Sarah Glynn
Next Saturday, millions of Kurds are expecting to hear a long-awaited message from their imprisoned leader, Abdullah Öcalan, pointing the way to a new phase of the struggle of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) where politics will fully replace firearms. But the hope that this brings is combined with deep fears: fears from the bitter experience of previous hoped-for breakthroughs, and fears from Turkey’s swelling wave of aggression at home and abroad, especially in Syria.
The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal
This week’s Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal on Rojava versus Turkey, held in Brussels on Wednesday and Thursday, provided a powerful reminder of what is at stake. The Tribunal looked at Turkey’s crimes against the people of the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria since the Turkish invasion of Afrin (Efrîn) in 2018. It was planned long before Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) surprised the world, and probably also themselves, by pushing aside the rotten regime of Bashir al-Assad and setting up a new government in Damascus; but HTS’s close links to Turkey, and the new opening this has given to Turkey’s mercenary militias who make up their so-called “Syrian National Army” (SNA) makes the tribunal even more relevant. So, before looking at Turkey’s current aggressions, and their attempts to exert control over the future Syria, I will look briefly at the indisputable case made in Brussels that [Turkish] President Erdoğan and Turkey’s leading politicians and military commanders are guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and also the crime of aggression.
The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal was established in 1979 to give the weight of structured evidence and legal expertise to the exposure of international crimes neglected by the official mechanisms. It was inspired by earlier tribunals organised by Bertrand Russell and others to examine the Vietnam War and Latin American dictatorships, and it can go where the International Criminal Court fears to tread. It’s rulings may not be officially recognised, but its judges and prosecutors bring many decades of experience of working within state justice systems, giving their arguments and decisions a seriousness that cannot be easily brushed aside. Even the ICC has no powers to enforce its rulings. In both cases court judgements can only provide a tool to be taken up by political campaigns.
The “defendants” didn’t feel the need to answer the invitation to appear, but we. already know their excuse – that the Autonomous Administration poses a security threat to Turkey – and that it has no basis in reality.
The evidence
The evidence began with the Turkish invasions in Afrin in 2018 and in Ras al-Ayn (Serêkaniyê) and Tell Abyad (Girê Spî) in 2019. It looked at the mass displacements of population, forced not just to flee the war, but also to escape the systematised abuse meted out to those left behind: arrests, kidnapping for ransom, rape and sexual violence, torture, looting and murder. It described the erasure of Kurdish culture, the Turkification, and the settlement of Arabs and Turkmen from other areas. It looked at environmental devastation – with whole forests cleared and sold as firewood – and at deliberate destruction of cemeteries and of ancient archaeology.
The tribunal heard about targeted attacks on essential infrastructure and services throughout the region, of river waters held back, and of hundreds of thousands of homes left to rely on water tankers. It heard of bombs targeting medical facilities, a printing house, a school. All of this designed to undermine and weaken the Autonomous Administration and force people to become refugees.
It heard how the deliberate murder of women in leading roles is used to attempt to force women back into the home, and so is also an attack on women’s rights, the central pillar of Rojava society.
The final session brought the evidence up to date. The Tribunal heard how the HTS takeover has allowed Turkey and their SNA militias to step up their own war against the Autonomous Administration [of North and East Syria] and the Administration’s Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). Since the beginning of December, they have taken over al-Shahba (Şehba), forcing displaced people from Afrin to relocate a second time; they have occupied the multi-ethnic city of Manbij (Minbic), and they are continuing to attack the Tishreen dam and the civilians gathered to protect it. The tribunal was shown the footage, originally shared by the SNA themselves, of Turkish bombs striking civilians dancing on the Tishreen (Tişrîn) dam, and they heard testimony from a German activist who was wounded in a double-tap strike against the civilian protestors, and was then delayed from getting to hospital by a third attack on an ambulance.
Videos and zoom links connected the tribunal to witnesses on the ground, but no visas were given to those who had been invited to testify in person. In all these examples, the prosecutors linked the evidence to international conventions and customary law.
The verdict, based on many files of evidence, will not be delivered until next month, but the judges were able to give a strong preliminary statement. They agreed that “The testimony we have heard paints a consistent, compelling picture of widespread, pervasive and systematic punishment of a people. Their crimes? Being Kurdish, and creating a society built on principles of equality, justice and solidarity. The aim of the punishment is the eradication of the Kurdish identity, presence and culture.”
The attacks go on
This week saw a new report from Médicins Sans Frontières, who have been working with IDPs from both Shahba and Manbij and have also “collected testimonies about severe violence, including killings, harassment and physical attacks, that people witnessed in their hometowns and along their journey”. They have shared the words of a man forced to leave his home in Manbij, whose neighbour was shot dead in front of him when he refused the command to go; and of a woman humiliated at gunpoint in ways she “couldn’t describe”.
In occupied Manbij there have been car bombs that Turkish sources have attempted to blame on the SDF, without evidence or logic. A car bomb on Saturday killed three, and another on Monday killed eighteen. Monday’s explosion was reported to have been caused by a boobytrapped vehicle carrying agricultural workers, and most of the victims were women. The SDF has issued a firm denial of responsibility and pointed out that such methods are characteristic of the mercenary militias.
Turkish bombs continue to hit residential areas, and, on Sunday night, a Kobani (Kobanê) water station serving 200,000 people was bombed to destruction.
The SDF reports that they have captured a team from Turkish intelligence who took part in attacks on the Tishreen Dam and on the Qara Quzak (Qere Qozaq) Bridge to the north, and they comment that “The Turkish state is now directly involved in all institutions in Syria. Not only in the military and intelligence fields, but also through financial companies, telecommunications and internet infrastructure. It is increasing its influence in major cities such as Aleppo (Heleb), Homs and Hama. Turkey wants to control Syria politically, militarily and culturally.”
International diplomacy
At the same time as attempting to change the facts on the ground, Turkey has been attempting to win influence politically. Although HTS is not directly answerable to Turkey like the SNA is, they grew under Turkey’s protection, and they have a close symbiotic relationship. Turkey wants power and influence in the new Syria, and they also want HTS to work with them to eliminate the Autonomous Administration. Erdoğan never managed to persuade Assad to do this because Assad couldn’t persuade Turkey to leave the areas they occupied. With HTS in charge, Turkey can exchange occupation of limited areas for a major role – politically, economically and militarily – in the whole country.
Of course, Turkey is far from the only country that is keen to do business with Syria, and the first international visit of HTS leader, Ahmed al-Shara’a, after he became “Interim President” was not to Turkey but to Saudi Arabia. Doubtless, he will want to retain a bit of independence by not tying Syria too closely to just one state, and he will want to improve Arab links more generally. Al-Shara’a has claimed that “The socialist system has many negatives that have affected the citizen.” Both Turkey and Saudi Arabia can help him develop the technocratic neoliberal system he appears to be aiming at, and both can fit into the new Middle East being envisaged by the United States and Israel.
On Tuesday, al-Shara’a came to Ankara to meet Erdoğan, where they discussed economic and military ties. Before the meeting, Reuters reported that they were “expected to discuss a joint defence pact… including establishing Turkish airbases in central Syria and training for Syria’s new army”. Afterwards, al-Shara’a stated, “We are working on building a strategic partnership with Turkey to confront the security threats in the region, to guarantee permanent security and stability to Syria and Turkey”.
At the same time, delicate discussions are going on between HTS and the SDF. On Monday, al-Shara’a told a television interviewer, “There are negotiations with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) to resolve the status of northeastern Syria, but I prefer not to disclose details because some countries do not want these talks to succeed.”
On Thursday, after the Ankara meeting, the SDF’s spokesperson, Farhad Shami, told North Press, “We are working to ensure these dialogues are continuous, based on mutual respect, and essential for achieving peace and stability,” but that “There are malicious parties who oppose these dialogues and are working to sabotage them. We were at an advanced stage of resolving issues related to predominantly Kurdish neighbourhoods in Aleppo, and the new administration was receptive to dialogue with strong points of agreement. However, we have been informed that Turkey intervened and prevented the signing of the agreement between us and the Damascus administration.”
SNA and HTS
The SNA militias are supposed to be integrating into the Syrian army – and some notorious militia leaders have already been handed prominent positions – but how this might all work out in practice, and its implications for the Kurds are unclear. HTS has let the SNA attack the Autonomous Administration without comment. Recent events in Turkish-occupied Afrin have been messy and confusing. A spokesperson for the Autonomous Administration stated, “We observed a convoy from Aleppo’s General Security forces entering Afrin, only to withdraw abruptly with no explanation. In its wake, there were mass arrests of young men who had come out to receive the forces.” The convoy was said to be intended to take over from the SNA.
The United States and France
Both the United States and France have been instrumental in facilitating the talks between the Autonomous Administration and Damascus. The French Foreign Minister has stated that France will not abandon the Kurds, and that Kurds will be present at the conference on the future of Syria to be held in Paris on Thursday.
Trump’s America is hard to predict, and there are repeated fears that American troops will be removed, and with them the barrier to a full Turkish invasion into Kobani; but nothing has yet been decided. Interestingly, the pro-Iranian parties in Iraq’s ruling coalition are said to be dropping their pressure for US troops to withdraw from Iraq now that there is increasing chance of ISIS resurgence.
Meanwhile, Trump’s instant freezing of USAID has had immediate consequences for many Syrians. Trump’s decision has exposed the insidious nature of USAID, which has always been conceived in America’s interests. Inexplicably they have just destroyed their huge network of soft power. However, that is small consolation for those who – often thanks to America’s imperial interventions – have come to rely on USAID funded NGOs to survive. In North and East Syria, there are especial fears for the internally displaced persons (IDPs), and also for the camps for ISIS families, though aid to the latter has been given a temporary reprieve. Rojava Information Centre reports a senior humanitarian official saying that “[the] US foreign aid freeze amounts to ‘murder’ and will have ‘devastating’ affect on millions living in the North and East Syria (NES) region, with [the] ‘majority of key life-saving services’ set to be affected.”
The French Foreign Minister also said that France had helped bring together the Kurds in Syria with the Kurds in Iraq. Kurdish unity has been a long-standing Kurdish wish, but it can also serve another purpose. The groups associated with the political parties in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq do not share the anti-capitalist views of those who established the Autonomous Administration, and capitalist states would like to see them gain more influence at the expense of groups following the ideas of Abdullah Öcalan.
The Kurdistan Region of Iraq
Turkish drones also carry out targeted assassinations in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It has been reported that, on 27 January, they killed two political activists who had come from North and East Syria and a journalist reporting for the Kurdish Freedom Movement.
Turkish military operations continue to force the evacuation of villages in the northern mountains as they pursue their long-drawn-out attempt to close in on the PKK’s bases. Community Peacemaker Teams reports that three more villages have been emptied and that 600 more are at risk.
And all is far from well with the Kurdistan region itself. Long-running problems with unpaid public-sector salaries – which have previously led to major protests – have now led a group of teachers to take the extreme option of a hunger strike. With the dominant Kurdistan Democratic Party ignoring their demands that salaries be disbursed by the Federal Government in Bagdad, they are refusing medical care and have stated that they will continue “without treatment until death.”
Inside Turkey
Turkey’s external aggression continues to be accompanied by internal oppression. A new investigation has been launched into media coverage of the Gezi protests of 2013. The Kurdish mother who became famous when the state sent her her son’s remains in a cardboard box has been sentenced to six years in prison, based on the testimony of a so-called “witness” who has been used by the state to detain over 600 people. Kurdish asylum seeker, Ecevit Piroğlu, who was finally allowed to leave Serbia after two long hunger strikes, has now, at Turkey’s request, been detained by interpol in Greece and risks extradition to prison in Turkey. And, meanwhile, people who lost their homes in the earthquake two years ago are still being left without home or help.
Freedom for Öcalan: a political solution for the Kurdish Question
Despite all of this, and no sign of Turkish concessions, Kurds are still holding onto hope of a change now that Öcalan has been allowed some, albeit limited, communication.
The Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party co-chair, Tuncer Bakırhan, told his party group meeting on Tuesday, “Mr Abdullah Öcalan is preparing to make a historic call in the coming days for the construction of a democratic Turkey as a comprehensive and lasting solution to the Kurdish question.” Murat Karayılan, of the PKK’s Executive Committee, told Sterk TV that the PKK is ready for a peace process if Öcalan is free to engage fully with the PKK in discussions, though they are also ready to continue fighting if they have to.
Öcalan has been calling for a political solution since the 1980s, but circumstances change – both support for the Kurdish position and wider geopolitics. Amed Dicle, writing in Medya News, observes that “it is understood that Öcalan will present a new period and method of struggle for the Kurds”. If the state responds positively and a peace process begins it will be important to keep up the pressure. And if, eventually, a peace agreement is reached, that will not be an ultimate solution; rather a shift into a new form of political struggle.
Yesterday, a giant rally in Diyarbakır (Amed) called for Öcalan’s freedom and for peace. Next Saturday, the 26th anniversary of his abduction and imprisonment, there will be more demonstrations, including the big European demonstration here in Strasbourg,
Sarah Glynn is a permanent columnist for Medya News, a writer and activist – check also her website and follow her on X (Twitter) or bluesky
