gefunden auf Support Kurds in Syria: PYD-Assad Clashes Raise Doubts about Alleged Syrian-PKK Cooperation, hier ein Auszug:
„… Clashes between the pro-PKK Democratic Union Party (PYD) and supporters of Bashar Al-Assad’s Syrian regime on a few occasions in the past few months with the latest on May 9 in Aleppo – have raised doubts over claims made by rival Kurdish groups and Turkish newspapers that the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) cooperates with Assad. The PYD says the Assad regime is trying to drag the Kurds into a civil war with Arabs.
Dr. Harriet Allsop, an expert on Kurdish-Syrian affairs, says that the clashes began after pro-Assad members of the Baggara tribe threatened Kurds and fired bullets into the air in the market. “When news of this spread in the Kurdish community, they went to the homes of the Arabs responsible and fighting began between them. The PYD became involved at this point in support of the Kurdish groups against the Baggara. They established control over the area and set up checkpoints.”
In the end, exiled Baggara chief Sheikh Nawaf Ragheb Al Bashir made a statement to pro-PYD Ronahi TV, pledging their weapons to the service of the Kurds.
PYD foreign affairs representative Dr. Alan Semo told Rudaw that the party opposes the Syrian regime as it has been a victim of its brutal oppression. He suggests that “provocative attacks” by the Syrian government led to the clashes between PYD supporters and Syrian security services on Feb. 15, when Syrian air force intelligence services tried to protect a pro-regime informer from Kurds who had ordered him to leave. In this clash, an air force intelligence officer was killed and Assad’s security forces attempted to kidnap the son of PYD leader Salih Muslim.
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Not every expert agrees that this rules out a PYD-Assad alliance. Denise Natali, a Minerva Fellow at the National Defense University, told Rudaw that the PKK is taking advantage of the political vacuum in Syria to advance its cause, even if this means making concessions to Assad. “The clashes between the PYD and Syrian forces do not diminish the PKK alliance of convenience with Assad against Turkey. It also shows the fragmentation within Kurdish political groups,” Natali said.
Kurdish activist Shoras Habas told Rudaw that Assad had tried to motivate the PYD to extend their control over Qamishli by intimidating activists from the rival Kurdish National Council (KNC), which receives support from Kurdistan Region President Massoud Barzani. KNC member Fuad Aliko accused the PYD of being responsible for the clashes between Kurdish groups. But the PYD rejected these claims as “baseless allegations” and pointed out it wants to work with the KNC. …“
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