of this deal, although a regional diplomatic source claims Turkish officials knew about the pact.

On July 26, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned the Iraqi Kurdish leadership that "we are no longer responsible" for what might happen.

But tensions were markedly reduced after the Turkish foreign minister met with Barzani on August 1 in the Iraqi Kurdish capital of Erbil. A joint statement was issued promising to work together on Syria. Ankara's anger could be tempered by the increasing trade relationship with the Iraqi Kurds. Iraq is now Turkey's second largest trading partner, of which the lion’s share of commerce is taken by Iraqi Kurds.

Analyst Ulgen said that if Ankara takes steps to resolve its own Kurdish conflict, it will have no reason to worry about Kurds setting up a state across the Turkish border. But he warns that events in Syria threaten to drive up the price for Ankara of any domestic deal. "It will make it more difficult for Turkey to negotiate with its own Kurds, to the extent [that] each type of development across the border has tended [to make] the Turkish Kurds to raise their expectations as to what they can accomplish," Ulgen said.

Editor's note: Dorian Jones is a freelance reporter based in Istanbul.

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Re: Prospects of a Kurdish state and what it means for Armenia

Թուրքական քաղաքականության ռեզերվը


Թուրքիան իր արտաքին քաղաքականությունը հիմնականում կառուցում է տարբեր ռեզերվներ հաշվի առնելով, եւ նկատի ունենալով, որ որոշակի ռեսուրսներ չի կարող ներկայում օգտագործել, սակայն ապագայում դրանք կարող են գործի դրվել: Նմանատիպ քաղաքականություն է իրականացնում նաեւ Իրանը, սակայն ի տարբերություն Իրանի, Թուրքիան ավելի շատ հնարավորություններ ունի ռազմավարական խնդիրները ծրագրելու համար, քանի որ ՆԱՏՕ-ի անդամ է եւ մանեւրի մեծ հնարավորություններ ունի:

Թուրքիան ներկայում հնարավորություն չունի Հարավային Կովկասում, առավել եւս, Կենտրոնական Ասիայում ակտիվ օպերացիոն քաղաքականություն վարելու համար, քանի որ ամուր կապված է Մերձավոր Արեւելքի խնդիրներով, որտեղ նրա համար խորը եւ ընդարձակ քաղաքական «ճահիճ են» պատրաստել, որի մեջ էլ մտել է: Կովկասյան-Կասպիական ուղղությամբ Թուրքիայի գլխավոր արտաքին քաղաքական ռեզերվն Ադրբեջանն է, որին միշտ դիտարկել է որպես լուրջ օժանդակություն իր խնդիրների իրականացման համար:

«Ադրբեջանական ռեզերվն» օգտագործվում է Թուրքիայի կողմից ոչ միայն որպես այդպիսին տարածաշրջանի խնդիրների լուծման համար: Ադրբեջանի հետ հարաբերությունները, ավելի ճիշտ, ոչ թե սուբյեկտի, այլ օբյեկտի հետ հարաբերություններ են ԱՄՆ հետ մի շարք հարցերի լուծման համար: Դա նյարդայնացնում է ամերիկացիներին՝ չխոսելով այլ խոշոր պետությունների մասին, սակայն Թուրքիան, հասկանալով դա, շարունակում է սեղմել «ադրբեջանական գործոնը»: Բացի այդ, ինքը՝ Ադրբեջանն, ակնհայտորեն հարմարավետ չի զգում «ռեզերվի» դերում, նույնիսկ իր առաջնային գործընկերոջ քաղաքականության շրջանակում:

«Ռեզերվացման» այդ քաղաքականությունը զսպում է Ադրբեջանին խելացնոր որոշումներից, չնայած միաժամանակ սերտ համագործակցություն կա մասշտաբային պատերազմի նախապատրաստության մասով: Ադրբեջանում դա հասկացել են, սակայն այն այլ ելք չունի, քան հետեւել Թուրքիայի շահերին, ընդ որում, ոչ միայն ռազմավարության առումով, այլեւ ընթացիկ քաղաքականության տարբեր հարցերում: Լիովին ակնհայտ է, որ Արեւմտյան հանրությունը (հենց հանրությունը) հմտորեն եւ առանց որեւէ ջանքի Թուրքիային մղձավանձի մեջ է ներքաշել, որը կոչվում է «արաբական հեղափոխություններ»:

Շատ շուտով պարզվել է, որ Թուրքիան ունակ չէ օպերացիոն քաղաքականություն իրականացնել երկու կամ մի քանի ուղղություններով: Այն պարզապես համապատասխան ռեսուրսներ չունի: Բացի այդ, Մերձավոր Արեւելքում սցենարներն ավելի անորոշ են դառնում, ինչը կարող է հանգեցնել Թուրքիայի եւ Արեւմուտքի հարաբերությունների ապակազմակերպման նոր փուլի:

Այդ պայմաններում, Անկարայից լիովին հնարավոր է ազդանշաններ տրվեն Ադրբեջանի եւ Հայաստանի միջեւ ռազմական հակամարտությունը վերսկսելու վերաբերյալ՝ Թուրքիայի դիրքերին տարածաշրջանում ու միջազգային ասպարեզում նոր նշանակություն տալու համար: Թուրքական գեներալիտետը հասկացել է, որ Ադրբեջանի զինված ուժերի պատրաստվածությունն անհրաժեշտ ու ցանկալի մակարդակի հասցնելուն սպասելը հազիվ թե նպատակահարմար է, քանի որ հարկ կլինի տասնամյակներ սպասել:

Այդ պատճառով, Թուրքիան Ադրբեջանի եւ Հայաստանի միջեւ պատերազմի վերսկսումը չի կապում ադրբեջանական բանակի պատրաստվածության մակարդակի հետ: Տվյալ դեպքում Թուրքիայի համար կարեւոր է ոչ թե ռազմական գործողությունների արդյունքը, այլ ռազմական հակամարտության քաղաքական եւ աշխարհաքաղաքական արդյունքները, որում Թուրքիան փորձում է դիրիժորի դեր խաղալ՝ հուսալով նոր դիրքեր ձեռք բերել:

Իգոր Մուրադյան

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Turkey: For Ankara, Fears of a Kurdistan Rising

http://www.eurasianet.org/node/65724

July 30, 2012 - 9:10pm, by Yigal Schleifer The Turko-file Kurdish Issue Turkey-Syria Relations Turkish Foreign Policy
The continuing violence and bloodshed in Syria may be troubling, but for Ankara, the real worry right now is actually about what's happening in the place where things are quiet, across the border in Syria's Kurdish region, where the Assad regime has now ceded control to local militias as it tries to consolidate its forces in order to protect Aleppo and Damascus from rebel forces.

With a Kurdish autonomous region already well established in northern Iraq, a nascent Kurdish autonomous region now in Syria and with its own Kurds increasingly making autonomy part of their demands, Turkey is now confronting what has long been one of the country's biggest fears: the rise of, as columnist Mehmet Ali Birand recently put it, the "mega Kurdish state."

From Ankara's perspective, there's certainly a lot happening to justify these fears, particular with regards to Syria's northern Kurdish region. With the departure of Assad's forces from the area, the Kurdish-led Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is considered to be close to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), has stepped in to fill the vacuum. In response, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared last week that Turkey would "intervene" in Syria should the PKK set up camp there, while the Turkish military has started moving military hardware and personnel towards the Syrian border.

As political analyst and Today's Zaman columnist Ihsan Dagi writes, the fears about a Kurdistan rising that are gripping Turkey are providing a major test for Ankara's efforts to forge a new path on the decades-old Kurdish problem and for its self-stated goal to support regional moves towards greater justice and democracy:

Almost all commentaries published in Turkish media have told the story with great concern. The prime minister and the minister of foreign affairs have stated that if it becomes necessary, Turkey will not hesitate to intervene in Syria. The opposition has started to accuse the government of idly watching the establishment of a second Kurdish entity on its borders.

Underlying all these reactions is the assumption that developments in favor of the Kurds in the region constitute a threat to Turkey. It is thus inferred that Turkey would prefer the Kurds being ruled by dictators like Saddam Hussein and Bashar al-Assad instead of having a say in their own future.

This is awkward, impossible to justify on any ethical or even practical ground. It is of course obvious that such an unethical position is the result of the security concerns of the state. Or, to put more accurately, it is due to the fact that there are demands from the Kurds of Turkey concerning their political and cultural rights. Once there is an emergence of a new entity populated by Kurds that provides the Kurds with more rights and freedoms, Turkey becomes worried that such improvements may set a “bad example” for its own Kurds. The well-being of Kurds thus is to be prevented by Turkey.

It is futile to try to build a future on the misfortune of the Kurds. Besides, in a world of changes towards democracy and self-government, it is unrealistic to assume that the Kurds will remain under the yoke of this or that nation or dictator. As the world transforms it is normal that the Kurds, too, are increasingly gaining their democratic rights and improving their standard of living.

Furthermore, the developments in northern Syria's Kurdish region are testing Ankara's newly strengthened ties with the leadership of the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq. As described in a previous post, Turkey has been working on improving its relations with the KRG and its leader, Massoud Barzani, for economic reasons but also in the hope that by drawing Barzani closer and providing him with a route to ship his region's oil and gas westward, Ankara will be able to enlist his help in its efforts to shape the future of the Kurdish issue, which would include assisting in sidelining the PKK by reducing its freedom to operate. But it appears that Ankara was caught completely by surprise when it turned out that Barzani helped broker a deal between the various factions in the Kurdish area of Syria that effectively gave the PKK-friendly PYD control over large parts of that region.

Turkish policymakers should not have been surprised. Barzani -- correctly reading that the "Arab spring" could easily turn into a Kurdish one -- for some time now has been working to set himself up a kind of Kurdish paterfamilias who can help bring his people closer towards independence (and perhaps not just in northern Iraq). Here's what he had to say to Al Jazeera's Jane Arraf in a wide-ranging and telling interview that was posted online today:

JA: You've been such an essential part of the history of not just the Kurdish region, but the Kurdish people regionally. How would you like your legacy to be seen?

MB: I have a clear conscience as I have done whatever I have been able to do for the sake of our people. From my childhood, I have done everything to free our people, to liberate our land. The judgment will be left to the people.

JA: Is the region ready for an independent Kurdistan?

MB: It's a natural right of the people. But when and how it will be ready is a different question.

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Mehr News Agency (MNA), Iran
July 27, 2012 Friday

Turkey's chameleon policy toward Syria


TEHRAN, July 27 (MNA) -- Since the start of the political unrest in
Syria, Turkey has changed its policy toward its neighbor several
times. Initially, Turkey made efforts to maintain its strategic
relations with Syria, and the two countries were expected to reap the
benefits of a decade of cooperation. Then Turkish officials demanded
that the Syrian government adopt a softer stance toward the
opposition.

However, as the internal conflict intensified, Syrian refugees flooded
into Turkey, and Ankara began to officially criticize Damascus.
Currently, Turkey has allied itself with the Syrian opposition, which
is trying to drive President Bashar al-Assad out of power, and
relations between the two countries are seriously strained. Turkey's
ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) has adopted very unusual
policies toward Middle Eastern countries ever since they came to power
in November 2002. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan was once
a good friend of Muammar Gaddafi and received the Al-Gaddafi
International Prize for Human Rights. However, after the outbreak of
war in Libya, Erdogan quickly changed his stance and began calling for
the ouster of Gaddafi. In Egypt, he took advantage of every
opportunity to establish closer ties with former dictator Hosni
Mubarak, but when the Egyptian revolution neared victory, Erdogan
suddenly established warm ties with the Muslim Brotherhood. In Syria,
Erdogan successfully normalized Turkey's relations with its neighbor
in all areas, i.e., the political, economic, security, and cultural
spheres. However, after the escalation of the crisis in Syria, Erdogan
criticized Assad, saying he was stifling the democratic aspirations of
the Syrian people. In this criticism, Turkey aligned itself with
governments like Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are some of the most
undemocratic countries in the world. The main goal of Turkey's
ever-changing foreign policy is the protection of its economic
interests, and it has nothing to do with democratic values or freedom
of expression. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, who is the
architect of Turkey's diplomacy, has been seriously criticized inside
the AKP for his failure to realize the policy of zero problems with
neighbors. Currently, Turkey has problems with Syria, Armenia,
Azerbaijan, Iran, and Iraq, and instead of attempting to extricate the
country from the current problematic situation, Turkey's foreign
policy team is only making things worse day by day. AKP leaders seem
to have come to the conclusion that by supporting the United States'
policies in the Middle East, Turkey can improve its economic and
political situation. However, if the U.S. fails to realize its
objectives in Syria, Turkey will have great difficulty maintaining its
position in the region. Seyyed Asadollah Athari is a senior research
fellow at the Institute for Middle East Strategic Studies in Tehran
and an expert on Turkey. MS/HG END MNA

[Vrej1915]

Re: Prospects of a Kurdish state and what it means for Armenia

Hurriyet, Turkey
July 27 2012


Get Over Your Kurd Phobia Already!


Interview by Faruk Balikci with Co-Chairman of PYD Salih Muslim in Al-Qamishlo


Co-Chairman of the PYD [Democratic Union Party], which is known to be
close to the PKK [Kurdistan People's Congress, KGK] Salih Muslim said,
"The Turkish rulers have a Kurd phobia. I beg of you, let them
overcome this phobia." A graduate from Istanbul Technical University
Department of Chemical Engineering, Muslim explains how he lived in
Istanbul for seven years: "I have Turkish friends; we have a fraternal
bond. Understand us. We do not want bloodshed. We are defending
ourselves in our region."

PYD Co-Chairman Salih Muslim stated that Turkey had to get over its
Kurd phobia and said, "Understand us correctly." Muslim stressed that
they were protecting themselves from the war on their borders and that
they wanted to avoid bloodshed. Co-Chairman of the PYD, which is known
to be close to the PKK, Salih Muslim explained that he completed the
Istanbul Technical University Department of Chemical Engineering as a
middling student and that he lived seven years in Istanbul.

We Are Protecting Ourselves

I was not into politics as a student. I only felt sympathy. I used to
look on from afar. I never felt like a stranger. I have Turkish
friends and good relations. I never felt any enmity. The Turkish
rulers have a Kurd phobia. I beg of you, let them get over it. We have
historical, social and fraternal bonds. What we are doing here is not
against anyone. We are acting simply to protect our society from the
war that is pressing on our borders. Tanks have entered Kobani. They
were going to pass through our area and hit the Arabs. The people did
not allow it. They resisted. We are only protecting ourselves in our
region. The people rose up themselves to protect their region. This is
their natural right.

Baath In Barracks, Kurds On Patrol

We Want To Avoid Bloodshed

We do not want confrontation or bloodshed. We do not have the
authority to make decisions by ourselves. We have been organizing the
people for two years and we are now getting results. We want to avoid
bloodshed. Nobody should be disturbed by this, least of all Turkey. We
are a fraternal people. If the Turkish authorities want to discuss
this I will speak with them. We are shouting out what it is we want: a
democratic regime in Syria and recognition of the Kurdish identity. We
want a structure in which the Arabs, the Assyrians and the Armenians
will also be free. Among the Kurds there are those who want autonomy,
an autonomous federation. But that is not our priority. We do not want
Al-Asad's forces or anyone else's forces here. There should have been
a democratic revolution in Syria, but that never happened.

How Did It Come To This?

Where Are The Kurds Currently In Control?

We Have No Bond With The PKK

We have no organic bond with the PKK. Not one armed force has crossed
the border. The PKK has a lot of sympathizers among the people in the
border region. However, we make our own decisions. The Kurd Supreme
Council makes the decisions. If there is foreign intervention in Syria
Al-Asad's Stinger missiles are pointed at Israel. In this situation
Israel would use chemical weapons. However, Al-Asad is going to resist
for a long time in order not to go.

Checks Along Al-Qamishlo Highway

Militants of the People's Defence Units (YPG) are conducting vehicle
and ID checks at a check point on the Derik-Al-Qamishlo highway. The
militants who are carrying out these checks are unarmed and are
organized into defence committees formed in every neighbourhood inside
the Kurd region. There are defence committees formed by the residents
in almost every neighbourhood in the Kurd region.

[Translated from Turkish]

[Vrej1915]

Re: Prospects of a Kurdish state and what it means for Armenia

http://www.lorientlejour.com/category/Moyen+Orient+et+Monde/article/770664/Les_Kurdes_tentent_de_s%27unir_pour_preparer_la_Syrie_de_demain.html

"L'orient le Jour", is the "Le Monde" of Beirut, famed to be 'serious'.
Unfortunately, it fell in very partisan hands, for more then a decade now.
It is controlled by Hariri, wich is a vassal of Turkey in Lebanon.
So one must not be surprised by the approximations.
Nevertheless, it is interesting to read the 'turkish' point of view...

[Vrej1915]

Re: Prospects of a Kurdish state and what it means for Armenia

Crisis in Syria emboldens country's Kurds

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19021766

By Wyre Davies
BBC News


What is happening in Syria cannot be taken in isolation. The protracted upheaval in one of the Middle East's biggest, most powerful and most influential countries is affecting the entire region and, most critically, its immediate neighbours.

Like Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon Turkey has already absorbed - almost without hesitation - thousands of Syrians fleeing the fighting, in particular from the northern cities of Hama and Aleppo.

Turkey is understandably concerned that the number of civilians fleeing across its relatively open southern border will increase as the fighting intensifies in Syria.

Some of those refugees also bring their own political baggage with them and there have already been disturbances in the border camps.

Occasionally ethnic and regional tensions spill over as thousands of displaced Syrians live cheek by jowl in tents under the blisteringly hot summer sum.

But for Turkey, the refugee issue is a mere inconvenience compared to what it thinks will be the biggest fall-out of the Syrian crisis - the Kurds and Kurdistan.

In an almost mirror image of what happened in Iraq after 1991, Kurdish nationalists in northern Syria are making the most of the turmoil and violence in the rest of the country to strengthen their own identity and position.

'Govern ourselves'
For Turkey, it is like a red rag to a bull.

As the Assad regime pulls in regular Syrian troops from peripheral areas for the military assault on Aleppo, there is clear evidence that others are almost seamlessly moving in to the vacuum left behind.

And in some Kurdish parts of northern Syria the opposition forces of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and other smaller factions have all but taken over.

The leader of the PYD, Salih Muslim, spoke to the BBC in recent days about his movement's strategy and aspirations.

"We are able to govern ourselves - we have the power for it," he said.

Mr Muslim was careful to insist, at this stage at least, that he wasn't calling for an independent Kurdistan but an autonomous region within a new, democratic Syria.

It is thought that Kurdish militias now control at least four main towns and cities in northern Syria. They reportedly include at least parts of Qamishlo, Efrin, Amude, Terbaspi and Ay El Arab.

More remarkable is that although there were sporadic clashes and some loss of life many of them appear to have been secured without much of a fight.

"We warned them to leave the Kurdish areas, otherwise we would resort to different measures," says Muslim, referring to civil administrators and officials from Damascus who used to run the towns."

They were aware of the people's demands and that's why they gave in without blood being spilled."


Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan sees a Kurdish enclave in Syria a direct threat to Turkey
Erdogan's "terrorist" threat
Quite deliberately choosing to describe the region of northern Syria as "West Kurdistan" the PYD leader said most people in the region stood with the movement and supported their aims.

Those aims are certainly not supported by the Turkish government, which has, for decades, fought its own often bloody battles with Kurdish separatists and nationalists of the PKK - the Kurdish Workers' Party.

In a blunt message at the end of this week, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan made it abundantly clear he saw the creation of a separate Kurdish enclave in northern Syria as a direct threat to his own country's interests and security.

Mr Erdogan said that Ankara would not accept the creation of a "terrorist" structure in the region.

"It is our most natural right to intervene (in northern Syria) since those terrorist formations would disturb our national peace," said the Prime Minister in a television interview.

Turkey, a one time ally of the Assad regime in Syria for pragmatic and economic reasons as much as anything, has all but given up on Damascus.

On more than one occasion Mr Erdogan has called on President Bashar al-Assad to stop the onslaught against his own people and to step down before more lives are lost.

Assad handover?
Some in Turkey also believe that a desperate President Assad has deliberately abandoned, or handed over, the northern regions to the PYD in order to create tensions with Turkey and also divide the already fractious opposition movements in Syria.


The crisis has emboldened Syria's Kurds but some analysts say their relationship with the FSA is tense
"In the North, (Assad) has already allocated five provinces to the terrorists (Kurds)," Mr Erdogan was quoted as saying by a Turkish news agency last week. Ankara simply regards the Syrian PYD as a branch of its own, outlawed PKK.

But the criticism and allegations of trying to create regional instability aren't limited to the pariah that is the regime in Damascus.

The autonomous Kurdish administration in northern Iraq has now admitted it has been training Kurdish-Syrian fighters on its territory.

In a recent interview the regional leader, President Massoud Barzani, openly confirmed the presence of a military training camp where "a good number of young Kurds" have been trained.

Tension with FSA
With as many as 20million Kurds in Turkey alone, watching their brethren to the east quite literally marking out their territory, the famously nationalist Turks are, to put it mildly, concerned.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davatoglu is being dispatched to northern Iraq in the coming days where, according to reports, he will talk with Kurdish officials there about the situation in Syria and Turkish "sensitivities."

Many things are still unclear; relations between the Syrian Kurds and other opposition groups (the Free Syria Army) are said to be tense.

In some Syrian Kurdish towns under the de-facto control of the PYD, pro Assad troops have remained in their barracks, raising questions about a deal, of sorts, between Damascus and the Kurds.

And, the biggest question of all, will Turkey carry out its threat to intervene militarily in northern Syria to prevent the creation of a Kurdish "entity".

One thing is certain. If and when President Assad is driven from power, the country he leaves behind will for some time be divided, damaged and violent.

[Alexandros]

Re: Prospects of a Kurdish state and what it means for Armenia

The Kurds deserves to have their own country. They have been opressed for too long in this region.