Latest briefing from the PYD

Latest briefing from the PYD, 18.01.14

Weekly News summary and events in the western Kurdistan

Headlines

• Geneva Conference 2.
• The first conference of the Organization of the Democratic Union Party PYD in Amude.
• Asia Abdullah: no one can deny the Kurdish people in Rojava.
• Women’s participation in the Geneva 2 meeting as a delegation.
• Educational and cultural events.

 

Details

Stockholm: The Democratic Union Party in Sweden calling the Kurdish people to participate in a protest, which will be held in the 18th of this month in the capital Stockholm to demand the inclusion of the Kurdish issue in the program of the Geneva Conference 2. The party organizes sit-in to send message of the Kurdish people to the international community, and pressure on the international decision-making centers to include the Kurdish issue in the Geneva Conference 2 and to be solved and not to allow Geneva 2 be Lausanne.

Guns, Widows, & What You Don’t Hear About Syria: An interview with Margaret Owen

Bad Housekeeping interviewed Margaret Owen last week to speak about her experiences in Rojava, northern Syria, which she visited at the end of December on the invitation of the PYD.

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Margaret Owen is the octogenarian director of NGO Widows for Peace through Democracy. I went to her house in London where she fed me baklava while showing me photos of her grandchildren & of the impossibly tiny boat on which she had crossed the Iraqi border the week before. For a woman whose organisation has ‘Peace’ in the title she gets a surprising glint in her eye whilst describing attractive women wielding semi-automatic weapons, and speaks at such a pace that I can only include a harshly reduced version of her conversation here – which is a shame because what she has to say gives an intriguing glimpse into international relations and the status of widows across the world. 

RB: So, you’ve just come back from Rojava [a Kurdish enclave in Northern Syria] – what did you learn?

MO: They’d really got a new way of promoting, guaranteeing and establishing gender equality in every aspect of life. The PYD– the main Kurdish political party in Syria –  have co-chairs, a man and a woman, in every single institution, organisation, association – whether it’s a hospital, medical, educational, military, police, councils, every single body is headed by a man and a woman. And that doesn’t mean that the woman chair only does women-things, she’s just a co-chair with the man. And I never saw anyone writing about Rojava, they were all writing about Syria and the opposition and al-Qaeda, but you never saw anyone really writing about what was happening within Rojava [..]

You can read the interview in full here.

“PYD have established a model for Syria”

Margaret Owen, who recently returned from Rojava, wrote this letter in response to an article in the Guardian today:

JANUARY  14TH 2014

“Dear Sir,

It is vital that the international community does not ignore the needs of Rojava, the Kurdistan region of Western Syria, now home to over 260,000 IDPs (Internally displaced persons), 90% of whom are women and children.  (Drops in the ocean, January 14th). They include Arabs, Christians, Assyrians, Alawites, and other minorities; many of the women are widows, wives of the “disappeared”, and victims of violence, including rape and sexual torture.

These people are “refugees” in all but name, but no humanitarian aid has reached Rojava as yet. These families have urgent  multiple and complex needs for shelter, food, clothing, trauma counselling,  and their children, deprived of education, desperately need schooling and support.

An Open Letter to the UN Secretary –General: On the Participation of the Kurdish Supreme Council in Geneva II Conference

An open letter by Dr Amir Sharifi, director Kurdish Human Rights Advocacy Group, based in California, to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon:

Los Angles – January 8, 2014

To his Excellency Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon:

I am writing this letter to you on behalf of the Kurdish Human Rights Advocacy Group (KHRAG) and various Kurdish Communities in Southern California to express our support for the participation of the Kurdish Supreme Council in the Geneva II conference, scheduled to take place on January, 22, 2014.

We are encouraged by your persistent effort for an international response in the face of the insurmountable difficulties. Syrians are profoundly affected by a deep crisis that threatens to expand with even greater catastrophic regional and global consequences. As you are aware, the tragedy has also had very serious consequences for Kurds who have been discriminated against under the reign of Bashar al-Assad and now face an uncertain and bleak future. While they have been the targets of criminal attacks and threats of Islamists and Al Qaida linked groups on the one hand, Syrian opposition forces of all persuasions have adamantly refused to recognize their most fundamental human rights.

Margaret Owen: Briefing on visit to Rojava

BRIEFING DOCUMENT FOLLOWING VISIT TO ROJAVA, SYRIA

20-27 December 2013

by Margaret Owen OBE

I was invited to visit the Syrian Kurdish region, known as Rojava, by the PYD (Democratic Union Party), as a human rights lawyer focusing on women’s rights in conflict and post-conflict environments.

I travelled also as a Patron of Peace in Kurdistan, former adviser on women and children’s rights to the Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP); as Director of Widows for Peace through Democracy (WPD); a founder member of GAPS-UK (Gender Action on Peace and Security); and as a member of the government liaison group of the UKNGOCSWALLIANCE.

Transitional self-management in West Kurdistan – PYD statement

Latest statement from the Democratic Union Party – West Kurdistan Council:

 

The formation of a preparatory committee to establish the Transitional Self-Management project in western Kurdistan, encompassing all components of the region

30 November 2013

 

The revolution in Syria, which began as a popular movement three years ago, has been hijacked by foreign powers which have enabled and further worsened the tragedy of Syria.

The revolution reached Western Kurdistan as well. It was initiated on the 19th of July in 2012 in Kobanê and quickly spread as people took control over cities and villages. Despite the imminent danger to their lives people accepted this new development, which brought with it a life of isolation caused by embargos and great suffering. They built new institutions which would include all peoples of Syria and which would enable peoples to lead a dignified and just life.

Salih Muslim joins conference in Brussels

Last week (22 November 2013) a joint conference by Centre Maurits Coppieters together with the Kurdish Institute of Brussels and Belgian Senator Karl Vanlouwe took place in Brussels on the situation of Kurds and the Syrian civil war.

You can see video clips from the main conference speakers here:

 

Salih Muslim @ The Kurds and the future of Syria. 22 November 2013. Brusels from Centre Maurits Coppieters on Vimeo.

KCK Statement: These massacres will lead to the escalation of Rojava people’s struggle for freedom and unity

 

Latest statement from the KCK on the massacre of 14 civilians in a car-bomb in Rojava:

 

Kurdistan Democratic Communities’ Union -Info Koma Civaken Kurdistan – Info

TO OUR PEOPLES AND THE DEMOCRATIC PUBLIC OPINION

 

A car-bomb attack in the city of Kobani, Rojava Kurdistan, killed 14 civilians and wounded 24 others. We condemn this massacre, express our condolences to the families of the martyrs, and hope quick recovery for the wounded. This massacre has been done by the enemies of Rojava revolution. This inhumane and cowardly attack has been carried out by those who have suffered great defeats against Rojava revolution. Those who failed to hold out against the Rojava revolution have resorted to such a treacherous attack.

No matter who they are, those carrying out this massacre are the enemies of humanity.

News briefing from Western Kurdistan

Latest news update from the Democratic Union Party (PYD) West Kurdistan Media & Public Affairs Office –Europe.

 

News Briefing Regarding Events in West Kurdistan (Northern Syria)

 

Head Lines

• People Protection Units (YPG) campaign
• Mercenary groups of the Islamic state in Iraq and the Levant ( ISIL)Shame wall between Rojava and north Kurdistan
• Shame Wall!
• Cultural & educational activities

Details:

People Protection Units (YPG) campaign

Serê Kaniyê – Til Halaf, Hamo, Twaimiyeh, Hardan, Aziziah and Til Arqam villages have all been liberated by YPG & YPJ units, the liberation campaign (named: loyalty to the Serê Kaniyê martyrs) is continuing. So far 19 villages in the Serê Kaniyê region have been liberated from Al Nusra and the Islamic state in Iraq and Levant (ISIL).

PYD: News Briefing Regarding Events in West Kurdistan (Northern Syria)

Latest news briefing from the PYD media and public affairs office – Europe:

 

Head Lines

•  People’s Protection Units
•  Open Letter to the Parties of the Political Union
•  A Delegation of the Geneva Convention heading to West Kurdistan
• Condolence letters sent to the Family of Saleh Muslim , co-chair of the Democratic Union Party
•  Educational and Cultural Events.

Details:

People’s Protection Units (P.P.U) :

Afrin:  Many mercenaries belonging to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have been killed in clashes . A vehicle carrying a Dushka has been destroyed during clashes between P.P.U. and the Daish mercenaries near the village of Moarrin belonging to Azaz district.